[A] Avalanche Roll Over Chicago: CHI 0, COL 4

[Ton]

Semyon Varlamov and the Colorado Avalanche managed to blank the Blackhawks, the 3rd most potent offense in the league.



Varlamov was great and Corey Crawford... well he just wasn't. The sophomore continued to show his inconsistency this season by allowing 4 goals on 22 shots which is bad enough for a .818 SV% after coming off a similar loss against the Oilers in his last start. The loss is troubling for the Blackhawks netminder, who can't seem to shake the inconsistency tag this season.



Chicago has lost their third straight game following this loss, tying their season-high for the year and has lost 4 out of their last 5 games. All of this after a 9-1-1 run which saw them climb to the top of the NHL.



Not only have the Blackhawks hurt themselves in the standings, but during the recent skid the Blackhawks witnessed Dan Carcillo injure himself on a dangerous check, Steve Montador also has been sidelined due to injury and Marcus Kruger still has concussion issues after working his way up to the 2nd line.



This has forced the Blackhawks to ice 3 rookies from Rockford as fresh legs, Jimmy Hayes, Andrew Shaw and Dylan Olsen. The trio has combined for 3 goals in the last 3 games which, quite honestly, they have filled in well. So if injuries aren't the problem, where are these losses coming from?



First and foremost, depth has been less-than-stellar recently. Bryan Bickell, Michael Frolik, Dave Bolland, Andrew Brunette and Viktor Stalberg have only combined for a total of 1 goal and 2 assists in the last 5 games.



The numbers might look better for the top 2 lines, but certainly they have more to give as well. Marian Hossa (1G, 1A, last 5 games) has not looked like himself lately, especially in the defensive end. Patrick Sharp (2A, last 5 games) has been shown in a similar light. Patrick Kane (1G, 2A, last 5 games) and Jonathan Toews (2G, 2A, last 5 games) also need to pull more weight at times, although they have been the better of the bunch but lets be honest, the way the team is playing that is not all so impressive to begin with.



The defensive core shouldn't be left off the hook either. Although Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook have fared well all year, including this stretch, the rest of the core just hasn't followed. Nick Leddy must still have a hangover from Christmas because since then him and partner Niklas Hjalmarsson have been a combined minus-11 and atrocious in blowing defensive coverage.



Against the Avalanche things were no different--Nick Leddy was on the ice for every single puck Colorado put in the net and Hjalmarsson was on the ice for 3 of them.



Give credit to the Avalanche though, with this win they are 9-1-0 in their last 10 games played. Certainly riding a very important hot-streak to push back into the playoff hunt. While the Blackhawks are trying to find their stride again, this opponent was probably one of the worst to pick in the crop of NHL teams at this moment. The Avs are hot and we are not. Sometimes it simply comes down to that one factor.



BLACKHAWKS THREE STARS OF THE GAME



1. Jonathan Toews

2. Brent Seabrook

3. Dylan Olsen



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[Chief Walking Stick]

John Scott with 4 shifts and 3:25 of ice time... why even dress him if you're not going to use him? Is he benched for something? Hurt?



I think Scott is a better option than O'Donnell at this point... but it's pointless to dress him for only 4 shifts on defense.......

Hayes with Kane and Toews! Finally!



Yes I turned it back on lol...



Shaw is a feisty motherfucker, I like him.

Nick Leddy sucks.



And he started the year AWESOME. Hope he gets his head out of his ass soon.

 

[roshinaya]

Why dress Scott if he is only going to play 4 minutes and putting extra load on the top 4, which only results in overall crappy play. What is going on in Q's head where he thinks that is a good move? Play Lepistö instead who I am sure can deliver a good enough D game for ~10 minutes a game, instead of dressing someone that even the coach can't trust to play more than a few measly minutes. WTF?!! And even if Montador has been ragged on, having him injured has put a dent in the D core and having him in the line-up is an improvement of what is out there now.





I don't want Bowman to do a panic move and pay a lot for a D-man that only works as a crappy bandaid. The forwards also have to take responsibility for defense. Maybe that's the reason for the high offensive numbers and bad defensive numbers, the forwards are concentrating more on offense than their defense. It's worked so far, but now with the crap D, it's starting to cost games.



And should we start to worry about Crawford? After last year and the news of him staying here for the next 3 years, most of us were probably relieved that the goalie position was at least set for the next few years. But now even that's in doubt. Is he just having a sophomore slump or has the leagued figured him out, has he regressed? Emery has been alright, but I don't want to go to the playoffs with him as the starter either.



Is it time to panic or is this just a slump, compounded by the fact that this team haven't been able to string together compelling wins for the first half of the season and showing blatant problems in the process? Once the Blues and the Wangs catch up to games played, the Hawks could find themselves third in the division and out of home-ice for the playoffs.

