Niemi letting 3 goals out of 8 shots was not a pretty sight though. Kudos to him for holding on as the game progressed.

Sometimes it also helps to put things in perspective a bit. We weren’t up against last season’s Coyotes or Avs, and we certainly aren’t playing last season’s Hawks. No one’s got time for excuses but it’s early in the season (still) and we’ve got plenty to look forward to.

That being said, someone fix Bolland please? I don’t care if it means shelving him for the season— the boy can’t keep doing what he’s doing and expect to get better, though I guess that depends on what’s actually wrong. Some back problems, I’ve been told, aren’t necessarily solved by surgery alone.

that is all

He knows he’s trade bait. He also knows that if he’s not putting the puck to net, no one will trade for him.

Tricky bastard…

I complained about both effort and attitude after the Yotes game but I thought last nights effort was much better. Even with injuries, we should be competitive with the talent we have against good teams and the Avs right now are a very good team. I don’t care if the second goal was one second past the power play, it’s still two short handed goals in reality and on the same power play no less. That is unacceptable and it was what cost them the game. Still, for the majority of the game, the effort was there. They dumped when they needed to, they chased pucks down and set up some real good scoring chances.

They turned it around great from the Yotes to the Avs and now that the Dads trip is over, I hope they can take it up just one more notch. LA is currently another team you can’t let up on at all.

I’m really starting to question Q’s moves on the power play. First his experiment with Sharp on the point was a disaster, now he has Buff there with similar results!

We have two guys (Kopecky and Buff) who have the ability to screen the goalie. Both seem to do this job quite well. Why the fuck would you move one of your screeners (Buff) to the point on the PP when a) you know he can’t skate backward for shit and b) his passing ability is mediocre at best? Would it not make more sense to save Buff for another line so you have two PP lines with a goalie screener?

It took Buff almost an entire season to learn his role in front of the net. It also took him just as long to transition from defenseman to forward. I’m willing to bet it would take him the same amount of time to learn how to play the point on the PP.

Maybe he is just waiting for his team to be healthy and then things will just fall into place, or maybe all the options he has are going to his head. Having Buf and Barker on the point together is just terrible. I have been a bit unnerved by some of the line combo’s as well. It has seemed obvious to me when people are jelling and then they are no longer on a line together. It was one of the issues last year, the Hawks had trouble getting used to set lines. But again, this could be due to injuries at the moment.

Night after night he is the best weapon on the ice. The puck is going to start going in more for him in the near future.

Although it’s way too early to start pointing at the sky and wonder if it’s falling, it is early enough to start worrying about this team. Sure they’re without arguably their best 2 forwards in Toews and Hossa but what has happened to the rest of the core? Sharp couldn’t put the puck in the ocean right now which begs the question how did he ever get invited to the Canadian Oreintation Camp? Kane has been good, but not great which is not acceptable considering the paycheque he deems himself worthy of at season’s end. What ever happened to Versteeg? Is he a one year wonder or will he finally breakthrough? He defensive play is atrocious and holds no value to this team if can’t score or create anything offensively. Bolland, how serious is his back injury? If he needs surgery and is out for the season is Ebbett the answer? Based on results that answer would be a resounding no. If this team is to go as far as they expect to go then other players need to step up when called upon as it seems when either Toews or Keith are out of the lineup the Hawks tend to fold their tents.

No need to hit the panic button yet, but the case is open and it won’t be much longer before it’s pushed if things continue along at this rate for 8 wins in 15 games is very unacceptable for this group. With that said though the Hawks are still on pace for 44 wins and 99 points this season which would be more than enough to make the playoffs.

Cal O’Reilly? Seriously? That kind of treatment will get him scoring on you every game… :)

I thought your team played well tonight, could have gone either way. Very fun to watch.

I would pretty much do anything to get Keith on the Avs. That goal, wow.

I keep hearing Chicago is thinking about moving Sharp — he’d be a perfect fit on the Avs, slump or no. What would it take for a deal?

Looks like Bolland could very well be out 2 months after all.

This team has enough ability to be competitive with anyone, provided they work like they did last night. That two shorty, powerplay fuck up cost them the game and I think you have to put some of that on Q. They should have won that game, but after that embarrassment in Phoenix, I was at least satisfied to see the way they responded. The Kings, Yotes and Avs may not be deep playoff contenders, but they can still inflict a lot of standings damage before the end of the year. Not sure if they took the Yotes lightly in advance, but they sure played that way. If they play the Kings like they did the Avs (minus the shorties and with a healthy Toews) that effort should be good enough to win.

although can someone name the last time Sharp scored on a breakaway, penalty shot, or shootout?

I said the exact same thing to my dad after the game.

Listen, everyone likes and roots for sharpie (especially if you’re female), but the last couple weeks in October and into November have been a little disappointing. With all of the injuries, the Hawks really needed Sharp to step up and produce some points. Hopefully when team health improves, Q can get sharp settled into a line that maximizes his talents.

HUET