B-Hawks 2023-2024 Season Thread of Bedard

[MassHavoc]

Starting to pile up games they need to forget about and move on.

 

[LordKOTL]

Murp knows how to cover his zone/man

Murphy wears 5, Cullimore wore 5.

Coincidence? I think not!

 

[Granada]

I agree overall with the Reichel criticisms, but then again, it's tough to gage him because the dude is on an island. Unfortunately, he has to be because they're committed to him at center, which is good. At some point, you're going to have to move Hall with Reichel, as Hall is really the only true top-six player on this team and Tyler Johnson is only a stud 3rd liner on a deep team and Athanisiou is Athanisiou. Once Kurashev comes back, Richardson might have some more flexibility and actually pair Reichel with at least one player that can actually compliment him. Right now though, Reichel has nobody.

 

[MassHavoc]

Reminder, every team plays tonight in this made for tv event no one asked for.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1716831915356135809

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1716828293398466833

 

[LordKOTL]

I think Korch has looked better than Murph. Reichel was expecting more

Name a D man who hasn't looked better than Murphy.

But speaking of pleasant surprises. Pickle is easily the best D-man we have...by a longshot. He definitely looks like he belongs up here.

 

[MassHavoc]

This stupid made for TV event is going to make either the Blackhawks game start late or everyone missed the beginning probably. I bet they make you switch to ESPN Plus for the start of the game.

 

[MassHavoc]

And just like that they stop blowing the whistle for 6 minutes. There might be hope yet.

Edit. 745 ESPN Puck drop

 

[Heidenlarm]

Missed this one, but God damn, 40 shots allowed?

 

[Chief Walking Stick]

Shitty schedule against Stanley cup favorites. Hawks are not good, it will even out.

 

[MassHavoc]

Another one for the burn the tape file. Reichel still doing everything but finishing. Maybe send him down just to get his confidence back before he's too far gone in his game. Pickle outstanding again. Only real bright spot. Worst game of the year for Perry. Bedard floating around a lot waiting for someone to make a play. Kurashev looked happy to be back let's hope that continues. Hall just looks like he can't stay healthy. Brutal skate to face incident with Dickinson. Dont remember the bruin but hope he's ok. Katchouk, who I have to look up spelling everytime, actually is a bit of an over achiever right now for a bottom line minimum pay guy. He hasn't been much but he isn't supposed to be and he's providing some good chances and energy. Same with Reece Johnson. Mrazek continues to go unrewarded for standing on his head. Lastly. I know people shit on Murphy but he proved again last night his value to the team as he seems to be the only one who can block a shot. So at least he's a big pylon.

 

[Granada]

Glad I went to sleep after the 2nd period. Quick observations:

Kaiser had a horrific night. Korchinski wasn't much better. Yes, you can say that about the whole team, but they stood out especially.

I know the lineup is thin, but putting Bedard with two grinders (Foligno and Perry) is incredibly stupid.

Reichel -- I stood up for this guy a couple days ago, but this dude is starting to aggravate me now. Glorious shooting opportunity, only to shoot it directly into the crest of the goalie. For any hockey newbs out here, when a player shoots a puck directly into the chest/crest of an opposing goalie, it's a terrible shot and an easy save for said goalie every time.

 

[RacerX]

Glad I went to sleep after the 2nd period. Quick observations:

Kaiser had a horrific night. Korchinski wasn't much better. Yes, you can say that about the whole team, but they stood out especially.

I know the lineup is thin, but putting Bedard with two grinders (Foligno and Perry) is incredibly stupid.

Reichel -- I stood up for this guy a couple days ago, but this dude is starting to aggravate me now. Glorious shooting opportunity, only to shoot it directly into the crest of the goalie. For any hockey newbs out here, when a player shoots a puck directly into the chest/crest of an opposing goalie, it's a terrible shot and an easy save for said goalie every time.

Agreed, man Korch looks like such hot trash in his defensive awareness and positioning and ability, he is a major liability on D for now. In fact, at 6'1", 185 lbs and offense only, he is currently a lesser version of Erik Gustafsson. But he's got plenty of time to develop and he's only 19 so hoping for the best.

Reichel looks like a lesser version of Viktor Stalberg, ugh.

This team has improved from bottom-5 to bottom-8 or bottom-10 IMO, there is a noticeable dearth of speed, skill, and depth.

I'ma already looking forward to the draft lottery, hey @KBIB who are the Hawks targets in the next draft?

