The Rink staff members John Jaeckel, Jeff Osborn, Sean Fitzgerald, Andy Campbell, Ray Napientek, Andy Campbell, Eric Andrews, Aaron Goldschmidt from the Rink Colorado, and special guest, Gate’s ol buddy (and marginal goalie) from Puckin’ Hostile, Patrick Stankus talk about the upcoming entry draft.

• • Mock picks of the entry draft from 1-11 (or 12, whichever you prefer) and Colorado (with help of FC Hockey)
  • The Seth Jones Saga
  • Jonathan Toews might be back
  • The Blackhawks legal problems
  • A few more jokes than usual with Gate and Stankus.

Watch the entire replay of the Facebook live right here:

Watch the entire replay of the YouTube right here:

Subscribe, rate this episode, share with your friends, and even write us a review. The best reviews will be read on the air.

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

Are you a RinkRat who also owns a business? Our data shows RinkCast listeners are (like you) affluent, discerning, and want to patronize like-minded brands. As part of our growth, we’re looking for an exclusive advertiser, at a VERY low cost.  Email podcast@the-rink.com for more details

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 5, Episode 1 – It’s getting Stankus in here appeared first on The Rink.

All those are valid questions. However, the manic, borderline hysterical conclusions people are jumping to based on internet speculation about the Blue Jackets’ asking price and Jones’ ability, something a hockey writer speculates on a podcast or a way-out-of-context analytic take, push this dialogue off the rails.

Folks, calm down. Be rational. Keep reading. You will feel much better at the end. Promise.

I am not typically a Stan Bowman defender. But, I see his logic here and agree with it.

First, there is no “choice” for the Hawks between acquiring Jones or Dougie Hamilton.

There is quite literally nothing indicating Hamilton would sign with the Blackhawks, and there are a lot of indicators he would not.

The Hawks have not signed an unrestricted free agent of Hamilton’s magnitude since 2009—when they were coming off an appearance in the Western Conference Finals and the entire hockey world knew they were posted to win a Stanley Cup in the next couple of years. Enter Marian Hossa, with a massive contract. This Hawk team is far from the level of that team. Get any comparison between the two out of your head. Your IQ will go up 10 points immediately.

Leaving out the spectre of a massive front office sexual abuse scandal, the present Hawks are not a playoff team. They are league worst 5-on-5, their two best players are north of 30, they have holes all over the roster, and especially on defense.

The idea that Hamilton would spurn similar offers in money and term from better, “closer” teams in order to come to Chicago, play with Riley Stillman and maybe miss the playoffs is pretty much asinine.

Jones on the other hand, has less control over where he goes. He has asked to be traded, and he will be. His contract requires him to submit 10 teams to which he would accept a trade, which he has (by all accounts) and the Hawks are rumored to be on that list. Further, Bowman (likely not coincidentally) went out and acquired Jones’ younger brother, Caleb, last week in the Duncan Keith trade with the Edmonton Oilers.

Jones’ agent, Pat Brisson, is also his brother’s agent, and that of Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. Agents always play a larger role in mega deals like these than people realize. It may be all coincidence, but it may not be.

The hurdle here (and it is legitimate and significant) is that the Hawks need to trade assets of some value to acquire Jones. We will come back to that.

But, let’s be clear first: The Blackhawks have a much better chance today of acquiring Jones than they do Hamilton. Jones is younger, and will also likely be cheaper on his extension than Hamilton will be as a UFA.

And with the aforementioned trade of Keith to Edmonton for Caleb Jones, their need for a No. 1 (and a No. 2, and maybe a true No. 3) defenseman is now glaring, and critical.

Second, acquiring Jones makes the entire defense better, not just the top pair.

It is about appropriate slotting and player usage. Keith’s wretched analytics from last year (a constant drumbeat out of Edmonton prior to the trade) do not take into account the fact that he was still being utilized like he was 27 instead of 37. Keith is no longer the Keith of 2005–15, a 25-minutes-per-night top-pair, shutdown defenseman. But, he is still likely an effective second-pair defenseman at 18 minutes per night.

Jones forms at least half of an effective top pair. And, as far as Jones’ uncharacteristically weak individual analytics from last year, just like Keith, context is getting left out. Columbus was an awful team, with a coach in full meltdown mode, and Jones was coming off an injury and surgery at the end of the 2020 season. Look at the arc of the franchise, and specifically at the voluntary exodus of Sergei Bobrovsky, Artemi Panarin, Pierre-Luc Dubois (who totally mailed in his last few games at Nationwide Arena with Columbus), and now Jones since 2019.

Is it possible that the injury suffered in February 2020, or some other injury, has severely and permanently debilitated Jones? Sure, possible. But, so is the Earth getting hit by an asteroid next month. He is 26, not 36. And certainly, the Blackhawks will have done full diligence on his health before any trade or contract extension. So let’s assume he is fine health wise.

And, if he is fine, and just needs a change of scenery, I can tell you from having watched Jones play in person maybe 20 times in the last few years, including three playoff games in 2018 and 2019, he is a two-way force on the ice: Exactly what the Hawks need.

Back to slotting. With Jones on the right side of your top pair, Connor Murphy then becomes your right side defenseman on the second pair—a perfect spot for him. Then, either Adam Boqvist or perhaps Ian Mitchell plays 10–15 minutes per night on your third pair—again appropriate usage and matchups for a young player learning on the job.

The left side of the defense, with Caleb Jones, Stillman, Nikita Zadorov, Wyatt Kalynuk and perhaps Nicolas Beaudin or even (maybe) Calvin de Haan remains, umm, a bit more troublesome, But, overall, solidifying and seriously strengthening the right side of the defense is a big step forward and should not be taken for granted.

If this team does not improve dramatically on the back end, forget about the playoffs. Forget about developing young defensemen. Have Boqvist or Mitchell developed like the team led us to believe they would? No. It will be an epic dumpster fire, especially without Keith for a “replacement.” Losing a lot of games 7–5, with no continuity or success. Until the price is paid to improve it.

Third, some perspective on the actual “cost” of acquiring Jones is needed.

It was literally less than two weeks ago when a writer speculated or even breathlessly “reported” that the Hawks were asking for solid young defenseman Ethan Bear out of Edmonton for Keith. Edmonton fans erupted, and even those of us in Chicago who still believe in Keith said, “Yeah, they will not get that.”

So these “reports” of asking prices are highly dubious, because even if they are actually true, they are typically just PR/negotiating ploys, a “first salvo” if you will, of the GMs.

Yesterday, when there were “reports” that some writers felt the Blue Jackets would ask for basically half the Blackhawks’ roster, including Alex DeBrincat and Kirby Dach, Hawks Twitter erupted.

“Hang up the phone, Stan!”

“Pass. Just sign Hamilton.” (Yeah, they are not going to “just sign Hamilton.” At least not outside of EA Sports NHL21.)

Etc.

Okay, sure, Columbus General Manager Jarmo Kekalainen is going to ask for a lot. But, he will not ever get that first asking price from anyone, so relax.

Do I trust Bowman to make a shrewd trade? Not really, but let me also caveat that.

So many of Bowman’s trades have been simply trying to reduce costs (which was definitely at the direction of John McDonough and the Wirtzes). Fans have largely missed that part, but the league has not.

From the sell off of 2010, another sell off in 2011, to Patrick Sharp and Nick Leddy in 2015, then Artemi Panarin and Niklas Hjalmarsson in 2017, and Brandon Saad last year, Bowman’s position has been incredibly weak—because the whole league knows going in what the Hawks are trying to do: Reduce salary and move contracts.

This is different. As with marquee unrestricted free agents, this is the first time in a long time Bowman is going out to acquire a top young player, and not trying to cut cost.

Let’s come back to the idea of rebuilding.

Fourth, not every first- or second-round draft pick will develop into what they are projected as.

Yes, you absolutely rebuild through the draft.

But again, the highway to glory in the NHL is littered with the Nikita Filatovs, Robbie Schremps and other heavily hyped high draft picks ad nauseum. Do fans—Hawks fans—tend to overvalue their prospects? Uh, yeah.

Year after year, from Pavel Vorobiev and Mikhail Yakubov (now playing in a Chicago beer league) to Jack Skille, Dylan Sikura, Drew Leblanc, Kyle Beach, Igor Makarov, Ryan Hartman, Nick Schmaltz, Boqvist, Mitchell (tell me when I should stop).

So you definitely also want to keep (or acquire when you can) young, developed, quality players, like 26-year-old Jones, for example.

Thus, DeBrincat, you absolutely do not trade.

But, after that, there is an argument (depending on return) for at least listening on a lot of Blackhawks players, including, yes, Dach, because he is not developed, or even really close to it.

It was just a couple of months ago when The Athletic published an article quoting NHL scouts on a range of the Hawks’ young players, including Dach, about whom they said (paraphrasing): “They (the team) now know he will never be another Toews.”

“He may only be a 55–60-point guy, but he will be a good player.”

Okay, that is good, but “untouchable?” Additionally, while fans and some media have penciled him in as the Hawks’ “future No. 1 center,” there is some legitimate question (at this point, anyway) whether he will even end up as a center, much less a No. 1 center.

Am I arguing to trade Dach for Seth Jones? No. But, the idea that it should not even be considered because of how great a prospect Dach is, well, that is probably a bit off, especially with the Blackhawks’ desperate needs on defense.

Further, if Bowman’s previous larger deals—and especially those with Kekalainen—are any indication, this trade will not be a “one for one” anyway.

My guess, in light of the Hawks’ relative stockpile of young, puck-rushing defensemen (Beaudin, Boqvist, Kalynuk, Mitchell, Wyatt Kaiser) and scoring wingers (or “centers” who may be better as wings), some combination of that will be the return to Columbus, as well as draft picks and swaps of draft pick positions to consider. The Hawks could, for example, deal their 2021 first-round pick (12th overall) for Columbus’ 32nd overall pick (originally belonging to the Tampa Bay Lightning and acquired in the David Savard trade) as a part of a deal. There is a “cost” there, but you still have a “first-round pick.”

Lots of ways to skin this cat, and a value for value deal may not end up being all that “painful.”

In summary, with Keith gone, the Hawks almost have to do something on defense this summer. And, Jones is the best bet.

Change is hard, but often, in the end, worth it.

Further, for reasons cited above (the familiarity of Bowman with Brisson and Kekalainen, the acquisition of Caleb Jones—and the loss of Keith), it is likely that the wheels have been in motion on this deal for a while.

Whether the Hawks had targeted Jones before Keith requested a trade or not (and they probably had), they now have a gaping need on what was already arguably the league’s weakest blueline. Jones is a major step toward solving that problem, not just because of his ability, but the opportunity to now use the rest of the Hawks’ blueliners more appropriately.

And, as we have outlined above, it is also unlikely the Blackhawks have the “option” of acquiring Hamilton, or anyone else of Jones’ ability, in unrestricted free agency.

Let it play out. If the Hawks end up not acquiring Jones, which (until the deal comes through the fax machine in Toronto), is a possibility, then it will be because the price from Columbus was simply too ridiculously high (in reality, not because the Twitterz said so), and then the team stands pat or moves on to some other (less certain) plan B.

All we have for now. Comment below.

The post ANALYSIS: The case for Seth Jones appeared first on The Rink.

The reporting on the negotiations between the Blackhawks and Oilers turned out to be accurate—retained salary by Chicago had been rumored to be a sticking point. In the end, the Oilers acquired Keith, who has two years remaining on his current contract, along with minor-league forward Tim Soderlund, for 24-year-old defenseman Caleb Jones and a conditional third-round pick—with Chicago not having to retain any of Keith’s salary.

The Chicago media—and Blackhawk Twitter—were quick to proclaim this a big win for Blackhawks President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Stan Bowman. But, that is not unusual. Bowman could acquire a roll of tape and a frighteningly large segment of the fanbase would still be “juiced.”

The key to this deal is the 24-year-old Jones, not because he is a hugely promising player, but because he just happens to be the younger brother of a rumored Blackhawk offseason target, Columbus defenseman Seth Jones.

Caleb Jones, by himself, is probably yet another No. 5–7 defenseman on a Chicago team already chock full of them. But, if his presence in Chicago could help the Hawks sign the elder Jones to an extension (after first trading for him), then the Keith trade will have worked out very well for Chicago, both in terms of securing a valuable rebuild piece for the blue line, and most of the cap room needed to sign him.

If not, then Caleb Jones and a third-round draft pick (the majority of which never actually play in the NHL) is not a “winning return” for an aging, but still likely effective (in the right situation, i.e. outside Chicago), Keith.

Finally, we would be remiss if we did not tap our sticks on the departure of a true warrior, and a vital cog in the great Blackhawk teams from 2009–15. Keith will be missed, and his No. 2 is certainly headed to the United Center rafters before too terribly long.

All we have for now.

The post TRADE ANALYSIS: Blackhawks deal Duncan Keith to Edmonton appeared first on The Rink.

Typically, 90%+ of the speculation is unfounded.

Still, this is an unusually important offseason for the Blackhawks. There is no conclusive evidence that the rebuild is working—or not working. The team overperformed the first half of last year (while playing a lot of games against Columbus and Detroit due to a COVID-19-dictated schedule), and then played pretty poorly from March 1 on.

Characterizing another season of not making the (actual) playoffs, the Hawks were yet again an abysmal 5-on-5 team (a much more serious—and roster-based—problem than many fans or the media seem to realize), making the possible (or not possible) return of center Jonathan Toews all the more critical to improvement in 2021–22.

So, here, based on the situation outlined above—and filtered through the lens of economics, past experience and logic—are various ways the summer might unfold for the Blackhawks, and what it all might mean.

Whither the “rebuild?”

The first—and most important—premise to understand is that the Hawks want to return to the playoffs, if not Stanley Cup contention, as soon as possible.

Rightly or wrongly, the team has committed to a “rebuild” around a few remaining (and rapidly aging) stars from the previous Stanley Cup teams. And this is really important to understand when you are considering the possibility that the Blackhawks could be trade or free-agency players for defensemen Seth Jones and Dougie Hamilton or forwards Jack Eichel and Matthew Tkachuk.

What most of the speculation around the Hawks pursuing any of these players seems to not take into account is that there will be significant markets for each of these players. Put more simply, it is not like Chicago General Manager Stan Bowman picks up the phone, calls Columbus General Manager Jarmo Kekalainen, offers Pius Suter, Ian Mitchell and a bag of pucks and magically acquires Jones.

There will be strong, league-wide interest in each of these players—which will drive up the “price” each player’s respective team is asking. Or, if Hamilton goes the unrestricted free agency route, the team that signs him will pay heavily in average annual value and term. And, if that team should be the Blackhawks, that price may be even higher, as they will be bidding against at least one or two teams that are closer to actual Cup contention.

So, if you want Jones, are you willing to give up Adam Boqvist and this year’s first-round pick (for starters)? If you want Eichel, are you willing to give up the above and Kirby Dach?

Or, say, Alex DeBrincat and this year’s first-round selection and something else.

Or Patrick Kane?

If you want Hamilton, are you willing to pay him $8–9 million a year until he is, say, 35—with a no-movement clause?

Most fans, if Hawk Twitter over the last week or so is any good metric, would balk.

Again, typically, many Blackhawk fans tend to overvalue Chicago players and prospects versus those of other teams—so we can debate whether Eichel is worth “so much” ‘til the cows come home. But, what probably is not debatable is that the price is going to be high, and it is going to mean giving up “good” players that you are currently trying to rebuild around (or with).

Setting the price aside, it also means this: Jones, Hamilton, Eichel or Tkachuk are elite or near-elite young (or “younger,” anyway) players. Each is better than Boqvist or Dach. Or DeBrincat. And odds are, each will be over the course of the players’ respective careers.

There is a school of thought that you need to acquire potentially elite, near-elite and/or already-elite players in order to rebuild into a Cup contender. So, there is an argument that packaging up pieces and parts of the recent “rebuild” to acquire a young difference-maker at defense or center—both huge areas of need for Chicago)—makes some sense. Simply stated, trade two or three good (or “potentially good”) young players/prospects for a great young player.

But, would Bowman do that? If we had to bet, we would say no. Big, bold, splashy moves have never been Bowman’s forte. Further, the Hawk organization has invested a lot of time and “reputational” capital in their “rebuild around Kane, Toews and Duncan Keith” plan.

However, there is ample evidence that the hoped-for acquisition and development of enough good young players to re-establish the Blackhawks as contenders—while Kane, Keith and Toews are still productive players—is becoming less and less likely.

And those of you still holding onto the idea that the Hawks really have improved a lot and are close to a return to the league’s elite, need to go watch more of this year’s playoff games—see and understand the speed, the depth and the physicality of teams like Colorado, Vegas, Tampa Bay, the New York Islanders, etc.—and then go hit yourself in the head with a ballpeen hammer.

That said, one of the hallmarks of a strong organization and a strong general manager is to recognize when a plan is not working and adroitly adjust course. But, this, also, has not been one of Bowman’s strong suits.

However, his 2019 draft, where he deliberately and publicly went “big” with Dach and defenseman Alex Vlasic, was a course change and an admission that years of drafting small, but “skilled” skaters was not paying off.

Eichel and Toews, Toews and Eichel

Toews has missed a full year of hockey with a mystery “ailment,” and he will be 34 years old at the end of the upcoming season. Here at The Rink, we are huge Toews fans. But, all of us need to be realistic in our expectations.

Based on the scant information anyone (beyond Toews, his agent, his doctor and the Blackhawks) has, there is a plausible scenario where Toews gets 100% “healthy,” returns to full workouts and comes back rejuvenated after a year off—giving the team a nice and much-needed lift in the face-off circle, 5-on-5, on special teams, etc.

But, there are other, perhaps more likely, scenarios where Toews cannot return—or if he does return, he is somewhat diminished due to the “ailment/injury” and/or age, or he returns, but his ability to play is sporadic for the remainder of his career.

This comes back to Eichel. Eichel is not a 1:1 “doppelganger” for Toews, but they are both No. 1 centers, team captains and somewhat similar stylistically. And, at 24 years of age, entering really the prime of his career, Eichel is in all likelihood an upgrade at the 1C position in the lineup.

In addition to the possibility Buffalo does not even trade Eichel, it is also plausible that the Hawks might only publicly “kick the tires” to see if there would be some way to add him in—along with Toews returning. But, that is almost impossible due to salary alone. Talking about going after Eichel to get some news coverage is a lot different than actually going after Eichel.

So, if you do see the Hawks (legitimately, not speculatively) make a hard move for Eichel this summer, you can pretty safely assume that the team is none too confident in Toews’ prospects going forward. And, should the team succeed in acquiring Eichel, you can also expect, along with that, a bit of a roster overhaul and overall course correction on the “rebuild.”

There is no question, even with Toews, the Blackhawks have needed much better play at the center position to get back in contention.

Some keep holding out for Dylan Strome to be part of that solution, which is probably not happening.

Many have rushed to assume that Dach solves that problem. It is way too early to say that, however, and it remains to be seen if Dach ends up over the course of his NHL career as a winger or a No. 2 center (a level he is still working toward), instead of a No. 1 center.

So, while the Hawk blueline remains a vexing and obvious problem, do not be surprised if the focus of the team this summer lies on a young, expensive center from Massachusetts.

What will happen?

Just due to the law of averages, the Blackhawks probably will not acquire any of the three or four marquee “available” players this summer. And, they will continue on their present course, draft another potentially “good” player at 12th overall, pray for Toews’ healthy (and durable) return and hope for some organic growth from their current batch of young players and prospects.

If the Hawks do not enter the Eichel sweepstakes, the next most likely target would potentially be Jones. Could Bowman craft a package that might sway Kekalainen that somehow does not strip too much of the Blackhawks’ already thin supply of good players and prospects? Would Jones commit to extend his contract in Chicago? Big questions.

Or, Bowman might swing a trade or two to “upgrade” the middle of the roster somehow. The team might even take a dip in the free agency pool, albeit shopping more on the budget rack as has become the norm in recent years.

But, this offseason, or perhaps before the in-season trade deadline, that “course correction” we suggested above could happen—where the team finally acknowledges (if not publicly, then to themselves) that Kane, Keith and Toews will not be good enough, long enough, for the young players and prospects to catch up with them.

All we have for now. Comment below.

The post ANALYSIS: What to expect from the Blackhawks’ offseason appeared first on The Rink.

• • What do we think of the rookies?
  • Who are our surprise rookies?
  • We talk about our opinions on Jeremy Colliton.
  • What do we think about their very poor 5v5 over the last several years?
  • Gate praises Alex Debrincat.

Watch the entire replay of the Facebook live right here:

Watch the entire replay of the YouTube right here:

Subscribe, rate this episode, share with your friends, and even write us a review. The best reviews will be read on the air.

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

Are you a RinkRat who also owns a business? Our data shows RinkCast listeners are (like you) affluent, discerning, and want to patronize like-minded brands. As part of our growth, we’re looking for an exclusive advertiser, at a VERY low cost.  Email podcast@the-rink.com for more details

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 4, Episode 13 – The kids are alright appeared first on The Rink.

Were they fun to watch? At times. Was it a good year of growth for younger players? Well, that depends on how many and which of those players will be around in 2–3 years, when hopefully the time and trial investment of this season will be paying off, because it is likely not all of them will be in Chicago at that point.

So today, all Hawk fans, and especially Blackhawks management, should be looking forward. And doing so with a critical, discerning eye—instead of blind optimism.

And we confront again the question of the Blackhawks’ last four seasons of, if we are being honest, mediocrity: Is the glass half full, or is it half empty?

One thing that is indisputable: There are loads of Twitter accounts and media types (paid directly by the Hawks or not), who will tell you the glass is half full, that the 2020–21 season truly marked significant improvement—or at least promise—for the franchise.

I do not know about your household budget, but for my money, I want to see the numbers, not the hype.

So, in this article, we are going to look at actual improvement (and regression) with the Blackhawks this season—and leave relative “promise” to those who are paid to project NHL talent (scouts), and to those in the media and fanbase who choose to live in the land of pink unicorns and gumdrop houses. It is, after all, a free country.

But, even before looking at “improvement,” let’s define what the goal is, what the team is trying to improve toward.

It used to be, from say 2009 to 2017(-ish), the (One) goal of the Blackhawks every season was not just to make the playoffs, but to go deep, if not win the Stanley Cup.

Today, we (a fair amount of us anyway) seem to be almost satisfied finishing 20th or so out of 31 teams—as though a significant chunk of the Blackhawks Twitterverse would be ecstatic to finish high enough (depending on the playoff format) to just make the postseason (and get crushed).

But, if two playoff home games and a first-round elimination is your “be all/end all,” we will now return you to your regularly scheduled spring and early summer activities.

For the rest of us, the goal remains for the Hawks to not just make the playoffs, but go deep once there. And as far as reaching that goal, the Blackhawks have perhaps taken a step back in 2020–21.

“Wait, what?!” That’s right, in one hugely important area: 5-on-5 play.

We have said it here before. We have said it a lot the last couple of years on the RinkCast. Arguably the best single metric of playoff viability is 5-on-5 play—the most obvious (but not the only) reason being that a much greater percentage of the game is played at 5-on-5 in the playoffs versus the regular season. Not to mention the fact that the checking gets heavier; there is less open ice, and refs tend to swallow their whistles—and not call as many penalties—in the postseason as well.

The Blackhawks absolutely tanked at 5-on-5 this year.

“Good” news, the Blackhawks were 7–5 this season in 3-on-3 overtime, and who does not love seeing Patrick Kane or Alex DeBrincat bury a game-winner after a mad sequence of end-to-end rushes? No one.

But, 12 “charity points” (for regulation ties) and a net +2 in extra points for overtime winners does nothing to make you a good team in the playoffs, where those things do not exist. In fact, it just helps mask your 5-on-5 deficiencies over the course of the regular season.

And, at 5-on-5 over the last four years, the Blackhawks have been anywhere from slightly underwater to downright awful—that last descriptor applying especially to the 2020–21 season, where the team mustered 100 goals at full strength, versus giving up 125—and that being over just 56 games.

But, what is more important to understand is why. If you delve into the particulars of the Hawks’ last four seasons, you can see some obvious indicators.

One is defense.

It is not a big secret that the Hawks have not been a good team defensively over the last four years. And again, they were not this year, where they gave up 33.4 shots a game. Good news: That is slightly better than the previous two seasons.

But, if you dig a little deeper into the shot numbers, there is this: High-danger Corsi against at 5-on-5 was a league-worst 534 (shots generated in high-danger areas) going into last night’s season finale, and high-danger goals against was next-to-last in the league, by just one goal.

What this essentially means is the Hawks allowed opponents more top-quality scoring opportunities 5-on-5 than any other team in the league, upon which teams were able to convert at an almost league-worst rate.

Which leads to goaltending.

If you looked at the Hawks’ goaltending numbers around the end of February (which we did at the time), they were stellar. Everyone was on the Kevin Lankinen train, when his save percentage was north of .920 and his goals-against average (GAA) was under 2.50.

But, as we told you then on the RinkCast, the rookie netminder was probably going to regress at some point, perhaps significantly. And he did, finishing the season at a .909 save percentage and 3.01 GAA. For comparison sake, in 2017–18, the Hawks’ second-worst 5-on-5 season in the last four, the immortal Anton Forsberg finished at .908/2.98.

We are not here to bury Lankinen, and honestly the sample size (not to mention a porous defense in front of him) does not give you enough to make a definitive judgement on him. However, in a recent article written by The Athletic, one pro scout is quoted as saying that Lankinen’s upside is as a “1B” in the NHL (think Antti Raanta or Cam Talbot), not a legitimate No. 1 netminder. Similar was said of the Hawks’ other netminder, Malcolm Subban.

So, is it just the defense and goaltending? Probably not.

Certainly, this was a younger Hawks team than in past years (though pretty much around the median league wide), which is perhaps a slightly mitigating factor in the fall off the 5-on-5 cliff, but they were also the league’s lightest team at an average weight of 190.7 pounds.

(“Yeah, but they are super fast and skilled, the game has changed, so…” And we do not have time or, ugh, energy to have this argument for the seven millionth time since 2009.)

But, there is this: The four “heaviest” teams in the league this year are defending Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning, Vegas Golden Knights (West Division leader), Washington Capitals (second in the East Division) and the New York Islanders (a playoff team).

How does this correlate to 5-on-5 play? Physics, to start.

At 5-on-5, there is less space (and more traffic) on the ice, more “50-50” pucks up for grab, etc. All else being equal, bigger players (or those who play bigger) tend to be better 5-on-5 players.

Go back to the Hawks’ abysmal 5-on-5 high-danger scoring chances numbers outlined above, which are all about how well you defend the front of your net, where all the traffic is. See a connection?

So, yes, hockey is still (and until further notice) a contact sport, and size still matters, especially 5-on-5.

“But what about ‘when’ Jonathan Toews comes back?”

Let’s veer briefly, for the sake of argument, into the aforementioned land of unicorns, magic and glitter, and assume that Toews comes riding back (on a white horse would suffice) at 100% health, heck, even “rested” and “recharged”—at 33 years of age, after missing an entire season due to a mystery ailment.

As we have also argued (over and over again, for years), faceoffs matter (as we saw last night at the end of the second period)—and without their top faceoff guy of the last nearly 15 years—the Blackhawks’ numbers suffered this year, going from a typical 49% since 2017 to around 46%. A healthy Toews also somewhat elevates overall team defense (when he is on the ice anyway), and adds an element of ability in the rough going, which is all good for the team 5-on-5.

But, Toews actually played all or most of the three seasons prior to this one, when the Hawks were somewhere between slightly and deeply underwater 5-on-5 and did not make the playoffs (either entirely, or at least not in the traditional sense).

Yes, getting a reasonably healthy Toews back would help the team at 5-on-5. But, while getting him back at all is far from assured, the numbers show he also would not going to solve the problem by himself.

So, is it all “negative” then? No. It is about really improving instead of just assuming “everything is going to magically work out” for a team that has not had a lot really work out for four years running now.

Where we are going with this is do not let “positivity” blind you to the fact (enumerated in several ways above) that this team still has significant holes that need to be filled—somehow and from somewhere.

This is where we come back to the notion of “promise.”

If I only had a dollar for every time someone told me: “Gus just needs coaching. The defense will come.” Now in his fourth organization in the last two years, Erik Gustafsson barely brings back a box of tape in trade, because he still stinks at actual defense, in spite of lots of “coaching.”

In 2018, we were told by Chicago’s intrepid, infallible general manager that Dylan Sikura would be the next big (pun intended) thing. He…eh…was not.

We were told by the same general manager that Ian Mitchell was ready for the NHL his last year in college. He really was not even ready this year.

Now, we are being told that Henrik Borgstrom, who signed a two-year contract with Blackhawks according to a report from The Athletic today, was among the greatest college players Stan Bowman ever saw.

Is there a pattern here?

We strongly suggest, if you have had the stomach to stick with us thus far, that you go read that “scout’s opinion” article from The Athletic.

The NHL scouts queried are high on Kane and DeBrincat (as they should be—and kudos to DeBrincat, who has worked hard and taken his game to another level—but, to be clear, those guys also have also been aroundthe last four years when the team struggled or stunk 5-on-5).

The scouts like Dominik Kubalik.

But, they had this to say about Kirby Dach, the guy many fans have rushed to crown “the next Jonathan Toews”: He is not another Toews.

He will be a good-to-great player in whatever role he matures into. But, is he going to be a quasi-road grader, super-productive No. 1 center (which this team desperately needs to find in addition to similar qualities in a No. 2 and No. 3 center)? Maybe. But quite possibly not.

Again, scouts can be wrong. But, they are paid to be wrong a lot less often than over-anxious fans.

The scouts say 38-year-old Duncan Keith’s minutes need to be reduced (they do). But, who takes them?

Scouts acknowledge Connor Murphy’s ongoing improvement, but pretty much condemn Nikita Zadorov for having no value beyond (effectively, mind you) moving players off of pucks—which is important, as we state above. But, he is also a chronically mistake-prone pylon—which was his reputation before the Hawks traded Brandon Saad (a good 5-on-5 player) for him.

Mitchell and Adam Boqvist? In scouts’ eyes: Offense good, defense not. “I’m not sure what they see” (in Boqvist) was stated in the article. Paraphrasing here: Mitchell will always need a certain kind of defense partner, (i.e,, be somewhat sheltered).

But, Murphy cannot play with both of these guys, and Calvin de Haan is a nice player when he is healthy, which is not often.

The scouts seem to really like Wyatt Kalynuk (for his shot and skating anyway—but, remember, our boy Gus can really skate and shoot, too) and Brandon Hagel.

Hagel, in our eyes, may end up being the biggest “find” of this season—a promising, versatile, do-what-it-takes forward—whose game is very well suited for 5-on-5 play.

And, there were positive notes on Pius Suter and Philipp Kurashev (who, unlike Zadorov, gets pushed off of pucks far too easily at this point).

What we are getting at, though, is this: There is more work to be done here—and not just by pro player development and the coaching staff. And, you should not just assume Toews will come back and fill all these holes, because he was not fully accomplishing that prior to missing this season, regardless.

The Blackhawks’ front office, now four years removed from a true playoff season, needs to step it up. Talk less in “Stan Bowman media sit-downs” about “rebuilding.” Do more of the hard work of actually rebuilding, which may mean unpopular in the near term, but ultimately better long-term decisions.

Stop over-building expectations on guys who never pan out, or at least not like the Hawks keep “promising” they will. Start being brutally honest about what they have—and, more importantly, about what they do not (yet) have.

They do not have a good 5-on-5 team; they have not for four years. And, they do not even have a lot of prospects who confidently project as solutions to that problem.

The truth is, the Blackhawks overperformed in net, on the power play and in 3-on-3 overtime until March 1. Since then, the law of averages—and the rest of the NHL—not only caught up with them, but overtook them, and the results were largely abysmal, in spite of the “fun” factor.

The No. 1 goalie the Hawks will need to return to contention may not be here—and, odds are, may not even be in the organization.

Where are the centers who can go toe-to-toe with Mark Scheifele, Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Tyler Seguin, Nathan MacKinnon and down the road with, say, Quinton Byfield?

Toews is getting on in years, with a lot of miles on his body, and “coming off” (maybe) a serious “health issue.”

Will Dach even end up at center, or is his best position at wing (where the Hawks are already fairly loaded)?

After that, at center, we are banking on the “promise” of junior players, college kids and a young pro who held out on his former team for a new contract in Europe (Borgstrom).

And then, there is defense. Sure, as always, we can dream about Alec Regula or Alex Vlasic, who at least look the part of bigger, more physical defenders—but their NHL careers are not guaranteed.

The picks of Dach and Vlasic in 2019 were encouraging as far as building some size into the Hawk pipeline, a need that Bowman (to his credit) acknowledged at the time, although it was also long overdue.

Much more needs to be done, and picking 11th or 12th in the first round of the draft is not really ideal in terms of grabbing a difference-maker who checks all the needed boxes.

The Hawks may have some money in free agency this summer, but four years removed from the playoffs and floundering in the mushy middle of the league, Chicago is no longer a marquee destination for unrestricted free agents. Fact. NHL players on UFA deals want to win, and win right away.

Perhaps the Hawks can get a difference-making player or two in free agency this summer, but quite plausibly, they would have to overpay to do so.

The front office has real work to do, and a lot of it. Do not let them off the hook by buying into the “sunshine and roses” take on a season that was, at best, a mixed bag of pretty good and pretty bad—and in fact really discouraging in terms of becoming, again, the type of team that wins playoff series.

Here’s hoping the Hawks themselves know this—and have a plan beyond telling us how great, oh, I do not know, take your pick (Evan Barratt?) will be. Thanks for reading.

