TGDT: 1/5 Stars @ Blackhawks 7:30PM CSN

[MassHavoc]

I totally think that they can still make the playoffs, but that doesn't mean that I don't think they are playing like shit. They seem to play with no urgency and it feels like they are taking it for granted that they will make the playoffs.

 

[Kerfuffle]

It would be a colossal embarrassment to miss the playoffs.



A HUGE black eye.

Totally agree and here's why. We won the cup so not even making the playoffs the year after makes it look like our cup win was just a fluke, an albatross, and not a sign of a team that will consistently be there each year. I want other teams to fear us as they do Detroit. Even when Detroit is not winning cups they are there EVERY year. The Hawks at a minimum need to take the 8th seed and just stay in the mix.

 

[Chief Walking Stick]

2 games for most. 4 points. Big deal with 42 games left for most teams.

LOL, this exactly!



Between the 12th and 5th seed there's a LARGE 5 POINT GAP!!!!!1!!11

 

[winos5]

Time to send a message.



Q needs to do something to wake up this team.



And it would be nice to have some consitancy in the lines for a few games as well Q.

 

[Chief Walking Stick]

Totally agree and here's why. We won the cup so not even making the playoffs the year after makes it look like our cup win was just a fluke, an albatross, and not a sign of a team that will consistently be there each year. I want other teams to fear us as they do Detroit. Even when Detroit is not winning cups they are there EVERY year. The Hawks at a minimum need to take the 8th seed and just stay in the mix.

No Cup win is a fluke................ the team lost almost all of it's depth. Even the lack of Madden seems like it's a big loss.

 

[Tater]

can't argue with anything but the .700 hockey. Can't predict what the rest of the conference will do. No one in the conference is on the pace the Hawks and Sharks were last year. Not one team.



That said the 8th team this year could only need 90pts. The PARITY in the Western Conference has never been this equal IMO. No team will run away because no team is that bad or good verses the other teams. Salary Cap works.

So you could say the equality is unequaled?

 

[Kerfuffle]

They seem to play with no urgency and it feels like they are taking it for granted that they will make the playoffs.

Yep and no one has a solution for it. They looked absolutely dead out of the gate last night and pretty much for the first 30min of the game. No jump in their step, sloppy passes, felt like they were just going through the motions. The key ingredient missing this year is 'intensity' - we are being out-intensified. Kane was very slow last night - maybe he wasn't feeling well (I breathed on him before the game accidentally instead of RK

) Seabrook and Keith have been anything but the top D-men they were the past 2 seasons. People don't like the term Stanley Cup Hangover but I can't think of anything else to explain it.

 

[R K]

Well if he's right, that's only .600 hockey the rest of the way, which is absolutely doable.



Improving the penalty killing will help that BIG TIME.

No surprise Konroyd agrees with me. Everyone needs to step away from the ledge. You are always a glass half empty person so I expect this.



Rhutra great post!!

 

[R K]

No Cup win is a fluke................ the team lost almost all of it's depth. Even the lack of Madden seems like it's a big loss.

Yup. But can they over come that and all the injuries, Sure. They arent good on the PK because they miss guys like Madden, Ladd, Versteeg and even sopel who were all EXCELLENT on the PK.



Maybe they mist Torch who coached the PK last year instead of Kitchen who I beleive coaches it now. I don't know.



Between the PK and our COACH who seems to have his head up his ass 90% of the time these days I don't have an answer. If you fix those you win consistently IMO.





And Fluff last years team was not a fluke. IT was BUILT to win the Cup. Unfortunately there is a tiny thing called the SALARY CAP. No team feared Detroit last year until someime after the Olympics when they seemed to catch fire. Anything is possible.

 

[MassHavoc]

LOL, this exactly!



Between the 12th and 5th seed there's a LARGE 5 POINT GAP!!!!!1!!11

yet strangely everyone thinks that they are playing like a team that is closer to the 5th instead of 12th.

 

[R K]

yet strangely everyone thinks that they are playing like a team that is closer to the 5th instead of 12th.

I think at times they are. How many of these games have we given away with one or two stupid plays. I'd say 10pts at least.



Signs of a team just not quite there. They have the talent, it's the coaching staffs responsibility to get that talent productive on the ice.



So far Q has an F in my book.

 

[PatrickShart]

I didnt know/realize this was a 42 game season....and not 82.



I think some people just want to freak out and ***** all season long, simply to be able to say "I told you so"...if they don't make the playoffs. This bitching has been going on since game 1.



Why not just let the season play out before annointing this team a non-playoff team?

 

[R K]

I didnt know/realize this was a 42 game season....and not 82.



I think some people just want to freak out and ***** all season long, simply to be able to say "I told you so"...if they don't make the playoffs. This bitching has been going on since game 1.



Why not just let the season play out before annointing this team a non-playoff team?

Because then your glass would be Half Full. Everyone at IHN can see into the future. Just like Nostradumbass....

 

[MassHavoc]

I think at times they are. How many of these games have we given away with one or two stupid plays. I'd say 10pts at least.



Signs of a team just not quite there. They have the talent, it's the coaching staffs responsibility to get that talent productive on the ice.



So far Q has an F in my book.

Q is doing the same exact games he did last year, only last year we had way more depth to make up for it.

 

[puckjim]

No surprise Konroyd agrees with me. Everyone needs to step away from the ledge. You are always a glass half empty person so I expect this.



Rhutra great post!!

Well, your glass usually has enough Koolaid to make up for anything I lack so it's all good.



.600 hockey is a leap from the way they have played as of late, but (I sound like a broken record) this homestand is their chance to right the ship.



Need to with 5 of the next eight to keep pace. There are a couple of marshmallows coming up.



Time to start getting fat.

 

[puckjim]

I didnt know/realize this was a 42 game season....and not 82.



I think some people just want to freak out and ***** all season long, simply to be able to say "I told you so"...if they don't make the playoffs. This bitching has been going on since game 1.



Why not just let the season play out before annointing this team a non-playoff team?

Because it won't take the entire season to determine if they'll make the playoffs.



And no, it's not an 82 game season. Or a 42 game season. It's a 40 game season and the Hawks have to win 6 out of every 10 games going forward to have a chance at the playoffs.



And there is no discussion more worthy than that of the Blackhawks playoff chances.

 

[IceHogsFan]

There was only one redeeming fact from last nights game.



If you were in KOC after the game you would know.

 

[PatrickShart]

Oh....I didnt realize that it might take more than 42gms to make them.



This is getting harder and harder to come on here.

 

[IceHogsFan]

Oh....I didnt realize that it might take more than 42gms to make them.



This is getting harder and harder to come on here.

I would just chalk it up as alot of frustration from all of us.

 

[puckjim]

Oh....I didnt realize that it might take more than 42gms to make them.



This is getting harder and harder to come on here.

Really? And where is your perfect world?



A site where posters muse over the achievements of Jack Skille and Nick Boynton?



You know, it's OK to be critical of the Hawks.



It's been a huge letdown this season, and the criticism is valid.