Mike Smith Meltdown Night: Flamers @ Hawks 0730 CST

[khawk20]

I'd love for Smith to lose his marbles tonight just because it'll likely be far more entertaining than what the Hawks throw out there.

Obviously need a win worse than anything but that urgency hasn't really helped them in the last month or so, when every game felt like a must-win.

4-2 Hawks. 'Cause they are due for one of those games that makes you say "Why can't they play like this all the time?"

[jimc]

As the games have become more important, the Hawks levrl if urgency has all but disappeared.

Just embarrassingly gutless.

[garyu]

Positive, Negative. I don't know with these guys. No idea what 'our' boys will do.

[soccer24]

Feb 6, 2018 14:35:46 GMT jimc said:

As the games have become more important, the Hawks levrl if urgency has all but disappeared.

Just embarrassingly gutless.

That's certainly been the most surprising part here.

First quarter of the season, they would flip between hot and cold streaks.

But lately it seems that the cold streaks at the only thing that generate anymore. Even with the Crawford injury, I suppose I expected a little bit more of a fight from them.

[soccer24]

Like Toews's effort to get back on that OT goal in the most recent game. Yikes...

[profile1]

Who knows these days? It's not a case of 'flipping the switch' ... it's more like 'roll of the dice'.

Hawks at home, back end of a back-to-back, an opportunity to avenge the prior loss...

Hawks take early lead but then fade away....Flames 4-1.

[dhull10]

Hawks win easy tonight 5-2 Kane nets 2. Hawks will go on to win 4 of the next 5 as well.

[soccer24]

Hawks have had 1, 5 game win streak this year. Aside from that, they never strung more than 2 wins together.

Very last chart outlines that:
hockeyviz.com/fixedImg/overview/1718/CHI/wrap

[soccer24]

In contrast to last year, they already had accumulated 4 different streaks of 3 or more:

Even in 2010-11, they had 4 different spurts of 3 game win streaks by this point in the season:
hockeyviz.com/fixedImg/overview/1011/CHI/wrap

[lari]

It's been over 7 years from this:



The night the Hawks decided they're not gonna be losers anymore.

[garyu]

Feb 6, 2018 17:23:44 GMT lari said:

It's been over 7 years from this:



The night the Hawks decided they're not gonna be losers anymore.

I miss that kind of 'We're not taking any shit from you' play. Though I'm sure Brouwer missed Iginla by a foot so he could dig a hole in the ice.

[soccer24]

Hm, something overlooked here...

Versteeg carries the puck over the blueline and tries to dangle his way to the front of the net. He coughs the puck up just inside the blueline as a result. Would have been a classic Steeger giveaway, but whoever the Flame was bobbles the puck as well. So instead of an odd-man rush going the other way, Seabrook picks the puck up and puts it in for the OT winner.

See? Not all of Versteegs fuck-ups were bad. Sometimes his fuck-ups led to good things.

[garyu]

Feb 6, 2018 18:11:08 GMT soccer24 said:

Hm, something overlooked here...

Versteeg carries the puck over the blueline and tries to dangle his way to the front of the net. He coughs the puck up just inside the blueline as a result. Would have been a classic Steeger giveaway, but whoever the Flame was bobbles the puck as well. So instead of an odd-man rush going the other way, Seabrook picks the puck up and puts it in for the OT winner.

See? Not all of Versteegs fuck-ups were bad. Sometimes his fuck-ups led to good things.

I think I agree, though his bad fuck-ups were more noteworthy.

[stbhawks19]

Another uninspiring loss, this team is done.

[lari]

Versteeg and fuck-ups was certainly a recurring theme.

This is the goal I best remember him from:
youtu.be/Ey3_0EWXkUg

He gets to a great scoring area, then inexcusably stickhandles until he loses the puck without getting a shot off, only to be saved by his hustling teammates who win the puck back and play it to him again, so Steeger gets to play the hero.