The post Blackhawks season wrap: What just happened here, and what is next? appeared first on The Rink.

The Rink staff members John Jaeckel, Sean Fitzgerald, and Andy Campbell reconvene to talk about the Blackhawks’ latest news and their fading playoff hopes.

• The state of the Blackhawks. What do we think as the season wraps?
• The conversation moves quickly to Dylan Strome.
• Who are these Brent Connelly and Wyatt Galchenyuk guys, Sean?
• Where has the improvement been? Has there really been improvement?
• Andrew Shaw retires.
• A little bit of Mongo McMichael chatter.
• Why does Gate hate Riley Stillman?
• Listener questions.
• Some peculiar Jonathan Toews news is floated
• Could the Blackhawks make a big offseason move?

From last night’s #Rinkcast.#DoubleDown #Blackhawks @TheRinkChi @jaeckel @AndyCampbell16 @Diesal3426 pic.twitter.com/jBUmmGQt0h

— The-Rink.com Hockey Rinkcasts (@TheRinkcast) April 27, 2021

Watch the entire replay of the Facebook live right here:

Watch the entire replay of the YouTube right here:

Subscribe, rate this episode, share with your friends, and even write us a review. The best reviews will be read on the air.

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

Are you a RinkRat who also owns a business? Our data shows RinkCast listeners are (like you) affluent, discerning, and want to patronize like-minded brands. As part of our growth, we’re looking for an exclusive advertiser, at a VERY low cost.  Email podcast@the-rink.com for more details

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 4, Episode 12 – Crosby, Stillman, Shaw and Nash? appeared first on The Rink.

The Rink staff members John Jaeckel, Sean Fitzgerald and Andy Campbell let the dust settle and talk bout a busy trade deadline for Stan Bowman and the Chicago Blackhawks.

Watch the entire replay of the Facebook live right here:

Watch the entire replay of the YouTube right here:

Subscribe, rate this episode, share with your friends and even write us a review. The best reviews will be read on the air.

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

Are you a RinkRat who also owns a business? Our data shows RinkCast listeners are (like you) affluent, discerning and want to patronize like-minded brands. As part of our growth, we are looking for an exclusive advertiser, at a VERY low cost. Email podcast@the-rink.com for more details.

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 4, Episode 11 – Stan’s Big Trade Deadline Adventure appeared first on The Rink.

Chicago Blackhawks General Manager Stan Bowman’s trade deadline balance sheet looks like the following:

IN
RW Vinnie Hinostroza
RW Brett Connolly
D Riley Stillman
C/W Henrik Borgstrom
C/W Adam Gaudette
F Ryder Rolston
F Josh Dickinson
2021 second-round pick
2022 third-round pick
2021 fourth-round pick
2021 seventh-round pick

OUT
F Brad Morrison
F Lucas Wallmark
D Lucas Carlsson
F Matthew Highmore
C Carl Soderberg
C/W Mattias Janmark
D Madison Bowey
2021 fifth-round pick
2022 fifth-round pick

Net result: Positive, since the Hawks gave up absolutely nothing that is part of their long-term plan or even close to it, and acquired some projectable assets.

Caveat: While the same folks are doing the same “Big StanBo Victory Dance-a-thon” on Twitter this afternoon, if we are really being honest, the actual return here is, ahem, pretty conditional. Put another way, we know that all the “guys” than Bowman unloaded are nothing more than “guys.” But, we also know that:

• Hinostroza has historically been, well, a “guy”
• Connolly has been a disappointment much of his career and will very plausibly be wearing a Kraken sweater this summer
• No one has ever seen Stillman and Carlsson in the same room at the same time
• Vancouver thought Gaudette was worth losing for Highmore
• Rolston has been described in scouting reports as being defensively weak, a perimeter player and lacking high-level hockey sense. But, he is a Notre Dame guy, so, go Stan!

How this will play out: Fifth- and seventh-round draft picks are only slightly more statistically likely to play in the NHL than I am. But, Borgstrom (a 2016 first-round pick), and the second- and third-round picks Bowman acquired could each turn into something of value down the line. Similarly, statistically, many second- and third-rounders do not make it in the NHL (look no further than the Hawks’ own history in those rounds).

But, let’s say Borgstrom and one of those picks matriculate as solid contributors for the Hawks in say, middle- or bottom-six roles? Meh, okay, because in the larger perspective, Bowman gave up nothing he wanted to keep.

So, this trade deadline was overall a “win” for Bowman and the Hawks, but also not necessarily a big win—unless some combination of the picks and prospects Bowman acquired beat the odds, and exceed expectations and current projections.

All we have for now.

The post ANALYSIS: Blackhawks have a no-lose/maybe-win trade deadline appeared first on The Rink.

The Rink staff members John Jaeckel, Sean Fitzgerald, and Andy Campbell reconvene to talk about the Blackhawks trades and the upcoming deadline.

• Analysis of the big trade (Lucas Wallmark, Lucas Carlsson for Brett Connelly, Riley Stillman, Henrik Borgstrom and a 7th) with Florida.
• Analysis of the smaller trade with Florida (Brad Morrison for Vince Hinostroza)
• What messages are the front office giving, regarding the trade deadline?
• Weekly Dylan Strome talk.
• Hype man Stan Bowman’s tire pumping.
• Blackhawks long term injuries to the core

Watch the entire replay of the Facebook live right here:

Watch the entire replay of the YouTube right here:

Subscribe, rate this episode, share with your friends, and even write us a review. The best reviews will be read on the air.

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

Are you a RinkRat who also owns a business? Our data shows RinkCast listeners are (like you) affluent, discerning, and want to patronize like-minded brands. As part of our growth, we’re looking for an exclusive advertiser, at a VERY low cost.  Email podcast@the-rink.com for more details

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 4, Episode 10 – Enter The Artist appeared first on The Rink.

The Rink staff members John Jaeckel, Ray Napientek, Sean Fitzgerald, and Andy Campbell reconvene to talk about the Blackhawks and some more broad NHL topics.

• Blackhawks have some success vs Florida after getting beat up by Tampa
• Thoughts on Kirby Dach’s return to the lineup.
• Referee Tim Peel getting caught on the hot mic and forced out of service.
• Thoughts on “big boy hockey”.
• Some listener questions.

Watch the entire replay of the Facebook live right here:

Watch the entire replay of the YouTube right here:

Subscribe, rate this episode, share with your friends, and even write us a review. The best reviews will be read on the air.

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

Are you a RinkRat who also owns a business? Our data shows RinkCast listeners are (like you) affluent, discerning, and want to patronize like-minded brands. As part of our growth, we’re looking for an exclusive advertiser, at a VERY low cost.  Email podcast@the-rink.com for more details

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 4, Episode 9 – Big Boy Hockey appeared first on The Rink.

The Rink staff members John Jaeckel, Jeff Osborn, Sean Fitzgerald, and Andy Campbell reconvene to talk about the Blackhawks’ misfortunes in Florida and the upcoming trade deadline.

• What do we think the Blackhawks will do at the deadline?
• What do we think they should do at the deadline?
• Our thoughts on Stan Bowman’s comments today about Jonathan Toews

Watch the entire replay of the Facebook live right here:

Watch the entire replay of the YouTube right here:

Subscribe, rate this episode, share with your friends, and even write us a review. The best reviews will be read on the air.

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

Are you a RinkRat who also owns a business? Our data shows RinkCast listeners are (like you) affluent, discerning, and want to patronize like-minded brands. As part of our growth, we’re looking for an exclusive advertiser, at a VERY low cost.  Email podcast@the-rink.com for more details

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 4, Episode 8 – Trade Deadline Incoming appeared first on The Rink.

• Can the Blackhawks make the playoffs?
• If they did, surprisingly, could they do any damage?
• Who has surprised us?
• What’s wrong with Collin Delia?
• What do we think of Nikita Zadorov?
• Lauren’s merch site Snark Buehrle

Watch the entire replay of the Facebook live right here:

Watch the entire replay of the Youtube right here:

Subscribe, rate this episode, share with your friends, and even write us a review. The best reviews will be read on the air.

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

Are you a RinkRat who also owns a business? Our data shows RinkCast listeners are (like you) affluent, discerning, and want to patronize like-minded brands. As part of our growth, we’re looking for an exclusive advertiser, at a VERY low cost.  Email podcast@the-rink.com for more details

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 4, Episode 7 – MISTAH SVECHNIKOV!!! appeared first on The Rink.

But, as usual, there are those ready to say “Da Hawks are back, baby,” “Anything can happen,” etc.

(Insert heavy sigh and eye roll here)

Let’s be clear: As a Hawks fan, and definitely as a member of the Blackhawks organization, your ultimate goal for the team should be regular contention for the Cup, i.e. being in the top 6–8 teams in the league every year.

One thing that probably needs to be agreed upon, at minimum, is that the current team is at least a couple of years away from that level, and could be more like 3–5 years away from it. So what needs to happen? What are the necessary next steps the team needs to take to reach that level?

There is a very simple, yet not widely understood issue that General Manager Stan Bowman and his staff desperately need to address going forward, and that is improving 5-on-5 play. More specifically, this means acquiring more of a certain type of prospects and players—that the organization currently does not have—who can make this happen.

Chicago is “succeeding” right now entirely due to goaltending, power play and 3-on-3 overtime

Again, it is fun to watch.

The problem is, aside from the improved power play, the Hawks have iced bad overall teams—with mostly very good goaltending and 3-on-3 overtime play—since 2018.

Since 2017–18, the Hawks are -29 at 5-on-5, and much of that was with very good 5-on-5 players like Jonathan Toews and Brandon Saad.

This year, so far, the Hawks are -9 at 5-on-5—by far the worst out of the eight teams comprising their current division. So, one might ask, why are they in “first place” then?

Well, first off, they are really not in “first.” At 18 games, the Hawks have played four more games than Florida (also with 22 points), Tampa Bay (21 points) and tonight’s opponent, Carolina (21), and six more than Dallas (14 points).

And it should be noted, all those teams, who are better at 5-on-5 play than the Hawks, were playoff teams last year, as was Columbus, who, also at 18 games played, is just two points behind Chicago.

Why does 5-on-5 matter so much? The Hawks are winning, right?

Most hockey is played at 5-on-5—which is especially true in the playoffs, where less penalties are called and overtime is played at 5-on-5 for as long as necessary to determine a winner. Hence, why a great 3-on-3, but bad 5-on-5 team can make the playoffs, like the Hawks did last year (sort of), and then get crushed (ditto).

And as pointed out above, good 5-on-5 play is a typical hallmark, if not a necessity, of a playoff team, let alone a successful one.

The best 5-on-5 teams are able to score and defend when there are 10 skaters on the ice—makes sense, right—as opposed to when there are nine (5-on-4), eight (4-on-4), seven (4-on-3) or six (3-on-3) skaters total.

The more players there are on the ice—at even strength—the harder it is to get the puck into scoring position and get shots off. There are more bodies, and thus more traffic and more contact. Also, more loose pucks, stacked blue lines and blocked shots. Alternately, there is less wide-open ice and pretty plays. There are also far more loose or “50-50” pucks. In this setting, more physical players tend to become more valuable.

And, I am not talking about “fighting.”

I am not talking really even talking about hitting (although that factors in some here).

I am talking about winning loose pucks, occupying your opponent’s crease and defending your own, winning battles around the nets and winning the blue lines at both ends of the ice.

And why are the Hawks not a good 5-on-5 team?

Before you say: “Here you go again, JJ. The game has changed, move on,” let me say this: The rules of the NHL, in fact, have not really changed. And facts are facts.

Four of the Hawks’ 22 points at present have come in 3-on-3 overtime (most in the league). They are third in the league in power play percentage at 32.7%. And yes, they are getting crazy good goaltending from rookie Kevin Lankinen. At present, Lankinen’s 2.29 goals against average and .931 save percentage rank fifth and third respectively among goalies with 10 games or more played.

These are the reasons why they are 9–5–4 (which is, by the way, essentially 9–9) at 18 games. That, and maybe more than a little luck. Let’s break that down.

And we will even assume that Chicago’s league lead in 3-on-3 goals will carry through the rest of the season. After all, they have been a good to very good 3-on-3 team for the last few seasons.

The Hawks’ power play improvement is legitimate, without question. There is more player movement, resulting in more and better opportunities versus years’ past. But, the question is how much difference it will make going forward this year, and, more importantly, in future seasons.

For example, even if Chicago ends up leading the league in power play percentage this year, they would still fall likely to around 25–27% (a typical league-leading power play percentage) by season’s end.

So, even in a best-case scenario going forward, the amount of power play goals per game they will be able to rely on is going to go down, and by somewhere between 20 and 25% from their current level—best case. So, they have had some meaningful improvement—and measurable luck so far on the power play.

Can Lankinen continue on his torrid pace for the rest of his season and throughout his career in Chicago? Eh, maybe?

But, that would also make him arguably one of the greatest rookie netminders of all time, and a surefire Hall of Famer (even with some rebound control issues, at minimum).

No, Lankinen may emerge from this season as a top 10–15 netminder for Chicago for the next decade—which would be great—but he is also very likely going to regress and settle in somewhere among mortal goalies at some point this year and going forward.

Point being, the Hawks have been lucky in net so far this year, too, probably very lucky. And like their 3-on-3 performance, good goaltending has been something the team has been able to rely on year after year, regardless.

The big point here is, these three factors are, for now, masking a big problem the Blackhawks have had for going on four seasons: Bad 5-on-5 play. And, if they are going to return to being a playoff team, much less a consistent Cup contender, that will have to change.

But what about Dach, Boqvist, Suter, Kurashev, Kubalik, Mitchell, Beaudin and The Cat?

Let me answer that this way: What about Nick Foligno and Boone Jenner, for example?

(What?!)

Right, the Hawks have a lot to be encouraged by as far as their future—but let me caveat that. They seem to have, with the exception of Dach, a raft of talented young players who weigh in well below 200 pounds, and are best described—and more importantly projected—as skilled, more perimeter-style players.

This is not an “either/or” issue. It is not whether smaller skilled players are better or worse than bigger players, so please do not go there.

But, here is another important statistic: Presently, the average weight of players on the Hawks’ roster is 6–10 pounds less than every team in their division.

Most or all of those young players—that everyone (myself included) is enjoying the bloody hell out of watching this year—may end up being “plus” players for the Blackhawks for years. But, that would probably still leave a problem when it comes to “big boy” hockey, or more specifically, 5-on-5 play.

Because, for all the reasons already discussed, there is a logical, demonstrable correlation between physicality, willingness to go into and win in the dirty areas and style of play—if not sheer size—and 5-on-5 play.

Here is some recent evidence: Late in the broadcast of a third period of a recent 3–2 overtime win against Columbus, Eddie Olczyk touched on something I was noticing as well (because I also watch Columbus play a lot).

Leading 2–1 with the clock ticking down in the third, Columbus—mostly Foligno and Jenner—were winning every 50-50 puck, and thereby keeping the biscuit away from the less-physical Hawks. The game was slipping away.

But, with under two minutes left, Carl Soderberg, not coincidentally one of the Hawks’ biggest and more physical players, found himself with the puck on his blade in the slot, and used a Columbus defenseman as a screen, putting a puck past Joonas Korpisalo (who had been excellent most of the night)—forcing the game to overtime, where Chicago promptly picked up one of their four overtime wins.

Five-on-five play matters, and this is just one case where the Hawks suffered and then later benefited—or maybe just got a bit lucky. By forcing the game to overtime, when it easily could have ended in a 2–1 loss, what might have been a weekend that gave Columbus four points and the Hawks none, ended up 3–2 for Columbus instead.

Hockey is still a contact sport. And the “unsexy” things that do not make the scoresheet but contribute hugely to winning hockey games, like 50-50 pucks, blocking shots, winning special teams face offs and just being a pain to play against, matter as much as ever, over the course of a season and especially in the playoffs.

The difference between 2009–15 and now—and maybe the future

A lot of fans mistakenly assume the Hawks won three Cups from 2010–15 due simply to an obscenely high talent, speed and skill level. But, those teams also delivered the lumber and excelled at 5-on-5 play, especially at the top 6–9 forward positions.

2010: Brouwer, Byfuglien, Hossa, Ladd, Toews

2013: Bickell, Frolik, Handzus, Hossa, Saad, Toews

2015: Bickell, Hossa, Saad, Toews

And, those 5-on-5 numbers were supported by smaller players who nonetheless over-indexed on willingness, like Dave Bolland and Marcus Kruger.

What about Dach and Toews?

Without giving any credence to rumors, the fact is, Toews’ lingering, mysterious health issue, at minimum, raises a question on when—or if—he will be back on the ice, in what condition and for how long.

And what about the “heir apparent?” Again, a lot of people seem to be getting way out over their skis with the “Dach is the next Toews” stuff.

We really do not know yet—even though some have made a massive leap to this conclusion—if Dach is going end up as a “power player” or even a full-time center in his NHL career.

Just because he was drafted by the same team Toews was—even though the Hawks will need a No. 1 center as well as more all-terrain forwards at minimum—does not mean that is the player Dach will be.

A couple of the knocks on Dach in his draft scouting (just 18 months ago) were that he was pretty unphysical for his size, and might be better at wing than center in the NHL.

The point is, he may end up being a different style of player than Toews was—more along the lines a “better” Jason Spezza (for example)—than “the next Toews.” But, maybe he will become another Toews. Hard to say right now.

But, either outcome is at least “good,” and Dach should become more a part of the 5-on-5 solution than the problem, regardless.

More broadly, the problem is this: The Hawks’ NHL roster, and even their pipeline, is overall fairly bereft of those all-terrain forwards who come up bigger (no pun intended) in 5-on-5 play. And again, let me be clear, the kinds of players we are talking about here can also score some goals and make plays, like Toews, Hossa, Saad, Mark Scheifele, Alex Tuch, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Josh Anderson, Anze Kopitar, Jamie Benn, Nathan MacKinnon and there are many more.

Dach, if he continues to work and mature, is a start. But after him?

(Crickets)

Yet, with the lone recent exception of Tampa Bay, typically, Stanley Cup winners and most contenders have at least 3–4 of these players in top-nine roles. And let’s not forget how, before winning the Cup—in a shortened season—last year, Tampa Bay failed spectacularly more than once in the playoffs, despite annual lofty expectations, including getting swept in round one two years ago by exceedingly unsexy, but nasty as you-know-what Columbus.

“So is this it? Are you just trying to poop everyone’s party again, JJ?”

The intent of this article is to place the Hawks’ “unlikely” success so far this year in a real-world context, and also help readers maintain the right perspective and expectations going forward.

The last couple of off-seasons, Bowman seemed to finally get the memo. He had drafted “small, yet skilled” for almost a decade, and needed an upgrade on size in the pipeline (hence the picks of Dach and Alex Vlasic in 2019). But, a couple of draft picks is not nearly enough when you have almost literally ignored the need for a certain profile or style of player for so long.

Big, physical and skilled players do not grow on trees. You can always get a Ryan Carpenter or Zack Smith in free agency, or trade for a banged-up retread in Andrew Shaw—but the need is not fourth-line, 12-minute-a-night bangers.

What’s going on with the Hawks over this season’s first 18 games is traceable to a certain extent to luck and 3-on-3 overtime points—hiding (for now) some bad tendencies that are continuing from the last few seasons: Poor team defense and, more broadly, really weak 5-on-5 play.

Bowman still has a lot of work cut out for him. Although this year has been fun so far, fans are going to need to be patient in waiting for the next parade or more long runs of playoff hockey in Chicago.

The post ANALYSIS: The big missing piece in the Hawks’ rebuild appeared first on The Rink.

• Kevin Lankinen, sustainable or not?
• Blackhawks one of the top power plays, sustainable or not?
• Fork’s new single with Cypress Hill, “Ingrain in the Brain”
• Is the OT success sustainable?  Does it translate into anything?
• Does the lack of size lead to poor 5v5 play?
• Do the Blackhawks need more size?
• What do we think of the kids?
• The roast Dylan Strome
• What players did we have strong hate for?
• Fork’s new site www.FullyKrausened.com

Watch the entire replay of the Facebook live right here:

Watch the entire replay of the Youtube right here:

Subscribe, rate this episode, share with your friends, and even write us a review. The best reviews will be read on the air.

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

Are you a RinkRat who also owns a business? Our data shows RinkCast listeners are (like you) affluent, discerning, and want to patronize like-minded brands. As part of our growth, we’re looking for an exclusive advertiser, at a VERY low cost.  Email podcast@the-rink.com for more details

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 4, Episode 6 – Forklift of HockeeNight fame returns appeared first on The Rink.

The Rink staff members John Jaeckel, Jeff Osborn, Sean Fitzgerald, and Andy Campbell try to figure out if the Blackhawks are good/lucky or both with Chris Deme aka @StacheESQ.

• Are these players worth building around?
  • Alex Debrincat
  • Connor Murphy
  • Kevin Lankinen
  • Mattias Janmark
• This team is fun
• Jeremy Colliton praise?
• The power play

Watch the entire replay of the Facebook live right here:

Watch the entire replay of the Youtube right here:

Subscribe, rate this episode, share with your friends, and even write us a review. The best reviews will be read on the air.

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

Are you a RinkRat who also owns a business? Our data shows RinkCast listeners are (like you) affluent, discerning, and want to patronize like-minded brands. As part of our growth, we’re looking for an exclusive advertiser, at a VERY low cost.  Email podcast@the-rink.com for more details

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 4, Episode 5 – Stache Returns appeared first on The Rink.

The Rink staff members John Jaeckel, Ray Napientek, Sean Fitzgerald, and Andy Campbell take a look at the Blackhawks after the 1/4 mile mark of a strange season.

Watch the entire replay of the Facebook live right here:

Watch the entire YouTube version right here:

Subscribe, rate this episode, share with your friends, and even write us a review. The best reviews will be read on the air.

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

Are you a RinkRat who also owns a business? Our data shows RinkCast listeners are (like you) affluent, discerning, and want to patronize like-minded brands. As part of our growth, we’re looking for an exclusive advertiser, at a VERY low cost.  Email podcast@the-rink.com for more details

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 4, Episode 4 – Buncha Jerks? appeared first on The Rink.

The Rink staff members John Jaeckel, Eric Andrews, Sean Fitzgerald, and Andy Campbell take a hard, discerning look at the state of the Blackhawks after the first two weeks of the 20-21 NHL season

Watch the entire replay of the Facebook live right here:

Watch the entire YouTube version right here:

Subscribe, rate this episode, share with your friends, and even write us a review. The best reviews will be read on the air.

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

Are you a RinkRat who also owns a business? Our data shows RinkCast listeners are (like you) affluent, discerning, and want to patronize like-minded brands. As part of our growth, we’re looking for an exclusive advertiser, at a VERY low cost.  Email podcast@the-rink.com for more details

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 4, Episode 3 – Covid Protocol appeared first on The Rink.

In the first three games of the year, the Hawks averaged 30 shots on goal per game, while allowing 36 per game. This past week, those numbers have improved slightly to 34 shots for and 32 against per game.

But, it is important to note: two of the first three games of the year were against defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning, and two of the second week’s games were against lowly Detroit. So, the results the Blackhawks have achieved in each slate of games have to be weighted for quality of opponent. Net judgement: At 2–3–1 after 6 games, the Hawks are better than the worst team in the league, but far from being among the best.

Tuesday, Jan. 19: Point taken

The Blackhawks took the ice in Sunrise, Florida, hoping to reverse their early misfortunes. And they almost got there, losing 5–4 in overtime against the Panthers. Up until the end of the second period, the Hawks and Panthers slugged it out to a 2–2 tie, paced by two goals from last year’s scoring phenom and this year’s coaching doghouse resident, Dominik Kubalik.

Patrick Kane (19:10 of the second) and rookie Philipp Kurashev (6:06 of the third period) pushed the Hawks out to a 4–3 lead. Kane’s goal came on an end-to-end rush and one of his patented physics-defying backhands over a hapless Sergei Bobrovsky.

But Florida tied the game at 7:17 in the third on a power play goal by Patric Hornqvist, tipping a Keith Yandle blast past rookie netminder Kevin Lankinen, making his NHL debut.

Frank Vatrano won the game for Florida in overtime, with Duncan Keith, Pius Suter and Andrew Shaw skating for Chicago.

Friday, Jan. 22: At last, a win

Lankinen took the net again against Detroit in the Blackhawks’ home opener, signaling that Chicago wants to give the Finnish goalie a hard look—and why not, since neither Malcolm Subban nor Collin Delia had given them reason not to in the first three games. Lankinen got better results this time, saving 30 shots in a 4–1 victory for the first victory in his young NHL career.

The game was never really close, with Kane, Calvin de Haan, Shaw and Mattias Janmark tallying for Chicago. Although rookie Ian Mitchell was -6 for the year at this point, and has looked a bit overwhelmed by the pace of NHL play, he showed his offensive zone instincts, gaining the second assist on de Haan’s blast, with nice, nifty pinch and pass for the newcomer’s first NHL point.

Sunday, Jan. 24: A bit of a roll

What became clearly evident in today’s game (and Friday’s) is that as much as the Blackhawks are a “rebuilding” team, Detroit is a worse team. The Blackhawks humiliated the Wings in the matinee rematch at the UC, 6–2, behind a hat trick from rookie Pius Suter, and individual tallies from Mattias Janmark, Connor Murphy and Kurashev. Detroit’s two goals were scored by Tyler “Don’t call me ‘Todd,’ Pat Foley” Bertuzzi.

Takeaways from this game: Suter’s game is different from that of Kubalik, last year’s “Euro Import of the Year,” but Suter has the earmarks to possibly earn the crown this year. Suter’s game is quieter and greasier than Kubalik’s, but also effective in perhaps more ways than just scoring; he looks like another nice find for the Hawk scouting staff. Lankinen was again solid in net, albeit facing a season-low 27 shots against.

The Hawks did a very effective job taking away transition through the neutral zone and jamming up their own blue line.

After two weeks: What do we have here?

It would seem a very good way to evaluate this team is breaking their performances down into the three back-to-backs against Tampa Bay (0–2–0), Florida (0–1–1) and Detroit (2–0–0). The Hawks were dominated by arguably the league’s best team, were, meh, not-good-to-okay against a middling team in Florida and looked strong versus a bad Detroit team—a team that simply does not have a Kane, a Kubalik, a Keith, etc. The truth is, the Blackhawks are playing about as you would expect for a team that will finish about 12th through 14th in its conference, which is fine. After all, no one with a shred of sanity expects much better.

But, the rebuilding comparisons with Detroit are telling. After all, the Red Wings’ long, slow slide into a mediocrity and now 6-7 years’ long rebuild has been so arduous and painful precisely because they chose to rebuild, at first, the way the Hawks have: By retooling around the edges while holding on to highly paid, aging veterans.

Hawk fans can only hope—as Adam Boqvist struggles to find his footing in the NHL and alleged pillars of the rebuild, Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Strome, have looked pretty pedestrian for over a year now—that they were not facing today what they will be a handful of years from now, after Kane and Keith at minimum are no longer top players or even Blackhawks at all.

Still, nothing creates success like success. The new Hawks have had a little taste of it this week. Comment below.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks show progress, going 2–0–1 for the week appeared first on The Rink.

While there have been whispers for a while regarding Blue Jackets center Pierre-Luc Dubois’ discontent in Columbus, the issue really came to a head in the Blue Jackets’ Thursday night overtime loss to Tampa Bay, when a noticeably “detached” Dubois drew the ire and eventual benching of head coach John Tortorella.

Friday, the rumor mill jumped into overdrive, with an emerging report of the Winnipeg Jets leading the pack in pursuit of the big, talented pivot.

Saturday morning, just a few minutes ago, in fact, the two teams completed a deal, with the Jets sending scoring winger Patrik Laine and forward Jack Roslovic to Columbus for Dubois and a third-round draft pick.

Almost immediately, Twitter accounts were leapfrogging one another to proclaim the deal a win for one side or the other. The Rink’s flash poll of its writers suggests this appears (on paper and in theory anyway) to be a win-win for both clubs. As with any trade, the true winner(s) are always somewhat “to be determined” based on a myriad factors: Adjustment to new coaching staffs, teammates and cities, injuries, etc.

The fact is, these were both good, typically playoff-quality teams—each missing a part or two. The Jets gain the second-line center they have been struggling to nail down. And Dubois also brings a lot of the on-ice qualities the Jets like: Big, nasty, skilled. The downside? The Jets add a guy who has now shown he can be a petulant troublemaker in the dressing room—as if they had not seen enough of that with Evander Kane.

Some want to blame Dubois’ unhappiness in Columbus on Tortorella and his old-school, red-ass style of coaching. But there was scuttlebutt that Dubois did not really care for Columbus as a place to live, either. How will he feel about living on the windswept tundra of Winnipeg? Meh, at least there is a French-speaking community in the ‘Peg.

In Laine, the Jackets somewhat backfill the prolific goal scoring from the flank that left town with Artemi Panarin heading to New York. The knock on Laine is average mobility and maybe not enough nasty, but he is plenty effective in tight spaces—and his shot is both lethal and amply proven. And he has been criticized at times for a lack of focus. However, few NHL general managers have as much or more familiarity with Laine than fellow Finn Jarmo Kekalainen.

Columbus native Roslovic is the lucky strike extra here, and could very well eventually tip the equity in this trade toward the Blue Jackets—giving Tortorella yet another high motor, coachable, skilled and versatile middle-six forward to go with the likes of Oliver Bjorkstrand and Liam Foudy.

The Blue Jackets have extended Roslovic’s contract for two years at $3.8 million total. Laine becomes a restricted free agent on July 28. However, Columbus has significant cap flexibility due to this trade and other factors.

What do you think? Comment below.

The post TRADE BREAKDOWN: Columbus acquires Laine and Roslovic for Dubois, pick appeared first on The Rink.

• Are there any roster surprises?
• What kind of lines would we like, or do we expect to see?
• General musings about the season and what we would like to see.
• We wrap up singing the praises of our (now) retired hero, Corey Crawford.

Watch the entire replay of the Facebook live right here:

Watch the entire replay of the Youtube live right here:

Subscribe, rate this episode, share with your friends, and even write us a review. The best reviews will be read on the air.

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

Are you a RinkRat who also owns a business? Our data shows RinkCast listeners are (like you) affluent, discerning, and want to patronize like-minded brands. As part of our growth, we’re looking for an exclusive advertiser, at a VERY low cost.  Email podcast@the-rink.com for more details

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 4, Episode 2 – Camp and Crow appeared first on The Rink.

In this first podcast of season 4, the Rink staff members John Jaeckel, Sean Fitzgerald, and Andy Campbell to talk about the latest Blackhawks news considering the absence of Jonathan Toews to open the new year.

Watch the entire replay of the Facebook live right here:

Watch the entire replay of the Youtube live right here:

Subscribe, rate this episode, share with your friends, and even write us a review. The best reviews will be read on the air.

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

Are you a RinkRat who also owns a business? Our data shows RinkCast listeners are (like you) affluent, discerning, and want to patronize like-minded brands. As part of our growth, we’re looking for an exclusive advertiser, at a VERY low cost.  Email podcast@the-rink.com for more details

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 4, Episode 1 – From bad to Wirtz appeared first on The Rink.

In this final podcast of season 3, the Rink staff members John Jaeckel, Ray Napientek, Sean Fitzgerald, and Andy Campbell to talk about the Blackhawks moves.

• Kirby Dach fractures his wrist at World Championships.
• Dylan Strome is still not signed with camp starting in a week
• Carl Soderberg signed to fill a spot at center

Watch the entire replay of the Facebook live right here:

Watch the entire replay of the Youtube live right here:

Please do us a favor. Subscribe, rate this episode, share with your friends, and even write us a review. The best reviews will be read on the air.

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

Are you a RinkRat who also owns a business? Our data shows RinkCast listeners are (like you) affluent, discerning, and want to patronize like-minded brands. As part of our growth, we’re looking for an exclusive advertiser, at a VERY low cost.  Email podcast@the-rink.com for more details

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 3, Episode 27 – End of the year moves appeared first on The Rink.

The Rink staff members John Jaeckel, Jeff Osborn, Sean Fitzgerald, and Aaron (Goldschmidt) Goldstein to talk about the Blackhawks announcement today that Stan Bowman has been promoted, while Jaime Faulkner takes President of Business Ops, and Danny Witz becomes CEO.

Watch the entire replay of the Facebook live right here:

Watch the entire replay of the Youtube live right here:

Please do us a favor. Subscribe, rate this episode, share with your friends, and even write us a review. The best reviews will be read on the air.

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

Are you a RinkRat who also owns a business? Our data shows RinkCast listeners are (like you) affluent, discerning, and want to patronize like-minded brands. As part of our growth, we’re looking for an exclusive advertiser, at a VERY low cost.  Email podcast@the-rink.com for more details

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 3, Episode 26 – Stan Bowman promotion reactions appeared first on The Rink.

The first period was more of a wide open affair with both teams generating multiple opportunities. The teams traded goals to start, with Chicago’s Jackson Blake lighting the lamp, his fourth goal of the season, at 11:25 (Assists: Matthew Gleason, Luke Levandoski), followed three minutes later by Team USA’s Dylan Duke (Ethan Straky) at 14:26.

But the rest of the period belonged to the Steel—and forward Josh Doan, who rewarded himself by being at the front of the net on two successive goals, the first at 15:26 (Sean Farrell) and again at 19:19 (Jack Babbage, Farrell).

Babbage was victimized on Team USA’s second goal, when a puck caromed off Babbage’s leg, past Shane and into the Steel net, off what appeared to be a pass by USA forward Andre Gasseau.

Steel forward Farrell capped off a stellar 3-point night, with a power play goal at 18:59 of the second period (Matt Coronato, Erik Middendorf), pushing the score to 4-2.

