Quenneville sets his lines
Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville apparently has settled on his lines for Friday’s season opener against Florida, and it includes Dustin Byfuglien playing left wing on the top line with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.
These were the lines at practice on Thursday in Helsinki:
Byfuglien-Toews-Kane
Sharp-Bolland-Versteeg
Ladd-Madden-Brouwer
Smolenak-Fraser-Kopecky.
Smolenak will be in the lineup a week after being claimed on waivers from Tampa Bay, an acquisition that likely bumped Jack Skille back to the minors.
"Obviously, I’m more than happy to be part of the team and I’ll do my best to stay here,” Smolenak told chicagoblackhawks.com. “It’s up to me if I stay all season or just a couple games.”
On defense, Jordan Hendry skated on the top six at Thursdays practice with Cam Barker as his partner. The other pairings were Duncan Keith with Brent Seabrook and Brian Campbell with Niklas Hjalmarsson.
Goalie Corey Crawford cleared waivers on Thursday and now can be assigned to Rockford with the club returns from Europe.
I think it takes a little time for goalies to get in the groove early in the season. Huet looked bad on those goals but he played a great first period. I think we should give him the entire month of October before everyone starts panicking. (unless he drops more than 3 in a row. )
From my observations, goalies are like hitters in baseball....they are can have slow starts and get better as the season goes along. Tim Thomas, and Roberto Luongo looked shaky last night as well.
It is an Olympic year so anyone who has a chance to play on (or be a starter for) his country should be more than ready to go from day 1 of the season, if not training camp. luongo & thomas are both presumably fighting for the starting job of their respective countries and luongo especially has looked ordinary at best so far.
Huet doesn't have to worry about starting for France since their hockey team didn't qualify for the Olympics, but that shouldn't be used as an excuse for (or by) him. He knows the expectations for the hawks as a team & he knows that he is the #1 goalie by default and has at least last year's standard set by khabi to meet this year.
I'm not suggesting 1 game is going to (or should) change that, but if he wants to make his life easier, he should get off to a good start, especially given that 8 of the next 11 games are at home.
on the other hand, i think they are going to try to ease niemi into the season & not throw him into tough games or situations if they can help it.
If huet & the hawks falter out of the gate, huet is going to create a lot of unwanted problems for himself & the team. the longer that management gives huet to work out any "problems", the fewer options they may leave themselves. detroit may be in the market for a backup after watching howard let in two weak goals despite having illegal pads. (and toronto looks like they might be in the market too as toskala has given up 3 so far in the 1st tonite)
the islanders have 3 goalies & it was reported today that biron was signed merely for insurance until dipietro was ready to return, and would be moved once dipeitro is back (sometime in november?) - biron only makes $1.4M so he wouldn't require a lot of cap management to fit on most teams.
I honestly think Huet is better than him, and wouldn't really want him as a back up either.
Hawks deserve to win and lose. Panthers 1 Huet 0. Like I said and I know it is early but if Huet plays 80% of the schedule the Hawks do not make the playoffs with such an excitng group of forwards and D. Hawks and Wings have the same problem as they do not have a number one goaltender and it will cost them both. I know the hawks hands are tied with Huet's salary and the cap but they should have at least signed a Roloson or Biron or Anderson as an insurance policy for Huet. I hope Niemi can get the job done but might be asking a lot.
>As many of us stated throughout last year, the book on Huet is high glove side
>Huet has yet to win a "big game" in a Hawks uniform
>Does Hawk managment have the stones to bench this stiff -- or will they wait until too late in the season -- filling us with an endless amount of "defending Huet" BS
and he isn't going to panic, especially this early in the season. He is going to give huet a good 20 games to "find himself" since he is the #1, and Q'll also hold the D & forwards accountable for their contribution to plays that lead to goals against before taking any action with huet.
but if huet costs the rest of the team games & position in the standings after the 1st quarter of the season, I think Q will not hesitate to start sending the message to all (including stan the man) that goaltending is an issue and he'll do that by starting the rookies more.
if huet doesn't start 7 or 8 of every 10 games or starts getting pulled in games, you can figure the message is being sent to anyone willing to pay attention.
Before I get accused of being a hater, or using Huet as a scape goat lets just remember that every national outlet has pointed out that opposing teams go high glove or high blocker each time against this guy. It's only going to get worse. Especially if he continues to flop down too early like today. You can't give the best players in the world the whole top of the net, because you are lazy, and scoot around on your knees instead of playing in a crouch.
On a positive note, Kane looked a LOT stronger on the puck today. Very impressive. Hopefully the Hawks will come out and smoke Florida tomorrow and take 3 of 4.
Unreal.
Both goals Huet is down WAY TOO EARLY and gets smoked top side. The second goal is a horrible one to let in a one goal game in the 3rd period. He didn't even react until the puck was by him.
Hawks better find a way to win in regulation, because Huet doesn't look like he is going to stop too much in the SO.
tough loss to swallow when you outplay & outshoot an inferior opponent, blow the lead not once, not twice, but three times (twice in the 3rd period, including late).
i expect niemi to get the start in his home country tomorrow & get a chance to show if he can do any better - obviously still very early, but if the hawks don't come away with a couple points tomorrow, that trip to europe might not look like such a great idea.
I was hoping for 3 of 4 pts. Niemi should start tomorrow. That's a very deflating loss. Hawks outplayed, outhit, and skated circles around the Panthers.
