Most common lines
CHI
32 Veersteeg 19 Toews 88 Kane
22 Brouwer 10 Sharp 24 Havlat
33 Byfuglien 36 Bolland 37 Burish
7 Seabrook 2 Keith
25 Barker 51 Campbell
8 Walker 23 Johnson
PHO
91 Turris 28 Reinprecht 19 Doan
13 Carcillo 12 Jokinen 88 Mueller
89 Boedker 11 Hanzal 23 Porter
4 Michalek 55 Jovo
3 Yandle 2 Klee
53 Morris 44 Sauer
First period (CHI 2-0 PHO):
What is Gretz doing? The Yotes are a freaking mess. It's only one period but they have been playing extremely crappy so far tonight. They are constantly struggling to get the puck out, more than half the time their zone entry play fails and their positioning in the neutral zone is awful. Things are not that better once they get set up in the offensive zone. They seem enamoured of that long cross pass in the middle of the defensive box... which can be a good play sometimes but not all the time! and especially not when the winger is so high that there is no possible shot (well, no dangerous shot)... it just becomes a way to move the defensive box around and relieve the pressure on the puck carrier. It's a cop out for weak players who can't make plays.
Which is really weird as Phoenix has a completely different mindset in two other aspects of the game: 1- lack of dumping: I think there was one play setting dumping of the puck deep in the zone... Even though it is boring compared to a player deking at the blue line, dump and chase is a very good way to get both the puck and all players deep in the zone and set up for a good opportunity (if you have the speed and guts to get the puck before the dmen of course). And two, while transitioning, the players are holding on to the puck a long time, letting their pursuer get closer and therefore giving more space for the other players... but either because of their lack of skill or because they hold on so long, they do not manage to get rid of the puck effectively: it either gets deflected by the pursuer or the play is so telegraphed that it gets intercepted (or quickly dismantled anyways)
Jovonovski showed off all he has to show in that one period: hail mary passes so hard & long, they have no chance of getting caught then boneheaded hit attempts instead of playing dman... then getting injured with nobody touching him (0:29 of the vid). The dude is so incredibly overated.
Update 2nd period (CHI 2-1 PHO)
Jokinen decided he had enough with one minute left in the 2nd and dropped the gloves with 4th liner Colin Fraser (vid 2:55). The big Finn totally initated that fight and it ended up being more of a wrestling bout. A weird move at a time that will not really pump his team. Jokinen was billed as that awesome player lost on an awful team in Florida... but I don't see that at all. He has size and some puck possession skills but his defensive game is awful because he always takes himself out of position by going for useless bodychecks. His offensive game also seems to lack polish and I think the fact the coach puts him with Carcillo shows he might be better equipped to be an offensively gifted sparkplug and agitator than a first line guy.
2nd period was better for Phoenix as they started to skate down the wings instead of meddle around at the blue line and forced Chicago to stretch out their defense... but the Hawks are still playing better and only the great play of Bryzgalov is keeping this game tight. I need to watch some more of him but I must say the Coyotes goalie is impressive, both with his positioning and his quick legs. He pushes very strongly and so many pucks just hit him in the chest or upper pads... Khabibulin has been okay, nothing more.
mid 3rd period (CHI 2-2 PHO)
Who the hell is that Veersteg guy! Always well positioned, strong in front of the net and getting the puck behind the net, the guy looks to have a bright future doing the dirty work alongside Toews, Kane & Sharp. He just hit the post on a great play (vid 3:11): playing the screen perfectly, the rebound goes wide side and Veersteg jumps, sprawls and spreads all the way and slaps the puck perfectly towards the empty net but it hits the post straight on.
Shane Doan ties the score with an awesome shot from the point on the PP (vid 3:40). You could feel him awaken in the last few minutes, he was hitting everything in sight and taking charge of things down low. When a guy like Doan, Brendan Morrow or Iginla gets going like that, there is very little you can do. Those power forwards are nasty and pump up the whole team. Let's see now if the Coyotes have what it takes to close the deal: they have some strong momentum right now.
End 3rd period (2-2)
Patrick Sharp is another talented guy. He has good wheels and seems to have the skills to hang on with Kane, Havlat and Toews. He puts the puck in the net but more than that, he seems very sharp (what a pun!) defensively. He just made an awesome play coming off the bench as the Coyotes rushed up ice. He threw himself down and his stick deflected a nice pass to the point that would have been dangerous as 3 players were near the net for deflections or rebounds.
Except for some nice buzzing down low in the last minute by Boedker, Hanzal & Porter, it was a pretty uneventful last 10mins. 4 on 4 sudden death should be interesting... I wanna see how Sharp & Toews use their speed and who Gretzky will send in... and how Jokinen will look with more space to display his "talent".
Overtime!
What the hell did I just say!!! Jovonovski can't control his stick and gets a penalty for stick in the face in OT. I told you the guy is dumb as a rock. 1:18 of 4 on 3... not much happened before that. I didn't really have time to see anybody's play.
The Hawks sends in Toews, Kane, Campbell & Barker initially then Sharp comes in for Barker with Toews moving to the point.
The Coyotes put in Michalek, Sauer and 19 year old youngster Hanzal! Pretty big vote of confidence from Gretz.
Nothing much happened... basically just shots from the point but the Yotes have a very tightbox and nobody is in front for the Hawks (you can view a few secs of it at 4:18 of the vid). A shootout will clear out the winners from the losers.
(4:28 to the end of the vid)
Toews scores on a weak play by Bryz where the puck hit his paddle but trickles through.
Turris saved on a stick side save
Sharp wrists it past the goalie, no big fake. Bryzgalov not looking good on this either.
Mueller stopped by a big trapper save.
The better team won: Chicago 3-2. Patrick Sharp was the best player on the ice... Shane Doan had a great 3rd period but that's not good enough.
Overall, the Blackhawks are developing into a very nice team. Toews, Kane, Sharp, Veersteg are good offensive guys and they have a very good energy line with Byfuglien & Burish. The defense group is looking good too with Keith, Seabrook & Barker on top of Campbell. They are quick on their feet and play hard. A very good nucleus to build around.
The Coyotes have some nice pieces up front too with Hanzal, Mueller and Boedker. Bodker especially seems to be a keeper. He is so incredibly fast and is a masters at going around the net and finding a hole to pass the puck through. I am not sold on Turris. He was pretty much invisible last night, his skating is nothing special and he does not ahve any special handling skills to seperate him from the pack. Apart from Michalek, the defense group is mediocre and should be rebuilt.
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