Just a few thoughts on this day perfect for Tom Waits.
-I was breaking down some stuff for Friday’s Indian, and stumbled across this: I’ve been a harsher critic of Captain Marvel than most, though his overall point totals look good. However, if you subtract the Atlanta game, the one in Edmonton and last night’s, Toews has four goals and eight assists in 24 other games. Toews’s two-way game is still there, he’s a +7 and a among the team leader’s in Behind The Net. But if the Hawks are going to get really hot this month, which they kind of need to, they’ll need the dominating Toews every night. I think it’s more likely than not that they will get it, but still, it’s worth watching.
-While I was as impressed as anyone about Jeremy Morin‘s game last night, I don’t know that’s the game he should be playing. In my mind, it should be Kopecky who’s opening the space through forechecking and physical play, leaving Morin and Sharp to take advantage of the scoring chances created, as to me they’re both better goalscorers than Kopecky (yes, I think Morin is that already). Still, it’s clear the coaches have told him he has to be more active to stick and he’s going to do that, and I’m certainly not complaining about it.
-Speaking of Kopecky, a main theme of the post game was his teammates imploring him to shoot more. There is no question that Tomo Kop has an underrated shot, one that is also pretty heavy. But last night’s goal was a perfect example of why he doesn’t shoot more. He scored from the only non-rebound/tip-in he can last night, i.e. when he has all the time and space that Tolstoy would require to compose a sequel to War and Peace. Kopecky’s wrister still takes a dog’s age to get off, and he is rarely afforded that. Maybe that’s what Morin will do and Kop will go on a bender here, but he wasn’t banging them in with Hossa around on his line and who creates more space than he?
-I’m wagering that Quenneville spins Crawford back out there on Friday under the guise of “he’s on a winning streak” even though he was not stellar on Tuesday.
-Podcast coming tonight or in the morning.
-Finally, I broached this in September but want to go over it again. We had so much fun in St. Louis last year with a blog trip we’d love to do another one. However, the only one that lines up for all of us to do is Feb. 12th in Phoenix. I know it’s a lot harder to get down to Arizona than Missouri but there seem to be some pretty good deals on flights at the moment, and obviously tickets would not be a problem. It would also potentially be a nice break from winter when it really starts to drag on you. If in the comments or if you want to email me, I just want to gauge how many would be interested in such a trip. If we get somewhere around 20-25 people who would have interest, I’ll move forward with it.
EDIT – POLL ADDED
Would you realistically be interested in being a part of an SCH Road Trip to watch the Hawks in Phoenix February 12?
| Yes | 66 |
| No | 68 |
| Reading is good; can we start the story now? | 42 |