I bet most if not all of that 6 minutes occurred as a result of PK time...the one area where Saad has excelled inthe post season.
- Ogilthorpe2

? Saad takes one rotation a PK, sometimes none. He got playing time because he played with 19 and 81

Unless you're talking about potential for bad penalties, I don't see Carcillo as any kind of liability. He may not help much, but I doubt he hurts us. I think worst case it's a wash between Carcillo, StalHlberg, and Bollig.
- Ogilthorpe2

There IS a difference...Stalberg right now should have all the incentive in the world to perform: Being benched, being in the Stanley Cup Final and playing for a contract. That alone to me puts him ahead of the other two. He has everything to gain/lose. If he doesn't respond tonight, I don't know if there's ANYTHING that could get him going.

I bet most if not all of that 6 minutes occurred as a result of PK time...the one area where Saad has excelled inthe post season.
- Ogilthorpe2

Saad only played 22 seconds of PK in game 2.

http://scores.espn.go.com...boxscore?gameId=400470575

The argument that Q doesn't have a good matchup to play with Toews and Hossa defensively makes more sense. I have no problem with that when you realize it's likely because of matchups.

Most Penguins fans I've seen cite Cooke as one of the more positive performances in these playoffs, a must re-sign. I don't like him for obvious reasons, but in a purely hockey sense he does have an impact.
- BulliesPhan87

Players like Marchand and Cooke are at another level because they have skill too.


Inredible start, no finish as the Blackhawks drop Game 2 in OT. My Fox Chicago: FOX 32 News http://bit.ly/11IESN5

Players like Marchand and Cooke are at another level because they have skill too.


Inredible start, no finish as the Blackhawks drop Game 2 in OT. My Fox Chicago: FOX 32 News http://bit.ly/11IESN5
- Al

Bolland/Shaw are closer to Cooke than Carcillo is.

? Saad takes one rotation a PK, sometimes none. He got playing time because he played with 19 and 81
- rollpards19

Many times if Frolik/Krueger are stuck out for longer, like last game I believe, there doesn't leave much PK time.

Those two always get the most rotations.

Inredible start, no finish as the Blackhawks drop Game 2 in OT. My Fox Chicago: FOX 32 News http://bit.ly/11IESN5

Bolland/Shaw are closer to Cooke than Carcillo is.
- andru2797

Without question....

Inredible start, no finish as the Blackhawks drop Game 2 in OT. My Fox Chicago: FOX 32 News http://bit.ly/11IESN5

There IS a difference...Stalberg right now should have all the incentive in the world to perform: Being benched, being in the Stanley Cup Final and playing for a contract. That alone to me puts him ahead of the other two. He has everything to gain/lose. If he doesn't respond tonight, I don't know if there's ANYTHING that could get him going.
- andru2797

You want to get him going? Give him a regular shift like he got all season and all first round.

Will say it again, prior to him being sat vs Detroit because Q just knew that Detroit was going to be so physical, nobody on this board...NOBODY was saying, hey sit 25 he is not himself or whatever.

But as legend and revisionist history takes hold, everyone brings out their favorite 25 cliche from 2 years ago as justification.

25 has not HURT his team in the playoffs at all. He has been net positive as far as doing his job, forechecking and getting chances.

I'm a glutton for punishment. NHL Network replayed Game 2 and I saw the end again. Seabrook had Frolik on the blue line, right wing. Kruger was in the slot with nobody on him. Keith was below the dot on the other side of Crawford. The only two guys 'covered' were Frolik and Bollig. Yeah, Bollig can't let that puck squirt through, but I just don't understand the logic of the pass TO Bollig in the first place. Still can't. Unless they clean that up, it doesn't matter who plays on the 4th line
- eburgio

and the puck being rung around to him thru the slush........could the ice be any worse. For sure, the game won't be decided by Q picking 1 of 3, sort of ok choices as a 4th line wing. Bollig didn't play himself out by the turnover but by his not finishing checks while Lucic was splattering Jammer.

How about we forget the PP center line drop pass and try moving feet and while we're at it, score 3 tonight

Would really like to see:

29-19-88
10-26-81
20-36-65
25-16-67

Seems to me that is the best balance they can offer between muscle and skill with the players they have.

88 needs 19 to score, and I think 26 and 81 have good chemistry and can create chances for 10.

Hopefully Vik is under control early. I remember after his benching vs Detroit, his first shift back, he nearly broke his neck trying to make a hit.
- philco28

lol, i facepalmed when he did that

Would really like to see:

29-19-88
10-26-81
20-36-65
25-16-67

Seems to me that is the best balance they can offer between muscle and skill with the players they have.

88 needs 19 to score, and I think 26 and 81 have good chemistry and can create chances for 10.
- Return of the Roar

Wondering if any of you have wondered with all the random line generator crap and all the juggling every 10 minutes...has anyone asked themselves, Do all teams do this?

Is there another way?

Comedy to me, that so many fall into all this without wondering how necessary it is?

I would have thought Q would have learned from his first attempt at beginning of Detroit series. Why not start off vs Boston like you did vs LA? And if you need to adjust...then by all means adjust....

Still nobody finds this odd, all this over thinking and trying to outsmart the opponent?

You want to get him going? Give him a regular shift like he got all season and all first round.

Will say it again, prior to him being sat vs Detroit because Q just knew that Detroit was going to be so physical, nobody on this board...NOBODY was saying, hey sit 25 he is not himself or whatever.

But as legend and revisionist history takes hold, everyone brings out their favorite 25 cliche from 2 years ago as justification.

