Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks Thread!!!!!!

[Hairyducked Idiot]

This series kinda scares me. I think both teams are peaking right now. Blackhawks and Flyers both have won 8 of their last 9. The Hawks have scored at least 4 goals 6 times during the last 9. The Flyers have allowed 2 or fewer goals in 6 of the 9.

 

Hot goaltending usually trumps offense in the playoffs. Then you throw in the whole Hossa factor. I'm nervous about hockey for the first time in my life.

 

That's the crappy thing about being favored. I think I'd rather be a Philly fan at this point. Nothing to lose.

[jersey cubs fan]

This series kinda scares me. I think both teams are peaking right now. Blackhawks and Flyers both have won 8 of their last 9. The Hawks have scored at least 4 goals 6 times during the last 9. The Flyers have allowed 2 or fewer goals in 6 of the 9.

 

Hot goaltending usually trumps offense in the playoffs. Then you throw in the whole Hossa factor. I'm nervous about hockey for the first time in my life.

 

The Blackhawks aren't exactly lacking in the hot goalie department. Their guy actually had to stop legit attacks.

[Butterscup1679666578]

All this betting talk reminded - before the playoffs started I logged onto Bodog and noticed I had $8.xx in my account for whatever reason (probably bonuses I forgot about or something). I decided to let it ride on a 9/2 futures bet of the Hawks winning the Cup. That sweet $37.xx is coming my way soon.

[Banedon]

This series kinda scares me. I think both teams are peaking right now. Blackhawks and Flyers both have won 8 of their last 9. The Hawks have scored at least 4 goals 6 times during the last 9. The Flyers have allowed 2 or fewer goals in 6 of the 9.

 

Hot goaltending usually trumps offense in the playoffs. Then you throw in the whole Hossa factor. I'm nervous about hockey for the first time in my life.

 

The Blackhawks aren't exactly lacking in the hot goalie department. Their guy actually had to stop legit attacks.

 

Exactly. Montreal was almost at the bottom of the league in goals per game during the regular season.

[UMFan83]

I don't think there is a huge difference in the defenses that both teams played. I will say that NJ and Boston are probably the 2 best D teams either team faced, but lets rank all the opponents the 2 teams have faced:

 

New Jersey - 191 GA

Boston - 200 GA

San Jose - 215 GA

Vancouver - 222 GA

Montreal - 223 GA

Nashville - 225 GA

 

Average GA for Philly teams: 202 GA

Average GA for Chicago teams: 221 GA

Difference between best and worst (NJ-Nash) 34 GA

 

Now lets look at goals scored:

Vancouver - 272 GF

San Jose - 264 GF

Nashville - 225 GF

New Jersey - 222 GF

Montreal - 217 GF

Boston - 206 GF

 

Average GF for Philly teams: 215 GF

Average GF for Chicago teams: 254 GF

Difference between best and worst (Van-Bos): 66 GF

 

Average goal differential for Philly teams: +8

Average goal differential for Chicago teams: +33

 

If you look at just GA, yes the EC opponents of the Flyers allowed less goals. But when you consider that the WC is just a higher scoring conference in general, it makes sense that the EC opponents have a lower GA. Anyways, I don't think you are arguing that the Flyers opponents are better than the Hawks opponents, I just started typing out a response and turned it into a general look at the quality of competition for both sides.

[rawaction]

This series kinda scares me. I think both teams are peaking right now. Blackhawks and Flyers both have won 8 of their last 9. The Hawks have scored at least 4 goals 6 times during the last 9. The Flyers have allowed 2 or fewer goals in 6 of the 9.

 

Hot goaltending usually trumps offense in the playoffs. Then you throw in the whole Hossa factor. I'm nervous about hockey for the first time in my life.

 

The Blackhawks aren't exactly lacking in the hot goalie department. Their guy actually had to stop legit attacks.

 

That's true. Philly hasn't faced anything close to what the Blackhawks will send at them. And Niemi mostly dominated a pretty strong offensive team in San Jose.

[Soul]

Just by virtue of the fact that your opponent made it to the Cup Finals pretty much means you will have to face a good team -- whether that means a great regular season team, or a team that got really hot.

 

It's hard to expect to get this far and face a tomato can. The Hawks will need to beat a team that is playing very well and has some really good qualities. And so will the Flyers.

[Banedon]

It's hard to expect to get this far and face a tomato can. The Hawks will need to beat a team that is playing very well and has some really good qualities. And so will the Flyers.

