Chicago Blackhawks 2012 Playoffs

[UMFan83]

Also looking at the website playoffstatus.com, they give projections based on the games so far and SOS among other things.

 

Division Title odds:

Red Wings 50%

Blues 33%

Blackhawks 12%

Predators 5%

 

Chance of making the playoffs:

Red Wings 99%

Blues 97%

Blackhawks 87%

Predators 72%

[NewUserName]

Also looking at the website playoffstatus.com, they give projections based on the games so far and SOS among other things.

 

Division Title odds:

Red Wings 50%

Blues 33%

Blackhawks 12%

Predators 5%

 

Chance of making the playoffs:

Red Wings 99%

Blues 97%

Blackhawks 87%

Predators 72%

 

I was surprised that Nashville chances of making the playoffs was so high. I went and checked the overall standings and realized that after the top 7 teams in the West, the rest of the conference takes a pretty large nosedive talent/ability wise. I know it is early to say this, but I would hate to run into the LA Kings in the first round.

[UMFan83]

Tonight's game has been delayed until 8pm because of the snow, just in case people were excited to tune in at 7:30. Can't say I remember something like this being announced 45 minutes before game time.

[BCVM22]

Can't say I remember something like this being announced 45 minutes before game time.

 

As of 6:15, the Panthers team bus hadn't even made it to the UC yet.

[Butterscup1679666578]

Thought we were going to be scoreless after 1 but suddenly it's 2-0. Awesome goal by Toews, huge goal by Keith from way out.

[UMFan83]

Kaner put one through the 5 hole finally. Kid needed that badly and looks excited as hell. Hopefully the floodgates open for him now.

[Careless]

yay

[UMFan83]

Time for the Hawks to get screwed out of another goal.

 

Edit: Yup. [expletive]

[kujay]

That was bullcrap. He didn't hit it with the blade of his stick, which was higher than where he actually made contact. It wasn't even close.

[bddavidson]

Does it make sense to put Frolik on the Toews/Kane line? It has worked for Stalberg and even going back to Brouwer to score goals and finish chances.

 

In the extended pregame Murray went out of his way to praise Frolik for doing all the small things well. Edzo echoed that during the television broadcast. He's sound defensively so you dont have to worry about that.

 

Just to get his confidence going seeing some pucks go in the net, could be huge when/if he gets back on the Bolland line, which is always a key line in the playoffs.

[kujay]

Rollin'...

[UMFan83]

Does it make sense to put Frolik on the Toews/Kane line? It has worked for Stalberg and even going back to Brouwer to score goals and finish chances.

 

In the extended pregame Murray went out of his way to praise Frolik for doing all the small things well. Edzo echoed that during the television broadcast. He's sound defensively so you dont have to worry about that.

 

Just to get his confidence going seeing some pucks go in the net, could be huge when/if he gets back on the Bolland line, which is always a key line in the playoffs.

 

That might not be a bad idea. Frolik really does do a little bit of everything except scoring goals. He has a history of being a goal scorer so I feel like the ability is there. Maybe putting him on the top line would get him rolling.

 

It's so weird. Look at Frolik's shooting percentage for his career:

 

08-09 (21 goals, 79 games): 13.3%

09-10 (21 goals, 82 games): 9.6%

10-11: (11 goals, 80 games): 4.4%

11-12: (5 goals, 45 games): 5.3%

[UMFan83]

Amazingly, the Hawks are now tied for 5th in the NHL in point differential (+23). Makes me feel a bit better about their level of success this year.

 

Now is where it gets interesting. 10 of the next 11 games are on the road against. Hawks are currently .500 on the road (technically 10-8-2). The good news is that they play roughly half the games are against teams that aren't all that great. The toughest games will be the 3 against Nashville (1 at home), San Jose, the Rangers and Vancouver. The others are Edmonton, Calgary, Colorado, Phoenix, and Columbus

[Butterscup1679666578]

Let's get 3 out of 4 in this home-and-home with Nashville and then do big things on this road trip. I'd like to see 12 points.

[Butterscup1679666578]

How the hell are we winning?

