GDT Game 7: 4/25/16 | 7:30PM CST | v Hawks | NBCSN/FSMW/Y98

[WaukeeBlues]

Question/critiques on Hitchcock:

What's the issue with Tarasenko's ice time? Is he really not getting played very much? I only got the total numbers from NHL network radio and it is baffling that he's not getting more ice time than what's being reported, wasn't it in the low teens or something?

That timeout at the end of the game by Hitchcock was absolutely terrible. We won so it gets shoved under the rug but Toews was absolutely exhausted and had been on the ice for a long stretch with 38 seconds left and Hitchcock calls a (Franking) timeout and look who goes back out on the ice? Abysmal move.

I truly think Quennville out-coached him for the majority of the series and Game 7 as well. Blues just executed.

Still not in love with the guy as a coach. We'll see what Dallas brings.

[fargoblues]

Question/critiques on Hitchcock:

What's the issue with Tarasenko's ice time? Is he really not getting played very much? I only got the total numbers from NHL network radio and it is baffling that he's not getting more ice time than what's being reported, wasn't it in the low teens or something?

That timeout at the end of the game by Hitchcock was absolutely terrible. We won so it gets shoved under the rug but Toews was absolutely exhausted and had been on the ice for a long stretch with 38 seconds left and Hitchcock calls a (Franking) timeout and look who goes back out on the ice? Abysmal move.

I truly think Quennville out-coached him for the majority of the series and Game 7 as well. Blues just executed.

Still not in love with the guy as a coach. We'll see what Dallas brings.

agree, the timeout was a ridiculous move. Hawks were all tired af after a long extended shift. Make them play right away and there's a strong likelihood they don't have 37 seconds of high pressure left in them. Certainly the blues had fresh guys on the bench that can be trusted in that situation.

[ComradeT]

Seven pages and no Kerfuffle...

That, in and of itself, is quite the kerfuffle, ain't it?

[ComradeT]

Question/critiques on Hitchcock:

What's the issue with Tarasenko's ice time? Is he really not getting played very much? I only got the total numbers from NHL network radio and it is baffling that he's not getting more ice time than what's being reported, wasn't it in the low teens or something?

That timeout at the end of the game by Hitchcock was absolutely terrible. We won so it gets shoved under the rug but Toews was absolutely exhausted and had been on the ice for a long stretch with 38 seconds left and Hitchcock calls a (Franking) timeout and look who goes back out on the ice? Abysmal move.

I truly think Quennville out-coached him for the majority of the series and Game 7 as well. Blues just executed.

Still not in love with the guy as a coach. We'll see what Dallas brings.

agree, the timeout was a ridiculous move. Hawks were all tired af after a long extended shift. Make them play right away and there's a strong likelihood they don't have 37 seconds of high pressure left in them. Certainly the blues had fresh guys on the bench that can be trusted in that situation.

Probably a calculated risk on Hitch's part as his best D pairing was gassed as well. So take a pick - get Shatty and Gunnarsson against say Hossa and his line (who by the way was the one scoring in the series) or risk facing a fresher Toews but against your D-studs. That TO actually made sense to me unlike some other stuff from behind the bench.

[ComradeT]

Question/critiques on Hitchcock:

What's the issue with Tarasenko's ice time? Is he really not getting played very much? I only got the total numbers from NHL network radio and it is baffling that he's not getting more ice time than what's being reported, wasn't it in the low teens or something?

That timeout at the end of the game by Hitchcock was absolutely terrible. We won so it gets shoved under the rug but Toews was absolutely exhausted and had been on the ice for a long stretch with 38 seconds left and Hitchcock calls a (Franking) timeout and look who goes back out on the ice? Abysmal move.

I truly think Quennville out-coached him for the majority of the series and Game 7 as well. Blues just executed.

Still not in love with the guy as a coach. We'll see what Dallas brings.

agree, the timeout was a ridiculous move. Hawks were all tired af after a long extended shift. Make them play right away and there's a strong likelihood they don't have 37 seconds of high pressure left in them. Certainly the blues had fresh guys on the bench that can be trusted in that situation.

Probably a calculated risk on Hitch's part as his best D pairing was gassed as well. So take a pick - get Shatty and Gunnarsson against say Hossa and his line (who by the way was the one scoring in the series) or risk facing a fresher Toews but against your D-studs. That TO actually made sense to me unlike some other stuff from behind the bench.

[Kreegz2]

Can anyone point me in the direction of last night's hilights with Kelly and Panger's commentary?

[goon attack]

I get the quote, but as a New Yorker, Pizza Hut ain't pizza any more than French fries are French.

Their beef is seasoned really well.

[Kerfuffle]

Seven pages and no Kerfuffle...