 

You can't pretend that the WC and EC are the same level of skill though. Each team has beaten 3 teams to get here, and those 3 teams aren't equal, as UM's post showed.

[bukie]

Here's a good article on the overall parity of goalies in today's NHL: http://www.puckprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=572

 

Note: GVT is like hockey's version of baseball's VORP. A 0.0 GVT/game is equivalent to a replacement player. So, the players around 0.0 aren't so much "average" as they are "slightly better than replacement level".

 

Also, the chart only shows goalies above 0.0 GVT among goalies that played at least 40 games, so you won't see Niemi or any Philly goalies in the chart.

[Soul]

It's hard to expect to get this far and face a tomato can. The Hawks will need to beat a team that is playing very well and has some really good qualities. And so will the Flyers.

 

You can't pretend that the WC and EC are the same level of skill though. Each team has beaten 3 teams to get here, and those 3 teams aren't equal, as UM's post showed.

 

I know, but I still respect what the Flyers did, especially coming back from 3 games down.

[jersey cubs fan]

plus the flyers have been playing the entire postseason with backup goalies.

 

And they have to count on one of those backups this round. What's your point?

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I don't see much difference between the Flyers' 1st, 2nd and 3rd goalies. It's not like they had Ryan Miller and had to fall back on Leighton.

[Banedon]

Saturday can't come fast enough. The overanalysis and hype is going to be ridiculous. And tiresome.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Saturday can't come fast enough. The overanalysis and hype is going to be ridiculous. And tiresome.

 

Three weeks can't come fast enough. Just get this overwith.

[Banedon]

Saturday can't come fast enough. The overanalysis and hype is going to be ridiculous. And tiresome.

 

Three weeks can't come fast enough. Just get this overwith.

 

I disagree there. I love the journey. The destination just means the end of hockey for a while...

 

It's just the downtime that I hate.

[Soul]

It would be nice if a Chicago team other than the White Sox could break through for a change.

 

I find it really hard to shake the "impending doom" mentality of a Chicago fan. Although -- until the Phils won their WS, many in that city would have said the same thing.

 

We just need a team to get it done. Make me feel much better 8-)

[brinoch]

Tab Bamford with a great pre-series writeup.

 

he talks about the injuries on the teams the flyers faced, but makes no mention that the flyers were missing their top scorer for all of round two and 3 games of the conference final, and missing simon gagne for a few games in round two. plus the flyers have been playing the entire postseason with backup goalies. he talks about how the teams the flyers played were weak offensively, but makes no mention that the teams the blackhawks beat were weaker defensively (goals against) than the teams the flyers faced.

 

also, it's dumb to say that focusing pronger "and company" on the kane-toews-buff line could be a grave mistake. pronger and carle always play against the other team's top line. if they could play 60 minutes i'm sure they would, but you want your best defensive pairing to go up against the other team's best forwards. timonen and coburn will likely play against the second line most of the time, and some combo of the four will play against the other two lines. krajicek and parent will probably be stapled to the bench for the vast majority of the game.

 

i guess it's a great article if you want to read something written by someone who is clearly rooting for the blackhawks.

 

As Truffle notes, the Flyers have two very good defensive pairings. Their third pairing is fairly suspect and has averaged 18:25 for the playoffs (that includes the plus-up for 3 OT games). Flyer Defense TOI average:

 

Pronger -- 28:48

Carle -- 25:25

 

Timonen -- 26:34

Coburn -- 24:34

 

Krajicek -- 10:32

Parent -- 7:53

 

By comparison, the Hawks kind of roll 3 pairings, but with the extended loss of Johnsson they really play 5 and use Hendry to spell the other Defensemen. Blackhawk Defense TOI average (including 2 OT's):

 

Keith -- 27:52

Seabrook -- 23:49

 

Campbell -- 19:37

Hjalmarsson -- 21:12

 

Sopel -- 18:36

Hendry -- 8:15

 

In terms of TOI for both sets of D-men, note that only Keith spends more TOI than any of the main four Flyers. The Hawks use 1 D-Man on the PP, whereas the Flyers use 2.

 

PHI- Pronger (28:48)

CHI- Keith (27:52)

PHI- Timonen (26:34)

PHI-Carle (25:25)

PHI-Coburn (24:34)

CHI- Seabrook (23:49)

CHI- Hjalmarsson (21:12)

CHI- Campbell (19:37)

CHI- Sopel (18:36)

 

(Edit: I calculated this all out and then just found it in an article posted while I wrote the post. Bastards.)

