Blackhawks 2014-15 Season Thread

[JBM73]

From a Calgary blogger:

"Brad Treliving has made a handful of curious moves in his tenure as GM for the Calgary Flames, trading for Brandon Bollig and signing both Derek Engelland and Devin Setoguchi.
To my eye, those 3 players are absolutely the weakest links in the Flames lineup, and the sooner they’re out of the lineup the better.

Brandon Bollig was brought in to add toughness to the lineup in the same way that Brian McGrattan has done in seasons past. The idea was that Bollig would do that while bringing a higher overall skill level to the ice. So far this season, I’m not seeing it. Bollig is poor positionally, bad on his skates, ineffective on the cycle, and generally terrifying to see on the ice as a Flames fan. As soon as Michael Ferland heals from his concussion I want to see Bollig waived and demoted. Until that point, I’d rather see Big Ern on the ice for 8 minutes a night."

 

[JBM73]

Fighting numbers down for Blackhawks, NHL - Chicago Blackhawks Blog - ESPN Chicago

Short-handed goals 'sore spot' for Hawks - Chicago Blackhawks Blog - ESPN Chicago

Blackhawks Brad Richards back to basics, making most of ice time - ESPN Chicago

Jonathan Toews-Patrick Kane duo providing lift for Chicago Blackhawks - ESPN Chicago

 

[anotheridiot]

I can only hope these two teams can bring their hate level up to the fans hate level for the redwings.

With Morin and Versteeg the last two "scraps" I highly doubt anyone will step up and battle until Manschinter gets here.

 

[averagejoe]

Is there something wrong with the WGN cameras at the UC? Seems like most of the second period are all long shots from the same camera panning back-n-forth. Plus its shaky. Getting a headache watching.

 

[JBM73]

Trevor van Riemsdyk of Chicago Blackhawks out for leg injury - ESPN Chicago

 

[anotheridiot]

that looked bad, might have gotten the hip.

Antii Raanta sent to Rockford to get in an actual game, they say he will join the club on the road trip and might get either cannucks or oilers, then anaheim or LA in the upcoming back to back games.

 

[JBM73]

Rumor:

"The Hawks are tighter than a bug in a rug up to the cap and have limited options, but that said, they are quietly looking around the league for a veteran (forward) with some size and physicality."

Benoit Pouliot (Edm) is one name I've seen connected to the Hawks. Edmonton would be looking for D.

 

[anotheridiot]

I thought they wanted to try Manshinter at that spot.

Carcillo should be a Rosival type lineup guy, maybe two games a week.

I at least liked to see Krueger back on that fourth line yesterday. Guess Q is done sending messages to Richards and Shaw and delegating them to the fourth. Nordstrom was active yesterday, Shaw dropped the gloves and actually did a pretty good Ross Rhea impression with the sweater clutch and took some shots but didnt have a mark on him.

 

[JBM73]

I thought they wanted to try Manshinter at that spot.

Carcillo should be a Rosival type lineup guy, maybe two games a week.

I at least liked to see Krueger back on that fourth line yesterday. Guess Q is done sending messages to Richards and Shaw and delegating them to the fourth. Nordstrom was active yesterday, Shaw dropped the gloves and actually did a pretty good Ross Rhea impression with the sweater clutch and took some shots but didnt have a mark on him.

I think they also want that guy to be able to play top 9 minutes, which probably isn't Mashinter. It's the role Carcillo was signed to fill (right or wrong).

 

[JBM73]

Blackhawks make five roster moves - Chicago Blackhawks Blog - ESPN Chicago

 

[anotheridiot]

shame for TVR, had a great start to his career, not over physical, but positioning was pretty good for a rookie, made a few really nice tape to tape passes, started to show he was willing to carry the puck thru the neutral zone like Leddy, some really good stick work on odd man rushes. It seems that puck shattered something in that hip/leg, but its the NHL, we will never really know.

Dont know how much longer Sharp is gonna be out, but seems they could use one of those three spots to keep an extra d man. Still wonder why Clendening is still down in Rockford.

 

[anotheridiot]

fun game last night, CLENDENING!!!!!!!!!!!! Finally!!!!!! Nice rip on the power play. Didnt know he could bring it like that.

Loved seeing Smitty center a line. He goes to the tough places with no fear.

Morin, Nordstrom, Smith, Clendening, Krueger where he belongs on the fourth line, Richie playing with Kane, Kane double, triple shifting, Kane playing D with the one goal lead with less than a minute left, great team effort. Happy Birthday Kaner

 

[averagejoe]

From a Calgary blogger:

Brandon Bollig was brought in to add toughness to the lineup... The idea was that Bollig would do that while bringing a higher overall skill level to the ice. So far this season, I’m not seeing it. Bollig is poor positionally, bad on his skates, ineffective on the cycle, and generally terrifying to see on the ice..."

Great stuff, JBM. I made a slight editing change to your post, removing all Calgary references. So now it's pretty universal for any NHL team. Scary.


Nice to see Kane hot early in season.

 

[JBM73]

From ESPN:

3. Leddy's rise should continue

Nick Leddy has seen his ice time jump from 16:22 per game with the Chicago Blackhawks to 19:51 with the Islanders this season. He has 10 points in 24 games, but the scout still sees room for improvement from Leddy, a player he really likes.

“He’s a dynamic skater, he has some potential to produce more offense,” he said. “In Chicago, they didn’t want him producing offense. They kept a real tight rein on him. I don’t think the coach was ever a big fan. He just doesn’t want that risk from his third-pairing defenseman ... I think there’s a lot of upside there yet.”

 

[anotheridiot]

Yeah, I am glad Richie is turning things around, his bad play was making giving up Leddy pretty hard. TVR made us forget alot of Leddy, other than his carrying his puck all the way to the net on the power play.

Raanta is getting the net tonight at home againt St Louis.

 

[anotheridiot]

Story goes that Crawford "missed a step" leaving the rage against concert at House of Blues. Speculation of alcohol is emminent, especially after his performance at the rally after the cup win.

Raanta steps in after a month and only allows one goal on 40 shots. Probably 4 or 5 really elite saves, Doc did a good job talking up some of the others. Really no chance on the 6-4.5 after Toews jumped on when Kane broke his stick. Really strong performance, could have seen the kids confidence shaken after Darling got those 3 starts in a row when Crow had his last "upper body" injury.

 

[ChicagoIrish]

This team is really hitting a stride now, I think we all knew it was going to come sooner or later.

Tough game tonight

And it's great seeing Versteeg playing at a high level, it's looking more and more like his performance last season was due to his injury.

 

[ChicagoIrish]

Oh by the way, beating the Kings and Blues back to back? I love it. I genuinely hate both of those teams.

 

[JBM73]

Klas Dahlbeck next up in tryout for Hawks' defense - Chicago Blackhawks Blog - ESPN Chicago

 

[averagejoe]

Kane is definitely off of my "He Better Play Better" list (for now).
Can't complain about Saad and Versteeg lately either.
Nice to see everyone step up with Crow out.
PK Subban had a nice tackle. Can he play DB for the Bears?
Preds win results in First Place.
Sharpie could return this week.