 

[LordKOTL]

Glad I went to sleep after the 2nd period. Quick observations:

Kaiser had a horrific night. Korchinski wasn't much better. Yes, you can say that about the whole team, but they stood out especially.

I know the lineup is thin, but putting Bedard with two grinders (Foligno and Perry) is incredibly stupid.

Reichel -- I stood up for this guy a couple days ago, but this dude is starting to aggravate me now. Glorious shooting opportunity, only to shoot it directly into the crest of the goalie. For any hockey newbs out here, when a player shoots a puck directly into the chest/crest of an opposing goalie, it's a terrible shot and an easy save for said goalie every time.

Say what you will about Bobby Hull, but back in 2012 he told the core at the time that they shouldn't be shooting right into Mike Smith's chest or 6' wide/high of the net. Same advice applies. It always will. I think the experiment of Reichel at Center needs to end.

 

[MassHavoc]

Glad I went to sleep after the 2nd period. Quick observations:

Kaiser had a horrific night. Korchinski wasn't much better. Yes, you can say that about the whole team, but they stood out especially.

I know the lineup is thin, but putting Bedard with two grinders (Foligno and Perry) is incredibly stupid.

Reichel -- I stood up for this guy a couple days ago, but this dude is starting to aggravate me now. Glorious shooting opportunity, only to shoot it directly into the crest of the goalie. For any hockey newbs out here, when a player shoots a puck directly into the chest/crest of an opposing goalie, it's a terrible shot and an easy save for said goalie every time.

Hot take here, but maybe Reichel needs to play with Bedard somehow, take the pressure off him to score because everyone will be looking at Bedard, and finally give someone other than Anthanasiou to play with who has speed. Bedard starts floating around almost bored looking out there, maybe try to max out the speed on his line to speed him up too. That powerplay goal was a thing of beauty last night, too bad it didn't count. I agree with letting them review, and it was the right call but I also agree with the announcer who said at some point plays should stop being reviewable. It was so far past that the offsides doesn't have any impact on the play anymore.

 

[Granada]

^ Too lazy to multi-quote, but Racer -- yeah, if Korchinski is projected to be a stud offensive d-man, I'm hoping he can at least be as competent defensively as Campbell. That's always the problem with these offensive d-men, the defense is secondary. Either way, he needs to improve overall. This year is going to be rough; hoping he displays progress next year.

Kotl, yeah Hull was right on the money there. I was really hoping Reichel could pan out as center. If it were me, I'd give him more time, but I wouldn't be angry if he's moved to wing.

Mass, I do think we'll see Reichel move to wing on Bedard's line eventually. The problem with that is, that line will get eaten alive, size-wise. Maybe they can pull it off when Hall returns to lineup.

 

[MassHavoc]

^ Too lazy to multi-quote, but Racer -- yeah, if Korchinski is projected to be a stud offensive d-man, I'm hoping he can at least be as competent defensively as Campbell. That's always the problem with these offensive d-men, the defense is secondary. Either way, he needs to improve overall. This year is going to be rough; hoping he displays progress next year.

Kotl, yeah Hull was right on the money there. I was really hoping Reichel could pan out as center. If it were me, I'd give him more time, but I wouldn't be angry if he's moved to wing.

Mass, I do think we'll see Reichel move to wing on Bedard's line eventually. The problem with that is, that line will get eaten alive, size-wise. Maybe they can pull it off when Hall returns to lineup.

Also last game, Jones got 4 minutes and Korch 1 on the PP, I know jones isn't exactly an old man out there but if Korch is supposed to be an offensive d man then during a rebuild year I'd like to see that flipped. Not only to give him the experience, but to find a few minutes back that you don't need Jones on the ice to keep him fresh for the 3rd periods. He's doing a lot of skating out there. Not keith level but leading the team at 25 mins. 5 more than Conner the next at 20. The PP has looked horrible anyway so why not a little tweak like that, or if not him Vlasic really. He's impressed everywhere else.

Yeah, that's a good point about size, I don't know who you put with them, I'm not sure who you put with them as I'm not convinced Hall won't be working through some sort of injury all year at this point. Perry is just a step too slow at this point. Maybe Raddysh could finally show up but I haven't seen a lot of speed or playmaking out of him, you could try something even crazier with R Johnson who has the energy but not the skill or the consistent playing time yet. Also, you need someone who can win a faceoff, not that anyone on this team can right now, but we'd need someone would is over 50% especially if Bedard gets thrown out of the circle.

