Blackhawks 2010-2011 season

[Soul]

So apparently it was Toews that went on a tirade after the first period. [expletive] yeah.

 

Watching the Blackhawks sleepwalk through the first period of a game they absolutely had to win was too much for Jonathan Toews to stomach.

 

So the captain let his teammates have it.

 

"Maybe I got after the boys a little bit too much, but we saw the guys responded to it," Toews said after the Hawks' 5-3 victory Monday over the Blues.

 

"What's frustrating (is), we say things before the game that we have to do and we go out there and play the way we did in the first 20 minutes. It was unacceptable and the leaders in the locker room held the rest of the team accountable and everyone stepped up to the plate in the second 20 (minutes)."

 

It shouldn't take a tirade from Toews to get people to play up to their capabilities. I think that's the larger point, not that his tirade happened to work for one game.

[UMFan83]

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110221/sports/702219836/

 

This article paints a bleak picture of the Hawks offseason, claiming it could be in even worse shape than last offseason. We anticipated this, but its depressing to think about shaving our team down more after what happened this season. I think this is the season we finally lose Sharp, especially considering what a good year he's had. He'll have great value in a trade.

[Flames24Rulz]

And that's why you trade Seabrook rather than giving him a $1 million raise in an underachieving season.

[brinoch]

That article is a piece of hot, wet ... garbage. There is no way that the cap situation this offseason will be nearly so bad as last year. How could it be? There are $4M of bonuses coming off the books and the expected cap increase. There are three RFA guys you want to bring back with increases, though you may need to change things up... Seabrook, Brouwer and Crawford.

[UMFan83]

That article is a piece of hot, wet ... garbage. There is no way that the cap situation this offseason will be nearly so bad as last year. How could it be? There are $4M of bonuses coming off the books and the expected cap increase. There are three RFA guys you want to bring back with increases, though you may need to change things up... Seabrook, Brouwer and Crawford.

 

Well I heard there was gonna be challenges in the offseason and decisions need to be made, but I hadn't heard someone say it would be as bad as last offseason until this article. I forgot about the bonuses coming off. I wonder if the author remembered that. I don't recall him mentioning that.

[Flames24Rulz]

That article is a piece of hot, wet ... garbage. There is no way that the cap situation this offseason will be nearly so bad as last year. How could it be? There are $4M of bonuses coming off the books and the expected cap increase. There are three RFA guys you want to bring back with increases, though you may need to change things up... Seabrook, Brouwer and Crawford.

 

Rozner's usually pretty good with his Hawks coverage. It wouldn't shock me at all if we have to decide between Sharp and Seabrook in the offseason. Considering we're right up against the cap right now and we have guys that are due raises, we're probably going to be right up against the cap next season, even with the Cup bonuses coming off the books.

[squally1313]

If it comes down to Sharp or Seabs, you tell Sharpie thanks for his time, send him on hid way, and laugh at the team that inevitably overpays him. As recently as a couple weeks ago, the advanced metrics had sharp as the worst even strength player on our team. You take away all the wide open nets he's had from some sick Kane passes, and you start to look past his goals total and see his crappy +\-. Meanwhile, seabs has been our most consistent physical defenseman all year.

 

We're like second in the league in goals per game. You don't take away the top line defenseman from that team, you take away the guy who shoots at all the open nets

[UMFan83]

But he's so dreamy.

[brinoch]

Guys. Sharp is signed for next season at $3.9M and then is a UFA. That's a bargain. They aren't going to trade him for anything less than a king's ransom.

 

The RFAs for next season are:

Brouwer ($1M)

Crawford ($800K)

Dowell ($525K)

Frolik ($1.275M)

Seabrook ($3.5M)

Stalberg ($850K)

 

I believe Dowell, Brouwer and Crawford will be back. Seabrook will be back if his salary demands aren't too high. I think they will be high, given Byfuglien's deal in Atlanta, so they may trade him in the offseason. The problem with trading Seabrook is there is no one in the pipeline to replace him. He's a big, physical Defenseman with puck skills. Keith, Campbell and Leddy are smaller, more offensive D-Men. Hjalmarsson is more of the Seabrook mold, but not as fast or skilled. Frankly, I think the Hawks are more likely to trade Hammer in the offseason than Seabrook. I don't know about Frolik and Stalberg, and I suspect that jury is still out on both -- though more weight will be given to bringing Frolik back given his scoring history and very short tenure with the Hawks.

