Echolalia 2,961 Report post Posted May 15, 2009 As some of you may know I am a firm believer that Hiller isn't half as good as his statistics say. Not to say that he is dismal, but I think that he is definitely a product of a superb defensive regime that plays tightly in front of him. There always seemed to be three big bodies perched between Hiller and the faceoff dots to clear away rebounds and fight Wings players for position. They also pressured our forwards like I have never seen before, giving our players very little time and space to work with. What scares me is the thought of Quennville looking at some tapes of how our players were shut down, and applying a Ducks' defensive system to the Blackhawks. Granted, they won't be able to do it as effectively because they don't have Niedermayer, Pronger and the others, but I also have a lot more faith in Khabibulin as a goalie that knows what he's doing in the crease compared to Hiller. My only salvation is that it will be Quennville working on the strategies, which should effectively offset any advising that Bowman may be working on. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
T.Low 1,011 Report post Posted May 15, 2009 I see that could be a thought, yes. However, this series will be wide open, trading rushes, with a few 5-3 scores, and even a 6-4 score. I just can't see the Hawks trying to play clamp down with their personel. But I've been known to wrong once or twice before. As far as Qville and Bowman, the Team 1040 out of Vancouver was in Chicago for that series and Marjanovich was asked by a Canuck fan listenner how much of an advantage was it having Bowman upstairs. Marjanovich said "little to none. I'll I'm gonna say is that I have it on good authority from an insider that there is little to no dialogue between the two. Thats all i'm allowed to say." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
drfnr14 0 Report post Posted May 15, 2009 mark my words- the bulin wall will crumble!!!! bulin is not the reason the hawks have one any game this season. he is the reason why the hawks have to play 100x harder! did u watch any of the calargy/vancouver games? he is in no shape a "hot playoff goalie" the wings need to keep peppering shots on net and instead of "hopen" pucks go in, we'll just pick him apart i hope we are all ready for 4-5+ win games Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cicada 4 Report post Posted May 15, 2009 the Hawks arn't like the Ducks at all, no one is.. you can't adapt a team to play like that on such short notice without changing the players, which you can't.. our problems against chi will be very different to the ones vs the ducks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Theophany 110 Report post Posted May 15, 2009 Hiller has a ridiculously fast glove hand, and with the mattresses he had on his legs as a butterfly goalie, well... He really doesn't have too many weak areas with how the Ducks play D, shutting down any chances at rebounds that we could get. Because really the areas that he struggles with are high stick side (as in extremely high stick side--see block on Dats in game 6 for relatively high stick side block) and rebound control, which he's pretty poor at. But with the Ducks playing D the way they do, rebound control isn't much of a worry, because you've got some great D in front to keep the crease tied up. Chicago essentially plays like we do, but they're weaker in every area. They play a skill-based, run-and-gun style, much like the Wings, but they have much less experience, and about equal if not less skill in everything when compared to the Wings. On top of that, they don't have any Norris/Selke-quality defenders/forwards, ergo they're weaker on D. On paper, not nearly as hard a match-up as Anaheim, but there are a lot of areas that can't be seen until game-time. We'll see how they do coming into the Joe for their first game with no home crowd, facing our Cup-hungry playoff-whores. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
10 Minute Misconduct 104 Report post Posted May 15, 2009 chicago has been really lose defensively this playoffs. hiller >>>>>>>>>>>>> khabibulin. seriously, the hawks top 6 (tho talented), are a walk in the park when it comes to physicality and defensive awareness compared to the Ducks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Drake_Marcus 890 Report post Posted May 15, 2009 Hiller has a ridiculously fast glove hand, and with the mattresses he had on his legs as a butterfly goalie, well... He really doesn't have too many weak areas with how the Ducks play D, shutting down any chances at rebounds that we could get. Because really the areas that he struggles with are high stick side (as in extremely high stick side--see block on Dats in game 6 for relatively high stick side block) and rebound control, which he's pretty poor at. But with the Ducks playing D the way they do, rebound control isn't much of a worry, because you've got some great D in front to keep the crease tied up. Chicago essentially plays like we do, but they're weaker in every area. They play a skill-based, run-and-gun style, much like the Wings, but they have much less experience, and about equal if not less skill in everything when compared to the Wings. On top of that, they don't have any Norris/Selke-quality defenders/forwards, ergo they're weaker on D. On paper, not nearly as hard a match-up as Anaheim, but there are a lot of areas that can't be seen until game-time. We'll see how they do coming into the Joe for their first game with no home crowd, facing our Cup-hungry playoff-whores. The Hawks are surprisingly good defensively when they clamp down. Phalsson is still fantastic a shutting down opposing forwards and the Hawks have an excellent top pairing that can shut forwards down effectively. Their defensive depth isn't as great, though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Theophany 110 Report post Posted May 15, 2009 The Hawks are surprisingly good defensively when they clamp down. Phalsson is still fantastic a shutting down opposing forwards and the Hawks have an excellent top pairing that can shut forwards down effectively. Their defensive depth isn't as great, though. Oh, don't get me wrong, I know they're good at D. It's just that when you compare it to the best D in the NHL (us), it... Well, it doesn't compare. