Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

So our time here at this site has come to an end...

Because Sam and I are joining up with SportsBlog Nation and will be posting from now on over at Second City Hockey.  

This site will now fade into bolivian along with countless other blogs throughout these internets

There's a ton of cool features that Sam and I will be learning how to use but it should really make this new site way better than anything we could have done here.  The hockey blogging god that is James Mirtle is putting together a great community of hockey blogs over there and we're honored to join up with him.

I hope you will all come over and join us at Second City Hockey along with all the other great blogs on that site.

Go Hawks

A tale of two cities..

The last time these two teams met the Hawks had just killed lots of the goodwill they built up with the ridiculous firing of Savard after starting the season 1-2-1. The Blues were 3-1-0 and were playing beyond everyone's expectation, especially on the power play which was scoring every other time they had the advantage.

Now - then the Blues remembered they were.. well.. the Blues and have rightfully dropped to last place in the West. Their power play has also dropped to scoring only 26.7% of the time which is still good enough for 2nd overall. The scum from Detroit have the top power play and the Hawks are 7th overall, by the way.

The Hawks meanwhile have been playing like we've hoped they would and now stand at second in the division behind the aforementioned scum. They've gone 6-1-2, compared to the Blues 1-7-1, since the last meeting and all is right in the world again.

The Hawks are rocking a 5 homestand right now and are 2-0-1 on it, while the Blues are ending a miserable a 5 game road trip tonight, they've gone 0-3-1 on this trip and hopefully will end it all without a single 2 point game. Paul Kariya is coming back after missing the last 3 games.. Legace hasn't won in his last 4 starts but he has pretty good outing against that Hawks..

My suggestion is that we offer up some free transportation from the Hotel for the Blues..

The Only Good Thing To Come From Boston Was The Cars. Everyone Knows This: Bruins at Hawks Preview

An actual Original 6 match-up this evening, though that may not mean all that much any more. But it does to me, and to others, I think. Especially when the Bruins or Canadiens are the opponent, because we've never seen them that much and hardly at all these days. Still pretty sexy.

When the Hawks look at the opposing bench tonight, they will see a team that's in just of a blistering form as they are. The B's have won 6 of 7, and are hot on the heels of their long time-nemesis, Les Habitants. The Bruins have been stingy as a Scotsman, allowing only 17 even-strength goals all season, and are 3rd in the league in Goals Against per Game. Head Coach Claude Julien is cut from the New Jersey cloth, so the Bruins are suffocating all over the ice. They aren't all that exciting, but it is effective.

Boston is also equipped with strength down the middle that we can only envy. Savard, who's become a complete player while no one was looking, mans the #1 slot. A now healthy, and we assume non-dizzy. Patrice Bergeron slots behind him. It's hard not to root for Bergeron. He was a complete player about ready to make his stamp on the league before he was assaulted by Randy Jones of the Flyers. Bruins fans will tell you he's not all the way back, but the things he's lacking--timing, feel--will come with more games under his belt. We hope he gets there. The third center is David Krejci, who's having a breakout season.

The wonderous passing display the Hawks put on Sunday will have to be in evidence again tonight. The B's are designed to strangle space, fight for loose pucks, and win board battles. They do it well too. The Hawks may catch a break as Boston plays Montreal tomorrow night, so they may not catch Tim Thomas, whose play has been so good it could be described as defying the lord.

Last night's cartoon from The Committed Indian

(click to enlarge)

We were quite proud of this one, so we thought we'd share it with you here.

Coming from Western Canada? That's a paddling: Hawks 6, Flames 1

That's the only way to describe last night's Hawk victory. Though it was reported by TSN that the Flames have a case of the flu in their ranks, you can only play who's on the ice opposite you that night. I am trying to remember a night when the Hawks' passing was as crisp as it was last night. I haven't come up with anything yet. But I'll let you know. Certainly in the post-lockout era, that's as good as it's been. Seems a great way to counter a team that wants to bang and grind, like the Flames do. It also utilized the Hawks speed, which few teams can handle. For anyone who questioned the Coach Q hiring, last night was a prime example of why you should have worried. With 5 days off, the fear of coming out sluggish was not insigificant. Instead, they came out playing their prettiest hockey. Where Hawks teams before have let leads slip in the 3rd, 3 of the past 4 have seen the Hawks step on throats. Even the 4th line was contributing.

A mention of the Hawks special teams must be made. They have been, well, groin-grabbingly good lately. The Flames barely generated a chance on a 4-minute kill in the 1st, which very well may have been the game last night. The PP, while throwing in a clunker here and there, then looks lethal the rest of the opportunities. Bodies and pucks move, and there seem to be plenty of open shots. The Hawks also have options. If you take away down low, Barker, 51 Phantom, Seabrook, and Bufyglien will bomb from the points. If you try and stop that, Kane, Toews, Versteeg, and Havlat will make a play down low. Pick your poison.

Our 3 stars:
1. Havlat
2. Kane
3. Versteeg

Finally: Flames at Hawks preview

I know the Hawks needed it, but we sure didn't. Man it's been boring without them. We tried to get worried about Kirk Heinrich's injury. But then we remembered the Bulls are going to suck with or without him. We tried to get worked up about Rex replacing Kyle. But then we remembered that the Titans are a much better team anyway. So let's get back to hockey.

The Flames "played" last night, but you'd be hard-pressed to call it that. They were poor. 12 penalties, multitudes of turnovers in their own zone, little created at the other end. It's hard to imagine they could play that badly twice in two nights, but man would it be good to see. The Hawks will see Kiprusoff in net, as their backup, McElhinney, came out last night, saw his shadow, and now it'll be two more months of Kipper. The Flames are always a tough test for the Hawks. They're big, nasty, and not especially slow. But the Hawks, under Q, have found ways to deal with this against similar teams this year, like Vancouver and Columbus. As long as the Hawks limit their mistakes, the Flames can't create much on their own. Usually. Plus, with their samba line to the penalty box, the Hawks will get a few chances to trot out their gatling gun of a power play.

Chicago in the news

What a great night in Chicago last night - I don't want to bring politics to the site or to sports (more than I have the last few days) but I was lucky enough to attend the rally in Grant Park last night and haven't stopped smiling yet. Regardless of your political beliefs I hope you can join me in saying it was a special night for America.



Now back to what we all love - hockey.

Registration for all us poor non-season ticket holders officially opened today. On the official site you have until 10:59 a.m. CT on the 28th to register. You'll find out if you're one of Rocky's chosen few by Dec. 8th - which automatically makes Rocky better than Santa Claus in our eyes.

If you are chosen, you'll only have the option of buying up to 2 tickets - So there goes the idea of getting all your friends together, unless you all get really lucky. Good luck all.

Finally, I'm sure we've all made jokes about how being a Hawks fan is going to be the death of us someday.. but jesus chirst..

My heart and thoughts go out to the Kuhlman family... but, what does "the state of California's Midwest office" actually do?

Lots of time off

No more Hawks games til Sunday... so there's no excuse for not voting today. Go do it.



Hawks training camp 2.0 starts today - They're playing great and Q should have plenty of time now to really start working on his system with the team.

Game 12: Quenneville's Revenge

So I guess Budaj starts in net after all... doesn't matter both of them suck.

So even though I actually own a black sweater (A Ruutu one too - goddammit) - I really have to say that after a year of not seeing the Hawks in Black unis I'm not used to it and I don't like it. I'd much rather see the Hawks in white at home, red on the road and some newer sweater if they actually need a third one. I know it's a big marketing ploy, but they can do better. I was a sucker and just don't like wearing red... fuck it

The Avs came out in this game pressing... they force a big save from Khabby just 3 minutes into the game.

5 minutes in Old Man Sakic takes a hooking penalty but the Hawks can't capitalize on it... it's killed.. solid PK from the Av's.

Just about 8 minutes in just after the Hawks waste power play they end up taking their own penalty.. To borrow (read: steal) a favorite joke from PensBlog:

Too many men on the ice

Early in the first they show a picture of the Kane Calder Trophy figurine and it looks frightening. They cut to a shot of Burish in the locker room who says it looks like a mix between "Harry Potter and David Letterman" which is actually pretty much spot on...

Sharp takes a penalty for hooking but the Hawks kill.. solid job.. great job shutting off both the passing and shooting lanes. It looks like the Hawks have another great PK game going.

Just over 4 minutes to go in the period Guite brings the puck down the boards and takes a weak shot on goal - Khabby unfortunately over-reacts and kick saves past the puck. It bounces off the inside of his leg and weakly bounces into the goal... 0-1.

