My top 5 things that need to be addressed going into next year:
5. Goaltending: Barring a trade, I think it's fairly safe to say that both Crawford and Emery will be back, and in retrospect, the goaltending was anything from average to good overall--depending on who you ask. Both, at this point, are known quantities in the league and everyone, including the blackhawks, have tapes on them both. The team knows exactly what it will get out of both of them. That being said, Both Howard and Quick had down sophmore years, and Crawford just had his. Crawford does need to address his play and find the right balance of staying in net and cutting down the angle, and prove that this season is what it was--a sophmore slump. Emery being back should provide solid backup, but in all honesty, there's no big FA goaltenders out there and it would be unlikley that one comes via a trade. With guys like Hutton and Halak looking for thir shots Crawford, asuming he stays, will need to elevate his game.
4. Shot Selection: I may be paraphrasing, but I believe Bobby Hull said about the Phoenix series that we need more shot options than shooing into the goalies crest and missing 6 feet wide. While in game 6 Smith made some lights-out post-to-post saves, the majority of the shot he, and every other goalie faced from us this year were right into the crest or about 6 feet wide. Some flew right over the cage, and a sizeable amount went right into the defender's shin. Not only do our guys need to be able to hit a net-sized target more often, but they have to get that shot off quicker, and with guys like Hossa, Toews, Kane, and Sharp, this should not be an issue even though it is. Since few of our players seem to crash the net, we have to improve our accuracy and speed in getting the shots off, or get some guys to take the knocks in front of the net.
3. Special teams: Blame who you want for the abyssimal PP and anemic PK, be it the coach or the players, but the fact is, both need to improve. Our fundamental gameplan on the penalty kill has been figured out, and in an excercise in futility much like Sylvester trying to capture Speedy Gonzales, nothing much has ever be toyed with or tinkered with this year when the bottom fell out of our powerplay. What we've seen this year doesn't work, nor will it work. The coaches need something new that will play to the strength of the team we'll have next year (and not the team we had in 2010, and the plaers need to execute. Guys like Toews and Kane, and to a lesser extent Sharp and Hossa, should not be doing their best Jassen Cullimore impressions and wait for the defenders to close off all passing and shooting lanes.
2. Team D: Almost every single "soft" goal either Crawford or Emery let in this year, follow the play back about 30 seconds and you'll see our team D make a mistake that they teach you not to make in Timbits© Hockey. Be it a blind no-look pass right to a defender, a botched clearing attempt that could have gone through a different lane up the ice, to the puck carrier trying to skate through 3 times their own weight in defenders, our play in our back end was atrocious all year long. Futher, it's not like we were icing scrubs that had the worst play in the back end--we have Selke finalists, a Norris winner, and seasoned vets who. should. know. better. This offseason this needs to be addressed. If the goaltending should be better, the team D needs to be better since both are dependent on each other.
1. Play a full 60: Out of 264 periods played, we maybe played about 176 anywhere near full tilt. In just about ever game, we took 1 period off. Either we took the 1st off and had to climb out from behind the 8-ball, we took the 2nd off and lost a lead that was hell to get back, or we collaped in the 3rd and gave up the lead. For the sheer amount of games we didn't play a full 60 it does beg the question of whether effort or conditioning is to blame. IMHO it doesn't matter. For the core, this year there really was no excuse--there was no cup hangover and the way the team went out had to sting. With a cup hangover they took one of the top teams in the league to the limit, this year, they got shellacked at home. As hot as Smith was, they still took their foot off of the accelerator in the 3rd. Either they were gassed or lost the will to play on as hard as they did early on. Neither will bring home another cup. If Hull's words about cherishing the cup in 2010 because they might not get another one were lost on the boys in 2010, it should be remebered loud-and-clear now. If you want the cup, you have to play a full 60 game-in and game-out. Of all the hing this tearm did wrong this past year, I think that was the one that led to the team falling out of 1st, struggling to keep in the playoff hunt, and then going down to Phoenix.
