GDT: Blackhawks vs Wings again ... but on their ice

[No Fun Shogun]

Alright, let's talk about the team/game and not each other.

That being said, if your first reaction to any win is to get annoyed at people getting happy, maybe take a step back and just ignore the topic.

 

[LordKOTL]

Now that was what I liked to see

 

[Hawkaholic]

Q usually hates D that make mistakes that lead to Goals. I don't understand his love for Oesterle in this case. Last 2 games completly misplayed Goals against. Kempny would have been benched for 30 games.
And note, I have nothing against Oesterle or want him benched. Just another showing of Q and his crushes.

I don't blame Oesterle for either play, really. The one against Toronto there were 2 guys right near the net and he was the only one there. Anisimov was near Kadri, and then skated away from him as he got the pass. Glass also needs to poke check the puck there, or make himself bigger in the net as he was sitting on his goal line.

Last night, Oesterle again had to check 2 guys out front, he had to cover the guy who was high (Tatar?), as well as Mantha out front. He was caught between the two. There is no easy decision on either play for the Dman there.

Plus, who else should be out there on the PK?
Murphy and Kempny was the 1st pairing.
Do you want Seabrook out there? Or Gustafsson? Not anymore ideal than Oesterle. .

 

[Toews2Bickell]

I don't get how Q can have a crush on Oesterle. He scratched him for like 30 games in a row and saw him every day at practice. Then Oesterle gets his shot due to injuries and Q all of a sudden plays him 20+ minutes a night? Just doesn't add up to me.

 

[Hawkaholic]

I don't get how Q can have a crush on Oesterle. He scratched him for like 30 games in a row and saw him every day at practice. Then Oesterle gets his shot due to injuries and Q all of a sudden plays him 20+ minutes a night? Just doesn't add up to me.

Oesterle took advantage of his time in the lineup and forced Q to play him more. Not many other Dmen have played well enough to force Q to play them more. To add, he also seems to be able to handle playing his offside with Keith, and the Hawks have struggled to find someone to play well with him. Murphy is an ideal candidate, but I like him on a different line as it spreads the talent out a little more.

 

[Blue Liner]

I think Oesterle has earned whatever time he gets. He was given an opportunity and made the most of it. I like what I've seen of him.

 

[BobbyJet]

I don't get how Q can have a crush on Oesterle. He scratched him for like 30 games in a row and saw him every day at practice. Then Oesterle gets his shot due to injuries and Q all of a sudden plays him 20+ minutes a night? Just doesn't add up to me.

Exactly. And that's not all that doesn't add up. The way he utilized Forsling was puzzling. And when it was obvious that Forsling could not handle the tough minutes he was getting on a nightly basis, Q did nothing to shelter him. It's black and white with this coach when it comes to his treatment of some players. And there are other head scratching examples.

 

[Hawkaholic]

Forsling handled that role really well with Rutta for the first 20 games or so. When Rutta got hurt, neither player was the same. Q tried to recapture what they were doing but was never able to.

 

[ChiHawks10]

Forsling handled that role really well with Rutta for the first 20 games or so. When Rutta got hurt, neither player was the same. Q tried to recapture what they were doing but was never able to.

Agreed.

 

[BobbyJet]

Defensively, Forsling was okay at best, even early in the season when he was effectively moving the puck and joining the rush. He should not be on the PK at this stage in his career, and that was my main beef. His defensive play and bad turnovers got worse as the season went on.

 

[BK]

Defensively, Forsling was okay at best, even early in the season when he was effectively moving the puck and joining the rush. He should not be on the PK at this stage in his career, and that was my main beef. His defensive play and bad turnovers got worse as the season went on.

Do you think pairing him with a player that is steady and a bit more engaging like Murphy would help? I personally do.

 

[Hawkaholic]

Defensively, Forsling was okay at best, even early in the season when he was effectively moving the puck and joining the rush. He should not be on the PK at this stage in his career, and that was my main beef. His defensive play and bad turnovers got worse as the season went on.

There weren't many better options for the PK. Keith, Murphy, and Rutta were the main PK guys then, so you had to choose between Oesterle, Seabrook, Franson, or Kempny when he did play. Not much of a difference defensively between all those players.

