(Wiz note 1: this would force a core player sell off quicker rather than later, because Dahlin’s second deal will not be a RFA bridge but a long term big dollar one, marking the start of the “hard rebuild”).

2) Connected to the first prayer, they are now praying they find a taker on one of their top two defensemen to re-establish CAP flexibility.

3) Pray they win a top two or three pick and pray those two scoring forwards prospects already showing high pace IQ and skill are worth passing for Brady Tkachuk, who along with his representation, would have to give assurances he is by-passing anymore college.

(Wiz note 2: these top forwards, Andrei Svechnikov and Filip Zadina are clearly smart quick super-skilled and not going to need much growth in terms of offensive game and look to help the teams that draft them quickly at even strength and the power play. Let’s give taking Brady Tkachuk early a name: How about the Louis DeBrusk factor?)

4) Connected to the third prayer: If the Hawks were to select Svechnikov or Zadina in the second or third slot after a lottery win, neither is going to prove much by staying in junior, subsequently the Blackhawks are now praying they find a taker on the Anisimov, Saad, or another costly forward deal (he who shall not be named) to secure more scoring for the present with more Cap money. No matter how we all try to justify Artemi planarian’s departure, because we know there wasn’t going to be an excess nine or ten million to resign him, no one can demean the fact he is a GREAT NHL scorer we no longer have. Could a hard rebuild and purge of the established core and the cap room lure him back in free agency? I think not.

5)  If the Blackhawks do not win either of the last two lottery slots, they pray that any and all the teams above them DO win all three top slots,

And not any team under them in the pre draft rankings so the Blackhawks don’t move backward 1-4 possible slots;although hopes of Brady fade, a top ten pick this year is still an awfully good place to add a prospect.

6) Pray Montreal wins the lottery, one over all, so the Habs don’t have Brady Tkachuk in consideration at all.

Just as Montreal chose Ryan Poehling, the Hawks’ TRUE #1 target last season (which triggered the hawk trade up and Henri Jokihaju pick), the Habs will scoop Brady before the hawks choose, because as much as the Habs have need at defenseman, they also need the big forward physical presence a Tkachuk brings.

(Wiz note 3: I keep reading about how Brady is “lesser-light when it comes around to comparisons with the polished forwards ranked above him. I can’t overstate how he is a take no prisoner aggressive power player who causes problems where ever he is and plays to win. And there is plenty of upside too. I doubt he sees the minors and starts on the job apprenticing next season because there is little to prove in the college ranks, and NHL play is the only place further adjustment can take place. In my opinion, he is a terrific ingredient that he balances the undersized parts of the Hawk forward line-up.)

7) Look for the Blackhawks to be praying for one of the teams drafting one through six to in a quest for offensive generating defenseman causes a small run on defenders starting at slot # 5, thereby causing slippage of a safe forward, or a guy considered by the hawks scouting staff as perfect drop into their laps.

(Wiz note 4: Some are saying it is a strong second their after Dahlin made up FOUR players, making pick six the start of a drop off to the third tier. That is NOT how I see it, as the smaller “push” defensemen in this draft have been scouted and have seen more video scrutiny than most past year’s prospects, because NHL teams must feel certain these super-fast undersized players CAN hold up in some form in the defensive parts of the game. Their prayers might be answered if an early selecting team loves one of the many smaller dynamic skating attacking offense man. The game has changed, more that we all want to believe. The physical presence part of the defensive position has radically taken a back seat to the need for every team to have more than one skilled and quick footed defender with upside…teams maybe in fact be reaching for a few of these attacking offensemen, leaving an opportunity for quality forward prospects to fall down a few slots.)

8) Pray there are teams ahead of them with divergent scouting lists and a prospect the hawks have ranked higher slips to them at both the early and later first round pick. This draft is filled with prospects and that many scouts felt had higher upside but still hadn’t gotten the parts together to warrant mention in the very first selections, who are very good players, so the Blackhawks pray one drops to them in slots ten, nine, eight, and maybe even in that later Nashville pinch, acquired in the Hartman – Ejdsell trade.

