Chicago Blackhawks 2012 Playoffs

[UMFan83]

not really surprising. this is basically the same team as last year. all we did was add "toughness".

 

And a full season of Frolik, Brunette, Olesz, a much improved Leddy, Montador, a full year of Ben Smith whenever they finally come to their senses and recall him, much less John Scott, a decent amount of cap space, and if you believe in abstract improvements a much more rested team that should actually be hungry this year.

 

Sorry, I don't buy that this is the same team + toughness. Of the 18 players that have been playing on the top 4 lines and top 3 defensive pairings, 8 are players that weren't on those lines most or all of last year (Frolik, Brunette, Carcillo, Mayers, Kruger, Leddy, Montador, O'Donnell). Then you add in Lepisto and Olesz as players who have seen a decent amount of time this year. Not all of them have a big impact, but many do and provide the depth that we didn't have last year.

[17 Seconds]

i don't think we added talent in the offseason, considering we lost campbell (not complaining about that trade).

 

i'm not saying there was anything different they could have done this offseason, but i don't think this team is any better. the loss of campbell offset the talent we got from guys like brunette.

 

the good news is, we have lots of cap space and young players. we still look great for the future (including this year), but as of right now, this team isnt really better than last years.

 

i just realized our goal differential was down to +1. not good.

[seanimal]

this is definitely a better team than last year. the +1 goal differential is a product of getting stomped two games in a row in a young season. sure, this team has issues, but will finish with a significantly better record this season and display much stronger fundamental strengths statistically when all is said and done. how they perform in the playoffs is anyone's guess.

 

i'm not sure what to think of the power play. i'm not hitting the freakout button for two reasons. before the loss to TB, and especially pre-carolina, the power play was dominating the puck, rotating well, and creating traffic... literally doing everything except lighting the lamp. since then, the pp has essentially mirrored their woes at 5-on-5. if the 5-on-5 was working it and the pp was playing like this, that would be worrisome. regression to the mean will be kicking in eventually.

[UMFan83]

You said we had the same team as last year, which I took as meaning all the key players were the same, save for the ones brought in to give toughness.

 

Campbell is offset by the emergence of Leddy, who only played around 45 games last year playing 3rd line minutes. This year he's paired with Hammer and his 3rd line minutes are replaced by Montador, who is significantly better than (take your pick) Boynton/Hendry/Scott.

 

Who else did we lose? Kopecky's 42 points from last year will easily be exceeded by Brunette, who has topped 42 points in 11 consecutive seasons. Other than that, its Skille replaced by Frolik, which is an upgrade for Chicago, Dowell replaced by Kruger, who should have more upside than Dowell. Brouwer is a bit harder to find a comp for, but you replace him for your "toughness" with Carcillo and Mayers.

[seanimal]

duh less turco. kaner to center has to count for something too, especially once he busts the curve. healthy (so far, fingers crossed) hossa too.

[NewUserName]

I know it is only one game, but St Louis getting Hitchcock to coach scares me. I think they have decent talent but have been a mess for several years. If Hitchcock can get them in his system, I think they can become a real threat in the Central.

[17 Seconds]

umfan... i didn't mean they were the same team personnel wise, just that they feel like the same exact team.

 

oh, and campbell's loss is not offset by leddy. it seems like campbell's bad contract tricked people into thinking he wasn't as good as he actually is.

[Prizefight]

Few Thoughts:

 

Olesz is terrible. Go to Rockford. Get away from my team. If he's playing 10 minutes a game, we aren't good. Hilariously bad contract Stan.

 

If John Scott is dressing, we are awful. HE ADDS NOTHING. He's one of the worst 5 players in the league. There is no 'toughness' he brings or any deterrent to teams taking runs at anyone. Toews was getting knocked around all night. All teams do is uh, not fight Scott and skill players drool because I can easily skate circles around here. He simply can't play hockey. Stop this.

 

Any minute of ice time he gets is a direct indictment of Q who I'm starting to lose a lot of patience for.