And it's a retool year, why not let a young kid try and learn on the fly if he is going to be up here? We are going to need him in the next few years to really step up if we have any chance in hell of competing. They have done the right thing sending him down to the AHL where he can develop and learn, where they are supposed to develop.

 

[BK]

Surprisingly Murphy has not been used much on the PK.

 

[Cement Head]

The biggest problem with the Blackhawks defense has been the year long play of Seabrook and Keith. If these two played the 2015 Nashville series like they are currently playing, that series would have been a replica of the 2017 Nashville series. Those two have been major disappointments this year and are the main reason the Hawks are struggling. Three goals between them and horrific play on power plays, consistently bad passes in the defensive zone, and coughing up the puck regularly. Keith looks like he has lost a lot with his hands, really poor stick handling at times. After watching hockey for nearly fifty years it seems the hands go long before the legs. Sharp and Keith can skate with anyone, but their hands have really declined, maybe they can become Olympic speed skaters.

 

[b1e9a8r5s]

I've said it before, but I don't think Keith has been bad this year. He's declined from top 3-5 defenseman to say top 20 or so, but he's a legit top pairing defenseman for sure.

He's not in the same ballpark as Seabrook.

 

[featherhawk]

Do you think pairing him with a player that is steady and a bit more engaging like Murphy would help? I personally do.

I do, I have been calling for a forsling, Murphy do since the trade, not sure that combo had not been tried

 

[Pez68]

Oesterle took advantage of his time in the lineup and forced Q to play him more. Not many other Dmen have played well enough to force Q to play them more. To add, he also seems to be able to handle playing his offside with Keith, and the Hawks have struggled to find someone to play well with him. Murphy is an ideal candidate, but I like him on a different line as it spreads the talent out a little more.

lol...

The Keith/Oesterle pairing still sucks, and makes absolutely no sense. Especially considering it is being used as a shutdown pairing....

 

[LDF]

lol...

The Keith/Oesterle pairing still sucks, and makes absolutely no sense. Especially considering it is being used as a shutdown pairing....

i don't know, if oesterle is coming into his own and is a rookie. while keith is not the player he was once, he still have an abundance of knowledge that he can mentor a line-mate who is young and have skills. i say keep them together.

 

[Bubba88]

Have you considered the possibility that Q evaluates players and views plays differently than you, or is he just an idiot?

Q has double Standards for his Players. There are the one he likes (most notable over the years like Matt Walker and Handzus year 2 of return) and the one he doesn't like (Dano, Kempny). The first get Chance after Chance while the later are benched for every mistake.
But yes, at some stuff Q is an idiot.

I don't blame Oesterle for either play, really. The one against Toronto there were 2 guys right near the net and he was the only one there. Anisimov was near Kadri, and then skated away from him as he got the pass. Glass also needs to poke check the puck there, or make himself bigger in the net as he was sitting on his goal line.

Last night, Oesterle again had to check 2 guys out front, he had to cover the guy who was high (Tatar?), as well as Mantha out front. He was caught between the two. There is no easy decision on either play for the Dman there.

Plus, who else should be out there on the PK?
Murphy and Kempny was the 1st pairing.
Do you want Seabrook out there? Or Gustafsson? Not anymore ideal than Oesterle. .

That's the part I disagree. Oesterle was too slow and Oesterle wasn't covering his guy. That's on Oesterle. If it's not easy, take the space between the Player and net, not his back. He just made mistakes. I just wonder what would have been if this was Kempny or even Forsling. Q would never Play them.

 

[Hawkaholic]

lol...

The Keith/Oesterle pairing still sucks, and makes absolutely no sense. Especially considering it is being used as a shutdown pairing....

They have been our best pairing of late 5 on 5 So you're wrong.

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

They have been our best pairing of late 5 on 5 So you're wrong.

Keith is doing 99% of the heavy lifting on defense. Oesterle is a nice player when we have the puck. Defensively? Not so much.

 

[Hawkaholic]

Keith is doing 99% of the heavy lifting on defense. Oesterle is a nice player when we have the puck. Defensively? Not so much.

Ya he's not the greatest in his own zone, but Keith is not doing ALL the lifting. As a pair they have been outshooting, out chancing, and out scoring the opponent's by a fair margin. It's not like this is the Keith of 3 years ago.

Murphy is really the only other option you could possibly put there, but then you have 2 really crappy pairings instead of just 1.