Blackhawks-Blues Game 7 And Series Recap: For Blackhawks Fans Eyes Only
That close. That close to tying the game. That close to another run at the Stanley Cup. As the most overrated coach in sports history would say “quarter of an inch…”. The fact that the Blackhawks did the old 7-10 post-to-post split twice in a series where 6 of the 7 games were decided by one goal is incredible. That was the difference in the series, but that’s not why the Blackhawks lost. And there is a difference. In hockey, the margin for error is so small, but that’s why they play 7 games. You don’t win or lose a series on a bad bounce. Yes, the series probably looks different if Ladd’s post to post in Game 4 goes in, or if the shot from Seabrook goes in last night, but the series also looks different if the Blackhawks took care of the puck better, did a better job containing Tarasenko, or if they won more battles along the boards. The Blues deserved to win that series.
I’m going through the Five Stages Of Grief right now and at the time of this blog I’m currently here:
So that’s going to be the overall tone of this blog, but because I’m also emotionally unstable right now I can’t guarantee that I won’t jump around to bargaining or depression.
–Here we go…
All year long all I heard was how bad TVR is and how Gustafsson is better. Coach Q is a moron for not playing Gustafsson blah blah blah. Well this is exactly why he doesn’t fucking play you idiots. I’ve said all season that there is a high boom-or-bust factor with Gustafsson and we saw it exemplified perfectly on the final goal.
1) TERRIBLE decision to try to skate the puck into the neutral zone with no support because the Hawks were in a change
2) HAVE to bail out and just chip it into the offensive zone instead of skating right into a defender for a turnover
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3) Can’t do a fucking ONE HANDED FLY BY ON THE WALL
4) CANT BE SLOW GETTING BACK TO THE FRONT OF THE NET AFTER YOU’VE FUCKED UP THREE TIMES IN TEN SECONDS
Look, I’m not pinning the entire series on Gustafsson. He’s a fine young player, but the people who were saying he’s better than TVR are idiots. That’s the main point of all this. If you look at the Blackhawks roster, not having a capable 3rd pair of D is what really cost them. And you can blame the Salary Cap and Dallas GM Jim Nil for that. The Blackhawks were over the cap last summer and everyone knew they had to trade Patrick Sharp. The problem was that Jim Nil fleeced the Blackhawks for Stephen Johns and then made it impossible for the Blackhawks to re-sign Johnny Oduya. If the Blackhawks had Keith, Seabrook, Hjalmarsson, TVR, Oduya, and Johns as their 6 D then they probably win the Cup again. The Hawks were caught in a transition period where Roszival was too old, and Pokka wasn’t quite ready. They needed Johns/Oduya to bridge the gap between past and future in the 3rd pair. The Hawks were unable to get around not having depth on D and the Blues took advantage. There will be a Stan Bowman performance review blog in the coming weeks, but hindsight is 20/20 and I do think he made the best deal available. The Blackhawks were just in a vulnerable position.
–Corey Crawford is a gangster. Once again he was incredible in the playoffs. He was the Blackhawks best player. Sensational saves every night, a leader, and at times an emotional spark plug. He still doesn’t get the respect he deserves, but he’s one of the best goalies in the NHL and he’s a foxhole guy. There are goalies who make it look better sometimes, but with the game on the line there is nobody I would rather have. Team Canada better do the right thing at the World Cup and give the goalie with the biggest balls a chance to make that net his.
–Everyone knows that old cliche about playoff hockey. “Your best players have to be your best players”. Well Tarasenko definitely was, but I’m not sure you can say the same for Toews and Kane. They didn’t play bad by any stretch. They impact the game in so many ways, but they combined for one goal in the series. If you told me before the series that 19+88 would score one goal, I would’ve predicted Blues in 5. Again, they both played very well, but those guys need to be pumping goals in for the Blackhawks to win. It just didn’t happen. The first time I got really nervous last night was when Elliott robbed Kane on the one-timer in the 2nd period. Kane didn’t elevate the puck and Elliott made a very athletic play, but Kane roofs that for a goal and does an awesome celebration 99 times out of 100. I was stunned when that didn’t go in. Rough way for the NHL scoring champion to end his season.
–If people were concerned about Marian Hossa aging…don’t be. He showed up big time in this series and the Ladd-Kruger-Hossa line was the Blackhawks most dangerous line all night. He’s not going to be consistently explosive over the course of an 82 game season like he was back in 2010, but his legs still have serious jump when it matters. I think his game will age like Jagr’s has. He’s going to use that big ass to shield the puck, and that big brain to get scoring chances.
–Teravainen has to be one of the most frustrating players in recent memory. The Blackhawks needed him to take a step this year and it just didn’t happen. It appeared that he got benched for a spell in the 2nd period after a BRUTAL first period. He’s a young player with a ton of talent so it’s wayyyyyy too early to throw dirt on him and I don’t want to pick on him too much, but I used to think he’d be a 60-70 point guy and now I don’t know what to make of him. Next year is obviously a make or break season for him with his contract coming up.
–On the flip side…I’m all in on Panik. He’s an RFA this summer. Really hope the Blackhawks find a way to keep him around on the cheap because he looks like a real player who has the ability to play up and down the line up and every team needs guys like that.
I’ve always said the Blues were a knockoff version of the Blackhawks. Which is a backhanded way to say that they are a worthy adversary. They got it done in this series, and if they are able to keep focused mentally after slaying their dragon I think they’re the best team left in the playoffs. That team has everything they need. I’ve talked about my hockey crush on Parayko, and how great Pietrangelo is. They have lots of sand with Upshall, Backes, Brouwer, and Brodziak. I love their depth up front with Berglund, Schwartz, Fabbri, Steen, Lehtera and Statsny. And they have one SUPERSTAR who in the words of a murderer is “pissed off for greatness”
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When Tarasenko got all pissy with Hitchcock after Game 6 because he wasn’t on the ice enough, that was the thing that sold me on Tarasenko forever. He wants it so badly. You can tell. He’s not done having big playoff moments in this series. Dallas is a fun team and they score a lot, but the Blues are built to win in the playoffs. They’re built just like the Blackhawks. Again, it’ll be a big test to see if they can refocus after a series like that, but on paper I like the Blues to beat Dallas. Elliott may not be a Vezina guy, but if you look at who is left in the playoffs, Holtby is the only guy in that category. This is the Blues best chance to get their first Stanley Cup. I hate them, but I respect them in a weird way that still makes me want to puke.
As for the Blackhawks…a lot of questions have to be answered this summer. Once again they’ll have difficult roster decisions to make because of the salary cap. Shaw, Ladd, Panik, and Weise are all free agents and the Blackhawks obviously need to address their 3rd pair. Having said that, this team isn’t going anywhere. Kane and Toews just completed year 1 of 8 year contracts, Keith is locked up, Hjalmarsson is locked up, Seabrook, Hossa, Anisimov, Kruger…all here for the forseeable future. Panarin will be back. This team will always be a Stanley Contender with this core. The Dynasty is still reigning and don’t you think otherwise. It’s not over, it’s just on pause at the moment.