First period ends...


Early in the second period Ladd gets a great chance but the puck bounces a round... Bolland picks it up and gets it behind the net and puts it up to Buff.. Buff takes a shot but Budaj gets it.. Ladd grabs the rebound and knocks in it... 1-1.

Campbell takes a nice shot off a bouncing puck and knocks Budaj in the head - eat a dick

Finally 8 minutes in there's a fight Chicago doesn't exactly lose.. although they don't win either. Eager and Laperriere drop the gloves and throw a few punches before Laperriere ends up swinging, missing and falling with his back to Eager. Eager takes the classy move and doesn't take any more swings ending the fight. I'd need to see a good replay but I think Eager was the only one to land a good punch.. Depending on Hockey Fights says I'd have to maybe call that for Eager...

Barker goes for a big hit but misses... Ladd tries to get one in but it goes to the back of the net to Buff who gets it to Kane.. figurine boy takes a great shot but it ends up as a better save for Budaj

Sharp holds McCormick behind the net and joins Eager in the box.. Hawks on the kill again with about 10 minutes left but luckily the Av's are 0-2 with only one shot on the power play

There's a big open net miss.. Hawks get lucky and kill it.

Close to 13 minutes in Burish finally gets into another fight this time with McLeod. Both seem to hold their own - Burish ends up bleeding near his left eye but gets in some good punches and McLeod's nose seems to be bleeding too.

5 minutes later Sharp gets the puck near the blue line and takes a shot that bounces off Brouwer and hits the post. Brouwer is able to grab the rebound and knocks it in... 2-1 Hawks

Hawks draw a penalty for the last 39 secs but can't do anything with it..

End of the Second...

An opening shot of the second shows Burish with a black eye and a few stitches..

While on the power play the Hawks get a delayed penalty and they work the puck around but don't good chances... it seems they'd have been better off just giving up the puck and getting a set play with the extra skater. Instead they will have a two man for 22 secs...

Wasting the first 22 seconds, Campbell gets the puck dead center to Barker gets the slapshot in.. Unfortunately the first penalty had just ended.. so the Hawks end up even strength 3-1 Hawks

It ends up being a good thing too.. because Hejduk brings it in.. beats Khabby stick side.. post and in.. 3-2

I cant being to explain how much I hate Sopel this year... The douche clears it to center directly to an Avs player who barely misses the net to tie it.. Luckily the Hawks clear the puck without any real damage. Sopel continues his campaign to be the player waived once Wiz returns to the team.

Ladd takes a holding penalty but the Hawks kill it - just out the box Ladd gets the puck and brings it across the blue line. Toews comes with him and gets the puck - He's able the silence those idiots who think he's not ready to earn the "C" by holding the puck long enough to pass to Sharp who knocks it home. 4-2

Great example of tic-tac-toe hockey here, especially since Toews easily could have shot the pass from Ladd to try and break his goal-less streak. Instead he gives up a chance to feed a teammate with a better opportunity. That's exactly what you want from a captain.

Beautiful play on the Hawks end.. at least 60 secs without the Avs touching the puck..

16 minutes in we see some great work from Buff behind the net.. Off a pass from Bolland he hold the puck long enough to open a chance for Ladd who puts it top shelf right stick side over Budaj - 5-2 Hawks...

McLeod can eat a dick.. Fraser gets a penalty too 16 and a half in... I didn't realize it til after the game but Burish grabs a 2 minute minor for roughing McLeod plus a 10 minute misconduct...

I ended up changing the channel for a second to watch the Monday Night Football game (just as a sidenote, I grew up around the DC area and the only team I ever actually was involved with was the Redskins.. I guess I have an affinity for slightly racist teams, Skins being way more racist than the Hawks)... anyways.. I end up missing the Sharp goal originally but catch the replay seconds later. Kane brings the puck in and flips around backwards to see a wide open Sharp who knocks it in with 2 and half left... 6-2 Hawks (This ruined my prediction on Blackhawk Zone by the way which would have been my first correct one of the year)

Another great solid game from the Hawks though - Great defense, Penalty Kill looked great, Khabby came through with some big saves (despite letting in one soft goal) and the offense really seemed to be clicking. Both the forecheck and backcheck was working and the Hawks beat a team that will be competing with them for one of the final playoff spots. A great game by the men of four feathers, and another great game from a goalie. A perfect way to start this big home-stand.

I hope you all bought your copy of The Committed Indian - You'll be able to do it again next sunday if you didn't already.

Your Three Stars of the Game:

Brouwer (1G)

Sharp (2G, 1A)

Ladd (2G, 1A)

Go Hawks.

And I'm sure I'll have more to say about it tomorrrow - but GO FUCKING VOTE

Q's old team: Take 2

So we all know that when Q faced one of his former teams with the Hawks, things didn't go as well as we had hoped. Once again tonight though, he faces off against a team he used to coach, only this time - he coached these guys less than a year ago. Q didn't officially leave the Av's til early May of this year after they announced they wouldn't extend his contract. He hadn't coached the Blues since '03, when they were a totally different team. How much does Q know about the Av's still? I guess we'll see.. but there's no questioning he now has a better feel for the Hawks now that he's got a few more games under his belt with them.

This year the Av's started off pretty lame with three straight losses, started to heat up with 5 wins in a row but now have 3 more losses in a row. Lets hope they don't keep up a 5-3, 5-3 pattern... The big problem them so far has been their goalies. Budaj is 28th overall in GAA at 3.13 and 34th in save % at .882. (Which blows for me since I have him as a goalie in an incredibly deep fantasy league, I know.. I know.. you don't fucking care - sorry)

Even worse news for the Av's is that Budaj probably isn't starting tonight - Raycroft (3.75, .839) is likely to take the ice since they Av's played just last night against the Sharks.

Khabby is starting in net tonight for the Hawks after playing well in Friday's game. The Hawks will look to keep up their special teams units and hopefully Toews can remember the moves from last year's highlight goal and finally break his scoreless streak. The Hawks were 3-1-0 against the Av's last year even though they dropped their final preseason game to them in OT. They've played well at home and I don't see that stopping tonight.

Also, remember to pick your copy of The Committed Indian before the game tonight - tonight is the first night it's going on sale and Sam will be out there before the game. Say hello to him and pay your measly $3 for it..

Go Hawks

Winning Ugly

The Hawks really had no business winning a game like this - but when you play a team like the Blue Jackets I guess you don't really have to be on the top of your shit. The Hawks looked tired and sloppy all night playing back to back games against a rested Columbus crew. The most obvious example of this being the 10 trips to the penalty box throughout the game. When you're tired, you're more likely to do something stupid.

Luckily our PK teams continue to play well and only allowed one power play goal. The too many men on the ice penalty in OT was particularly scary - I know the Jackets suck but you can't keep giving a team an extra man and expect to win, especially in OT. Fuck it though, the Jackets are 26th in the league with the extra skater at only 14% while the Hawks are 4th on the kill, not allowing a goal almost 90% of the time. Sometimes you just get lucky.


Huet finally had a good game last night too - stopping 48 of the 51 shots against him, and also stopped all three BJ shooters in the shootout. He did exactly what you want a highly paid goalie to do - pick up a tired team every once in a while. When your team can only get together half as many shots as your opponents sometimes you just need a hot goalie. I wouldn't be surprised to see him in the net again Monday just to see if he can ride the hot streak.

You could say Toews had the winning goal since he was the only one to score in the shootout - take that as proof that he'll be alright for the year and the goals will start coming in actual game situations. He's perfect in the shootout so far this year evidently having traded places with Kane from last year. Getting the winning shootout goal and being named the #1 star might even break his curse and transfer to monday night's game (hopefully anyway).

Once again the Hawk that decided to drop the gloves probably would have been better to just have kept them on. Fraser took on Tollefsen in the first and immediately took 2 or 3 big shots to the chin then looked like he was just trying to hold on after that - it was ugly. Fraser also looked like he split his head open a bit on the fall. This team really needs Wiz back or at least maybe for someone to take on Burish instead, even though Burish sucks at fighting too.

An ugly win still counts for two points and normally you don't want to give someone in your division the extra point for OT but the Jackets won't be a threat to make the playoffs so it doesn't matter. The next 5 games are all at home where the Hawks have played much better and they're 4-1-2 under coach Q. They've also jumped into a tie with Nashville for second in the Central and have enough points that if the season ended today they'd make the playoffs. Obviously the season doesn't end today though and there's a long way to go - Keep getting points boys.