(Wiz note 5:  What would be causing slippage and selection of defenseman over these forwards? There would be questions about their over all ability to progress to elite status players…many of these prospects are guys who will be close to guaranteed NHL roster fillers, even if there is less star quality upside. They don’t have foot speed issues or lack 200 foot commitments. This happens with regularity; ask the Kings how happy they were when the guy third on their board, Gabe Vilardi, was still there at #11 when they selected.)

9) The Blackhawks final prayer is that some Stanley Cup contender knocks off the Nashville Predators BEFORE they get to the final four, so the second 1st rounder is one in the 27 or under slots.

(6th and final Wiz note: I was of the opinion that as soon as they knew the chances of a playoff spot were close to diminished, the Hawks’ main goal was to secure replacement picks in each of the early rounds where they had traded theirs. I think the hawks were looking for a 2nd rounder and the chance of a late first rounder plus a chance to see if Victor Ejdsell could help sooner made it seem to Stan Bowman that he had no choice but to make the deal instead of giving Hartman a handsome re-up at a price he would have trouble justifying. And please, don’t tell me how slow Ejdsell is, all I see is the sweeping wrist shot usually reserved to a much smaller player that gets off really quickly.)

Now all of you, START PRAYING TOO.

Because this team is going to have to transform via some upgrade and not just rely on improvement from each and every youngster. There has to be more at the top end working if we don’t want to be praying on lottery balls a year from now.

The post Chicago Blackhawks Pre-Draft Lottery Novena appeared first on The Rink.

3PM Central/1 PM Pacific

RADIO: WGN 720

TV: NBC Sports Chicago

PROJECTED GOALIES:

Chicago:

JF Berube (1-1-0, 3.75 GAA, .894 Save%)

Anaheim:

Ryan Miller (8-5-6, 2.52 GAA, .925 Save%)

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS:

Chicago:

Saad-Toews-Kane

Jurco-Anisimov-Duclair

DeBrincat-Schmaltz-Hinostroza

Sharp-Kampf-Highmore

Keith-Murphy

Gustafsson-Seabrook

Dahlstrom-Oesterle

Anaheim:

Rakell-Grant-Perry

Cogliano-Kesler-Silfverberg

Ritchie-Henrique-Kase

Chimera-Vermette-Kelly

Fowler-Montour

Lindholm-Beauchemin

Petterson-Manson

STATISTICAL COMPARISIONS:

Power Play:

Chicago 15.9% (29th)

Anaheim 17.6% (24^th)

Penalty Kill:

Chicago 82.6% (10th)

Anaheim 82.8% (7^th)

Faceoffs:

Chicago 49.4% (18th)

Anaheim 51.3% (8^th)

SUMMARY:

The strange calculus of NHL season’s end: the Hawks would love to move up in the draft lottery, while the Ducks are desperately trying to solidify playoff position—yet both teams will make some (relative) effort to win today.

The Hawks came to life yesterday afternoon after the second period versus the LA Kings, coming away with a somewhat unlikely 5-3 victory after scoring 3 third period goals.

As bad as this season has been for Chicago (and Hawk fans), there is enough talent on this roster for games like yesterday’s to happen now and then.

JF Berube is the likely starter today, and if there’s any truth to the theory floated recently that he and Anton Forsberg are in competition for the Hawks’ backup goalie job next season, then Berube needs a much better outing today than in his last versus San Jose.

We’ll recap tonight or tomorrow AM. Join the conversation below!

The post Blackhawks-Ducks Preview & Game Thread appeared first on The Rink.

Anton Forsberg was back in goal for the Blackhawks, after mopping up the bloody massacre of Jean-Francois Berube in San Jose. Jan Rutta was skating with the team, but still on IR, so he was the only scratch.

Brandon Saad – Jonathan Toews – Patrick Kane
Tomas Jurco – Artem Anisimov – Anthony Duclair
Alex DeBrincat – Nick Schmaltz – Vinnie Hinostroza
Patrick Sharp – David Kampf – Matthew Highmore

Duncan Keith – Connor Murphy
Erik Gustafsson – Brent Seabrook
Carl Dahlstrom – Jordan Oesterle

In a pretty even first period, the Blackhawks took a 1-0 lead just over seven minutes into regulation. Jordan Oesterle beat Jonathan Quick with a long, well placed point shot through roughly six bodies after Quick thwarted an Alex DeBrincat wrap around attempt.  It was nice to see the pair of Oesterle and Dahlstrom have some success together after some rough individual play against the Sharks.