Late in the third period, with the score 4-2 Chicago, the visitors pulled netminder Kaidan Mbereko for an extra attacker, but Shane came up big, thwarting Team USA. Steel defenseman Ryan Ufko finished the scoring for the night with Chicago’s fifth (empty net) goal at 19:37 of the third (Colton Huard).

The final was 5-2, with Shane registering 26 saves in an overall strong performance. The Steel take their four-game win streak against Youngstown this Thursday in a 2:05 PM Central start.

The post RECAP: Chicago Steel down Team USA, 5-2 appeared first on The Rink.

2020 has taught us many things. But one thing some in Hawk nation still have yet to learn is that when General Manager Stan Bowman goes on a self-initiated media sit-down or full-blown media tour, as he has over the last several days, there is usually more to it than immediately meets the eye.

When Bowman does this (and he has done it before, though perhaps not as comprehensively as he has this time around), it is usually to head off growing perceptions in the fanbase that are not “good” for the organization.

You cannot just assume this is normal, or a normal part of Bowman’s job. He, and more broadly the team, would like you to think that, because that makes you an easier mark.

The truth is, Bowman does not (because he is not empowered to do so) just set up a bunch of media interviews on his own. That is not how corporations function—or pro sports franchises that typically function like corporations, especially the Chicago Blackhawks.

Follow the money.

I do not have the exact numbers. But anecdotally, the feedback I hear from season ticketholders regarding their communications with the team and their willingness to drop significant coin on ticket plans, suggest the Blackhawks—in an already low revenue environment due to COVID-19—are simultaneously finding themselves having an unusually hard time selling tickets or justifying high ticket prices.

Again anecdotally, countless ticketholders have told me how the resale market for their purchased tickets has fallen off a cliff over the last couple of seasons.

These types of “sales” problems quickly become a problem for PR and messaging to solve. And if you think the Blackhawk PR team and senior management were not fully bought in on (or fully driving) the idea of Bowman’s Big October PR Adventure, you are being colossally naïve.

For the second time this week, I have to credit Barstool for something (again, 2020).

When Bowman appeared on Red Line Radio, Barstool Ryan was fairly relentless in pinning him down on his expectations and “moves.” Full marks on that. I will even suggest giving it a listen. The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus went in that direction as well. Bowman’s responses (or lack thereof, more like evasions) were telling. Short of a transcript or blow by blow, let’s just look at what is obvious.

Bowman is now talking about essentially the status quo of the last few years as a “rebuild.” Sure, the team may rely more heavily on youth this season than it has the last couple of seasons—but this was the same thing they tried three years ago with the “youth movement” (other people’s words, not mine) that included Nick Schmaltz, Tyler Motte, Vincent Hinostroza and others. It did not make a difference then, and do not expect a different result now, either.

Bowman traded or chose not to re-sign three fixtures of last year’s team in Brandon Saad, Olli Maatta and Corey Crawford and did not receive one draft pick or high-end prospect in return. Yet he is now throwing around the word “rebuild.”

No one had a gun to his head; he could have dealt Saad or Maatta at any time before the in-season trade deadline, when either may have had greater value, too. He could have dealt Crawford last season, along with Robin Lehner, for whom he only got a second-round pick (and your new “No. 1” goalie Malcolm Subban).

Yes, yes, we have heard the rationalization of the diehard “Stanatics”: our boy had to make these moves to free up money to sign Dominik Kubalik (sure), Dylan Strome (meh, not so essential) and Drake Caggiula (who cares).

Even if you buy all that, nonetheless, Bowman’s “moves” all amount to just cost-cutting toward some end—not improving the team short-term (at all), not acquiring futures, which is not a “rebuild” in any sense, especially not when the cost-cutting only allows you to retain assets you already had, and improve the balance sheet (even if only slightly).

Bowman also steadfastly clings to the claim that the team has no plans to deal Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews or Duncan Keith (which may or may not be true)—the only pieces Bowman has left that could potentially bring back the high draft picks or high-end prospects required for a real rebuild. And Brent Seabrook’s nearly $7 million per year is not going anywhere regardless.

At best, Bowman is double-talking—and he went out on this tour with a clear messaging mission: reassure the fans, indoctrinate the media—and sell tickets.

“Sure, we are rebuilding, and you are gonna love Alec Regula and Ian Mitchell. But Kaner and Jonny and Duncs are not going anywhere. A return to glory is not far off. Blah blah blah.”

Remember, this is the same guy who advertised Dylan freaking Sikura as his “big trade deadline acquisition” during the last “youth movement.” How can anyone not be at least skeptical? How many times do you have to walk face first into a ball peen hammer

Hey, we all want to believe in something and not drown in our own cynicism—even crusty old characters like Puckin Hostile and myself. But there is another very telling phrase that describes all this: The tyranny of hope. If you buy their hope narrative, you will buy tickets.

There is a recurring pattern here. Same motive, same method, same madness.

Rationalizing a lack of a clear plan.

The Savior Prospect Of The Year (which is nothing more than an annual “fix” of hope).

“Dedication to excellence.”

Sell tickets and keep prices high.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

What I hear in all the “yeah, buts” about “StanBo” is, some people just do not want to let go and admit the organization they love has sunk this low: Deliberately digging in for three more seasons of on-ice mediocrity (until Toews, Kane and Keith’s contracts expire), on top of the last three mediocre seasons, because ownership does not want to bite the bullet—and take a more serious revenue hit for a couple of years.

Because that would be the cost of a real rebuild. And it is not chump change, either, to be fair.

So, a real rebuild may actually begin then, in the summer of 2023, which means three more seasons in the meantime of “anything can happen,” 13th place in the Western Conference and periodic spin by “StanBo.”

At the same time, you need to know that this organization remains as PR- and bottom line-driven as ever—even if that stands in the way of actually contending for a Cup again any time soon.

Or, keep making excuses for “Stan,” while the organization continues to basically coast on past glories, four high-priced veterans and a constant barrage of prospect hype. It has worked (as far as keeping the lights on, even if the team has been either bad or a bubble team at best) the last three years.

It is a free country, and tickets are going to be easier to come by, anyway.

The post ANALYSIS: The reasons behind Stan Bowman’s big 2020 PR tour appeared first on The Rink.

— Chicago Blackhawks press release, Oct. 20, 2020

Deftly straddling the right message for an increasingly anxious fanbase on one hand, and yet another massive PR faux pas on the other, the Blackhawks issued a statement today that hit all the right notes—but also clearly suggested they are not being completely truthful with someone.

Consider these words about their alleged rebuild very carefully: “an effort that will require a stockpile of emerging talent to complement our top players.”

This is basically the formula the Blackhawks have been following for four years—just not trying to call it a rebuild.

The fact remains, the Blackhawks have neither the draft picks nor the prospects nor the cap room to fulfill this promise without biting the bullet—risking alienation of the diehard meatheads who continue to lap up the “anything can happen” pig slop every year—and trading those same “top players,” meaning Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith.

In other words, it is still not going to work, even if you “step out” and call it a rebuild.

At face value, the Blackhawks are like Lucy: Pulling away the football yet again on a dwindling, delusional fanbase that just will not let go of the now decade-old One Goal dream.

“Rebuilding is fine, as long as I get my ‘Kaner’ fix and can fantasize about the playoffs for a month or two.” This is where it has come to, and that is not a rebuild.

This is not being negative, either. It is living in the world of actual “facts.” Do the math.

Even if Kirby Dach, Adam Boqvist and Ian Mitchell (as long as we are fantasizing here) end up being very good or great NHL players, the Hawks need at least three or four more NHL players of that ilk to become remotely what they were from 2010–2015, when they had four future NHL Hall of Famers, and another four or five terrific players.

And by the time Dach, Boqvist and/or Mitchell would become those players, Keith, Kane and Toews would all be 35–40 years old, or old and injured enough.

And where is that “emerging talent” coming from? Picking guys like Lukas Reichel at 17th overall in the first round? Alex Vlasic? Jake Wise? Being jacked up to the salary cap every year because of four guys over age 30 with no-movement-clause contracts into the next century?

But maybe the Hawks have an ace up their sleeve, and they intend to quietly shop Keith or Toews or Kane as the in-season trade deadline approaches in hopes of getting the boatload of high picks and prospects a real rebuild requires.

Well, then they apparently would not be leveling with those players, would they? Unless you are willing to believe the Hawks—with a straight face—are defining Dylan Strome as a top player, in which case, we have a bridge we want to sell you.

No, for the fourth consecutive year, here come the Hawks! The double-talking Blackhawks! Not contending (but at least they are not pretending about that anymore!). Not rebuilding (but now saying they are—probably only as a justification for reducing salary—let’s be honest here).

If that sounds familiar, you must have been around during the Bill Wirtz era, when Stanley Cups were “too expensive.”

Bit of advice: Stop trying to put a positive spin on this organization’s annual “bs” simply because it is easier than facing the fact that this team is swirling the drain as a serious hockey franchise. Because that’s when they have you—yet again.

Which is, in the end, why the Blackhawks are actually hemorrhaging fans (and sponsors). The team is mediocre, but not terrible. But, the brand is tanking.

Why? Because they cannot be completely honest in meaning what they say—and doing what they say. Not with their fans, possibly not their players and maybe not even themselves.

The post ANALYSIS: The Blackhawks publicly commit to a rebuild (wait, no) appeared first on The Rink.

Originally drafted in the 3^rd round of the 2013 draft by Detroit, the 6’1”, 195 pound Janmark has been a fixture on the Dallas Stars’ penalty kill the last few seasons. A fairly reasonable comparable for Janmark is former Hawk Marcus Kruger, although Janmark is not particularly strong on faceoffs.

Expect him to skate primarily as a third or fourth line left wing with a significant role killing penalties, essentially replacing Zack Smith. Again, as we pointed out this morning, this is another move this offseason that backfills a recently vacated role on the roster.

Stay tuned to TheRink on Twitter for news and analysis as offseason moves happen.

The post Blackhawks sign former Dallas F Matthias Janmark appeared first on The Rink.

This dynamic is what resulted over the weekend in response to the news that Corey Crawford would not be returning to the Blackhawks this season, followed by the trade of Brandon Saad to the Avalanche for, largely, Nikita Zadorov.

Here’s the first thing everyone seems to be missing: the Blackhawks have really shown no actual evidence that they’re even starting to “rebuild.”

They traded Olli Maatta last week for an ECHL player who will, in all likelihood, never get a whiff of the NHL. But they saved a couple of million dollars in salary.

They let Crawford go seek his best deal elsewhere, installing Malcolm Subban (for now anyway) as the team’s number one. And they saved probably $3 million in salary hit.

They dealt Saad to the Avs. And saved about $1.8 million in salary.

Did they get what a rebuilding team would want in return in any of these deals (draft picks or quality prospects)? No.

They’re just cutting costs and getting whatever they can back, and then trying to “backfill” each position with less salary. They know it. Their trade partners know it. Fans and the media should therefore also know it.

Don’t confuse this with a rebuild.

Why not? Well, first, the NHL salary cap is not growing and every team in the league is in a seriously reduced or negative revenue situation. So, virtually no team can absorb a $3-$6 million contract in trade without asking the other team to retain salary and/or take another salary back.

Second, the Hawks behaved like, well, the Hawks. While trading Saad, letting Crawford leave and even to an extent trading Maatta were not overly popular moves, no one was really surprised. The Hawks could do these things and still say with a straight face, “we’re trying to remain competitive. We intend to compete for playoff spot.”

Which they will say. Because, for the last 3 years at minimum, the Blackhawks have behaved like they think their fanbase is stupid and will buy anything. And a large chunk of the fanbase, in turn, has largely done nothing to disprove it.

If Bowman had dealt Duncan Keith or (“heaven forbid”) Patrick Kane, then there’s literally no meatball in any corner of Hawk fandom who would be confused—it would be an actual rebuild, where the team has committed to tearing down, and really rebuilding.

The Hawks haven’t done that. They’ve just nipped around the edges (yet again) with these moves. Purely to reduce salary commitment in the only way possible in a flat cap league.

Again, look at the moves in full context:

Let Crawford go—but re-sign Subban for a lot less money.

Trade Maatta—but then pick up Zadorov and sign him for (slightly) less than Maatta was making.

Trade Saad—then sign Matthias Janmark (for a lot less salary.

It’s doesn’t take a genius to see what’s going on. When it comes to “rebuilding” the Hawks are still half-pregnant—even if veteran players like Jonathan Toews feel “betrayed” by these moves and Bowman was talking about having to have “hard conversations” with those vets.

They’re just trying to continue the “half-rebuild” a lot cheaper due to reduced revenue.

Nothing’s changed as far as any kind of actual plan. Just that ayroll will be lower and the 20-21 team will be worse—maybe a lot worse.

I’m not making excuses for Bowman. I have been riding the Bowman Must Go train for a while now. But these moves feel a lot more driven by the Wirtz family, and their notorious affinity for the bottom line, than anything else.

For all the emotional attachments we have to our teams, traditions and colors, hockey is first and foremost a business. A big money business.

And for all the indignation about a rebuild where the team isn’t getting returns in trade that would support a real rebuild, the sad truth is what the team is actually doing is even more painful than a rebuild.

The mediocrity will not only continue, it will get worse—with less quality goaltending, less size/skill combination up front, and far too much reliance on young, undeveloped players.

Don’t let the drama on Twitter or Bowman’s statements fool you. Not much has changed. And this isn’t about rebuilding (so far anyway). It’s strictly about reducing.

The post Analysis: don’t confuse a cost reduction with a “rebuild” appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com co-hosts Jeff Osborn , and John Jaeckel are joined by The Rink writers Andy Campbell and Sean Fitzgerald to talk about the big trade of the day.

• • • Brandon Saad and Dennis Gilbert to Colorado for Nikita Zadorov and Anton Lindholm

Watch the entire replay of the Facebook live right here:

Watch the entire replay of the Youtube live right here:

Please do us a favor. Subscribe, rate this episode, share with your friends, and even write us a review. The best reviews will be read on the air.

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

Are you a RinkRat who also owns a business? Our data shows RinkCast listeners are (like you) affluent, discerning, and want to patronize like-minded brands. As part of our growth, we’re looking for an exclusive advertiser, at a VERY low cost.  Email podcast@the-rink.com for more details

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 3, Episode 25 – Brandon Saad trade reactions appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com co-hosts Jeff Osborn , John Jaeckel and surprise guest Aaron Goldschmidt of The Rink Colorado wrap up the Blackhawks season and start to contemplate the draft and free agency.

• • After making the Oilers look silly, the Vegas Golden Knights return the favor to the Blackhawks
  • Kirby Dach and Dominik Kubalik continued to play well
  • Alex DeBrincat, Dylan Strome and Alex Nylander did not
  • The irrational hate for Olli Maatta
  • Corey Crawford and goalie talk
  • Discussion about the lack of player development

Watch the entire replay of the YouTube live right here:

Please do us a favor. Subscribe, rate this episode, share with your friends, and even write us a review. The best reviews will be read on the air.

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

Are you a RinkRat who also owns a business? Our data shows RinkCast listeners are (like you) affluent, discerning, and want to patronize like-minded brands. As part of our growth, we’re looking for an exclusive advertiser, at a VERY low cost.  Email podcast@the-rink.com for more details

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 3, Episode 23 – And that’s a wrap appeared first on The Rink.

If you came here looking for another “feel good” article about the Chicago Blackhawks’ return to playoff glory in 2020, you are probably in the wrong place. And certainly, there are lots of those out there.

That said, we offer, as always, an objective take on the games just concluded, as well as an assessment of where the team is in a larger sense—so here it goes.

Good news: The Blackhawks made it further than most expected.

Bad news: They pretty much got dominated in the first actual playoff round by a team with a talent level the Blackhawks need to attain themselves.

Which means: The Blackhawks have some work to do. And they may not be able to get that work done soon enough in light of their salary cap structure, prospect pipeline and other factors.

There is a temptation, that some may have already succumbed to, to color this first round loss to the Vegas Golden Knights as proof that “whatever Stan Bowman et al are doing, it’s working.” And therefore, just stay the course, In Stan We Trust.

And in the America of 2020, where opinions are driven entirely by emotion and not fact, you can always find the “right” set of “facts” somewhere on the internet to support your opinion.

So, on the surface, you can point to the fact (and it is a fact) that the Blackhawks made the playoffs for the first time in three seasons. However (also a fact), they got an assist from a pandemic and a “liberal” play-in format that included all but the worst seven teams in the league. The Blackhawks were in that tier between No. 17 and No. 24 that got a break, and they took advantage of it, beating a disappointing Edmonton Oilers team three games to one.

In that series, the Blackhawks showed more balance, more desire and more willingness to mix it up physically than the highly touted Oilers. Those are all positives, at least in terms of how Chicago measures up against what was ultimately an overrated team like Edmonton.

But, in the first real playoff round, against the Vegas Golden Knights, the Hawks struggled for the most part (to put it charitably). Were it not for the Game Four heroics of goaltender Corey Crawford, the team would have been swept. The Blackhawks also foiled the Vegas power play for the first four games. But otherwise, at five-on-five, arguably the best metric of playoff viability, the Blackhawks were dominated by a bigger, deeper, more-disciplined and relentless team.

The Brandon Saad-Jonathan Toews-Dominik Kubalik line, that was the best for either team against the Oilers, was less of a factor versus Vegas. Newly minted, $6.4 million-per-year winger Alex DeBrincat got his first goal of the playoffs on an empty netter in Game Four, and had a nice actual goal in Game Five. Pierre McGuire, predictably, was all oooohs and ahhhs over Kirby Dach and Adam Boqvist (deservedly so in terms of the potential of both young players), but failed to point out how physically overwhelmed both were (in reality) at times.

The point of all this: Vegas is a very good team, and one that may go deep in the playoffs this year or even come out of the Western Conference. So, you can choose to rest your argument that the Hawks are “improving, just not there yet” on that. Or, you can take a more discerning stance and say the gulf between the Hawks today and the team they need to become is wide, with at best a highly questionable bridge.

Because as always, with the “plan” that Bowman is seeming to execute, the calculus is: “Let’s find and develop youth around the remaining Stanley Cup core (Crawford, Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith), and we will get back to the top of the league.”

The problem is, as we have just seen, there is a difference between 19-year-olds dabbling in a few first-round games, and 27-year-olds pushing to make the finals. It is called development, experience and time.

Sure, the Hawks have “experience” aplenty in the aforementioned core. But, it is experience that is getting old and running down with each successive season.

Two years ago, we all thought Crawford and Brent Seabrook would be around and contributing for at least a few more seasons. Seabrook now looks done. Crawford had a couple of phenomenal games in these series, but the rest were pedestrian (at best). And how will we be talking about Keith or Toews two seasons from now?

So, the only way to validate or support the approach that the Blackhawks organization is taking to return to the league’s elite is betting that, in order to improve, they will acquire more players and prospects of Dach and Boqvist caliber (i.e., top-10 draft picks who at least somewhat pan out), and then develop them awfully quickly before the current core loses any more tread off its tires.

Thanks to “winning” the play-in series, the Blackhawks look to be drafting around 17th in the first round, not exactly prime position to snag an impact player, not even the goalie of the future they so desperately need.

That is literally the only way the Hawks can do it—through the draft—thanks to some pretty bad salary cap management.

There was a time 5-10 summers ago when the Blackhawks would have to nip and tuck every offseason and get creative to hopefully sign their RFAs and stay under the salary cap, which is a zero-sum game—if you are spending every dime you have under the cap to retain your current guys, there is not much money left to improve with.

This summer, the Blackhawks are back there again, but this time, they are going to have to spend every dime to retain Kubalik, who at 26, may never be better than what he is now, and possibly Dylan Strome (ditto). And, they may even have to lose a serviceable veteran defenseman like Olli Maatta to do it.

The zero-sum game now applies to a fringe playoff team, not a perennial Cup contender.

How did we get here? Look no further than the money being paid to Toews, Kane, DeBrincat, Saad, Seabrook and soon Kubalik. The only “value” in the core is 37-year-old Duncan Keith at $5.5 million per year.

Following the Game Five loss to Vegas, Steve Konroyd and Jamal Mayers were throwing around the idea of extending Crawford this offseason for three years at $5-6 million per year, a notion that it would seem a lot of Chicago fans would be okay with, because…the salary cap is “fake news” and, hey…“Crow.”

But, here is an actual fact. Including the two admittedly stellar outings Crawford had in the playoffs, his overall numbers were 4–5 with a .907 save percentage and 3.31 goals against average. He will be 36 soon and he has had long periods of inactivity due to concussions (which do not get “cured”).

You want to lose Maatta or Saad to finance this madness? Guess what, Maatta was maybe your best defenseman in these playoffs and Saad is not easily “replaced” by some kid who was playing for Penn State last year. It does not actually ever work that way.

In life, to paraphrase “Da Coach,” be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it.

Or, in the end, you get what you really deserve, because there is really nothing to suggest that the Blackhawks can be a meaningfully better team next year, with another year coming off the careers of the aging core.

So, if you really just want to be a team sniffing around maybe getting a playoff spot (and “anything can happen”) year after year, then you may want to just “stay the course.”

Another quote ringing around my head as I pen this recap is the title of that old Talking Heads song: The Road To Nowhere.

If you would rather rejoin the league’s elite, larger work needs to be done—that probably cannot be done without a fresh, no-holds-barred perspective from the top of the organization down, and some big (and probably unpopular in the short term) rebuilding moves.

For fans, it was fun to actually make the playoffs, and to win one game while there, but in the larger sense of redirecting this franchise, the Blackhawks still desperately need to shake things up.

These playoffs should not be seen as validation of Bowman and Jeremy Colliton, but rather further proof that measured baby steps, and resting on past laurels, are not going to be nearly enough to lead the team back to glory.

Being “positive” about the Blackhawks should not be defined as just seeking validation for Bowman or Colliton or a roster and organization still full of holes. It should be defined as recognizing and applauding when the team is actually aggressively pursuing the greatness fans deserve for their dollars.

And when the Blackhawks do that, we will.

The post ANALYSIS: Blackhawks’ playoff run ends; now what?  appeared first on The Rink.

Records

Vegas 39–24–8
Chicago 32–30–8

Season head-to-head

Vegas 2–1–0
Chicago 1–2–0

Special teams (Power play, penalty kill)

Vegas 22.0% (Ninth), Chicago 82.1% (Ninth)
Chicago 15.2% (28th), Vegas 76.6% (27th)

Shots for, Shots against

Vegas 32.3 (Seventh), 26.3 (Third)
Chicago 30.5 (13th), 34.3 (21st)

Goals for, Goals against

Vegas 224 (10th), 209 (14th)
Chicago 208 (19th), 214 (16th)

Faceoffs

Vegas 50.0% (16th)
Chicago 49.9% (17th)

Average height, weight, age

Vegas 6-foot-2, 203.5 pounds, 27.5
Chicago 6-foot-1, 191.5 pounds, 25.4

Projected lineups

Vegas Golden Knights
Max Pacioretty — William Karlsson — Mark Stone
Jonathan Marchessault — Paul Stastny — Reilly Smith
Nick Cousins — Alex Tuch — Nicolas Roy
William Carrier — Tomas Nosek — Ryan Reaves

Brayden McNabb — Nate Schmidt
Alec Martinez — Shea Theodore
Nick Holden — Zach Whitecloud

Robin Lehner
Marc-Andre Fleury

Chicago Blackhawks 
Brandon Saad — Jonathan Toews — Dominik Kubalik
Alex DeBrincat — Kirby Dach — Patrick Kane
Alexander Nylander — Dylan Strome — Drake Caggiula
Matthew Highmore — Ryan Carpenter — David Kampf

Duncan Keith — Adam Boqvist
Calvin de Haan — Connor Murphy
Olli Maatta — Slater Koekkoek

Corey Crawford
Malcolm Subban

Analysis

As it goes with a No. 8 seed, the Blackhawks would appear to have their work cut out for them in their first round playoff matchup against the No. 1 seed Golden Knights.

Fresh off a “play-in” upset of Edmonton—where the only people who picked the Hawks would pick them against the ‘83 Oilers (or really “anyone”)—the Blackhawks can certainly make the ol’ “anything can happen” argument.

And, they could be right.

However, the Knights are not the Oilers. Not just in the composition of their team, but also in that they just performed strongly in the round robins against the best competition in the West. But, let’s look at why some hope might be justified for the Hawks.

Above all, their first line is as hot and as potent as any in hockey. Jonathan Toews is playing again like THE Jonathan Toews, same for Brandon Saad, and Dominik Kubalik is a quick-strike lethal weapon. I doubt the Knights will stop this line, and as the saying goes, their best hope is to contain them.

The Hawk defense is also playing pretty well. Not perfectly, but well enough to get past Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Fortunately for the Hawks, no one else on Edmonton posed much of a threat.

Compounding that relative positive is…another relative positive. For the first three games of the Edmonton series, Corey Crawford appeared to be, at best, finding his game. In the decisive Game 4, he was once again “Corey Crawford.” A lot of Hawk fans are counting on, or assuming, they will see “Game 4 Crawford” throughout the Vegas series, and not “first three games Crawford.” We shall see.

Because, again, the Knights are not the Oilers.

As we all know, Vegas went to the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season two years ago. They do not really have what you would call a lot of (or any) household names. But, they are built to win in the playoffs, and, in that regard, more so than the Hawks.

Vegas has a lot of players who can both put the puck in the net and defend. They are big, but they can play however you want. Add to that, their goaltending is, if not better than the Hawks’, certainly deeper with Robin Lehner and Marc-Andre Fleury. The Hawks likely will not get a “bye” in Game 1 due to a Mike Smith meltdown—and the likes of Mikko Koskinen to decode the rest of the way.

Vegas head coach Pete DeBoer has a true luxury in picking between the hotter hand of two top NHL goaltenders. Another luxury is adding top scorer Max Pacioretty into a lineup that did not have much difficulty scoring in the round robin.

The Hawks’ play-in round featured two teams with plenty of flaws. You can argue the Hawks won because they outworked the Oilers and thereby overcame their flaws, where Edmonton seemed to never quite show up, exaggerating their own.

Chicago probably will not be so lucky with Vegas, who both showed up and prevailed in the round robins—and have shown in the recent past they know how to win in the playoffs.

In this matchup, the special teams look stunningly even, but the numbers suggest the Knights are a better five-on-five team than Chicago, which they are, and that matters significantly in the playoffs, where penalties generally get called less and overtime is five-on-five, with no three-on-three or shootout.

Sure, there is a compelling Crawford vs. Lehner subtext. I am going to assume (if Lehner and not Fleury starts for Vegas) both players will give it all they have. And with that in mind, the series will be won or lost between the goal lines. But, here is another very compelling stat: Vegas is 8–1 since 2017 against Chicago.

Keys to victory

Vegas

Keep rolling. Vegas looked very strong in the round robins. They have the scoring, depth, goaltending and physicality to go deep in the playoffs.

Chicago

Stop Vegas from continuing its roll. Winning Game 1 would not only be a minor upset for the Hawks, but it might also start to get inside the Golden Knights’ heads. Vegas has to have a fairly high confidence level coming in against a Chicago team they have dominated recently. The Hawks’ best hope may be to damage that confidence early in the series.

Prediction

When you look at all the variables, both teams’ depth (or lack thereof), size and recent playoff success, it is really hard to objectively pick the Hawks in this series. So, we are not going to.

Vegas in six games.

Comment below.

The post Series Preview: Blackhawks vs. Golden Knights appeared first on The Rink.

Aside from a highly unanticipated Hawk blowout in Game 1, Games 2 and 3 were essentially even.

If Edmonton chalked Game 1 up to no legs and a particularly poor start to the game by goaltender Mike Smith, then Game 4—with the Oilers’ backs to the wall on essentially home ice—would be the true test.

Did most of us underestimate what is left in the tanks of Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith? Or is Edmonton just not ready for prime time? Or would the Oilers regain their footing in Game 4, sending the series to a fifth and deciding game?

While Mikko Koskinen split Games 2 and 3 in net for Edmonton, he certainly still appeared to be a better alternative to Smith—and Koskinen would be the starter for Edmonton in Game 4. Corey Crawford, who had not needed to be very good thus far in the series—and to this point was not—remained in net for Chicago.

First period

Edmonton got on the board in the game’s opening minute, when Connor McDavid set up Josh Archibald on a beautiful cross ice pass, catching a disoriented and out-of-position Chicago defense completely off guard. Think a classic Hawk defensive zone Chinese fire drill of the last two seasons—only this time minus Erik Gustafsson. The tally put Edmonton ahead 1–0 just 45 seconds into the contest.

Edmonton dominated the first five minutes, but at 14:44 on one of the Hawks’ first shots, Brandon Saad scooped up a rebound, circled the back of the net and tucked one past a flailing Koskinen to tie the game at 1–1 5:16 into the frame.

After Edmonton defender Darnell Nurse made a weak attempt to advance a puck behind the Oilers’ net, the Blackhawks took possession and kicked it out to Keith at the point. Keith launched a shot that was nicely tipped by Matthew Highmore for his second tally in two games, giving Chicago a 2–1 lead just under eight minutes into the period.

Edmonton began to mount some serious pressure with their defensemen activating and taking some risks in the last 10 minutes of the period. The pace and intensity of the game was noticeably picking up. Nurse then had another miscue, allowing Toews to get behind him at the Edmonton net, forcing Nurse to take him down and earn two minutes at 15:54. The Hawks mounted some nice pressure on the ensuing power play, but Edmonton scrapped and scuffled to kill it off.

Koskinen really seemed to be fighting the puck and flopping around, but somehow managed to hold the Hawks at bay on several quality chances. The period ended, oddly enough, on a Highmore high-sticking penalty, giving the potent Edmonton power play a chance to open the second.

Second period

Before Edmonton could get much going on its power play, David Kampf picked off a pass near the top of the Chicago zone and went in on a breakaway that Koskinen stopped. With the penalty expiring, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins slammed a rebound past a fallen Crawford to level the score at 2–2 just over two minutes into the second stanza.

At 2:32, Alex DeBrincat, Stan Bowman’s “disappearing $6 million man,” took an awful five-minute major penalty boarding Edmonton defenseman Ethan Bear from behind. But, before the Oilers could capitalize, Nurse made yet another boneheaded play, drawing an interference call at 4:48. Edmonton killed their portion of the four-on-four, leaving 41 seconds left on DeBrincat’s major. Chicago nonetheless got the kill, but Edmonton kept the pressure on.

Crawford was then tested on a few high-quality chances at even strength and came up big. Koskinen was also tested at times throughout the remainder of the second. Both goalies flopped and flailed quite a bit, but managed to keep the score tied.

The period ended in the midst of another Edmonton power play after Dominik Kubalik took a slashing penalty at 19:49. This period may have featured the most intense hockey of the series.

Third period

Crawford stopped several Edmonton chances to open the period and helped the Blackhawks kill off the penalty. He also had a lucky horseshoe in his pads when beaten by Andreas Athanasiou, only to be bailed out by the crossbar.

About a minute later, Drake Caggiula took an ill-advised cross-checking penalty on Athanasiou, putting the Oilers back on the man advantage. Perhaps Crawford’s best save of the game came on a James Neal chance off a sweet passing play about midway through the power play. The Hawks then killed off the remainder.

Edmonton continued to pressure the Hawks at even strength, when for the first time in the series the Hawks appeared to have tired legs. But the Saad-Toews-Kubalik line struck again with breathtaking quickness, with Toews winning a puck on the end board and feeding Kubalik for that lightning one-timer at 8:30, lifting Chicago to a 3–2 lead.

Yet Edmonton kept coming, and Crawford kept responding. The action was fast and furious back and forth until Edmonton tried to pull Koskinen around the two-minute mark—and got hit with an unforgivable too many men call.

Edmonton then dialed up one last onslaught at five-on-five with Koskinen pulled, but it was a day late and a dollar short. Playoff Corey Crawford showed up, and as it was throughout the series, the Hawks’ first line of Kubalik, Toews and Saad was the best on the ice. Game, series, Chicago.

The Blackhawks defied the experts. Here at The Rink, we had the series going four games—to the Oilers. Edmonton’s goaltending and defense, especially without Adam Larsson the last two games, were exposed.

Now the Blackhawks wait until Saturday to see who they face in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Well earned. Comment below.

The post Along the Boards: Blackhawks top Oilers 3–2, take series in four games appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com co-hosts Jeff Osborn, John Jaeckel, are joined by Rink writer Ray Napientek to wrap up the Blackhawks exhibition win and preview the play-in series vs the Edmonton Oilers

• • Corey Crawford emerged from the shadows post-COVID and played with only three days of practice.
  • Dominik Kubalik is ready for the postseason.
  • Kirby Dach also looked energized.
  • The Blues laid a huge turd in the wrap of the exhibition game.
  • We talk about Calvin de Haan and Connor Murphy.
  • The Oilers aren’t going to look like the Blues did Wednesday.
  • We discuss the Blackhawks banning Native American headdresses at all future games and team events.

Watch the entire replay of the ZOOM call on Facebook live right here:

Please do us a favor. Subscribe, rate this episode, share with your friends, and even write us a review. The best reviews will be read on the air.

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

Are you a RinkRat who also owns a business? Our data shows RinkCast listeners are (like you) affluent, discerning, and want to patronize like-minded brands. As part of our growth, we’re looking for an exclusive advertiser, at a VERY low cost.  Email podcast@the-rink.com for more details

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 3, Episode 22 – Post Season Preview appeared first on The Rink.

