Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Hawks Mantra: Wait Until Next Year

April 9, 2019

For the second consecutive year the Chicago Blackhawks failed to reach the playoffs. This is quite the dubious feat when you consider eight of sixteen teams make it to the post season. Things have to get better.

I’m not in favor of firing a coach in mid-season. However, I will give Hawks management the benefit of the doubt in replacing 3 time Stanley Cup winning coach, Joel Quenneville, with minor league coach Jeremy Colliton. While Colliton got to know his players and vice versa, the Hawks went 3-14-3 in his first 20 games. They sunk to the bottom of the standings. Although they managed to get back into the playoff race, in the end they just couldn’t overcome the hole they dug for themselves.

Colliton made some keen moves during the stretch run that almost got them over the hump. The Hawks had one of the poorest power plays in the league. By inserting offensive minded defenseman Erik Gustafson on the point, the power play became one of the league’s best. For years the Hawks have been looking for wingers to pick up Jonathan Toews. Colliton paired him with the Hawks best player, Patrick Kane and both had career years. Second year forward Alex Debrincat was scoring goals in bunches (he would end up with 41). Paired with 21 year old Dylan Strome (acquired for Nick Schmaltz) gave them a second scoring line. They were right on the cusp of taking the final spot when the wings fell off. Back to back home losses to two teams they were chasing, the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars, stunted their push.

Following a road trip that included a 6-3 loss to the last place Los Angeles Kings, the Hawks were running on fumes. However, they got hot and started winning games. With 12 games left they still had an outside chance of grabbing the eighth and final playoff spot. After winning the first two, the Hawks ran out of gas scoring less than three goals in five straight games. After being shut out by Arizona, the season was over.

The major problem for the Hawks was they were second to last in goals allowed. Gustafson may turn out to be a great scorer but his defense is atrocious and the penalty killing units are awful. Aging veterans Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook would possibly be more effective with less minutes. Connor Murphy is their only top notch defenseman. The other young defensemen should improve with more experience.  General Manager Stan Bowman stood pat over last summer. He has ample salary cap and needs to sign defensive minded defensemen.

The Hawks are not far off from being a contending team. They went 18-9-3   in their last thirty games.  If they could have won 5 games during Colliton’s first twenty, they would have made the playoffs this past season. I’m excited about the 2019-20 season with Colliton at the helm. The offense looks solid and Corey Crawford looked great once the rust wore off from his concussion. The defense has to step up.

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