With under a minute left in the first period, the Blackhawks looked to have scored a fluky goal when Matthew Highmore nudged Jonathan Quick as the Kings goaltender was trying to glove a long flip shot. Quick lost control of the puck and David Kampf shuffled it into the net. After further review, the war room said that Highmore’s contact was enough to keep the goal off the board.

Duncan Keith began a rough stretch of play in the second period, with about four and an half minutes played. He tried to be a little too cute with a cross ice pass at his own blue line and it was picked off by Tanner Pearson. Pearson was off to the races with no one in front of him and beat Anton Forsberg to tie the game.

Two minutes later, Keith was in the center of another Kings goal. Anze Kopitar threw a puck towards the Hawks goaltender, which was stopped, but the rebound laid in the slot.  Duncan Keith, a few Blackhawks and a host of Kings players tried to gather the loose rebound, but eventually, Alec Martinez swatted the puck past Forsberg to give the Kings a 2-1 lead.

Keith was not done there, though. He was front and center once again, for the Kings third goal of the second period, with just over two minutes remaining. He had, what looked to be, an easy clearing attempt along the Blackhawks left half-wall. It looked like he just did not get enough mustard on the pass attempt to David Kampf, and it dribbled helplessly between the two Hawks players.

Alex Iafallo picked up the loose puck, turned towards Forsberg, took a few steps and beat the Hawks goalie. This gave the Kings a 3-1 lead, which usually means “meltdown time” for the Blackhawks.

The Blackhawks were also out shot 25-15 through the opening two periods. Conventional wisdom would have told us all that the Blackhawks were done, but they actually pulled off a rare comeback.

Not only did they mount a comeback, but they did it in the final ten minutes of the game. A Drew Doughty hooking/unsportsmanlike conduct call gave the Hawks a four minute powerplay, which started the avalanche of momentum for the Blackhawks.  On the power play, Jonathan Toews sent a shot towards Quick, who made the save but kicked the fat rebound right into the slot. Artem Anisimov was waiting there, and sniped the Kings goalie to cut the lead to just one goal.

With just over five minutes remaining in the game, the Kings returned the Duncan Keith favor by handing the Blackhawks their opportunity to tie the game. Carl Dahlstrom started the play, letting a long shot from the point go towards Quick. The shot was stopped by Kings defenseman Derek Forbort, who attempted to clear the puck, but flubbed it. He ended up putting the puck right on the stick of Vinnie Hinostroza, who took a shot that was initially saved by Quick but, somehow, squirted through and just barely over the goal line.

Then it was time for Jonathan Toews to save the day, like Superman, and on the power play. Toews and Patrick Kane played catch across the Kings’ slot, and with little pressure, Toews was able to let a long wrist shot go. The shot magically beat Jonathan Quick, and the Blackhawks had the lead with just under two minutes to play.

A late empty net goal by Patrick Kane sealed the Kings’ fate, and the Blackhawks put themselves in position to get four of six points on this road trip with a 5-3 win.

Pluses

• Artem Anisimov is continuing to have a nice little season. There has been much talk about having to get his contract off the books, and it is probably true, but he is driving up his trade value in the process. It would be wonderful to be able to keep him, but his salary at third line center just won’t work going forward.
• The third Kings goal was a little “iffy” for Anton Forsberg but his Norris trophy winning defenseman also should have never turned the puck over, like he did. Because of that, I’m putting Forsberg in the plus category. He saved 29 of 32 shots and out-dueled “elite goaltender” Jonathan Quick.
• The Blackhawks best players need to be their best players, and they were in this game.  Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane each had three points, while playing on the same line.
• I have been hard on Oesterle lately, but today he looked much better with more favorable match-ups as he was moved down the lineup.
• All hail, Vinnie!  Vinnie, Vidi, Vici!  Hinostroza is putting together a nice little season for himself.  No matter which line Quenneville puts him on, he seems to contribute.  Maybe if his hometown buddy had the same kind of production he wouldn’t be in Nashville.