Game 1          3 PM, Saturday, August 1
Game 2          10:30 PM, Monday, August 3
Game 3          10:30 PM, Wednesday, August 5
Game 4           Friday, August 7 (if necessary)
Game 5           Saturday, August 8 (if necessary)
(All times Eastern)

Regular season stats

Head-to-head
Chicago 2-1-0
Edmonton 1-2-0

Special teams
Edmonton power play 29.5% (1st) v. Chicago penalty kill 82.1% (t-8th)
Chicago power play 15.2% (28th) v. Edmonton Penalty kill 84.4% (2nd)

Faceoffs
Chicago         49.9% (17th)
Edmonton      49.0% (23rd)

SF/SA
Chicago         31.8/35.1
Edmonton      29.6/32.0

Avg. age/height/weight
Chicago
6’1”, 191.5 lbs, 25.4 years

Edmonton
6’2”, 197.3 lbs, 25.9 years

Projected lineups

Chicago

Dominik Kubalik – Jonathan Toews – Brandon Saad
Alex Nylander – Dylan Strome – Patrick Kane
Alex DeBrincat – Kirby Dach – Drake Caggiula
Matthew Highmore – Ryan Carpenter – David Kampf

Duncan Keith – Adam Boqvist
Calvin DeHaan – Connor Murphy
Slater Koekkoek – Olli Maatta

Corey Crawford/Malcolm Subban/Colin Delia

Edmonton

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Connor McDavid – Zack Kassian
Tyler Ennis – Leon Draisaitl – Kailer Yamamoto
Andreas Athanasiou – Riley Sheahan – Josh Archibald
James Neal – Jujhar Khaira – Alex Chiasson

Oscar Klefbom – Adam Larsson
Darnell Nurse – Ethan Bear
Kris Russell – Matt Benning

Mikko Koskinen/Mike Smith

Analysis
This series will ride on the relative health and player status of the two teams— whether it’s quick, three game work for the Oilers, or if the Blackhawks can channel past mojo and make a four or five game contest of it.

On paper, the series tilts toward the Oilers, though that could be mitigated by the recent return to “health” of goaltender Corey Crawford. A healthy and dialed in Crawford gives the Blackhawks a chance in any series. However, in light of his absence from practices and injury history over the last two seasons, that Crawford is far from assured at this point. If Crawford plays, and plays very well in the Wednesday exhibition versus St. Louis, then consider this series a more even match than it was a week to ten days ago.

And you can argue that old stalwarts Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, and Duncan Keith also give the Hawks a chance every time they hit the ice. But the Chicago supporting cast in August 2020 pales in comparison to that of the Blackhawks last playoff series win in June 2015 (yes, it’s been that long). And that’s where this series will likely turn— in favor of the Oilers.

In any playoff series, it’s all about the matchups. And it’s usually about which team imposes itself physically on the other. Nearly across the board, the Oilers seem to be getting the better of the odds.

Special teams? A pretty clear advantage to Edmonton.

5-on-5?

Aside from the fact that the Oilers are faster than the Blackhawks, they are also bigger. In particular, as playoff hockey tends to be much less “officiated”—and clutching, grabbing and grinding on one end or other is much more prevalent—the Oilers big, nasty defense corps, led by Adam Larsson, Darnell Nurse, and Oscar Klefbom, will have a huge advantage against a basically pretty soft and somewhat inexperienced Chicago forward group. While Alex Nylander, Dylan Sikura, and Kirby Dach have been at times dominant in no/low contact intra-team scrimmages, as they say, there ain’t nothin’ like the real thing, baby.

The Oilers are going to target and try to intimidate these players from the first puck drop. Add Dylan Strome and Alex DeBrincat to the Oilers’ list as well. And don’t think of it so much as running around for big hits, but bodying younger, smaller Chicago forwards off of pucks, an elbow here, a cross check there, seeing how quickly the young Hawk forwards will start pulling up early, quitting on pucks, and otherwise daydreaming about golf season.

Playoff goals tend to be a lot more greasy than those in the regular season, and a pure perimeter team (which is what the Columbus Blue Jackets turned the heretofore “greatest team in recorded history,” the Tampa Bay Lightning, into last April in a four-game sweep) tends to fold like a tent in the postseason. Unless the Hawks can muster a lot of pushback, this is Edmonton’s game plan.

It’s not like these Oilers are the 1983 version of themselves either, but they are a team on the rise and with good reason. All Everything centers Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are essentially this decade’s Crosby and Malkin. This duo gives Oil head coach Dave Tippett the ability to roll two potent scoring lines or load up putting both of the superstars out at the same time. Consider this, McDavid and Draisaitl were on pace for 114 and 127 points respectively when the regular season ended in March. Sure you can argue: stop them and stop the Oilers. But beyond Toews, the Hawks don’t seem to have the horses down the middle to get that done.

Assume Toews will be out against McDavid or Draisaitl. But if Toews takes one, that means Dylan Strome or perhaps Kirby Dach or Ryan Carpenter must take the other: a massive mismatch up and down the ice. Dach may emerge over the next couple of years as a fine NHL player. But a recent stellar performance in no-contact team scrimmages does not mean “yeah, roll him out against McDavid, no problem.”

There was a time when Joel Quenneville could do the same with Kane and Toews, but this is 2020, Kane and Toews are both to varying degrees not quite what they were five to seven years ago, and Hawk head coach Jeremy Colliton is no Quenneville either.

Quite frankly, he has not proved he’s in Tippett’s league.

You almost feel sorry for Colliton in this series. Hell, with the slow slide to mediocrity the Hawk front office has facilitated for the last five years, you feel sorry for him all the time.

Regardless, he’s going to be highly challenged trying to matchup with the speed and size of the Oilers, and always in Edmonton’s building.

Does Chicago have any chance in this series?

Well, no one really knows how “healthy” Crawford is except the player himself and perhaps his doctor. And even then, with COVID-19, there is ample and growing evidence that even young, otherwise healthy patients can have mild symptoms followed by “negative” tests for several days—then suddenly fall off a cliff.

We do know Crawford is unlikely to be 100% dialed in after four months off and a week of practice. And then he is going to see a lot of rubber night in and night out. That’s if he even plays in game 1, or then past game 1. Remember, we were all told Brent Seabrook was going to play until we heard he couldn’t.

Everyone at Hawks camp keeps raving about the strides taken by 2019 #3 overall selection Kirby Dach, but if there’s one other Hawk X-factor in this series, it may be 2018 #8 overall selection Adam Boqvist.

Boqvist could literally go either way in this series, getting caught way too far up ice or out of position and end up with Michelin tracks all over him—or he could rise up to the promise of his exceptional mobility and offensive talent and really give the Oilers an unexpected problem. Or both. But more likely the former than the latter, because again, we’re lighting candles here.

Finally, if Chicago can surprise the Oil in Game 1, take two of the first three, and Crawford plays, it goes five and will be a nail-biter. But . . .

Prediction

Oilers in 4 if Crawford plays. Oilers sweep if he doesn’t.

The post Blackhawks at Oilers/Round 1 Play-In Preview appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com co-hosts Jeff Osborn, John Jaeckel, are joined by Don from the Game On Sports Podcast for Everyone to talk about the first few days of Blackhawks and Rangers raining camp

• • We’re all still skeptical that the NHL plan will continue to completion
  • Corey Crawford is a no show to training camp and deemed “Unfit to Play”
  • Dominik Kubalik named Calder finalist
  • Ian Mitchell signing made official
  • Andrew Shaw and Zack Smith also not in camp.
  • The Blackhawks’ chances for the first overall pick are still much stronger than their chances of advancing past the Oilers. #AllForOne and #DoneInOne
  • We have some discussion of the New York Rangers and our old friend Artemi Panarin.

Watch the entire replay of the ZOOM call on Facebook live right here:

Please do us a favor. Subscribe, rate this episode, share with your friends, and even write us a review. The best reviews will be read on the air.

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

Are you a RinkRat who also owns a business? Our data shows RinkCast listeners are (like you) affluent, discerning, and want to patronize like-minded brands. As part of our growth, we’re looking for an exclusive advertiser, at a VERY low cost.  Email podcast@the-rink.com for more details

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 3, Episode 21 – Return to Play with GameOnPodcast appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com co-hosts Jeff Osborn, John Jaeckel, are joined by good friend’s Uncle Forklift and CT from HockeeNight.com to talk about the latest developments in the NHL.

• • New COVID-19 cases in Florida, Texas and Arizona should put plans into disarray, but the NHL just keeps trucking along.
  • Draft lottery is coming.
  • Who the Blackhawks won’t be picking up in free agency.
  • More specifics on the Blackhawks chances or lack thereof.

Watch the entire replay of the ZOOM call on Facebook live right here:

Please do us a favor. Subscribe, rate this episode, share with your friends, and even write us a review. The best reviews will be read on the air.

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

Are you a RinkRat who also owns a business? Our data shows RinkCast listeners are (like you) affluent, discerning, and want to patronize like-minded brands. As part of our growth, we’re looking for an exclusive advertiser, at a VERY low cost.  Email podcast@the-rink.com for more details

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 3, Episode 20 – HockeeNight Rinkcast appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com writers led by RHL (Rink Hockey League) Commissioner Mario Tirabassi and RHL General Managers Jeff Osborn (1st overall), Ron Luce (2nd), Eric Andrews (3rd), Aaron Goldschmidt (4th), John Jaeckel (5th), Ray Napientek (6th), and Mr. Irrelevent Sean Fitzgerald (7th) get together to have a little fun and draft their own RHL franchises comprised only of Blackhawks players since the ’05 lockout.

• • Draft finished like this but worth listening/watching to this one

The-Rink.com Blackhawks fantasy draft results.

Watch the entire replay of the ZOOM draft on Facebook live right here:

Please do us a favor. Subscribe, rate this episode, share with your friends, and even write us a review. The best reviews will be read on the air.

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

Are you a RinkRat who also owns a business? Our data shows RinkCast listeners are (like you) affluent, discerning, and want to patronize like-minded brands. As part of our growth, we’re looking for an exclusive advertiser, at a VERY low cost.  Email podcast@the-rink.com for more details

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 3, Episode 19 – Blackhawks Fantasy Draft-a-palooza appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com co-hosts Jeff Osborn, John Jaeckel, are joined by staff writer Aaron Goldschmidt, and friend of the site Christian Deme aka StacheESQ on Facebook live to talk about the firing of John McDonough.

• John McDonough surprisingly fired by Rocky Wirtz
• Danny Wirtz takes over in the interim
• What does this mean going forward?
• Does Stan stay or go?
• We get in-depth with some wishlists
• If you are interested in writing for The Rink for any division, email writefor@the-rink.com

Please subscribe, rate this episode, and even write us a review. Reviews will be read on the air. Follow and listen on these platforms:

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

Watch the entire Facebook live here!!!!

Are you a RinkRat who also owns a business? Our data shows RinkCast listeners are (like you) affluent, discerning, and want to patronize like-minded brands. As part of our growth, we’re looking for an exclusive advertiser, at a VERY low cost.  Email podcast@the-rink.com for more details

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 3, Episode 18 – McDonough Down! appeared first on The Rink.

Just a handful of weeks after giving his President and General Manager votes of confidence, Blackhawks owner Rockwell Wirtz today at least partially, yet dramatically, reversed course, firing the aforementioned team President and CEO John McDonough.

Blackhawk nation finds itself in a state of shock at the news. And yet, for some, especially those of us here at The Rink, it is not a big surprise. We had expected it before the vote of confidence.

McDonough has his supporters—the “he won three Cups and turned the team around” epitaphs are many. But, facts are pesky things. And Wirtz, to his credit, as a smart, shrewd businessman, can see them plain as day.

What turned the fortunes of this franchise around 10–15 years ago were a series of good draft picks, trades and free agent signings, a true rebuild that, at the time, was long and painful. But, it eventually paid off in the form of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa—all acquired by the GMs who preceded McDonough’s handpicked “team player,” Stan Bowman.

And great teams, like great cars, in turn, sell themselves. Marketing can only get in the way if it is really, really bad. Otherwise, if you build it, they will come.

And they did.

Sure, it probably was McDonough’s big idea to put home games on local television and hire back Pat Foley as the team’s play-by-play man. But, after the decades-long ineptitude and fan alienation of Wirtz’ father, Dollar Bill Wirtz, there was nowhere to go but up in the fans’ eyes. McDonough just grabbed the lowest of low hanging fruit.

The young, brash, big and talented team that won the Cup in 2010—almost entirely built by Dale Tallon, Mike Smith, Rick Dudley and Marshall Johnston, and for the most part before McDonough’s tenure began—formed the core of the remaining two Cup teams as well.

And along about 2015, the Hawk front office, swollen with functionaries and false pride, began handing out massive contracts with no movement clauses—including one to a slow Russian forward who had yet to play in a Blackhawk uniform, with McDonough’s full review and approval.

And the price of that arrogance came due in successive seasons, as with each humiliating playoff elimination, followed by two (and possibly three) years out of the playoffs completely, it became more and more apparent that something was wrong with the Hawks’ front office.

And it was McDonough’s show, make no mistake.

Suddenly, with the exit of Marian Hossa, the decline of Brent Seabrook and some would argue Keith as well, with a string of missed draft picks and overhyped prospects, year after year, the celebrated Hawk front office could not get out of its own way. Fingers began to be pointed, and a Hall of Fame coach was replaced with an AHL coach who was younger than some of the team’s best players, which has not worked out.

At that time, McDonough declared himself accountable, and some of us started to wonder when Wirtz would take that to its logical conclusion.

Now we know. The king is dead.

Long live the king

Already, theories abound as to what’s next. Why is Bowman still around—could he have been part of an insurrection? Doubtful, and Bowman will likely be gone sometime this summer, or “reassigned” within the organization.

The idea that Chris Chelios or Eddie Olczyk will be the next team president has been floated.

But, while you cannot rule anything out, Wirtz’s bold move today signifies another is likely soon to follow. In all likelihood, Wirtz will go out and hire the best available visionary leader for his hockey team. And, in light of the huge importance of making excellent hockey decisions going forward, it will probably be not only an executive with a hockey background, but one with some proven bona fides in management—and likely from outside the organization at this time.

Firing Stan Bowman and retaining McDonough, as some would have preferred, would have been like cutting out a small tumor and leaving the cancer to slowly destroy the body. Wirtz did the right thing today.

Let’s all commend him for that and hope it is just a prelude to an even better move.

All for now, comment below.

The post ANALYSIS: The end of McDonough is just the beginning appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com writers John Jaeckel, Jeff “El Gatekeeper” Osborn, Mario Tirabassi, Juliana Nikac, Lucas Rozell, Marie Sexton, Eric Andrews, Matt Csakai and Sean Fitzgerald get together again on Facebook live to lightheartedly discuss the lack of hockey during this pandemic.

• Can the NHL really restart in July?
• Ian Mitchell and Michal Teply sign entry level deals
• Juliana talks about NWHL news
• Mario talks about the Rockford Icehogs and Gate hits him with an Ian McCoshen scouting request
• Lucas brings us up to date about the Avalanche / Ryan Graves and Marie gives us the lowdown with the Colorado Eagles.
• Some ancient video game talk.
• We talk about great (or not so great) Canadian food.
• We wrap up with what each of us has been doing to keep sane.
• If you are interested in writing for The Rink for any division, email writefor@the-rink.com

Please subscribe, rate this episode, and even write us a review. Reviews will be read on the air. Follow and listen on these platforms:

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

Watch the entire Facebook live here!!!!

Are you a RinkRat who also owns a business? Our data shows RinkCast listeners are (like you) affluent, discerning, and want to patronize like-minded brands. As part of our growth, we’re looking for an exclusive advertiser, at a VERY low cost.  Email podcast@the-rink.com for more details

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 3, Episode 17 – Video Roundtable Pt 2 appeared first on The Rink.

After seven seasons in North America, across the QMJHL, AHL and two NHL teams (Buffalo and Colorado), Grigorenko returned to Russia in 2017, joining CSKA Moscow, where he has averaged nearly a point per game the last two seasons.

During a media conference today, Columbus General Manager Jarmo Kekalainen pointed to the 6-foot-2, 215-pound centerman’s improvement over that time, while Columbus has apparently scouted him heavily in that timeframe.

Now 25 years old, Grigorenko potentially adds some of what the Blue Jackets need: playmaking and scoring from the center position.

We will have more on where Grigorenko fits into the Blue Jackets’ lineup as we hear it. Please comment below.

The post Blue Jackets sign KHL star Mikhail Grigorenko appeared first on The Rink.

• Aaron gives us a rundown of the Avalanche.
• The news that Dylan Strome could be available.
• The Blackhawks goaltending uncertainty.
• What do we think of Jeremy Colliton?
• Some prospect names to look forward to.
• If you are interested in writing for The Rink for any division, email writefor@the-rink.com

Please subscribe, rate this episode, and even write us a review. Reviews will be read on the air.

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 3, Episode 16 – Video Roundtable appeared first on The Rink.

After eliminating everyone’s favorite to take the Stanley Cup last spring, the Tampa Bay Lightning, in a punishing four-game sweep, then giving eventual conference champions Boston a bit of a scuffle, the Blue Jackets were supposed to regress, and regress mightily without the two Russian superstars.

But, then a funny thing happened.

In spite of those losses—and a spate of injuries to remaining key players—the Blue Jackets sit today at 81 points with 70 games played and in the second wild card spot, and on their current pace over a full 82 games would finish with about 94 points. Now, there are three teams vying for that second wild card spot (including Columbus), but for the sake of argument, let’s say they stay in that spot.

By comparison, last season, Columbus also finished in the second wild card spot, but with 98 points. Hmmm. So, theoretically at least, the subtraction of $21 million per year worth of Russian talent has cost the Blue Jackets four points. Additionally, that is with fairly lengthy injuries to Seth Jones (who has played 56 out of 70 games), Josh Anderson (26 out of 70), Ryan Murray (27 out of 70) and Cam Atkinson (44 out of 70).

Wait a minute, how does this happen?

Well, there are likely a number of factors, including the possibility that the Eastern Conference is just not as good this year, or that other Blue Jackets players over performed relative to their average seasonal output. Or, they have just been crazy lucky this year. The first is plausible, the second is unlikely. The third may be because you make your own luck.

By specific and meaningful metrics, even without Panarin and Bobrovsky, the Blue Jackets have done some things well this season. For one, shots versus shots against, where Columbus is sixth in the league at +2.6 per game. Second is the team’s 1,060 blocked shots, good for fifth in the league. Their penalty kill stands at 81.7%, placing 12th in the league. And, perhaps even more important, the squad has totaled just 458 penalty minutes, the second fewest in the league.

Those are all things that help keep the puck out of your net, which is important when you have gone from the likes of Bobrovsky in net to Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins.

At this point, you might think we are going to drop some sneaky good offensive numbers for Columbus, but not really. In fact, the Blue Jackets were not an overly productive offensive team this year.

But then let’s go back to the goalies.

Korpisalo started out the season as the heir apparent, and was somewhat up and down, but good enough you keep the Blue Jackets in the postseason picture or close. Then, Korpisalo got hurt in a late-December game against Chicago, thrusting Latvian rookie Merzlikins into the starting role. And that was at that point that even diehard Blue Jackets fans thought the team had finally hit its high-water mark for the season.

But, again, that is not how it worked out.

It remains to be seen how good Merzlikins is and will be over his NHL career, but his numbers for the year (in a relatively limited sample size) are compelling: 13–9–8, .923 save percentage, 2.35 goals against average and five shutouts in 31 games started. For that matter, Korpisalo’s overall numbers are not terrible, either, at 19–12–5, a .911 save percentage and a 2.60 goals against average.

And one thing is certain: when Korpisalo went down, the Blue Jackets circled the wagons around Merzlikins, in whose first start after the Korpisalo injury, the team blocked 24 shots to the opponent’s 10 (a 4–1 Columbus victory over Florida). Two nights later, on the road in Boston no less, the Blue Jackets blocked 15 shots to the Bruins’ two for another win.

That’s the how, but the real story is the why—which it can be argued is due to the leadership of the team: Jones, David Savard, Boone Jenner, Nick Foligno, Pierre Luc Dubois, Anderson and Zach Werenski—all big, physical players who are tough to play against and seemingly will do anything to win, and who are in tight lockstep with head coach John Tortorella.

And credit also has to go to General Manager Jarmo Kekalainen, who has either gone out and acquired or retained those players.

The same physical willingness that has helped carry the Blue Jackets this year, in spite of significant challenges, is the one that helped them dominate Tampa Bay last April. That is a quality that did not decrease with the losses of Panarin and Bobrovsky, and it suggests that the Blue Jackets’ system of player acquisition and on-ice play is one that can overcome temporary adversity—serving the organization well, if not this year, then in seasons to come.

We will be back with more on the Columbus Blue Jackets—with or without actual hockey. Thanks for reading; sign in, comment below and please follow @TheRinkColumbus. Stay healthy, everybody!

The post Season or no season: Columbus Blue Jackets have much to be happy about appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com co-hosts “Gatekeeper” and “Double J” get together to discuss the COVID-19 lockdown and postponement of all professional sports.

• Blackhawks, IceHogs and Fuel seasons postponed
• What scenarios have we been hearing?
• Rocky Wirtz talks to NBC Sports Chicago and fuels the fire.
• If you are interested in writing for The Rink for any division, email writefor@the-rink.com

Please subscribe, rate this episode, and even write us a review. Reviews will be read on the air.

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

The Rinkcast is brought to you by the Overtime Podcast Network

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 3, Episode 15 – Don’t Fear the Reaper appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com co-hosts “Gatekeeper” and “Double J” get together with former Chicago Tribune Blackhawks beat writer Jimmy Greenfield to discuss the post-deadline Blackhawks.

• Blackhawks three game winning streak.
• Nick Seeler, Ian Mitchell, Evan Barratt.
• Should the upper management be consulting the cup core?
• More insight on the goalie situation
• Wrap up with some listener questions.
• If you are interested in writing for The Rink for any division, email writefor@the-rink.com

Please subscribe, rate this episode, and even write us a review. Reviews will be read on the air.

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

The Rinkcast is brought to you by the Overtime Podcast Network

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 3, Episode 14 – featuring Jimmy Greenfield appeared first on The Rink.

For the Hawks at this point, these games are all about finishing the year strong, and making more positive plays than mistakes, and giving experience to their young players, as they look toward the offseason.

The Blackhawks lines and pairings were:

Brandon Saad  Jonathan Toews  Dominik Kubalik
Alex Nylander  Dylan Strome Patrick Kane
Alex DeBrincat Kirby Dach  Drake Caggiula
Matthew Highmore  David Kampf Ryan Carpenter

Duncan Keith Adam Boqvist
Slater Koekkoek  Olli Maatta
Lucas Karlsson  Connor Murphy

Corey Crawford manned the net for Chicago, and Sergei Bobrovsky for Florida.

FIRST PERIOD

The game started in typical fashion, but at 4:07, Panthers forward Mike Hoffman jumped a lackadaisical pass by Brandon Saad, generated some speed to get in wide and basically mesmerized Corey Crawford, easily tapping the puck in on a wide open side. 1–0 Florida.

At 6:26, Mackenzie Weegar took a holding penalty. The Panthers successfully blocked some Hawks’ shots before Saad made a nifty individual play with about 20 seconds left in the man-advantage to get open in close—hitting the pipe on a glorious chance. The Hawks failed to convert.

However, Saad got his redemption at 12:54, when he and Dominik Kubalik came in on a 2-on-1, causing the Florida skaters to collapse in deep as the initial shot went to the end boards. Kubalik then alertly found a wide open Adam Boqvist in the slot, who walked it in then adeptly found Jonathan Toews at the doorstep, who put it home. 1–1.

Barely 30 seconds later, at 13:26, Jonathan Huberdeau took a hooking penalty. Again, Florida killed the penalty.

Erik Haula then took a high sticking penalty at 17:13. And again, Florida proved up tot eh challenge. The period ended with shots favoring Chicago 11–4.

SECOND PERIOD

Both teams had some pressure early on. Crawford made a strong save on a nice Evgeny Dadonov shot in close at 5:20, which was part of a flurry of Panther chances during this stretch.

Drake Caggiula (aka “Dat Gritty Little Caligula”) registered a goal, when he tipped home a Connor Murphy blast at 6:21—all of which was basically set up by the strength and tenacity of Toews, who owned the puck down low for several seconds before kicking it out to Murphy at the right point. 2–1 Chicago.

At 8:09, Olli Maatta took the first Hawk penalty of the night, which was killed. But then as soon as that was killed, Duncan Keith was whistled at 10:13. Despite a couple of great Florida chances, Chicago was able to kill this one off as well.

The Panthers put on some strong, sustained pressure at around the 18:00 minute mark against the Hawks’ fourth line. But Crawford and some selfless shot blocks by the Chicago skaters maintained the team’s lead. Shots for the period were 15–13 Florida.

THIRD PERIOD

Kirby Dach took a high sticking minor at 1:11, which the Hawks successfully killed off.  Florida really poured it on in the third period, outshooting Chicago 17–2. Florida’s pressure finally paid off when Mike Matheson scored from the right circle at 18:32.

Regulation ended at a 2–2 tie, pushing the game to OT.

OVERTIME

In the 3-on-3 OT, both teams had excellent chances, with Boqvist hitting the crossbar in the third minute of OT. Both Crawford and Sergei Bobrovsky were excellent in OT.

With an impending offensive zone faceoff at the 4:36 mark of OT, Florida head coach Joel Quenneville took a timeout to try to diagram a play. But Florida came up short, and so the game would be decided by a shootout.

SHOOTOUT

In the shootout, Crawford stopped two attempts, and Toews and Patrick Kane buried theirs. Game: Chicago.

Overall a pretty good effort by Chicago—good enough anyway to beat a Florida team clawing for a playoff spot in their own building.

THREE STARS

1. Jonathan Toews
2. Corey Crawford
3. Mike Matheson

Comment below.

The post Along the boards: Blackhawks down Panthers  3-2 in the shootout appeared first on The Rink.

But somewhere in the calls to #FireBowman or #FireEmAll, the reality of the business of hockey settles in: mass firings and turnover in the front office would only add to the harsh economics of what the Blackhawks are dealing with. They have a lot of money invested in a “core” that is aging and starting to decline. The Youth Movement that was supposed to turn the franchise around, every year since 2015, is only now starting to gain a little traction in the form of Adam Boqvist and Kirby Dach—and still has a long way to go. And needs more prospects like those.

Put another way: abruptly firing John McDonough, Stan Bowman and Al McIsaac (among others) would cost a lot of money in terms of current employment contracts/severance agreements, etc. Again, with revenues to the team on the decline and perhaps about to go in freefall. It’s not easy, and I’m glad it’s not my money.

All that said, it’s not like Rocky Wirtz has spent the last 5 years meditating in the Himalayas. He’s hired and empowered this front office—and watched them in action— so he now very much also owns what they’ve done.

So what follows are some suggestions I have, based upon what I’ve observed in successful franchises—as well as some insightful fan suggestions on Twitter.

1. Separate the business and hockey functions. Immediately, firmly, and permanently.

This is perhaps an even bigger, but simpler order. The Blackhawks need less cooks in the kitchen of hockey decisions. They have for some time.

There are those who continue to argue that based on what they’ve “heard” from “highly placed” sources, McDonough or “John” as some call him (GAG), never meddles in hockey decisions. However, by McDonough’s own oft-repeated account, he wants lots of visibility into hockey decisions, and there are many other sources who intimate that far too many hockey decisions at 1901 W. Madison have to go through extensive review and discussion by a lot of individuals.

Think about that. And then think about how the Hawks so often seem to wait too long to strike, and box themselves into a corner by waiting so long. Like they did yesterday.

There is a common sense argument, not to mention proven real world practice, that the only people making hockey decisions should be hockey people: scouts and general managers (preferably who come from a scouting background). Sure, by all means you have to get buy-in on the money, and the cap implications, from someone with a talent for numbers and an encyclopaedic knowledge of the CBA. Ironically, back when the core of the Hawks Cup teams was allowed to be perfected by Dale Tallon and Marc Bergevin and others, that numbers guy was, in fact, Bowman.

Let’s be clear, even with former Norfolk Admirals GM McIsaac as his official Hockey Whisperer, even though he’s allegedly shown up at at least one practice in a Hawk coaches’ warmup, McDonough is not nor has he ever been a hockey guy. And no, checking out Drew Leblanc’s “youtubes” does not make you one.

So maybe, even if you can’t part ways with McDonough for whatever reason, make him President of Business Operations, and hire a co-equal President of Hockey Operations (a person form a pure hockey background)—a structure utilized by other NHL teams and teams in other sports, like the Chicago Cubs.

If the current staff doesn’t like it and wants their old power back, let them go find it elsewhere. Life is full of choices.

Or clean house and start over with that structure. Not my circus, not my monkeys. Just use some common sense. For a change. Leave hockey to capable hockey people—and no one else.

And let me be clear, if Bowman, or even Bowman and Jeremy Colliton become the sole fall guys for this mess, but nothing else changes, do not expect the results to change. Bigger change is needed.

2. Be honest—finally—about the direction of the team

Ironically enough, this has become a popular refrain on Hawk twitter of late. Welcome to the party. We’ve been saying it over and over again for the last 2-3 years.

From what I can glean, Hawk fans have reached their saturation point with this marketing department’s BS and its influence on, if not the actual direction of the team itself, then at least how that direction is communicated (or not) to fans.

Fans who pay a lot of money for their tickets and jerseys.

It’s time for Rocky Wirtz—not freaking John McDonough or Stan Bowman—to stand before the media and lay out an honest vision for where this team is going and what fans can expect. Right now.

Are you really rebuilding?

Or are you trying to contend?

Depending on the answer—what is the plan?

How will you achieve it?

It’s simple. But unfortunately, the answer to those questions to this point, which the team seems to want to avoid addressing openly at all costs, is that they’re trying to do both. Despite the now annual disastrous results.

No one in the Hawk front office and likely Wirtz himself, seems to have the stomach for really tearing down and shipping out the team’s best players for boatloads of draft picks and cap room necessary to rebuild—”best players” who may not be good enough to even get the team into the playoffs anymore. At least not with the supporting casts and coaching Bowman (and the rest of the committee) provides.

So they just keep following the same script. One Goal. Anything Can Happen. We like our team, And we really like Dylan Sikura.

Sorry guys, the gig’s up. Everyone sees through it. And the bills—in terms of non-renewed season tickets, even flatter ticket resales and merchandise revenues—are going to get stiffer.

Just tell the truth.

Man up. And fix it.

Yeah, some of the post-2007 late arrivers may peel away. Yeah, there’s going to be a half-empty building for a year or two, but the proud Chicago Blackhawks and their longtime fans have suffered worse and for longer in the past.

Here’s hoping for a new and brighter day, not just for those of us at The Rink, but for all the fans we interact with on a daily basis, for the players, everyone associated with the Indianhead. We all deserve better.

Comment below.

The post Analysis: Where do the Blackhawks go from here? appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com co-hosts “Gatekeeper” and “Double J” get together with HockeyBuzz Blackhawks writer Tyler Cameron to discuss the Blackhawks highly disappointing trade deadline.

• Nathan Noel to the Philadelphia Flyers for TJ Brennan
• Robin Lehner to the Vegas Golden Knights in a three way deal (including Toronto) for Malcolm Subban, Stanislav Demin, and 2020 second round pick
• Erik Gustafsson to Calgary for a draft pick
• If you are interested in writing for The Rink for any division, email writefor@the-rink.com

Please subscribe, rate this episode, and even write us a review. Reviews will be read on the air.

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

The Rinkcast is brought to you by the Overtime Podcast Network

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 3, Episode 13 – Trade deadline “fizzle-ure” appeared first on The Rink.

I was (and still am) a Dale Tallon fan. And anyone who goes around saying that Stan Bowman won 3 Stanley Cups not only does Tallon (and to a degree Mike Smith and Rick Dudley) a huge disservice, but they sound pretty stupid when they say it.

I have also tried, especially the last 2-3 years, to give Bowman the benefit of the doubt, and credit when it’s due. But the fact is, in terms of his hockey career, Stan Bowman was born on third base. Twice.

First, as the son of a legendary coach and not so legendary GM, the second in inheriting arguably the best collection of young talent in the NHL of the previous 25 years when he took over the Blackhawks GM responsibilities in 2009.

All that said, I was also a Kenny Williams fan when he was GM of the White Sox. But, as a friend of mine who knows a thing or two about baseball told me after the Sox won the World Series in 2005, Kenny Williams became a good GM through on the job training in the position. Which is a fair point.

And I felt like Bowman could do the same.

Again, you really need to go back and look at the rosters of all three Cup teams before you lay foundational, primary credit for any of them at Bowman’s feet. It was Smith and Dudley (and especially Marshall Johnston) who unearthed a fat biracial kid from Northern Minnesota who became the one-man wrecking crew known as Dustin Byfuglien.

And it was Smith who drafted Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Corey Crawford in two short years.

Tallon was the guy who, along with Rocky Wirtz’ brother Peter, bit the bullet and did the total teardown and rebuild from 2004-2007 that ultimately resulted in Dave Bolland, Bryan Bickell, Patrick Sharp, Troy Brouwer, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Jonathan Toews, Andrew Ladd, Bryan Campbell and Patrick Kane joining the franchise.

But you can argue that Bowman did a good enough job maintaining the core and filling in around the edges over the next 5+ years after 2009. And you could hope that he was learning as he went. As I did.

The high point of the Bowman era was probably 2015, when not only did the Hawks win their 3^rd Cup in 6 years, but the team threw out some big contracts, most notably to Artem Anisimov and Brent Seabrook. Kane and Toews were eventually both paid a million more dollars a year than Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. And everybody got lengthy no-movement clauses.

