Waiting Room
More preseason talk and roster cuts to end September.
What better way to start your week off than with a beef-uped edition of the blog?
I can think of hundreds. But I won’t judge you for enjoying my writing.
Today we have some preseason to get into, a look at this week’s schedule, and some bonus bits to discuss (Patrick Laine and The Conjuring 2).
Game Recaps
Week Ahead
Trash Bin
Patrick Laine
The Conjuring 2
Early Bird
Let’s talk preseason.
Preseason Weekend
You're not alone if you’ve been trying to catch a game without success.
Because of broadcasting legal boring stuff, the online broadcasts of the games have been below par. Friday’s game apparently had elevator music playing during parts of the game.
It’s no reason for alarm or getting your diapers all stinky. But it’s pretty annoying for those who want to look at Blackhawks preseason.
Hawks 0 - Red Wings 2 (Friday, Sept. 27)
I only caught 2 periods of Friday’s game on the radio (work and commute), but here’s anything noteworthy from that game.
Friday’s game was in Detroit and featured a prospect-heavy lineup with Arvid Soderblom in net. Soderblom actually had a decent night, finishing with a .936 SV%. The Red Wings had a much better roster and Soderblom didn’t get much help (looking at you veteran NHLer TJ Brodie).
It sounded like Frank Nazar had a much better game than his first preseason game. He had 6 shots on goal. However, Nazar took a really dumb penalty while the Hawks were already on the PK. The Wings would capitalize on the 5-on-3 advantage. Other than that, nothing stood out from Nazar’s game, at least that’s what I’ve read.
Kevin Korchinski had a bad game if we’re only looking at analytics. People who actually caught the game thought Korchinski looked anywhere from “meh” to alright.
One player who was quiet and who shouldn’t be was Lukas Reichel. According to Roumeliotis, Reichel had 0 shot attempts until there was just under a minute left in the game.
Second City Hockey has some solid notes if you want to read more about that game.
Hawks 2 - Blues 3 OT (Saturday, Sept. 29)
I was able to catch the last two periods of this one.
One thing that stood out to me was that the Hawks looked positionally sound on defense. Granted, Luke uses a very simple Box +1 system. The issue in the DZ was that the Hawks struggled to get out of their own zone, leaving Petr Mrazek to fend off a lot of shots. After 2 periods, the Blues led the Hawks in shots on goal 20-12.
I thought Korchinski looked good. I don’t recall any glaring mistakes. He did fend off a 2-on-1 after an ill-timed pinch by Alex Vlasic.
Taylor Hall had a solid night for a preseason game. Hopefully, that dispels any worries people had during his first preseason game.
Once again I didn’t notice Nazar too much.
A player I did notice was Isaak Phillips and I didn’t think he had a great night. He and Louis Crevier were on the ice for both regulation Blues goals.
Week Ahead
This week we have the final three games of preseason. We also have our first look at the Hawks’ new broadcasting home, CHSN. That’ll debut on the 1st.
The training camp roster has also been cut down to 35 players.
Ethan Del Mastro had 1 preseason game and I was hoping to get more looks at him. Colton Dach didn’t have a real chance at making the opening night roster, despite what he thought. A shot at the NHL will probably come sometime during the regular season. Cole Guttman is pretty much depth at this point, I’m not surprised with him being sent down. Landon Slaggert looked solid during his NHL debut last season, but him being in the AHL was expected and is needed.
Zach Sanford and Brett Seney were both placed on waivers on Sunday. If they clear, they’ll get sent back to Rockford.
Trash Bin
For all things not Hawks related.
Patrick Paine
You know what sucks?
Seeing Patrick Laine get hurt in preseason.
There have been a couple of bad injuries this preseason (Drew Doughty… ouch). It’s one of the reasons why the best players aren’t going 100% in preseason. You don’t want your star player/good player (or any player) to get injured. Whether it be by a weird freak accident or by some AHL 4th liner looking to make an impression.
Laine’s injury really sucks because of his situation. Montreal needed him, even though they’re not in playoff talks with or without him. Laine overcame a ton of adversity from last season and this year was looking to be a fresh start for him. I was hoping to see Laine get to his goal scoring self and do great things for the Canadiens.
Get well soon.
The Conjuring 2
This movie was garbage.
The first Conjuring was pretty fun. It was scary and haunting. The second movie relied on jump scares and jarring CGI that really sucked you out of immersion.
I’m not going to get into the whole controversy of the Warren’s and how all these movies are based on hoaxes. The Conjuring 2 is about the Enfield Poltergeist in 1977 over in the U.K. At the time this was coming off the heels of the Amityville events.
The first half of the movie is certainly the stronger half. The haunting of the house by an old dead man has it’s unsettling moments, even if it has jump scares. Unfortunately, that’s as far as my praise goes.
Look, I want to think about a horror movie for a few days. Not have a heart attack by some CGI rotting nun who flashes on the screen and screams. Who wouldn’t jump at that?
That’s not horror.
You could get the same result by flashing Jarred Tinordi’s face accompanied by a massive fart.
Skip it.
Early Bird
Lawrence Ravail is from La Reunion, a tiny island in the middle of the Indian Ocean. He absolutely destroys in this almost 5 min. part. His opening kickflip was perfect. And I’ll take a beautifully executed kickflip over anything else any day of the week. Lucky for me he can inward heelflip like no other. He ends his part with a monster of an ollie. Wow.
Out.