Minuses

• The Nick Schmaltz faceoff woes continued. The team was just under 50% as a team, but Schmaltz was 27%. If he is the second line center of the future, he needs to be better. If not, the Hawks will be limited in the situations he can be on the ice for faceoffs.
• Duncan Keith had a pretty horrid second period, and it almost cost the Blackhawks a win.  It looks like his frustration is boiling over and he might need a night off.  Now, I’m not screaming for his head or anything but he looks frustrated, and maybe a night off could clear his head.  Sometimes a hard reset can do a world of good.  This is a lost season anyway.  Riding him like a rented mule doesn’t do anyone any good.
• I know I’m piling on and splitting hairs, but I have zero use for Tomas Jurco and Patrick Sharp.  Unfortunately, because of the CBA rules, the Blackhawks are stuck with this lineup for the rest of the season.
• Poor Connor Murphy was saddled with a -3 when it was actually his partner that was mostly responsible for the goals against.  I want to see more of Murphy with Keith.  They could be a really nice pairing once Keith exorcises his “yips“.

The post Chicago Blackhawks at Los Angeles Kings Recap appeared first on The Rink.

With Michal Kempny being sent to Washington earlier this morning only Tomas Jurco, and Anthony Duclair took the night off in the Joel Quenneville Shrimp cocktail suite, while Anton Forsberg made the start in goal once again.

The Blackhawks lines for this game were:
Brandon Saad – Jonathan Toews – Tommy Wingels
Artem Anisimov – Nick Schmaltz – Patrick Kane
Patrick Sharp – Ryan Hartman – Alex DeBrincat
Lance Bouma – David Kampf – Vincent Hinostroza

Duncan Keith – Jordan Oesterle
Carl Dahlstrom – Brent Seabrook
Erik Gustafsson – Connor Murphy

Just moments into the first period, a brutal Connor Murphy turn over resulted in a Tyler Toffolli shot off the crossbar. This was not the start the Blackhawks were looking for, or needed.  The play, and results, only went down hill from that point.

After killing off a Kings power play, the Blackhawks continued to have major issues clearing their own zone.  As a result, Torrey Mitchell raced up the middle of the Blackhawks zone, took a pass from Nate Thompson, and blasted a clapper past Anton Forsberg for a 1-0 Kings lead. There was some question as to some possible goaltender interference, but Forsberg was outside the crease. This outcome is a likely result when you allow a road team to out shoot you 11-2 in the first half of the first period.

While now out shooting the Blackhawks 12-3, the Kings bit once again with 3:23 left in the opening period.  A couple of Kings bottom six forwards executed a nice little weaving play, similar to the Saad/Hinostroza play from Saturday. Andy Andreoff eventually redirected a Jonny Brodzinski shot past the Blackhawks goaltender.

The period ended with the Blackhawks returning to their uninspired selves. At home, the Blackhawks opened the game getting out shot 15-4 and out scored 0-2.

With the first period ending up as a disaster, Joel Quenneville fired up the defensive line blender, flipping Swedes Erik Gustafsson and Carl Dahlstrom.

This did little to help, as the Kings soon took a 3-0 lead on the power play, following a Lance Bouma penalty. Carl Dahlstrom was saddled with Jordan Oesterle on the penalty kill, and had some issues clearing the puck out of the Hawks zone. Eventually, Dion Phaneuf used Jordan Oesterle as a screen and smoked a clapper past Anton Forsberg less than half way through regulation.

Quite a few very sloppy turnovers led to several high danger chances, including an Anze Kopitar shot off Anton Forsberg’s collar bone following some sketchy Jordan Oesterle coverage.

The Blackhawks certainly spent more time in the Kings’ zone, but could not carve a chunk out of the 3-0 deficit. They were out shot again, 14-11, but the second period was not nearly as dismal as the first.

After over two periods of terrible play, the Blackhawks finally broke the Jonathan Quick shutout less than two minutes into the third period. Carl Dahlstrom took a desperate opportunity to rush up the left side and took a shot on Quick. the rebound popped out to Patrick Sharp, who easily shuffled the puck past Quick.

This was Dahlstrom’s second assist in two games for the rookie.

The Blackhawks showed some spark later in the third period, out shooting the Kings 13-3, but this was simply was not enough to even cut the Kings lead in half.  Once again, the Blackhawks fell with nary a whimper, ending their one game winning streak.