What's the question? Or are you just trying to troll me?

[theohall]

Question/critiques on Hitchcock:

What's the issue with Tarasenko's ice time? Is he really not getting played very much? I only got the total numbers from NHL network radio and it is baffling that he's not getting more ice time than what's being reported, wasn't it in the low teens or something?

That timeout at the end of the game by Hitchcock was absolutely terrible. We won so it gets shoved under the rug but Toews was absolutely exhausted and had been on the ice for a long stretch with 38 seconds left and Hitchcock calls a (Franking) timeout and look who goes back out on the ice? Abysmal move.

I truly think Quennville out-coached him for the majority of the series and Game 7 as well. Blues just executed.

Still not in love with the guy as a coach. We'll see what Dallas brings.

On Tarasenko's ice time: Game 7 - it's not on the coach. Tarasenko missed about half of the 2nd period with an equipment issue.

The rest of them - it's on Hitchcock. Hitchcock is on record saying Tarasenko is only a "33 second per shift" guy. 91 supposedly can't handle 50 second shifts until he is 28 or 29. IMO, that's a bunch of BS given that the 20 year old Fabbri had no problem with longer shifts and Tank's massive build should allow him to handle longer shifts, as well. Too bad the coach doesn't see it that way. Only team to win a series with the leading scorer not leading in ice time among forwards, so far.

As to the timeout - I think it was to rest the Blues players and ensure Stastny could take the faceoff vs whomever, which of course was Toews, and which Stastny won. In terms of out-coaching, Stastny should've been the guy going up against Toews more often in the series with his outstanding faceoff win ability. It seems they wanted to keep Steen/Backes/Berglund out against Toews/Kane and that worked for the most part as Toews was held off the scoreboard and Kane was severely limited considering what he normally would do in 7 games.

[dmiles2186]

Question/critiques on Hitchcock:

What's the issue with Tarasenko's ice time? Is he really not getting played very much? I only got the total numbers from NHL network radio and it is baffling that he's not getting more ice time than what's being reported, wasn't it in the low teens or something?

That timeout at the end of the game by Hitchcock was absolutely terrible. We won so it gets shoved under the rug but Toews was absolutely exhausted and had been on the ice for a long stretch with 38 seconds left and Hitchcock calls a (Franking) timeout and look who goes back out on the ice? Abysmal move.

I truly think Quennville out-coached him for the majority of the series and Game 7 as well. Blues just executed.

Still not in love with the guy as a coach. We'll see what Dallas brings.

agree, the timeout was a ridiculous move. Hawks were all tired af after a long extended shift. Make them play right away and there's a strong likelihood they don't have 37 seconds of high pressure left in them. Certainly the blues had fresh guys on the bench that can be trusted in that situation.

I tried to convince myself that Tarasenko is maybe nursing some type of injury and Hitch is just not wanting to push him. Then Senko hits the ice and looks like his normal self and I'm back to questioning it again. You could even argue in the middle of the series, 'Maybe Hitch is holding him back a tad so if we clinch he can go full bore in the next round.' But that also doesn't work when they blow game 5 and then the most important games of the series, 6 and 7, you've got Senko getting reduced minutes.

I looked at Q and it felt like Kane and Toews were on the ice every other shift in games 6 and 7. There was no let up. Every time I would relax in my mind because I didn't see 88 out there, sure enough, here he would come and start dangling and making our entire team look stupid. Meanwhile, 91 wouldn't be out there near enough for my taste.

And that timeout....Hitch has done stuff like this before. I know you want to work on strategy, but you give the Hawks an inch like that and they'll make you pay.

[cprice12]

Question/critiques on Hitchcock:

What's the issue with Tarasenko's ice time? Is he really not getting played very much? I only got the total numbers from NHL network radio and it is baffling that he's not getting more ice time than what's being reported, wasn't it in the low teens or something?

That timeout at the end of the game by Hitchcock was absolutely terrible. We won so it gets shoved under the rug but Toews was absolutely exhausted and had been on the ice for a long stretch with 38 seconds left and Hitchcock calls a (Franking) timeout and look who goes back out on the ice? Abysmal move.

I truly think Quennville out-coached him for the majority of the series and Game 7 as well. Blues just executed.

Still not in love with the guy as a coach. We'll see what Dallas brings.

Hitchcock said it isn't about TOI with Tarassenko, it's about the number of shifts. He takes shorter shifts because of the style he plays...not sure what that means and how his play is any less taxing than some other stars that get more ice time.
He said the number of shifts he gets is similar to those getting more time.
He also mentioned his age...which again, I'm not sure I understand that mindset either.

I'm not buying any of that though.

