WC Playoffs Round 1: St. Louis Blues vs Chicago Blackhawks (Blackhawks win 4-2).

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by puckluck2

Is this the Pens thread?

obviously not
I would have said second best then
maybe

[Stay Golden]

To be down 2-0 in the series and respond by stringing together 4 straight to take the series is pretty impressive push back by the Hawks players and Quenneville. Toews is one heck of a Captain.

[Machiavelli]

Suck it, Blues

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by Stay Golden

Toews is one heck of a Captain.

Exactly.

Has won U17 gold, two world junior gold, one world championship gold, two olympic golds (was best forward in 2010) and two Stanley Cups (both since Sid won his last)
Toews is only 25 years old.

If there is a better hockey player in the world today, make your case then puckluck, or whoever...

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Stay Golden

To be down 2-0 in the series and respond by stringing together 4 straight to take the series is pretty impressive push back by the Hawks players and Quenneville. Toews is one heck of a Captain.

The Blues don't have go to guys like Toews and Kane and it showed. Another year and another playoff collapse

[N-E-B]

Originally Posted by Husky

I don't agree. Malkin is a franchise player, Oshie and Berglund aren't even legit 1st line players.

Berglund isn't but Oshie is. Malkin is obviously way better but I think Oshie would help Pittsburgh a ton.

[Dion]

[N-E-B]

Originally Posted by EldrickOnIce

Exactly.

Has won U17 gold, two world junior gold, one world championship gold, two olympic golds (was best forward in 2010) and two Stanley Cups (both since Sid won his last)
Toews is only 25 years old.

If there is a better hockey player in the world today, make your case then puckluck, or whoever...

Crosby is far and away the better player. Chicago has a way deeper team than Puttsburgh and they won more cups because of it. Toews is amazing, but no one is better than Crosby.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Stay Golden

To be down 2-0 in the series and respond by stringing together 4 straight to take the series is pretty impressive push back by the Hawks players and Quenneville. Toews is one heck of a Captain.

Well the Hawks could have won both of those first two games if they weren't running around like individuals and taking selfish penalties. I believe after the 2nd game they realized that they weren't going to be handed a series win and started playing sound hockey to which they are simply the better overall team.

The Blues are a really good team but the quality of the Western Conference is such that if you don't have an elite forward on your roster you aren't likely going to be able to win 3 straight playoff series to get to the Cup. The have some good forwards but not a single game breaker in the lineup. That has to change if they are ever going to take the next step.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by N-E-B

Crosby is far and away the better player. Chicago has a way deeper team than Puttsburgh and they won more cups because of it. Toews is amazing, but no one is better than Crosby.

I would take Toews over Crosby on a talented team. I simply think he's more clutch and a better leader. IMO he's the best captain the NHL has seen since Mark Messier. Since winning the cup last Crosby hasn't really taken over any series or been clutch for the Penguins when their back is against the wall.

On a lesser talented team I would take Crosby to make up for talent deficiency. He's going to get more individual points and make some average line mates look better.

The Hawks are proof that Toews on a talent deep team trumps Crosby and a handful of talented players as they have won 2 cups to the Penguins 1.

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by FlamesFanInOilCountry

The Blues seem to fit the model for big and truculent (CP Burke Buzzword), but they haven't seem to have filled in some top end skill. I hope that Burke watches a series like this sees that you need to have some pure skill guys inserted with big power fowards.

I don't want to give the eulogy before the end of the game here, but I was hoping that the Blues could beat the Hawks as St. Louis fans have been pretty patient for a proper rebuild.

Soft on Defense with Bouwmeester, Pietroangelo , Shattenkirk and Leopold.

Jackman and Polak are not truculent enough their own.

They pick Roy as their talented forward and picked wrong.

They were built correctly and as soon as John Davidson moved out they took a big step backwards trading for Bouwmeester.

The Flames started on the right track dumping JBo.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

Soft on Defense with Bouwmeester, Pietroangelo , Shattenkirk and Leopold.

Jackman and Polak are not truculent enough their own.

They pick Roy as their talented forward and picked wrong.

They were built correctly and as soon as John Davidson moved out they took a big step backwards trading for Bouwmeester.

The Flames started on the right track dumping JBo.

Ludicrous statement. Bouwmeester was one of the best trade line pickups in years for any team. What exactly did they lose in that deal that would have made a difference today to make that a step backwards? Not a single roster player and a 1st round pick that's not going to be part of their future for years.

Bouwmeester has been good for them and defense is far from an issue in fact they are amongst the deepest in the league. They just need a game breaker or two on offence.

[Azure]

Bouwmeester is a good addition but their D core is not tough enough.

But that didn't lose them the series. They don't have an elite forward. Good depth, but not an elite player. Even the 04 Flames had an elite player.

[$ven27]

I know hindsight is always 20/20, but St.Louis taking Erik Johnson over Toews in the 06 draft.. Imagine the. Blues with Toews vs Shattenkirk(acquired in Johnson trade), and then imagine where Chicago would be without Toews.

[Derek Sutton]

Originally Posted by $ven27

I know hindsight is always 20/20, but St.Louis taking Erik Johnson over Toews in the 06 draft.. Imagine the. Blues with Toews vs Shattenkirk(acquired in Johnson trade), and then imagine where Chicago would be without Toews.

Or if Pittsburgh had taken Toews.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by $ven27

I know hindsight is always 20/20, but St.Louis taking Erik Johnson over Toews in the 06 draft.. Imagine the. Blues with Toews vs Shattenkirk(acquired in Johnson trade), and then imagine where Chicago would be without Toews.

Yep. Just goes to show how critical misses can be when you are picking top 5. The Blues played a big role in the Hawks recent success.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Derek Sutton

Or if Pittsburgh had taken Toews.

I wonder how that would have worked given Toews is more of the passionate leader and natural captain. It would have likely been like team Canada where they felt obligated to give the captaincy to the most talented player on the team that's a captain on his own team despite the fact that Toews is the best captain in the NHL.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

The Hawks are proof that Toews on a talent deep team trumps Crosby and a handful of talented players as they have won 2 cups to the Penguins 1.

Technically that would only be proof if Crosby had already been the captain of that same deep Hawks team and failed to captain them to any Stanley Cups, then Crosby was traded for Toews and Toews led that same deep Hawks team to two Stanley cups.

Otherwise, how do you know that the Hawks wouldn't have had those same two Stanley Cups if you replace Toews with Crosby. I would suspect they they'd still have them, myself.

[hwy19man]

Originally Posted by direwolf

Ok, CBC. We get it. Chicago is freakin' awesome and the Blues are terrible, blah blah blah, yadda, yadda, yadda.

That is why I am glad I watched the game on NBC instead. Dean Brown puts viewers to sleep.

[Derek Sutton]

Chicago, though they've had a ton of flops in the past 10 years, has just had a lot of luck(?) at the draft, right players at the right time in the case of Kane and Toews. They've also made the right deals at the right time, not being afraid to move key players or assets. Letting Havlat go and signing Hossa, trading Barker for Leddy, signing Campbell, dumping Campbell, picking up Sharp for spare parts. Byfuglien and Bolland were tough calls but apparently the right guys to trade away. They have gotten a lot of luck along the way and really developed their players to; Saad, Shaw, Bickell, Crawford, Hjalmarson, Kruger.