Pluses

• I like what I have seen from Carl Dahlstrom’s game. He is still a little raw but he is also only 23.  He is as big as a house, and seems to move much better than he had in previous years. Can this organization successfully develop a defenseman, though?  Nothing has shown me that they can.
• Why are the Blackhawks not playing Anthony Duclair?  Does it really matter if he is in the lineup making mistakes over Patrick Sharp?  The answer is no.  Unless the staff has already decided that he is not part of the future, PLAY THE KID!
• The same goes for Tomas Jurco.  Either play him or send him back to Rockford.  The mismanagement of fringe players in this organization is utterly baffling.  I’m not a Tomas Jurco fan but if you traded assets for him, you better use him.  Otherwise, cut the fat and move on.

Minuses

• Jordan Oesterle had a horrid night. He was beaten defensively several times, usually after taking bad angles or pinches.  This is another head scratcher.  Michal Kempny would sit for 5 games if he played this way, but Oesterle keeps getting trotted out with little to no consequence.
• In an occurrence as rare as an eclipse, the Hawks officially out hit the Kings 34-33.  This, of course, means that the Blackhawks didn’t possess the puck.
• The Kings were credited with 31 blocked shots, while the Blackhawks were only credited with 12.
• One of the Blackhawks top players lately, Tommy Wingels, went to the locker room early in the third period but returned a short time later.
• The depths of Steve Konroyd’s stupid takes just keep sinking lower and lower. These were just a few of his stupid anecdotes:
  • “Nick Schmaltz, maybe the fastest player on the Blackhawks”. That would be incorrect.
  • Described a “real aggressive play” by Carl Dahlstrom, which consisted of Dahlstrom simply receiving a bad pass from a Kings player.  He barely moved three feet.
  • Stated that something “was the problem early in Forsberg’s career.” A “career” that began in October.
  • Konroyd also completely failed to notice the slight contact that Anton Forsberg dealt with prior to the first goal until Pat Foley pointed it out to him, twice.

The post Recap: Blackhawks vs Kings 3-1 Loss appeared first on The Rink.

7:30PM Central

TV: WGN, Fox Sports West

RADIO: WGN 720

PROJECTED GOALIES:

LA:

Jonathan Quick (22-21-2, 2.51 GAA, .920 save%)

Chicago:

Anton Forsberg (6-11-3, 2.95 GAA, .908 Save%)

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS:

LA:

Iafallo-Kopitar-Brown

Pearson-Kempe-Mitchell

Clifford-Thompson-Toffoli

Andreoff-Amadio-Brodzinski

Forbort-Doughty

Phaneuf-Martinez

Muzzin-Folin

Chicago:

Saad-Toews-Wingels

Anisimov-Schmaltz -Kane

Sharp-Hartman-DeBrincat

Bouma-Kampf-Hinostroza

Keith-Oesterle

Gustafsson-Seabrook

Dahlstrom-Murphy

STATISTICAL COMPARISIONS:

Power Play:

LA 19.4% (18^th)

Chicago 16.1% (29^th)

Penalty Kill:

LA  83.4% (3^rd)

Chicago 82.9% (5^th)

SUMMARY:

With the trade of Michal Kempny and near-elimination from the playoffs, it’s now looking more and more like the Hawks have their sights set on next year.

Still, the atmosphere surrounding the team has to feel a bit more bright, coming off a 7-1 home ice thrashing of the Washington Capitals.

Anton Forsberg gets the net yet again—and with the demotion of Jeff Glass and an increasingly likely shutdown of Corey Crawford for the season, this could be Forsberg’s best opportunity to really show the team what he can do.

Forsberg was fine in the Washington rout—but he also basically wasn’t tested. In his previous outing versus Anaheim, Forsberg was beaten up high on three chances, but also came up big several times. For Forsberg, the challenge is showing he can be a reasonable “2-goal a game” goalie, assuming his defense keeps shot totals down in the mid 30s or lower. Which is assuming a lot with this Hawk defense.

We’ll recap tonight or tomorrow AM. Join the conversation below!

Follow: @jaeckel

The post Preview & Game Thread: Kings-Blackhawks appeared first on The Rink.