Then a funny thing happened on the way to the Hawks’ 4^th Cup in the decade.

Pfffffffffffffft.

Since then, the Hawks have made the playoffs twice, only to be eliminated in round 1, and in the last three years (including likely this season), not at all. All this while paying Kane, Toews, Seabrook, Keith, Crawford and Saad combined nearly $45 million a year.

Suddenly, all of Bowman’s fill in around the edges moves stopped working. Then, they failed year after year. Every year has promised a new youth movement, with most failing miserably.

Nearly all of Bowman’s first round draft picks since 2010 are either playing with other teams, or in the case of Mark McNeill (2011), not even in the NHL. Ryan Hartman (2013) may be soon to follow.

Sure, Bowman has had his wins, like grabbing Alex DeBrincat in the 2^nd round in 2016. Yet the lustre is fading even from that move as DeBrincat is struggling through an off year (at best). And I’m probably in the minority of those who think Bowman made a wise move in trading Artemi Panarin for Saad. Because after all, despite all the meatballs and interwebz experts out there who said otherwise, Panarin was never re-signing in Chicago in 2019.

In the end, it’s fair to say, this front office generally handled success very well but has not handled adversity well at all. Bowman is a maintainer, a numbers guy, not a scout or a builder. McDonough and his flunkies can’t seem to get out of the way.

After a bad start last season, Hall of Fame coach Joel Quenneville was relieved of his duties—only to be “replaced” by a career minor league coach who is younger than some of his veteran players. Has it worked? No.

Yet Bowman and McDonough, the two men largely responsible for giving Seabrook a nearly $7 million per year extension to the next millennium, with a hard no-movement clause for all but the last two years, for trading Niklas Hjalmarsson for Connor Murphy, for re-acquiring every washed up ex-Hawk under the sun year after year with predictably miserable results, for proclaiming Dylan Sikura the team’s “big trade deadline acquisition” in 2018, still have jobs.

When Quenneville was fired, a stern-faced McDonough declared to the media: “we’re all accountable. I’m accountable.”

Really? Then Rockwell Wirtz, it is time you hold Mr. McDonough accountable.

Where am I going with all this? Like I said, Bowman started his tenure as GM not only on third base, but halfway to home. That he scored three times is not so remarkable.

Setting aside the marvelous collection of talent he inherited and rode to success over a 5-6 year span, his misses have outnumbered his hits.

And since McDonough hired Bowman—after firing a very popular and successful GM in order to do so—he is just as, if not more so responsible for this mess. Let’s be clear on this: you can’t tease Bowman out from McDonough, as McDonough fired Tallon and hired Bowman in order to give himself and others in the front office more visibility into hockey decisions. He as much as said so at the time.

But the ever-optimistic Hawk fan will point to the last two drafts, of Adam Boqvist and Kirby Dach, as proof that prosperity is just around the corner.

Yet even there, we can find a possible fly in the ointment. Boqvist appears to be emerging into a really nice player, but the Hawks may have passed on an even better all around, big, mobile defenseman in the Seth Jones mold, when they let Noah Dobson slide to the Islanders in 2018.

Perhaps recognizing his error, Bowman even publicly acknowledged that his team had become too small and too soft for the playoffs after taking Dach in 2019.

But that begs a very important question that no one has really asked yet.

After years of drafting tiny, soft players in the draft’s higher rounds, why did it take Bowman, of ALL people, so long to finally see that hockey was still a contact sport, that the Erik Gustafssons of the world never do anything but hurt their teams in big, physical matchups?

The truth is, and the evidence proves, this is an organization navigating without a roadmap.

They’re not contending and they’re not really rebuilding. They’re not big or physical up and down the ice. And they’re not overly skilled past Kane and Toews. They’ve overcommitted on big money long term contracts to aging players. Their pipeline is nearly bereft of meaningful prospects.

Wednesday, it was rumored that the goalie they signed to possibly replace Crawford (Robin Lehner, who has shown himself to be more than up to the task) will be traded in the next couple of weeks because the team “can’t afford him.” And the 35 year-old oft-concussed Crawford will be extended. Remember, this team has $11 million invested in the goalie position this year—and they can’t afford to sign Lehner for next season and beyond—after he has made clear he would like to be in Chicago? What?

It’s time to face facts: Bowman and McDonough have been caught with their pants down, even though most of us would rather look the other way.

We can sit here and debate til the cows come home if the team should really go all in on a rebuild and trade away the remaining cornerstones of the Cup years for the high picks and elite prospects it takes to rebuild on, or if Chicago should continue to try to “soft rebuild” around Kane and Toews.

But, can there really be any debate that this front office has failed fairly spectacularly over the last few seasons—and there seems to be no end in sight?

So whatever direction the franchise ultimately chooses, there should be some new hockey minds (who aren’t defending five years of mediocrity and have no sacred cows) executing an actual plan.

But try this—if you want to know how caught up (and poorly served) Hawk fans are with all this nonsense about their great corporate front office being “on it.” Ask yourself if today you would switch places with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Most Hawk fans, I suspect, would say “no way.” Without realizing that even after losing the “great Breadman” and Sergei Bobrovsky (and replacing him with some dude named Merzlikins), even after a raft of injuries to their remaining good players, the Blue Jackets are at present, 30-17-10 and the top wildcard in the (much better) Eastern Conference.

Why?

Because they have an excellent, experienced coach.

They have a rock solid GM from a scouting background.

And the team works together, flawlessly, from the end of the bench all the way up through the executive suite. They’re big, they play hard every night, and they win maybe more games than their talent justifies. And they’ll make the playoffs again this year.

All things you can’t say about Stan Bowman and John McDonough’s Blackhawks.

Your move, Rocky.

The post Analysis: Hawks need a roadmap and better leaders (Bowman and McDonough must go) appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com co-hosts “Gatekeeper” and “Double J” get together to discuss the Blackhawks latest slide, and the upcoming trade deadline.

• The Blackhawks play has them falling down the standings.
• Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Strome.  What is up with Alex Debrincat?
• Corey Crawford and Robin Lehner.
• Blackhawks claim defenseman Nick Seeler from the Wild.
• A few The Rink #Puckbag questions.
• If you are interested in writing for The Rink for any division, email writefor@the-rink.com

Please subscribe, rate this episode, and even write us a review. Reviews will be read on the air.

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

The Rinkcast is brought to you by the Overtime Podcast Network

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 3, Episode 12 – “As we’ve been saying…” appeared first on The Rink.

Unlike past trade deadlines, we don’t have any information on which way the Blackhawks are leaning—just reading the tea leaves of an organization in flux. As we were this past June, when it was The Rink, and onlyThe Rink, who theorized (on the RinkCast) that the Blackhawks might go after a No. 1 goaltender via the free agency route, which they then did.

Based on the same or similar lines of logic, here are some things you might expect the Blackhawks to accomplish over the next 30 days.

1. Robin Lehner is a Blackhawk for the next handful of seasons, at minimum, with average annual value on the deal of $7-7.5 million.

Some have assumed that Lehner was signed to be this year’s Cam Ward. He wasn’t. The Hawks could have signed another Ward for less money, or even Ward himself, to be, well, Ward. Lehner was signed because the team had serious concerns over how effective Corey Crawford would be and how much load he could carry, this season and going forward. And to take a trial run with Lehner as the team’s future No. 1.

Crawford has been able to split duties with Lehner, and while he has shown flashes of the old Crawford, he also hasn’t been really in the same ballpark as Lehner. Who is much younger, already a fan favorite, and by all accounts really does want to be in Chicago—if he is properly paid.

Shouldn’t be a problem, but extension negotiations and dopey fan narratives being what they are, Lehner’s future in Chicago is somewhat in question.

Some want to trade Lehner at the deadline, either because he potentially returns more than Crawford does, or because they haven’t given up the dream that the oft-concussed Crawford, at age 35, is going to return to Stanley Cup form (probably not happening). But here are the problems with that argument.

First, both players are on expiring contracts, both are healthy for the time being—so the difference in the return on one versus the other is not significant. Second, another argument for dealing Lehner is “why do we need him—we’re rebuilding.” Well, you can sign the 28-year-old Lehner—a legitimate top 10 goalie in the league—and rebuild from the net out (as you’re supposed to), and when you’re contending again in three or four years, you’ve got your goalie. Or you can roll the dice on Collin Delia, Matt Tomkins, Kevin Lankinen or some kid who is 17 years old right now. Feeling lucky? Buy a Power Ball ticket while you’re at it.

2. Erik Gustafsson is in another sweater

Gustafsson is also an impending free agent. So, you really have to either deal him and get what you can, or re-sign him for a lot more money than he’s making now. It should be an easy choice, and if Bowman makes the wrong one, it ought to be grounds for his dismissal.

Some fans love what Gustafsson brings: flash and dash, exciting three-on-three overtime goals, slick passes and a big shot. But the fact is, Gustafsson’s regular season game is a big, fat tease—and completely ill-suited to playoff hockey—where there’s little open ice, few penalties called, no three-on-three overtime and games and series are won through hand to hand combat along the boards and around the net. One mistake—which Gustafsson is always prone to—and you’re on the first tee. Remember Chris Campoli?

Get what you can. Now.

3. If you’re “buying,” buy draft picks and quality prospects for the future, not a veteran “for the playoffs” this year

Some higher-profile Chicago beat writers have theorized that Stan Bowman will be a “buyer” at this year’s deadline—which typically means he would be looking to add a veteran player or two to upgrade the roster for the playoffs. While some writers and fans might espouse such nonsense, it would be GM malpractice.

First, what exactly do the Hawks have to trade that brings back any meaningful value—that doesn’t also simultaneously hurt the team or cut away at a still thin prospect pipeline? No one really has an answer for this. Well, not a realistic answer. Some say, “Saad! Trade him.” Sure, but I’d much rather try to win a playoff series with a Brandon Saad than without one. Some say, “Gustafsson.” Okay, but how much does he bring back? Dylan Sikura, at this point, returns very little. If Bowman really wanted to be a buyer of a quality NHL veteran at the trade deadline, other teams are going to want Kirby Dach, Adam Boqvist and/or a first-round draft pick—not the rest of Gustafsson’s deal.

And here’s the 800-pound gorilla in the room. Let’s say Bowman does the incredibly foolish thing and takes his eye off the future at the deadline, adds a veteran or two (probably on expiring deals), and the Hawks squeak into the playoffs—they are exceedingly unlikely to win more than a game against the top seed in the West. This team is old, slow, banged up and soft—for the most part—and with a terrible defense, which is not a recipe for playoff success, even though some keep tapping their slippers together and saying “anything can happen.”

Bowman had a good spring and summer last year as far as meaningfully rebuilding the Blackhawks toward playoff contention. But there is a lot more work to be done. He needs to continue that progress. Look for—no, hope for—the above to keep the momentum.

Please comment below.

The post Analysis: Stan Bowman’s Blackhawks TDL T-D-L appeared first on The Rink.

As big Lehner fans and the progenitors of the #PayRobin hashtag, we were also quick to cry foul—perhaps temporarily forgetting the true nature of contract negotiations in the NHL, and what’s most likely at work here.

Go ahead #Blackhawks front office: bollocks up re-signing Lehner and it’ll be the deserved END of some careers, while his will go on elsewhere.

— The Amazing Rando (@jaeckel) January 10, 2020

First, it’s all a negotiation.

As much as we want to see Lehner in Chicago long-term, GMs (for the most part) and agents (completely) are not in the business of fulfilling fan narratives. If I’m Lehner’s agent, my job is to get my client the most money and term on his next deal (because that’s also how I make my money) and hopefully in a situation where my client can thrive, win playoff games, and get endorsement deals. Period.

So that said, why wouldn’t I use Sergei Bobrovsky’s 8-year, $80 million contract as a starting point in my conversations with Stan Bowman? Because it’s not nice? Lehner is, fact, going to get paid this summer like he’s one of the top 10 goalies in the NHL—because he is one of them.

All that said, that’s the high end of the market. And if you’re Stan Bowman, you want to frame this negotiation by starting out at the low end of the market—say the deal we heard was initially offered.

And through negotiation, you likely end up somewhere in the middle, which would be about $7-7.5 million per for 5-6 years. Seems reasonable.

“But, but, you can trade Lehner. He doesn’t want to stay in Chicago anyway.”

We believe—and we’ve heard—Lehner wants to stay in Chicago. You don’t want to believe us or our sources? Listen to Lehner then:

Robin Lehner on whether he's open to discussing contract extension with #Blackhawks in-season.

He also said he's not interested in taking a discount, but doesn't want to be overpaid either: "I want to gain some respect that I think I deserve." pic.twitter.com/q0ZnMno1FC

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) January 10, 2020

No, he’s not going to give the Hawks a hometown discount, nor should he. Can the Hawks trade Lehner for a bucket of pucks at the deadline?

Sure, and then you’re left with Colin Delia, Kevin Lankinen and the shell of Corey Crawford (if he doesn’t retire anyway) next year—and going forward. Unless you decide at some point to pay a top goalie—who wants to be in Chicago—the going rate for his services. And you already have that guy. Let’s be logical, mmmm-kay?

To hesitate on this would be front office malpractice. But, in all likelihood, the Hawks are going about this the right way, for now, even if at the risk of offending Lehner. It’s a negotiation. And it’s between the Hawks and Lehner’s agent. Not just the Hawks and Lehner.

And certainly, the situation can change—the two parties can move toward each other and come together in the middle of the range outlined above—which seems to make a lot of sense. And there is time yet for that to happen.

Or one side or the other can get angry and shut it down, allowing Lehner to go to UFA this summer, or trading him or his rights before then. And that’s the time to panic.

Because #PayRobin is better than the alternative.

What do you think? Sign in and comment below.

Photoshop courtesy of Jeff Osborn / Photograph courtesy of NHL.com

The post #PayRobin: Too early to panic in Lehner negotiation appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com co-hosts “Gatekeeper” and “JJ” usher in the new year during the first period of the Blackhawks / Predators game with even more Blackhawks injuries.

• Blackhawks down 3–0 to the Preds while we recorded.
• Talk about the latest injuries.
• Some positive things to say about Adam Boqvist and Dominik Kubalik.
• It wouldn’t be a Rinkcast without more goalie praise.
• It also wouldn’t be a Rinkcast without some realism.
• We wrap with a short Rinkrat PuckBag segment.
• Check out our friend and former writer’s blog http://fansfronchroom.wordpress.com
• If you’re interested in writing for The-Rink about the Chicago Wolves (or any division) email writefor@the-rink.com

Please subscribe, rate this episode, and even write us a review. Reviews will be read on the air.

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

The Rinkcast is brought to you by the Overtime Podcast Network

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 3, Episode 9 – Dance of the Walking Dead appeared first on The Rink.

First period

The Hawks actually dominated action, outshooting Calgary 14–6 in the period, with Dominik Kubalik getting rewarded at 19:28 with his 13th goal of the season. Kubalik went and fought to stay in front of the net, getting a nifty tip on an Adam Boqvist shot, which was probably more of a pass. That put the Hawks up 1–0 at intermission.

Second period

Calgary came out blazing, as you would expect they might after giving up a goal in the last minute of the previous period. However, the Hawks were not ready and revealed their Achilles heel, sloppy defensive zone play, resulting in a turnover and a quick Elias Lindholm goal just 14 seconds in.

Another Hawk turnover, this one off a weak clear by Connor Murphy, led to Calgary’s second goal later in the period when Matthew Tkachuk found Lindholm flying up the left wing, and he buried it for a 2–1 Flames lead. Adding insult, Tkachuk decided to plaster Kirby Dach hard into the end boards well after the goal light went off.

And making matters worse: Strome. While the Hawks gave their usual vague injury update after the game, take a look:

Don't like to see this. Dylan Strome headed to the locker room after this play. pic.twitter.com/jXgZfGhf0h

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) January 8, 2020

Third period

Did I mention the Hawks did a lot of things right? I did, and one of those was by one Hawk in particular, Corey Crawford. You can argue both Calgary goals were stoppable, but Crawford came up big on several Flames chances, including one absolutely spectacular stop on Johnny Gaudreau on the Flames’ second five-on-three of the night.

Patrick Kane was electric and seems to have ignited linemate Dylan Sikura (we will see how long that lasts). But, Calgary goalie Cam Talbot was also outstanding on a night when the Hawks actually outshot the opposition 31–28.

All I have on this one.

What do you think? Comment below.

The post Along the Boards: Flames hold on to beat Blackhawks 2–1 appeared first on The Rink.

Cannon just went off. Couldn’t help but think I should’ve brought hearing protection with Gustafson starting. #TheRinkAtTheRink #CBJ #CBH pic.twitter.com/RZKoIGNZvh

— John Jaeckel (@jaeckel) December 29, 2019

At the second intermission, the Hawks were down 2-0 and had registered an anemic 12 shots on goal. That “lovable” Erik Gustafsson, pressed into playing bigger and more important situational minutes in the absences of Calvin de Haan, Olli Maatta and Brent Seabrook, had made an inexplicably bad play from behind his own net that led directly to the second Columbus goal.

But the Hawks came out in the third and decided to make a game of it—and they did—first when Dylan Strome tipped a Connor Murphy point shot past Joonas Korpisalo, and then in the waning moments of the third when “Gus” gained a measure of redemption by blasting one over Korpisalo’s shoulder, pushing the game to OT.

The Hawks had some chances in OT, thanks mostly to a Columbus high sticking call, but they failed to convert, and the game went to a shootout. While Robin Lehner had been strong really all night to that point, the Chicago faithful—well represented in Cbus tonight—were on pins and needles for the one real flaw in Lehner’s game: the shootout.

That’s not even fair, Patrick Kane (@88PKane). pic.twitter.com/Aa0qImS7WK

— NHL (@NHL) December 30, 2019

First, Lehner made a save on Pierre-Luc Dubois. and Jonathan Toews beat Korpisalo—with the starting CBJ netminder coming up lame, which forced Elvis Merzlikins (yes, a dude named Elvis, who is also named Merzlikins) to warm up. Then Lehner was cleanly beaten by Gus Nyquist. But the shootout, and the game, ended when Patrick Kane went forehand/backhand and roofed one over Merzlikins—who had to know that was exactly what Kane was going to do—and still couldn’t stop it.

The Blackhawks quite fortunately picked up two points in this game, albeit against a Columbus team with nearly as many injuries as Chicago has.

It’s nice to see the Hawks, as banged up and, well, crappy as they are picking up two straight wins. But is anyone out there getting excited again about this team? Share your thoughts on our message board below.

The post Along the boards: Blackhawks stage late comeback, down Blue Jackets 3-2 appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com co-hosts “Gatekeeper” and “JJ” call a last-minute audible with Steel feature writer Ray Napientek, following the big injury news of the holiday.

• Brand new review from Jackie Davis
• Brent Seabrook and Calvin de Haan are on LTIR and done for the season.
• What could this mean for Brent Seabrook’s career?
• Where to go now?
• It wouldn’t be a Rinkcast without some goalie talk.
• We wrap with a short Rinkrat PuckBag segment.

Please subscribe, rate this episode, and even write us a review. Reviews will be read on the air.

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

The Rinkcast is brought to you by the Overtime Podcast Network

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 3, Episode 8 – Seabrook eulogy appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com co-hosts “Gatekeeper” and “JJ” get together for a pre-game Rinkcast just prior to the Blackhawks facing the Arizona Coyotes.

• The Blackhawks play a bunch of overtime and shootout games.
• Injuries to Keith, Shaw, and de Haan.
• Some big announcements regarding The-Rink
• Mario gives us another “award-winning” #Warpigs report.
• More on what the future holds with Jeremy Colliton, Corey Crawford, and Robin Lehner
• Why trading Robin Lehner is not only stupid but unlikely.
• We wrap up with the Blackhawks down 3–0 in the first period.
• We wrap with the Rinkrat PuckBag segment.

Please subscribe, rate this episode, and even write us a review. Reviews will be read on the air.

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

The Rinkcast is brought to you by the Overtime Podcast Network

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 3, Episode 7 – Holiday puck bag appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com co-hosts “Gatekeeper” and “JJ” are back at it to discuss the Blackhawks’ spiral downward and glaring mistakes.

• Thank you for the new review, Darth Hawkey
• We have (not one) but TWO new chapters opening up.  Colorado and Columbus.
• We take a few minutes to address the Marc Crawford/Bill Peters situation.
• The Blackhawks lose badly to the Avs twice and the Blues last night
• What can the Blackhawks do as an organization to fix this endless loop of mediocrity?
• Who is untouchable?  Is anyone untouchable?
• We wrap with the Rinkrat PuckBag segment.

Please subscribe, rate this episode, and even write us a review. Reviews will be read on the air.

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

The Rinkcast is brought to you by the Overtime Podcast Network

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 3, Episode 6 – Blackhawks reality check appeared first on The Rink.

Bowman knew as well as anyone, he had lucked into a prime position, after his team had finished twelfth in the Western Conference the previous season—a position that typically would have a team drafting between 7th and 10th—where Bowman was in the previous year’s draft.

The rest, as we know is history: Bowman selected Kirby Dach, a talented young player with a high ceiling. The problem is, to paraphrase, man does not win by Dach (and/or Boqvist) alone.

A lot of Hawk fans forget, or simply weren’t around or engaged, the several years of sucking the franchise had to endure in order to acquire the picks that became Patrick Kane (first overall in 2007) and Jonathan Toews (third overall in 2006). They also take for granted the big walloping draft successes that previous GMs Mike Smith and Dale Tallon had in unearthing Dustin Byfuglien, Duncan Keith, Corey Crawford, Niklas Hjalmarsson and others in the draft’s later rounds.

Because another fact is that Bowman’s drafting past the first round has not been stellar through a now decade long tenure. Sure, everyone points to Brandon Saad and Alex DeBrincat, while conveniently forgetting many more Bowman second rounders who never amounted to squat. And where are the later round value picks? Unless you count Andrew Shaw, not on this roster.

The truth is, getting value past the first 15 picks of the first round is hard. Scouting is better than ever. Teams know more about the prospects now than ever before. The other side of the coin is, the value at the top of virtually every draft now is also hard to dispute.

For evidence, look no further than two of the Hawks’ recent games: thorough beat downs courtesy of the Colorado Avalanche.

I remember going to a game at the UC in 2013, just after Christmas, where the Hawks put the same kind of beating on Colorado, 7-2. Back then, the Hawks were the elite team and the Avs were the doormat.

Had to suck to be an Avs fan back then. But ask most pre-2007 Hawk fans: that’s what you need to go through to become a great young team again—as the Hawks were from 2008 or so to 2015.

Unfortunately, the Hawk front office, while they know this all too well, also knows that if they really tank—in order to really rebuild—a lot of fans and corporate sponsorship dollars are going to head for the door.

Yet, look at the Avs, who paid that price for several seasons:

Gabriel Landeskog, drafted second overall in 2011

Nathan MacKinnon, first overall, 2013

Mikko Rantanen, tenth overall, 2015

Cale Makar, fourth overall, 2017

You can say I’m cherry picking. But take a look at another former Chicago doormat in the Central Division, the Winnipeg Jets: same thing.

And, again, take a look at the arc of the Chicago Blackhawks themselves—not just from 2006 to 2015, but causally, from 2003 to 2007, when they absolutely sucked. Weren’t fun to watch. No one came to the arena. When they traded away fan favorites like Alex Zhamnov, Marty Havlat and Steve Sullivan—but accumulated tons of draft picks (that turned into the Dave Bollands and Bryan Bickells) and quality young prospects. And “earned”—as painful as it was for the organization and fans—the draft position to snag Toews and Kane in consecutive years. And who knows how much better things might have been had they taken someone better than Jack Skille seventh overall in 2005?

Unrestricted free agency is a great (but expensive) way to add a missing piece you need to reach the next level (see: Campbell, B, 2008 and Hossa, M, 2009). But the way to rebuild a franchise remains through the draft—not just having a few later round hits but grabbing at least 3-4 (or more) elite surefire blue chippers at the top of the draft.

Some will now point to Dach and Boqvist as getting the Hawks “almost there.” Except neither has proven a thing in pro hockey yet (and both by the way have concussion histories). But let’s assume both players are going to be a special—that’s a head start. Great. Now what are you going to do with $40 million in cap space wrapped up in players over 30, only one of whom is still playing at a high level.

Meanwhile, the Hawks sit only above the LA Kings in the West, with $11 million in cap hit wrapped up in what they call “the best one-two punch goalie tandem” in the league. Like that matters when you get absolutely shelled the way Crawford and Robin Lehner have most nights.

Wake up. It’s pure marketing bs, people.

This team is not good, but probably just good enough to play its way into a 12-15 selection in the first round year after year, out of the prime spots for great transformational players, while we wait for the contracts of Brent Seabrook, Duncan Keith, Kane, and Toews to run out. Yep, they may get hot again in the next few weeks, go on a 5 or 6 game winning streak. But who wants to bet, before the leaves are on the trees again, they won’t derail and meltdown the way they have every season in recent memory?

Where am I going other than Downer Town?

It’s my belief that aside from lucking into Dach, the Hawks are, by choice, stuck in “half rebuild” mode, and will be for a long time, praying and hoping that Toews and Seabrook and Keith especially suddenly age backward five years, and the Hawks become a competitive team again—without doing anything more than adding an Olli Maatta here or a Calvin DeHaan there.

Yet, every year since 2015, as especially since 2017, we’ve seen this formula fail.

And every year, the Hawk front office goes out and does it again. Not because they’re dumb. Not because they’re insane. But because they know if they really tear down—as in trading Keith or Kane or Toews or some combination thereof for younger players and picks—(most) fans and corporate dollars will disappear from the UC like a pizza at a frat house. No one wants to hear it. No one wants to think about it. “You can’t trade Kane—he’s the only thing that makes them worth watching.”

And you like what you’re watching?

You see, the fact remains, the price of a glorious young team on the way up is typically a few years at least of unquestioned suckitude. A half empty arena. Pain. Discouragement. When it sucks to be a fan of a team—ask those of us who followed this franchise for decades. And you can bring up the Vegas Golden Knights in their inaugural season as a counterpoint, except they worked expansion masterfully—different circumstances entirely.

The cruel irony is that Kane still in his prime, and what’s left on the tires of Keith and Toews, make this team just good enough to sort of tease a playoff spot for a while every year, and then finish out of prime draft lottery position (this year’s fluke notwithstanding).

Let that sink in.

And then ask yourself, are you happy with this team? Have you liked finishing 12th-13th in the conference year after year?

If so, maybe you just have an addiction to seeing Kane and Erik Gustafsson team up in 3-on-3 a few nights a year and a few “silky” shootout moves—which mean nothing in terms of actual playoff hockey (a phenomenon some Hawk fans have apparently now forgotten)—and you will keep buying tickets and merchandise and argue to keep the #OneGoal Dream alive in vain hope of one last hurrah from “the core.”

Or maybe after another year or two of this “half pregnant,” not rebuilding, not contending nonsense, you’ll have an epiphany of sorts. And realize this isn’t working.

In other words, use the only real power you have as a fan: stop supporting this mess with your money and maybe then it’ll actually change for the better.

Comment below.

The post Commentary: Are the Blackhawks willing to pay the price of greatness? appeared first on The Rink.

The Blackhawks’ lines and pairings were:

Brandon Saad — Jonathan Toews — Alexander Nylander
Alex DeBrincat — Kirby Dach  — Patrick Kane
Dominik Kubalik — David Kampf — Andrew Shaw
Matthew Highmore—Ryan Carpenter — Zack Smith

Duncan Keith — Erik Gustafsson
Calvin de Haan — Brent Seabrook
Olli Maatta — Connor Murphy

Corey Crawford got the nod in net for Chicago, opposite Pavel Francouz for the Avs.

FIRST PERIOD

Did not go well.

Nathan McKinnon tipped a JT Compher shot from the left circle past Crawford at just :59 on the Avs’ first shot of the game. 1-0 Colorado.

And things got worse from there. Less than 3 minutes later, Ryan Graves got his turn also from the left circle, set up by Matt Nieto and McKinnon. 2-0 Avalanche at 3:17. Not long afterward, Andrew Shaw tried to “juice” his teammates by taking on the much larger Graves in a fight, earning kudos from the Hawk radio broadcast team for changing the tone of the game.

Except, he really didn’t.

Sure, Zack Smith cut the lead in half at 9:14 on a Ryan Carpenter feed, beating Francouz from the top of the crease. 2-1 Colorado. 

But after an Erik Gustafsson penalty, Avs defense phenom Cale Makar burned the Hawks from above the circles on the power play, making it 3-1 Avs.

Gustafsson took another late penalty, but the period ended without any further scoring. Shots were actually 10-7 Chicago for the period, but the Avs were basically besting the Hawks with their speed for better scoring chances and lots of odd-man breaks.

SECOND PERIOD

Also, proved basically disastrous for Chicago.

Two quick goals, one at 9:45 by Valeri Nichushkin, and another by Compher at 11:26 made the score 5-1 Colorado.

Patrick Kane salvaged a small token of respect from the period, scoring at 19:56 from Jonathan Toews and Brandon Saad, making the game 5-2. Again, shots were 19-7 Chicago in the period, but Colorado often had the Hawks on their heels regardless.

THIRD PERIOD

The Hawks didn’t have much pushback in the third, especially with Duncan Keith out with a groin injury suffered earlier in the game. The Avs for their part, seemed to have it on cruise control, hence the period ended at the same score it started with. 5-2. Shots in the third were 8-7 Colorado.

THE GOOD

Shaw showed some energy aside from just scrapping with Graves. The Hawks’ fourth line of Smith, Carpenter and Matthew Highmore was arguably their best.

THE BAD

Not a great outing for Crawford, who seemed to have trouble tracking the puck early on. Gustafsson and Keith were both -2.

THE UGLY

The speed difference between the Hawks and the Avs was clear. Further, and because of that difference, the Blackhawks lack of structure and tendency on the part of their defensemen to overcommit up the ice was taken advantage of all game by Colorado—hence the number of odd-man rushes the Avs had.

The Blackhawks and Robin Lehner get a shot at redemption tomorrow night in Colorado. They’ll need their best effort and perhaps a bounce here and there. Colorado made a statement at the United Center today. Tomorrow, we’ll see if the Hawks can answer back. All we have on this one. Comment below.

The post Recap: Avalanche down Blackhawks 5-2 at the United Center appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com co-hosts “Gatekeeper” and “JJ” reconvene to discuss the Blackhawks’ recent success and their outstanding goaltending.

• Are the Blackhawks really that good, or is this just a brief spark?
• Adam Boqvist sent down to Rockford.
• Brian Campbell’s “One More Shift”.
• Praise for several Blackhawks players, including Kirby Dach.
• Mike Babcock is fired
• We wrap with the Rinkrat PuckBag segment.

Please subscribe, rate this episode, and even write us a review. Reviews will be read on the air.

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

The Rinkcast is brought to you by the Overtime Podcast Network

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 3, Episode 5 – Knott in the Cramarossa! appeared first on The Rink.

The Blackhawks lines and pairings were:

Brandon Saad — Jonathan Toews — Alexander Nylander
Alex DeBrincat — Dylan Strome — Patrick Kane
Dominik Kubalik — David Kampf — Andrew Shaw
Ryan Carpenter — Kirby Dach — Zack Smith

Duncan Keith — Erik Gustafsson
Calvin de Haan — Brent Seabrook
Olli Maatta — Connor Murphy

First period

The Blackhawk Express basically derailed at the start of this game. Action was fairly even in the early going, though it was evident that that Carolina came to play. The Blackhawks struggled to clear their end at times while, at the other end of the ice, the Canes seemed to have little difficult getting pucks out.

After an Erik Gustafsson blowout and turnover at the Carolina blueline, and an ensuing two-on-zero break on Lehner, Martin Necas put the Canes ahead 1–0 at 5:36, which was how the period would end. Shots were 13–4 Carolina for the period.

Second period

Bad fortune would continue for Chicago in the second period when Andrei Svechnikov caught Lehner unaware and beat him at just 53 seconds in with a quick, knuckle-balling shot from the right circle for a 2–0 Carolina lead.

The Hawks finally got something going when Dominik Kubalik and Andrew Shaw appeared ready to go on a two-on-zero themselves, but Kubalik was pulled down by Dougie Hamilton at 8:14. However, the two best scoring chances of the ensuing power play would be for the Canes’ Sebastian Aho, who got in on Lehner twice.

Sure enough, not too long after the Canes killed the penalty, Nino Niederreiter absolutely abused Gustafsson, beating him wide at center ice and flipping a puck up over Lehner in close at 11:54 to extend the gap to 3–0 Carolina.

Making matters potentially worse, Patrick Kane took a tripping call at 13:33. The Hawks were able to kill the penalty off, however. The period ended with the Canes up by three. Shots for the second were 14–8 Carolina.

Third period

The Blackhawks brought the pressure in the third with defensemen well up the ice—which finally paid off at 12:05 when Gustafsson gathered a pinpoint Patrick Kane pass right in front of Mrazek and buried it, cutting the score to 3–1.

Less than a minute later, Connor Murphy was the recipient of a Kane dish as he jumped into the slot. Murphy had all day and did not miss, bringing Chicago to within one at 3–2.

At this point, the building was jumping in anticipation of an epic comeback, shots were 20–6 Chicago for the period, but the Hawks simply were unable to solve Mrazek one more time. Head coach Jeremy Colliton pulled Lehner for an extra attacker late‚ but that turned into an Aho empty-net goal to make the final 4–2 Carolina.

The good

Not much. When you have Patrick Kane and enough other offensive talent—as the Hawks do—you can always mount a late comeback by pulling all the stops. But, this is a high-risk strategy that you should only utilize to get back into a game as Chicago did in the third.

