Ahead of last year's ace after 53GP?

[hawksfan50]

On standings gs points yes ...70 compared to 66 last season..and Tracey Meyers this morning g on comcastsportsnetchicago.com puts forth other comparative numbers to indicate the team is better..But not compared are possession numbers (I donot know if anyone has the comparisons after 53 GP,but the eyeball test says we are down on that ...by how much I am not certain) ...also while touting CC's 7 shut-outs to this point over just 1 to this point last season for him the opposing teams shutting out the Blackhawks to this 53 game played mark this season vs. last season is not compared...not sure what that comparison shows but my hu check is that it seems to me we have been shu-out a lot more this season to this number of games played..IF this is true and If the possession numbers are down then while we have more points,can we really call the team better?

We may be winning a bit more But in a totally different way...whether this makes us a better contender for tge Cup or not is tge debatable question.

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[HawkeyFanatic]

1 issue between the teams over the last year is shot suppression.

This years team is giving up way too many shots

There is also a possession issue with the top line, but I hope that will get remedied when we get a top LW to go on the 1st line.. pushing Shaw to the 3rd and Desi to the 4th.. would make the overall team stronger

 

[LordKOTL]

I think the bigger issue is more consistency on the O side of the puck than shot suppression. Crawford this year thus far has proven he can handle the amount of pucks shot at him.

 

[x Tame Impala]

They gave up a ton of shots last year too right?

Like others have already said, I'm mostly concerned with the offense outside of Kane's line. Lack of scoring depth is a great way to not win a Cup as we all know.

 

[Fortyfives]

Crawford is the difference this year. Oh and that line with a rookie, 3C and party guy.

 

[b1e9a8r5s]

They gave up a ton of shots last year too right?

Like others have already said, I'm mostly concerned with the offense outside of Kane's line. Lack of scoring depth is a great way to not win a Cup as we all know.

Hawks gave up 30.2 shots per game last year compared to 30.6 this year. Both are the 9th most in the league.

They got 33.9 shots per game last season (1st) vs 30.5 shots this year (10th).

 

[BobbyJet]

Crawford is the difference this year. Oh and that line with a rookie, 3C and party guy.

Definitely. The number of quality shots against Hawks are up (significantly) this season, which was expected given the high player turnover and the influx of youth. Crawford has responded well. The unexpected is the impact of Panarin and AA, with Gus coming along nicely as well. This team has the makings to only get better as crunch time approaches.

 

[BK]

Hawks gave up 30.2 shots per game last year compared to 30.6 this year. Both are the 9th most in the league.

They got 33.9 shots per game last season (1st) vs 30.5 shots this year (10th).

Sharp shot the puck a lot.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Sometimes we look better than last year's team in my mind's eye, sometimes we look worse.

Then again, it's hard to combat the confirmation bias that's inherent in memories. I'm sure that each and every one of us overemphasizes the positives of 2010, 2013, and 2015 in retrospect compared to 2011, 2012, and 2014 due to the fact that the ending jubilation for the first three is on the opposite end of the spectrum from the ending disappointment of the latter three. That inherently colors of judgement of past teams when it comes to a comparison standpoint. There was a lot of good in the three seasons that didn't result in a Cup win and a lot of negatives in the seasons that did net us a Cup, both of which get a bit glossed over in the grand scheme of things.

 

[tdfxman]

1 issue between the teams over the last year is shot suppression.

This years team is giving up way too many shots

There is also a possession issue with the top line, but I hope that will get remedied when we get a top LW to go on the 1st line.. pushing Shaw to the 3rd and Desi to the 4th.. would make the overall team stronger

This to infinity. Getting ONE guy for the 1LW cascades down.

 

[BobbyJet]

1 issue between the teams over the last year is shot suppression.

This years team is giving up way too many shots

There is also a possession issue with the top line, but I hope that will get remedied when we get a top LW to go on the 1st line.. pushing Shaw to the 3rd and Desi to the 4th.. would make the overall team stronger

It comes and goes though. When they are off, they are really off and vice versa. A big part of the issue of giving up quality scoring chances, are in games away from the UC (says my eye test).

I'd bet those numbers on the road are quite a bit worse then at home. Down the stretch, the team needs to play much better away from home where Q can't get his match-ups nearly as often. I'm more concerned about that then Hawks offense, or lack there-of). I can't see the addition of one player making that big of a difference in that regard. Hopefully it's simply a matter of the team gelling.

 

[piteus]

Fiddy - these are legit concerns. By the eyeball test, our overall defense is not as good as last year. Hopefully, we'll pick it up in the 2nd half. Crawford's been the major difference this year ... but he needs more support from the blueline, especially in the playoffs.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Hawks gave up 30.2 shots per game last year compared to 30.6 this year. Both are the 9th most in the league.

They got 33.9 shots per game last season (1st) vs 30.5 shots this year (10th).