Unfortunately, aside from that fact, there isn’t much good news to be spread about the ‘Hawks’ performance tonight at home.

And while it is certainly beginning to feel a little futile to nitpick the issues with particular performances, I’ll do my best here to analyze what went wrong tonight.

To start, this power play is becoming unbearable. It’s almost as if they’ve got a playbook of about three or four set plays; and if none are viable options, they default to boring perimeter passing that is as predictable as anything I’ve seen at the NHL level. This of course is all contingent on their (in)ability to gain clean entry into the offensive zone. There is almost zero offensive spontaneity to the Blackhawks’ power play or in their offensive efforts simply in general these days. They are entirely deliberate and their statue-like movements prior to making passes absolutely broadcast what’s coming next from a mile away. It seems as though the days of the Chicago Blackhawks fooling the eyes of even us watching at home with unpredictable magic in the offensive zone may be over on all fronts.

Next, Richard Panik is going to get his own sub-paragraph because the man has become completely invisible. He has been a non-existent factor offensively nearly all season, and quite frankly he has been a microcosm everything I just described as negative about the Hawks’ offense. He’s painfully deliberate and robotic with the puck when he has it and I’m also beginning to take note of how often he sails his shots wide as well. Unacceptable.

The homecoming hero Patrick Sharp also gets his own rap sheet here. Sharpie is unpredictable with the puck in a very very bad way. Tonight his giveaway to Marian Gaborik actually made me cringe. It gave me eerie flashbacks of that 2011 Chris Campoli Game 7 overtime turnover that led to the infamous Alex Burrows clapper that ended the Hawks’ season. #10 is not in any way his former self.

Finally, I hate to come off as a complaining meatball with a hot take, but I really feel like we need to begin to emphasize the bigger picture stuff. It’s safe to say we have reached that point. Is it the end of an era? I can’t be sure. I certainly don’t like to think so, but this team is not getting any younger, and it’s beginning to look and feel like they simply lack the talent. It’s a new and different type of dilemma for this organization to deal with, and to be perfectly honest, I’m not at all sure what the best route to go is. How long-term should the Blackhawks begin to look as they come to the inevitable conclusion that a partial or full rebuild is becoming necessary? I can’t but help but feel that the Bowman-patented deadline tweaks are not going to be enough this year. I hope I’m wrong.

The post Recap: Blackhawks vs Kings 3-1 Loss appeared first on The Rink.

Los Angeles Kings (16-8-3) at Chicago Blackhawks (12-9-5)

6:00 PM Central

RADIO: WGN 720

TV: NBC Sports Chicago/Fox Sports West

PROJECTED GOALIES:

Los Angeles:

Jonathan Quick (12-8-1, 2.27, .929)

Chicago:

Anton Forsberg (1-2-3, 3.34 GAA, .910 save%)

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS:

LOS ANGELES

Iafallo-Kopitar-Brown

Pearson-Shore-Toffoli

Gaborik-Kempe-Lewis

Jokinen-Dowd-Brodzinski

Muzzin-Doughty

MacDermid-Martinez

Forbort-Folin

CHICAGO

Saad-Toews-Panik

Schmaltz-Anisimov-Kane

Sharp-Hartman-DeBrincat

Bouma-Wingels-Hayden

Keith-Franson

Murphy-Seabrook

Forsling-Rutta

STATISTICAL COMPARISONS:

Power play:

Los Angeles 16.7% (25^th)

Chicago 16.7% (25th)

Penalty kill:

Los Angeles 89.0% (1st)

Chicago 84.2% (4th)

Corsi For % (5-on-5)

Los Angeles 50.0% (15^th)

Chicago 51.6% (9th)

Faceoffs:

Los Angeles 50.3% (15^th)

Chicago 48.4% (25th)

SUMMARY:

It doesn’t get any easier for the Hawks, jetting home from Dallas after a late shootout loss last night, to face the resurgent LA Kings.

As fate would have it, the Kings are somewhat rested, last playing in a 4-1 road win at St. Louis.

The Hawks’ attack mustered 5 goals in the last two games, and one would wonder if Joel Quenneville will shake things up tonight—so the projected lines, pairings and even goaltender are all just that—best guesses.

We’ll recap in the AM.

Follow: @jaeckel

The post Preview: Kings at Blackhawks appeared first on The Rink.

