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Boy how does their powerplay look now, with the addition of Byram and Kane, not to mention any growth of the young guns that they already have. If Blashill can keep the PK running well and improve the 5 on 5 play, things are going to be interesting for the Hawks.:)
“The Hawks fans and beat writers beat the drum of bringing in a top flight winger, which sure, would be nice, but the hole on D was arguably bigger until some of the young guys actually take that step. The forward group will improve their offensive production when they have a D who can actually read the play offensively, join the rush effectively and make skilled plays to generate offense.”
Bread, this is such an important factor that most pundits and fans don’t realize. If Byram can take the lead for the young D in skating the puck out of the zone and distributing it effectively, their possession time will raise enormously. These young forwards have enough skill to put the puck in the back of the net.
I saw the one clip of Roobroeck skating at the top of the circle with a slight pull-drag wrister of BB. Man, that was quite a shot, reminding me of Matthews. Of course, it was only one clip, and I don’t know if he is consistent with that release, but if he is, I like what I see.
Hopefully the addition of Byram will change the way the Hawks break out of their zone. Byram, Lev, Rinzel, Kaiser, Korchinski and even Vlasic have shown the ability to skate with the puck out of their zone. By doing so if they beat the first fore-checker they change the dynamics of their puck possession by making it easier to get past the red line. No more D to D passes then hoist the puck up for grabs. That’s like punting on second down.
I think the theme is “Bedard needs a PROVEN winger…” Unfortunately as KD has stated great players are hard to come by, especially young ones. My thoughts for that were Knies, Robertson, Pettersson and maybe Kent Johnson, but maybe Davidson doesn’t share my liking for the latter two. So if that’s the case, I can see the Hawks once again, patiently waiting to see what they have in Frondell, Kantserov and Lardis and go from there, which is alright by me, cause I’m going to watch them anyways no matter what.
Mr. Dots I think the difference in KD’s strategy versus say McCrimmon in Vegas or Zito in Florida is that Davidson is seeking long term viability as a Stanley Cup contender vs “we’ll contend now future be damned” approach. I think Davidson was around during the Hawks glory years and saw that the accumulation of talent from the draft catapulted the team towards those cups, only because of the bad timing of the stagnant cap was the Hawks undoing.
KD seems to be very patient and calculating and I’m willing to wait out the process. He seems to be seeking very high-end talent to pair with Bedard and won’t sway to take a lesser talented player, which is good. Don’t buy a high output Camaro when you are saving up for a Ferrari or a Lamborghini. Although I’ve had my ’69 Camaro for over 30 years and I couldn’t think of owning either of those cars. I couldn’t work on them and maintenance must be outrageous. 😉
Wiz, I think we’re used to the old Hockeybuzz format that the posts just get layered in a natural progression. Here I think you have to go back to page 1 each time to see your latest post.
My thoughts regarding pursuing Pettersson was not as a back-up plan, but as a true top 6 talent player type that he wanted to go after. I just thought if KD did have Pettersson in mind with other high-end talents, and with Bedard’s missing the beginning of the season, perhaps that might be the kicker that makes KD pull the trigger. That’s of course like you said that KD sees that Pettersson’s worth trading for and is better than anything in the system and won’t block any of them. Davidson doesn’t seem to make half-assed panic moves, so if he is targeting something, I don’t see him making a fall-back plan as you said at this point.
Luckily the Blackhawks have drafted high character/work ethic type players, so your hope that the kids rally around each other during Bedard’s absence is not at all far-fetched. And I definitely agree with you that the D-corps are going to be much improved than last season. Adding Byram on your top pair has a puck moving threat for the majority of the game, and if Rinzel and/or Levshunov steady their games that will add to your prediction of the Hawks possessing a staunch defensive group.
