Theo Fox: Game 39 @ Predators
A preview to the Blackhawks weekend battle with the Predators to continue the war for 4th place.

Plus, a look at how I would roll the forward lines (no more Kampf above 4C) and thoughts on Hinostroza's return.

Thank you, Theo.
Much appreciate your posts.
The only thing I can add is wins against the Predators are up there with wins against the Blues.

Thank you, Theo.
Much appreciate your posts.
The only thing I can add is wins against the Predators are up there with wins against the Blues.
- 35Tony0

No question. Would be good to get a few this season. Those last two games vs the Preds were lacking a bit in effort so here's hoping they bring it today.

Gametime can't get here quick enough either as I'm still fuming about the trade for Hinostroza yesterday.

Wonder if Hinostroza wanted to get back home for personal reasons or whatever. Stan agreed to a trade with Florida, using Morrison (a career minor leaguer and no big loss to the Hawks) in the transaction to even out the contracts for each side. Neither Florida nor the Hawks realize this is a big trade that will affect the teams' future. Doubt if Vinnie is extended and if so, maybe to an AHL contract with Rockford next season to keep him close to home. Just conjecture on my part.

I posted the other day that I thought Vinnie looked good against the hawks. Seemed much more mature and made quicker better decisions. He was having an impact with his effort and not mostly chasing around. When constructing a bottom six line a guy with speed is one of the components. Think Ben Eager. He's bigger than Vinnie but his main attribute was speed with which he was able to get in the zone first and disrupt the defense. I'll take Hinistroza over Highmore for that role any day. This trade can't hurt and could help nicely. Maybe SB saw what I saw the other night.

No question. Would be good to get a few this season. Those last two games vs the Preds were lacking a bit in effort so here's hoping they bring it today.

Gametime can't get here quick enough either as I'm still fuming about the trade for Hinostroza yesterday.
- HawkintheD

I was disappointed at first, but after giving it some thought, I’m okay with it. Like 66 mentioned, he’s better than Highmore, and someone else is on their way out, whether it’s Janmark or Soda, we will see. Also, I’d rather beat the Preds than the Blues at this junction.

I posted the other day that I thought Vinnie looked good against the hawks. Seemed much more mature and made quicker better decisions. He was having an impact with his effort and not mostly chasing around. When constructing a bottom six line a guy with speed is one of the components. Think Ben Eager. He's bigger than Vinnie but his main attribute was speed with which he was able to get in the zone first and disrupt the defense. I'll take Hinistroza over Highmore for that role any day. This trade can't hurt and could help nicely. Maybe SB saw what I saw the other night.
- 6628

Agree. Plus as others have mentioned, maybe it allows them to trade Janmark without having to force another rookie into the lineup.

Mentioned yesterday, I don't get the angst over trades like this. With a rebuild on, this isn't really a year to be expecting any blockbuster type deals involving the Hawks.

Agree. Plus as others have mentioned, maybe it allows them to trade Janmark without having to force another rookie into the lineup.

Mentioned yesterday, I don't get the angst over trades like this. With a rebuild on, this isn't really a year to be expecting any blockbuster type deals involving the Hawks.
- HawkintheD

I always expect blockbuster type deals. If not the Hawks, then who? If not now, then when? Change = progress.

Make it happen Stan!

I posted the other day that I thought Vinnie looked good against the hawks. Seemed much more mature and made quicker better decisions. He was having an impact with his effort and not mostly chasing around. When constructing a bottom six line a guy with speed is one of the components. Think Ben Eager. He's bigger than Vinnie but his main attribute was speed with which he was able to get in the zone first and disrupt the defense. I'll take Hinistroza over Highmore for that role any day. This trade can't hurt and could help nicely. Maybe SB saw what I saw the other night.
- 6628

I'm absolutely no fan of adding another midget up front but .... the Hawks get no offence up front from Highmore, Kampf, Carpenter, Wallmark; Shaw is probably gone for the year and Kurashev has tailed off in his rookie year.

With his speed Vinny can't hurt and it fits the Bowman 'recycle what you once owned' plan. The deal is only for the balance of the season so nothing to lose.

I'm absolutely no fan of adding another midget up front but .... the Hawks get no offence up front from Highmore, Kampf, Carpenter, Wallmark; Shaw is probably gone for the year and Kurashev has tailed off in his rookie year.

With his speed Vinny can't hurt and it fits the Bowman 'recycle what you once owned' plan. The deal is only for the balance of the season so nothing to lose.
- RickJ

Kinda hard to tell on that one...he never sees the ice anymore.

