The Center position is at the top of my list. I think Schmaltz has a future as a Second line Center but he is brutal on face-offs, bad for a puck possession team. I think he has shown he belongs in the top six from a skills standpoint but would feel better if Anisimov and his size was with Kane and Panarin. Anisimov is not the best face off guy but he's 45% versus 28% for Schmaltz.

We haven't been getting much from Kruger or Kero lately. Maybe Kero is hitting the wall? I need a longer look at Hayden with Toews and Panik but like the physicality he brings to that line. He finally won a couple board battles and had about 7 hits, has drawn a couple penalties as well. Not the most fleet of foot but I think he can be a Brouwer-type of player. If he shows he can play on that top line, and we get Anisimov back, would you put Schmaltz at number 3 Center? Love the Schmaltz-Toews-Panik line but I think a 3rd line of Hossa-Schmaltz-Jurco or Hartman line is much stronger than Kruger or Kero. Is Rasmussen healthy? If so, Q might give Kero some time to regroup and play Rasmussen at 3rd or 4th Center. That would be as big of a group of forwards we've had since the first Cup?

Last night was the most comfortable I've seen Jurco look. Saw the skill the F.O. liked in his game. If he can sustain this level of play, he makes our bottom six a lot better. I'm not a big fan of having Desjardins and Tootoo in the lineup together. I'd rather see Jurco in the lineup, if he continues to play with the confidence he showed last night.

I really like our defensive depth. Getting Oduya was a smart move by Bowman. Less stress on TVR being out in the bottom pairing. Campbell and TVR is a pretty nice third pairing. Feel good about Kempny and Roszival being 7 and 8.

Gotta feel good about the way things are going, minus the Anisimov injury. Enjoying Minnesota's free-fall as the Hawks continue to distsance themselves.

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The motto of the B&B section:

I honestly don't listen much-Reared On The Score Thu Jan 28, 2016 9:38 am

I am a casual hockey fan and dont know the x's and o's but last year I could tell they had less experienced players on D and that is ultimately why they lost.

But what do you think about this year? Does this team look like it's going to win or get to the cup finals? I don't like the way the NHL does it's playoffs where you had marquee matchup's in the first round instead of the final conference rounds. Do you think the hawks are peaking too early?

I am not really afraid of Minnesota. I think the Hawks would beat them. But what other team can trip up the hawks on the way?

The Sharks are the biggest threat to the Hawks. Minnesota is #2, Edmonton #3, and everyone else in the Western bracket is tied for fourth.

I think the roster is much improved from last year, especially at the blue line, and less reliant on heroic goaltending (though we've still had it and needed it from time to time). I'm a little uncertain about the fourth line, which still feels like a junk drawer no matter how you arrange it, but the arrival of Hayden may help in that respect once Anisimov returns. I still have concerns about the penalty kill, but it's important to remember that the Hawks take far fewer penalties than most teams. I don't think they're peaking too early at all. If anything, this is more encouraging than their tendency to peace out for the entire second half of the season. I will say that I'm concerned that the Predators are putting it together this late in the year, and that trading Crapped-in-Church hasn't doomed the Blues like we all thought it would because apparently they had SEVEN Avs/Coyotes games on the schedule after the trade deadline. But no, I don't think the Hawks are leaving anything at practice.

I would rank the Hawks' likely playoff outcomes thus:

1) Out in the third in a hard-fought series to the Sharks
2) Lose the Final to Pittsburgh
3) Win the Stanley Cup against a weaker team who let the better teams knock each other out -- think New Jersey in 2012
4) Out in the second to Minnesota
5) Out in the first to St. Nashvilouis

I think this team can win a championship, but it'll take a little help from the field and a little more luck than usual.

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I'm surprised you said the Sharks. I think the Sharks will fold as usual when they're the favorites. They got in last year because all the quality teams in the conference lost early and they got to play a tired STL team.

If they play the Hawks, I think the Hawks championship experience beats the Sharks.

Yeah, but the Sharks' bracket is shit again. Two of Calgary, Edmonton, Anaheim, St. Louis, Nashville in the first and second rounds? There's nothing there that Burns and Jones can't put away.

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None. No worries.

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Elections have consequences.

Looking at the rest of the schedule, you have

3/21: Vancouver
3/23: Dallas
3/25: @ Florida
3/27: @ Tampa Bay
3/29: @ Pittsburgh
3/31: Columbus
4/2: Boston (11:30 a.m. start)
4/4: @ Colorado
4/6: @ Anaheim
4/8: @ Los Angeles

I see a nice stretch of games in the middle where you could afford to let up a little bit and treat the games a bit like NFL preseason games: see where you are against the competition, but keep it vanilla and don't blow yourself out trying to chase wins. Obviously, that'd be the TB-PIT-CLB-BOS run, where you're seeing Eastern teams who are all playing balls to the wall for playoff positioning (or in the case of the Bolts, trying to make it in at all). They're all either on the road or at home at an inopportune time, so there's no need to get fancy for the fans or anything. (EDIT: the Blue Jackets game is a normal 7:30 home start. Never mind. But still, who cares, it's Columbus.) Let the Penguins and Blue Jackets wear themselves out.

