Update from the morning skate
No real news from Monday's morning skate...
Toews and Eager are playing, as expected.
Hendry is out.
Huet starts in goal.
Bolland didn't skate.
In fact, coach Joel Quenneville said Bolland's back hasn't gotten better in the last few days as the Hawks move closer to having to make a decision on what to do with their second line center - shut him down indefinitely or have the surgery that could have him back playing in a few months.
"We're going to go day-by-day and where he is right now, he hasn't made any progress today so we'll see how his health is going," Quenneville said. "It's just more rest right now."
Expected forward line vs. the Kings:
Sharp - Toews - Byfuglien
Ladd - Versteeg - Kane
Kopecky - Madden - Brouwer
Eager - Fraser - Ebbett
And finally, why are the Kings playing tonight when Luc Robitaille is getting inducted into the Hall of Fame in Toronto?
Robitaille is the Kings' all-time leading scorer and a team executive. Many in the front office will be in Toronto for the induction instead of at the United Center.
Dumb move by the NHL.
Toews makes a big difference. Eager helps too.
But this team is dominant when the power forwards punish the other team's defense. Buff, Brouw, Ladd and Eager (and Hjalmarsson and Seabrook) with big hits tonight. Don't know if Toews and Eager being back didn't light a fire under those guys, though.
3rd period was the Hawks' best this year. Dominant. They just took over the game.
And Troy Brouwer can play hockey as well as hit.
Completely different Hawks team than I saw last week. Much faster tempo.
Sure was nice seeing Eager and Toews out there. The entire team feeds off of their energy - like Red Bull for hockey players.
Welcome back guys - we missed you, bad.
Tim
with all of this Alumni movement - how come the Hawks haven't embraced Dirk Graham? Captain for many years including the 1992 Stanley Cup Final team. I think he also lives in Chicago. He was a true "Blackhawk"
It's kind of interesting that Q might try Versteeg and Kane on the same line because as mentioned by Steve Rain, you've got two guys who absolutely must have the puck on their stick to be a factor. Ladd is going to feel like a guy in a 3 on 3 hoops game with two Jordans on his side. But I do like those two together on the PP since it should clear more space having multiple guys that can make things happen all around the net.
And Tim's right.....having the Kings play on a night when perhaps their greatest player ever gets put in the HOF seems like silly scheduling. The NHL should have the HOF induction ceremony in the summer or in preseason and make it more of an event, especially when you get an induction class like the one that they have this year.
Let's hope Toews and Eager don't get hurt in warmups.
6 points this week...i want all 6.....Kings, Avs and Leafs will be tough though. C'mon lads. Wonder if Ben Eager is under orders not to fight with his concussion?
Although it's certainly not on the level of over-expansion or the shootout, I wholeheartedly agree with Tim that it was a dumb move to schedule the Kings on the night Luc gets inducted into the Hall of Fame (Olympic year or not). Just another demonstration of how little Gary Bettman cares for tradition.
Hopefully their minds will be elsewhere and will steal a quick 2 points....
I think you shut down this guy NOW and get it fixed. No sense in waiting. Especially if he'll be out for a few months. The guy is a shell of himself, and you can't have that on the 2nd line.
I agree on waiting until we see what Hossa adds to this team. I think Sharp and Versteeg should be flip-flopped. You can't have both puck hogs on the same line, and that's not even considering the defensive ramafications.
This team needs to start playing with a sense or urgency and not assuming that they will just show up and win. They need to ring up as many as they can before they head out for the circus trip.
They're dragging their heels on a Bolland decision because they're talking deals and don't want to tip theirhand too much as far as how pressing a certain need might be?
More likely, probably, just hoping rest can cure it. But, never know . . .
Who knows?
Aren't the GM meetings this week? Maybe they are waiting to see how Toews responds and making sure he doesn't have any setbacks before shelving Bolland.
I hope they show up with a little more effort and fight in them.
Interesting to see how they react if a King takes a run at the Captain, or throws a big hit on him along the boards. Will Buff be able to locate his boys and answer the bell? Will he even bother?
why do i have a bad feeling about this years team?
This is a "one- year" team with no goaltending. Cap issues will force moves next year and greatly weaken the talent pool. They are at the cap now and have to sign Toews, Kane and Keith this summer - with the cap going down??
Tell us something we don't know or haven't covered since the summer....
play nice Wiz. He may be a new reader/blogger
dhbdad
that means they have to do something DURING the season. if they go to the summer this way, Toews, Kane and Keith could receive offer sheets that the Hawks can't match.
Because we're Chicago fans and we're used to being disappointed by high expectations. Please reserve judgement until we have a healthy lineup. Which will be in a couple weeks with Toews back in the swing of things and Hossa added to the mix. Although that may still not help until we rid ourselves of Campbell and Huet!
Reserve judgement til Hossa is in the lineup. Imagine last year's team without Toews and Havlat. Then add them back in and consider that Hossa is a better player than Havlat. Then see how it looks. A lot of these early season ills might magically go bye-bye assuming everyone else stays healthy.
Flour Dough starts in goal.
Hopefully we get this power play rolling during this 4 game home stand, because will surely need it during the road trip after.. If you can't convert on the power play on the road, wins get mighty tough to come by..... GO HAWKS