Wonder if Hinostroza wanted to get back home for personal reasons or whatever. Stan agreed to a trade with Florida, using Morrison (a career minor leaguer and no big loss to the Hawks) in the transaction to even out the contracts for each side. Neither Florida nor the Hawks realize this is a big trade that will affect the teams' future. Doubt if Vinnie is extended and if so, maybe to an AHL contract with Rockford next season to keep him close to home. Just conjecture on my part.
- boilermaker100

Or as many of you posted, Stan just wanted another forward in case of Janmark/Soderberg being moved and was interested in Hinostroza. Funny that he wasn't playing much this season, but played in the two recent games against the Hawks. Maybe the trade was in the works for a while and Stan wanted him showcased.

I'm absolutely no fan of adding another midget up front but .... the Hawks get no offence up front from Highmore, Kampf, Carpenter, Wallmark; Shaw is probably gone for the year and Kurashev has tailed off in his rookie year.

With his speed Vinny can't hurt and it fits the Bowman 'recycle what you once owned' plan. The deal is only for the balance of the season so nothing to lose.
- RickJ

Rick, because VH impressed me in ways I've mentioned I think he might be a good influence on young draftees having gone through it himself and, at least to me, looks like he matured. I first saw him at Savvy's charity golf outing after he was drafted and he had a bit of an entourage. With Savvy being fond of the horses I thought VH was a jockey. When I found out he was drafted by the hawks I thought the same smurf stuff everyone else here would think. And with the entourage I wasn't impressed. But my first impression was wrong. He now appears to me to be a guy who kept his nose to the grindstone. He even looked a bit larger the other night. So I like the move.

Rick, because VH impressed me in ways I've mentioned I think he might be a good influence on young draftees having gone through it himself and, at least to me, looks like he matured. I first saw him at Savvy's charity golf outing after he was drafted and he had a bit of an entourage. With Savvy being fond of the horses I thought VH was a jockey. When I found out he was drafted by the hawks I thought the same smurf stuff everyone else here would think. And with the entourage I wasn't impressed. But my first impression was wrong. He now appears to me to be a guy who kept his nose to the grindstone. He even looked a bit larger the other night. So I like the move.
- 6628

Here's another aspect to the deal - Stan takes Vinny's $1M salary off of the Panther's books and sends them a minor leaguer making $75K. Thats some goodwill earned going forward. Florida needs at least one Dman now - the Hawks have plenty of them. I expect there will be another trade between the 2 teams shortly.

I posted the other day that I thought Vinnie looked good against the hawks. Seemed much more mature and made quicker better decisions. He was having an impact with his effort and not mostly chasing around. When constructing a bottom six line a guy with speed is one of the components. Think Ben Eager. He's bigger than Vinnie but his main attribute was speed with which he was able to get in the zone first and disrupt the defense. I'll take Hinistroza over Highmore for that role any day. This trade can't hurt and could help nicely. Maybe SB saw what I saw the other night.
- 6628

Agree, I was thinking just that, "he looks better than when he was here"

Can't imagine why it would be looked at as a negative, you basically added him to the pool for nothing.

No harm, no foul.

I used to like Highmore, but he pisses me off more than pleases me this year.

I'm absolutely no fan of adding another midget up front but .... the Hawks get no offence up front from Highmore, Kampf, Carpenter, Wallmark; Shaw is probably gone for the year and Kurashev has tailed off in his rookie year.

With his speed Vinny can't hurt and it fits the Bowman 'recycle what you once owned' plan. The deal is only for the balance of the season so nothing to lose.
- RickJ

4th line energy guy on a contender. Needs to be more of a pest consistently. Make that his role. Perfect fit.
Side note: Never liked Dach centering Kane/Cat. Rather see Suter center them and put Dach at 2C w/ Kubaleek and Strome. Keep Kurashev and Kampf in the bottom 6 where they belong for poops sake.

Wonder if Hinostroza wanted to get back home for personal reasons or whatever. Stan agreed to a trade with Florida, using Morrison (a career minor leaguer and no big loss to the Hawks) in the transaction to even out the contracts for each side. Neither Florida nor the Hawks realize this is a big trade that will affect the teams' future. Doubt if Vinnie is extended and if so, maybe to an AHL contract with Rockford next season to keep him close to home. Just conjecture on my part.
- boilermaker100

He and his girlfriend just had a son in February - maybe she is saying "I need some help, here!" and he wanted to get back closer to the fam.