Starshine: Stars 2, Hawks 5

We're going to go ahead an nominate this for performance of the season, though we get the impression there'll be many more. Frankly, the Hawks were all over the Stars last night, causing havoc in the neutral zone and pretty much dictating play, except for maybe, maybe the 2nd half of the 1st period. And if it wasn't for Steve Ott, of all people, capitalizing on a bad bounce for a breakaway goal, this contest would have been over after Kane's strike.

At first, I though Buff had a really good game. Then reading some of the message boards, apparently I was the only one. What I thought I saw was a player creating turnovers and earning his fair share of chances, and finally getting one, though in lucky fashion. In fact, the entire 3rd line of Buff, Ladd, and Bolland was excellent, being matched up with Brad Richards. Or at least I thought he was, I'll have to guess because I didn't see Richards all night. Probably busy counting his money. It happens. Regardless, this line has been doing their part, and finally got some rewards for it. Hopefully Bolland will be the next one off the shnide. Or schnide. Or however you might spell it.

A tour-de-force from Kane last night. Best player on the ice by far. But pretty much everyone was putting in a good effort. Khabby only had one or two tough saves to make, the Stars were forced, or content, to mill about the outside like a 6th grade dance.

More of the same, please.

Game Preview: Stars at Hawks

We'll just let the inaugural issue of The Committed Indian tell the story: As always, click to enlarge.

Kane > Crosby

According to Alexander Semin of the Capitals anyway...

In an interview with Puck Daddy Semin had this to say:

What's so special about [Crosby]? I don't see anything special there. Yes, he does skate well, has a good head, good pass. But there's nothing else. Even if you compare him to Patrick Kane from Chicago ... [Kane] is a much more interesting player. The way he moves, his deking abilities, his thinking on the ice and his anticipation of the play is so superb.

Next step is just to get 120 points in the season and the Hart Trophy.. he's already got the Calder that Crosby missed out on...

Winter Classic Info

Finally - some news about the Winter Classic tickets - From the Sun Times:

Blackhawks’ season-ticket holders finally got the word on tickets for the Jan. 1 Winter Classic matchup with the Detroit Red Wings at Wrigley Field on Tuesday.

They’re being offered tickets in three price categories -- $75, $225 and $325. Season-ticket holders, of which there are about 14,000, will get first crack at tickets to the outdoor game and Wrigley Field is expected to accommodate 41,000.

The NHL is planning to release additional ticket information no later than Monday.

If those tickets are going to be standard for all - that's a hell of a lot less than expected.

As of right now the cheapest tickets on StubHub are $330 while the most expensive are $10,000. I'd still be interested to see what Season Ticket holders are told exactly about where their seats will be.

UPDATE: Puck Daddy has a great breakdown of what's going on so far.

3's are wild

Hawks are back to a perfect .500 now, 3-3-3.

Sharp and Keith continue to be the all-stars of this team as both played solid games and scored the two goals for the Hawks. The fourth line continues to play well - hitting hard and not committing too many mistakes... Hell even Havlat is playing pretty well.

But there's still way to many fuck ups to really compete in the league, especially in the tougher Western Conference. Campbell's guarenteed spin-o-rama move came in the 2nd period and while of course it looks fun when it's done right it looks pathetic when you get knocked over trying it and the other teams scores on the turnover. Quit the cute moves and just play.

Toews continues to be snakebit.. He's playing pretty solid, even though his -2 last night doesn't really look great, he's making good moves and taking plenty of shots but just can't finish anything.

It was good to see the Hawks shooting more last night, although I'd have taken less shots overall if they had just been better quality. No one is just crashing the net and screening the goalie - and a player like Backstrom isn't going to give you anything cheap.

The Hawks looked tired out there tonight - there's 3 days of rest before the Stars come to the UC. Lets hope it helps.

Your Red Wings review and Wild Preview all in one..

Here's the review part - it sucked.

Hawks came out in the third and gave away 3 goals in the opening 10 minutes only to (thankfully) tie it with a two man advantage. They were lucky to get the one point out of the game since they let the game get away from them after outplaying Detroit for most of the game.

The Hawks failed again in the shootout - I don't know what happened with Kane but last year he was almost automatic in the shootout but hasn't put one in yet this year.

Sopel still sucks but Havlat continues to play great - including another pretty goal in the second.

As was mentioned in the comments in the last post - there were a lot of "Lets go red wings" chants going on. While they were constantly shouted down with the "detroit sucks" response it was a very unwelcome sound to hear the Wings fans be so loud. In my section there was an entire row of them sitting behind me. However, since none of them actually were wearing any Wings gear, and couldn't even bother to wear anything red, I have to say I'm thinking they were nothing more than fair-weather fans coming out since the Wings won the cup. Fair enough, but they probably won't be back unless the wings repeat - which they could very well do.

So now the preview:

The biggest news for this game is obviously the changes made. Hendry and Hjalmarsson have been sent down - Barker is called up. They aren't losing much since Hendry's only impact on stats has been 4 PIM and -1. I can't say he's really stood out in any of the games. Hjalmarsson was only able to play in one game so far before being injured.

Barker meanwhile has stepped up and has 5 points in 7 games down in Rockford.

The Wild have yet to lose in regulation and only one OT loss but like the Hawks they've been shakey in the 3rd period lately. The Hawks will need stay strong and not have as many mistakes late in the game. Otherwise, they've actually been playing pretty well. They've looked bad, but they still have points in the last 6 games.

The game tonight is on Versus too - so I guess that counts as "nationally-televised" but how much of the nation really gets Versus is still up to some debate.

Also, Pensblog is gambling on the game, but they took the Wild to win. Check it out if you want an explanation on how to bet on hockey. Lets hope they end up losing some money tonight.

DE-TROIT SUCKS! DE-TROIT SUCKS!

One of the best parts of last year was clearly how well the Hawks handed Detroit their asses. The come from behind win in the home opener was some of the most fun I've had at a hockey game.

So lets hope the Hawks can continue, because Detroit somehow got even better than they were last year.

Well.. not somehow.. they got Hossa.. that's how. They took a loaded team and added a ringer.. what a bunch of pricks.

No surprise that the Wings have started they season well and probably won't give up their spot at the top of the division for the year but a win in regulation tonight will put the Hawks only one point behind them. Khabby is starting in net coming off a decent game where the defense played solid for him..

The Wings haven't lost on the road yet.. so they're due right?
The Hawks are 3-0-1 at home.. so there's that

It should be a fun game...

I Hear Mindless Noise, Rozner Must've Had a Thought

We here at Here Come The Hawks love it when Barry Rozner vomits up something for the Daily Herald, makes us feel a whole lot better about who we are as people. He was at it again today:

Time is right for Tallon to make big move

Dale Tallon's up to something.

At least, that's the feeling you get with the NHL GMs meeting right here in town.

We didn't know that all the GM's being in one place meant that something would happen. Is that a universal law? Here we thought they were discussing rules changes and possible expansion. But no, they've all come to help Dale Tallon!! What a bunch of guys!

The Blackhawks' general manager looked like a beaten man during the news conference announcing a coaching change, but his demeanor has since improved, and he's got a great opportunity now to make something happen and save his own hide.

No move would be bigger, or have more impact, than subtracting goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin from the roster.

(NEWS FLASH! NEWS FLASH!)

It would please boss John McDonough to no end, as McDonough pushed for the signing of free agent Cristobal Huet based on what he saw in net last season, and while new to hockey even McDonough knows you can't have $12 million, or 21 percent of your cap, in goal.

God are we tired of this. John McDonough is a lot of things. Good at his job, determined, communist, porn star, but he's NOT STUPID. Because of this, we think it's extrememly unlikely, even laughable, that McD would push for any hockey decision. Or as Rozner says, being new to hockey, McDonough knows to NOT INTERFERE.

Getting rid of Khabibulin and his $6.7 million salary would be a miracle, but the best way to make it happen is for Khabibulin to play well, and that's almost certainly why he's still playing.

If Tallon pulls it off, and doesn't have to pay too much of Khabibulin's salary, it would free up cap space to add some size on defense. Someone like Chris Pronger, who played eight seasons for Joel Quenneville in St. Louis, might be available in a month or two if the Ducks can't right the ship.

Khabby is still playing because it's the only option, isn't it? Well, actually, it wasn't. But it's the only one a balls-less Tallon could choose. The minors would have worked, and sitting him on the bench also was a choice, but both could have resulted in a sulking, angry Khabby, being a distraction.