Thanks that's what I figured. Not very concerned with regular season shot suppression (as long as it's not horrible). The Hawks prove over and over again that they're "switch flippers" in the playoffs so regular season stats skewed by stinkers in January like 3 of our last 4 games aren't as meaningful to me

 

[zac]

Thanks that's what I figured. Not very concerned with regular season shot suppression (as long as it's not horrible). The Hawks prove over and over again that they're "switch flippers" in the playoffs so regular season stats skewed by stinkers in January like 3 of our last 4 games aren't as meaningful to me

I'm not concerned either. All I want in the regular season is A) stay healthy B) get in the POs and C) show during the season that we can play ELITE hockey against ELITE competition for a stretch. It's not important to dominate ALL year, just to show that you can dominate, so you can assess what you have and what you may need for a playoff run.

So far we have done all of that. Admittedly our defense is a concern, but it's not something that keeps me up at night. As long as Crow stays healthy I don't think it will have to be AS good, as he has been playing at an elite level.

If I could change ONE thing right now, it would be to FINALLY get Q to deploy an attacking aggressive PK. Yeah, the numbers look okay, but we often look shakey and flirt with disaster on the PK. We have HOssa, Toews, Danault, Desi, Kruger, et al that are great with their sticks and are solid defensive players. Having them box down and block shots is the dumbest ****ing thing I've ever seen. We should be attacking the perimeter, stealing pucks, which in turn leads to short-handed chances, easier clears, and more opportunities to change. We are NOT great at clearing pucks from around our net....it's been a weakness of our defense for some time. Why are we trying to block shots when it results in more of these situations? It's asinine. It's also reason 1b or #2 why we lost the Kings series (Doughty feasted off of the perimeter space we gave him).

When it comes to STs Q simply doesn't have a clue.

 

[CoachQ]

Zac, you're hysterical. We have the 4th best power play and the 9th best penalty kill. If Q doesn't have a clue then neither do most of the other coaches in the league, so get your resume together, there may be some openings come year end.

The one thing that does concern me though is our faceoff %. We're much worse this year. This is especially important killing penalties. Too often we get bogged down in our own zone from the start and our penalty killers are out there too long. I know Arnisimov is not real strong on faceoffs and we miss Kruger and Vermette. Danault started out strong but even he's faded a little. I don't even think that Toews has been as dominant as he's been in the past. Hopefully they'll be able to work on this when the schedule lightens up a bit in mid-February.

 

[Killer Boots Man]

Hawks gave up 30.2 shots per game last year compared to 30.6 this year. Both are the 9th most in the league.

They got 33.9 shots per game last season (1st) vs 30.5 shots this year (10th).

Yeah, but their goals per game are actually better this year than last year. 2.75 goals for per game (6th best) this year, versus 2.68 (17th) last year.

A lot of that can be attributed to replacing Sharp (3.4 shots per game, 7% shooting percentage) with Panarin (2.3 shots/game, 14% shooting percentage).

 

[madgoat33]

Yeah, but their goals per game are actually better this year than last year. 2.75 goals for per game (6th best) this year, versus 2.68 (17th) last year.

A lot of that can be attributed to replacing Sharp (3.4 shots per game, 7% shooting percentage) with Panarin (2.3 shots/game, 14% shooting percentage).

I think the point is/was that shots are more indicative of long term success than goals because they occur much more frequently and are thus more resistant to streaks. Correct me if I'm wrong B1

 

[TLEH]

I'm not concerned either. All I want in the regular season is A) stay healthy B) get in the POs and C) show during the season that we can play ELITE hockey against ELITE competition for a stretch. It's not important to dominate ALL year, just to show that you can dominate, so you can assess what you have and what you may need for a playoff run.

So far we have done all of that. Admittedly our defense is a concern, but it's not something that keeps me up at night. As long as Crow stays healthy I don't think it will have to be AS good, as he has been playing at an elite level.

If I could change ONE thing right now, it would be to FINALLY get Q to deploy an attacking aggressive PK. Yeah, the numbers look okay, but we often look shakey and flirt with disaster on the PK. We have HOssa, Toews, Danault, Desi, Kruger, et al that are great with their sticks and are solid defensive players. Having them box down and block shots is the dumbest ****ing thing I've ever seen. We should be attacking the perimeter, stealing pucks, which in turn leads to short-handed chances, easier clears, and more opportunities to change. We are NOT great at clearing pucks from around our net....it's been a weakness of our defense for some time. Why are we trying to block shots when it results in more of these situations? It's asinine. It's also reason 1b or #2 why we lost the Kings series (Doughty feasted off of the perimeter space we gave him).

When it comes to STs Q simply doesn't have a clue.

would have to agree with the bolded. also why nashville's PP against us is so dynamite.

 

[madgoat33]

The last time I felt really good about our PK was when Frolik was still here.

 

[clydesdale line]

The last time I felt really good about our PK was when Frolik was still here.

Yea he and Kruger were dynamic together. I knew pretty much every kill we had was under control with those two. Similar to 2010 when I knew our PK was a threat to score every time Versteeg, Bolland or Sharp were on the ice.

 

[madgoat33]

For some reason, I remember Frolik just suffocating his side of the ice.