Well, this is no bueno. The Brazilian variant seems to be spreading fast (as it's wont to do) through the Canucks and several of the players are quite ill.

https://www.tsn.ca/video/~2171632

@FarhanLaljiTSN
As Dregs notes, some #Canucks players have become very ill.
I’m also being told that in some cases team medical staff may have gone to the homes of players to administer IV treatments.

Wonder if those treatments were the monoclonal antibody infusions. Seem to be quite effective in recovery for those with severe outcomes.

This one makes me sad for him since he was worried enough to opt out last year:
@Derek19790811
Travis Hamoic has contracted covid. He opted out of last year, because his two year-old daughter has been hospitalized several times with a severe respiratory illness.

I know it will cause some screaming in the general pop, but if this continues, will the NHL need to take a month long pause, vaccinate the players with the one dose (does it even work on the variants? still TBD), then resume play. Or, if it stays contained to one team, would VAN just have to drop out of the rest of the season if they cannot get it controlled? How would that affect draft positions, etc.?

I wasn't on the board much yesterday, so I'm not sure about all of the detractors concerns, but the Hinostroza move doesn't really impact anything. At worst this is a nothing move. At best:

Colliton on Hinostroza: "Great skater. Competitive. Skilled. He's going to be hungry for the opportunity."

Said when and where they get him into the lineup is TBD. "I feel confident that he can contribute."

"It won’t block anyone. Ultimately, the guys earn what they get...but you want to have quality surrounding your young players that play. It’s going to force the other young guys to raise their level or realize they have to really take advantage of the opportunities they get."

If it gets the younger guys going a bit more, that's a net gain.

4th line energy guy on a contender. Needs to be more of a pest consistently. Make that his role. Perfect fit.
Side note: Never liked Dach centering Kane/Cat. Rather see Suter center them and put Dach at 2C w/ Kubaleek and Strome. Keep Kurashev and Kampf in the bottom 6 where they belong for poops sake.
- Assman22

What don't you like about Dach between Kane and ADB? I would say that Dach is head and shoulders a better option between them.

Strome needs to play center. He has played pretty well since coming back. Put him back at his natural position. Suter is more adept at playing wing than Strome is.

You mentioned that we have plenty of dmen available. Actually if you break this down, there are only a couple of veterans that Florida would consider as the youngsters either aren't NHL ready or will show unreliable and too green if a youngster was inserted.

Bowman has invested in the youngsters and while long term there may not be a spot for each, common sense says that you want to make a decision on a kid dman's future once he is closer if not ready to stick at the NHL level.

I know that you're a sharp analyst, Rick, and if you went into more detail ...you would be saying much what I expound upon

The veterans by definition of "veteran " are Keith, Murphy, DeHahn, and Zadorov

I believe truly that Bowman plans long term is to retain Zadorov. As long as the future salary is not excessive, he stays. The team and, moreover, the other dmen - whom collectively is not a physical style of performance - is greatly appreciative and will be more effective with Zadorov available to prevent opposing forwards running roughshod. It is a matter of with or without Zadorov because essentially Zadorov presence will "control" teams from blatantly running and abusing our dmen.

Keith remains the best dman. Better dmen surrounding Keith, and then Keith can play his gambling style occasionally. Better dmen around Keith simply means some young dmen maturing into better players. And less TOI for Keith is at this point in his career a good thing. Keeps him refreshed and not worn down later in a season

Murphy has the greatest value in trade. I know some fans bemoan what looks like poor play at times from Murphy and DeHahn. Truthfully it is not all on them. Often they look bad due break down or miscues from others on the ice during their shift.

The discussion with Murphy has centered around, he is needed here to help steady the ship until one or more kids develop further. The renumeration for Murphy is probably of less concern than the timing of his being moved. The physical presence and emerging leadership quality would surely be missed.

I don't know if a much better dman on the market could be gained than Murphy. One consideration if you move Murphy now, is whether Florida would part ways with a commodity worth receiving. A draft choice if it is not a first round, is almost a moot point. We have draft choices already. Rather keep Murphy around.

Florida does have two goaltender prospects. Doubtful they would move Knight. Might Bowman desire a second goaltender prospect so as Commesso is not the only one. Maybe. Or is there a power forward prospect

That is the way I would look at any trade with Florida

DeHahn won't bring a lot in return. But if you can upgrade the price for him into a better draft choice due to the pressing need for a veteran dman to a team with injuries, then this is what I would favor doing.

I was disappointed at first, but after giving it some thought, I’m okay with it. Like 66 mentioned, he’s better than Highmore, and someone else is on their way out, whether it’s Janmark or Soda, we will see. Also, I’d rather beat the Preds than the Blues at this junction.
- Angotti

I don’t think this is the type of move that worth getting worked up about, either positively or negatively. Vinnie provides some decent bottom 6 depth and will fill a void when Soderberg and/or Janmark are dealt. I don’t expect any of them back next season.