But our favorite part by far is the "doesn't hav eto pay too much of Khabibuulin's salary...". Um, Barry, you're not allowed to pay salary to someone on another team, like baseball or basketball. Only if he's claimed on re-entry waivers. Did you mean that? That wouldn't be a trade then, would it? Seeing as how a trade, as we understand it, though we haven't read a book in a while, is when someone gives you something they have for something you have.

Pronger? He makes exactly half-a-million less than Khabby, and is signed through next year. He's 34. How does that solve a #2 center? And instead of paying 12 million in goal, you want to pay 13 for two d-men? Really? That's how you want to go about it? I don't think government bailouts are spreading to sports, much less hockey, Barry.

Or the Hawks could add some goal scoring. There will be plenty of names available come January and February, and keep in mind that McDonough expects the Hawks to make the playoffs this season.

Yes, McDonough's the only one. Rocky and Bowman expect nothing. They're nihlists.

Equally important is for Tallon to begin moving some kids before they're exposed, though that is already occurring.

The Hawks had an excellent chance over the summer to get a No. 1 center and take some pressure off Jonathan Toews, but they passed on Olli Jokinen as he went to Phoenix.

Cam Barker would have likely been part of any deal with Florida, and the jury's still out on the young defenseman, though he has been unimpressive at the NHL level thus far. It doesn't help now that he's stuck at Rockford because of cap restrictions.

So you've just said the Hawks kids are proving to be uneffective outside of Toews and Kane and then wonder why they couldn't put together a package for Jokinen? And you complain that Barker hasn't been impressive in the NHL, which really isn't totally true, and then lament that he's not here. What color is the sky in your world, Barry?

There will be tagging issues in the years to come, and Toews and Patrick Kane will be receiving their monster contract extensions, so this will only get more difficult.

Good thing you've just advocated picking up a 6 million dollar, 34 year old defenseman when you're already loaded there, or a 5.5 million dollar #2 center. That's fancy math!!

Right, enough. My brain hurts. I'm sure Barry's does too.

It's Easy When You're All Alone: Hawks 3, Whatever It Was Wearing Oilers Jerseys 0

We discovered tonight that hockey is an incredibly easy game when your opponent doesn't bother to show up. The Hawks were more than grateful, and put this game away about the time Aaron Johnson hit the twine. (Quick note on Johnson: Is he Jordan Hendry 2? He's hardly let anyone down, been very solid.) After that is was a simple task of negotiating not fucking up, and the Hawks did it masterfully, as the Oilers only managed one or two good chances all night. Khabby should have broken out a bong halfway through the 2nd.

Real star tonight was the PK. Not only a shorty, but nullified what had been a red hot Oilers power play into nothing more than a confused board meeting. Oilers couldn't muster any momentum off their man advantage, and thus the Hawks never lost it. The Men of Four Feathers also took it to the Oilers physically all night, and the Oiler D looked slow all night. Hey, I think Ales Hemsky is offsides again.

Get it in the fucking zone already!

Game 7 Preview: Oil Spill at Hawks

I'm sure I'm not the only one, but the Oilers have always been a second favorite team for me. Partly because I feel for any fandom that lives in a place so fucking cold, partly due to their hilarious upset of the Wings a few years back, but mostly because they're the hockey version of the Oakland A's. They're always young and cool, and fast, though the A's are rarely fast, so I guess for this metaphor to work fast in hockey would have to translate to patient at the plate in baseball. Does that work? No, not in the least? Yeah, well, we're stuck with it.

Anyway, this Oilers team is no different, in fact it's bursting at the seams with speed and skill. However, every expert on the planet has been lining up to pick the Oil to win the Northwest this year, and I'm not so convinced, merely because last year seems a mirage, with 14 shootout wins. Half that and this team would have been swimming near the dredges of the conference. They are certainly better than last season's version, but how much and what that means, I couldn't tell you. But they've certainly gotten off to a flyer this season, winning their first four, and attempting to win their first five of a season for the first time in 23 years.

The Oilers have the oddity of two D-men leading their scoring, in Souray and Grebeshkov. which might explain why their PP is clicking at about 30 percent. Or maybe it's the other way around. Either way, it's not good for the Hawks. You wouldn't be out of your mind to expect a repeat of the 6-5 OT orgy of madness that was these two teams' last meeting, and that's the game the Oilers want to play. Chicago's going to have to repeat their showing from Sunday, their most disciplined and responsible performance of the season. Give this Edmonton team any space and Khabby is going to be looking behind him an awful lot.

My Baby's on The Level: Hawks 4, Children of The Corn 2

Back to .500 is what that title refers to, I think. Anyway, a solid if not spectatcular effort from the Hawks last night. After the 10-minute mark in the first, after they had shaken out the legs from playing the night before, the Hawks were pretty much the better team from there on out, scoring 4 straight goals before one half of the corn twins netted for the final score of 4-2.

Game started out as they usually do versus the Canucks-who-now-resemble-the-Whalers, with Vancouver pretty much pushing the smaller Hawks all around the ice, not creating many chances themseleves, and whatever shots the Hawks do get are easily snuffed out by Captain Marvelous in net. Game was actually quite chippy throughout, many board meetings after whistles and a couple fights, where Burish and Eager got the worst of it, and that's being kind. Though Burish seems to enjoy getting punched in the face. Like it gives him power or something. Like Albert Pujols eating mentally-challenged kids for baseball power. Oh, he says he cares for them, but do you ever seem them again? No, you don't.

Hey, look, a power play! Two goals? You're allowed to do that? It has to be said that one came right after a Hawks penalty ended causing a brief man-advantage, but that's just efficient I suppose. Coach Q is obviously trying to figure out what works and who goes where, as both units were constantly in flux. Sometimes Sharp at the point on Unit 1, sometimes Buff, Bolland got a look there on the second unit, Ladd was on it once, then wasn't. Also, as some have pointed out, Captain Fantastic Toews isn't killing penalties at the moment. We'll see how long that lasts.

Not easy to score twice in a game when you don't provide the final touch on either goal, but Patrick Sharp turned that trick, once netting from a charitable Mattais Ohlund stick and another from a swinging Luongo skate to tap in a post-rebounding shot. It's almost laughable people are criticizing Sharp at center. Yes, he's better on the wing, but he hasn't let anyone down in the middle, in fact, name a better Hawks player over the whole of this season. Don't worry, we'll wait.

If you said Patrick Kane, we'd accept that, too. Another multi-point night for the boy who provides us with Scorpions songs, and how can you not love that? His pass to Sharp for the 4th was fit through an area so tight he could have been charged for statutory rape. Nice to see him carrying the load while Toews struggles, though pretty soon he's going to have a highlight goal to match the one from last year, as he's attempted about 3 or 4 this season that have only been lacking a finish. Soon enough.

Solid. And solid, for now, we'll do.

Game 6 Preview: Ca-schmucks at Hawks

I can't really explain what it is that's so detestable about the Canucks, but there's something. They look like they all watch "Friends" together, as do their fans. And despite their size, they pretty much play like the Hawks. But they've given the Hawks fits over the years, probably because when the Canucks discover a team they outsize by such a large margin, they actually grow some balls and play like they should. That, and Roberto Luongo. Never been able to solve him.

Anyway, Vancouver's off to a solid start, more so considering they've had just one home game. They've been scoring for fun, 19 in 5 games, though two games were played against the Flames. who have more leaks than the Boston PD in The Departed. But they've been horrific in their two losses, which have come against teams with speed like the Hawks, in the Caps and Sabres, so hopefully that's what we'll see tonight. Though Vancouver's blueline has a decent amount of size, it's not terribly mobile or imposing, so maybe our forwards can find some joy.

Be interesting to see how the Hawks bounce back after a tough loss, though last night's was an effort you can build on. They'll have to be better, and much so, on face-offs, as once again they got bent over a chair like a freshman girl pumped full of roofies in that category last night. For a team that is still suspect in its own zone, at least until Q sorts that out, and isn't big or strong enough to win board battles, starting without the puck is not a plan for victory. We'd like to see Huet start tonight and play real well, but I'd also like to see Marissa Miller in my living room. Who knows if I, or we, will?

Game 5: Fire Quenneville!

I was disappointed that the Blues didn't wear their third jersey in this game... These sweaters are awesome...

Off the start Toews centers a line with Kane and Versteeg on the wings... And it works... As we saw in the Capitals game, the Hawks are able to take advantage of a team right away. Versteeg brings the puck across the line and takes a shot from about 40 feet out. Manny gives up a big rebound... Brewer doesn't see the puck and Kane is able to go hard to the net and knock in the puck for the lead just 40 seconds into the game...

