11/29/2011 IGT: coyotes @ Blackhawks

LonghornBob

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Crawford looks out of sorts. That bouncing puck between his blocker and glove was just weak. He actually knocked it in himself with his stick hand if you look at the overhead replay. It squirted through and he popped it over the line. Ugh. Aside from that he just looks shaky.

As mentioned above, the bottom 6 forwards are starting to scare me. Kane, Toews, Hossa, Stalberg, and Sharp are playing like we expect, but whoever is the 6th of those pairings is questionable, and the rest of the forwards are bothersome. Bolland seems to still be suffering from his injury, Bickell has gone into hibernation, Frolik is a ghost, Smith doesn't get playing time and doesn't do anything with it when he does, Kruger is like Tinkerbell out there at times, and Mayers and Carcillo have cooled off considerably.

Leddy, Hjalmarsson, Keith and Seabs are solid if occasionally spotty, and Montador is fair to partly cloudy, but O'Donnell is a joke and Scott can't skate downhill with a push.
 

tbo41fan

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ugly game to say the least...seeing whitney score on us makes me know what it feels like when Brunette scores against other teams. lol
 

Popinski Soda

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Crawford looks out of sorts. That bouncing puck between his blocker and glove was just weak. He actually knocked it in himself with his stick hand if you look at the overhead replay. It squirted through and he popped it over the line. Ugh. Aside from that he just looks shaky.

As mentioned above, the bottom 6 forwards are starting to scare me. Kane, Toews, Hossa, Stalberg, and Sharp are playing like we expect, but whoever is the 6th of those pairings is questionable, and the rest of the forwards are bothersome. Bolland seems to still be suffering from his injury, Bickell has gone into hibernation, Frolik is a ghost, Smith doesn't get playing time and doesn't do anything with it when he does, Kruger is like Tinkerbell out there at times, and Mayers and Carcillo have cooled off considerably.

Leddy, Hjalmarsson, Keith and Seabs are solid if occasionally spotty, and Montador is fair to partly cloudy, but O'Donnell is a joke and Scott can't skate downhill with a push.

Sophomore slump?
 

tbo41fan

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I think Crawford is being exploited for what he really is...an average to above average goalie.

His numbers weren't all that amazing in Rockford
 

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His numbers weren't amazing in Rockford because some dumb ass my cousin knows named Chris Reiners always went to games, sat behind him, and flung icees (not whole ones) at him :shifty:

I hope Crawf reads this and beats up Chris (Dixon, IL) because Chris is almost as stupid as Mr. Cawks.
 

tbo41fan

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what I am saying is that Crawford in my opinion is very Niemi-esque

he needs solid defense in front of him to play great



our defense is anything but solid
 

Jntg4

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Our D has holes, but it's better than it's been playing lately.

Keith, Seabrook, Hjalmarrson, Leddy are solid IMO, not perfect, but solid. Scott's getting better.
 

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Our D has holes, but it's better than it's been playing lately.

Keith, Seabrook, Hjalmarrson, Leddy are solid IMO, not perfect, but solid. Scott's getting better.

And Crawford has been slipping as the defense has been slipping...all im saying


and stop on scott...i like him, but I think Lepisto should be in
 

Everyday I'm Byfuglien

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Eh, I don't know what's wrong with Crawford. If you could say anything about his play last year it was that he was always fundamentally solid. He's always in position, rarely scrambling and he saved the shots he was supposed to save. He wasn't stealing games or making jaw dropping saves... he was just playing good goalie.

This year, all sorts of crap is going in. I swear, if Huet was in net for the goals he let in against Phoenix, people would be screaming bloody murder. Those fucking goals where he makes the save and the puck squeaks in? There is NO excuse for those garbage ass goals. None.

I don't know what his problem is, but Emery needs to see some serious net time. Give him 2 or 3 starts in a row.
 

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Agree...Emery should get in more
 

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I thanked your post because you said "garbage ass" :dealwithit:
 

Popinski Soda

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Eh, I don't know what's wrong with Crawford. If you could say anything about his play last year it was that he was always fundamentally solid. He's always in position, rarely scrambling and he saved the shots he was supposed to save. He wasn't stealing games or making jaw dropping saves... he was just playing good goalie.

This year, all sorts of crap is going in. I swear, if Huet was in net for the goals he let in against Phoenix, people would be screaming bloody murder. Those fucking goals where he makes the save and the puck squeaks in? There is NO excuse for those garbage ass goals. None.

I don't know what his problem is, but Emery needs to see some serious net time. Give him 2 or 3 starts in a row.

Do you think there's any chance of that actually happening? I wonder if being benched for a couple of games would serve to motivate him, or make him go all Luongo on us...
 

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Will it happen? Yes. Crawford can't keep his crease playing the way he is.

Will it happen starting with Friday's game against the Islanders? I don't know. Nobody can be happy with Crawford's play lately and the Phoenix game was one of the worst showings yet. Whether or not Q wants to play this card yet... I can't tell.

I think he should though. Give Emery the Friday game against the Islanders and the Saturday game against the Blues. Playing the backup in consecutive nights sends a pretty clear message and if Emery plays well and snags all 4 points- give him Monday's start against Phoenix. That's a strong message to send.




You could point to the bad defensive zone play that's occurred in front of Crawford this year, but the defense wasn't a strong point last season and he managed to stand out despite it. Last year's PK was dreadful just like this year's so you can't really point to that either. The main things that have changed since last year are:

-the loss of Brian Campbell
-Crawford came into this year as the starter

Campbell hurts, but Campbell doesn't save the soft goals that Crawford has been letting in. Those are mental errors. Is he too comfortable as the starter? I don't know, but I'd test that theory before this gets any worse.
 

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