Theo Fox: Pardon Our Dust Thoughts on how to view the Blackhawks season opening 4-2 loss to the Avalanche. Was it more than just a bad 10-minute span in the 1st period?

First!

Theo, with a change up on the timing!

Theo, with a change up on the timing!
- mohel

Yes, see if you all can hit that pitch. I know my high school baseball team couldn't.

Nice blog....

is it wrong to hope DeHaan breaks again so he has ZERO chance of playing any time soon? Want to talk about a horrible trade and horrible player......that's before we talk about the fact he's made of glass.


Agreed 100% on McCabe and Jones. McCabe can back up Jones, and Jones can help push the offense and keep the puck 200 ft away.

I did like the response from Johnson when Dach got smoked.

Also if anyone hasn't seen it, Tyler Myers may never have to buy a drink again at Roxys after smoking Keith last night.....good god.

The question of Colliton will continue to vex us. We will always wonder what kind of record the Hawks would have under a top tier coach like Trotz, unless they suddenly start to show prolonged signs of life. Do the players have the requisite buy-in with Colliton's system?

Yeah agree with SteveRain that Dehaan looked bad. He's a step behind in decision making and that hesitation either allows the opposition to succeed or causes a scoring chance be negated.

Agree with Theo that we need to move him down to the third pairing with sheltered minutes.

Thanks for another quick blog Theo. You would have to admit "Murphy and Stillman might be called our shut down pair" but across the league they would not be considered a "good" shut down pair.

It’s being reported that the Hawks are actively shopping Shaw’s contract. I wonder how that will work for Stan.

Maybe Stan pairs Shaw’s contract with Strome and the receiving team gets Strome for no cap hit?

It’s being reported that the Hawks are actively shopping Shaw’s contract. I wonder how that will work for Stan.

Maybe Stan pairs Shaw’s contract with Strome and the receiving team gets Strome for no cap hit?
- DarthKane

dont forget Dehaan

While it was only one game, it showed the gulf between the Avalanche (who were missing MacKinnon and Toews and should be scary good again - they need to show up in the playoffs though) and the Hawks. Sorry, but this Hawk team still looks slow and will need to change a lot (with luck, a new head coach) to make the playoffs. I sense that they will be a middling team with an outside shot of the playoffs, but their division is brutal. The Pacific Division is terrible and there is no way a wild card team comes from there.

Quick observations:
-Training camp and six pre-season games and the team comes out looking like they have never played together before.
-Too much scrambling around and positioning was awful
-Did Seth Jones play?
-McCabe had an awful game and was consistently out of position
-DeHaan is slower than molasses in January
-Kane seemed a little off (nagging injury?)
-DeBrincat needs to be less Jeremy Roenick and more Patrick Kane
-Seth Jones needs to be less Boris Mironov
-Score could have easily been 8-2, but Fluery saved their rears
-Entwhistle got demoted from the face-off dot and looked to be in over his head
-Toews played as I expected for his first regular season game back in over a year - it is going to take time to get back into the swing of games, but I thought he was ok
-Could have had Byram instead of Dach...just saying. Still not sold on Dach and he needs to finish his opportunities, it is not easy, but this is the NHL, not juniors.
-How short is Colliton's leash if they get off to a terrible start? Are he and Bowman on the hot seat?
-Not sure anyone on D played well at all - Stillman played with some feistiness and truculence, but he can't be the only one on the team playing that way
-Powerplay was the only thing that looked decent

Regardless of the outcome, I am glad that the season started and that the NHL is back to playing to full arenas!!

NHL Player Safety
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1h
Colorado’s Gabriel Landeskog will have a hearing for Boarding Chicago’s Kirby Dach.

Thanks for another quick blog Theo. You would have to admit "Murphy and Stillman might be called our shut down pair" but across the league they would not be considered a "good" shut down pair.
- rpeters01

I think Murphy would be part of a shutdown pair on nearly any team in the NHL right now. Every year with the Hawks he gets a new partner and some of them have been AHL caliber but plays against the opposition's top guys. Yet, each season, the Hawks are under water in goals for and against and Murphy is almost always a plus player. He isn't perfect but he is a steady defensive player. I'd hate to see this team's performance without him.

Next game against the Avs, take out Maker's knee on the first shift. And make it count!

Avalanche rolled out the heavy artillery early and we scattered. Just once it would be nice to see the Hawks hold their ground. Under Colliton for 3 years, they've shown they do not know how to do so successfully. And, yet, the results stay the same. Fool me three times.........

Next game against the Avs, take out Maker's knee on the first shift. And make it count!
- powerenforcer

Or, just beat them. That's an option too. Stop being a meathead.

While the game was a mess, there are still some positives for sure.

Toews and his line weren't bad. I still think Toews will take a few games to get up to full speed.

Dach was pretty damn good honestly. He had some of the best scoring chances for the Hawks and probably had the best speed I've seen from him at the NHL level so far. Also the Hawks first goal doesn't happen without Dach providing the screen in front.

I really liked Murphy's goal too, the fake and then going for a kind of off timed shot really fooled the goalie. Offense isn't his bread and butter, but he can chip in, it was a nice play.

Also, it was one game, but the Hawks were over 56% at the dot. Toews leading the way there of course, but only Tyler Johnson was under 50% last night.

Have to get better 5v5 but special teams got the results they wanted. Scored a Powerplay goal (1/3) and killed all 4 penalties.

