GD Disney on Ice trip.

This stretch has the potential to be a real kick in the dick. Starts tonight in Colorado and ends in Columbus on what has the makings for a typical 'trap' game. Really no game on this stretch you circle as an easy 2 points.

2/7- Colorado
2/10- San Jose
2/11- Phoenix
2/14 Nashville
2/16- New York
2/18- Columbus

It's likely the team looks a bit different by the end of this trip as Stan is looking to make a move. I don't think it's going to be a move of any significance though for reasons I've touched on in multiple threads.

3-3 is acceptable. 4-2 is great. Anything worse and the playoffs begins to become a real concern.

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Team Cutler.

I think that the hawks would have to go on a Wild-like run for the playoffs to become a concern. If they go 1-5, I'd start to PANIC!, but thank god for the bottom half of the west blowing this year...

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team Mully & Hanley
team Meatpants

Dear Blackhawks,

Please win tonight.

Yours,

Country Bumpkin

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RFDC thinks I'm retarded.

The Blackhawks used to be appointment tv for me. They're now disappointment tv. They always seem to have one great period where they outshoot their opponents by a wide margin, but they fail to convert on enough of those shots. Then of course, they take stupid penalties and give up goals in rapid succession. I'll be watching at the start of the game, but forgive me if I turn it off after they're down by 2 goals.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Ray Emery gets the start for the Blackhawks in goal tonight in Denver, and one has to wonder if this could only be the beginning for the guy who was supposed to be Corey Crawford's backup when the season started. Neither Emery nor Crawford have been anything special, but right now, Coach Q's stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Same old crap.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

This team is fucking God awful. Hammer is fucking terrible and this team is un-fucking-disciplined. Good night playoffs.

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RFDC thinks I'm retarded.

It's 2-2, is my game behind everyone else's? The fuck's wrong with you people...

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team Mully & Hanley
team Meatpants

They look like garbage against a horse crap team. In hockey, the score doesn't always tell the full story.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

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team Mully & Hanley
team Meatpants

Well it's 4-2 Avalanche now.

After the Avalanche scored to make it 4-2, Foley sounded like Hawk, just said 4-2.

If this road trip is bad, like was put 1-5, does Coach Q go after the trip. In the NHL, coaches do get fired out of the blue sometimes.

This team is fucked. No goalie, bad turnovers, and failing to get scores by Toews, Hossa, etc. The wheels have come off. Coach Q shares some of the blame in this.

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RFDC thinks I'm retarded.

I haven't seen the Hawks look this fucking pathetic since Theo Fleury was getting his ass kicked. They got their paydays and quit.

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I think Toews is hurt.

There is no defense. Shouldn't the core be good enough? I really thought they would be. Are they not? I can't figure it out.

They're not that good, or at least not good enough to carry a team of AHLers and the soon-to-be retired.

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The defensive lapses by the forwards is shocking. Of the 8937493793 odd man rushes Colorado had, more than a handful were a result of 3 forwards getting caught below the dot.

Stuff like the Keith turnover sucks, but bouncing pucks happen.

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Team Cutler.

I didn't watch the 3rd, and glad I didn't. I refuse to be tired in the morning so I can watch this pile of dog crap. Like many of the previous games, they were lucky it was even as close as the final score.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

I will freely admit I do not possess a lot of hockey knowledge, but am still learning about this great game.

However, It is easy to see something is wrong with this team. I can stomach losses here and there across a month's schedule, and could even stay calm if they lost 2 or even 3 in a row. Losing 6 games in a row against average teams, and plummeting from 1st in the League to 6th/7th in the West is concerning.

I wouldn't know where to start fixing this team, but a guess would be to turnover the defense. Hammer is a piece of shit, Leddy, Keith, and Montador are all just pissing themselves.

I am know ready for my beating from jackref, crosscheck, etc.

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RFDC thinks I'm retarded.

I think, or at least I'm trying to convince myself, that #2's game is suffering as a result of the ineptness in front of him. I think he feels that he needs to be playing perfect games and take advantage of every opportunity so much so that it's leading to turnovers and mental errors.

