By Jim Coffman
Where to start breaking down that ludicrous Saturday afternoon hockey game? I’ll tell you where I was going to start until the clock struck 0:13.6 . . . i.e. until Patrick Kane notched that miraculous game-tying tally (I can’t find anyone who can remember another game that the Hawks tied in the final 15 seconds while killing a penalty with their net empty). I was ready to flog Dave Bolland . . . ceaselessly.
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Analyst Pierre McGuire (who often plays bad cop to Eddie Olczyk’s good cop on the very good NBC playoff broadcasts), made it clear the second-line center blew defensive coverage on Nashville’s third and fourth goals (while McGuire was holding defenders accountable, Olczyk sang the praises of the Nashville playmakers). Both times Bolland skated toward players who were already covered and away from the guy who was clearly his responsibility and both times that guy then made a goal happen.
And worst of all, even though the TV guys gave him a pass, Bolland had plenty of culpability for the Predators’ second goal as well. Kane was the big goat on that one after his ill-advised blind pass between his legs triggered a Nashville 2-on-1. But there was more to it than that.
Joel Quenneville has been going with Bolland at the left point of the Hawk power play for awhile now (and any time you want to cut that out and put Brent Seabrook back out there with Duncan Keith in those situations would be fine with us, coach).
And while I suppose it might be part of the Hawks’ scheme to have Bolland cheating in toward the net with the puck along the sideboards near the other point, it didn’t seem like there was any good reason for him to be so far in that Keith was the only guy back as the two Predator power-play killers broke out with the puck. Kane made a terrible pass but if Bolland is going to play the point, he better be back in good defensive position in those sorts of situations.
The Hawks had a big shot advantage but it didn’t seem like Nashville tying things up and then taking the lead was fluky. The Preds’ goals all resulted from little bits of perfect execution highlighted by tic-tac-toe passing. Nashville didn’t have a ton of scoring chances but when they had a chance, they took advantage.
When the Hawks put point shots on net, they took a 3-1 lead. When those shots started missing the mark, the offense stalled.
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The one thing I didn’t understand about the aftermath of Marian Hossa’s late, major boarding penalty was why he didn’t also receive a game misconduct.
I’m reasonably sure that for awhile there, if a ref felt a penalty like high-sticking or slashing was serious enough to warrant a five-minute sanction, the game misconduct was sure to follow.
It seemed as though Nashville had an understandable beef when Hossa wasn’t kicked out of the game and the fact that Hossa later knocked in the game-winner had to pour salt on that wound.
Then again, maybe the Preds should have taken advantage of almost four minutes of power play to start the overtime. Once they blew that (making them 0-for-22 with the man advantage in the series), any complaints about Hossa still being in the game seemed beside the point.
Bears Draft
Hey Bears, I’ll drink the Kool-Aid and have faith that Major Wright will be the guy to stabilize the safety position after three seasons of borderline chaos interspersed with complete chaos back there.
And I love the fact that Northwestern defensive end Corey Wootton fell to the fourth round and could end up being a foundational player for the defense going forward. But there is still one glaring hole on this team and that is in the interior of the offensive line.
Don’t pretend this team is prepared to contend with the likes of Viking defensive tackles Pat and Kevin Williams or even Lions rookie Ndamukong Suh without some sort of infusion of strength and nastiness at guard.
If you really want to convince me you have completely committed to winning this year, go sign soon-to-be free agent Alan Faneca to play guard.
Faneca, who is a perennial Pro Bowler, will soon be released by the New York Jets because they don’t believe his play still warrants his almost $8 million salary.
His play fell off a bit last season – despite his receiving All-Pro honors again – but Faneca is still a beast at guard and signing him would be a big coup.
Hard to be too optimistic about a signing with the conservative Bears, but the opportunity is there.
Lou and Z
I was amazed Lou Piniella asked Carlos Zambrano to go to the bullpen and I was amazed Zambrano said yes.
Whether he is a reliever or a starter, the guy is an overpaid prima donna and naturally there are plenty of folks who can’t stand him.
But all of the negative speculation about the move, especially the cockamamie theory that the Cubs did it to try to piss him off so he would waive his no-trade clause, well, that stuff is just stupid (I tried to come up with a fancier negative word but “stupid” will have to do – and is actually quite appropriate).
The Cubs had an abundance of starting pitching and they needed someone to serve as Carlos Marmol’s primary set-up guy. Given how well they started the season, it didn’t make any sense for fourth and fifth starters Tom Gorzelanny or Carlos Silva to make the move.
The North Siders already had an over-abundance of lefties in the pen and therefore the new edition had to be a righty.
And there was no way the Cubs were going to disrupt what starting righties Ryan Dempster (just about unhittable in his last two outings) and Randy Wells (quality starts every time out) have been doing.
So it made sense to turn to Zambrano if for some reason you could project that he wouldn’t totally act out in response.
And Zambrano worked it out. He realized the Cubs had a crying need and he accepted a demotion for the good of the team.
Maybe this one gesture toward “team” rather than “I” will signal an all-new Zambrano.
And this will finally help him figure out how to best harness his immense potential.
Not bloody likely but perhaps slightly more likely after a so-far smooth move to the pen.
Bulls Giving Way
The baseball teams both got their acts together over the weekend (sweeps over Seattle and Milwaukee) and not a moment too soon. We were hoping the Bulls might hang around for awhile if for no other reason than to distract us from the Cubs’ and White Sox’s slow starts for that much longer. But after the Bulls gave up 125 points at home against Cleveland on Sunday, their season will be done in another couple days. But if the Cubs keep hitting and the White Sox start, no one will care about the Bulls until free agency opens.
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Jim Coffman rounds up the sports weekend every Monday in this space. He welcomes your comments.
Posted on April 26, 2010