I know Huet played well in the 1st period. However, he needs to elminate these ridiculous goals where he gets shots blown by him while he's on his knees. Then he gives the stare of what just happened. Not to mention, if he plays the puck behind his net, he doesn't give Florida a chance at a faceoff, and control which is exactly what happened on goal #2.
Horrible turnover on the 3rd goal, but that much net can't be given to a talent like Booth. He had a lot of room from a bad angle.
Hawks need to sure up the defense. Sopel better block a lot of shots, because he is slow. Barker is off in his own world as usual.
Offense looked good. Buff, Toews, Kane, and Sharp all played very well. Versteeg needs to stop trying to stick handle through 5 guys. Had a chance to fire off a shot 10 ft in, and went for the extra move that cost him......
Tomorrow is a new day, but this loss is not the way I wanted to start off this season. Not to mention I had to watch the TSN feed via ATDHE.net. The turtle was in rare form. Any chance he gets, he rips Huet non stop.....
Niemi and Crawford should be questions for your back-up not answers to a #1 goalie problem.
Blasted top shelf when he should have that angled cover, but when you are on your KNEES it's a little harder. I thought the second goal was bad.....the third was horrid.
You out shoot somebody 54-24, and your goalie lets in 2 horrible BS goals in the 3rd period, that's how you lose.
How many g-damn times do people need to see it? How many? The guy gets smoked all day long high glove. He is the weak link....
Pathetic showing by Huet today. That is ALL on him. Hawks deserved better. They dominated Florida, and took 3 leads.
Start Niemi tomorrow. He can't play any worse then Huet.
Hawks still have a great team, but I will remind everyone that the Hawks made the play-offs last year by winning just 8 more games than the #9 seed Wild.
If you outplay your opponent and Huet gives away games just once or twice a month you are going to be playing golf not hockey come April.
& was out with Toews & Kane - not sure if that was by design or a slow line change, but I think Eager has the speed & hands to play with those two & he is more willing to use his size & fists than byf is, which is important - 19 & 88 could use a guy on the line who will keep other teams honest and also contribute to the offensive attack.
still very early, but so far, aside from keith & seabrook, the hawks D looks vulnerable - they won't be able to get away with that against better opponents.
I forgot how brutal Sopel is out there. Open net and he can't even get a shot on net.
No surprise Fraser is back at 4th line center. He plays his role perfectly and you never hear a word out of him. Plus he makes small money which means he'll be around for a long time.
I am guessing eager is slightly injured.
Eager's play against Vancouver & Calgary is not forgotten by the management team.
Lots a player who CAN play for the pro club, a great advantage, so when you finally need to make Cap space (as the the big three and Ladd have already been approached to hammer out deals), you have lots of directions to go.
Is anyone else annoyed by Buff being a lot more motivated by the chance to play on the olympic team?
And (no offense), if you knew a bit more about him personally, I don't think you'd even begin to think that.
I don't know his story, but I know he has been given an chance that a lot of us have dreamed about. It is not a right, and he has to earn his keep every day- just like the rest of us no matter what we do. I wasn't born mature, so I can give him some slack there (same with Kane). But the effort has to be there all the time, not just in an olympic year. Until he gets his big butt in front of the net and does the heavy lifting for his linemates all the time- no matter what, I am going to be skeptical. But there is no question he has huge upside. Size and guts can't be coached. So far he's batting .500
Unless Eager is injured it is a bit surprising that he's not out there on the 4th line. I guess they want to see more of Smolenak. Also a bit surprising to see Buff back with Toews and Kane....Buff didn't play well when he was on a line with either or both of those guys last year. But it's a new year so let's see what happens.
On paper I kind of like Bolland with Versteeg and Sharp and will be interested to see if Q leaves them together for the second PP unit. There are concerns that Bolland won't be as productive without Havlat raising a ruckus in the offensive zone for him but having a sniper like Sharp on one side and an aggressive skater and shooter like Versteeg on the other might work well.
I think if Eager is out of the lineup, there is likely a reason. Possibly there is some injury, flu or some thing keeping him as a scratch. The other curious thing is Buff getting slotted in with the kids. I think depending on how that line performs in the first period, we'll possible see Buff move down and either Sharp, Versteeg or Brouwer take the other spot on Toews wing. Q has kept Kane and Toews together a lot in this preseason, but a lot of the early season last year they played of seperate lines. Each line should be able to find the net, but it's clearly top two lines with skill and 3rd and 4th ready to lay some checks. Any guesses on PP lines? I'm thinking Toews, Sharp and Kane will be on PP1 with Campbell and Barker. I'm guessing we'll see Bolland, Buff and Versteeg getting first crack on PP2 with Keith and Seabrook. Either that, or I can see Buff getting onto the top PP if he can create some traffic like he did on occasion last season. The guy has the build to be a real pest in front of the net with his big body and long reach to nab rebounds. This would be the ideal year for Buff to find his stride and contribute on a regular basis.
I find it odd that Eager is out and Fraser is in? I thought Kopecky would center the fourth line with Eager and Smolenak. I like Eagers size and speed on the big ice. Fraser is too slow for NHL ice.
Eager is a horse. And he produces so much energy to be on the bench. You can't have both Eager and Burish off the ice. Maybe I'm wrong because i have no idea how Smolenak plays.
I think he'll be back on the ice when they get back on the NHL rinks. They also have back to back games and he might be in tomorrow. Coaches often rotate 4th liners in back to back games. Go Hawks!
Sopel will probably replace Hendry in the next game.
I liked Brouwer with the kids and Buff with Sharp, but i also like Buff up there, too.