[glen a richter]

I don't buy most of what Hitch says. He's got world class talent but misuses them. If this team wins the Cup it'll be in spite of him, not because he's a genius behind the bench.

[Kerfuffle]

The media overhyped this Tank TOI issue and I'm sure if the Blues lost the series it would have been used as the rallying cry to oust Hitch. When I looked at the numbers yes they were less in game 6 but not ridiculous - so he went from around 19minutes to 15minutes. I thought the way the story was being played that I would look it up and see him at 10minutes or something. And Hitch can make amends now in round 2 and bury the issue so it doesn't come back to bite him.

[ecbm]

It'll be interesting to watch Tank's TOI next round. I do think Hitch's line is BS-91's as athletic as anyone on the team; he played long shifts and killed penalties occasionally during the season and then: nothing. I wonder if he's possibly saving his best player for the grind. I feel like that's what he did with Fabbri given his willingness to give him pretty big minutes in the first round. And of course, he couldn't admit it publicly as he'd be severely criticized for it.

Who knows? #91 needs to play more than 17 and change a night though. Unless he's hurt there's no excuse for his TOI going down from the regular season.

[ecbm]

The media overhyped this Tank TOI issue

They may have overhyped it but Hitchcock presented it on a silver platter. Literally no other team is playing their best player 17 minutes a night and only 21 in a double OT game. No other team's best forward is 7th in ATOI in the playoffs. KH's line on it is absurd too. He can't play long shifts? He's obviously in magnificent shape. His age? Huberdeau and Barkov both had 33+ minutes in a double OT game. He can't kill penalties? He did during the regular. Couldn't get him out for the 2nd period power play in game 6? Nonsense, the Blackhawks cleared the puck with 80 seconds left in the period and Brouwer didn't even try to skate back to his own zone. Hitchcock simply chose not to play him in various situations. That invites questions/speculation.

I just hope he's not hurt...

[cardsfan04]

I doubt he's hurt. I think Hitch just mismanaged him.

I'm sure a big part of our strategy last series was to prevent the game from being wide open (which makes sense because we were playing the blackhawks). Maybe a side effect of that was Tarasenko's ice time going down while Backes' went up. I don't know if Backes' ice time went up, but I know he was at or near the top. I'm mostly just speculating here, but I wonder if something along those lines is why we saw Tank's ice time drop, but maybe it will go up vs Dallas.

[Kerfuffle]

I think if you see Tank's ice time continue to stay low in Round 2 then it has to be that he's hurt. And Hitch would not want to tip his hand and reveal that publicly.

[glen a richter]

It's not like Tarasenko's last league was Saturday morning recreational seniors. He was playing KHL with the big boys. Second best league in the world. He can handle 20 minutes per game in the playoffs, dude is no creampuff.

[Misc. Blues]

Seven pages and no Kerfuffle...

What's the question? Or are you just trying to troll me?

Not a troll it just struck me odd that you hadn't gave your take on the game. I actually went back and checked to see if you posted...so the jokes on me...

[WaukeeBlues]

Question/critiques on Hitchcock:

What's the issue with Tarasenko's ice time? Is he really not getting played very much? I only got the total numbers from NHL network radio and it is baffling that he's not getting more ice time than what's being reported, wasn't it in the low teens or something?

That timeout at the end of the game by Hitchcock was absolutely terrible. We won so it gets shoved under the rug but Toews was absolutely exhausted and had been on the ice for a long stretch with 38 seconds left and Hitchcock calls a (Franking) timeout and look who goes back out on the ice? Abysmal move.

I truly think Quennville out-coached him for the majority of the series and Game 7 as well. Blues just executed.

Still not in love with the guy as a coach. We'll see what Dallas brings.

Hitchcock said it isn't about TOI with Tarassenko, it's about the number of shifts. He takes shorter shifts because of the style he plays...not sure what that means and how his play is any less taxing than some other stars that get more ice time.
He said the number of shifts he gets is similar to those getting more time.
He also mentioned his age...which again, I'm not sure I understand that mindset either.

I'm not buying any of that though.

He'd also be the first Russian winger I have ever heard of in my life that would prefer to take short shifts as opposed to wanting to play half the period...

I don't buy most of what Hitch says. He's got world class talent but misuses them. If this team wins the Cup it'll be in spite of him, not because he's a genius behind the bench.

Absolutely agree. So many commentators think this guy is such a world class coach. At least from the years I've been watching the Blues I haven't been impressed at all and last year's playoffs was a veritable dumpster fire. I think Q out-coached Hitchcock for the vast majority of that series. The Blues being absolutely horrendous in the 2nd period all series is veritable proof of that. I don't know what else you could possibly attribute it to other than the Hawks making adjustments that the Blues didn't.