...and you need that grit / physical play in the playoffs. Those pretty passes won't do shit come playoffs.

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You guys do know that the Hawks were routinely out-hit when they were winning Cups- right? And the league has gotten softer with less fighting. You guys are talking like it’s 1995.

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Lay off that whiskey and let that cocaine be.

There is something to be said for not being a total pushover against teams that take liberties like Nashville or St. Louis, but the name of the game now is quick line changes to prevent mismatches mixed with high shot volume (a style of hockey that I find to be uglier than it looks on paper). A lack of toughness isn't the Hawks' problem.

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If you go back and watch the Bruins series you will see the series turn when the Hawks started making Chara turn to get the puck, just forecheck pressure, not credited "hits", but guys willing to go into the corners and do the dirty physical work that mostly involves positioning and leverage to turn pucks over in the offensive zone. A good forecheck does not always require huge body checks or "hits", but the threat of physical play to get the D man thinking.

There is also the matter of clearing forwards from the front of your net, again your not going to get credited for a "hit", but you need to be able to muscle him out from in front of your net, especially on the penalty kill.

If you watch the Hawks, focus on those areas and you will see the current roster lacks the will participate in what Ted Nolan used to call, "getting your underwear dirty", type of hockey.

you think they will make the playoffs DAC?

They're 4 points behind Nashville now and Nashville has owned them - 3 more games to go vs Nashville.

i believe q and bowman did agree about leddy being soft. most likely the reason the hawks gave up on leddy. q cut his minutes dramatically come playoff time - deservedly so. leddy never felt comfortable going into corners and was frequently late on switching from front of goal/corner. you could tell leddy was terrified on dump-ins and taking ferocious hits...would turn and start poking at the puck.

JFC....nice start boys.

Unless they are keeping him as expansion draft bait DeHaan can go the fuck away with his 10lb cement skates.

I wasn't saying the Hawks need to dress 20 Steve Ott clones but when a team lays the body on them they clam up and are useless the rest of the night. All they need to do is bust their asses to get the puck. They don't need to be laying guys out left and right, just engage physically and get the puck. When teams don't get after them they seem to be fine. Just because Kaner doesn't touch or get touched does not mean that flys for anyone else....especially the D.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

Obviously, puck battles and compete are always going to be crucial. But when I hear someone cite the number of hits as what's wrong with a team, I cringe. And actually, this trade with Florida brings in a couple bigger bodies in Connolly and Stillman. Plus, we all know that buying low on guys that Q lost trust in is a good practice.

In terms of this team and their toughness and compete level, I wouldn't know. Ever since NBC Sports Chicago went off of Sling, I dropped the streaming service and now just watch NHL TV which doesn't allow me to watch the Hawks because of the blackout rules. I watch all of their extended highlights but those only show the scoring chances. The Hawks just simply are not interesting to watch. Hell, I've got a reliable stream but I don't feel like watching on my computer. I will say that I enjoy watching Toronto, Carolina, and Florida as much as possible. That Canadian division has been great this season.

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Lay off that whiskey and let that cocaine be.

Use this to watch NHL hockey - https://nhlstream.nu/ - there will be a lot of popups but close them all. wait 10 seconds and you can view the games.

CBJ with 10 shots through 2 periods. Oof.

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Not a mult.

Dominant 2nd period for the Hawks

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Would it bother anyone if the league discontinued the hit count? It's pretty arbitrary from one venue to another, and all it does is rile up dumb guys.

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its on nhl network tonight

how about ban fighting - its pretty dumb

Fighting more or less banned itself. Graph the numbers of fighting majors over the years and you'll see that for yourself.

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Thanks for the link. I have a reliable stream when I want it but I have the NHL TV package so I always watch something on there so I can FF through commercials and intermissions. Besides Kane, there is no one I really to want to watch. Sure, they have a few nice players but not compared to teams around the league. Even if Toews comes back and some of their younger players develop, this team does not have a Stanley Cup contention path.

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Lay off that whiskey and let that cocaine be.

I think the level of fighting is about right in the NHL. It has gone down dramatically and you don't have the goons that have to fight a couple times per week but players still occasionally drop the gloves.

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Lay off that whiskey and let that cocaine be.

bullshit.

i saw the kings/sharks game last night. fight in the 3rd and at the end of the game a fight. waste of my time. especially the one after the final horn was just an insult to any fan trying to like hockey.

I was thinking of getting the NHL.TV package for the final month. but not sure what it costs. if they even discount it at this time. all these packages cost way too much except baseball but i get that free thru tmobile.

This year it was $100 for the condensed season. Wonder what it will be next season on ESPN+.

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Lay off that whiskey and let that cocaine be.

OH ok, i thought it was like $300. I'm sports hungry I guess and at least there is some drama to the Hawks season this year w/ them trying to make the playoffs.

And ya, thanks for reminding me. NHL is back on ESPN next season. I thought NBC did a real good job - Mike Emrick really made it great to watch on NBC and teaming up with Eddie O was perfect.

I do think it's better for the NHL in the US to go ESPN. Are any of the games going to be on regular ESPN for free or did they say the entire thing is on ESPN Plus? I am not a big fan of ESPN so no interest in getting plus.

Fights are down from about two every three games in the early 2000s to one in every five. You're so out of touch, you may as well be calling for legalizing the two-line pass.

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Like watching the Canadian broadcasts better because they are brutally honest when a team/player sucks, and you realize that Canadians view the sport in an entirely different way. You get to hear some of the local broadcast teams on NHL Network, and for the most part they all sound the same, except for the Boston guys who are brutal.

I thought NBC did a fine job with hockey. I'm not a fan of Milbury, McGuire, and Olczyk but Emrich was great and Sharp, Carter, and Boucher are all very good. And if you want more NHL action, watch the extended highlights on Youtube. It is 8-9 minutes of condensed highlights from each game. Every morning, I start out by watch the highlights of the big games from the night before. You can really get a sense of who is playing well and who is generating scoring chances.

I definitely was not happy with ESPN getting half the rights package because it will inevitably cost more if 2 networks are splitting the coverage. Plus, you will have to get ESPN+ and then the NHL Video package. No use bitching about it because I'm going to get it.

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Lay off that whiskey and let that cocaine be.

Not bad work so far today by Stan. He turned Janmark/5th into a 2nd and 3rd from vegas. I see he also got Gaudette from the Canucks for absolutely nothing (highmore).

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

Hawks on NHL Network tonight again.

Holy hell, Laine just went the full length of the ice and scored a pretty goal. No passes at all, just weaved through everyone.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Ot.

W 2 pts

Good comeback win.

I watched all of the 3rd and OT tonight. They scored when they had to but Columbus is kind of terrible and gutted. WTF did dumbass Domi do to get 14 minutes in the box? That 2nd Laine goal was ridiculous. First Dach gets upended which opens up the ice and then blondie skates past everyone and then through and around the statue of De Haan. Thats pretty much my scoring play the EA NHL game and completely unnacceptable to have actually happen in a game.

The hardest working man in Chicago sports Hagel with the game winner was great to see. Love me some Hagel. Radislov should have won it for the jackets but he buried his wide open shot right into Lank's gove. He didn't move an inch to save that, he shot it right in his damn glove with about 2 feet of wide open net above it.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!