25 has not HURT his team in the playoffs at all. He has been net positive as far as doing his job, forechecking and getting chances.
- TrueGrit

Good post
Stals is just the odd man out when Q tries to look lie a genius by making this move and that move
Scotty Bowman who has won 9 cups said it best today
Many top players struggle with goal production in the playoffs because there are just not many goals scored in the playoffs and the third and fourth lines become more important than ever

You want to get him going? Give him a regular shift like he got all season and all first round.

Will say it again, prior to him being sat vs Detroit because Q just knew that Detroit was going to be so physical, nobody on this board...NOBODY was saying, hey sit 25 he is not himself or whatever.

But as legend and revisionist history takes hold, everyone brings out their favorite 25 cliche from 2 years ago as justification.

25 has not HURT his team in the playoffs at all. He has been net positive as far as doing his job, forechecking and getting chances.
- TrueGrit

While I mostly agree with you, I think with Vik it's about getting more than just "not hurting anything". He can be so much more than that.

I think his issue is he tries to play too much of a finesse game instead of playing a north/south game. He doesn't need to crush people, but if he would realize that at his size and with his speed, he's like a freight train, he'd be much more effective. I wanna see less dangle attempts and less stop-halfway-into-the-zone-and-pass-to-the-slot plays and more carry the puck in and bull your way to the net with it.

With the puck, Stalberg needs to play more like Milan Lucic and less like Patrick Kane.

Maybe Stalberg provides some energy to this team with his speed. But if guys who are expected to play physical game in and game out are not consistently engaged, then it doesn't matter who else you put in. I'm talking about Bolland, Shaw, Bickell, Seabrook, Hammer.

That's true.

So I guess we're all just going to be crickets until the puck drops?


- Hemingways

Absolutely not.... Just responding.

Wondering if any of you have wondered with all the random line generator crap and all the juggling every 10 minutes...has anyone asked themselves, Do all teams do this?

Is there another way?

Comedy to me, that so many fall into all this without wondering how necessary it is?

I would have thought Q would have learned from his first attempt at beginning of Detroit series. Why not start off vs Boston like you did vs LA? And if you need to adjust...then by all means adjust....

Still nobody finds this odd, all this over thinking and trying to outsmart the opponent?
- TrueGrit

Some coaches chase match-ups, some don't. Q does. But I think when you have a team that's as deep as ours, you can afford to play that way.

I think as a coach you studdy an upcoming opponent and try to come up with schemes that will disrupt what they want to do. Sometimes that means a personnel change.

>If Carbomb plays, he should have one major objective -- hit Chara and Lucic repeatedly -- no one else on the Hawks seems to be interested in doing so -- though Shaw did hit Chara in Game 1
>Not picking on Q, BUT, to me, a coach should be able to influence his team's skating effort by shift length and benching players who are not moving
>If we see a repeat of Game 2's second half -- timid Hawk players standing around -- Q better use his timeout immediately and get the whip out
>It was nice to see the new Bickel emerge in the playoffs, but the old one showed up in Game 2 -- tell Bicks to stop going cross-ice with the puck -- he turns it over every time he tries to do so -- the whole team should ditch the cross-ice cutsie passes
>Time for Toews to ditch his stale 5 on 5 routine of trying to create below the goal line and then getting bear-hugged and taken out of the play -- start trailing teammates who have the puck, get a drop pass and find some NEW open ice
- SnapitUpstairs

Agreed all the way around. Like your idea of Toews trailing 20 and 81 into the zone and finding open ice.

Can someone tell Toews to show up tonight and pot one?

For what it's worth, with Stalberg's speed I would try and spread the offense around even more to create match-up problems:

29-19-25
10-36-88
65-26-81
20-16-67

If your top 3 lines get about 50 minutes combined, that likely means 20-25 minutes of Toews, Kane/Sharp or Hossa on the ice without Chara/Bergeron.

I agree that he is in theory a good guy to insert in place of Bollig. I would be apprehensive, though, because the officials do not seem to allow him any leeway whatsoever due to past history, so if he can't play his game, why bother?

I also agree that at this point Stalberg might bring nothing more than the possibility of stretching out Boston's D. While I think there is value in that, I certainly wouldn't yell about giving Ben Smith a shot.

It just seems to me that, while you would think the refs should have been and should still be watching Marchand and Chara like hawks because of their penchant for infractions and dirty play, they haven't. But, you can rest assured that they would be focused like deer in headlights on Carcillo.

But, yes, they DO have to do something.



As always, just in case:

BICKELL - TOEWS - KANE
SHARP - HANDZUS - HOSSA
SAAD - BOLLAND - SHAW
STALBERG (OR SMITH OR CARCILLO ...) - KRUGER - FROLIK
- Q...argh

Looks like you have it right for tonight

For what it's worth, with Stalberg's speed I would try and spread the offense around even more to create match-up problems:

29-19-25
10-36-88
65-26-81
20-16-67

If your top 3 lines get about 50 minutes combined, that likely means 20-25 minutes of Toews, Kane/Sharp or Hossa on the ice without Chara/Bergeron.
- andru2797

For what it's worth I still like Shaw better at centre than at wing. But Bolland and Shaw seem to be playing well together so I'd stick with them on the 3rd line.

29 - 19 - 88
10 - 26 - 81
65 - 36 - 20/25
67 - 16 - 20/25

JJ - who gets the shout-out?
- powerenforcer

What time did the game actually end, 11:20 Eastern?

Agreed all the way around. Like your idea of Toews trailing 20 and 81 into the zone and finding open ice.
- John Jaeckel

And leave the board battles on half of the ice to "toe-drag and hop out of the way" Brandon Saad? In theory a good idea, in practice I don't see it happening

Can someone tell Toews to show up tonight and pot one?
- FourFeathers773[/quote

I hope he does but I suspect we may find out after the playoffs he has been playing with a broken finger or something similar