Well, it's ironic that you ask, because I used to be on CBS' message boards. There were quite a few regular contributors to the those boards such as hockeybob, ginney, lucid_hawk, gmalis, etc. But CBS pulled the plug on its message boards.
I actually migrated here because of fantasy football. Of course I checked out this Hawks board, but it seemed to be tainted with Wings trolls.
I respect all of the NHL teams (except for maybe the Canucks), and it's a little sad that you can't have a descent hockey conversation without it turning into a meaningless peeing contest.
I would love to see this board become more active in this regard. In fact, I was going to create a new thread regarding the Hawks MVP for this season...
Anyways...I liked what I saw with Michal Handzus centering the second line with Kane and Sharp. I would like to see that continue during the playoffs. Handzus looked really good yesterday night. And good to see Sharp back, although he put a scare into Hawks fan when he took a knee late in the third. Luckily, he came back to finish and score the empty netter.
Maybe Q can move Bolland to third line center in the playoffs. And I like Shaw centering on the fourth line. Of course expect to see Frolik and Kruger there.
Anyways, looks like Q has some flexibility in the playoffs to mix and match if things don't go well.
Also, what about the upcoming depth for this Blackhawks team? Of course too early to tell for sure, but Drew LeBlanc looked good in the second and third periods after an inauspicious start (scored on in his second shift). College player of the year with no professional experience...and will only get better and better with more playing time.
Add in AHL scoring champ Brandon Pirri, Jeremy Morin, Jimmy Hayes, Ben Smith and defenseman Adam Clendening and the Hawks should be stocked for years to come.
And let's remember that Kane and Toews are just 24, Saad is 20, Shaw is 21, Kruger is 22, Frolik is 25, Bolland is 26 and Leddy is 22. Really nice young core of players.