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.