UA-59049186-1 Blackhawks At The Break - Good if it Goes

Blackhawks At The Break

(Photo by Getty Images)

The first half of the season saw the Hawks go on a few different streaks, slumping early in the season before catching fire later. The team would approach the break in a bit of a slump before gaining some momentum into the break by winning on consecutive nights.

Takeaways from the first half:

  • Goaltending has been excellent whether it’s been Corey Crawford, Antti Raanta, or Scott Darling between the pipes. New goaltending coach Jimmy Waite has done fantastic work for this team.
  • Brandon Saad has turned into one of the Hawks best players.
  • It’s Turbo Time. Rookie forward Teuvo Teräväinen needs to remain on the NHL roster. I believe he’s gotten as good as he’s going to get in Rockford and has played very well thus far in the NHL. I’m not totally sure what the lines will look like once Kris Versteeg returns from his hand injury, but I’m sure Coach Q can figure something out.
  • Brent Seabrook’s great play is going to make things very difficult for general manager Stan Bowman in the offseason. The Hawks are going to have cap difficulties, but it would be hard to say goodbye to Seabrook with the way he’s played thus far this year. At the same time, however, Rockford is loaded with defensemen that can make an impact in the NHL. Already, we’ve seen Adam Clendening and Trevor van Riemsdyk play well in the NHL. Hopefully, the latter will pick up right where he left off when he returns from injured reserve.

Going forward, the defense is going to need to be more consistent. Keith, Seabrook, and Hjalmarsson (and TVR prior to his injury) have all played well this year, but the other defensemen who have seen the ice for the Hawks this year have been shaky at times. There’s a common theme in many of the Hawks losses this year: the defense gave up way too many great scoring opportunities.

Also, while he has been very good this year and has improved considerably over last year, Crawford is going to need to tighten up his play a little bit. He’s still giving up a few too many not-so-great goals for a guy who’s making $6 million a year. Also, while Raanta has been stellar at the United Center, his play on the road has been lackluster to say the least. I’d really like to see him fix that, because if he can, he would become a viable option at goalie any night, which would take a load off Crawford and help keep him a little fresher for the playoffs. For what it’s worth, during the 2013 postseason when Crawford was outstanding nearly every night, playing a huge role in the Hawks’ Stanley Cup win, and playing so well that he was rewarded with a 6 year-$36 million dollar contract extension in the offseason, the regular season was shortened by a lockout. In addition, Ray Emery saw a great deal of action during the 2012-13 regular season.

The Hawks are going to need to keep their foot firmly on the gas pedal the entire second half of the season, because the Western Conference is loaded. Versteeg and TVR returning from injury will certainly help, as the Versteeg-Richards-Kane line was arguably the Hawks’ best prior to Versteeg getting hurt and TVR was a solid blue liner. There’s no reason to think this team can’t make a deep run into the postseason.

Twitter: @KSchroeder2325

E-mail: schroeder.giig@gmail.com

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