They obviously need another defender and I wouldn't be the least bit upset if they did. Because Q has decided that Lepisto is worse than Scott and not even worth an extended look. But these defensemen would look a lot better and play much more relaxed if the forwards on this team were consistently doing their jobs.

There's a lot more to it, but 2 years ago, this team allowed an NHL best 25 shots a game on goal. So it was fine for them to have a very middle of the pack goalie performance (90% sv %) since they just weren't allowing that many shots. Last year, the shots per game increased by around 4 while the goaltending stayed more or less the same and we started to see some decline.

This year, they are allowing almost 30 shots per game, 5 worse than the cup year. And while much hand wringing has been made about the goal tending, the save % is at .899% which isn't so drastically worse than even the year they won the cup. Clearly neither Crawford nor Emery have stolen any games for us this year, I think a case can be made that the crux of the problem is the 5 guys on ice in front of them.

Their forwards. Wow. Some truly atrocious defensive play from these guys. Watch a few replays from last night and you'll see how many times all 3 forwards are caught deep with a defender pinching. ONE of those forwards HAS to stay back. It's hockey 101 and they aren't capable of doing it on a consistent basis.

That cup winning team obviously won on puck possession. But they were just as good without it. Guys like Madden, Ladd, hell even Versteeg were great without the puck and relentlessly backchecked. The crop of borderline AHL guys, either due to talent or age, they have making up lines 3 and 4 just can't cut it.

Also, there's plenty of blame to go to Q, again, for making zero adjustments last night. Same odd man rushes from the 1st through the 3rd. Same Hawk strategy all night.

Toews is hurt a lot more than we are being told. I'm sure no reporter will ask about it though. He's been invisible(by his standards) and careless with the puck.

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Team Cutler.

Ok I'll go out on a limb and admit that the last 12 minutes of the third looked really bad. Confidence goes a long way, as does having faith in your teammates. Both of those seem to be long gone for some of these players. The third and fourth goals were save-able goals, and both rushes we're started because Stalberg(3rd), and Frolik(4th) suck at life. Having another/better defenseman isnt going to change this situation. It's time to reel in your defenseman and take away their aggressiveness until the forwards can prove that they know what to do with the puck. But the first 8 minutes if the third was pretty inspiring stuff. Bolland's numbers during this slump are pretty telling, he got full of himself methinks with the previous hot streak he was on. He needs to know who he is.

And maybe Toews isn't hurt but rather just disappears for weeks at a time... That's just some devils advocate type stuff...

Time for a white sox type slumpbuster, is that csn blogger with them on the road trip?

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team Mully & Hanley
team Meatpants

Are you referring to Tracey Myers, who is the Blackhawks' Insider for CSNchicago.com? I think she's with them on the Blackhawks' road trip from hell, which resumes in San Jose Friday. It can't get any worse, can it?

Now that's no way to talk about Tracey.

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CH, I was referring to the road trip, not Ms. Myers...You know me better than that.

I can't disagree with you really. It isn't that they are losing, its how they are losing that is disconcerting. You will get no beating from me sir

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Unless you ask nicely.

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Montador on IR, Hammer going back to Chicago w/ something worse than the flu it seems. Q said "things changed" with him.

So, your starting defensemen tonight are.

Keith-Seabrook
Leddy-O'Donnell
Lepisto- Olsen

Enjoy your 50 shots Corey

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Team Cutler.

I smell a victory...

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team Mully & Hanley
team Meatpants

Well, this game is over. Who are they playing next?

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RFDC thinks I'm retarded.

I agree, you should just stop watching...

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team Mully & Hanley
team Meatpants

The goaltending on this team is disgusting. Trying to figure out if my favorite goal allowed was the one where the Sharks scored from behind the net while Crawford was flopping around on the other side - or if it was the one where Crawford froze for 10 seconds while the puck laid in front of him, allowing the goal to be lifted over his shoulder with one hand. Poke the puck, cover the puck, hell, do a silly little dance and try to distract the other team. Just do something - anything - with the game on the line.

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