 

Basically, the Flyers keep their top two pairings on the ice a whole lot. This is one key reason that they absolutely will not steam up and down the ice -- they just can't do it for 60 minutes. They play a fairly solid backchecking game and make you work it out the zone. They will try to slow the Hawks transition game down and deny puck possession. If the Hawks are physical and force the Flyer D to work in the corners and behind the net, the Flyer D is vulnerable to getting tired and worn out.

 

Cycling effectively will again be critical -- it tires the D out. Getting the 4th line in against either pairing and hitting them and forechecking hard is a great tactic. In addition, the lines as constructed (Toews, Buff, Kane; Sharp, Hossa, Brow; Versteeg, Ladd, Bolland) give a challenge to the Flyer D. They need to choose whether to cover/dig out the screeners (Buff/Brow/Ladd) or chase into the corners with their D. If they try and do both by dropping a winger down, it allows for our D-Men to pinch and jump into the play.

 

If the Hawks keep their commitment to puck possession, backchecking and clean, physical play, I think they will slowly wear the Flyers down over the course of each game.

[bukie]

Man, I love this GVT stuff. I think I'll help bridge the gap to Saturday by asking 1-2 trivia questions a day based on GVT.

 

Today's question: Who are the top 5 all-time NHL players according to overall GVT?

[RedFlash]

That's the crappy thing about being favored. I think I'd rather be a Philly fan at this point. Nothing to lose.

 

I don't know about that. Philly fans have their own form of anxiety to deal with. Remember they have to face the Hawks, the best team they will face in the playoffs.

 

Let's remember one thing....Flyers haven't won a championship since 1975 (I think that is correct). Both teams fanbase have anxiety about what will happen in this series.

[chuckywang]

Why does everyone keep harping on the Flyers defense? They allowed 225 goals this season, good for 15th in the league, tied with the Predators. Both the Canucks and Sharks allowed less goals for the season.

[Soul]

Why does everyone keep harping on the Flyers defense? They allowed 225 goals this season, good for 15th in the league, tied with the Predators. Both the Canucks and Sharks allowed less goals for the season.

 

The theory is, you can throw out the overall regular season numbers for the Flyers because they got hot for the playoffs, and are still hot.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Why does everyone keep harping on the Flyers defense? They allowed 225 goals this season, good for 15th in the league, tied with the Predators. Both the Canucks and Sharks allowed less goals for the season.

 

The theory is that nothing the Flyers did counted before they changed coaches and had a few weeks to adjust.

[TruffleShuffle]

If the Hawks keep their commitment to puck possession, backchecking and clean, physical play, I think they will slowly wear the Flyers down over the course of each game.

 

this is a valid point and one that i think is a big concern for the flyers. it's big for our top four d-men to get several days off now, but they will start to get tired out over the course of the series and maybe within some of the games. plus the numbers that you posted are even a little skewed because krajicek and especially parent have played very little in close/important games. parent played 14:26 in our 6-0 win against MTL and 10:32 in game 3 when we lost 5-1, but just 2:21 against boston in game seven and 2:25 and 3:01 in the last two games against MTL. basically in games that are close, you will see mostly four defensemen, krajicek will have a shift or two a period and will see a little time on the PP and PK, and parent will basically not play. pronger and timonen will be around 30:00, carle around 25-27 per game.

[TruffleShuffle]

The assistant editor for the Philadelphia Daily News did a Flyers Q&A...

 

Chuck, who would you rather have Richards and Carter or Kane and Toews?

 

 

Chuck Bausman: Interesting question. Toews strikes me as a leader in the Clarke (maybe Richards) mold. Kane can score goals and he's only 21. I'd probably stick with Richards and Carter.

 

Good! lol

 

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/frequentflyers/Chat_Flyers_with_Chuck_Bausman.html#axzz0oyB3qajN

 

it's not that lopsided but i'd take kane and toews because they're younger. toews and richards are very similar players. kane is and will be better offensively than carter, but carter is a better defensive player.

 

that list of top 50 skaters which had sharp at 37, kane at 18, hossa at 14 and toews at 3, while richards was unranked, was absurd.

[kujay]

Niemi just needs to keep it up. Actually, 80% of what he did against SJ is probably good enough.

 

I've watched a few of Philly's games. I just don't see them being able to keep up.

 

I'm selfishly glad that the games aren't until Saturday since I'm on the road all week, but all this analysis is driving me nuts.