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Surprised at McD signing for only 12.5M. Giving Stan the opportunity to fill in pieces around him the next 2 years. Good for him.
Yes, I know to check the box, and usually I check that post actually posted, but what I’m talking about isn’t just a me thing. There were like about a half dozen additional posts by other users, then I came back a couple hours later and they are all gone. It’s like they restored the database from a backup.
Man, what is with these forums and posts just disappearing? Btw, looks like McDavid just made a statement signing for less to stay in Edmonton. 12.5 Mil for the best player in his prime.
Grzelcyk certainly leaves a lot to be desired on the defensive end. All in all, it was a somewhat lackluster preseason. Nazar and Dach were the bright spots.
Glad to see the season starting up, should be exciting. Just seems like the team has a distance to go to be comfortable in Blashill’s systems.
IMO it’s shaping up that we’ll see both Greene and Moore sent down. I think Joey Anderson will get sent down through waivers once healthy. I think Slaggert will get slotted in on line 3 and Lafferty on line 4. Reichel will probably stick around unless traded or injury gets him back in or he gets a shot in the lineup.
To me, they still have Bertuzzi in the top 6 when he isn’t playing up (last season) to the level of a top 6 guy. Plays small for his size and unless he is fed backdoor goals by more skilled players, doesn’t accomplish much. If he doesn’t improve I hope they send him a message by moving him down the lineup and giving someone else his spot in the top 6.
The Detroit goals were basically.
1) Bad turnover with Bedard carrying the puck over the attacking blueline followed up by a bad pinch by Murphy which resulted in odd man rush against. It was a couple mistakes that you don’t want to see come regular season and the two Hawks back EDM and Burakovsky were in a tough spot, but also didn’t manage to do much either.
2) Breakdown of coverage left a Redwing wide open in the slot as they moved the puck around and behind the net.
3) End of a powerplay and Rinzel got outworked by a fresh Redwing just on the ice (I believe he came out of the box) as he stripped Rinzel of the puck and set up a goal on the rush.
All in all, the Hawks are still adjusting to the new scheme but we are seeing the odd rookie mistakes or mental errors. Overall, it’s only 4 games in the preseason (small small sample) but they are still playing like a bottom 5 defensive team. (so far) I’m curious to see how they are playing after the first 15 games or so.
The Hawks speed and skill from the young forwards is really starting to show. Moore, Nazar, Reichel for example in the recent games. Coach Frenchy hit the nail on the head with the top 6 starting to actually create match up problems. The extra speed and the added maturity of the young forwards makes a big difference. Exciting times!
Hey Rico. I tried quoting you, but it got lost in the ether. Regarding del Mastro.
I must be seeing something different. I really like del Mastro, but I’ve seen a very tentative and unsure player in the games he’s played. He’s made some good plays for sure, but he’s been slow on passes and decisions. He worked so hard in Rockford to make quick decisions and drive the puck the other way, it’s been kind of disappointing to see him tentative. Looks like he’s getting this game off along with Murphy.
Pretty much the expected starting lineup playing tonight aside from the Dickinson/Lafferty/Mikheyev line. Lardis, Spellacy, and Savoie playing tonight (not sure on what lines).
He definitely got caught out of position and was exposed a few times pretty badly in that last game. IMO he is only kind of average mobility and quickness so it’s gonna be more about that decision making and experience to help him avoid the pitfalls.
I’m personally not sold on Levshunov making the team out of camp (he might make it but I don’t know that he is ready) as he was showing a lot of rough edges still IMO. I thought Crevier, Del Mastro, Rinzel has a good game against the Wings. KK was only okay. Kaiser/Levshunov as a pair generated some offense, but had a lot of struggles as well.
Levshunov/KK might both end up playing AHL hockey again to start the season and nothing wrong with that based on their age as some of the youngest D the Hawks have at the pro level. D-men take time. Even Rinzel seems to have a fair bit to iron out after his college experience (still also so young). I don’t see the Hawks selling on any of those three at this stage.
Really great to see the young guys you expect to be good looking good to start the rookie camp. With the amount of draft picks the Hawks have made in recent years, we are really starting to see the swell of talent coming into the NHL level. I really like the unknown factor of who will surprise and earn a spot.
One thing I think people forget too, is just how fast some of these kids change from ages 18-19-20 etc.. A guy that was maybe a step behind or lacked strength might come in from summer with significant improvements. It can feel like it happens in a blink of an eye. Exciting times to be a Hawks fan as they probably start to finally move the needle with the rebuild a bit here.
Here’s a comment I made to a Frenchy article about Bertuzzi:
Bertuzzi was a “do something” signing.
He was an erratic knucklehead all season, same as he’s always been.
It’s tough to say this about a $5.5mm player, but they need to put him in the right situations so he can succeed.
He needs to remain on the PP, because he does create some confusion around the net.
But for heaven’s sake, keep him off Bedard’s line.
Just in his time w/Bedard before Xmas, I saw him fail to finish a good 7 or 8
open looks Bedard served him. Whiffed, shanked, missed the net, or shot into the goalie’s chest, he did it all.Any improvement he makes from last year would be like finding money on the sidewalk.
I would really love to see him step it up. He has decent hands, he can finish those chances in close, and he tries to battle (gets knocked on his rear a lot) but it would be good to see him just bring a more complete game a little bit. Or maybe if things go well he can be delegated to 3rd line.
