Blackhawks vs Preds Game 6 And Series Recap
http://video.blackhawks.nhl.com/videocenter/console?id=816015&catid=894
And….exhale. The series was a roller coaster, but the Blackhawks ended up where we thought they would…in the the 2nd round. The Blackhawks were fortunate to get a 1st round matchup where they didn’t have to be perfect. The Blackhawks have plenty of work to do before they can win the Cup, but their talent, experience, and coaching were the difference against a young and hungry Preds team.
–This is the strangest goaltending situation I can remember. The Blackhawks are the first team in NHL history to have two goalies register wins in relief appearances in one series. Just like Crawford getting pulled in Game 1, Darling getting yanked was an indictment of the team’s play in front of him, not of his. Crawford answered the bell just as Darling did in Game 1. After Game 2 when I called for the Hawks to go to Darling, I said we hadn’t seen the last of Crawford. To Crow’s credit, he seized his 2nd(third?) chance in this series. Once he settled in, he was very solid and shut out the Preds the rest of the way. The relationship between Darling and Crawford seems to be very healthy. Character matters in hockey, and it’s clear these guys really support each other.
The old saying about Quarterbacks and Goalies is “If you have two then you don’t have one”. Well I don’t think that’s the case here in Chicago. Both goalies have shown capable of winning in the playoffs. There isn’t a wrong choice between Crawford and Darling, but I would go back to the guy who was your starter, all-star, and your Stanley Cup Champion. I love Darling. I would be very comfortable with him as a no.1 based on his body of work, his size, and his athleticism. His emergence gives Stan some flexibility this summer if he wants to shed Crawford’s $6M cap hit, but for now it’s Crow’s job to lose…again. Or just treat it like Squirts and sub goalies mid way through the 2nd. Only do that if Crawford and Darling’s mom’s start to cry about playing time though.
–Kimmo Timonen has to either play more or not play
I’ve said this in basically every blog so far. Another 8 minutes and change for Kimmo. I love Kimmo. I am rooting for him. And maybe his presence on the bench and in the locker room has value. Maybe he’s still playing himself into shape and learning the Hawks’ system. I honestly don’t know. Coach Q obviously values his 8-10 minutes per game more than whatever he’d get from Rundblad or Cumiskey. Kimmo is basically the old guy in the office that’s semi-retired. Comes in a few times a week. Gives you advice. Plays golf with clients. But work is more of a hobby than a profession. Say it with me “In Q I Trust, In Q I Trust, In Q I Trust”.
The Hawks are essentially playing with 5 defensemen at the moment. Roszival was solid again last night. Basically Roszival played solid at home and was a liability on the road. And that comes down to the home team having the last change. Coach Q can manage Rozsival’s matchups and zone starts more effectively at home and that has been the difference. Playing him with Duncan Keith almost exclusively helps mask some of Roszivals deficiencies as well.
–I think it’s time we start asking if Duncan Keith is even a human. He was unreal last night. Gaming winning goal, unreal in transition both offensively and defensively, and played at game high 28 minutes. He’s a freak. He has Lance Armstrong on steroids endurance. He’s super man. There’s no defenseman in the league I’d rather have. Elite skater, strong on his skates, offensively gifted, and he just works and works and works. In the 3rd period when everyone else seems to start slowing down, Keith gets stronger. He’s a freak and will have his #2 hanging from the United Center rafters in 30 years or whenever he decides he wants to stop playing.
–Game 6 was probably the most well rounded game for the Hawks forwards all series. They got good performances from all four lines. That’s what they’ll need to get beyond the 2nd round and take a serious run at the Cup. Richards and Kane really showed signs of life. Kane finally looked confident with the puck on his stick. He looked like the Patrick Kane we saw pre-injury for stretches last night and that is BAD news for the rest of the league. If the Hawks have two lines that cause headaches, nobody can really matchup. They need to have the balance in their lines that forces the opponent to choose how they want to die.
I am really glad the series ended the way it did. Good, hard, but clean series for the most part. No major injuries. Survive and advance. Now Nashville can go back to being my favorite city to visit in America. Full marks to the Preds. They competed hard every night even after losing their Captain and best player, Shea Weber. The Central Division is going to be so tough going forward its not even funny. The Jets and Preds are only getting better, the Wild and Blues are some of the top teams in the league already, and you’d have to expect the Avalanche to bounce back as well. The Central is the toughest division in sports, but the Hawks are still the alpha. Now it’s time to kick back, root for collateral damage in the Blues-Wild series. 12 more wins. Viva La Hawks