Here Come The Hawks

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

2008-11-14T18:57:00.003-06:00

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..

2008-11-14T13:01:00.004-06:00

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

2008-11-12T15:54:00.002-06:00

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

2008-11-10T10:33:00.003-06:00

(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

2008-11-10T10:22:00.002-06:00

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

2008-11-09T15:01:00.002-06:00

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

2008-11-05T14:46:00.004-06:00

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

2008-11-04T13:42:00.002-06:00

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

2008-11-03T19:36:00.007-06:00

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

2008-11-03T16:20:00.002-06:00

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

2008-11-02T11:00:00.002-06:00

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

2008-11-01T14:38:00.002-05:00

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

2008-10-31T12:26:00.013-05:00

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

Kane > Crosby

2008-10-31T10:06:00.003-05:00

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

2008-10-28T15:52:00.004-05:00

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

2008-10-28T09:46:00.002-05:00

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..

2008-10-27T14:48:00.003-05:00

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!

2008-10-25T16:54:00.002-05:00

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

2008-10-23T17:18:00.002-05:00

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

2008-10-22T23:31:00.003-05:00

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

2008-10-22T16:56:00.002-05:00

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

2008-10-20T10:13:00.002-05:00

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

2008-10-19T16:04:00.002-05:00

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!

2008-10-18T19:39:00.004-05:00

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

2008-10-18T14:13:00.002-05:00

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...

2008-10-17T14:47:00.004-05:00

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

2008-10-16T20:28:00.002-05:00

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??

2008-10-16T11:19:00.007-05:00

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

2008-10-15T20:30:00.006-05:00

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

2008-10-15T10:46:00.005-05:00

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

2008-10-14T17:14:00.001-05:00

This comes from Puck Daddy and Japers...

See more recipes and videos at Eat Drink or Die

Red Carpet

2008-10-14T13:30:00.002-05:00

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

2008-10-14T12:47:00.002-05:00

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)

2008-10-14T12:35:00.002-05:00

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 ...

2008-10-14T12:03:00.006-05:00

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

2008-10-13T14:48:00.003-05:00

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

2008-10-11T18:18:00.005-05:00

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

2008-10-11T12:55:00.004-05:00

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

2008-10-10T22:00:00.002-05:00

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

2008-10-10T11:50:00.002-05:00

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

2008-10-09T18:17:00.002-05:00

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

2008-10-09T09:30:00.002-05:00

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

2008-10-08T16:50:00.002-05:00

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

2008-10-08T14:02:00.003-05:00

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.

2008-10-08T13:19:00.002-05:00

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!

Season Preview: Adam Burish

2008-10-07T15:10:00.002-05:00

Q: What does Adam Burish have in common with Sam and I?

A: He writes a blog.

Actually, I don't really know, Sam could go starting fights a lot, that could be something those two have in common.

Burish was third in the NHL last year in PIM, just behind Jared Boll of Columbus. Burish and Wiz were the main fighters on the team (don't even bother to mention Koci).

Just because he fights a lot, doesn't mean Burish is any good at it yet though. According to Hockey Fights voters, of the 16 fights he was in last season, Burish had a record of 4-8-4 - I'm actually giving him a victory in a fight that doesn't have enough votes to count yet because he rocked the guy.

Hopefully, Burish will get better at fighting or learn to focus on something else because right now the only thing he excels at right now is get punched in the face. He scored only 8 points in 81 games and was -13 for the season.

That's not to say that Burish is a bad guy to have on your team though. He plays a roll on the Hawks and he does it reasonably well. He's certainly not afraid to drop the gloves and probably wants to get better at it (at least if the first three posts on his blog are any indication).

I think Burish has potential to do better, both at fighting and at scoring. He put up 21 points in a season in the AHL two years agoand averaged around 20 points in college. Anything over 15 points here would be a big welcome addition. With Adams gone now too he'll need to step up at center..

The fight above shows the main reason I like having Burish on the team. This was in early February after the Hawks had just gone a miserable 4-9-1 and needed some sort of spark. Burish helped by getting in 3 fights in 4 games, all within the first 2 and half minutes of the game and the hawks managed to get 4 points in the 3 games he started off with fights.

Ritchie and Burish had fought earlier in the year and Burish was pumped for a second chance. The video cuts it off but you can see Burish smiling and if memory serves, he was yelling the whole way to the box. Not at Ritchie, but just because he was happy to do his job and excited about the fight.

For all those expecting Khabby to be gone tomorrow...

2008-10-07T14:48:00.002-05:00

Don't get your hopes up. Niemi, along with Barker and Aaron Johnson were sent to Rockford while Kevyn Adams was released and Lindstrom was claimed off waivers.

That puts the Hawks at the maximum 23 players - 13 forwards, 8 D, 2 goalies.