The bad

It is fair to say the Hawks may have been reading their own press clippings a bit of late and did not come into the game with the requisite intensity needed against a quality foe like the Hurricanes.

The ugly

He may have scored a goal when defense did not matter, but Gustafsson continues to be a massive liability as a defender whenever he is on the ice. End of story.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks return to reality, fall to Carolina 4–2 appeared first on The Rink.

To be fair (and honest), the Hawks are coming off a couple of their stronger outings this season. Last night in Pittsburgh, Chicago gave a fairly solid effort, but in the end hung Corey Crawford out to dry one time too many, blowing a lead then falling and losing the second point in the Gary Bettman Marketing Gimmick known as “the shootout.”

The game may also go down in history for NBCSN color man Ed Olczyk’s summarization of the talents of Erik Gustafsson: “his strength is not defense.”

Robin Lehner would take the net for Chicago Sunday night for the first time in 3 games, 190 feet from ex-Winnipeg Jet Michael “Don’t Call Me Hutchence” Hutchinson for Toronto.

The Hawks’ lines and pairings were:

Brandon Saad — Jonathan Toews — Alexander Nylander
Alex DeBrincat — Dylan Strome — Patrick Kane
Zack Smith — David Kampf — Dominik Kubalik
Drake Caggiula — Kirby Dach — Andrew Shaw

Duncan Keith — Adam Boqvist
Calvin de Haan — Brent Seabrook
Olli Maatta — Erik Gustafsson

FIRST PERIOD

Call it old time hockey or Meatball Stuff, but :32 in to the game, Jonathan Toews did what an NHL captain does, by going hard after Toronto defenseman Jake Muzzin who had taken a big time run at a defenseless Brandon Saad, dropping Saad hard to the ice behind the Toronto net. The refs stepped in quickly and Muzzin took a two-minute minor, with Toews getting an extra two minutes, resulting in a Toronto power play, which the Hawks successfully killed.

At 5:18, Patrick Kane capitalized on an odd bounce and Cody Ceci involuntary redirect to put the Hawks out in front 1-0. Alex DeBrincat got the assist.

The action was fairly fast and furious throughout the first 11-12 minutes or so, with Dominik Kubalik just missing an opportunity to put the Hawks up 2-0, when he hit a post on a wide open side of the net.

At 12:00 in, Calvin DeHaan corraled a Muzzin turnover and blasted it off Hutchinson’s pads. Kirby Dach swooped in on the fat rebound and did not miss. 2-0 Chicago.

Just ten—ten—seconds later, with the Leafs in full disarray, Kane stepped out between the circles and delivered arguably the league’s best backhand into the top of the Leaf net. 3-0 Hawks.

The Leafs started coming on around the 15 minute mark but Lehner delivered some big saves to protect the Hawk lead. Former Hawk property Justin Holl took a badly called penalty at about the 17 minute mark, which the refs then, in classic NHL fashion, immediately “made good” with a slashing call on Dylan Strome. Three seconds later, Auston Matthews won a draw clean to William Nylander who beat Lehner. 3-1 Chicago.

Muzzin then took a tripping penalty at 17:17, giving the Hawks a 4-on-3. Sure enough, Toews immediately capitalized on a tic tac toe passing play. 4-1 Chicago at 17:28 and that was how the period would end—leaving NBCSN viewers to wonder just how “Gizmo” would break this one down between periods. Shots were 15-12 Toronto.

SECOND PERIOD

This period was a bit more tightly checked but about 6-7 minutes in, the Hawks started getting a little sloppy wth the puck, leading to turnovers and prime scoring chances for Toronto. Fortunately, Lehner repeatedly rose to the challenge.

Morgan Reilly took a hooking penalty at 8:01, putting Chicago back on the man advantage, which the Leafs easily killed. Ceci then took a hooking penalty at 13:08. This also was killed off by Toronto, although the Hawks launched several shots on goal on this power play.

Strome took another penalty at 17:05, and Toronto quickly won a face-off and set up shop. But the Hawks did their job and eventually killed it off. The period ended scoreless. Shots were 16-15 for Toronto.

THIRD PERIOD

A weak Erik Gustafsson turnover along the wall led to another William Nylander tally for the Leafs at 2:27. 4-2 Chicago

Alex Nylander took a high-sticking penalty at 3:55, giving Toronto even more life. However, Auston Matthews evened it out by high-sticking Calvin deHaan a minute later.

Toronto continued to keep pressure on Lehner (which he was more than up to), surpassing 40 shots midway through the third.

Gustafsson took a penalty at 12:37, leading, sure enough, to the Leafs third goal that appeared to injure Lehner in the collarbone or neck area. Lehner remained in the game, which was a good thing because it appeared the Hawks would need him with just a 4-3 lead.

However, after the Hawks converged on a loose puck in front of a down and out Lehner, Toews and Saad combined on a high speed goal, putting Chicago ahead 5-3 at 16:26.

Toronto then pulled Hutchinson, followed by a Zack Smith hooking call at 18:23. Lehner continued to stand tall under withering pressure, until Andreas Jonsson broke the spell at 19:18. 5-4 Chicago. The Hawks withstood the Leafs attack over the remaining seconds, sealing the win.

THE GOOD

Kane (2G) and the Kane/Strome/DeBrincat line. Dach, Toews, Saad, Lehner (especially) and Calvin deHaan all had nice games.

THE BAD

The Hawks continue an ongoing theme of poor puck management that they have gotten away with of late due to superior goaltending.

THE UGLY

57 Toronto shots on goal. Consider also that the Hawks are getting excellent play from deHaan and solid play from Olli Maatta. You want 2 “forwards” in your six-man defense rotation because . . . “pointz?” Careful what you wish for.

All we have on this one. Please comment below.

The post Recap: Blackhawks outlast Leafs, 5-4 in regulation appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com co-hosts “Gatekeeper” and “JJ” reconvene with Facebook/Twitter sensation Christian Deme, aka StacheESQ, to discuss the Blackhawks plummeting hopes.

• The Blackhawks are 4-7-3 after losing to the San Jose Sharks, Tuesday night.
• Blackhawks traded Brendan Perlini, recalled Adam Boqvist and re-assigned Dennis Gilbert
• If not for Robin Lehner, could the Blackhawks be winless? Also, thoughts on Crawford
• An extended conversation about just what is wrong with this Blackhawks team and franchise.
• We wrap with the Rinkrat PuckBag segment.

Please subscribe, rate this episode, and even write us a review. Reviews will be read on the air.

Also, please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

The Rinkcast is brought to you by the Overtime Podcast Network

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 3, Episode 4 – Is the Stache the answer? appeared first on The Rink.

Four or five years ago, tonight’s matchup between the Blackhawks and the Kings would have featured two dynastic NHL powerhouses at the top of their games. Tonight, it featured two sub-.500 teams struggling to score and establish any kind of consistency.

Prior to the game on the NBCSN warmup, Hawk color man Ed Olczyk pronounced that the Kings are “in a rebuild.” Well, perhaps the same should be said of the Blackhawks.

Robin Lehner, who has clearly been the better of the Hawks’ two goalies early this season, took the net for Chicago, facing Jack Campbell for the Kings.

Of note, veteran defenseman Brent Seabrook was a healthy scratch—something to watch as the season progresses.

The Hawks’ lines and pairings were:

Drake Caggiula — Jonathan Toews — Patrick Kane
Dominik Kubalik — David Kampf — Alexander Nylander
Brandon Saad — Kirby Dach — Andrew Shaw
Dylan Strome — Ryan Carpenter — Alex DeBrincat

Duncan Keith — Calvin de Haan
Olli Maatta — Dennis Gilbert
Slater Koekkoek — Erik Gustafsson

First period

If Chicago head coach Jeremy Colliton was trying to send a message to Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Strome by demoting them to the fourth line, it seems to have worked—Strome took a DeBrincat set-up off transition and buried it from the slot at just 2:33 into the contest, making the score 1–0 Chicago.

The Kings then took a minor penalty at 3:36, which Chicago failed to capitalize on.

Broken record time (and prepare for more of it): The Kings’ bigger forwards had a target on 18-year-old Kirby Dach’s back from the get-go. Overall, the early going featured a fair amount of banging, with Drake Caggiula and (go figure) Andrew Shaw running around quite a bit for the Hawks.

Calvin de Haan took an unintentional delay of game at 10:56, giving the Kings their first power play of the night. After extended LA offensive zone pressure, Lehner made back-to-back strong saves at 11:43. But, King left wing Ilya Kovalchuk evened it up with a tripping penalty 195 feet from his own net at 12:14, which eventually turned into a brief Blackhawk man advantage that was then killed off by LA.

The Hawks mounted another flurry late in the period led by Jonathan Toews and Brandon Saad, but the period ended with the Hawks up by one. Shots were 12–11 Chicago.

Second period

The Hawks struck early again, with David Kampf corralling a pass from a falling Alex Nylander and putting it past Campbell at 2:26 for a 2–0 Chicago lead.

Shaw took a holding the stick minor at 5:24, putting LA on the man advantage, which the Hawks killed with Lehner strong on a few late King chances.

Nylander and Dominik Kubalik had a nice two-on-one opportunity at 9:46 that Nylander could not squeak through Campbell’s pads.

There was a bit of controversy when Saad was caught in the face by the follow-through of an LA player’s stick after taking a shot. Saad fell to the ice, but play continued until the refs blew it dow with the Hawks offside at 15:19. The Hawks cashed in just seconds later when DeBrincat picked up a puck behind the LA net and fed Strome again in the slot, which Strome held on to long enough to draw Campbell down then converted up high at 15:55, extending Chicago’s lead to 3–0.

Strome and DeBrincat clicked yet again at 19:52, this time with Strome feeding DeBrincat out front to make it 4–0 Hawks, which was how the period would end. The Kings outshot Chicago 12–8 in the frame.

Third period

Strome almost made it three goals for the night at 2:35 when he got in behind the King defense. But Campbell was up to the challenge to deny the hat-trick bid.

The Kings finally solved Lehner at 3:35 on a Sean Walker blast from the right circle to cut the score to 4–1.

Toews took a hooking minor at 12:18 which the Hawks effectively killed. DeBrincat and Strome again almost converted a two-on-one at 16:00, but to no avail. But, at 17:43, Drake “Caligula” Caggiula finally broke the Cat-Strome spell and tipped a puck home, making it 5–1 Chicago, which would prove to be the final score.

The good

The Strome, Ryan Carpenter, DeBrincat line. Crazy good. Three goals, seven points. Lehner was also very strong (38 saves, .974 save percentage). Nylander made plays all over the ice.

The bad

Hard to find on a night like this against a really bad Kings team. So, yeah, the Kings. Well, the Hawks were yet again outshot, 39–26.

The ugly

The guys in black, again.

All we have on this one. Comment below.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks down Kings 5–1 appeared first on The Rink.

While there are positives (Dominik Kubalik, Robin Lehner, the return of the “real” Brandon Saad and the possibility of an improved defense—if everyone can get and stay healthy), there are some obvious issues, not least of which is a puzzling weakness in scoring goals (30th in the league). Sure, it is only after six games. And you have to take both of those points together in order to really understand what is going on.

While most fans probably expect that the Hawks will fight for every point in every game in order to make the playoffs, the truth is, despite an almost universal belief that Stan Bowman had a good and productive offseason—the Hawks came into the season with more questions than answers.

So, if you are wondering, for example, why Dylan Strome is being “experimented” with at wing, why the lines really are not clicking, etc., understand the Blackhawks are trying some things out to see how they will work—at the risk of losing points.

Some assume that because he was drafted third overall this past June, 18-year-old Kirby Dach playing second line center in the NHL is “perfectly natural.” Well, it is on a rebuilding team, not so much on a contending team. By the way, the Hawks were absolutely destroyed in the face off dot (34%) yet again last night—and at the risk of re-litigating the stupid “face offs don’t matter” argument, they do, especially if you project yourself as a puck-possession team. But I digress. The good news there is Dach’s percentage (40%) was not the team’s worst. The bad news? 40%.

Hence the title of this blog. Now, some of you will say, “Okay, enough already, JJ, we get it, the Hawks are rebuilding.” To which I respond, “Okay, so then do not expect much, especially not right now and maybe all year.”

Honestly, I believe the Hawks, as they have tried and basically failed at the last few seasons, are trying to engineer lightning in a bottle over the course of 82 games. If—IF—Dach matures through on the job training (like Alex DeBrincat did two years ago and Saad did in 2013), IF Calvin de Haan and Connor Murphy and everyone else can get and stay healthy, IF Strome can adjust to wing, IF we get more good Alex Nylander than bad Alex Nylander, IF Lehner continues to look like an elite (or near elite) netminder, then perhaps the playoffs will be a real possibility.

But, we are working through the IFs right now; answers to be determined.

All I have for now. Comment below.

The post ANALYSIS: Adjust your Blackhawks expectations appeared first on The Rink.

Connor Hellebuyck took the net for the Jets. Defenseman Calvin de Haan also made his Blackhawk regular season debut in this game.

Blackhawks lines and pairings

Alex DeBrincat — Jonathan Toews — Drake Caggiula

Andrew Shaw — Dylan Strome — Patrick Kane

Brandon Saad — David Kampf — Dominik Kubalik

Brendan Perlini — Zack Smith — Ryan Carpenter

Duncan Keith — Connor Murphy

Olli Maatta — Brent Seabrook

Calvin DeHaan — Erik Gustafsson

First period

Lehner was tested early and made a couple of nifty pad saves on the Jets’ first two chances.

Zack Smith took the first penalty of the game on a trip at 3:18. But, it was the Hawks who would capitalize, with newcomer Ryan Carpenter gathering a puck deep in his end and motoring past two flat-footed Jets to create a two-on-one with Brandon Saad. Carpenter then deftly fed Saad for the go ahead at 4:02, 1–0 Chicago.

Were it not for some stellar goaltending by Hellebuyck, the Hawks could have registered one or two more goals on the penalty kill, with ensuing shorthanded chances by Jonathan Toews and Connor Murphy.

Adam Lowry took the first Winnipeg penalty at 11:00. After Lehner made a quality stop on a shorthanded shot from the slot by Kyle Connor, Brent Seabrook blasted home a rebound from the right hashmark at 12:37, putting Chicago up 2–0.

That was the lead the Hawks would take into the dressing room after arguably their best period of hockey in the early part of the season. Shots were 13–10 Chicago.

Second period

Blake Wheeler took an offensive zone penalty at just 48 seconds in, giving Chicago an early man advantage that Winnipeg would effectively kill.

At 5:27, Duncan Keith went to the box for slashing. The Jets converted at 7:05 when Nikolaj Ehlers buried a one-timer past a screened Lehner, cutting the score to 2–1 Chicago.

Chicago subsequently drew another penalty after Erik Gustafsson was manhandled and stripped behind his own net by Patrik Laine, setting up a sustained bout of Winnipeg pressure, that culminated in Dylan Strome getting two minutes for slashing at 8:30. The Hawks succeeded in killing off the penalty, however.

The Jets dialed up the pressure during the latter part of the period, forcing Lehner to make several key stops, including a nice post-to-post robbery of Jack Roslovic at 14:20. The Hawk netminder repeated the act at 18:20 on a wide open Mark Scheifele at the doorstep. The Jets outshot the Hawks 11–6 in the second, which ended at 2–1 Chicago.

Third period

The first part of the period saw back and forth action with neither team generating much pressure. The Hawks mounted some nice pressure a couple of times around the middle of the period, but came away with nothing.

At 11:44, the Hawks got lazy on defense and Connor came free from around the back of the net to find a waiting Andrew Copp for a tap in, tying the game at 2–2.

Saad took a penalty at 14:48, putting the Hawks in a bit of a hole in terms of retaking the lead in regulation. But, Chicago was able to kill the penalty, and then mount some five-on-five pressure over the final few minutes of regular time. Still, the game was tied at the end of regulation. Shots were 10–9 Winnipeg for the third and 31–28 through regulation.

Overtime

Forty-seven seconds in, and at the end of the Hawks’ first shift, Wheeler found Scheifele at the left circle, and the big Jet forward blasted it past Lehner’s glove for the 3–2 Winnipeg game-winner. The Hawks got their first point of the season, and now sit at 0–2–1.

The good

Lehner was mostly very good and really the only goal you could put on him was the third and deciding tally. That said, a lot of goalies do not stop that shot, and Lehner deserved a better outcome in his Hawk debut after making several quality saves throughout the night. Carpenter, Murphy and Saad all had good nights for the Hawks.

The bad

The Hawk defense, while better, was again lackadaisical at really bad times. For a “man-to-man” defense, this team does not press the issue and engage nearly enough.

The ugly

The Hawks laid an egg in the second period—they are not good enough as a team to give less than a 60-minute effort. It is a shame because they had a terrific start and a very good first period.

All for now. Comment below.

The post RECAP: Jets beat Blackhawks 3–2 in OT appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com co-hosts “Gatekeeper” and “Double J” are joined by staff member and Chicago Steel head writer  Ray Napientek to talk about the first two games of the Blackhawks regular season.

• The Blackhawks lay an egg in Prague.
• Some roster moves happen, including Carl Dahlstrom moving to balmy Winnipeg.
• Mario Tirabassi gives us another award winning #Warpigs report.
• The three old guys talk about the Blackhawks loss to San Jose.
• We also discuss Corey Crawford, Robin Lehner, Brendan Perlini, Erik Gustafsson, Dominik Kubalik and much more
• We wrap with Rinkrat PuckBag segment.

Please subscribe, rate this episode, and even write us a review. Reviews will be read on the air.

Also, Please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

The Rinkcast is brought to you by the Overtime Podcast Network

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 3, Episode 2 – The regular season begins appeared first on The Rink.

Forwards
Drake Caggiula
Ryan Carpenter
Alex DeBrincat
David Kampf
Patrick Kane
Dominik Kubalik
Alex Nylander
Brendan Perlini
Brandon Saad
Andrew Shaw
Zack Smith
Dylan Strome
Jonathan Toews

Defensemen
Calvin de Haan
Erik Gustafsson
Duncan Keith
Slater Koekkoek
Olli Maatta
Brent Seabrook

Goalies
Corey Crawford
Robin Lehner

Connor Murphy and John Quenneville start the season on the injured list, while 18-year-old Kirby Dach remains with the team for the time being via a non-roster injury designation.

Well, there you have it. No huge surprises, albeit some small ones. Get the complete salary cap breakdown courtesy of puckpedia.com.

Nylander is being given every chance to establish himself in the NHL, in spite of somewhat mixed performances through training camp. And de Haan, who is key to the Hawks’ hopes of restoring their defense this season, is clearly ready to go after a long recovery from an injury sustained last season with Carolina.

The Hawks may have to improvise a bit on the right side of their defense with just one right-handed shot (Seabrook) presently on the active roster (with Murphy absent).

All for now. Please comment below.

The post BREAKING: Blackhawks finalize roster appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com co-hosts “Gatekeeper” and “JJ” finally wrap up season 2 with Puckpedia’s Hart Levine to chat about salary cap related topics.

• The Traverse City rookie tournament starts Friday
• Five IceHogs rookie breakout candidates not named Adam Boqvist.
• Hart discusses escrow, RFAs and UFAs, Alex Debrincat and Dylan Strome extensions, Robin Lehner, and that beloved Brent Seabrook contract.
• The rookie tournament paperwork debacle.
• The “Blood,Sweat and Tiers” prospect segments.
• What are we looking for in training camp?
• We wrap with The-Rink #RinkratPuckBag segment.

Please subscribe, rate this episode, and even write us a review. Reviews will be read on the air.

Also, Please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

The Rinkcast is brought to you by the Overtime Podcast Network

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 2, Episode 28 – The Hart of Puckpedia appeared first on The Rink.

And now is when decisions that look good on paper transition toward being put to test on ice.

To my eye, it is not just a matter of additions and subtractions, however. It is also Jeremy Colliton’s first full season as Blackhawk head coach—with his imprimateur on an unusually eventful offseason—and his first training camp and preseason slate.

Broadly speaking, the Blackhawks expended a lot of energy (and resources) this summer trying to accomplish two things.

First, they clearly wanted to become better defensively, especially in their own end, with the additions of Olli Maatta and Calvin deHaan. Both players are young, yet experienced; both are definitely defense-minded blueliners. Both battled injury last year. Both, to varying degrees, should probably be considered reasonable bets to improve the Hawks’ defensive play to some degree.

How much is an important question, because storied veterans Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith are both, also to varying degrees, on the downsides of their careers and abilities: Seabrook clearly more so than Keith. Erstwhile “fourth forward” Erik Gustafsson showed some marginal improvement defensively late last season after being put on a leash somewhat by Colliton—which also corresponded, not surprisingly, with a brief dip in his offensive output. Which Gustafsson will we see in 2019–20? Hard to say, but it is probably a safe bet his defensive reliability will continue to be an “adventure” (putting it charitably) this season.

Connor Murphy, for all that he is and is not, sort of falls in line with Maatta and deHaan, and may be more part of the solution than the problem this year.

Add in Carl “Don’t call me Calle” Dahlstrom and Slater Koekkoek—and possibly even 2018 first round selections Adam Boqvist or Nicolas Beaudin in their professional rookie seasons—and it is fair to say Colliton has more pieces around which to fashion pairings that will, at minimum, block more shots, win more 50–50 pucks in the defensive zone and provide more responsible coverage. While still generating that transition and push up the ice that drove a very good offensive year for Chicago last year.

The other thing the Hawk brass seemed to want to achieve this summer was to get a lot tougher to play against.

Now, let’s not kid ourselves: seemingly every summer, there has been a Lance Bouma or two brought in to add some more “jam,” with typically crappy results. So, how is this summer any different?

Hard to say, but looking more closely at Ryan Carpenter (UFA acquisition), Andrew Shaw and Zack Smith (trades), a pattern emerges. All can play center or wing, a couple of them (at least) are pretty good faceoff options (an underappreciated part of being a good defensive team), all can kill penalties, all have a bit of nasty to their games.

All of which, on paper, adds some elements the Hawks sorely needed last year. But again, as with deHaan and Maatta, the question is “how much.”

Shaw and Smith have battled injuries. Reports out of Ottawa are that Smith has lost a step the last couple of years. Regardless, when the option for bottom-six and penalty-killing forward roles have been either proven has-beens or developing players better suited to top-six roles in Rockford, Bowman’s summer additions should provide some improvement in subtle, yet important, ways.

So all that provides at least some reason for encouragement.

The other thing that the Hawks apparently set out to do was meaningfully reinforce the goalie position—in a way that few expected (but we predicted might happen here at The-Rink).

The addition of Robin Lehner matters this year to the extent that Corey Crawford cannot play due to injury, or if Lehner simply outplays him (also a possibility). In our opinion here at The-Rink, all things considered and in spite of the “smooth it over” rhetoric of the Hawk front office, Lehner will probably have to prove he is not ready to take over the Hawk No. 1 goalie job long-term.

Sure, the “best one-two punch in the league” narrative sounds great, and may publicly placate Crawford and his camp and those fans who thought “Crow” was going to keep “bouncing back” from concussions and play until he is 45, but this season, especially if the Hawks are still giving up 40–45 shots most nights, it may not matter.

The other thing to consider is that you cannot assume anything going into this season, based on last season.

For example, you cannot assume that Dylan Sikura will not start scoring some goals and end up as an actual offensive weapon this year. Or, you cannot assume that Kirby Dach will not play more than nine games in Chicago and provide some kind of additional contribution, which would be great.

But, you also cannot assume either of the above will happen, or that Jonathan Toews might not regress from a statistical upward deviation in production last season or that Dylan Strome will not either.

You cannot assume relative team health or, on the other hand, a season wracked by injuries.

The truth is, while the Hawks continued a now three-to-four-season-long nosedive defensively, they excelled last year offensively.

But, because the defensive trend is longer term, it is safe to assume that is more the norm (setting aside the offseason changes), while the offensive uptick was likely more of an exception.

Time and, at minimum, 82 games will tell.

But where does that leave this team in April 2020?

Hard to say because, unfortunately, the Hawks also play in what is, top to bottom, arguably the best division in hockey. That said, the first three teams in the division will likely be some combination of St. Louis, Dallas, Winnipeg, Nashville or Colorado. It is hard to envision this (albeit somewhat improved) Hawk team edging in to that conversation and finishing as one of the top three teams in the Central Division. The other Central teams are just too good, younger and either bigger, faster or both.

So then the target becomes one of two wild card spots. And this is where the Hawks’ improvement over the offseason puts them—in the playoff conversation, potentially in contention for a spot. And even if the Hawks finished say, ninth in the conference and a point or two out of playoff contention, it would be measurable improvement over last year, when they were never realistically in playoff contention, in spite of a lot of breathless hype for about six weeks or so.

But, let’s say the Hawks make the playoffs. They are still going to win a lot of overtime three-on-three games and will probably have a good power play in the regular season. But, if they have to rely too heavily on those factors for points to get them into the playoffs, they likely will not last long once there, as those factors matter less or not at all in the postseason. And remember, the wildcards have to face the division winners in the first round.

Safe to say then, with some margin for error, the Hawks end up this season somewhere between a strong, improved ninth or 10th in the conference and losing in the first round of the playoffs in five or six games.

Likely improved, but, again, how much?

What must happen:

Team defense and penalty kill must improve, a lot. If not, it would not matter if your “one-two punch” was Ken Dryden and Dominik Hasek, the team will struggle to improve over the last two seasons’ miserable performances.

What cannot happen:

Regressions by and/or significant injuries to Toews, Patrick Kane, Alex DeBrincat or (less so) Strome.

What should happen:

If Gustafsson wants to appear in the playoffs in a Hawk sweater, and if the Hawks want to extend his contract after this season, he needs to show he can become a consistently better player defensively—even if his numbers suffer somewhat offensively as a result.

What does not have to happen:

Although the annual pressure to elevate rookies or prospects to the Hawk lineup is as strong as ever, there is no rush to insert Adam Boqvist or Kirby Dach this year.

If Dach or Boqvist are measurably better in all phases of the game than the players the Hawks have, then this is truly a rebuilding season. And where either or both players play this year should not be dictated by what fans or team pr would like to see, but purely by what is best for the development of two 18- and 19-year-old kids.

All we have for now. Comment below.

The post Examining the goods: What to expect from the 2019–20 Blackhawks appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com co-hosts “Gatekeeper” and “JJ” step back into the dusty Rink podcast studio to discuss the prospect camp and the Blackhawks fan convention with staff writers Mario Tirabassi and Aaron Goldschmidt.

• Blackhawks traded Artem Anisimov to Ottawa for Zack Smith
• Thoughts on Development camp
• Fan convention came and went.
• Chris Kunitz retires and joins the Blackhawks player development staff
• New jersey leak?
• Ian Mitchell corner, Brent Seabrook’s trial, Gus’s garage, Sekac street.
• We are only scratching the surface.  Many good things and guests to come!!!!
• We wrap with The-Rink #RinkratPuckBag segment.

Please subscribe, rate this episode, and even write us a review. Reviews will be read on the air.

Also, Please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

The Rinkcast is brought to you by the Overtime Podcast Network

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Episode 56 – Gus bus to Camp Colliton appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com co-hosts “Gatekeeper” and “JJ” rush to the The-Rink podcast studio to discuss the big trade today, the Andrew Shaw trade, and the UFA signings on July 1st.

• Now that the Andrew Shaw trade has marinated, what do we think?  You might be surprised…or not.
• What happened with the Blackhawks and Henri Jokiharju?
• Is this trade as bad as first thought?  Can Alex Nylander help the Blackhawks?
• Following JJ’s revelation that the Blackhawks might swing big on the goalie market they did just that.
• A hearty thank you to the Rink fans and our amazing staff for a great year.
• We are only scratching the surface.  Many good things and guests to come!!!!

Please subscribe, rate this episode, and even write us a review. Reviews will be read on the air.

Also, Please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

The Rinkcast is brought to you by the Overtime Podcast Network

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Episode 55 – UFA/Nylander Trade Reactions appeared first on The Rink.

The Chicago Blackhawks fanbase and overall media universe were caught off guard yesterday by the team’s signing of free agent goalie Robin Lehner. Here at The Rink, we may not have been the only observers to theorize that a surprise move in net might be in the offing, but we were definitely in the minority.

If you listen from about the 1 hour/14 minute mark of RinkCast 54 (recorded last week), you’ll hear the likely rationale for why the Hawks would acquire an expereinced alternative to Corey Crawford and Collin Delia this summer.

After yesterday’s news, the writing on the wall could not be more clear: Corey Crawford’s tenure between the pipes in Chicago is likely winding down. He is now in the final year of a big money contract, 35 years old, and has had recent, serious concussion issues that have basically wiped out over a season of hockey.

GM Stan Bowman has done a lot of work on his defense the last couple of years, with 5 defensemen drafted in the first two rounds of the last 3 drafts and two trades this summer for experienced NHL blueliners. All these moves, at least on paper, suggest improvement to the Blackhawks’ NHL fortunes near-term and long-term.

Bowman has also begun re-building the bottom six forwards—seemingly trying to recapture the formula of 2015 with Andrew Shaw and Ryan Carpenter, who may remind some of 2015 Cup winner Andrew Desjardins. And yes, Marcus Kruger could be back as the teams’s 12th or 13th forward. These aren’t “offensive” moves.They are all about building lower lines and penalty killing forwards that help keep the puck out of the Hawks’ net.

It’s also extremely likely that Artem Anisimov will get his needed change of scenery in the next few days, and the Hawks may now have the luxury to move another depth defenseman. And thus, the Hawks’ may yet add another forward.

Bowman is busy, and dealing, and slowly the face of a rebuilt team is emerging—the way championships are built, from the net out.

Let’s get clear now on what signing Lehner really means.

Lehner is not Cam Ward. Or Scott Darling.

He is a 27 year old Vezina Trophy Finalist and Jennings Trophy winner in 2019. His recent body of work is at least an echelon above both of the aforementioned former Hawk netminders. He is big, talented and competitive. This is why his signing raised so many eyebrows and questions. Lehner is likely not a 1B goalie—he’s a #1. So then what’s going to happen to Crawford?

Lehner is signed for one year.

What this means is next July 1st (or more likely before) the team and Lehner will make a decision whether he will be extended and remain in Chicago as the #1. This strategy gives Lehner the freedom to decide where he wants to be, and gives the Hawks some flexibility in terms of clarifying their goalie situation. On the surface, it can be described like the Ward signing a year ago.The difference is Lehner is 27, not 34, and he is a better goalie at this point than Ward was last year.

A lot could happen: Collin Delia could really continue to refine his game and emerge as a #1. It’s possible. LIkely? Ehhh, those are longer odds.

Crawford could rise up, stay healthy, and play 65 stellar games—and make the case for a short contract extension. But that new contract could also be elsewhere in the NHL. But all that rides on Crawford staying completely healthy this season, which again are longer odds.

Lehner could be in Chicago long term. It’s probably up to him.

Finally, it’s very likely that the team and Lehner’s agent discussed the very real possibility of a longer term extension. The Hawks, I was told then, investigated trading for Lehner 2-3 years ago. They like his talent. At the same time, Lehner is also a recent Masterton Trophy winner, a result of his recent  “comeback” from alcoholism and related emotional issues. Although Columbus and his incumbent Islanders offered Lehner deals in the last 24-48 hours, even the Islanders were allegedly only willing to go to 2 years in term. Why? Because likely any team is going to need to see some more sobriety and stability from Lehner before committing significant dollars and term. And likely no one understands that better than Lehner himself.

What all this activity over the last few weeks means is that the old paradigm of the Chicago Blackhawks is rapidly changing. Sure, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook, are still around. But aside from that, everything else with this team has evolved, and at some point in the not too terribly distant future, one or two more chunks of the remaining Cup core will fall away as Bowman continues to make major moves.

All we have for now. Comment below.

The post ANALYSIS: Lehner signing is another big move in Bowman’s rebuild appeared first on The Rink.

Instead, Bowman stepped into the now all-too-familiar “Bring Back” Machine and emerged with the little ball of hate known as Andrew Shaw. The price? The Montreal Canadiens receive a 2020 second round pick, a 2020 seventh round pick, a 2021 third rounder and the Hawks get Montreal’s 2021 seventh round pick.

We can debate until the cows come home whether the Hawks overpaid here. Most of our contributors at The-Rink, sort of like a Supreme Court majority opinion, do not care for the deal (one, in particular—think little guy with flowing beard and goalie stick—hates it). I suppose I am writing for the minority. I do not hate the deal; I do not love it. For me, it all comes down to context.

Is Shaw overpaid?

Depends on how you look at it. Artem Anisimov currently draws a $4.5 million annual salary from the Hawks, and I think you can make an argument that Shaw, at $3.9 million per, is a better value. Why bring Anisimov into it? Because I keep hearing, as do others, he is “out of it,” as in playing elsewhere (I’ve heard possibly Florida) soon after tomorrow or Tuesday. Is it guaranteed? No, but after the Hawks pay a significant roster bonus owed to Anisimov, he suddenly becomes more appealing to another team. He is definitely being shopped hard, and who knows, maybe the Hawks recoup a pick or two in that deal.

Does Shaw bring anything to the table?

He can play all three forward positions. And all situations, five-on-five, penalty kill and power play. He can be spotted anywhere from the second line to his more appropriate third or fourth line. Last year, he scored 19 goals and 28 assists in 63 games and was +17.

What’s the downside?

Shaw gonna Shaw. He takes dumb penalties at times and can be a bit of a distraction. I do not think this move will placate those who believe “the game has changed” to the point where it is more akin to the Ice Follies, but Shaw checks an important box: he brings nastiness and that elusive quality (for the Hawks of the last few seasons) of being tough to play against. But, he is going to kill you some nights with a bonehead move (think: Mike Smith, 2012 playoffs, first round).

