BREAKING: The Blackhawks Have Won A Hockey Game

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The last three weeks have felt like a lifetime. It’s been 20 days since a Blackhawks victory and the team FINALLY got a W. All I’ve said since September is that I want the team to play hard and I want to have fun being a Blackhawks fan. Even though the game was ugly, a win is a win is a win is a WIN and winning is FUN. Winning brings joy. As much as the team needed a win, I needed one too. I am so tired of being negative because the management of the organization has compromised the on-ice product. Even though I’m unhappy with them, I still want everything to work out and last night for the first time in a long time…it did.

–A POWER PLAY GOAL(and some noticeable adjustments)

I talk about the 1-3-1 setup a LOT because that’s what the Blackhawks and most teams run. I don’t like it for the Blackhawks(as I have said roughly 10 million times), but last night was nearly the optimal 131 personnel for the Blackhawks in my humble, expert, opinion. When you have Patrick Kane you need to give him options. He’s the QB operating from the right side and the best way to threaten is to have power right shot one-time options at the top and the opposite side of the set-up. That’s what the Blackhawks did last night with Jokiharju up top and Seabrook far side.

Having Jokiharju at the top is good because he is an elite skater. You really want your point man in this set up to be able to cover a lot of ground quickly while walking the blue line. He has to be able to provide support and a release for the perimeter guys, and also if there’s a turnover you need that guy to get on his horse and get back quickly. Jokiharju can certainly do that while also providing a threatening right-shot one-time option.

The reason Seabrook works on the opposite wing in the 1-3-1 is because he has that BOOMING one-time right shot ability. When you look across the NHL at PPs that really work they have a guy who can hammer it from that spot. Whether it’s Laine, Byfuglien, Ovechkin, Subban, Stamkos, etc…they can all FIRE that puck from over there. Under the Dineen run PP the Hawks had tried Schmaltz and Debrincat over there. While Debrincat has a FANTASTIC shot, it’s effective because it’s deceptive, not because it’s powerful. When you’re shooting from a largely fixed position from distance that shot needs some serious MPH to beat NHL goalies. That’s not Debrincat’s strength. I’d love to see Debrincat in the heart position in this unit, replacing Schmaltz. He’s so good at finding dead areas and creating lanes. He has a lighting quick release and he’s a willing shooter. He’d be PERFECT as the slot man for Kane.

Then you could shift Schmaltz to the 2nd unit and he’s the quarterback there, but you run it mostly from the other side.

and BANG…there’s PP 2.

Corey Crawford Looked Like Corey Crawford

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You could tell Crawford was locked in early. He was square all night. Never over-extended in his slides. It was the classic Corey Crawford game. THAT is the goalie we all were hoping to see. The Blackhawks did a very good job defensively, but we anticipated Crawford being able to steal some games for this team over the course of the year. Everyone was counting on it. Crawford being a top flight goalie was perhaps enough to get this team back to the playoffs. I don’t know if that’s true, but did the job last night. First shut out in I don’t know how long. A year? Felt great to see our goalie in net again tonight. Hopefully he has found his game and can ride this wave.

Good To Have Gus Back

Forsling played his first game with the Blackhawks and for the first time in a long time you didn’t need to hold your breath when the 3rd pair was on the ice. Forsling skates so well. To the point that it was refreshing to see. His reads are good. He defends both blue lines. Wins races and moves it up quickly. Forsling got almost 15 minutes of 5 on 5 ice time last night and you BARELY noticed him out there…in a good way. It wasn’t a fire drill on the ice like it has been with Davidson/Rutta/Manning in the 3rd pair.

This puts Clownface and Colliton in a tough spot. I wrote about this yesterday, but WHAT ON EARTH do you do with the defense when Murphy is healthy? Murphy skated yesterday before the morning skate. He’s getting close. He is definitely one of the Blackhawks’ best 6 defensemen. You’re not going to carry 9 dmen obviously. So what does Stan do? Waive Davidson, carry 8 defensemen, and then have $4.5M sitting in the press box every night? That is a TOUGH look for a GM of a team that has stated they want to compete. I know Murphy and Forsling started the year on IR, but signing Rutta and Manning to those deals was a BAD decision and I said so at the time. As was doubling Gustafsson’s contract when you only needed to pay him 10% more than his 650k last year in a Qualifying offer. A team with self-inflicted cap moves burning money on two guys who can’t help you win when you have replacement level guys already under contract for under a million dollars. Would the Blackhawks be any worse off if they started the season with Dahlstrom and Hillman in the lineup for the first 15 games? Or even if they gave Boqvist a 9 game audition before sending him to London? Then you have 9M in cap space instead of 5.4M and you can reasonable trade for anyone you want. TOUGH look. I hope and pray that the team just bites the bullet and goes with their top 6 defense based on merit and not using bad contracts to justify ice-time. I would go with the following

Keith-Jokiharju

Forsling-Murphy

Gustafsson-Seabrook

Depth Scoring Is Still A BIG Concern

I don’t mind the idea of loading up with Toews and Kane on the same line. They’ve been good together. They like playing together. It’s a line that you can throw out there and know you’re going to win a shift and I think that’s very important for this team. Schmaltz man…I don’t know. I don’t think the Blackhawks need him on that line with the big boys. I’d rather have a guy who can finish and looks to shoot or a guy who can win battles and retrieve pucks on the forecheck. Let Schmaltz try to carry a lower line because they don’t have much throughout the lineup. Debrincat needs some help. Kahun is fine but I think he’s more of a top 9 guy instead of top 6. Similar theme about mismanagement as above…imagine if the Blackhawks hadn’t gotten Manning, Rutta, and Kunitz and instead they traded for Jeff Skinner?

As a reminder: The Sabres traded Cliff Pu(a mid-level prospect who has 1 assist in 10 games at the AHL level this year), a 2019 2nd round pick, 2020 3rd and 6th round picks. Not exactly a steep price. That trade pissed me off when it happened because the Blackhawks CLEARLY needed forward depth after trading away Hinostroza for cap space, but then didn’t use the cap space at all. That was a deal the Hawks could’ve and should’ve made and it would’ve been even easier to make had they not spent $5.5M total on guys who realistically don’t belong on the team. What makes matters worse is that Skinner has been SENSATIONAL for the Sabres. He already has 20 points in 18 games. Maybe Skinner didn’t want to play in Chicago, but I can’t imagine that’s the case and that’s the only reasonable answer for why he isn’t a Blackhawk.

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The Blackhawks are currently carrying 23 guys so they can’t call anyone up without sending someone down. Alex Fortin was a healthy scratch last night. If he’s not going to play every night then he should be getting ice-time in Rockford. If that is the case then for GOD SAKES, call up Dylan Sikura. He’s the most offensively gift Blackhawk not currently in the NHL. He can help and give them some juice and speed throughout the lineup that they don’t currently have. He’s been good and producing at the AHL level. It’s time. If you’re trying to win(as McDonough and Stan have said) then you need to play your best players and Sikura is one of their best players.

I’m still angry with Stan and John, but I still love the team and what I said all along is still true. If they play as a team and Crawford is a Vezina level goalie then Toews and Kane can drag this team to a wild card spot. It is possible. Everyone did their job last night and they gutted out a much needed home win against a divisional opponent that they should beat. I loved it. I want more of it and I want more of it on Friday night because that is a game the Blackhawks should win too. They should beat the Kings. The Kings stink. Just keep getting better. Keep playing hard. Enjoy watching Kane and let’s see where we end up if Stan doesn’t mess it up. #JoinOrDie