I wrote in some notes I was taking that "Sopel continues to fucking suck" but I can't remember exactly what he did.. I think it was giving up the puck behind the net...

Hawks had a good chance on a turnover by McDonald but the two on one that resulted was Burish and Fraser... They get a shot off but the refs kill any chance of it by losing sight of the puck and stopping play despite it being loose still...

Hawks get a power play but don't convert at the end of the 1st.. still get 30 seconds or so to start the second..

Kane is interviewed between periods and is able to make it through any questions about Savard without crying.. good for him.

Hawks fail to score in the opening of the second.. Keith is able to break up a dangerous play by tying up a stick... nice play

Kane gets the puck to Campbell who brings it over the line with support on both wings.. rather than get the puck to the side Campbell takes a quick wrister from around 40 feet out and it looks like it surprises Manny... Hawks lead 2-0

Hawks kill their first penalty even though Bolland was without a stick for most of it up front. I don't know if any of the shots the Blues take even get through to Khabby. Hawks are blocking all passes and shots.. great kill

A 2 on 1 with the one being Sopel looks like trouble.. but he does the only thing he's good at and lays out to take away the pass and the shot..

An icing call about 17 minutes in keeps some tired hawks on the ice and it pays off.. they get the faceoff to the point.. take a shot and Porter puts in the rebound.. 2-1

Losing faceoffs is another theme of this game it makes the Hawks pay.

End of the second...

I fucking hate Comcast.. the third period starts off with some weird strobe, bad digital feed.. the image is choppy and it's damn near impossible to pick up the puck...

Kane takes a good drop pass from Campbell works his way down and wrists one top shelf over Legace to retake the two goal lead on the power play... Great game for Kaner..

Hendry takes a stupid penalty where it looks like he decides to ball tap Perron.. it ends up in a double major... 4 minutes is way too long to give a team this good so far on the extra

Not the prettiest kill but it works... 4 minutes killed by the Hawks

8 minutes in the picture is finally better.. good job comcast...

Oshie to Tkachuk for a one timer point blank and Khabby doesn't have a chance... 3-2

Kane breaks through the blue line even though 4 Blues are standing right on it and draws a penalty...

Good to see Buff in front of the net on the PP... that's exactly where he needs to be with a midget like Legace in the net but the Hawks are still unable to get anything in the net..

Khabby is making Tallon look like a moron with how well he's playing right now... great saves to keep the lead with 4 minutes left

Blues pull Legace with 90 secs left... and keep him off except for a faceoff in the neutral zone..

Due to the icing.. Hawks can't change players.  Which means Burish has to take the faceoff.. which means Blues score with the extra skater and only 13 seconds left...

Overtime was uneventful except for Toews getting beat off the face off again and getting frustrated and hooking Tkachuk... Hawks still kill

We go to shootout...

McDonald goes first for Blues... and totally fucking chokes... completely beats Khabby and pushes it right across the crease

Kaner... does his normal deke routine... tries to elevate the backhand but Manny gets it

Boyes.... goes gloveside.. Khabby gets a piece of it but it goes in..

Toews... goes five hole and ties it up... simple but it works

Kariya... 50 % conversion... but Khabby keeps it out..

The game falls on Versteeg's shoulders... but he misses

Extra Innings...

Oshie... great move by Oshie to get Khabby to commit to one direction and go for the poke as he brings the puck across wraps it around Khabby...

Havlat... looks like he goes in too far.. doesn't elevate.. stuffed... game


Faceoffs were a huge factor in the game with the Hawks losing 35 of them... two of which lead directly to goals for the Blues... Quenneville will probably want to work on that.. and might ask for a better second line center.. or maybe he really thinks Burish is a good center to put out there with the game on the line... Fuck

Hawks come home tomorrow to face a rested Vancouver...

Game 5: Hawks @ St. Louis

Odd coincidence that Quenneville's first game as head coach for the Hawks will be against St. Louis. The last time the Blues were any good, Quenneville was running the bench for them.

It's hard to predict how the team will react to Q as the new coach and especially hard to guess how it will impact tonight's game. They've only had one practice with Q so there can't have been too many changes into the system (if there ever was much of a system). Khabby is going to start in net, which negates all the message board gossip that has been flying around that says Savard was fired for sticking with Khabby over Huet.

Khabby will be facing a Blues team that's played a hell of a lot better in the early games than they should be. Surprisingly, they're actually on top of the central division at the moment. A regulation win though will put the Hawks just one point behind them. The biggest area the Hawks will have to focus on is special teams.

The Blues are working an unbelievable, and unsustainable, 50% on the power play. In the small sample size, they've gone 9-18 and Tkachuk has 4 goals with the advantage. All this after being last in the league last season scoring only 14% of the time. It's about time for their average this year to start evening out.. So stay out of the box Seabrook. On the kill the Blues have also been good, running out the penalty 94.1% of the time.

Teams can come together after a coaching change - the Hawks went on a run right after Savvy was named coach in '06 so lets hope they can do it again.

Another addition...

Apparently, the Blackhawks weren't done with their changes behind the bench and added another assistant coach. They also finally caved in to Tallon's constant requests to add a coach who wears even stupider fucking glasses than he does.



Bergevin will be a new assistant coach for the team after being in the Hawks organization for 3 years. Bergevin played for Quenneville when they were both at St. Louis so they should know how to work together already.

Right Move, Bewlidering Timing

When I first saw the subject line on the thread on The 300 Level, I thought it was a joke, but soon realized the surprising news was in fact that, news. The timing is just so odd, but ultimately, probably the right decision. There was a post on the 300 Level, I don't remember by who, but I thought it summed it up best. The gist was that Scotty Bowman was brought in to survey everything, and at some point he must have said to Rocky and McDonough something to the effect of, "I don't know how much talent you have on the ice, and I won't know until they are playing a real NHL system." Quite frankly, the Hawks weren't.

It has to be said that Savvy has been a class act throughout. Though opinions of his coaching were pretty low, I doubt anyone could find a way to not like and root for the man. His players loved him, and that very well may have been the problem. Part of the love he felt from the team was that he required so little from them. There was no system to adhere to. Back-checking was non-existent. Fundamentals apparently were never worked on, all of this stuff the players' least favorite. Savvy wanted to be liked by his players so badly. He rewarded them instantly. Any string of good performances landed you on the top line. Notice Versteeg has been skating with Toews and Kane the past two games. Versteeg had been the Hawks best player in the first two games, but he doesn't belong on the top 2, or really even the top 3, lines. He's good in his role, and that's where he should stay, perhaps with increased ice time. How many other players have strung two or three good games together and found themselves with 19 and 88? Buff? Ladd? Kontiola? All did, and more. The list goes on. Savvy wanted his team to know any above average performance would result in promotion, whether it would fit or not, so that they would work hard and play for him. But that doesn't really work.

The similarities to when the Bulls fired Cartwright are hard to ignore. Everyone was happy that a beloved former player who was an assistant took over for a subpar head coach. His young team loved him, partly because he was a good guy and didn't really run any system they had to adhere to. They weren't forced to exert themselves on the defensive end. But that doesn't win, and Cartwright was dispatched early in his first full season.

Coach Q will definitely maximize talent on this team. We'll know exactly what they are soon enough. Fans in Colorado complained of his goalie juggling, that he never gave Budjai or Theodore an extended run until Theodore in the 2nd half of last season. Well, that would work here, as Khabby has never dealt well with a heavy workload and Huet's never been a full time starter. Avs fans also bellowed that he didn't play the kids enough. He'll have no choice here.

Some are wondering why Tallon hasn't followed Savvy out the door, and it's a good question to ask. This is only a theory, but Tallon is coming off his first off-season where the William Wirtz leash was off. Rumors have it that McDonough instructed Tallon to make a splash, which he did, which inturn has handicapped this roster. But McDonough and Rocky know they can't fire him, yet, for doing what he pretty much was told to do. Plus, now, with a real coach, they'll know exactly how much talent Tallon has assembled. Tallon has only one way out now, and that's Khabby continuing to play well and netting something in return that propels the Hawks to the playoffs, and not just as an 8th seed. It's his only salvation. Doubtful he pulls it off.

Bottom line, the Hawks will have a better coach behind their bench on Satruday night in St. Louis than the did on Wednesday night at the UC. Players will be held responsible, and we'll know how or if they are viable NHL players. Defensive lapses and turnovers will be reduced, you'd have to imagine. Perhaps, in the long run, we'll be glad that it was done so early to get the adjustment out of the way ASAP. But that remains to be seen.