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ben_usmc 253 Report post Posted May 15, 2009 if they follow the ducks style of D that would totally be asking young players to engage in a new strategy that would probably throw them off ther game. Not to mention they don't have the size to push the Wings around like the Ducks. Nor 2 hall of famers, a team full of cup champions, and you don't think Q has the idea that he has been beat down every time by the Wings in the back of his head. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rice 42 Report post Posted May 15, 2009 You can try to "apply a system" all you want, but if you don't have the personnel to follow through with it it doesn't matter. The Ducks are so successful against the Wings because they have the right players for it. Seabrook and Keith are awesome, but you really think Brian Campbell's going to be able to play shutdown defense against Detroit? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Broken 16 381 Report post Posted May 15, 2009 Chicago has to play what got them here. If they try to adopt another teams defensive strategy on the fly they will be obliterated. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chris L 0 Report post Posted May 15, 2009 The Hawks haven't had a defensive system that I could tell all season and post season! I'd be shocked if they suddenly started to play one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RyanK 1 Report post Posted May 15, 2009 This series is going to look just like the winter classic.. relax. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Shoreline Report post Posted May 15, 2009 I think the Hawks carry swine flu. Forfeit. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
IceMunkee 15 Report post Posted May 15, 2009 As some of you may know I am a firm believer that Hiller isn't half as good as his statistics say. Not to say that he is dismal, but I think that he is definitely a product of a superb defensive regime that plays tightly in front of him. There always seemed to be three big bodies perched between Hiller and the faceoff dots to clear away rebounds and fight Wings players for position. They also pressured our forwards like I have never seen before, giving our players very little time and space to work with. What scares me is the thought of Quennville looking at some tapes of how our players were shut down, and applying a Ducks' defensive system to the Blackhawks. Granted, they won't be able to do it as effectively because they don't have Niedermayer, Pronger and the others, but I also have a lot more faith in Khabibulin as a goalie that knows what he's doing in the crease compared to Hiller. My only salvation is that it will be Quennville working on the strategies, which should effectively offset any advising that Bowman may be working on. Fortunately Quinville is to stupid to come up with decent stratagies. Unfortunatly he hangs around LGW for good pointers. Damn it Echolalia you just gave him great advice... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Red4wings4life 0 Report post Posted May 15, 2009 After watching the blackhawks play in the playoffs this year. I only have one thing to say. If they expect to be able to come back againts the wings like they have done in the first 2 rounds, they are mistaking. They cannot... CANNOT spot the Wings a 3 goal lead and win. Not 4 times in a 7 game series. The Blackhawks need to play a full 60 minutes to have a chance to beat the Wings and so far I have not seen them play a Full 60 minute game in the first 2 rounds. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rice 42 Report post Posted May 15, 2009 Quenneville's all-time record against Detroit: 19-51-10 during the season and 5-16 in the playoffs. All four of the recent Cups have gone through a Quenneville coached team. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
norrisnick 1 Report post Posted May 15, 2009 Spiders.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NeverForgetMac25 483 Report post Posted May 15, 2009 "Knowing" how to beat the Wings is very different from actually doing it. The Ducks have the "right" type of defensemen and play a style of hockey that has caused trouble for the Wings in the past. The Blackhawks don't have those type of defenders. The best chance they have in this series is to win high-scoring affairs because they can't match up defensively against the Wings' offense as effectively as the Ducks did. They just don't have the pieces. If the Blackhawks are to move on, they're going to have to play stellar *team* defense and score a lot of goals. Spiders.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
egroen 384 Report post Posted May 15, 2009 Chicago has to play what got them here. If they try to adopt another teams defensive strategy on the fly they will be obliterated. Which is what frustrated me about the first few games against Anaheim, when the Wings were trying to outplay Anaheim at their own game. Although the Oilers suprisingly went from a run and gun team to a full on trapping team in 2006 - which was totally unexpected, and it worked for them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Echolalia 2,961 Report post Posted May 15, 2009 Fortunately Quinville is to stupid to come up with decent stratagies. Unfortunatly he hangs around LGW for good pointers. Damn it Echolalia you just gave him great advice... whoops! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RedWings 79 Report post Posted May 15, 2009 (edited) I don't believe in a Duck magical strategy. They are just an awesome defensive team that is able to make its playoff opponent play badly. It also worked fantastic against SJ. The only difference was maybe a special traitment for Pavel Datsyuk. He was often taken by 2 Ducks who were all over him as soon as he was getting the puck. Edited May 15, 2009 by RedWings Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