It’s all about context

Shaw’s the kind of player you go out and get if you are looking for a little extra toughness and versatility—a complementary piece. So, if Bowman is “finished” for the summer (in terms of meaningful moves) with this acquisition, then it does not make as much sense. If he has another rabbit or two to pull from his hat, and the Hawks really do become a legitimate potential playoff team, then the addition makes some more sense.

All we have for now. Please comment below.

The post Blackhawks re-acquire Andrew Shaw from Montreal for draft picks appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com co-hosts “Gatekeeper” and “JJ” are joined once again by The-Rink NHL draft guru Bill “Wiz” Placzek to wrap up the draft.

• We discuss the trade for Olli Maatta
• We discuss the trade for John Quenneville
• The crew reconvenes to go through the Blackhawks draft picks, some #WordsOfWizdom, and the trade for Calvin de Haan.
• Some opinions on what might happen with the goalies this next season
• Some vintage #GateRage
• We answer some listener and reader questions along the way
• We say thank you and best of luck to a Rink writer, and a potential HUGE podcast guest coming.

Please subscribe, rate this episode, and even write us a review. Reviews will be read on the air.

Also, Please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

The Rinkcast is brought to you by the Overtime Podcast Network

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Episode 54 – Draft/Trade wrap with Bill “Wiz” Placzek appeared first on The Rink.

The Chicago Blackhawks just announced another fairly significant trade, and another step in what appears to be an effort on the part of GM Stan Bowman to overhaul what was the league’s worst defense this past season.

The Blackhawks acquire:

Defenseman Calvin de Haan, former first round draft pick (12th overall) of the New York Islanders

Left wing Aleksi Saarela, former third round pick of the New York Rangers

The Carolina Hurricanes acquire:

Goalie Anton Forsberg, a former seventh round pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets

Defenseman Gustav Forsling, a former fifth round pick of the Vancouver Canucks

Clearly, the biggest name in this deal is left-handed defenseman de Haan, who, like recent acquisition Olli Maatta, is more of a defense-minded defenseman. Unlike Maatta, de Haan skates well, and is likely to provide at minimum a measurable upgrade defensively versus Forsling.

With the deal, the Blackhawks left-hand shooting defensemen now include Duncan Keith, Erik Gustafsson, de Haan, Maatta, Slater Koekkoek and Carl Dahlstrom. Right-hand shots include Brent Seabrook, Connor Murphy and Henri Jokiharju, with 2018 first round draft pick Adam Boqvist possibly in the mix as well. This suggests that at least one defenseman will play on his off side—or that another trade could happen soon. Or both.

Saarela is a fast, small winger with slick puck handling who has averaged 27 goals and 47 points the last two seasons at Charlotte (AHL).

The trade could breathe new life into the respective careers of Forsberg and Forsling, both of whom, like the recently traded John Hayden, seemed to need a change of scenery. Both players were at one time in the not too distant past, seen as players with promising upside—and perhaps this is what enabled Carolina to include de Haan, whom the team signed to a four-year deal in 2018, in the trade.

The acquisitions of Maatta and de Haan add roughly $6+ million to the Blackhawks payroll for next year—the price to be paid for a quick patch job on a bad defense.

More as we hear it.

The post Instant Reaction: Blackhawks acquire de Haan, Saarela for Forsberg, Forsling appeared first on The Rink.

It doesn’t matter whether you or I think Bowman should never have matriculated to the GM’s job in 2009—that he was probably over his head at the time—or that many of his moves since have been ill-conceived headscrachers. And no, sorry, he didn’t “win 3 Cups” either; the first Cup was all on his predecessor(s), and the latter two were largely (though not completely) a result of the foundational work of the prior GMs (Kane, Toews, Keith, Hossa, etc).

But the fact is, Bowman has now been the GM of the Hawks for nearly a decade. Nearly a decade of on-the-job training that seems to be showing some meaningful results.

It’s doubtful more than 2 players in this year’s Blackhawk draft class ever makes it to the NHL, most likely only Kirby Dach and Alex Vlasic. So in that regard, it’s likely not a “draft for the ages.” At the same time, while many interwebz experts were beating the Alex Turcotte drum, proclaiming that “the game has changed” and “small and skilled” is the way of the future, Bowman went the other way—the way, here at the The Rink, we’ve been saying he needs to for several months.

He went, literally and figuratively, big. More importantly, he did it for the right reasons:

(On Kirby Dach) “The thing we liked about him, it’s obvious to see . . . his skill set, he has incredible hands. He scores the beautiful goals. He can do everything. But he can do the other things. He was great at stripping pucks, he was great at backchecking, he was great at physical plays in the playoffs when they were really targeting him. He not only took it, but he gave it back. It was impressive to see him raise his game at the time of the year when it matters most, which is playoff hockey. When you watch the NHL playoffs and you see how intense it can be. And, then you look at the way he plays and you can see that that game translates.”

And after taking Dach—after already trading for stay at home defenseman Olli Maatta—Bowman took a 6’6″ defenseman in Alex Vlasic who is also more of the stay at home, take care of the basics variety.

The thinking is clear; Bowman is acknowledging, without really saying it, his roster and especially his talent pipeline desperately needed size and physicality (without sacrificing skill). Needs driven by the harsh (and actual) reality of NHL hockey in 2019—while you can rack up points in the doldrums of February with the side show of 3-on-3 OT and the shootout, the playoffs, the games that really matter, remain real hockey. Real, hard hockey, where winning 16 games between April and June is tough, painful, and debilitating. Not for the slight of heart nor the slight of frame.

Bowman is on a bit of a winning streak of late, having offloaded “slight” Nick Schmaltz for Dylan Strome and appearing to cash in on Strome’s early career resurrection in Chicago. Picking up Drake Caggiula for Brandon Manning, and now a draft that is a big (pardon the pun) move toward revamping and re-sizing the Hawk roster to be more realistically playoff-ready.

All for now. Comment below.

The post Analysis: Bowman steps up and delivers appeared first on The Rink.

Our panel weighs in:

Jeff Osborn:

Stan Bowman went a little off the script and picked the big center from Saskatoon. Dach is big, has great hands, and very good (but not top) speed for his size. He projects as a Ryan Getzlaf type of player, which is definitely something they could use. They immediately get a rare combination of size and creativity up the middle, behind Dylan Strome and Jonathan Toews. He could very well be the number one center of the future and has a pretty good mentor to show him the ropes. The Blackhawks picked from an area of need rather than best player available

The downside of this kid is that he is not quite as talented as maybe Turcotte or Byram. I feel like Bowman bought into the mock draft hype and maybe made an emotional pick. This pick will define Stan Bowman’s legacy in Chicago. He might not be as responsible in his own end as some might like just yet. When he does make it to the NHL, it also might be on the wing rather than his natural position. He said in his interviews that he feel like he’s able to make the jump to the NHL this fall, and he has a better shot than Byram might have.

Juliana Nikac:

There’s a significant amount of upside to Kirby Dach’s game. He’s one of those rare players who skates exceptionally well for his size (6-foot-4, 200 pounds) and doesn’t look awkward while accelerating. He has fantastic edge work and mobility that allows him to maneuver anywhere on the ice and protect the puck easily. Dach’s size also provides him with the ability to be physical when he has the puck, shouldering off defenders much like Rick Nash in his prime. He’s also reliable defensively, playing heavy minutes every game and often finding himself on the penalty kill utilizing his great backcheck.

The one downside of Dach’s game is that he doesn’t use his size effectively as he could. His lack of physicality is very visible during games and teams know this and target him, taking him out of plays and battles he should win more often than not. But the good news is that he’s already improved on this area of his game.

It’s clear Dach projects to be a good NHL center, but it’s difficult to determine what his ceiling is. If he can play a similar style to Nash, I think the Blackhawks will be happy and fans should be, too. But don’t expect Dach to be an elite player, because he probably will not reach that level when he’s finished developing. He’ll be in the tier below that, though, and that’s what makes him a valuable

John Jaeckel:

Love the pick.

Stan Bowman head-faked the entire fanbase and took a center—just not the hometown player. everyone expected.  Still Hawk fans are going to love every inch of 6’4” Kirby Dach, who possesses the hands and moves of much smaller players—in a big body that may allow him to be a dominant physical force in the league, as well as a reliable scorer.

He has a dazzling array of shots, and that unique ability and quick soft hands to roof a puck in tight on a goalie. He also is an incredibly graceful, agile skater. Thinks the game at a high level and exhibits a 200-foot awareness that will support him as a center in the NHL. Think of all the big, skilled centers the Hawks face in the Central. Stan Bowman went for the move that favors the Hawks matching up to win playoff series.

He’ll likely be a center, and once he grows into his large frame, he should be a complete power centerman with elite skill.

Kudos to Stan Bowman, he filled a glaring team need and resisted the pressure to grab the smaller center with Chicago “roots.”

Ray Napientek

Upside: At 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, Dach has the size and skill that the Chicago organization is lacking at the forward position pipeline. Dach plays a smart game. He can use his linemates with excellent vision or beat you with his physical play in front of the net and use his reach to hold off defenders, much like Jonathan Toews can. His shot is strong and crazy accurate. For his size, Dach is a fine skater that plays well on his edges and can make players miss.

Downside: This is not a sexy pick in Chicago. Until late, Dach was not a name on many Blackhawks “experts” picks. Stan Bowman would have to keep his fingers crossed that Bowen Byram and Alex Turcotte do not turn into legends. John McDonough would also make sure to let everyone know he could have sold millions of local boy Turcotte jerseys.

Summary: Dach has the size and strength to maybe squeeze into the NHL next season. That would help Bowman but should not be expected. Bowman still needs to find forwards that will play in their own end and kill penalties.

Ron Luce

Upside: Have you ever heard about size in the NHL? How about speed? Willingness to go to the net? All of those things describe what Kirby Dach was in the WHL this past season. The 6’4” pivot had a nice season with the Blades in the WHL. He was better than a point per game and all of his goals, if you watch his highlights, were in deep slot. Dach showed he can go into the “high traffic areas” and make things happen, something that this Blackhawks team desperately needs.

Downside: Dach may be a bit of a reach at number three. He is a very nice player, and the size is incredibly appealing, but he never scored more than 25 goals in the WHL. That said, Joe Thornton was never a huge goal scorer but knew how to set everyone else up for success. If Dach can become that type of player, this is certainly a win. Outside of that, the only concerns for Dach are can he use his size effectively in the NHL? If he can, he will be a forced to be reckoned with, if he cannot, then we may see the second coming of a great bust for a number three pick.

How this affects the team’s plans: Much like any player in this draft besides Hughes and Kakko, teams have to wonder are these kids ready for the NHL this year? If Dach indeed needs another year in the WHL, which is completely possible and highly likely, then the Blackhawks still need another centre to round out the Toews, Strome, Kampf group. Without another centre, the lines will be a bit shaky. Sure, Anisimov could fill that void, but I anticipate AA being moved after July 1st.

What do you think? Join the discussion and comment below.

The post Instant Reaction Roundtable: Blackhawks select Kirby Dach appeared first on The Rink.

Eighth in the series of prospect profiles is defenseman Bowen Byram.

Bowen Byram
2018–19 Team: Vancouver Giants, WHL
Date of Birth: June 13, 2001
Place of Birth: Cranbrook, BC, Canada
Height: 6-foot-1
Weight: 194 pounds
Shoots: Left
Position: Defense
NHL Central Scouting final ranking: #2, North American skaters
NHL comparables: Scott Neidermayer/Drew Doughty

In a draft year where, as Wiz paraphrased Oprah on Rinkcast 53, “everyone gets a car,” Byram is the finely tuned Porsche you want when you’re navigating tight curves in the Alps, swagging it on the streets of Zurich, or opening it up on the Autobahn.

An über-smooth, powerful, 360 degree skater, Byram is close to a total package defender—although average-sized and in need of further work on defensive recognition. The major hallmark of Byram’s game is elite offensive skill, where his skating and stickhandling are on par with high-skill wingers. Add to that a unique ability to recognize soft spots and blown coverages by opponents in the offensive zone, coupled with an accurate wrist shot and a sneaky good one-timer.

But there’s more.

Byram can pass the puck, either in tight areas or making an accurate, perfectly timed stretch pass through two zones.

But, it would be unfair and inaccurate to call Byram a purely offensive defenseman. His skating enables him to both close and cover superbly skating backward; he will work at stopping the opponent. And he will throw a check and seal his man off. But like a lot of young defensemen with substantial offensive gifts, he will pinch deep and sometimes get caught. Like our comparable Scott Neidermayer did in his stellar career, Byram will need to adjust to the NHL and gain greater discipline in his reads.

Finally, Byram has a little nasty to his game, and as he is fairly developed physically—but not completely so—there is probably no cause for worry as to whether he will handle the physicality of the NHL.

 Projection

#1 defenseman/team captain.

At 18 years of age, this is a supremely gifted player who is arguably near NHL ready—and yet still has more room to fill out and improve the mental aspects of his game.

His maturity and leadership qualities are said to be off the charts. In the words of one scout recently, “he gets it.”

The only question here, as mentioned previously, is his eventual assimilation of a more disciplined 3-zone game in the NHL. But that, unlike native skills and abilities that can’t be coached, can to a large extent be taught and drilled into a player.

Implications for the Blackhawks

Huge.

Byram literally has to be at the center of the Hawks’ discussions around what to do with the third pick.

First, there is an argument that no current Hawk prospect, including last year’s first rounder Adam Boqvist, selected 8^th overall, truly projects as a #1 defenseman. Some have characterized taking Byram as a binary choice—you have Boqvist, why take Byram? But it isn’t. They play different sides—so they could conceivably play together. Also, Byram is more physically stout at a similar stage of development and seems to have more of an appetite for the physical aspects of the game—in addition to elite offensive skill—suggesting he may be better suited as a true #1.

Second, it is likely the Hawks are getting calls from other teams wanting to trade up and take Byram, as he is really the only top-quality defenseman available this year. Detroit (6^th overall), Edmonton (8^th), and LA (5^th) are said to all covet Byram. Depending on how much a team wants Byram—and if the Hawks feel they can afford to pass on him—the added assets to Chicago in such a deal could be significant.

Third, because selecting a left-side player of Byram’s playing style might make Erik Gustafsson superfluous. And soon. There’s an argument that, if he isn’t already, Byram will soon be a better overall player than Gustafsson, who is nearly ten years older. Instead of eventually extending Gustafsson for big money, selecting Byram could give Stan Bowman the luxury of trading Gustafsson for decent return—perhaps even a late first round selection in this loaded draft— before his current deal expires.

What others are saying

“Controls the game … plays with swagger … smart and skilled … plays in all situations … doesn’t panic with the puck … good support of his partner.”

—ISS Hockey 2017

The post Draft prospect profile: defenseman Bowen Byram appeared first on The Rink.

First, if you’ve listened to our RinkCasts for the last few months, you’ve heard a recurring theme: Bowman should explore the trade market in order to meaningfully shore up arguably the league’s worst blue line with an experienced, yet young, defense-minded blue liner. We threw out names like Josh Manson and Adam Larsson on the higher (and therefore unlikely) end, and more realistically, say, Jordie Benn or similar.

So, Bowman did that. Arguably. And kudos to him for it.

At just 24, Finnish defender Maatta comes to Chicago with two Stanley Cup rings, appearing in 69 playoff games in 6 seasons. He was +61 in the regular season over that span. He is a two-way defenseman who is more defense-minded. He has good size but is not overly physical, preferring to rely more on positioning and stick work to turn over pucks, which he is good at. He also kills penalties and block shots and can play on the second power play unit. Maatta is not fast and can be beaten outside, but when he’s on his game, he compensates for that with positioning.

A decent comparable might be another former Penguin and Blackhawk defenseman (who most Hawk fans will only remember from the very end of his career): Michal Rozsival. A useful depth defender who can play some minutes and fill roles in a lot of situations. No, Rozsival never made anyone forget Bobby Orr, but he helped the Hawks win a lot of big games over a few years as a depth piece, used in the right manner.

Yes, Maatta comes with a smallish warning label: he’s had some freakish injuries including a bout with cancer 4 seasons ago. He also missed basically the last 6 weeks of this past regular season with a shoulder injury. After he returned to the Penguins’ lineup, he struggled in the team’s first round loss to the Islanders.

This, from the Pittsburgh Tribune Review‘s Kevin Gorman, provides a pretty straightforward assessment of what was a bad performance—for which Maatta took responsibility.

We don’t know nearly enough to say that Maatta is now damaged goods. More likely, he had a bad couple of games—as all defensemen can now and then—coming back off a lengthy absence in a playoff game where his entire team was outplayed.

To the counterpoint, this piece from RJ Naugle at pensburgh.com provides a very nuanced, robust and positive breakdown of Maatta’s 2017-18 season, where his metrics were very solid for a 4-5 defenseman on a very good overall blue line corps (much better, for example, than Chicago’s).

In the end, we have to assume the Blackhawks did due diligence in scouting where Maatta is actually at, before pulling the trigger on this deal.  He adds about $3 million a year to the Hawk payroll (after subtracting Dominik Kahun’s money) at $4.1 million a year through 2021-22.

Otherwise, his overall body of work suggests he is basically a solid 4-5 NHL defenseman with the statistical evidence to prove it—and the kind of defenseman the Hawks need as a depth piece. More importantly, he fills a need on the Hawk defense this coming season: helping solidify a Chinese Fire Drill defense that was terrible in its own end—when its defenders could even make it back to their zone to actually defend, before the puck found the back of the net.

He can be a part of the depth picture going forward, where the better Blackhawk defense prospects (Henri Jokiharju, Adam Boqvist, Ian Mitchell) all play the right side. He may also be a positive mentoring influence on fellow Finn Jokiharju.

Everyone liked Dominik Kahun, the player given up in the deal by the Hawks. Not coincidentally, Kahun is sort of loosely the “forward analog” for Maatta: a reasonably effective player you can slot up and down your lineup in various situations. In other words, this is more of a value for value trade, with two big differences being the addition Maatta’s salary and his bigger, more accomplished resume’.

This is a Hawk team with glaring needs at defense, center, and perhaps goalie (depending on Corey Crawford’s ongoing injury status). But they had some decent depth at forward, especially with the recent acquisitions of Drake Caggiula and Dominik Kubalik, and could afford to move Kahun to backfill needs on defense.

Internet reaction to this deal makes it seem that the Hawks got fleeced, but one has to wonder how many of those respondents saw how dreadfully poor the Hawk defense was, game by game, over the last couple of seasons—especially from a purely defensive standpoint. And while there are some intriguing defensive prospects in the Hawk pipeline, not one is a player you would call strong in his own end, a willing shot blocker, etc.

As with all trades, time will tell on this one, but overall, the Hawks at least partially filled a need—as hard as it may be for some to see it—by adding an experienced, yet still young, more defensive defenseman.

The post Blackhawks deal Kahun, pick for Olli Maatta appeared first on The Rink.

Each day over the next week leading up to the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, held on June 21 in Vancouver, we will be taking a look at the top prospects available for the Chicago Blackhawks with the No. 3 pick.

Today’s entry in the series of prospect profiles is right wing Kirby Each

Kirby Dach
2018–19 Team: Saskatoon Blades, WHL
Date of Birth: January 21, 2001
Place of Birth: St. Albert, AB, Canada
Height: 6-foot-4
Weight: 198
Shoots: Right
Position: Right Wing

NHL Central Scouting final ranking: No. 3, North American Skaters

NHL comparable: Rick Nash/Jamie Benn

Three things immediately jump out from Dach’s highlight reels: size, mobility, and a startling array of shots that are a result of outstanding hands. As a skater, he is not a straight line burner, but has nice 360 degree mobility, surprisingly adept edge work and the burst to beat defenders, all of which, in one package, is somewhat unusual in a player his size. Even at 6’4″, 200 pounds, he can maneuver and quickly roof the puck in close, and fire it accurately from any angle—at full speed. Dach will likely top out at 215-220 pounds, and should he develop more of a power game in the NHL, it will only add to his potential lethality as a scorer and set-up man. All of which comes in addition to solid defensive instincts.

Projection

Many feel Dach could develop as a center in the NHL, as he has excellent setup abilities in addition to his scoring talent. Regardless he has all the native tools to be a big time point producer in the NHL, who will also be a three-zone, three situation player. It is hard to imagine an 18 year old with this kind of ability, size, and room to grow being anything less than a significantly productive top line forward on any NHL team within 3 years.

Implications for the Blackhawks

Another player you could somewhat compare Dach to is Marian Hossa, who formerly held the job of 1st line RW on three Blackhawk Stanley Cup teams. Thus, Dach could easily slide in on one of the Hawks’ top lines as a RW—and perhaps fairly soon.

This is a player, unlike last year’s first round selection, Adam Boqvist, who probably does not need a lot of maturation to be able to compete physically in the NHL. Which makes Dach an intriguing option for the Hawks at #3, or perhaps even if they traded down to 5-6. If the Hawks believe they can still compete for a Cup while Kane, Jonathan Toews, and Duncan Keith still have some tread on their tires, then using the #3 pick on the player most near being NHL ready points somewhat toward Dach.

Dach brings that rare combination of sheer size, skating and skill—with good hockey sense and commitment to defensive play—that the Hawks somewhat lack at the forward position.

The post Draft prospect profile: right wing Kirby Dach appeared first on The Rink.

Center/wing

Shoots: Left

Height: 6’0.25”

Weight: 173

Amateur team: USNTDP

Date of birth: March 20, 2001

Place of birth: Bedford, NY, USA

NHL Central Scouting final ranking: 6th (North American skaters)

NHL comparable: Teuvo Teravainen

Zegras is part of a pack of terrific 2019 draft-eligible forwards from the U.S. National Team Development Program. But unlike the well-rounded Alex Turcotte or pure scorer Cole Caufield, Zegras’ forte’, a bit more like Jack Hughes, is playmaking and slowing the game down to make almost unbelievable passing plays in space. He is an effortless skater with good 360 degree mobility, and elite stickhandling ability. Zegras also demonstrates defensive responsibility and will defend over 200 feet of ice. Another hallmark of Zegras’ game is aggression, peskiness, and willingness to stand up for teammates, though he is not really a physical force even in amateur.

Like a lot of young, skilled forwards, Zegras will need to add weight and strength for the pro game—where the opportunities to make slick, crafty plays are reduced by the size and awareness of the world’s best players.

Projection

We used Teravainen as a comparable for Zegras (although Zegras’ ceiling may be higher) for a few obvious reasons: his size at draft age, talents and playing style, and the fact that he can arguably play all three forward positions. That last part is also a question: what is Zegras’ ultimate NHL position, center or wing? How a team views him ultimately, may impact where exactly he goes in the draft. If you see him as a center, will he have the overall physical package/willingness to be a first line center? But, like Patrick Kane, with Zegras’ exceptional talent, it may not matter as much exactly where he lines up for the faceoff.

A criticism leveled at Zegras has been, that although he is almost equally as crafty shooting the puck as he is passing it, he has a tendency to overpass and not take shots he should. A la Nick Schmaltz.

Through growth and maturation, Teravainen has become a good NHL player—but he had to work at it. So will Zegras, to achieve his top potential. But you can’t coach rare vision and hands—both of which he has in abundance. Also, Zegras’ passion for the game suggests he will work to realize all of his exceptional talent—which will continue this fall at Boston University.

Implications for the Blackhawks

Broken record time: the Blackhawks have enough organizational holes at this point that Zegras could likely fill a meaningful role for the team in 2 seasons. The Hawks will likely never simply “replace” Patrick Kane. But, if you wanted a player to step in and approximate Kane at some point as an elite playmaker and power play presence on the half-board, he could ultimately be that guy, which is probably a more realistic development track for the young forward than replacing Jonathan Toews as a three-zone, first line center.

While projected to go in the top 10, most mock drafts have Zegras in the 5-10 range, where he might make more sense for Chicago, were they to trade down. However, like Caufield and Vasili Podkolzin, opinions on Zegras’ ultimate draft slot vary, and he could crack the top 5.

Highlights

The post Draft prospect profile: Center Trevor Zegras appeared first on The Rink.

Second in the series of prospect profiles is right wing Vasili Podkolzin.

Vasili Podkolzin

Right wing

Shoots: Left

6’0-3/4”

196 pounds

Date of birth: June 24, 2001

Place of birth: Moscow, Russia

Amateur team: HC Rhys Podolsk

NHL central scouting final ranking: 2^nd, international skaters

NHL comparable: Vladimir Tarasenko

Perhaps no player disrupts current draft boards—with the possible exception of USNTDP right wing Cole Caufield—more than the obviously gifted, yet enigmatic Vasili Podkolzin, who could realistically be picked anywhere from third to thirteenth overall. However, the tape doesn’t lie. What you get with Podkolzin is a relentless two-way forward who can and will do all the little things and the big things necessary to help his team win: a fearless, versatile, natural leader who crushes most of the negative Russian hockey player stereotypes.

Offensively, Podkolzin combines power, über-slick hands, and crisp, tight edge work to create end-to-end scoring rushes—around and through all 5 opponents. In a single highlight (see video below), you’ll see him employ abrupt change of direction, a sick toe drag, wide speed and sheer drive to the net. He is both a power player and one who can effect plays “in space,” due to his hands and recognition.

A good, but not great skater, Podkolzin is fast enough. One criticism of Podkolzin’s skating is that he is bent forward in his stride—a trait that some believe creates vulnerability to big hits and concussions, though there’s scant evidence this has been an issue thus far in his career. But what he lacks in flat out speed, he more than makes up for in will to win and score. And unlike many Russians, Podkolzin seems to hunger for, and thrive in, the physical aspects of the game.

Projection:

More Russian comparisons. You want a winger with a blistering and accurate one-timer from the circle, a la Artemi Panarin? Few (including current NHL players) are better than Podkolzin. Or perhaps a complete three-zone player who delivers everything you can ask of a forward: scoring, passing, defense, killing penalties, playing the power play and even winning an occasional faceoff—like, say, Tarasenko (or Slovak/Blackhawk legend Marian Hossa)? Podkolzin again.

Much has been made of the fact that Podkolzin is committed to his KHL organization for two more years, and that his point production in international play is at times inconsistent. Some have even gone as far as saying Podkolzin could be nothing more than a third liner in the NHL (when he arrives) due to his overall three-zone style of play.

However, reports out of the NHL draft combine suggest Podkolzin interviewed well (through an interpreter) and made no bones about the fact that he intends to play in the NHL in two years. And the fact is, as often as not, drafted players take 2-3 years to meaningfully play in the NHL. Hawk fans who reflexively point to Alex DeBrincat and Henri Jokiharju as proof to the contrary, forget that the NHL team they matriculated to was, ummm, not good at all with lousy depth. And ostensibly, Chicago plans to be a good team, perhaps as soon as this year.

So the choice becomes, do you trust the talent development process of Podkolzin’s KHL organization—versus that of a CHL team or NCAA program? Another question: do you believe his adaptation to the NHL would capitalize on his obvious array of offensive talents?

Valid concerns that may determine how high Podkolzin is selected and what kind of NHL player he becomes.

Implications for the Blackhawks

If Podkolzin becomes the force that some believe he will, there’s absolutely a place for him in the Blackhawks’ organization. Sure, you have Patrick Kane on one line at RW, but there’s no law that you can’t have a “young Tarasenko” on another. And you have to wonder if Blackhawk brass has not at least toyed with the notion of Podkolzin being the third piece of the longer term puzzle at RW, creating havoc and launching one-timers fed to him by Dylan Strome and Alex DeBrincat.

This is a time of year when “group-think” influences draft prognosticators and “mock GMs,” a phenomenon that has recently elevated the stock of some North American prospects, while downgrading Podkolzin. But while it’s possible Podkolzin could drop out of the top 10 due to issues touched on above, it’s perhaps just as likely some GM picking near the top of round 1 is going to find his explosive talent and will to win too intriguing to pass up.

What others are saying

“I am going to go out on the line right now and say this kid is the best up and down winger in the class, and everyone should start praying their team doesn’t pass him by, because he is the real deal, from Russia with love.”

—Bill Placzek, draftsite.com

Highlights

The post Draft prospect profile: Right wing Vasili Podkolzin appeared first on The Rink.

So who ya got at No. 3 overall? Alex Turcotte (“the next Patrice Bergeron”), Bowen Byram (“Paul Coffey 2.0”) or, say, Dylan Cozens (“a not-so-poor man’s Auston Matthews”)?

For the sake of perspective, here are the last 10 players selected at No. 3 overall in the NHL draft:

2009  Matt Duchene

2010  Erik Gudbranson

2011  Jonathan Huberdeau

2012  Alex Galchenyuk

2013  Jonathan Drouin

2014  Leon Draisaitl

2015  Dylan Strome

2016  Pierre Luc Dubois

2017  Miro Heiskanen

2018  Jesperi Kotkaniemi

Mostly good players, maybe two or three potentially or already great players. But overall, through the last decade of drafts, the No. 3 overall pick has produced as many sorta duds as true studs especially in terms of the pre-draft expectations and scouting reports for each. With maybe 50 percent or more who will never fully live up to their pre-draft hype.

And that’s the issue. Every year, the glowing accolades and projections accompanying all the top prospects are as often as not left unfulfilled over time.

In 2009, some said Duchene was the best player in the draft, ahead of John Tavares, and compared him to Sidney Crosby. Duchene has become a nice player, but…

Gudbranson has battled injury and is on his third NHL team.

Galchenyuk was sold as a “can’t miss center”—who has been relegated to the wing and underperformed expectations pretty much throughout his career.

Drouin can be a force at times, but has not really lived up to pre-draft billing.

Strome had a nice second half of the season last year, but his limitations will also likely prevent him from being a legitimate first line center on a good NHL team.

And here’s the thing to remember—as you click through raves about Turcotte’s 200-foot game, edge-work and speed, Byram’s elite mobility and moves or Cozens’ borderline freakish size/speed combination—any player remotely worthy of top 10 consideration in the NHL draft is going to look amazing against, and in the context of, other 16–18-year-olds.

And all of the players listed above—as well as many drafted around them in their individual years—had the same kind of glowing scouting reports.

Sure, there are stronger drafts and there are weaker drafts. There are also miscalculations by GMs (and “draft experts,” and fans and fans who become “draft experts”). For every Jonathan Toews, there’s a Cam Barker. For every Draisaitl, there’s a JP Dumont. Or an Aki Berg. Or an Alexander Svitov.

Each (and ALL) of whom, was going to ride in to his respective NHL city on a pink unicorn, billowing confetti and giving away winning Power Ball tickets—because he lit it up in the WHL (or similar) and someone said he was going to be “the next” this or that.

Here’s the point: don’t despair, but also don’t necessarily believe the hype.

Great players can be unearthed at pick No. 3 and at pick No. 33. Same with “meh” players. The quality of scouting has a lot to do with the relative success or failure of high picks, but so does something else: a little luck. So many factors (character, injuries, coaching, etc.) go into the real-life process of turning a can’t-miss prospect into some kind of actual NHL player.

Everything we hear at The-Rink suggests the Hawks are doing extreme diligence on this pick, and that they may not have settled yet, even if some keep saying:

“Turcotte’s the pick.”

“Byram is the guy.”

“I think they’re gonna go with (Kirby) Dach.”

Everyone has an opinion. Damn few, next to no one, actually know the Hawks plans. Hell, I had an opinion—until I decided that as a Hawk fan, I just want them to get a great player at No. 3, hopefully an elite cornerstone player a la Toews—because the risk of not getting one quite that good is high.

In spite of the hype and “YouTubes.”

And don’t kid yourselves; the Blackhawks have needs all over the ice. So, they could even end up trading down a few spots and filling more than one hole in the process.

Social media and fan message boards have a way of creating beliefs and narratives about players or a direction the team might go (especially at this time of year) that aren’t always firmly rooted in reality.

For example, the Byram narrative: “The Hawk defense stunk last year, he’s the best defenseman, no brainer.” The problem is, Stan Bowman has added a lot of first and second round defensemen the last few years—so where does Byram really fit into the team’s plans (or not)?

The Turcotte narrative: “He’s from Chicago, the Hawks love Chicago players, he’s a center. USNTDP cred. Boom.” The problem there is with as much as is riding on this pick, a Chicago connection should be utterly meaningless one way or the other. And while the Hawks took Patrick Kane first overall out of the USNTDP, they took Jack Skille seventh overall out of the same program. Perspective.

The Cozens narrative: “He’s big and fast, something the Hawks need more of upfront.” But, big and fast doesn’t always translate to great in the NHL.

Every top player seems to have some soundbyte narrative, with varying amounts of validity attached to it. But the actual decision for the Hawks needs to be a lot more patient, considered and nuanced—because it has to be the best decision for the future of the franchise.

So sit back, take a deep breath and move away from the keyboard. The draft is still 15 days away. When the Blackhawks will draft…

Someone.

Comment below.

The post NHL Draft: No guarantee at Number 3 appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com co-hosts “Gatekeeper”, “JJ” and staff prospect writer Eric Andrews are joined by The-Rink NHL draft guru Bill “Wiz” Placzek and hold a mock draft.

• After a short hiatus, the crew convenes to go through the first round of the upcoming draft and some #WordsOfWizdom.
• John drives the short bus for this episode.
• Eric, Gate and Wiz plead their case for the Blackhawks pick with JJ.  Does it work?
• Gate throws the whole thing off the rails with one of his picks.
• Wiz takes us through picks 11-32
• Koekkoek extended, IIHF World Championships end with some Blackhawks players winning gold.
• The-Rink is expanding with four new writers, a potential BIG podcast guest coming, and a promising new season.
• We answer some listener and reader questions along the way

Please subscribe, rate this episode, and even write us a review. Reviews will be read on the air.