 

UFAs:

Boynton ($500K)

Hendry ($600K)

Johnson ($500K -- Pro-rated)

Kopecky ($1.2M)

Pisani ($500K)

Turco ($1.2M)

 

You could see a clean sweep here, opening up more $4M. You also have $4.2M from the bonuses, and an expected $2M increase in the cap. That's $10.2M for raises to Dowell (a small one), Frolik (might be a pay cut), Brouwer, Seabrook and Crawford and filling 7 more roster spots. That's doable, if they figure to continue with the current core. (FWIW, I think we'll have Salak and Crawford next season minding the nets next season.)

[Flames24Rulz]

I'd keep Johnson as a 3rd or 4th line center too. At least the guy can win a faceoff.

[brinoch]

That article is a piece of hot, wet ... garbage. There is no way that the cap situation this offseason will be nearly so bad as last year. How could it be? There are $4M of bonuses coming off the books and the expected cap increase. There are three RFA guys you want to bring back with increases, though you may need to change things up... Seabrook, Brouwer and Crawford.

 

Rozner's usually pretty good with his Hawks coverage. It wouldn't shock me at all if we have to decide between Sharp and Seabrook in the offseason. Considering we're right up against the cap right now and we have guys that are due raises, we're probably going to be right up against the cap next season, even with the Cup bonuses coming off the books.

 

I think Rozner doesn't really know what he's talking about. Cimaglia or Sassone have better insight, in my opinion.

[brinoch]

I'd keep Johnson as a 3rd or 4th line center too. At least the guy can win a faceoff.

 

I could see that, too. Also, Morin is almost certainly going to be up next season.

 

If Bolland succeeds on the second line, we could easily see Toews/Bolland/Dowell/Johnson next season.

[squally1313]

Brinoch, any thoughts on trading sharp for, as you called it, a "kings ransom"? Obviously it's an affordable contract, so it wouldn't be for the salary relief. But really more just selling high.

 

Not saying he isn't a very good hockey player, but with the way the season has gone, we need to shore up our defense. Maybe not get a defenseman, but I'd look for more of a two way forward than sharp.

[brinoch]

Brinoch, any thoughts on trading sharp for, as you called it, a "kings ransom"? Obviously it's an affordable contract, so it wouldn't be for the salary relief. But really more just selling high.

 

Not saying he isn't a very good hockey player, but with the way the season has gone, we need to shore up our defense. Maybe not get a defenseman, but I'd look for more of a two way forward than sharp.

 

There's zero chance that happens before the offseason, since the Hawks are right in the thick of things.

 

I wouldn't trade for defense. I think the defense should be good -- the players are there. I'm just not sure why they aren't firing on all cylinders. Is it the coaching? The decision-making?

 

As for what to get from Sharp... it depends. It's hard to get value in trades. What I'd really want is a true-second line center.

[squally1313]

Brinoch, any thoughts on trading sharp for, as you called it, a "kings ransom"? Obviously it's an affordable contract, so it wouldn't be for the salary relief. But really more just selling high.

 

Not saying he isn't a very good hockey player, but with the way the season has gone, we need to shore up our defense. Maybe not get a defenseman, but I'd look for more of a two way forward than sharp.

 

There's zero chance that happens before the offseason, since the Hawks are right in the thick of things.

 

I wouldn't trade for defense. I think the defense should be good -- the players are there. I'm just not sure why they aren't firing on all cylinders. Is it the coaching? The decision-making?

 

As for what to get from Sharp... it depends. It's hard to get value in trades. What I'd really want is a true-second line center.

 

Yeah the thing about defensemen is that there's only 6 spots to fill. Unless you want to get rid of Seabrook (which I don't), we've got four of those spots locked up, and all four players have a history of being effective. So obviously there's no point in trading someone like Sharp for a third pairing defenseman.

 

You mentioned getting a second line center. I think the key is to figure out what they want to do with Bolland. If they still think he can develop into a scoring threat (his minor league numbers are Kane-esque), then I think you have to give him every opportunity to succeed on the second line with Hossa. If his ceiling is going to be a third line (typically a checking line) center, then you have to decide if you want to pay him $3.4 million to play that role, or give the role to Dowell, who can give you 80% of what Bolland does at 20% of the price. Yeah, he's a great penalty killer, which we saw in the playoffs last year, but bottom line is that he is god-awful at faceoffs, which is an incredibly important part of killing penalties.

 

If it's me, keep the team as is for this season, see if they can remember how good they can be. But in the offseason, put Sharp and Bolland on the market, together or separately, and see what you can get back. Next year's checking line can be Bickell/Dowell/someone (Stalberg, Brouwer)...Johnson and Toews can be the two PK centers.

[Magnetic Curses]

So apparently it was Toews that went on a tirade after the first period. [expletive] yeah.

 

Watching the Blackhawks sleepwalk through the first period of a game they absolutely had to win was too much for Jonathan Toews to stomach.

