Game 1 - Hawks v St Louis

Post #1 » by **TNBT** » Wed Oct 12, 2016 8:00 pm

Hopefully we can get a bit more discussion going now that regular season hockey is (finally) here.

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Post #2 » by **TNBT** » Wed Oct 12, 2016 8:12 pm

Just read an interesting article from Blackhawks Up... It talked about likely line combinations for at least this game and possibly longer term, if they're productive. They had this as the likely lineup:

Panik - Toews - Hossa
Panarin - Anisimov - Kane
Motte - Kruger - Hartman
Hinostroza - Schmaltz - Tootoo

Keith - TVR
Forsling - Campbell
Kempny - Seabrook

Now I'm pretty excited to see how this pans out. The top two lines are pretty much as we predicted, but it's the bottom two lines that are interesting. Four out of the six are rookies, or very inexperienced. That's a very promising sign for the future. I also think both lines are well balanced. They both have a gritty, physical, net front presence (Hartman and Tootoo), the third line has offense (Motte) and defense (Kruger). On the fourth line, you have two very talented offensive players in Hinostroza and Schmaltz, which should mean we get some scoring from all four lines this year.

Also keep in mind that Desjardins is out injured. He'll probably take Tootoo's spot when he returns, unless one of the young guys is really struggling, in which case he might take their spot and we'll send them down.

On defense, they've left out Hjalmarsson because he's suspended for game 1, but seem to think he'll take TVR's spot when he returns, unless Forsling is really struggling.

Here's a link to the article and they go more in-depth reasons why: http://blackhawkup.com/2016/10/11/chicago-blackhawks-opening-night-lineup-breakdown/?utm_campaign=FanSided+Daily&utm_source=FanSided+Daily&utm_medium=email

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Post #3 » by **TNBT** » Wed Oct 12, 2016 8:15 pm

GRADEN wrote:Well 3 years ago I said Forsling was a D stud in training and it looks like we will all find out sooner than I thought! I'm so excited to see him out there...

Well we have 6 rooks and will see 3 more over the season... this is because of the cap of course, but wow it should be interesting

Thoughts?

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GRADEN · Post #4 » by **GRADEN** » Wed Oct 12, 2016 10:10 pm

Unfortunately I think it's time for some realistic pow-wow guys...

We will live and die with the Russia-Buffalo line and the play of Crow.... a 4thline of 5 foot somethings, 6-8 rookies, age playing with I.T. and games played.... I think realistically we are a 97-98 point 6-7th place team where we will look at SJS / STL / DAL as a near crazy impossible 1st round matchup

But....... in terms of 2017-2018 season it will be HUGE getting our 18-23 year olds 40-60 games each.... it will open up a huge offseason for us.

Feel bad for McNeil... he made this team I think, he is on his last year / chance with us..... I fully expect him to be traded by game 25, u can bank on that... y'all know how Stan works, he is savvy and McNeil killing it for Rockford will net us something we need for the playoffs or a decent pick

GRADEN · Post #5 » by **GRADEN** » Wed Oct 12, 2016 10:13 pm

Also I don't know guys... A-DeB is pretty insane.... I mean I know he isn't ready for a physical shift but damn he is just so skilled

GRADEN · Post #6 » by **GRADEN** » Thu Oct 13, 2016 6:18 am

Tough go... really it's a 3-2 loss with some sloppy EN play

My thoughts: thought the young guys did well but we obviously in a late 3rd they were passed on, may have been a mistake?

Schmaltz--- 8:51... 0SOG... honestly he needs a ton of lower strength / weight, he plays waaaaay too high and it costs him board battles... it was very obvious out there he lacked lower strength against NHLers

Hartman: 8:33 Andre of course a goal... looks like a Shaw type of attitude out there aka "out scrap / work / hustle and I'll win" which I love, maybe not the highest skill level with possession but the willingness to sacrifice his comfort for re-possession wins him a nice career ala Shawzy

Hino: 7:47 - very nice fluid skater, he "glides"... tough to see much more than that, he didn't seem to find much space out there

Motte: 12:16... very impressed, I'm surprised... his IQ was very movement / angles inclined and it shows good depth to his game... he was involved a lot and overall you can really see him developing into a nice player

Forsling: 15:29... pretty clear he is a world class talent guys... he does need to move the puck quicker though, it's definitely a flaw right now. He also got 2nd call PP duty with BC instead of TvR which is surprising...

Look we were sloppy tonight with penalties, movement, blue line passes, and over skating... it's night one and we played 6 rookies ALOT... so we lost

Thoughts on the young guys?

Post #7 » by **TNBT** » Sat Oct 15, 2016 2:14 am

I haven't got the NHL package this season so I was listening to the game in radio through the Blackhawks app, and I had to leave for work after the 2nd period. From the sound of things, it got ugly in the 3rd period for us. As you said though, we're going to have sone tough times this year as that's to be expected when you start playing a lot of kids. We'll get better as the season goes along though, and we'll be much better for it come next season.

Thanks for your breakdown of the kids, G. It's not surprising that they struggled somewhat, but it's good to hear that they showed some talent and potential despite their struggles.

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