If you’re looking for a yardstick by which to measure this up and down, enigmatic Blackhawk team, it may have been the last 2 games against the Dallas Stars.

The Hawks started a back-to-back series with Dallas Thursday, essentially tied with the Stars. This morning, they sit 2 points behind Dallas, and just out of the wild card.

I know, it’s way too early to worry about that. Well, not completely. Having now basically been through the conference, it’s safe to say the competition is good, and the Hawks may need to get better if they hope to even make the playoffs, much less advance once there.

Playoffs? PLAYOFFS?!

Last year, 94 points was the price of entry into the Western Conference playoffs. This year, the Hawks are on pace for 93, maybe 94 points. It’s that close—and when you have a back-to-back against a team like Dallas, that is likely to be right there with you in early April, walking away with two points when they get four is, meh, not all that great.

You could point to Corey Crawford likely being injured in the first game, and replaced by “dat Forsssss-berg” in the second. But the first game was played on home ice, the Hawks were outshot 36-22, and if Crawford was hurt that bad, they could have pulled him.

In the second game, Anton Forsberg was basically outstanding, stopping all but 2 of 36 shots, and neither goal was remotely what you would call soft. The second was maybe stoppable, but it would have been an epic save. Sure, Forsberg was beaten twice in OT, prompting some of the goaltending experts on twitter to proclaim him “terrible in the shootout.” But they perhaps forget, Forsberg hasn’t played that much this year, much less in shootouts.

And if you want to see “bad in the shootout,” hearken back to the guy some of you have been pining for all year, “Lemont-native Scott Darling.”

The Dallas Yardstick

Aside from that, Dallas brings a lot of size and speed and enough skill to expose where the Hawks are soft. It’s not like the games weren’t close. Clearly they were. The Hawks came out flying last night, playing their own heavy style. The Toews line was a force much of the night, especially in the early going. And Brandon Saad did find the twine, with another near miss.

The Hawks had 34 shots to Dallas’ 35. But I would also argue Forsberg faced more Grade A chances than Ben Bishop did.

Gustav Forsling and Jan Rutta, while they had their positive moments, were playing the Keystone Kops much of the night.

Richard Panik, as much as I like him, is not a factor in the offensive zone right now. It’s hard to say why he does this disappearing act, because his 200-foot effort is always outstanding.

What’s the answer?

Yeah, you could write last night’s game off as one of those where you didn’t get the bounces, and there were bounces on the God-awful American Airlines Arena ice. But at times, you wanted Joel Quenneville to set the blender to liquefy—and yet, there really don’t seem to be any conceivable “other combinations” that produce better results.

I know what some will say. No, what they’ll shriek, hysterically:

“VINNY!”

Ehhhh, maybe. Maybe Vince Hinostroza being recalled from Rockford, with his speed and energy, adds a spark to the Hawk lineup, and suddenly the goals are pouring in to the opponent’s net, the ice is tilted in Chicago’s favor, and Bob’s your uncle. But I also feel like the hockey minds at 1901 W. Madison have held off on Hinostroza for good reason. And as noted Rockford blogger Chris Block tweeted recently (essentially), after proclaiming himself NHL ready, Hinostroza has looked like an AHL player lately.

And quite frankly, where Hinostroza seems to have value in NHL hockey is mad rushes up the ice using his speed to get wide and behind defenders in a fast, flowing game—not as a high-skill, high hockey sense forward who, for example, can make a difference on an NHL (not AHL) power play.

And the Hawks need help on their power play.

The power play. Ugh.

Dallas’ power play is at 22%, ranked 9th in the league. The difference between the two teams’ man advantage play the last two games was very telling. Dallas is purposeful and electric in how they move the puck and players to create chances. The Hawks are sloppy, too tentative and way too predictable.

You can point to coaching, but the evidence also suggests maybe the Hawks need another player or two. Dallas is a pretty good team, but likely not going to the Stanley Cup Finals either. More likely contending with the Hawks (as currently composed) for  wild card spot.

For Chicago, making the playoffs and actually get out of the first round this year is far from guaranteed. And so either through organic growth, or through a trade or two, the Hawks need to be better. It’s that simple.

I’ll have a Kings preview up later today.

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