The Blackhawks lost to the Flames 2-1 on Tuesday night at the UC in a game they seemed destined to lose. After just beating them in Calgary, I figured the Flames would be fired up for this one. Then you heard about this being the last stop on their Dad’s trip; that’s why they were at Wrigley Field earlier that day. Finally, the kiss of death, they were starting a backup goaltender. Yep, if I could have made it to Indiana in enough time, this would have been a pretty solid bet.
The Blackhawks didn’t play horrible. Yeah, they gave up some pretty high quality chances on defense that required some great saves by Crow, while providing the Flames two separate 2 man advantage situations, which they killed successfully. The Hawks had their fair share of chances, but weren’t able to cash in. Toews had some tremendous bursts in the 3rd period. They even had a late power play which provided a great opportunity to tie the game. Obviously they did not convert. Why are the Blackhawks so bad on the power play?
I’m no hockey expert, but have watched enough hockey in the last decade plus to formulate some opinions. As my Dad always says during a Hawks power play: Shoot the Puck!
It’s not that easy, is it? Even when the Blackhawks were the kings of the NHL, they struggled on the power play. Kane is still on the ice. They’ve circled in a number of different assistant coaches trying to improve the power play. Why are they not better at this? There are times when I think they try to get too cute with the puck. Lately, with the younger guys, they seem to be hesitant to shoot it… waiting for Patrick to make his move. That’s how the last power play in this game looked to me.
The models are taught in three steps cialis low cost to all managers. 1. The purchase levitra online is owned by Eli Lilly and ICOS with levitra on November 1, 2003. This is helpful in increasing the protein production in body and is used in number of supplements found in the market which can help men in achieving their desired muscle mass in a safe manner. buy tadalafil canada Thus, the erectile function will be normal when vata, pitta and rakta are canadian viagra 100mg in normal and balanced condition.Vitiated vata fails to cause normal flow of signals and arousal does not occur.We know pretty goals can’t always be scored… unless like some of the Blackhawks opponents you’re left in front of the net unattended. Besides a shootout type scenario and an odd man rush, goals need to be scored other ways. There has to be traffic in front of the net. There has to be player movement. The puck needs to be put on net. None of this seems to happen during a Blackhawks power play… not enough of it at the very least. You got guys standing in their positions… passing the puck back and forth… doing some stickhandling. We need guys standing right in front of the goalie. We need the other guys constantly moving… setting up multiple waves of attack on their goal. We need to fire the puck at their goalie, and either deflect it in or be in position for a rebound. We need to get dirty. Is that the problem?
You just can’t shoot the puck lazily on net either. Nylander seems to be good for that. Taking the types of shots that even I could stop. THOSE aren’t what we mean by Shoot The Puck! Fire that thing on net. Take a strategic shot… in a certain location… with the goalie screened. Get it to the front of the net, let a scrum ensue, and light that lamp. On a power play, we have one extra guy to help do that. Still not getting it.
But that’s OK, I guess. I’m not the coach; I’m not the expert. I guess it will remain one of those unsolved mysteries. But in a season where lots of things have to go right for the Hawks to win, it sure would be nice to be able to take advantage of our extra skater opportunities. Maybe next time… Go Hawks!
Leave a Reply