"Nothing Matters But.." Is Getting Mighty Old

Programming Note: With the holiday, I'll have newsletters Mon-Wed this week but not on the holiday or Friday because...well, I'll be drunk, obviously. Also, this will be the last totally free week. We'll go behind the subscription wall starting next Monday, except for one post a week that's free.

Anyway, with all that out of the way, today it's the Hawks tie/OT loss in Philly on Saturday, the Bears, some footy, and whatever else I can barf up. Let's make it happen, captain.

Sector 1901 - Not Good Enough To Make What's Right Work

I imagine most of you didn't believe much in the Hawks' ability to hold that 2-0 lead in the 3rd period on Saturday afternoon. Just not really their thing, even if they were able to outlast the Stanley Cup champs their previous game. Felt like they used up all their coins on that one.

What was frustrating, however much Hawks losses can even get frustrating anymore given the wealth of them, is that unlike Thursday they didn't completely turtle and just hope the storm would pass with the aid of Petr Mrazek's goaltending. They were more aggressive, forechecking, and trying to score. They just didn't, and then they just gave up two goals (with no small helping hand from their captain, but we'll get to that pudwhack). Ah well, let's just get to the bullets.

Isn't it amazing how much better Connor Bedard looks when he plays with the players who were specifically brought here to play with him?

It was understandable, though poorly executed, to try and take Bedard out of the fire and put him on a wing for a game or two. It was less of a smart ploy when he was deployed along with Jason Dickinson as a checking line against Sasha Barkov. Even more so on the road to start Saturday's game. That's just not putting someone in a spot to succeed, whatever the two assists to Dickinson against the woebegone Ducks say.

Taylor Hall was brought here specifically to provide a threat on Bedard's wing. We haven't seen it much thanks to Hall's injury and whatever vendetta Luke Richardson has dreamed up against him.

Teuvo Teravainen was brought here specifically to open up chances for Bedard with his vision and passing. We haven't seen it much due to Ricahrdson's fascination with Teravainen's defensive capabilities and/or a possible vendetta against him.

Both Hall and Teravainen can relieve Bedard of some puck-carrying and zone-entry responsibility. Maybe that trio lacks some forechecking, but seeing as how all three of these players can handle and dominate the puck, that matters less.

So it wasn't much of a shock that when these three were finally put together, they blitzed the Flyers to the tune of a 60 Corsi-share and a 70 xG%. Hall backs off defenders with his speed. Bedard gains zone-entries as well at an elite rate with his stick-handling. Teravainen opens up scoring chances with his creativity. Whatever the docks on his report card, Teravainen ranks among the league's best in passes that lead to scoring chances and high-danger chances. There's only one player on the team who that should mean anything to.

It doesn't have to be hard. All Richardson has to do is follow the manual he was given. Hopefully we see more of this trio in the coming games.

I have no idea why Wyatt Kaiser was scratched. One can understand the need to get Louis Crevier a game, just in case he's needed sometime down the road (though if he is that means the Hawks are even more boned than normal). But Crevier is a monolith. So removing Kaiser, who has been pretty good, make the Hawks blue line even slower than it already was. They can't step up ahead of their line, they can't retrieve the puck as quickly, they lose too many races. There's no reason that T.J. Brodie should be guaranteed a spot in the lineup every night.

The above points makes one wonder about the chain of command with the Hawks. Last week there was a nugget in The Athletic that the front office does not interfere with Richardson and his lineup choices. And nor should they. No one wants to go through that soap opera again.

But there is clearly a way the team was designed to be iced every night. And Richardson ran away from it after three or four games. It also makes us curious who was behind these veteran signings? Is Brodie a Davidson invention or something Richardson pushed for? The more Brodie plays over a kid who has skated circles around him all season, the clearer the answer becomes.

I love that John Tortorella has just given up wearing suits behind the bench and is more than happy to just wear whatever he rolled out of bed in. Torts is definitely "over it."

The Hawks took advantage of the Flyers aggressiveness early. While the Hawks took a while to come to grips with Philly, they eventually just started chipping the puck past the Flyers F3 that would usually end up pretty low in the Hawks zone. It got the Hawks going with speed through the neutral zone and with numbers often.

Again, this was supposed to be a tenet of Richardson's style, to get the puck the fuck out and the fuck up. While Lukas Reichel's goal came off the Flyers biffing an odd-man rush and then getting hit with one in response, that was the kind of quick-up the Hawks were supposed to be going to regularly.

It's also funny that it's Torts's team playing so hair-on-fire, considering how boring his Rangers teams were. Old dog can learn new tricks, or go back to old but lost tricks, I guess.

Like this play from Nolan Allan, and again it's how the Hawks told us they wanted to play. Yeah, it's Travis Sanheim carrying the puck in instead of a forward, but it's still good if there's that recognition. Allan cuts him off high and wins the puck back:

Similarly, Connor Murphy made a really nifty play late in the 3rd. He used the middle of the ice to get out of the zone, something the Hawks have been allergic to all season:

The Hawks have been getting stuffed along the boards in their zone most games. This pass takes three Flyers out of it and gives Craig Smith an acre to skate out of the zone.