 

[LordKOTL]

^ Too lazy to multi-quote, but Racer -- yeah, if Korchinski is projected to be a stud offensive d-man, I'm hoping he can at least be as competent defensively as Campbell. That's always the problem with these offensive d-men, the defense is secondary. Either way, he needs to improve overall. This year is going to be rough; hoping he displays progress next year.

Kotl, yeah Hull was right on the money there. I was really hoping Reichel could pan out as center. If it were me, I'd give him more time, but I wouldn't be angry if he's moved to wing.

Mass, I do think we'll see Reichel move to wing on Bedard's line eventually. The problem with that is, that line will get eaten alive, size-wise. Maybe they can pull it off when Hall returns to lineup.

As I've mentioned previously elsewhere, Korch is not really any worse defensively than Keith was back in 2006. The biggest issue is that he really doesn't have anyone to play with the compliments his style. I believe Keith had a righty. That being said Korch has a LLOOOONNNNG way to go before he's within smelling distance of Keith's jock; let's be honest. But a lot of the same concerns about Korch, we had about Keith, so I'm really hoping that Korch starts refining his style and progresses defensively over this year and into next.

But the complimenting his play I think is a sticking point:
Jones is a similar Campbell-type.
Murphy is just a shot-blocker at this point, and even he pales in comparison to Sopel. 5-5 he's worse than Korch has been.
Zaitszev?

Everyone else is a southpaw and I don't think anyone can play off-side. Tandoori maybe? Pickle would be ideal but then either he, or Korch would have to play off-side. I'm not sure if they could do it.

I have mentioned that we should probably get Korch on the 1st PP unit. Worst case scenario he gives up shorthanded chances because of a defensive breakdown--and this is what Jones is already doing. Plus, @MassHavoc is right: We should probably manage Jones' minutes. It's not like we're trying to make a deep push this year, so why run Jones Roughshod?

I think at this point I agree with moving Reichel to wing. I'd like to see he and Bedard together--if nothing else once a game gets out of hand.

 

[Granada]

Yes, I wouldn't mind giving Korchinski more PP time, but then again, it may be a coaching thing. Meaning, maybe Richardson wants him to earn it; if that is the case, no wonder why he's limiting his time, as his recent play 5-on-5 hasn't warranted that reward.

 

[MassHavoc]

Yes, I wouldn't mind giving Korchinski more PP time, but then again, it may be a coaching thing. Meaning, maybe Richardson wants him to earn it; if that is the case, no wonder why he's limiting his time, as his recent play 5-on-5 hasn't warranted that reward.

That's a good point about earning it. but at some point he has to remember he's both a leader and a developer. He has to give them some opportunities to earn it and young kids can quickly find themselves lacking confidence to ever recover. I definitely think he needs to earn it but if you're in a rut it can be hard to get the opportunities back to try to make something happen. Sometimes it's on the coach to put them in the right place at the right time. Like for me, trying to get Reichel to see one in the back of the net would be huge. He's had a lot of opps, and is even on PP 2 but the depth is so poor maybe you just bump him to PP1 to try to get one in the net and get him going, then you move him back down to 2 or something. PP has been so bad at this point that I just think anything you try can't be criticized. But, Richardson is a much better coach than I ever will be.

 

[LordKOTL]

That's a good point about earning it. but at some point he has to remember he's both a leader and a developer. He has to give them some opportunities to earn it and young kids can quickly find themselves lacking confidence to ever recover. I definitely think he needs to earn it but if you're in a rut it can be hard to get the opportunities back to try to make something happen. Sometimes it's on the coach to put them in the right place at the right time. Like for me, trying to get Reichel to see one in the back of the net would be huge. He's had a lot of opps, and is even on PP 2 but the depth is so poor maybe you just bump him to PP1 to try to get one in the net and get him going, then you move him back down to 2 or something. PP has been so bad at this point that I just think anything you try can't be criticized. But, Richardson is a much better coach than I ever will be.

Exactly. There's a lot to be said about earning it. But, kids do have to be developed, and there's also the question of, "is there someone better?"

Right now, Jones isn't better on the PP.

I think when the game is out of reach (either way), you do some experimentation. This could be bumping Korch up to PP1, Trying Reichel out on the wing, shifting up the pairings, etc. We need to be seeing what works and what doesn't, as well as the actual holes in this year's rookie class and whether or not they can be filled. If we're way out ahead or getting hammered, that's probably the best time to do it because there's not much to lose at that point.