Or, just beat them. That's an option too. Stop being a meathead.
- Chunk

Exactly! Chicago goes after Makar, they go after Kane. Beat them and if the opportunity presents itself to lay out Landeskog, or any other Avalanche players with a clean hit, go for it.

While the game was a mess, there are still some positives for sure.

Toews and his line weren't bad. I still think Toews will take a few games to get up to full speed.

Dach was pretty damn good honestly. He had some of the best scoring chances for the Hawks and probably had the best speed I've seen from him at the NHL level so far. Also the Hawks first goal doesn't happen without Dach providing the screen in front.

I really liked Murphy's goal too, the fake and then going for a kind of off timed shot really fooled the goalie. Offense isn't his bread and butter, but he can chip in, it was a nice play.

Also, it was one game, but the Hawks were over 56% at the dot. Toews leading the way there of course, but only Tyler Johnson was under 50% last night.

Have to get better 5v5 but special teams got the results they wanted. Scored a Powerplay goal (1/3) and killed all 4 penalties.
- breadbag

There were some good signs for sure but it’s easier focusing on the negative and granted there were a number of negatives. But as usual many are losing their minds over one game, in fact many minds were lost after the first half of the first period.

We’ll know by early December what kind of team they are. My guess is they’ll be exactly what most of us predicted. A team who will fight to grab one of the last playoff spots.

Exactly! Chicago goes after Makar, they go after Kane. Beat them and if the opportunity presents itself to lay out Landeskog, or any other Avalanche players with a clean hit, go for it.
- paulr

Exactly! You guys just don't get it. You make it an all out war, then Bettman and everyone has to face the facts that the DOPS (and officials) have failed this game, and it will have to get cleaned up. Then it puts guys like Wilson and Reeves on notice the proper way. Until something happens, players will still take cheap shots, and get a "maintenance day" suspension.

From the last blog, by Trob.

"BS. The is no one in the front office with enough knowledge to dictate what system to run. Stan never played or coached at a significant enough level to understand the nuances. MacIsaac has some playing background and some asst. coaching time, but he's mostly a front office guy. Exactly who in the front office would be dictating style of play. Thats just a fallacy."

That's like saying an NFL GM doesn't know the difference between a 3/4 and a 4/3 defense. Of course they know enough about systems to determine what they want to run. They need that knowledge to look for players who fit into the system they run.

I'm pretty sure Stan said one of the reasons he hired JC was because he was a fit for the system they wanted to run.

Theo, Great job as always. It seemed to me that the Avs were a bit faster than the hawks in that first period. The hawks started then taking the body more during the rest of the game which slowed Colorado down and gave the Hawks a fighting chance to come back.

And that is what I liked about this first game. Yes the first period was horrid, but they battled back, and was the better team in the second, and for most of the third.

The Avs ARE favorites to win the cup, and are stacked. I wasn't expecting the Hawks to win, but I feel that during the second and third they actually were able to hold their own against what could be the best team in the league. Kuemper stoned the Hawks, so if it weren't for him standing on his head, the score could have been tied at the end.

Exactly! You guys just don't get it. You make it an all out war, then Bettman and everyone has to face the facts that the DOPS (and officials) have failed this game, and it will have to get cleaned up. Then it puts guys like Wilson and Reeves on notice the proper way. Until something happens, players will still take cheap shots, and get a "maintenance day" suspension.
- powerenforcer

So screw hockey and trying to win, just try an murder every guy on the ice in hopes that a body that has shown time and time again they aren't going to change or "protect the players" will actually change. You should be in Congress.

From the last blog, by Trob.

"BS. The is no one in the front office with enough knowledge to dictate what system to run. Stan never played or coached at a significant enough level to understand the nuances. MacIsaac has some playing background and some asst. coaching time, but he's mostly a front office guy. Exactly who in the front office would be dictating style of play. Thats just a fallacy."

That's like saying an NFL GM doesn't know the difference between a 3/4 and a 4/3 defense. Of course they know enough about systems to determine what they want to run. They need that knowledge to look for players who fit into the system they run.

I'm pretty sure Stan said one of the reasons he hired JC was because he was a fit for the system they wanted to run.
- mohel

i don't give a poop if they run a trap, or a run n gun offense....but what I do know is what they ARE running, and HAVE been running.....is NOT working.

Watch Friday and count the number of times a guy is left wide open either

1. at the point
2. back door
3. the middle of the slot

I lose count each game....when things go south, like the 1st 10 minutes it's all day long. Goalies are under siege constantly and guys aren't helping out either by either being far enough way to not block shot with their body and/or stick and screening the goalie.

I don't get the point of a defending a coach who a marginal NHL player, and was plucked out of sweden and 1 year of the AHL before sliding in as HC here. Is it all his fault? I have no idea....but what I do know is he is NOT helping matters.

I'll wait multiple more games, but to have a complete failure again defensively can't always be blamed on the players....and if said players are NOT buying in because either they don't respect JC or whatever else....Bowman has 2 options.....remove said players OR fire the coach.

See what comes home to roost 1st.

The Blackhawks blueline will surely keep Chicago out of the playoffs, Barring a significant trade between now and late winter, I must say though It's entertaining watching Stillman running around cluelessly on the Ice and just running Into people, It's adorable, It's like It's his first day on the job.