Kane back taking slapshots, thought to be 1-2 weeks away. I think its possible he can make it back for the end of round 1, certainly round 2.
I think the 21st looks like a date to begin watching for Kane Defense has no cohesion. Roszival needs to gtfo. And the PP has bottomed out.
Right but who cares. Is one that much more favorable of a match up than the other? Actually Hawks lose, Minnesota wins, St. Louis wins, and Anaheim loses, Hawks could be in Anaheim in the first round
Wouldn't shock me if he's ready for game 3 or 4. We aren't scoring for shit so maybe Nashville was a better match up for us right now. They don't have a ton of scoring depth so we hopefully our third pairing won't get as exposed
@ChrisKuc: Corey Crawford has won the Jennings Trophy for the second time in three seasons (also 2012-13). #Blackhawks
@CSNBoyle: With Kane's work on ice while Hawks were gone, I'm expecting 88 to be cleared 4 full contact practice tomorrow..Probable for GM 1 vs Nash
'Attending' first Cubs game Saturday in a LF rooftop... edit- wrong thread, don't care, still excited
Chris Kuc @ChrisKuc #Blackhawks' lines during practice: Saad-Toews-Hossa, Versteeg-Richards-Kane, Bickell-Shaw-Sharp, Nordstrom-Kruger-Teravainen. No Vermette
Chris Kuc @ChrisKuc Doctors clear Patrick Kane to return to the #Blackhawks' lineup. Chicago Blackhawks @NHLBlackhawks It's official. Patrick Kane has been cleared for full participation by Head Team Physician Dr. Terry. http://onego.al/LyRfm
The offense is not a question mark now. Now my biggest concern is the D pairs. Keith/Seabs, Oduya/Hammer should play together but you just cannot play Timonen and Roszival together. Q is going to have to steal minutes in a big way with that bottom pair. Otherwise this team is good to go and deep as hell. Long run potential.
Mark Lazerus @MarkLazerus Sure looks like Antoine Vermette will be benched for Game 1. Quenneville certainly made it sound like he's made up his mind. #Blackhawks
Hawks' hopes tied to fateful decisions by Quenneville, Bowman Posted: 04/14/2015, 02:48pm | Mark Lazerus Joel Quenneville appears poised to bench Antoine Vermette for Game 1 on Wednesday. (AP Photo) Boy, Kevin Hayes would look pretty good right now centering the Blackhawks’ third line, forming a bruising yet productive trio with Bryan Bickell and Andrew Shaw. Ooh, imagine Nick Leddy — this newer, more confident Nick Leddy — quarterbacking the Hawks’ power play, his smooth, speedy zone entries getting the unit set up in a hurry. Andrej Sekera sure could have shored up the back end, easing the burden and the Hawks’ dependence on Michal Rozsival. Maybe goal-scoring machine Brandon Pirri could have helped offset the loss of Patrick Kane the last seven weeks. Maybe Jimmy Hayes could have blossomed into the power forward he is now, and kept his brother, Kevin, in the organization at the same time. It’s easy to wonder what if, of course. In the salary-cap era, teams don’t have the luxury of time to spare, and patience is often pointless. But perhaps more than any other season in the Joel Quenneville/Stan Bowman era, and for better or worse, their fingerprints are all over this Hawks team. It’s a team that has been maddeningly inconsistent all season, and enters Wednesday’s playoff opener at Nashville as the third seed in the Central Division, albeit still a Stanley Cup favorite thanks largely to its recent track record. Should the Hawks flip that switch and make another deep run, they’ll deserve much of the credit. But should the Hawks flame out early, they’ll deserve much of the blame. Both Quenneville and Bowman have earned the benefit of the doubt, at least. Quenneville is the third-winningest coach in NHL history, with 18 winning seasons in 18 years behind the bench, and two Stanley Cups and two conference final appearances in his first six seasons in Chicago. And Bowman was the first general manager to win two championships in the salary-cap era, deftly plugging holes and building through the draft, trades and free agency after the salary purge of 2010. Given how this team was constructed and run, another Cup would cement their legacies. But an early exit, and their reputations could take a hit. Here are some examples why: — Bowman loved Leddy. Quenneville was never really sold. It showed in the ice time Leddy got as the games got bigger — he barely played in the last three games of the 2013 Stanley Cup Final, and was a healthy scratch against his hometown Minnesota Wild for a game in the second round last season. So when Bowman had to move a pending-free-agent defenseman to get under the cap just before the season began, he chose to move Leddy instead of Johnny Oduya. Leddy was younger and fetched a solid prospect in defenseman Ville Pokka. But Leddy flourished on Long Island, earning a seven-year contract extension, while Oduya struggled mightily. Oduya’s late-season resurgence — he’s been excellent since coming back from an injury on March 12 — has greatly softened the blow, but Leddy’s speed and skill has been sorely missed, particularly on the power play. It’s no secret that the old-school Quenneville and the new-school Bowman haven’t always seen eye to eye on personnel decisions. In 2012, Quenneville was not pleased when Bowman had