Savard is out??

Word is from ESPN that Savvy has been fired as the head coach.

No word on the official site yet or any Chicago sources..

This seems way too early in the year to have made a move like this unless there's someone else willing right away to take his role. Scotty - what are you planning?

I'm very surprised with this move - only 4 games into the season and after the first win is an odd time to let him go, especially after the relatively good year he had last season.

I'm torn with the news because I like Savard and wanted him to do well, but his constant line changes, poor power play and horrible management with goalies showed he had some very big things to work on. I thought they'd let him work it out longer in the year before making a decision.

Tallon should feel like shit - this is more his fault than anyone elses'.

There's a lot to this story, I hope we hear more soon.

UPDATE: TSN is saying Quenneville is the replacement.

UPDATE: The official website says the same thing. I also just got this image in an email from 670 The Score... odd...

Game 4: Finally Hawks Win

It feels great to have the team finally get their game going and score their first two points of the year.  As shitty as the first few games have been, it's good to know the hawks are only 1 point out of first place, even if they've had to play an extra game to get there.  

I forgot that I had a class tonight when I told Sam that I'd do the game review but I only missed the first period... so I have nothing to say about it.  From the stats I looked at the game seemed pretty even.. but maybe not.  The Hawks seemed to have figured out how to win faceoffs which is something they needed to focus on.

Early in the Toews takes a penalty for slashing.  30 seconds later Seabrook takes a stupid interference call - Toews looked pissed at him when he gets in the box.  I would have loved to have one of them mic'd up to hear what Toews had to say to him. 

Khabby makes some big saves but just after Toews gets out of the box Mueller gets a nice wrister off and we all had that sinking feeling that things weren't going to change.  Coyotes 1.. Hawks 0.

A huge hit by Johnson near the blue line almost starts a rush but it gets broken up.  Looking back on it though this was the turning point of the game - things started going the right way after this.

Hawks draw a penalty and the stat goes up that the Hawks were 0 for 2 on the power play with only one shot... weak.. nothing would happen with the man advantage but just after Havlat gets the puck from Keith and puts on the best move we've seen from the Hawks all year.  Coming down the left side of the rink fakes the defender to commiting towards going to the boards and cuts inside  Fraser blocks a defender and screens Bryzgalov at the same time which is a sweet play.  Eddie O immediately calls it the "goal of the night"... good call Eddie

On the kill, Toews has a great move to get a break away and fly towards the net but he's pressured from behind and can't get a good shot off.. still he manages to get his rebound and put another shot on but hits post.  

Toews contributes on the penalty kill - Crosby doesn't.  Just a fact.

Somehow, Burish still can't find someone to fight, which is surprising with Carcillo on the other bench.  Probably for the best though since Burish isn't at the same level of Carcillo, though no would should doubt Burish would have gone.

He does get a 2 minute for roughing along with a 10 minute misconduct.  Doesn't matter though when all the penalties are sorted out the Hawks go on the power play. 

Officially they extend their streak of shitty power play stats - Just as the advantage ends though Keith makes a move on the point to open a shooting lane.  Sharp grabs the rebound and lifts it to take the lead for the first time in the game.

Period ends - Hawks go into the third with the lead for the first time this year.

A minute into the third Bolland flys down the ice and gets a weak shot off - he grabs his rebound and brings it behind the net.  4 Coyotes were almost even with the net and Bolland pushes it towards center.  Fraser picks it up, waits for a defender to drop and puts it in the back of the net.  Great shot of him sitting on the bench after scoring his first goal in the NHL.  Great play by Bolland

More back and forth.. Sharp takes a penalty.. it's killed.  Seabrook takes another penalty but Keith draws a hook seconds in... 4 on 4

Havlat and Toews get a two on one break - Havlat holds the puck as a second defender comes in to take away the pass to Toews.  Havlat passes back to Campbell.  Campbell fires a rocket that he picked up while watching Ovechkin up close, but not close enough, and puts the Hawks up by 3.

One minute left is announced and the UC stands up and cheers.. finaly there's something to cheer about.

Buff and Ladd were flying around hitting everyone.  Great to see, especially from Buff who needs to use his size more.  

No doubt Khabby should be the #1 goalie on this team right now.  He's looked solid in his first two starts and made some great saves to keep the Hawks in this one before they were able to pull away from the Yotes.  Whether he's playing to get off the team or playing to give a "fuck you" to the Hawks office it doesn't matter to us since he's the best option the team has to win and that's all any of us want.  I want him on the ice against the Blues.. 

Finally all three stars are Hawks

#3 - Fraser - 1 Goal, +2, first NHL goal

#2 - Havlat - 1 Goal, 1 Assist, +2

#1 - Khabby - 29 saves on 30 shots, stood on his head

Game 4: Coyotes come to the City

There are some positives to look forward to in this game - for one, all the stupid pageantry is over. It's done. As Greg Couch wrote, "Party's over, time to win". From the Daily Herald, it seems Pat Kane agrees:

"There's nothing else really to worry about," Patrick Kane said. "You don't have to do any more red-carpet walks or anything like that, just have to go out and play hockey and give the fans a show."

That quote just makes it seem even more evident that while the red carpet arrival may have been fun for some fans, it was a distraction for the players and a gimmicky PR move. Give away all the figurines and bobbleheads you want McD - but make sure your team wins first.

The Yotes haven't lost a game yet, so just like the Hawks, they're due. So far they've beat San Jose, who are solid, and Anaheim, who could be sneaky bad in the same way the Hawks became sneaky good last year.

It might be overlooked in the reactions from the first three games that the Hawks have actually improved every game, even if it's slight. The first game they just sucked, second game was close until a bad break, the reviewed goal, and a defensive mistake, giving Ovechkin even an inch of room. Monday's game, they played poorly, but still managed a point against a goalie who was on the top of his game.

Other encouraging news, Toews knows at least what he has to do as captain - he called a players only meeting. Now, whether he can actually get a response from the players is the real question.

Of course he calls the meeting, but did he call it because he knew he was supposed to? or did he call it with something to say and get them fired up?

So the Yotes are another young team with lots of talent, only so far this season they've shown up to games. They have a possible Calder winner in Kyle Turris (1G, 2A) and a big new name on the team in Olli Jokinen (also at 1G, 2A). The Hawks were 3-1-0 against them last year but this is a new team that could push for a playoff spot so it'll be important to get wins against them. The Hawks shouldn't have any more distractions and can focus on the game now.

I have no idea who will start in goal though, anyone want to guess?

UPDATE: Looks like it's Khabby in the net tonight up against his former team.

Something else non-hockey related

This comes from Puck Daddy and Japers...

See more recipes and videos at Eat Drink or Die

Red Carpet

Another quick thought - did people actually really like the red carpet event? I went, but only because I didn't have to work yesterday and had nothing better to do. The entire time though.. all I could think about was this

An amendment

This is probably a tiresome rant, but I'd like to take the opportunity to point out that last night was a perfect example of why the shootout is moronic. This was clearly a game that deserved to end 2-2, and we would have felt the exact same as we did, so would the Preds. We would have been disappointed at not winning a game at home where we had the chances to put it away, and Nashville would have been quite pleased with a point on the road in a tough environment. No one would have felt, incomplete? Is that the word? We'll use it. Give us some fucking credit, Bettman. We're adults, we can handle a draw.

Worrisome: Preds 3- Hawks 2 (SO)

Well, it's worrisome. Not panic-inducing, fire-everyone, turn up the alcoholism worrisome, but a little. Like an odd-placed pimple or strange pain in your ear. Nothing to see someone about, but worth keeping an eye on. Though, to be fair, it's always a good time to turn up the alcoholism.

The Hawks effort was slightly, oh so slightly, better last night. Came out on fire in the first 10 minutes, a continuing theme, and if not for Dan Ellis standing on his head could have found themselves 3 or 4 up and home and dry. Making a goalie keep his team in the game is slightly better than missing the net. But obviously, playing with that much zip and verve took its toll toward the end of the period, and Weber scored on a PP. Have to say, Weber was mightily impressive. I hadn't seen him live since the beginning of last year, and he's got a very big future ahead of him.

