Not a Rembrandt... But 3/4 points on the road, back to back

I'd take it any day
- Hawkjet

Nor a Renau either... More like a Picasso....absract and confusing.... But I definatelly will take it any day... Just like you.

Well, score effects does that to a team. They won the middle frame handily and are now in prevent hockey. The only good thing is they're letting Crawford see everything cleanly, which is how he liked it.
- L_B_R

L_B_R, the last few years the Hawks possession numbers have been bad, nothing like the 2010 and 2013 teams (I'm not sure how the 2015 Champs fared), has any team won the Cup with similar possession numbers?

Franson has ranged from mediocre to terrible defensively and okay to good offensively. Sample size is extremely small but that's kind of been his MO his career.

Murphy has been better defensively though he has his own yips. I've liked his with Kempny so far. I'd prefer Murphy in.
- L_B_R

It just isn't possible that Oesterle, Erik Gustaffson and Ville Pokka are worse defenders than Cody Franson. But he's got NHL experience and agreed to play for cheap this year. Unless injuries happen, he won't be seen in any meaningful Central Division games.

The Habs have scored only 5 goals in 4 games so far.
- etchtech

4 in 4 games. The standings give them credit for a goal in their shoot out win.

Vegas Strong!!!!

not one knee during anthem at Vegas home opener. USA!!!! Unity!!! USA Strong!!!! Impressive ceremony

not one knee during anthem at Vegas home opener. USA!!!! Unity!!! USA Strong!!!! Impressive ceremony
- glennjpawlak22

Do white guys take knees though?

Crawford has been incredible for years now, but Price literally set the league standard for top goaltender after the king. All we can do is be thankful we have Crow Instead.
- MinneHawks

price can go down as the greatest regular season goalie in history...i would take craw over him anytime anywhere...hell craw been the best goalie playing in montreal with a 8-0-2 record and 97 save%...

I am wondering if anybody else is seeing shades of Kaner 10 years ago in DCat's game? He has great puck control, quick shot, good anticipation , great passer and has a knack for putting himself in great scoring positions by outsmarting the defender. Unfortunatelly, he also makes a lot of bonehead plays( two tonight) and is soft on defense,,,just like Kane was for over 5 years(and still is soft at times on defense (4 times in the last two games). I think we have a keeper... With some growing pains and a a few warts..

Do white guys take knees though?
- Hawkjet

Have you watched an NFL game

How about Crawford shutting it down though. He has been dialed in this seasons so far.
- breadbag

Golf clap for Jimmy Waite as well as Crow

L_B_R, the last few years the Hawks possession numbers have been bad, nothing like the 2010 and 2013 teams (I'm not sure how the 2015 Champs fared), has any team won the Cup with similar possession numbers?
- Hawkjet

Last year's Pens team won with worse CF% than the Hawks' teams the last two years and I believe worse since their 2009 run (where they were meh overall but good down the stretch). The Pens final 20 games CF% was bottom 5 in the league and they were 2nd to worst in their last 10. They won a lot thanks to goal tending.

Just to note, usually a cup winning team either has overall good shot metric possession for the season OR they ramp it up at the end and can contend. In their cup runs, the Hawks have all been 1st, 3rd, and 6th overall - finished strong the first two runs but they dipped a little in 2015 at the tail end (they were 3rd before the Kane injury). Hawks were 17th overall in 2016 (ugh) and 12th last year (okay) overall, but they managed to be top 8-10 the second half and def in the last 20 games last year which is decently respectable.

Lots of teams get to the finals with just okay shot metric possession and the better possession team doesn't always win. Anything around 51% gives a team a shot, usually. Below are raw CF numbers for the top 4 teams of every year since 2010 excluding last year since I made the chart before then.



2017 had generally low numbers for top teams outside of the Kings and Bruins (who couldn't score despite large shot attempt numbers or got bad goaltending). Hawks had better numbers than everyone that made the top 4 except the Preds.

Pens: 50.04
Preds: 51.36
Ducks: 49.67
Sense: 48.57

I might revisit this with score adjust shot metric, scoring chance, and xGF numbers to see how it all shakes out.

And I will not waver from my dislike of the Franson....
yeah, tell me about the sweet pass to ADB that went for AA first goal,
every other bad decision he makes bothers me to no end.