director of player development Barry Smith work with the Hawks’ power play in practices. And multiple sources said that Bowman was unhappy last month when Quenneville benched Teuvo Teravainen and Bryan Bickell in favor of scrappier Daniel Carcillo and Andrew Desjardins in a 4-1 loss to Philadelphia on March 25, during one of the worst stretches of the season for the Hawks. Winning, of course, has a way of smoothing everything over. And sources say other than that incident, their relationship has been solid over the past two seasons. — The Hawks were universally considered winners at the trade deadline, as Bowman used the salary-cap space freed up by Patrick Kane’s injury to land former all-star defenseman Kimmo Timonen and the top rental forward on the market, Antoine Vermette. But they’ve combined for just three assists since, and Vermette, stunningly, appears to be a healthy scratch for Game 1. Bowman was reluctant to give up a first-round pick for Carolina’s Sekera, and instead used the 2015 first-rounder (along with Klas Dahlbeck) on Vermette. He sent a second-rounder and a fourth-rounder to Philadelphia for Timonen, who is still working his way back to game shape after missing 10 months with blood clots. Quenneville’s usage of Vermette hasn’t helped. Adding the veteran center should have boosted the Hawks’ depth up the middle, rivaling the Kings of last season, and freeing up Andrew Shaw to play wing, where he’s at his best. Instead, Quenneville has used Vermette at wing, and Shaw at center. Meanwhile, at the 2014 deadline, Bowman sent a second-round pick to the Coyotes for David Rundblad, who’s been basically a non-factor for the Hawks ever since. — Kevin Hayes never explicitly said why he didn’t sign with the Hawks, who drafted him in the first round in 2010, last summer. It was believed to be because he didn’t have a guaranteed roster spot with the Hawks, and maybe also because he wasn’t happy the Hawks dealt his brother, Jimmy, to Florida. No rookie should ever be guaranteed a roster spot, so it’s hard to blame Bowman for Hayes getting away. But the fact that Hayes has scored 19 goals while playing a major role for the Rangers, the best team in hockey, makes it sting even more. — Is Brandon Pirri one that got away? The longtime Hawks farmhand scored 22 goals this season, including a spectacular 13 in his last 17 games. That’s offense the Hawks surely could have used this season. But it’s unlikely Pirri ever would have had a chance under Quenneville. For one thing, Pirri’s attitude rubbed many in the Hawks organization the wrong way. For another, Quenneville puts a premium on defense, especially from his centers — even Vermette was surprised at how much responsibility Hawks centers have — and Pirri never made much of an effort to adapt. It’s hard to imagine Pirri’s historically lopsided stat line this season — 22 goals, just two assists — happening in Chicago. Still, all the Hawks got for him was a fourth-rounder and a sixth-rounder. Of course, it’s only fair to look at the flip side. Quenneville, often criticized for his reluctance to play younger players, was largely proven right about Jeremy Morin, and gave rookie Trevor van Riemsdyk a major role before his knee injury (as he did with Brandon Saad, Andrew Shaw and Marcus Kruger before him). Bowman managed to get a third-round pick for Brandon Bollig, plucked Scott Darling out of obscurity, and made a savvy signing in college free agent Kyle Baun, who figures to play a major role next season. And he’ll be sure to re-sign Saad this summer at any cost. Plus, the Rockford IceHogs are stacked with talent ready to make the next step after the next cap purge this summer. The Hawks are hardly in dire straits, and the future remains bright. But whatever happens this spring, Quenneville and Bowman will get much of the credit — or the blame.
ESPN Chicago @ESPNChiHawks Predators lines: Forsberg-Ribeiro-Smith, Wilson-Fisher-Neal, Cullen-Jarnkrok-Stalberg/Santorelli, Bourque-Gaustad-Beck.
Preds fan here. Pretty surprised Fisher is playing tonight... He only skated for 15 minutes yesterday
There were on the 1st line for probably the first 1/2 of the season. Then Lavy wanted to even out the scoring (this line was top 3 in the NHL at the time in scoring and our 2nd line wasnt really producing) so he moved Neal to 2nd line. Personally, I'd like to see that line back together... But, I dont get paid to be an NHL coach
I can't this weekend but if it gets to game 7 I plan on taking that monday off. My buddies in Nashville are huge Preds fans.
Do any of you guys listen to Merek v Wyshynski? They've comments several times Bowman has tried/wanted to fire Q, but he keeps winning and can't. I always dismissed that because it sounded silly but that article fran posted gives a little credence to that.
Good, we need as few Hawks fans to make the trip as possible. Its going to be probably 25% red, if not more, in Bridgestone tonight.
ESPN Chicago @ESPNChiHawks Full lines: Saad-Toews-Hossa, Versteeg-Richards-Kane, Bickell-Shaw-Vermette-Sharp, Nordstrom-Kruger-Desjardins-Teravainen.
There's definitely a disconnect between the two but its nothing like the Paxson-Thibs relationship. The only way you get rid of Q is if you are bringing in Babcock.