After just a moronic pass from Kane led to the second Preds goal, and Sharp tied it at the beginning of the 2nd with a goal that defines "scrappy", the game pretty much fizzled from there. The Hawks were obliterated on face-offs last night, losing by an Obama-McCain like poll of 58%-42%. This makes it hard to be the "puck possession" team Savvy claims he wants, though it's not clear if he knows what that means, as it leaves the Hawks trying to get the puck back, which they're not very good at due to cluelessness in their own zone and their diminutive size across the board. From the halfway mark on, the Preds lined up at their own blue line, forcing the Hawks to dump it in, knowing full well they would win any board battle, get their point on the road, and take their chances in OT and/or SO.

Toews looks like he's trying to everything himself, constant trying to weave through 3 or 4 guys like the drunken flusie on Lincoln Ave. Signs of life from Havlat finally, perhaps Savard's barbs through the press got through. The power-play still looks a mess. In fact, the whole team looks like it's trying to do everything in a hurry. You know who would help? ROBERT LANG! Yes, he was lazy, taking shifts, sometimes games, off. Yes, he showed about as much interest in his own zone as Palin does to condoms, older or younger, but he knew when to slow the game down, play in control, and make the right pass in the offensive zone. But alas....

Charity Events ...

No - that headline does not refer to the Hawks being so kind as to give two points to every team they play.. but it could..

Sam will probably be around later to write a recap of last nights game (sneak preview: he's going to be unhappy with it). Who could have guessed three games into the season we'd be begging to have Savard start Khabby again instead of Huet? His idea of simply switching those two out every other game just isn't going to work. He knows it, I hope, but I don't think he knows what to do. Can we please get Bowman to tell him what to do for a while?

Anyways, I got an email from the organizers of this event the other day.. it's a good cause and if you have the money.. you should think about going:

click image for a readable version

Game 3 Preview: Nashville Pussy at Hawks

We may have to set up a booth at THE LEDGE if the Hawks don't pull one out tonight, as there will be more than a few ready to jump. Anyway, the team-soon-to-be-in-KC visits the UC tonight, after some ridiculous ceremony red carpet thing as the Hawks enter the UC. Anyone else worried about this throwing someone out of rhythm? Maybe I'm just being paranoid.

Anyway, the Hawks record vs. the Preds last year was pretty respectable considering the way they used to skate circles around the Hawks the previous two years, at 5-3. The Hawks will see one of the few teams that is smaller and softer than they are. Quite frankly, there isn't much over there to scare anyone, except for maybe the most underrated coach in the league in Barry Trotz. A bunch of annoying, pussy, quick forwards is what you'll see. Oh, and the biggest douche-nozzle there is, Jordan Tootoo. With the energy in the building to be amped up for the home opener, expect it to take no less than 6 seconds for Burish to introduce himself.

The Hawks have just plain not been good the past two games, save the 1st periods. They've struggled to complete 3 consecutive passes, seem to constantly be in a hurry which has led to myriad turnovers in dangerous places. The PP has been abysmal, and the allotment of personel on it is bizarre. Havlat is not a point-man, and having him there leaves the 2nd unit bereft of talent. Buff on the point in neanderthal thinking. "He got big shot, him go point." Everyone would be better off if he were blotting out the sun in front of the net. Every shot is a big shot if the goalie can't see. Hopefully, Savvy will have addressed this.

On the plus side, the Preds play a wide open style that the Hawks want to play as well, and there's no danger of the Hawks being outmuscled tonight. I don't expect Savvy to show enough gumption to throw Khabby out there again, but it wouldn't surprise me. If Huet gets the call, a reduction of the silver platter rebounds would be greatly appreciated. Expect Dan Ellis on the other side, who got lit up in the opener by the Blues. Let's hope for more of that.

Game 2: Hawks Lose

The Hawks start their season with their first losing streak of the year, and they're doing everything they can to make sure to scare away any one that may have been curious about what this whole hockey game is about and tuned into the first WGN broadcast in 30 something years.

The game started off amazingly well - 26 seconds in Havlat hits Toews in stride going out of the Hawks zone.. Toews bounces the puck off the boards to Versteeg who goes five hole on what had been a pretty weak Theodore. The rest of the first period goes well.. the Hawks seemed to be passing better and getting their shots on net. Halfway thru the first period Skille gets the puck down low and bounces a shot off Theodore then puts the rebound thru his legs to take a 2-0 lead and the game was looking good.

But then another lapse on D near the blue line and Steckel is able to skate down the ice with little to no pressure and get it over to Bradley who knocks the pass into the net. Walker didn't get the pressure on Bradley he should have and someone (Sopel?) let the play develop too far. You can't let the 4th line make you look that bad... playing at the end of a shift isn't an excuse. The theme of not getting enough pressure on the Caps would be a recurring one...

Buff looked good in front of the net and seemed to be pissing off the Caps D and Theodore but he seemed to disappear later in the game.. The box score says he played 11:42 but I barely remember seeing him out there.

Scary break away when Campbell miss plays the puck at the worst time.. as in.. when Ovechkin was right next to him and went on a break away.. Seabrook is able to get a stick in at the last second and take Ovie off his balance.. good penalty..

10-6 advantage in shots after 1... at least they were putting them on the net.. Like Byfuglien those seemed to vanish after the first though

Five minutes into the 2nd Ovechkin shows that you can't give him chances and expect him not to come up big. Sharp misplayed a puck in the offensive zone and Ovie picked it up skated into the Hawks zone.. let Campbell give him too much space (any space is too much for him) and then he rockets it past Khabby.

Towards the end of the Second the Hawks finally started getting some power play chances and the passing looked a lot better than last night, but they still failed to convert Versteeg had a wide open chance but that dreaded ping denied him a goal.

After getting decent pressure on Theodore in the first the Hawks only managed to get 6 shots on the net in the second.

In the third the Hawks started playing the way we've seen too much.. really wild and sloppy. Passes weren't as crisp, they didn't generate any chances and they didn't clear their zone when they needed to.

Ovechkin had a great give and go.. and beat Khabby.. but it hits the post.. they shine a spotlight on him anyway as he skates away from the play.

After a scramble in front of the net.. Khabby grabs the puck out of the air but the Cap start to celebrate - no signal on the ice and play stops... time for our first Toronto War Room Review.. WGN doesn't show any good views of it.. but the signal is goal... Caps take the lead..

A few minutes later Ovechkin gets the puck at the red line and is given all the space he needs to work his way into the zone.. get to the middle and just rifle a shot post Khabby who seemed to be screened by his own players for the second time on the Russians' shot. Any argument someone would have with the third goal is erased.. doesn't matter

Some good chances with Khabby pulled.. but the caps clear.. that was game. Only 5 shots in the third period and the Hawks are outshot 34-21 even after they had taken an early two goal lead.

The good news.. which isn't really all that good depending on how you look at it.. is that Khabby was solid in the net. The first Ovechkin goal was a little weak but he still came up huge in several parts of the game and kept the Hawks in it once they forgot how to shoot. He was quick with the glove and got some big saves. So now what does Savard/Tallon do? At the very least, Khabby seems to have improved his trade possibilities.

Game 2: Washington Capitals

Well.. this game probably isn't what most people were hoping for... this was supposed to be Huet coming back to DC to face the team he practically carried to the playoffs late last season.

Here's the bad news though - Huet performance last night was at best mediocre, some good saves - some really bad ones though that he should have had. Huet is weak glove side and other teams aren't going to hesitate to take advantage of it... Basically, Gunnar Stahl would have no problem with Huet... So the match-up of Huet and the Capitals might not even happen. It wouldn't be surprising to see Khabby make his debut today. So it could be a lose-lose situaiton, either Huet plays and shooters like Ovechkin light him up... or Khabby goes in without even having played a preseason game.

I don't know if there have been any changes from last year, but the ice at the Verizon Center isn't going to help the Hawks much more than MSG's.  It would make sense for the Caps to get a better surface on their own rink since they're a team that relies on speed as well - so lets hope they fixed that.

But it isn't all bad - here's the good news: The capitals looked worse than the Hawks did last night and their new goalie, Jose Theodore, was pulled after giving up 4 goals on 19 shots. The Caps gave up 7 goals in total to the Thrashers - a team that only has one or two good shooters.

The Hawks don't have to worry about the Capitals just sucking to win though - the last time they played the Caps, Khabby was able to keep every shot out of the net in front of a sell out UC crowd which included Tony O. - and an amazing save late in the game that helped us think "maybe Khabby isn't so bad".. at least until his next start.

The Capitals have a great offense, so tightening up our D will be the most important correction to make in this game. The chances were there for the Hawks last game - they just have to finish it. Like Sam said, Versteeg looked good out there and I thought Buff looked even better. The goals will come if they keep generating the chances they got last night. And hey, Havlat made it thru his first game without getting hurt... bonus

Well, 81-1 is still acceptable: Hawks-2, Rangers-4

Not that that's what I'm counting on. Anyway, the Hawks kicked off their season tonight with an effort that can only be described as "meh". Some things to like, some things to not like, much like eating sushi.

