Thoughts on Scott Darling (REP)

[anthonybeaty]

Hello all,

Darling is my fourth goalie and was picked up on WW when one of my other players got injured. He had a very good first showing, but no so good since. With Raanta gone, Darling will stay in the NHL all season, but will he be able to take over the starting job this season? Crawford is still very serviceable, but Darling is nipping at his heels and is close to the best or is the best backup in the league. Do I hold on or do I drop him and pick up another skater?

[Pengwin7]

I like Darling for H2H leagues this year because CHI has a lot of Sunday games - most in the NHL, I believe.
Sunday is traditionally the "day of rest" for a lot of #1 goalies.
And since H2H matches END on Sunday (usually), that makes having Darling as a critical SIT/START option for H2H, where you may need to play/sit a goalie with regard to the ratio cats: GAA/SV%.
There is good value in that simple strategic move in weekly H2H.

If you don't have significant bench spots though, you may get more benefit from an additional skater.
Here is Chicago's SUNDAY schedule, so you can take a longer look at when the SUNDAY-FACTOR might kick in.
There's EIGHT... count 'em... EIGHT Sundays in a row in Dec/Jan! Pretty nice.
http://espn.go.com/nhl/team/schedule...ago-blackhawks

Sun Nov8. Home vs. EDM
Sun Nov15. Home vs. CGY (SAT night game* @STL)
...
Sun Dec6. Home vs. WPG
Sun Dec13. Home vs. VAN
Sun Dec20. Home vs. SJ (SAT night game* @BUF)
Sun Dec27. Home vs. CAR
Sun Jan3. Home vs. OTT
Sun Jan10. Home vs. COL
Sun Jan17. Home vs. MON
Sun Jan 24. Home vs. STL
...
...
Sun Feb21. @MIN
Sun Feb28. Home vs. WAS
Sun Mar6. Home vs. DET
...
Sun Mar20. Home vs. MIN
Sun Mar27. @VAN (SAT night game* @CGY)
Sun Apr3. Home vs. BOS


*FYI: The Hawks will play a lot of off-night (Sunday) games because they share the United Center with the Bulls - who are there many other nights for the basketball thing!

[Laendarian]

I don't see Darling overtaking Crawford anytime in the near future, he may have a few stretches where he gets on a tear and plays a few extra games but that is Crawfords crease and his contract will keep him there barring a major stretch of crappy play

[PenguinHunter]

It always seems like Crawford missed a few games with injury.... If this happens early in the season and Darling plays well he can earn the starting job. Coach Q showed last year in the playoffs that he is will to trust Darling and willing to give him the starting job if he earns it..

[Daydream Nation]

Darling is fine. He was excellent in the first game and the 2nd game was an awful game overall by the Hawks. A couple of those goals were not Darling's fault. 3 guys were standing in front of him and slapper finds the upper corner. What are you gonna do?

There is little chance of Darling replacing Crawford unless he gets hurt. Crawford is playing well and he's actually a better goalie than many people outside of Chicago give him credit for.

I like Darling a lot and think that he could adequately replace Crawford if he were traded but that's not happening this year.

[rangerfan2430]

I don't see Darling taking over the starting job