DMelt36
Bolland > You
- Joined:
- May 27, 2010
- Posts:
- 13,969
- Liked Posts:
- 8,434
My first thought is No.
First off, I don't think the forward depth is there right now. Clearly the SuperPAK line is one of the best in the game when it's clicking, but outside of that, I don't think there's enough there. Right now the best combos I'd see would put Toews with Schmaltz and Panik and Hartman-Hino-Hossa. Then Kruger's checking line. That just doesn't seem good enough to me when you look at the east and Pittsburgh has Phil Kessel waiting on its third line.
As for the defense, the issue is largely the same. Hjammer is still one of the game's most underrated and his pairing with Keith is usually reliable, although Keith is showing a bit of his age this season. Seabrook is up-and-down and Campbell has been worth more than his $1 million but that's not saying too much. None of TVR/Kempny/Forsling have really done enough to grab a permanent role on the blue line, although I do think Forsling and Kempny might have decent NHL futures.
The most encouraging thing is in net. Crawford's play has regressed slightly of late but in the first half of the season he was a goddam monster and there may not have been a better goalie performance in the league (considering Carey Price isn't himself this year). At a minimum, he was the best goalie in the West. But when was the last time a goalie just about single-handedly backstopped his team to the Cup? Cam Ward in '06? Doesn't seem like a winning formula anymore, and that seems like the Hawks' best shot.
As I've said before in this here forum, no team in the West scares me that much, including the Wild (go look at Dubnyk's postseason numbers and tell me who's going to score for that team in the postseason. And their coach sucks). So I wouldn't be surprised to see the Hawks to survive the West. But unless the Hawks can add depth at forward and probably on D, too, I don't see how they're going to beat a team like Pittsburgh or Washington. Maybe the hope is that the East beats the shit out of itself so much that the Hawks are able to walk all over the carcass that survives the playoff grinder from that half of the league.
First off, I don't think the forward depth is there right now. Clearly the SuperPAK line is one of the best in the game when it's clicking, but outside of that, I don't think there's enough there. Right now the best combos I'd see would put Toews with Schmaltz and Panik and Hartman-Hino-Hossa. Then Kruger's checking line. That just doesn't seem good enough to me when you look at the east and Pittsburgh has Phil Kessel waiting on its third line.
As for the defense, the issue is largely the same. Hjammer is still one of the game's most underrated and his pairing with Keith is usually reliable, although Keith is showing a bit of his age this season. Seabrook is up-and-down and Campbell has been worth more than his $1 million but that's not saying too much. None of TVR/Kempny/Forsling have really done enough to grab a permanent role on the blue line, although I do think Forsling and Kempny might have decent NHL futures.
The most encouraging thing is in net. Crawford's play has regressed slightly of late but in the first half of the season he was a goddam monster and there may not have been a better goalie performance in the league (considering Carey Price isn't himself this year). At a minimum, he was the best goalie in the West. But when was the last time a goalie just about single-handedly backstopped his team to the Cup? Cam Ward in '06? Doesn't seem like a winning formula anymore, and that seems like the Hawks' best shot.
As I've said before in this here forum, no team in the West scares me that much, including the Wild (go look at Dubnyk's postseason numbers and tell me who's going to score for that team in the postseason. And their coach sucks). So I wouldn't be surprised to see the Hawks to survive the West. But unless the Hawks can add depth at forward and probably on D, too, I don't see how they're going to beat a team like Pittsburgh or Washington. Maybe the hope is that the East beats the shit out of itself so much that the Hawks are able to walk all over the carcass that survives the playoff grinder from that half of the league.
