And Meanwhile, Heaven's Falling - Preds 3, Hawks 1

I think Stals was to blame for the TMM, right?

4 point swing to a division opponent heading into the break does suck but we’ve got 6 days to get healthy and come out to grab a win in Vancouver. Nothing is fucked. The rug got peed on a little but Johnny and Sharp have the ringer.

As for Kaner and Frolik… Kane needs a center, that’s all. I did notice Frolik’s absence because our back checking was subpar from most of the forwards and we still only scored one goal. All Frolik does is play defense and never score.

And to be honest, I really didn’t notice…thought I saw him a couple times, must have been Pirri.

was Leddy and O’Donnell, not Hjalmarsson.

On the bright side, it appears that the PP is coming around some.

As for Fro being scratched, I guess I don’t get the point of putting Bickell out there for 6 minutes.

i think Hammer should be a healthy scratch for just a game or two. how many times does he just sit there and watch people shoot pucks into our net without hitting/blocking/lifting sticks/deflecting with his stick? its getting a bit stupid and i think the coaches need to send a message to him.

Ha ha ha

That 9-game road trip and just generally tougher rest of the season is going to be a real test for the Hawks. With 3 other teams breathing down their necks just in the same division I’m not sure that they won’t be on the edge like last season: praying for the spoiler to knock out the 8th seed.

It’s going to be very interesting to see who comes out on top.

It’s not out of the realm of possibility that Chicago is just genuinely the fourth best team. It’s incredibly difficult to find consistent success across an 82 game season without something resembling a defensive system, and Chicago either doesn’t have one, or the player’s aren’t buying into the one they have.

With three teams ahead of them that DO know how to keep goals out of their net, and two of the three knowing how to put a decent amount in the other guy’s net, it’s possible that Chicago may be looking up all the way to the playoffs.

Once they get there? Who knows. Crazier things have happened.

with Porter. Thanks for the good memories McClure.

Bickell played, did anyone really notice?

I just become very depressed, a raging alcoholic who attacks the roommates cat.

a couple of thoughts

It’s easy to blame Leddy for the pass that went to Carrie Underwood, but I thought he did a decent job tying up his man. O’D was asleep at the wheel on that play. It did produce some positive in my opinion though. I liked Cory’s reaction. He seemed to play pissed off the rest of the game – seemed to play a notch up on the determination scale. More of this, please.

Good pick up on Foley taking yet another pot shot at Stals – seems like whenever he gets the chance he likes to criticize #25. Stals actually absorbed a big hit by Weber at one time and emerged with the puck. he had some decent chances – I think it was foley who criticized stalberg for not keeping an eye on Rinne when he poke checked the puck away. Stals is skating as fast as he can, (which is pretty damn fast), has a d-man on his tail and he’s trying to control the puck. Rinne made calculated risk and great play. Why can’t the announcer leave it alone and give credit where credit is due.

I missed Frolic – a better option than Smith or Bickell.

O’D seems to need a rest.

The Preds are a damn good hockey team. It seems like they give you the perimeter in their zone and always have a man on the puck. Hard to find room to shoot.

As we come spinning out of the turn, it seems like the playoff intensity hockey is about to commence. Warning, the lasr 32 games will not be for the feint of heart.

To Sin City. Kaner needs to go on a bender in a limo with some tail, AV got a bounty on Fabulous Weapon head, Travis/Frankenfrolic/Scott, does anyone miss them? Switch out Old Donald with Lepisto. Chicago goalie controversy? Discuss!

Does a trade of some sort happen between now and Next Tuesdays game?

Enjoy the break folks, my liver needs it!

keep Toews and Sharp out until Feb 1st. Thanks.

I think the ledge should still be kept a safe distance away. You’re only 3 points out of first and 9 points ahead of 8th. The three teams ahead of you in the division have hot goalies. Maybe that’s why Crawford’s slump is so glaring…yeah, I said slump. But even if the crazy idea of trading him came up there is really goalie on a non-playoff team I would take over Crawford.

Having said all this, if you to the Nucks on Jan 31……PANIC!

I wish the Hawks’ biggest problem was that Vik is not hitting enough. That would indeed be a luxury.

I appreciate the attempt to get a spark going, but let Jammer or someone else do that. Our defense is already hit or miss on nights and losing one of the only point shots we’ve got back there for five minutes seems pretty shortsighted.

I thought Hossa made some very interesting comments in the post game interview he did for WGN radio after last night’s game. What really caught my attention was his response to a question by Troy Murray about how the Hawks can counter the Preds style of play that gives them so much trouble. Hossa specifically mentions their neutral zone play and says essentially (I’m paraphrasing here) that they’re being coached to do certain things to defeat the Preds trap (awaits OTF’s fevered denials) but are not doing it on the ice resulting in the Preds being able to control the play rather than the Hawks.

(Watch and listen to it here: AT&T Game Day: Hossa – The pertinent comments come at the 1:09 mark.)

Maybe I’m projecting and making something out of nothing, but the way he states it seemed to imply that some players are not following the game plan. If true, it was a very subtly stated call out. And even if it was not intended as such, it points out a possible disconnect between some players on the roster and the coaching staff.

It only takes a couple bad apples to throw a monkey wrench into the works (wow, talk about mixed metaphors!) and if this situation exists could point to why the Hawks have experienced some of the recurring systemic problems in their game, especially defensively, this season.

OR

Tell me my fevered imagination is getting the best of me.

or did it seem like Kruger had a pretty solid game last night. Probably should have passed to Hossa on that move from behind the net – but other than that, I liked what I saw.