Also, Please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

The Rinkcast is brought to you by the Overtime Podcast Network

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Episode 53 – Mock Draft with Bill “Wiz” Placzek appeared first on The Rink.

“This is the future of the NHL—all the teams with small forwards and slick forwards are gone, the big bullies are now playing, the guys that are 6’3, 6’4 . . . those are the guys scoring the goals, those are the guys that are checking.”

—Barry Melrose (on the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals)

This quote, pulled from a recent episode of ESPN’s Pardon The Interruption, started a bit of a twitter spat the last couple of days, reigniting the philosophical war over building an NHL roster based on size versus finesse/speed.

It’s a valid argument—and one that really needs to be broken down and discussed objectively—especially during the Stanley Cup Finals and with the draft and free agency right around the corner.

First of all, it’s kind of dumb to say it’s simply about size. There are good and bad big players and the same applies to small players.

Another quote to consider here (author unknown): “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight. It’s the size of the fight in the dog.” Hold that thought. We’ll come back to it.

The responses to the Melrose quote, in the twitter thread I read, were quick to point out how Alex DeBrincat and Cam Atkinson, both small players, scored 40 goals a piece last year. But then someone else chimed in that they amassed those totals in the regular season—a different brand of hockey versus the playoffs.

This is an important distinction, especially for Hawks fans who, in 2016 and 2017, had all kinds of confidence about their team’s playoff chances based on regular season performance, and then watched them get beaten in the first round by the Blues in 2016, and absolutely flattened by the Predators in 2017.

There’s the rub: is it about how many points you amass, or how many goals you score in the regular season, or about how far you go in the playoffs and winning a Cup?

Let’s work with the assumption that the “goal” is to win in the playoffs. If you disagree, you should probably stop reading.

In the NHL, regular season hockey and playoff hockey are different styles of hockey, without question. Setting aside the more subjective things like how the game is officiated before and after April 10, there are some hard facts that can’t be denied:

First, regular season games don’t start to become really meaningful until after, say, Christmas. The St. Louis Blues, for example, were one of the league’s worst teams before Christmas this past season—and its best after that point. And it’s turned out well for them. Point is, in the playoffs, there’s simply a lot more at stake game to game. And game after game. You can’t stink for the first half of the playoffs, then win the Cup. Doesn’t work that way.

Add to that the fairly widely accepted “fact” that the refs tend to swallow the whistles in the playoffs.

So then you have a lot at stake in each game, along with much more permissive officiating—and what you end up with are much more physical games. Again, game after game.

But that’s not all. There’s no 3-on-3 overtime in the playoffs, or a shootout. Games are decided by 5-on-5 hockey. Sometimes, in a given game, or over the course of a series, a lot of 5-on-5 hockey.

That last bit doesn’t necessarily favor big players over small players, or vice versa. It becomes more about endurance and will.

And all that said, because the style of play is so much more physical, the frequency of injury in the playoffs is higher game to game. Yet players tend to play through injuries in the playoffs (or try to). Because, unlike the regular season, where you can take a few weeks off and come back and help your team—in the playoffs, they might be eliminated by then.

Pretty passing and stickhandling plays and players moving the puck uninterrupted through the neutral zone—while not totally uncommon in the playoffs—seem to happen less. And a relatively higher percentage of the goals are of the “greasy” variety.

And this is where things like size—without dismissing compete level (regardless of size)—become very important.

The net conclusion here is fairly obvious, and proven by the teams that actually win the Cup year after year: teams that have players with the will to play physical hockey, and the talent to produce while playing that brand of hockey, win the Cup year after year.

Last year, it was the Washington Capitals. This year, either of the teams in the finals fits that description.

Going back over the years, you can point at the Penguins’ Cup teams and those of the Blackhawks’ since 2009 as examples of highly talented teams that won Cups. But those were teams that could and did match up physically, and dealt out as much or more punishment than they took. Go back to just 2015, when the Hawks could roll a “fourth line” of Andrew Shaw, Marcus Kruger and Andrew Desjardins. They didn’t score (much), but they dominated offensive zone possession and drove opponents nuts. And it’s important to point out, none of those players are what you’d call “big.” But all of them “played big.”

Conversely, remember when the Vancouver Canucks won the Cup in 2011? Wait, no, that’s right, a “high finesse” team that was the presumptive favorite to win the Cup that year, the Canucks ran into the brick wall known as the Boston Bruins, got epicly “bi— slapped” and took a physical and humiliating Cup Final loss.

Just this year, the “electric” Tampa Bay Lightning were on the high-flying express train to the Finals when they got destroyed in the first round by a Columbus team that outhit them and outworked them. Then, Columbus ran into a team that upped the stakes on physicality and intimidation, and now Boston finds themselves in yet another Cup Final.

Fact is, although interwebz experts keep proclaiming that “the game has changed,” typically as part of a rationale for drafting 165 pound defensemen, or in support of teams that get a disproportionate amount of regular season production in 3-on-3 OT and on the perimeter at 5-on-5 (like the Hawks of the last few years), the Stanley Cup playoffs keep proving, year in and year out, that the games played in May and June really haven’t changed that much.

Again, it’s not just about the size of the player, as proven by the likes of Brad Marchand, but it really is about how willing and able your players are to go in between the circles and to the front of the net, win along the wall, and take and deliver punishment every other night for a couple of months.

Size, skill and speed—especially when a player has all three—check important boxes. But definitely, what seems just as (if not more) important is the size of the heart and willingness to pay a physical price to win.

All I have for now. Comment below.

The post The age-old debate: size versus finesse in the NHL appeared first on The Rink.

But clearly, Chicago Blackhawks General Manager Stan Bowman will have options afforded by this high pick. As always, the outcome will depend on which door he chooses. That is what we will discuss here.

The fact is, Bowman not only “lucked out” in getting the third overall pick in the draft lottery last month—he also got a ton of added pressure. It is easier for a GM to slide out from under the responsibility of a missed 18^th overall selection (Mark McNeill) than it is at a pick position where Jonathan Toews was selected.

Another fact: this is a pick, if Bowman handles it properly, that could not only accelerate the Hawks’ rebuild, but could have a positive and significant impact on the franchise for the next decade or more.

So here, dear readers, are all the options (as we see them today):

BEST AVAILABLE ATHLETE

This was a draft strategy coined by the Dallas Cowboys in the 1970s. Gil Brandt and Co., did not just draft the best available defensive tackle because his team couldn’t stop the run the previous year. The Cowboys always thought two or three years out. And there is a strong argument for this philosophy in the NHL.

Sure, more and more, because of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, salary cap, more and more former European pros coming to North America and improvement in NCAA hockey, players now tend appear more often in the NHL the year after they are drafted. Still, overall, most players are a mere 17 years old when drafted and even some of the best typically require development in junior, college and/or the minors before debuting in the NHL. Sometimes, young players rushed to the NHL can be ruined by high expectations, followed by early struggles on bad teams.

All that said, let’s follow the conventional wisdom that Jack Hughes and Kappo Kaako are off the board when the Hawks go on the clock. Who, then, is the best available athlete?

Again, we will not presume to tell you that. We are not NHL scouts. And we put far more credence in those opinions than “YouTubes” and mock drafts put out by people who get their information from…YouTubes and internet-based mock drafts.

What we can say is this: there does not appear to be any position on the Hawks, except perhaps left wing (Alex DeBrincat, Brandon Saad), that you can say with any certainty is “set,” right now, or, more importantly, three to four years from now.

And for the record, our opinion is, the Hawks should be looking for the highest potential impact player at No. 3 this year—regardless of position—with one important caveat (that we will get to later).

The Hawks need elite young prospects all over the ice. Some may disagree and point to a defense pipeline that includes Adam Boqvist, Ian Mitchell and Nicolas Beaudin, all of whom are good-to-very-good prospects. However, until proven otherwise, all of these players are small and have documented defensive deficiencies that raise some valid questions as to where and exactly how they project in the NHL.

Aside from Henri Jokiharju, who is perhaps the most well-rounded defensive prospect (because that is really what he still is), the Hawks do not have a legitimate high-end defense prospect who plays a two-way game. Jokiharju, at this point appears to be a top-four defenseman in the future. But, where in the top four? Probably not an elite, No. 1 defenseman.

There is one defenseman, Bowen Byram of the Vancouver Giants (WHL), who scouts say stands head and shoulders above the rest in this draft class. At 6-foot-1, 195 pounds, he is more Jokiharju-sized than the smaller Boqvist (for example), skates exceptionally, can defend in space, shoots and passes with aplomb, has off the charts hockey sense and a nasty streak to boot.

So if the Hawks braintrust sees Byram as the best available athlete and a future elite player at No. 3, slam dunk. He is the pick.

While Bowman now appears to have stolen Dylan Strome from Arizona last season, and Jonathan Toews had a solid rebound season, Toews is now north of 30, the Hawks are still weak overall on faceoffs and—especially in the playoffs—you can never have enough quality centers.

From 3–8 in this draft, center is well-represented. Take your pick from Alex Turcotte, Dylan Cozens, Kirby Dach, Payton Krebs or Trevor Zegras. We will not try to fake our way through telling you which should be “the guy” at No. 3. Again, that is up to the Hawks, and that would also be assuming that any of the above are better players than say Byram or Vasili Podkolzin.

Easy for us to say.

Seriously though, Podkolzin, the enigmatic Russian right wing has perhaps “fallen” in the eyes of “internet hockey experts,” but it is hard to imagine serious hockey people dismissing his obvious set of talents and disposition: fast, über-competitive, physical, a great shot (you miss Panarin? This guy could potentially solve that) and defensively responsible.

We hesitate to project 17-year-olds, but watching him on tape in the top Russian junior league, it is hard not to see elements of Panarin and another great current NHLer from Russia, Vladimir Tarasenko.

Sure, there are potential transfer issues from Russia. Sure, he did not flash gaudy offensive numbers in a recent international tournament. Important considerations, but relative blips on the bigger radar picture. Let scouts figure it out based on a much greater set of metrics and time spent watching the player, talking to coaches, etc.

The bigger point is this, it appears that the Hawks have four or five (minimally) viable choices at No. 3 from whom to take the best available athlete—assuming they feel that player is clearly better than who they might take at pick 6, 7 or later.

Which leads to what, for some fans, might be a less comfortable scenario.

TRADING DOWN

“What? Why would you do that? You lucked out and got the third overall pick.”

Here is why. Two words: Cam Barker.

2004 was a two-player draft, perhaps not unlike this one. After Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin, there was a clear drop off to the next player who most, but not all, thought was Cam Barker of the Red Deer Rebels in the WHL. The Hawks held that pick, took Barker and the rest is history.

I wanted the Hawks to take Andrew Ladd instead, who was picked fourth by Carolina, and ironically, ended up hoisting the Cup with the Hawks in 2010—while Barker did not. But, the point is, sometimes in a two-player draft, your scouting might not see much difference in the quality of the player you would take at No. 3 than the one you could get at No. 7 or 8.

Perhaps, the grade you have on all the players left on the board are good to very good, but not elite future NHLers. But, as so often happens in all major sports’ drafts, another GM may have someone targeted that they want at No. 3—and they want him enough to give up a lot to move up and take him.

Here is a purely hypothetical scenario:

On draft night, Hughes and Kaako go first and second as expected. At No. 3, the Hawks are leaning toward taking Turcotte—a sturdy, skilled all-around center prospect—but they do not necessarily grade him much higher than Cozens or Krebs. And they grade none of those players as future, true elite players (a la McDavid, Crosby, Toews).

Thus, the Hawks know if they trade down a few slots, they will very likely get one of those comparable players.

Enter the Buffalo Sabres, picking seventh. Or, perhaps new Edmonton GM—and noted Russophile—Ken Holland, who might absolutely knock the door down to grab Podkolzin at No. 3. Edmonton picks eighth, where the Hawks would still be positioned to snag a future quality NHL center.

But, of course, Holland would need to further sweeten the pot for Chicago. Perhaps quite a bit.

Again, it depends on how much the other team’s GM wants that player at No. 3—how much would they give up?

Could the Hawks not only get a really good center at 7 or 8 who can be a difference maker for another decade, but also, for example, fill a glaring need on the blueline as well?

We can debate whether the Hawks could pry an Adam Larsson or an Evan Bouchard out of Holland in return for a five-slot swap to get a player he loves.

Likely not. But you never know.

The point is, if GMs come to Bowman with those kinds of offers—unless he is thoroughly convinced his guy at No. 3 is “can’t miss” elite— then he is dumb not to at least listen and evaluate.

WHERE IT COULD ALL GO WRONG

Broken record time: Cam Barker.

Say the Hawks hold the No. 3 pick, even though there is (hypothetically) a drop off from 1–2 to 3–7, and take, say, Turcotte.

Let’s even say Turcotte ends up being a better player than Barker, more along the lines of, say, Matt Duchene (a pretty good pro comparable for Turcotte). Duchene has become a nice player. But in the history of the NHL, is he ever going be mentioned in the same breath with Toews? No.

Or, let’s say, Turcotte, like another high first round, former USNTDP player, Jack Skille, ends up significantly underperforming in the NHL. Would that happen? Probably not.

But, over and over, time has a way of defying our initial expectations. Typically, everyone feels good about the pick the morning after the first round, when it is all sunshine and roses, but often not so much three or four years out.

And that is when the second guessing starts, or someone saying: “they should have traded down.”

In the end, no one knows right now—and no one can predict the future. But, this is why NHL scouts are paid to go to places like Nisku, Alberta, in January to watch hockey players, talk to coaches, etc., and you hope yours are as good as or better than anyone else’s…and that your GM has the judgement and courage to, when presented with good data, do the right thing for the franchise—not just temporarily placate the masses.

Please comment below.

The post ANALYSIS: The blessing (and the curse) of the third overall draft pick appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com co-hosts “Gatekeeper” and “JJ” are joined by staff writer Ray Napientek to chat about the few things abuzz in Blackhawks speculation.

• Blackhawks potential suitors for Ilya Mikheyev
• Kris Versteeg returns to Rockford
• Derek King named Rockford head coach
• Mark Eaton discussed Hawks defensive prospects
• Just what IF the Blackhawks draft Bowen Byram?
• Kane officially a nominee for Ted Lindsay Award
• Don Granato and the Blackhawks mutually part ways
• A little Chicago Steel talk at the end
• We answer some listener and reader questions

Please subscribe, rate this episode, and even write us a review. Reviews will be read on the air.

Also, Please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

The Rinkcast is brought to you by the Overtime Podcast Network

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Episode 52 – School’s out for Summer appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com co-hosts “Gatekeeper” and “JJ” are joined by staff writers Mario Tirabassi, Eric Andrews, Ray Napientek to talk about the end of the Blackhawks season.

• The Blackhawks moved up from 12th to third in the NHL Draft Lottery!
• What should/could the Blackhawks do in the draft?
• Is it possible they trade up or down?
• How does the change in draft order change summer free agency?
• Airing of grievances.
• We answer some listener and reader questions

Please subscribe, rate this episode, and even write us a review. Reviews will be read on the air.

Also, Please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

The Rinkcast is brought to you by the Overtime Podcast Network

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Episode 51 – Season Wrap / Draft Lottery appeared first on The Rink.

As I posted on Twitter yesterday morning, after the Blackhawks had been officially eliminated from the postseason the night before, being “negative” became being “realistic.”

Because this never was a playoff quality team—or certainly not one with any chance of actually winning in the playoffs.

Don’t get me wrong. There were some positives this season and a few things arose that can be built on going forward. But as is so often the case with a fairly large slice of the Hawk fanbase—lingering at the One Goal kegger long after the beer has run out—expectations became and still are a bit, well, unrealistic.

All is not lost. But there is some serious hard work to do this summer beyond the moronic “Bring Da Breadman Back” mantra.

Broadly speaking, this team is going to finish somewhere between 10^th and 12^th in their conference—the far lesser of the two NHL conferences by the way. While that is an “improvement” over the previous season’s 13^th in the conference, it also was made possible by career years for both Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. That’s not to say those players won’t have big years again next year.

But there’s just as good a chance they won’t.

But let’s get more to the point: if you really, honestly want to compete for a Stanley Cup, 11^th in the West isn’t even close to where you need to be.

The Ja-BRO-nis on Twitter have taken every opportunity this year to point out Alex DeBrincat’s sophomore surge, that Dylan Strome really looks like a 2^nd line center, how Erik Gustafsson is basically a fourth forward (and racked up the points to prove it), that Connor Murphy’s game improved, how Toews is rejuvenated and Brandon Saad is still Brandon Saad. Etc.

And all of it, for the most part, is true. Hallelujah. Yet the fact remains that, after a long hot streak in January that actually resurrected hope in a postseason appearance, the Hawks have gone 12-10-3—not a winning record by the way, that “3” at the end is losses.

If you’re going to be a winning team, you have to win when it matters.

The Hawks were healthy and rolling and then over 25 critical games, they regressed to what they really are—a flawed, sub .500 team. But with some bright spots.

So now that we’ve laid bare the obvious, let’s go further. What’s right, what’s wrong, what are the logical next steps?

PANARIN SOLVES NOTHING

We know this team can score goals with or without Artemi Panarin. The thing that makes this an also-ran team in a crap conference is a completely and utterly disastrous team defense.

The argument has already been stated on the Twitterz that all that’s needed is “an easy fix to the penalty kill”—even though the 5-on-5 defense is also garbage. But “fixing the penalty kill” might not be so easy by itself, and thus addressing the overall defense in all situations, which is clearly necessary, is even tougher.

Spending $9-10 million a season on Panarin, even if he were amenable to returning to Chicago (which is highly dubious—he knows the party ran out of beer, and they’re serving vodka in the Northeast and Florida, trust me) does not help the defense at all. In fact, it means $9-10 million less per year that the front office has to address glaring defensive problems.

And it takes situational opportunities away from fellow LW DeBrincat—the same opportunities that helped him top 40 goals this year.

The team does, however, need at least one new forward.

Wait, JJ. Huh? What? We’ll come back to that. Think: team defense within the flow of actual games.

NIKLAS HJALMARSSON 2.0 (OR BETTER)

I won’t dispute the positive and overdue impact that Gustafsson has had on the Hawk power play, and he is certainly also a weapon in 3-on-3 OT. However, the fact remains that both the Hawk penalty kill and even strength defense are not good.

So you’re likely stuck with $13 million a year’s worth of Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith, whatever’s left of their usefulness, and Murphy is OK, while Gustafsson is fine in a limited role. Henri Jokiharju has promise (but make no mistake, there are still some rough edges there). So there are 1-2 places on this blueline where upgrades are needed.

Are they possible?

Let’s put to bed right now the fantasy of 3-4 junior or NCAA players coming in next year and “stabilizing” or in any way improving this defense. Maybe, just maybe Adam Boqvist or Ian Mitchell could show up and sort of replicate what Gustafsson is. But that is quite literally the last thing the Hawks need more of.  They need players who are responsible and able to actually defend, two areas where both prospects are said to need quite a bit of work.

And everyone keeps assuming that the only way you can improve in the offseason is through free agency (where the free agent pickings get mighty slim this summer after Erik Karlsson). It’s not.

Trades can be made. A significant trade (or two) probably should be made.

And let’s be clear, if Stan Bowman can’t be trusted, either by fans or Blackhawks senior management, to go out and do a value for value deal to acquire a youngish, tough, responsible defenseman who can help next year, he needs to be replaced. Immediately.

There are guys like that out there. No, you won’t get them for a signed Patrick Sharp 8×10 and a guy from Rockford. But the Hawks have plenty of prospects, they have depth at both wings. That’s what GMs are paid (well) to figure out.

But you get that player and there is a positive ripple effect throughout the defense corps. This player perhaps “anchors” and stabilizes Gustafsson a bit. And allows everyone else’s minutes and situations to be more appropriately allocated. Maybe you even get 2 players of that ilk, and the defense as a whole gets a lot better.

Back to forward.

FACEOFFS MATTER

When the Hawks won the Cup in 2015, they had three full time centers well north of 50% on faceoffs. In spite of interwebz experts proclaiming that faceoffs don’t matter, they do.

If you need fancy possession data to believe in a team, your team needs to first possess the actual puck.

In real hockey, how many times do some people need to see a clean defensive zone faceoff loss end up in the back of the Hawks’ net before they will finally admit, “man, it would be great if we had someone other than Toews to take key draws.”

Two wrist surgeries later, Kruger is now essentially the equal of Artem Anisimov in the dot, which isn’t good, and Dylan Strome so far looks to be in that zone as well. That’s OK, because you ultimately don’t want Strome to be your top shutdown center anyway.

But you need that guy, and more than some people realize.

If said guy can defend over 200 feet of ice (like a Kruger) and pitch in 40 points a season (like Anisimov), BOOM. Penalty kill, significantly improved. Shutdown line in place. Perhaps even a scoring third line.

And that player you might be able to get in free agency for $4-5 million a year (essentially what you’re paying Anisimov while you try to figure out, as was the case in New York and Columbus, whether he should even be a center).

And for what it’s worth, I’ve heard specifically that the Hawks will be in the market for another center this summer.

There may be other ways Bowman could improve the Hawks this offseason. Who knows, no one would throw a bigger July 2 media bash to introduce a newly-minted Erik Karlsson to Chicago fans.

But the bottom line is this: for all the positives that emerged this season, actual data suggests there are significant and outweighing negatives that aren’t going to just disappear on their own.

So buckle up, Hawk fans. It may be an eventful ride.

Comment below.

The post Really, what just happened? Reflections on the 2018-19 Hawk season appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com co-hosts Jeff “Gatekeeper” Osborn and John “Double J” Jaeckel are joined by NBC  Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis to talk about this dead-man-walking week for the Blackhawks.

• Mario Tirabassi has a lengthy #Warpigs report
• Where do the Blackhawks go with defensemen?
• Where do the Blackhawks look for depth scoring?
• Gate looks to fire up the Erik Gustafsson fan club
• How realistic is this Kevin Hayes stuff?
• We examine many different trade and free agent scenarios
• We have a new review (thanks “The Cyto”)
• We answer some listener and reader questions

Please subscribe, rate this episode, and even write us a review. Reviews will be read on the air.

Also, Please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

The Rinkcast is brought to you by the Overtime Podcast Network

The post The Blackhawks Rinkcast – Episode 50 w/ NBCSN’s Charlie Roumeliotis appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com co-hosts Jeff “Gatekeeper” Osborn and John “Double J” Jaeckel are joined by The-Rink Junior / Chicago Steel writer Ray Napientek to talk about the Blackhawks and the Steel.

• We have a new review (thanks Mark from Algonquin)
• The Blackhawks are basically eliminated “officially” from the postseason
• Chad Krys and Jack Ramsey enter the organization
• More talk about what the team needs to do this summer
• What is going on with the Chicago Steel?
• Stan Bowman talk, Dylan Sikura talk
• We answer some listener and reader questions

Please subscribe, rate this episode, and even write us a review. Reviews will be read on the air.

Also, Please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

The Rinkcast is brought to you by the Overtime Podcast Network

The post The Blackhawks Rinkcast – Episode 49 – Steel Deal appeared first on The Rink.

The Hawks lines and pairings were as follows:

Dylan Sikura–Jonathan Toews–Patrick Kane

Alex DeBrincat–Dylan Strome–Brendan Perlini

Brandon Saad–Artem Anisimov–Dominik Kahun

Chris Kunitz–David Kampf–Marcus Kruger

Duncan Keith–Erik Gustafsson

Gustav Forsling–Brent Seabrook

Carl Dahlstrom–Connor Murphy

Corey Crawford squared off in net against German netminder Philipp Grubauer.

FIRST PERIOD

In a tightly checked 20 minutes of action—with a pretty high pace to the action—the Hawks outshot the Avs 8-7. The score remained 0-0 at the horn.

SECOND PERIOD

The Avs broke the scoreless tie at 3:07 of the period when JT Compher tipped a Patrik Nemeth point shot past Crawford. 1-0 Colorado.

Hawk captain Jonathan Toews capitalized on a Colorado turnover at 5:20, notching his 32nd goal in a stellar rebound season. 1-1.

But the Avs regained the lead at 13:57 when former Nashville Predator Colin Wilson redirected a puck past Crawford, with two players (Erik Gustafsson and David Kampf) in the penalty box for Chicago. 2-1 Colorado.

Shots were 12-11 Avs in the period.

THIRD PERIOD

Colorado added to their lead at 1:26, when Sven Andrighetto tipped an Erik Johnson point shot into the net. The call on the ice was “goal,” but it was reviewed as Andrighetto’s stick was near crossbar height. Still, there was not enough evidence to overturn. 3-1 Colorado.

“Good Gus” showed up at 12:04, when Erik Gustafsson blasted a 60 foot one-timer past Grubauer, narrowing the Colorado lead. 3-2.

The Hawks mounted a lot of pressure from there, outshooting the Avs 12-6 for the period. But at  17:40,  with Crawford pulled, “Bad Gus” mishandled a Patrick Kane drop pass (also a bad idea) at the Colorado blue line, which resulted in a 2-on-1 the opposite way and an easy goal for Derick Brassard. 4-2 Colorado, and that was how it would end.

THE GOOD

The Hawks limited Colorado to just 25 shots, continuing a generally positive recent trend in a highly troublesome area for the team this year.

THE BAD

The postgame talking heads on NBCSN lamented a recent lack of scoring by the Hawks. However, this lack of scoring seems to coincide with less shots against, which would at least suggest that perhaps this team is not quite good or deep enough to properly take care of business at both ends of the ice against good teams. Or that the Hawks highwire act gets grounded in tighter-checked games. Either way, this was a game where the Hawks really would have benefited from gaining at least a point. And now their next two contests, at home tomorrow night against Colorado, and following that at Arizona, are absolute must-wins to even have a shot at the playoffs.

THE UGLY

Patrick Kane is a great, great player. But the cutesie drop pass to Gustafsson with the goalie pulled was not smart. Having been victimized many teams in similar situations over the years, Kane should know better.

Finally, are Steve Konroyd’s arms tired yet from constantly pumping Dylan Sikura’s tires? Oy.

All I have on this one. Check back here in the morning for a comprehensive preview of tomorrow night’s game. Comment below.

The post Recap: Blackhawks fall to Avalanche in Colorado, 4-2 appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com co-hosts Jeff “Gatekeeper” Osborn and John “Double J” Jaeckel are joined by surprise guest Mark Lazerus, formerly of the Chicago Sun-Times and currently of The Athletic, as the Blackhawks roll into the final ten games of the season.

• We open up with the statistical breakdown of the week.
• What kind of player are the Blackhawks rumored to go after in the offseason?
• Mario Tirabassi gives us a War Pigs report.
• We open up with Laz about the great Erik Gustafsson
• Are the Blackhawks a playoff team?
• The unrealistic “wish” that will never die, Artemi Panarin
• We talk about reality of the “vocal minority” on Twitter and dealing with them
• We answer some listener and reader questions
• We wrap up with some random Blackhawks fodder.

Please subscribe, rate this episode, and even write us a review. Reviews will be read on the air.

Also, Please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

The Rinkcast is brought to you by the Overtime Podcast Network

The post The Blackhawks Rinkcast – Episode 48 w/ The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus appeared first on The Rink.

Blackhawks lines and pairings:

Brandon Saad–Jonathan Toews–Dylan Sikura

Dominik Kahun–Artem Anisimov–Patrick Kane

Alex DeBrincat–Dylan Strome–Brendan Perlini

Chris Kunitz–David Kampf–Marcus Kruger

Duncan Keith–Erik Gustafsson

Slater Koekkoek–Connor Murphy

Gustav Forsling–Brent Seabrook

FIRST PERIOD

While the pace of the action was fast from the opening horn, it was also clear that checking woud be tight, with each puck and shot contested. There was no score in the period, with shots ending 13-11 for Montreal.

SECOND PERIOD

At 3:04 Connor Murphy pinched and gathered  in a pass from Dylan Strome in the slot, beating Price high to give Chicago a 1-0 lead.

Less than two minutes later, the red hot Brendan Perlini found the twine, giving Chicago a 2-goal cushion. 2-0 at 4:49.

Toward the end of the period, Montreal began to put some intense pressure on Crawford, but the Chicago netminder was more than up to the challenge, delivering several stellar saves.

The oeriod ended at 2-0, with shots favoring Montreal 17-8.

THIRD PERIOD

The intense Montreal attack continued unabated throughout the third, but again, Crawford came up big.Price was pulled in order to create an extra man advantage for Montreal, but to no avail. The Canadiens outshot the Hawks 18-5 in the period, yet prevailed in the game, final score 2-0. Shots were 18-5 for the third.

THE GOOD

Crawford and, to a certain extent, the Hawk defense.

THE BAD

48 shots allowed is way too many under any circumstances, and Chicago has given up too many shots all season long, though better of late. Notably, Erik Gustafsson’s minutes were reduced last night, with Murphy, Slater Koekkoek, Duncan Keith, and Brent Seabrook all logging more TOI.

THE UGLY

None, both teams played well. Chicago’s goalie was simply the better of the two.

All I have for now, please comment below.

The post Recap: Crawford delivers 48-save shutout in 2-0 win over Montreal appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com host Jeff “Gatekeeper” Osborn goes solo and is joined once again by NHL Radio Blackhawks Correspondent Al Cimaglia to discuss the suddenly hot (again) Blackhawks.

• Blackhawks sign draft pick Philipp Kurashev this week
• Rockford signs college free agent Dylan McLaughlin today
• Dylan Sikura and Brendan Perlini talk
• Who do Gate and Al think the Blackhawks may target this summer
• We wrap up by answering some listener and reader questions

Please subscribe, rate this episode, and even write us a review. Reviews will be read on the air.

Also, Please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

The Rinkcast is brought to you by the Overtime Podcast Network

The post The Blackhawks Rinkcast – Episode 47 w/ Al Cimaglia appeared first on The Rink.

Chicago head coach Jeremy Colliton continued to juggle the lines, a la his predecessor Joel Quenneville, perhaps either looking to generate some renewed chemistry or to make assessments for next season. A few eyebrows were raised by the elevation of thus far disappointing forward Dylan Sikura, Stan Bowman’s self-described “big trade deadline acquisition” from last year, to the top 6, playing with Jonathan Toews and Brandon Saad.

Chicago Blackhawks lines and pairings

Brandon Saad–Jonathan Toews–Dylan Sikura

Dominik Kahun–Artem Anisimov–Patrick Kane

Alex DeBrincat–Dylan Strome–Brendan Perlini

Chris Kunitz–David Kampf–Marcus Kruger

Duncan Keith–Erik Gustafsson

Carl Dahlstrom–Connor Murphy

Gustav Forsling–Brent Seabrook

Corey Crawford faced off against Anton Khudobin in net for Dallas.

FIRST PERIOD

The Hawks took advantage of a Taylor Fedun turnover at the Chicago blueline, sending Kunitz and Kampf off on a 2-on-1 that Kampf finished at 5:10 of the period. 1-0 Chicago.

However, at 6:23, after a Sikuira turnover, Alex Radulov scooped up a fat Crawford rebound right in front of the Chicago crease and buried it. 1-1.

The period featured a fairly high tempo with some quality chances both ways. The tie was finally broken at 19:24, after Murphy blocked a shot, kicked the puck out to a racing Kane while face first on the ice, who then found Alex DeBrincat in alone on Khudobin, his 37th goal of the year. 2-1 Chicago.

Shots were 14-11 for Chicago.

SECOND PERIOD

The back and forth action continued into the second period, with both teams trading quality chances. The Hawks held an advantage in shots through much of the period,

Chicago had a power play for a Dallas delay of game at 13:02 that the Stars killed without the Hawks registering a shot on goal.

The period ended fittingly on a brilliant Khudobin save on Kahun, and a fine stop through traffic by Crawford at the other end. Shots were 15-8 in favor of Chicago.

THIRD PERIOD

The long scoreless stretch of this game continued well into the third period.  Midway through the period, shots were even at three a piece.

The Stars took yet another delay of game penalty at 15:25—clearly, it seemed the game would hinge on whether the Stars could kill the penalty then figure out how to dent Crawford in the remaining 2-plus minutes of regulation. They did kill it, and pulled Khudobin at 18:45.

The Hawks really couldn’t establish o-zone possession, until Brandon Saad, going for the empty net from his own blue line, iced the puck, giving Dallas a draw in the Chicago end. Ten seconds later, Stars forward Jamie Benn took a goalie interference call and that would ice the game for Chicago.

THE GOOD

Overall, the Hawks played a pretty solid game against a good team in their own building. Murphy, especially, was steady and effective most of the game—playing defense like an NHL defenseman should. Take note, Erik Gustafsson and Gustav Forsling. The Hawks kept their dwindling playoff hopes alive with the win, and gave themselves an example of how they should be trying to play the rest of the way and next year.

THE BAD

Opening the game with Saad and Toews, Sikura still appeared tentative and contact-shy. At some point, the Hawks may need to admit that this is a narrative that not even they can force right now.  Some players make the transition from college and/or the minors relatively quickly. Some, like Sikura, don’t. It doesn’t mean he’s a bust (necessarily). It probably means he has some physical maturation and accompanying confidence to gain in order to assert his game at the NHL level. And the question is, can he do that while also playing against the big boys and not getting meaningful results night after night?

THE UGLY

Crawford played pretty well, but briefly appeared a bit woozy after taking a hard shot to his mask in the second period. There is a plausible theory that in every game he plays now, Crawford has the potential for re-injury and risks long-term serious health problems.

All I have on this one. Please comment below.

The post Recap: Blackhawks down Stars in Dallas, 2-1 appeared first on The Rink.