Introducing the Q’s-an-art Turbo Power Bread Maker – Your Weekly Blackhawks Recap

By Kevin Schroeder
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Updated: February 23, 2016

(Week of 2/14 – 2/20)

Hawks – Maple Leafs Recap

Hawks – Rangers Recap

The Hawks went 2-0 on the week, defeating a pair of Original Six teams, the Maple Leafs and Rangers, at home and on the road, respectively, in regulation.

Notes

Forwards: Vinnie Hinostroza came up from Rockford to fill Hossa’s spot while he recovers from a lower-body injury. He was fine against the Leafs and then kinda meh against the Rangers, and then took a costly double minor which couldn’t have helped his cause. Dano took a nasty hit in Rockford and is day-to-day with an upper body injury, so if the Hawks want to swap Hinostroza with McNeill, Kero, or Hartman, I’d be fine with that. If they want to keep Hinostroza up, I’m fine with that, too.

Still no change in thinking about who the Hawks should be targeting at the deadline. I’ve seen people mention James van Riemsdyk. Those people should stop doing that. Chief at Barstool assessed potential trade targets Friday. He pretty much nailed it. Trading Turbo would be an absolutely terrible idea, JvR’s coming off an injury and the Hawks need someone ready to produce now, and JvR’s going to be a centerpiece of the Leafs’ rebuilding efforts. Not going to happen.

Speaking of Turbo, he had a great week. I’d be lying if I said he’s been as good as I hoped this year, but he’s still been a solid player. Plus, consider who he’s been playing with. I like Danault a lot and think he’s got nice potential, but unless he and Desjardins are on fine, that line’s not going to produce a ton of goals. Which is why the Hawks need to go after a wing at the deadline. Get someone who can play 1LW and now the third line becomes 65-(24/16/70/48?)-86. Now we’re talking about a line that can score.

Defensemen: Gustafsson hasn’t been great as of late, but to me, a wing is still a much bigger priority at the deadline for the Hawks. Last year showed that Duncan Keith is a cyborg and can play half a game. Is that a guarantee that it’ll work as well this year? No. Is it an ideal situation? No. But in the NHL in the cap era, ideal doesn’t exist and Keith playing cyborg minutes again is a better idea than going into the playoffs with Shaw at 1LW. Keith, Seabrook, and Hjalmarsson have all been great. TvR has been at least good. I’m confident the Hawks can get enough out of some combination of Gustafsson, Svedberg, Rozsival, and Scuderi to make another deep run.

Goalies: Darling had a great game, including what has to be the save of the year against Toronto. Crawford was okay against the Rangers. Again, play Darling more. I’m going to say this in every recap until Q actually does so. You need to keep Crawford fresh for the playoff run.

Blackhawks 3 stars of the week:

★★★ Scott Darling, G (.946 SV%, 2.03 GAA)

★★ Teuvo Teräväinen, F (1 G, 2 A)

★ Artemi Panarin, LW (4 G, 1 A)

Twitter: @KSchroeder2325

E-mail: schroeder.giig@gmail.com