Ok, now the bad stuff. While putting Bedard with players that make sense was a relief, that doesn't excuse Richardson throwing him out for defensive zone faceoffs twice in the last five minutes of a tie game, once out of a TV timeout. It's just not where Bedard is at now, and we know his weakness on faceoffs. What was the point? To repeat: No one should give a flying fornication what Bedard is doing defensively right now. And certainly he shouldn't be educated by being exposed to the flame of defensive zone draws late in the 3rd of a tie game.

Hey Captain, you wanna get on the trolley? Look, everyone on this team is going to make mistakes. That's fine. But when you're the guy calling press conferences at your locker to air everyone out a couple times a month, this can't be you:

We've talked about how the Hawks like to use their centers in the d-zone, and leaving it up to them whether to jump a guy along the boards or not. Foligno is right here to not jump out to Konecny, who has clear control and is facing the middle of the ice. But then Foligno's job is to prevent the cross-ice pass, which Konency duly makes right past him.

Once that pass gets across, and Vlasic has to get to Ristolainen, Foligno has to get to the man at the net:

Missed it by that much. Move your feet, dingus.

Then in OT:

Keep reaching, Nick. Maybe you'll get there in a week.

All right, that's enough of that.

Sons Of Lemuel - Tired of What "Matters"

I'd only be piling on to say things are rough in this town. But a line I'm getting tired of hearing is "All that matters is..." When watching the Bears, you'll hear the rationalization now that "All that matters is Caleb." With the Hawks, "All that matters is Bedard." With the Cubs is, "All that matters is that they profit wildly." Or after they trade Cody Bellinger to be even more cheap and mediocre it'll be, "All that matters is Matt Shaw or Owen Caissie." The Bulls and Sox "All that matters is..." Wait, nothing actually matters with them.

We know how the Bedard thing is going, but at least Caleb Williams showed on Sunday why there is some rocks on the bank to grab onto before we wash down river. That's a game the Bears get utterly mullered in if he played for someone else. They were only in it because he kept them in it. Sure, some of those yards and scores are due to a prevent defense when the Vikings went up two scores. But he still made the plays. How many Bears QBs could ever make this throw?

Only Jay Cutler would even think of it, and he'd be only 50-50 to complete it. It was Caleb's first real ball-out game.

That's great. But it's not what this season was supposed to be about. At least not entirely. It wasn't supposed to be a trailer for an upcoming film. It's just such a waste, and only feels more so when you see Williams play like this. Because the team around him does just enough to lose. A blocked kick or muffed punt or a defensive coach who doesn't challenge a cold back-up on a 3rd-and-12 or can't design or call a blitz an opposing QB can't see coming from several miles away. It would have been so easy for the Bears to be playing games that matter right now. And it was spilled away like that Office chili meme.

I'm tired of watching stuff that can only portend to what might be someday in the future. We've done that for so long. That's what the last two seasons were for the Bears, countless for the other teams in town.

As stated above, it's a rationalization. It's any kind of oasis to justify the time spent at this point. It's even hard to wish upon Williams's star when you know how fucked up this organization is. How do I know that George McCaskey and Kevin Warren aren't proud of the way the Bears came back and take nothing else from Sunday? I don't, because that's the level they've been operating on for decades. Friend of the program Fifth Feather John is convinced there's no way Eberflus can escape the axe. He's gotten this far, hasn't he?

It's never now for Chicago sports fans. This was supposed to be a "now" season for the Bears. If the Bears do pull the trigger, and actually hire someone competent, we'll be told we may have to settle for another "first-step"season, when anyone beyond competent should be able to harness Williams, with a couple astute additions, to an easy playoff spot.

But we just have to fantasize again. Take signs and project. Not simply soak in and enjoy. It's getting old.

Let England Shake - Wanna See A Killer Foligno Impression?

A couple Premier League thoughts before departing.

Wanna see Ilkay Gündogan do a killer Folingo impression?

Heung-Min Son started about five yards behind Gündogan before dusting him like this. And though Son isn't the one who scored here, it is a symptom of what's afflicting Man City at the moment. Moments before this, Dejan Kulusevski dribbled through the entire City midfield, including Gündogan. It's usually too easy to just point at the gap where Rodri would normally plug, but this is one where it's apt.

I love this goal from Brighton against Bournemouth that made it 2-0. The pass from Joao Pedro is gross enough, but the subtle little run that Danny Welbeck makes that Pedro waits for to open up a lane...

Sadly, that's Tyler Adams not really closing Pedro down. Can't have everything, I guess.

Lastly, I know it's an automatic yellow for removing your shirt after scoring. But if you looked like this, would you ever wear one in the first place?