Well, this is no bueno. The Brazilian variant seems to be spreading fast (as it's wont to do) through the Canucks and several of the players are quite ill.

https://www.tsn.ca/video/~2171632

@FarhanLaljiTSN
As Dregs notes, some #Canucks players have become very ill.
I’m also being told that in some cases team medical staff may have gone to the homes of players to administer IV treatments.

Wonder if those treatments were the monoclonal antibody infusions. Seem to be quite effective in recovery for those with severe outcomes.

This one makes me sad for him since he was worried enough to opt out last year:
@Derek19790811
Travis Hamoic has contracted covid. He opted out of last year, because his two year-old daughter has been hospitalized several times with a severe respiratory illness.

I know it will cause some screaming in the general pop, but if this continues, will the NHL need to take a month long pause, vaccinate the players with the one dose (does it even work on the variants? still TBD), then resume play. Or, if it stays contained to one team, would VAN just have to drop out of the rest of the season if they cannot get it controlled? How would that affect draft positions, etc.?
- pdx2ord

The current more commonly given vaccinations in the USA are Pfizer and Moderna; both are reportedly protect about 25% effectiveness to limit or prevent serious affect from the newest mutant strains.

I bet that the NHL will attempt to reschedule some of Vancouver and any other teams whose games hereafter today is postponed due to covid protocol.
If this results in delaying playoffs by more than one week, then there could be a formula for avg amount points/games played to date applied to any games which will not be played. However, the legal ramifications would have effect upon league and team contracts to broadcast games. As well performance Claus in player contracts.

The NHL surely has recognized and reviewed this as a matter of fair and legal business practice. Their review has been and is likely internal in nature. Their conclusion presently may not sit well with themselves as well as the players union and any contractual relationships such as broadcast of games still on the docket

Perhaps a savvy business person has some input how this works out, what the decisions to be made turns on.

As to the league wide vaccination, this is an infringement of personal rightscti demand players must get vaccinated. Therefore teams can suggest and ask but no pressure upon players to get vaccinated. Any players coming down with covid, hereafter today's date the team will have present a lineup even if excessive player recall. The season shall be completed.

Next season I wish that the CBA could be adjusted if possible to allow a solution by which teams and players would abide

I don’t think this is the type of move that worth getting worked up about, either positively or negatively. Vinnie provides some decent bottom 6 depth and will fill a void when Soderberg and/or Janmark are dealt. I don’t expect any of them back next season.
- DarthKane

What about those that want to get worked up? What about those that need to get worked up?

We all bemoan that our defenseman “are not good, not top 4, etc”. Hawks have $18 million in salaries to defenseman (excluding Seabrook), which is what Detroit pays. Even Ottawa pays its defenseman $21 mil.

Want better defenseman, how much more you willing to allocate more to upgrade the defense? Tyler Myers $6 million, Provorov $6.75 million, Morrisey, Ellis $6.25 mil. Dumba $6 mil.

You get what you pay for. Hopefully the young defenseman will grow because if Stan uses his cap space next year, I would guess he tries to get a young top 6 forward.

The current more commonly given vaccinations in the USA are Pfizer and Moderna; both are reportedly protect about 25% effectiveness to limit or prevent serious affect from the newest mutant strains.

I bet that the NHL will attempt to reschedule some of Vancouver and any other teams whose games hereafter today is postponed due to covid protocol.
If this results in delaying playoffs by more than one week, then there could be a formula for avg amount points/games played to date applied to any games which will not be played. However, the legal ramifications would have effect upon league and team contracts to broadcast games. As well performance Claus in player contracts.

The NHL surely has recognized and reviewed this as a matter of fair and legal business practice. Their review has been and is likely internal in nature. Their conclusion presently may not sit well with themselves as well as the players union and any contractual relationships such as broadcast of games still on the docket

Perhaps a savvy business person has some input how this works out, what the decisions to be made turns on.

As to the league wide vaccination, this is an infringement of personal rightscti demand players must get vaccinated. Therefore teams can suggest and ask but no pressure upon players to get vaccinated. Any players coming down with covid, hereafter today's date the team will have present a lineup even if excessive player recall. The season shall be completed.

Next season I wish that the CBA could be adjusted if possible to allow a solution by which teams and players would abide
- jhawk59

Please post your sources for this - I’m not seeing anything that suggests only 25% effectiveness against any of the variants - but I may have missed something.