Originally Posted by thefoss1957
Happy New Year all!
Thoughts from a 'Hawk fan.
1. That Smith guy in goal is pretty good! He kept a lot of good chances out when your guys were playing to hold the lead, instead of putting your foot on the throat of a team that was in the middle of a long road trip, playing in front of a career AHL goaltender.
2. If Monahan had ANY confidence in his game it should have been 3-0 after the 1st, instead of 1-0. He just passed up a lot of chances to Ferland, who seemed to be expecting rebound chances instead of passes. Monahan did get a goal, but he had a lot more looks than shots. This, in my experience, is where teammates have to pump him up, and say "just shoot, we have your back."
3. The Flame D covered a very mobile offense pretty darn well. And this includes Forwards covering a very active D, that likes to sneak down the weak side for one-timers. The Flame D only looked shaky when they gave Kane too much time wheeling toward the point off of the half-wall, but, a lot of teams can't cover that either.
4. A very entertaining game, with plenty of pace...give me that over system trap crap any day.
5. I loved Frolik when he was a 'Hawk...hope his recovery goes well...versatile guys that can plug in at any of the 12 Forward spots (even if just for fill-in purposes), PK and PP are gems. He never lacked for effort with us.
6. Am I disappointed that my guys are hovering at the bubble? Sure. But, for much of the year, we have trotted out a young squad. Last night, Glass, Debrincat and Kampf are rooks. Schmaltz, Hinastroza, Kempny, Oesterle, Hartman, and Hayden all have less than 2 full seasons under their belts. And Murphy, Franson, Wingels, and Bouma have only 3 months in Q's systems. So expecting a powerhouse, just because of Toews, Kane, Seabrook, Keith, and Saad is unrealistic. And Panik, well, I expect that he would be moving up the "available at trade deadline" list.
7. As far as complaints about Gulutzan, this is par for the course with HCs...Heck, we've got the 2nd all time winning Coach with 3 SCs for us on his watch, and there are a LOT of knuckleheads screaming in Chicago for a coaching change, because we ARE on the bubble, as if a new coach can make this mix of very young with Toews/Kane/Keith an instant juggernaut.
8. Thanks again to the fine folk here a CP, it is always a pleasure to discuss pucks with you guys, and again, Happy New Year.
Edit: If things are looking difficult for your team or my team, just remember, our teams haven't had the bevy of 1st overall picks that a certain team that trails our guys has had! That is always amusing!
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