 

 

This team misses Brian Campbell so much it's not even funny. The past two games teams have forechecked their asses off against us and we have no d-man outside of Keith who can run the transition game. I predict this will be addressed before any thing else this year. I'd love to trade Hammer. I don't know what happened to him, but he's been playing like a 5/6 defensemen ever since the cup finals. If we can get value for him, I'd trade him today.

 

 

Stop getting outworked jerks. The lineup changes, while bad, weren't even the reason they lost last night.

[jersey cubs fan]

Few Thoughts:

 

Olesz is terrible. Go to Rockford. Get away from my team. If he's playing 10 minutes a game, we aren't good. Hilariously bad contract Stan.

 

Oh my god that guy is terrible.

 

There's still plenty of time for this team to right he ship and they remain a potential contender, but the fact remains Bowman hasn't built anything yet. All his tinkering post final, while necessary - to an extent, hasn't helped the product on the ice.

[UMFan83]

It's amazing how 2 games has changed the outlook from "wow look at how awesome this team is" to "we havent gotten any better from last year"

[17 Seconds]

i basically felt that way when they were winning. they kept blowing games (even when they were winning games they'd often give up a lead and then have to come back at the end) and we were still seeing those lackadaisical efforts that plagues the team last year.

 

also, i basically said the same thing during the offseason. i figured we'd be about the same team, but with assets and cap space to get better at the deadline.

[seanimal]

oh, and campbell's loss is not offset by leddy. it seems like campbell's bad contract tricked people into thinking he wasn't as good as he actually is.

 

this. there definitely was a "grass is greener" attitude when it came to campbell and that contract.

[UMFan83]

I know you did, and I disagreed back then and now. You can match up last year's guys with this years guys, but it doesnt change the fact that this is a different team with almost half the regulars different than last year. There is much more depth to this team offensively and defensively and over the season this will be obvious. I am not really a hockey savant like prizefight, its more or less understanding what we lacked last year and putting my faith in Bowman that the players he acquired filled those holes. We didn't get any top line players except Brunette, so it doesn't look as flashy but we didnt need those guys. We needed to replace players like Pisani, Scott, Dowell, Hendry with players that deserve to be getting minutes in the NHL and I believe we did and that makes us a better team.

 

Also I did like Campbell and appreciate what he brought to the table despite his contract but IMO Leddy, Montador, O'Donnell is as good to be as Campbell, Boynton, Hendry. Campbell is the best player in that mix, but he can't be on the ice the 10-15 minutes a night when Boynton and Hendry have to play. Leddy doesn't = Campbell but Montador/ODonnell >> Boynton/Hendry.

 

Also I liked Chris Campoli but I find it hard to include him in a comparison between last years team and this years when he wasnt a Blackhawk the first 63 games of the season and only played in 19 games

[jersey cubs fan]

It's amazing how 2 games has changed the outlook from "wow look at how awesome this team is" to "we havent gotten any better from last year"

 

it's not really 2 games. They've had a few sloppy efforts and a few too many pull it out in the end wins when things were looking better early on.

[Prizefight]

Bolland not skating this morning

 

 

Montador taking reps on the PP. As a forward. So you know, there's that.

[UMFan83]

If I wanted to add creedence to your opinion, I'd mention that only 6 teams have played easier schedules than the Hawks so far this year.

 

That said, teams win close games all the time, and go through stretches where they have to grind out a couple of tough closely played games. The fact that we came out on top of most of them is good. Does that mean we are an elite team? No, elite teams like the Hawks 2 years ago go through stretches where they won 5-2 every night. We obviously havent seen that yet. But nothing in the first 15 games has changed my opinion that this team is better than last year. We will know for sure as the season moves along.

[Epsteenie]

John Scott is in.

 

Lepisto and O'Donnell are out.

[Butterscup1679666578]

cant even score a PPG against the worst team in sports

[Butterscup1679666578]

OMG

[E.J.]

Finally.

[E.J.]

Floodgates

[Derwood]

Mason is one of the worst goalies I've ever seen. Unbelievable

[Butterscup1679666578]

thank god CBJ exists to break some slumps.

[Derwood]

at what point do you just bench Mason and go with someone else? How much worse could it get?

[kujay]

Columbus is one bad hockey team.