You probably don't want to drop all four of these games, especially if you don't take care of your shit with the three sucky teams before and double-especially if the Wild start winning again, but this stretch looks ideal for doing things like resting your defensemen (especially Oduya, Campbell, Oduya, Seabrook, Oduya, Keith, Hjalmarsson, Oduya, and Oduya), assessing where and how Kempny could fit back in if he has to, and really workshopping the bottom six, where Q has plenty of options but hasn't really found the best way to allocate them. Can Hayden take guys off the puck and scrape it out along the boards? Can Tootoo smarten up and simplify his game? Could Hinostroza come in handy again? What is Tomas Jurco? There's a lot of mixing and matching to do here, and since Q has already said he wants to go very light on practices from here on out, interconference games will have to be the place to see what works. I'd like to split Crawford and Darling 50/50 from here because we can.

I'd hope to get 10 to 12 points in the last ten, which would put the Hawks between 109-111 to finish, and would require Minnesota to take at least 17/22 on a slate of San Jose, Philly, Vancouver, @Detroit, Washington, Ottawa, @Nashville, Colorado, Carolina, @Colorado, and @Arizona. I mean, they could, it's very home-heavy and lots of those teams are shit, but it hardly feels likely.

So there you go. Take the next three and you open up a nice stretch of fuck-around time.

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I agree with you but I need max effort as I sit in the PPG arena next Weds wearing red 88.

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Elections have consequences.

THIS.
The defense as a whole is drastically better with this team.

All around, there are some young guys that have stepped up and proved they belong. I agree the Sharks and Wild are the 2 real potential problems in the playoffs.

I like the Hawks chances this year. Can't wait for the playoffs to start.

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I've been watching the last 3-4 games since they've been on national tv but the last 2 games they got behind at home by 2 / 3 goals and came back. One win and one loss. Not good to get behind 2 goals in the 3rd when it's playoff time. What's going on here? Just one of those things? they're tired? they're looking past these games to the playoffs?

I'd expect decent effort for the Bruins game and Avs game (Toews will go so he can stock up on good weed) and then the California games will both be total fuckoffs. Should be 109-111 points, like I expected, except the Hawks blew the games against non-playoff teams and won the ones against good teams.

Problem is Nashville is looking positively dominant to close out the year. The Flames have Brian Elliott to give us fits, Gaudreau and Monahan up front, Giordano and Brodie behind them, and Matt Tkachuk at 19 is already blowing dudes up. However, Glen Gulutzan couldn't outcoach a ham sandwich.

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I was at nashvilles game against the maple leafs on Thursday and came away unimpressed by both. Eventually they would lay a stinker but beat her team ever had any flow or rythme to the game and no one could skate with the puck for more than a few seconds.

I tried to follow Matthews and he never seemed to have the puck. Is possession not part of his game? He scored his 35 goal and it was a lighting fast shoot and incredible placement

I'm.shocked you have them even making the playoffs.

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Since CH wrote his initial post, the Sharks have fallen and very well could end up in the WC2 space. I don't think anyone fears the Sharks the way they previously would have. They have looked Minnesota bad as of late. Heck Minnesota has been better than SJ over the last 10 games

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

Everyone should fear the Hawks and not the other way around. It is as stacked of a team as one could have in a salary cap world:

Two legit goalies
Many veteran future HOF players most still at or close to their primes
Several strong young guys that are filling the gaps

They have so few holes. Quite remarkable, but you can thank the emergence of Panik, Hartman, & Schmaltz for the added depth.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

I'm done worrying about the Hawks.

Yup, and I think it's about time that StanBow starts getting some props for being about to keep the team as competitive as it is season-after-season. It seems he knows talent and/or listens to those that know, especially talent on the cheap. Sure, he is still going to have to pay some of these younger guys down the road, but by then I'm sure the pipeline will still be flowing. The real test will be in about 5-6 years, when most of the "core" will have moved on.

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Not a mult.

Nashville isn't locked in as our opponent but it's getting harder to see it play out otherwise. Get ready to defeat P.K. Subban and by loglcal extension all black people ever.

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Nobody loves hockey more than me.

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Sex isn't dirty, sex isn't a crime. It's a loving act between two or more consenting adults.

-Hank Kingsley

Joe Thornton just wrecked his knee. That'll do it for the Sharks, I guess.

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- sorry, I already voted.

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Not a mult.

And now Cam Fowler wrecked his knee (well, Mark Giordano wrecked it for him). All I want of these last two games is for no one to get hurt.

The outcomes last night have narrowed our first-round opponent down to Calgary or Nashville. I guess St. Louis could drop down but it'd be very hard; they play the Panthers, Hurricanes, and AGAIN the Avs.

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I want Nashville. PK Subban is not Shea Weber and Rinne is a shadow of his former self.

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

Nashville has a better defense than we do and arguably a better first line but their bottom six is a shit sandwich and Rinne is erratic. Shut down Forsberg and Arvidsson and there's not a great deal to worry about other than Subban and Josi springing rushes.

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Flames@Sharks and Perds@Jets will determine our playoff opponent. Flames win and we get Nashville's fan-banning bitch asses. If the Flames lose but the Perds win, Calgary drops down. The Jets game is first on the docket, so if the Jets take care of business (preferably without working overtime), we can know our fate before the Flames take the ice.

I'm not sure which team I want to see. It's been so long since the Hawks have played to win that I've forgotten what it looks like.


Well, just Rozsival...

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It'll be 109 or 110, look at that.

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Yes but I believe you are a master of the English language, so why did you write "10" and then spell out "ten"?

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Spelling ten but not twelve looked weird.

Nashville up 1-0, Blues and Hurricanes tied. Still not sure which team we'll get.

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I knew you'd say that. And I agree.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

The Blues get at least a point against the Hurricanes, making it impossible for them to drop into the wild cards. Winnipeg ties Nashville in the third. Go Jets Go.

OH NOOOO Leafs tie the Pens late. A point clinches the playoffs for them.

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