Sure....Murphy was sent a message to stop running around.

I am a firm believer in continuing to play each new defender who is younger and continue to put them in tough situations and then firm things up with Keith and Seabrook hold down the fort against the better opposing lines.

Play the newbies /kids b/c their development is what every future post season will depend upon....HAWKS win! 7 points out of 8
- wiz1901

Right on Wiz

Price can show you his gold medals from the Olympics and World Cup. He just happens to be backstopping a very poor Montreal team this season.
- RickJ

So he can only win if he has the best team in the world in front of him? Team Canada when he played for them was the more talented team in every game they played. No way do I ever pay a 28 yr old goalie that cap hit x term.

I might revisit this with score adjust shot metric, scoring chance, and xGF numbers to see how it all shakes out.
- L_B_R

Replying to myself: of note, any of these shot metric stats do not necessarily start telling a trend for a team until game 20. Even then the sample size has issue but it's the beginning of using them for evaluation on a team level (in conjunction with watching the games and context, of course).

So how many times does Crawford need to outduel Price before people realize he's simply the better goalie?

So how many times does Crawford need to outduel Price before people realize he's simply the better goalie?
- TommyHawk

Pfffft....Crawford is average at best, he can only hope to be Osgood 2.0. Crawford had been the product of stellar defensemen who’ve played in front of him. $6 million is a MASSIVE overpayment, Crawford is worth $2.5-$3 million at most.

Also, I like sarcasm.

And I will not waver from my dislike of the Franson....
yeah, tell me about the sweet pass to ADB that went for AA first goal,
every other bad decision he makes bothers me to no end.

Sure....Murphy was sent a message to stop running around.

I am a firm believer in continuing to play each new defender who is younger and continue to put them in tough situations and then firm things up with Keith and Seabrook hold down the fort against the better opposing lines.

Play the newbies /kids b/c their development is what every future post season will depend upon....HAWKS win! 7 points out of 8
- wiz1901

This x1000.

Top-4 d-men are homegrown. Teams don't let them get away. These guys NEED every opportunity they can get. Only way is by playing them.

Pfffft....Crawford is average at best, he can only hope to be Osgood 2.0. Crawford had been the product of stellar defensemen who’ve played in front of him. $6 million is a MASSIVE overpayment, Crawford is worth $2.5-$3 million at most.

Also, I like sarcasm.
- DarthKane

I miss all the "trade Crawford, he's not a core player" posts from the [recent] salary hell days. Those days were fun.

So he can only win if he has the best team in the world in front of him? Team Canada when he played for them was the more talented team in every game they played. No way do I ever pay a 28 yr old goalie that cap hit x term.
- EnzoD

The response was to somebody who said Price isn't a money goaltender which is ridiculous.

But 2 different issues when you bring up money. He's still a great goaltender, playing behind a team which can't score. But locking him into that contract is probably not the wisest decision unless the Habs can find the players to ice a real contender. The Rangers did the same thing with Lundqvist a few years ago and the Panthers are stuck with Luongo's deal long term.

And BTW, notice how all of a sudden the squawkers about Crawford's contract have either disappeared or just decided to shut up.

Replying to myself: of note, any of these shot metric stats do not necessarily start telling a trend for a team until game 20. Even then the sample size has issue but it's the beginning of using them for evaluation on a team level (in conjunction with watching the games and context, of course).
- L_B_R

Such valuable information, thanks for that.

I guess there's hope?

Impressive win because of the back to back. But I still haven't gotten over the sting of how badly Toronto dominated us, and I'm gonna wait a few more games to hopefully see our possession numbers improve. Still LOTS to like about our team right now though, mainly the 20-19-14 trio

Pfffft....Crawford is average at best, he can only hope to be Osgood 2.0. Crawford had been the product of stellar defensemen who’ve played in front of him. $6 million is a MASSIVE overpayment, Crawford is worth $2.5-$3 million at most.

Also, I like sarcasm.
- DarthKane

Stellar: Sheldon Brookbank, Kyle Cumiskey

Do white guys take knees though?
- Hawkjet

Because some white people are troubled by the lack of equal protection under the law experienced by people of color.

Ugly game..... ugly

Don’t understand why Price singed to jump on Hockey’s Titanic