Hawks Blow-It Quickly AGAIN

That’s all it took. Thirty-five seconds vs. the Phoenix Coyotes and the game was decided. Against the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday night all it took was fourteen seconds. Is it time to check the record books to see if the Hawks have set a record for allowing two goals in under a minute? What else happened on Wednesday night? Oh, well the defending Norris Trophy winner given for being the best defenseman in the National Hockey League was benched in the second period for what was termed as “bad play.” Duncan Keith is currently a minus 7, I suppose the term bad play qualifies. However, Coach Q sees improvement as well.

Honesty, Coach Q sees a team that is incomplete. That’s what everyone sees. You don’t lose 10 players off of a championship team and think everything is going to be okay. Sugar coat for the media, sugar coat it for the fans, sugar coat it for everyone in the locker room but when you lose a Versteeg, Buff, Ladd, Sopel, etc. things are not going to be fixed in thirty-five seconds. Not in fourteen seconds either. Right now they are a .500 team and that is exactly where they belong. It’s sad but it’s true.

What positives?

After the game I heard about positives. Even from the Captain of our team. The same Captain who was only happy after winning 16 playoff games. Other than that Jonathan Toews is never happy. He hates losing a game, losing a shift, losing a draw. Captain Serious hates losing a second, yet now he’s seeing improvements as well? C’mon! That is a dangerous thing to hear from the leader of the team. There is no improvement or heart for that matter when you give up two goals in one shift. Especially when this isn’t the first time it’s happened.

Scoring? Or complete lack of responsibility?

Our current leading scorer is Patrick Sharp. Sharpy has 10 goals, 7 assists for a total of 17 points. The problem is he’s also a minus 11. I guess that’s a positive in some twisted way. I always say that plus/minus is an overrated stat but it can also be a very telling stat. Patrick Kane is also a minus 6. However, history shows us that Sharp is a responsible player defensively whereas Kane you live with the defensive lapses from time to time because of everything he does offensively. Want proof Sharp is a good defensive player? Last season he was a plus 24 during the regular season and a plus 10 in the playoffs. If this team wants to start winning then start playing defense. It’s that simple or keep the puck all game. That’s what Blackhawk Hockey was last season.

We all want to see improvements. Here’s one improvement everyone wants. WIN!

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