[Butterscup1679666578]

piss

[Careless]

Wow. That's ridiculous

[UMFan83]

Crawforded tonight

[UMFan83]

wings and blues both won tonight. Of course they did...they win every damn game.

 

Wings have won 6 in a row (4 of them in shootouts wtf)

Blues have gotten points in their last 9 games, winning 8 of them.

Hawks had gotten points in their last 7 games before tonight, winning 5.

Predators have won 10 of their last 12 games.

 

These 4 teams have a combined streak where they have taken 60 of their last 68 points available.

 

There is only 3 non-Central teams in the NHL that have more points than our 4th place team (Rangers 64, Bruins 62, Vancouver 62 vs. Nashville 60).

 

Best division in hockey by far.

Edited January 22, 2012 by UMFan83

[17 Seconds]

wings and blues both won tonight. Of course they did...they win every damn game.

 

detroit is really [expletive] annoying. 6 of their last 8 games have gone to OT and they've won all 6. their last 3 games have gone to shootouts and they won all 3. so far in OT/SO games they're 8-1.

[gflore34]

wings and blues both won tonight. Of course they did...they win every damn game.[/quote

 

detroit is really [expletive] annoying. 6 of their last 8 games have gone to OT and they've won all 6. their last 3 games have gone to shootouts and they won all 3. so far in OT/SO games they're 8-1.

 

I believe that will even out as the season goes on, they're playing well no doubt and also getting a lot bounces.

 

The last game vs the Hawks was really annoying, for whatever reason the Hawks decided to let them stake to and do anything they like for 45+ minutes plus OT. I give some credit to the Wings but, the Hawks largely decided not to play. Found it interesting that when the Hawks decided to play they outscored the Wings 2-0, makes you wonder what it would have been like had they played the whole game in such a manner.

[Butterscup1679666578]

Toews out tomorrow night.

[kujay]

wings and blues both won tonight. Of course they did...they win every damn game.

 

detroit is really [expletive] annoying. 6 of their last 8 games have gone to OT and they've won all 6. their last 3 games have gone to shootouts and they won all 3. so far in OT/SO games they're 8-1.

 

Whatever happens, the STL-DET game tonight needs to end in regulation. I see Detroit as the greater long-term threat, and I'd never root for them anyway, so go Blues.

[NewUserName]

wings and blues both won tonight. Of course they did...they win every damn game.[/quote

 

detroit is really [expletive] annoying. 6 of their last 8 games have gone to OT and they've won all 6. their last 3 games have gone to shootouts and they won all 3. so far in OT/SO games they're 8-1.

 

I believe that will even out as the season goes on, they're playing well no doubt and also getting a lot bounces.

 

The last game vs the Hawks was really annoying, for whatever reason the Hawks decided to let them stake to and do anything they like for 45+ minutes plus OT. I give some credit to the Wings but, the Hawks largely decided not to play. Found it interesting that when the Hawks decided to play they outscored the Wings 2-0, makes you wonder what it would have been like had they played the whole game in such a manner.

 

couldn't it also be said that the Wings decided not to play for the 1st 10 minutes of the 3rd period in that game? Makes you wonder how much of a blowout that game would have been if the Wings would have played those 10 mins. I am not picking a fight, just pointing out that your argument has a rather large whole in it.

[UMFan83]

So the Wings won tonight....in regulation. That's good. They are now 3 points ahead of us with equal number of games played. Bad news is Nashville is cruising to a win. When they get those 2 points, they will be just 2 points behind the Hawks for 3rd place.

 

Here is the current standings, assuming the Predators win:

 

Detroit 49 GP 67 Points

St. Louis 48 GP 64 Points

Chicago 49 GP 64 Points

Nashville 49 GP 62 Points

 

On a side note, I thought the Hawks would have been the worst road team of the 4, considering their very mediocre 10-9-2 road record, but actually they have the 2nd best road record behind Nashville. The Wings and Blues have largely built their points primarily from home games. Wings are 13-13-0 on the road, and the Blues are just 8-10-3.

 

Either way, the Hawks have a really really tough and long road trip coming up. They are going to have to show a level that they haven't shown so far this year if they want to come home from that road trip still in the division race.