The Blackhawks have been hard to watch as of late and even more difficult to write about. With the talent on the team it makes one wonder why they are playing so poorly as of late. Yes, they have had to deal with the injury bug as of late to a couple of key players however, the lack of goal production has not changed up or down. Before the trade deadline there was way too much rumor control happening on Twitter and honesty it was ridiculous. In the waning moments before the trade deadline GM Stan Bowman made one small move to bring over defenseman Johnny Oduya from the Winnipeg Jets. It was a move however, by not addressing the goalie situation it appears that the Hawks have set themselves up for an uphill battle into the playoffs.
Hawks 2 Predators 3
Hawks 4 Rangers 2
Hawks 6 Blue Jackets 1
Hawks 3 Blues 1
Hawks 2 Red Wings 1
Hawks 1 Stars 3
Hawks 0 Kings 4
Hawks 1 Ducks 3
Hawks 5 Maple Leafs 4
Hawks 2 Senators 1
Crawford continues to falter and has proven the gamble on him to be a day to day goalie was a bust. I have yet to pinpoint if it is his health or the mental part of the game for him. Suffice it to say, you will be seeing more of Ray Emery as the season winds down. I don’t believe anyone wants to hear it but I think that the team may have lost confidence in him. So, look for Emery’s minutes to go up and potentially give the Hawks a chance.
Corey Crawford: 22W, 16L, 126 GA, 2.94 GAA, SV% .900, Minutes 2570
Ray Emery: 13W, 8L, 63 GA, 2.65 GAA, SV% .907, Minutes 1426
Fantasy Impacts
I would only recommend two players that should be in your line-up if you have them. Those two would be Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp. They seem to be the only ones that have any spark of offense as of late. With Johnathan Toews still out due to injury on the ice and potentially injuries suffered in a car accident he will be sitting on your bench. After that the drop off in production is steep and painful.
Marian Hossa Goals: 27 Assists: 36 Points: 65
Johnathan Toews Goals: 29 Assists: 28 Points: 57
Patrick Sharp Goals: 24 Assists: 29 Points: 53
Patrick Kane Goals: 15 Assists: 37 Points: 52
Duncan Keith Goals: 4 Assists: 31 Points: 35
Viktor Stalberg Goals: 16 Assists: 16 Points: 32
Bill Kosla
DSE
@wolfhound89