The 1st period was clearly the best one put out by the men from the Windy City. Though the Rangers started strong and scored first, after that the Hawks dominated, creating chance after chance. Unfortunately, their finishing was akin to a teenage boy fucking, all over the place except where it's supposed to be. The glass behind Henrik Lundqvist took a beating. The Rangers first goal was a result of 51 Phantom losing a battle behind the net, a common occurrence I fear, and then Skille falling asleep as Redden sneaked in behind him to slam home on of the juicy rebounds that Huet left lying around like a junkie all night. Not encouraging. Tough for Skille, as he, Versteeg, and Bolland were everywhere during the 1st, but unfortunately will go down as a -2 for the evening.

If you were looking for Niklas Hjalmarrson after the 5 minute work, you were left staring into the abyss. Savvy didn't wait long to send a message to his GM that he'd like his #4 d-man back from Rockford, did he?

A sweet rush from 51 Phantom resulted in the Hawks first goal, so let's hope he creates more than he helps let in. From then on, it was pretty much downhill. Keith and Bolland doing an interpretive dance of McCain's economic plan led to another turnover that ended up in the net, and the Sopel thought that looked like fun so he gave one away for another goal. Catfish looked a step, or six, slow all night. Though the Hawks briefly showed some life in the 3rd with a Keith one-timer, that was quickly snuffed out when Zherdev, which I think translates to "prick", was the beneficiary of some questionable goaltending.

On the plus side, the Hawks created their share of chances, and hopefully Savvy will stick with these combos for a bit. Versteeg was also a constant nuisance, so let's hope he can keep it up for a while before someone breaks him. The bad: the D looked like a Chinese Fire Drill, though the awful ice didn't help much. Huet was shaky at best, so that situation is going great so far.

Just the 1st of 82, but let's hope it gets a little better tomorrow in Barack Obama's future home. Well, actually, it's his current home too, I guess, but you get what I'm saying.

Game 1 Preview: Hawks at Rangers

It's finally here. The moment we've waited for ever since the fucking Blues couldn't hold a two goal lead against the Preds last season, ending our season. And what better place to begin than in the World's Most Famous Arena with The World's Worst Ice Surface? Quite frankly, I'll consider the night a moderate success if we can get out of this without anyone blowing out a knee. (Keep an eye on this in the future, the Rangers and Knicks are the only New York teams not moving into a new arena in the next couple years, so they'll probably start bellyaching soon enough. Should be hilarious negotiations on that one.)

In past years, this would be a terrible match-up for the Hawks. The Rangers were conservative, choking space all over the ice, and leaving their premier goalie, King Henrik Lundqvist to win them the game. But no more. With the exits of Messrs. Jagr and Shanahan, decidedly plodders, Tom Renney has decided to ramp up the pace and style for the Blueshirts. With a questionable blue-line, at best, this should play right into the Hawks hands. Add to that that Lundqvist is reportedly not 100%, and it gets better. Add to that that if the Rangers think they won't be suffering from lag from a European adventure, they're sadly mistaken, and things look up for the Hawks even more. Anyone who's done the cross-Atlantic thing knows it'll be more than a few days to feel totally back, and they can ask the Anaheim Ducks if they're not sure. Actually, don't ask the Ducks anything. They do everything so slowly these days waiting for the answer wouldn't be worth it.

All those factors should help cancel out the disturbing reality that Keith is being paired with 51 Phantom, which is moronic to a Alabama-resident level, as they both are left-handed and want to PLAY THE SAME GAME! Also, our 4th best D-man is in Rockford due to our GM's inablility to add, and our starting goalie, who looked unconvincing in preseason, having to look over to the bench to see a goalie being paid more than he is sitting there to combine with the pressure of being a free agent pick up. Good times. But I still expect the Hawks to have a good game tonight, so we'll go with a 5-3 win. Why not?

Season Preview: Jack Skille

Do you think Skille feels ashamed at all that he was picked a year before Toews, two before Kane, but only made the team for the first time this year? I would think that'd be a little awkward.. he was a 7th overall pick afterall

Skille got his first taste of the NHL last season and didn't do that poorly getting 5 points in 16 games, but also got 34 in 59 games for Rockford. No one can fully decide if Skille is going to become a powerful scoring forward, or just stay on a checking line. He doesn't shy away from the physical part of the game, but also has the same kind of problem that Lang has and coasts around, waiting near the neutral zone for an outlet pass.

Skille could be the type of player who is only as good as his linemates - he'll need people to get him the puck and find a defender to take on one-on-one.. I expect the lines to shuffle around a lot and Skille could be one of the players that ends up moving around a lot...

Everyone will want to see Skille put up some numbers while bringing a very physical game and there's hockey on now and the Red Wings are losing so I'm not going to write anymore about him...

Quick update

Ladd has been added to the first line along with Toews and Havlat.. at least until Havlat gets injured. I'm not too sure how well that'll work out.. but at least it'll add some size and physical play to the front line to get space for the other two to work. Keith will be playing with Campbell (holy fuck that's going to be a fast pair) and Seabrook will play with Sopel.

I also saw this on the official site:

The Chicago Blackhawks have claimed defenseman Doug Janik on waivers from the Dallas Stars and have traded him back to the Stars in exchange for a conditional draft pick.

Nice.

Eager gone for 3.. Khabby around for a bit

So two news items from over at Kukla's:

Eager will be gone for 3 games for doing what so many players want to do - taking a swing at Sean Avery. Next time lets hope he remembers to do it with his fist when they're both on the ice, not with his stick when he's sitting on the bench.

I hadn't heard about this until today, but evidently things got pretty out of control during that game. Chris Kuc wrote that Steve Ott threatened to go after Skille and decided Savard was the best person to inform of his plan. When Savard threatened to send everyone after him - Avery showed up and probably informed Savard that his tie didn't match his shoes. First game against the Stars is on Halloween - plan on getting to whatever party your going to a little late because that's going to be a long game.

It also comes as no surprise that Khabby is still being shopped around and the deal could just take some time. Hopefully Khabby can have a decent game or two early in the season so we can ship him off to some other team as soon as possible. If he has a few weak games, we might be screwed. Tallon isn't the best GM, but I refused to take his stance that having two #1 goalies was a luxury as anything more than a giant failure to mask his desire to get rid of the most expensive of his horrible signings. Hopefully that's still the case.

Season Preview: Kris Versteeg

Unfortunately, this is how I see us picking up Versteeg after the middle of the season. God love this kid. He plays a game we'd like to see more Hawks play. He's physical, he's tough, he's unafraid of contact. He lives in the corners, goes to the net, all of it. Problem is at his size, he's a car accident waiting to happen. There is just no way he can play this style a whole season and not be intimately familiar with the Hawks' doctors.

There was a time when the Bruins thought pretty highly of this kid. And he's all we have to show for suffering through Tyler Arnason. (Six degrees of Brandon Bochenski, it's fun to play.) He first season in the AHL, split between Providence and Norfolk, he was over a point a game. He's had a great preseason, and certainly earned his spot on the 3rd line, where he'll start. He seems to have a nose for the net, and frankly we could use all the noses we can get. So let's all pray for Kris, as he's sure to win over Hawk fans quickly.

Season Preview: Fuck it Dude, Let's go Bolland.

Thanks to Tallon's Fun With Numbers Plan, there's more pressure on Dave Bolland then there should be. He should comfortably be playing the 3rd line center, maybe even the 4th, and not counted on to produce scoring to help out the top two lines. But alas, with Sharp at center, Bolland will be expected to score, as well as be our most solid two-way behind Toews. The thing is, he's quite capable of this.

Bolland has always been a talent. He put up Kane-numbers in junior. He put up 50 points in his one season in Norfolk. He may be the fastest Hawk, and certainly the fastest forward. He's got a very good set of hands. He has a nasty streak, despite his size. People have undersold this guy, and he has the potential to be the breakout season on this team.

One problem. He's made of porcelain. He's missed significant time each of the past three seasons. That previously mentioned nasty streak tends to get people the size of a smurf hurt. And again, because of the Tallon Credit Crisis, the Hawks simply can't afford Bolland to get hurt. Yes, I just said the Hawks have a center who's played, count it, 40 NHL games, and he's irreplaceable right now. The Pride Is Back! ONE GOAL!