 

[Irish Hawk]

The goalie situation is a major worry I think. Crawford has been very poor bar the odd exception. Emery is definitely been the better of the two but he's not the long term solution but I would definitely go with him as the #1 for now. The loss of Campbell is really starting to show, I know his contract was bad but he was a very solid D man and his partner's seem to play better too, look at Hammer for example. Agree with the comments about Scott and his minutes, really don't see the point in dressing someone to sit on his ass. Players like Bolland and Frolik really need to start stepping up fast.

 

[Shredder]

The Hawks probably have more points in the standings than they deserve in terms of the numbers they've put up as a team. When you look at the stats after 41 games, it's really not that pretty.



Offense: 3.12 (6th)

Defense: 2.85 (17th)

Powerplay: 17.8% (15th)

Penalty kill: 78.5 (27th)



The offense will always hum to a certain degree with all the talent that's on the team, but the other three stats indicate that the 2011-12 Hawks are quite a lot like the 2010-11 Hawks, which isn't a compliment (playoff performance aside...).



The depth guys, particularly Bolland, Bickell, Brunette and Frolik, really need to step up their play because they're providing precious little on offense and whatever lines they seem to be on are leaking goals defensively.

 

[Ton]

And should we start to worry about Crawford? After last year and the news of him staying here for the next 3 years, most of us were probably relieved that the goalie position was at least set for the next few years. But now even that's in doubt. Is he just having a sophomore slump or has the leagued figured him out, has he regressed? Emery has been alright, but I don't want to go to the playoffs with him as the starter either.



Is it time to panic or is this just a slump, compounded by the fact that this team haven't been able to string together compelling wins for the first half of the season and showing blatant problems in the process? Once the Blues and the Wangs catch up to games played, the Hawks could find themselves third in the division and out of home-ice for the playoffs.

I think it's just a slump. Crawford has been inconsistent this season but it hasn't been all bad. Prior to the Edmonton and Colorado losses, Crawford had a 0.952 SV% in four straight starts only letting up 6 goals. The problem is that he has been wildly inconsistent. He's either letting in two or less and stoning the opponents or 4+ goals and leaking the junk in.



Hope he can straighten things out with Waite by the time the playoffs roll around. Emery certainly can steal his job if this keeps up and Emery proves to be more consistent.



I think as a team, they have put together great stretches that have proven that they can win on any given night... the problem is, losing 4 out of the last 5 games is not going to cut it in the playoffs. It's a matter of consistency and if they can figure it out I still have trouble seeing anyone that can beat them in a 7 game series.

The depth guys, particularly Bolland, Bickell, Brunette and Frolik, really need to step up their play because they're providing precious little on offense and whatever lines they seem to be on are leaking goals defensively.

Completely agree. Although lately the top 2 lines have left something to be desired, they have practically carried the team all year offensively and defensively. The bottom 6 guys need to straighten things out, not only offensively but defensively as well. At the moment I think it's hard to say we even have a proper "checking line".

 

[the canadian dream]

Can't blame Craw for last night. He was hung out to dry yet again by the defense. Much like Emery was in the game against the Flyers. But yah it's been a while since Craw won us a game. It's a bit of an issue. Tighten up the defense and goalkeeping will get better. Hawks are allowing way too many shots and way too many quality ones at that. Leddy looks exhausted and is making young blueliner mistakes..Hammer is not the type of player that can cover those. Keith and Seabs look like they are being overplayed. When the number 6 guy isn't getting more than 4 mins a night that's a MASSIVE problem. When our #5 guy is injured that too has been a big problem. Montador isn't as bad as some fans make him out to be in my opinion. We need him back and it will lighten some loads off of the top 4 guys.



Everyone has nailed the forward issues. The 3rd line is horrible. It needs to be rebuilt. Frolik has had enough time to show his worth. He's been horrible. Bickell has had enough time to show improvement..he has not. Bolland isn't the issue. No center can work with those 2 wing men. No center.



Rosh. I am no Bowman fan but he needs to do something to bring in a real body for the blueline. He got rid of a very important cog and hasn't replaced it...not even close. Although I am not a fan I am sure he is working on it and it won't be a band-aid quick fix. It's tough out there to find deals esp with so much of the season left and so many teams with healthy playoff hopes still. If a deal is out there it's going to be an overpayment.



Why did we get rid of Campbell again? It was only cap related right? Someone tell me it was only cap related. Because something inside me wants to think that's not the only reason.



As far as the team record goes. It's due to a few things but the biggest reason is Toews explosive start to the season. Bowmans players so far have very little to do with the record. That's rather sad if you ask me. My judgement so far on the current Bowman roster players is probably around a C grade. Harsh? Maybe. But that's how I see it. Again there is a lot of finger pointing at Q..which I don't disagree with a lot of the time. That finger needs to be pointed elsewhere sometimes though.



I don't even know why I am over-reacting the Hawks have a solid record still. But when I see blueline melt downs like last night and a few times this season and when I see production of the 3rd line just go to garbage and see no improvement 3-4 months into a season get a little concerned. I'm not used to the defense being this bad I guess that's the biggest thing.