 

So the captain let his teammates have it.

 

"Maybe I got after the boys a little bit too much, but we saw the guys responded to it," Toews said after the Hawks' 5-3 victory Monday over the Blues.

 

"What's frustrating (is), we say things before the game that we have to do and we go out there and play the way we did in the first 20 minutes. It was unacceptable and the leaders in the locker room held the rest of the team accountable and everyone stepped up to the plate in the second 20 (minutes)."

 

It shouldn't take a tirade from Toews to get people to play up to their capabilities. I think that's the larger point, not that his tirade happened to work for one game.

 

i disagree, this is a fairly young, talented team prone to extended periods of lackluster effort. and this is why toews is the captain, it's what a captain does. even the older players look up to him.

[sneakypower]

i liked this author's opinion on Frolik:

 

Michael Frolik is endearing himself to his new team. Zero points and minus-3 in six games. I wonder if this is a ploy (here's my GM imagination running away from me again) - but a player this talented and in his third year (a contract year), what if you stuck him on the third/fourth line with zilch for power-play time? Then you sign him for two years at a rock-bottom price and he enters that magical fourth season. Budget restraints force you to clear out another player or two, you stick the low-paid Frolik on the top line and "voila", you have yourself a highly productive cheap forward. No?

[squally1313]

i liked this author's opinion on Frolik:

 

Michael Frolik is endearing himself to his new team. Zero points and minus-3 in six games. I wonder if this is a ploy (here's my GM imagination running away from me again) - but a player this talented and in his third year (a contract year), what if you stuck him on the third/fourth line with zilch for power-play time? Then you sign him for two years at a rock-bottom price and he enters that magical fourth season. Budget restraints force you to clear out another player or two, you stick the low-paid Frolik on the top line and "voila", you have yourself a highly productive cheap forward. No?

 

In my extremely amateur opinion, Frolik kinda reminds me of Kane when he first came into the league. He's largely invisible for most of the game, but once or twice he's good for keeping the puck on his stick for an extended period of time, dangling a little, and making a good shot or getting a good pass.

 

In terms of his performance though, I think you got to give him a few more games. Apparently the offensive system in Florida is much different and much less dynamic, and I'd guess he's still adjusting. Plus, let's face it....Florida is probably the worst hockey franchise in the league. There's an adjustment to playing (somewhat) important hockey, especially for how young he is.

[17 Seconds]

the nest 4 games are absolutely crucial. we've got nashville, phoenix, minnesota, and calgary.... 4 teams we're fighting for playoff spots with

 

what's amazing is that we're one good stretch away from potentially leaping all the way into the 3 seed. that's how wide open it is.

 

this team still has the 3rd best goal differential in the west, despite all the injuries and struggles. there is nooo way this team should miss the playoffs. if they DO, it's not because of the roster.

[NewUserName]

the nest 4 games are absolutely crucial. we've got nashville, phoenix, minnesota, and calgary.... 4 teams we're fighting for playoff spots with

 

what's amazing is that we're one good stretch away from potentially leaping all the way into the 3 seed. that's how wide open it is.

 

this team still has the 3rd best goal differential in the west, despite all the injuries and struggles. there is nooo way this team should miss the playoffs. if they DO, it's not because of the roster.

 

the Hawks would have to pass Detroit to get to the 3rd seed. I think they could easily hop up to the 4th seed though.

[17 Seconds]

yea i always forget about the divisional seeding thing

[kujay]

Seems to me the last few nights while the Hawks were off went pretty well. With a win tonight I think they move into a tie for 5th. Huge game.

 

Also seems to me it's too early for me to watch all the other games every night and try to figure out the best scenario for the Hawks and their playoff chances.

[Flames24Rulz]

Seems to me the last few nights while the Hawks were off went pretty well. With a win tonight I think they move into a tie for 5th. Huge game.

 

Also seems to me it's too early for me to watch all the other games every night and try to figure out the best scenario for the Hawks and their playoff chances.

 

I've been scoreboard watching for a few weeks now.

[kujay]

Seems to me the last few nights while the Hawks were off went pretty well. With a win tonight I think they move into a tie for 5th. Huge game.

 

Also seems to me it's too early for me to watch all the other games every night and try to figure out the best scenario for the Hawks and their playoff chances.

 

I've been scoreboard watching for a few weeks now.

 

I have too, there are just too many teams and too many possible scenarios on most nights. That said, I'm glad the Hawks have turned it on a little and I actually care about these things.

[NewUserName]

I think the best thing that can happen for the Hawks is to win 8 out of 10. Seems like most of the other teams in the WC have had that sort of run except the Hawks.