I doubt anyone really expects Khabby to be staying long but it does make you wonder if a deal they were hoping to get, either with the KHL or NHL, fell through. Once Khabby does go somewhere else (please god let it be soon) I'd expect Niemi to get the call back up and I doubt Barker will go long without getting called up most likely with Hjalmarsson going down. Those two could be going back and forth a lot this year unless one steps up.

I'm surprised to see Fraser beat out Adams.. but what the hell do I know?

It's also good to see Sharp and Kane tied on top of the leaderboards for the preseason for goals and assists, respectively.

Just a few more days now.. The Rangers are 2-0 on the season, but that's against the All-Forward, mostly Penguin rejects of Tampa Bay...

Season Preview: Martin Havlat

2008-10-06T14:37:00.002-05:00

I don't think there are many of us out there who aren't excited about this year's team and if you aren't, please feel free to speak up sometime... I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking that most of what this team will do this year will have to be done without the help of Martin Havlat.

It's not that we don't think he's good - we know he's good - it's that we also know he's got a shoulder made out of glass and is just dying to get out there and strain a groin, hamstring or gernally just hurt himself. He's like Kerry Wood but without any equivalent of a 20 strike-out game.

This next line is going to sound very familiar to everyone - If Havlat can stay healthy, he is going to bring a big scoring presence to our second line and could be key to the Hawks' playoff chances. What's different now, is that the team is expecting to make the playoffs even without his help. He's house-money at this point - even if his salary is still on our books - if he can somehow avoid injuring himself he'll be a big piece in the playoff race - if (when) he does get hurt though, the team should be able to get by without him though it'll be a lot harder.

In the few games he's played this preseason, Havlat is doing well, especially last night, scoring with less than half a second in regulation to tie the game up. If he can be a scoring threat and maybe get close to a point per game getting to the playoffs will be a much easier road.

Season Preview: Dustin Byfuglien

2008-10-06T14:11:00.002-05:00

And yes, I can spell that without even looking it up now. Quite simply, Buff is one of the key masters to this Hawks season (along with Havlat and Bolland.). When the monster from Minnehaha was moved to forward he scored at a 30-goal-a-season clip. Because of Tallon's fun-with-numbers style of GM'ing, he's going to have to keep that up for our forward line to resemble an actual playoff team's. The signs are encouraging. All reports out of camp are that he's slimmed down, worked his ass off, and his playing more physical. All of this is good. Judged by watching his performance last night which I witnessed, this is all true.

Buff needs to play with a mean-streak. In today's game, where defensemen and NFL cornerbacks meet in support groups to figure out why the world's against them, Buff should be unstoppable. He has the same problem that you see some people say about LeBron James, in that he needs to get his ass near the goal. Buff should be blotting out the sun like Persian arrows to goalies, and then simply outmuscling any opponent for rebounds and tons of garbage goals. Bertuzzi made a career of this, and then just the thought of this after he became a criminal and lost his edge. A second PP unit of him in front with Havlat on the wing would be a strong force. Hopefully, Buff is really angry about the economic downturn or the war in Iraq, and we see the streak every night.

Season Preview: If Love is Blind I Guess I'll PATRICK KANE

2008-10-06T11:55:00.002-05:00

Our only #1 draft pick ever, and he made that season of shit earning that draft slot worth it. Quite frankly, I didn't expect much from Crazy 88 before last season. I had seen the juniors, but I looked at his size and age, and though a Phil Kessel-minus-cancer season was in store. He would have great games here and there, tantalize us with a move or pass every so often, but also be overwhelmed in his own zone, get physically pounded, and mostly struggle to find his place.

I knew I was wrong from Opening Night in Minnesota. Though we didn't bother to score, he was the best player on the ice wearing the Indian Head that night. His vision was in ample evidence, and he displayed the best pair of hands that I've ever seen on a Hawk. Though he went through a goal drought to start the season, he was piling up helpers like the apocalypse was coming. He rarely stopped all season, and even chipped in his share of big goals, topping with his tour de force in the dismantling of the Wings at home during the last week of the season.

But to expect more from Kane this season seems iffy. Sure, he's bulked up, will be stronger, knows the league better, and for God's sake will hopefully shoot more. But he will see the top pair from the opponents every night. Sophomore slumps strike all. Ideally, he'll balance this out with greater PP scoring, as 51 Phantom should open some more room on the blue line. We shall see...

Season Preview: Andrew Ladd

2008-10-03T19:16:00.004-05:00

Ladd came to the blackhawks at the trade deadline last year for Tuomo Ruutu. The trade actually seemed to work for both teams since both players upped their numbers. In 43 games with the Hurricanes last season Ladd had 18 points, in just 20 with the Hawks he had 12.

The Ladd/Ruutu trade really just seemed to be one of the trades GMs make just because they want to do something. Both players were underperforming and were of pretty equal talent level and they brought a very physical game on the ice. Ladd doesn't hit people quite as often as Ruutu does but is still very capable of laying someone out.

Although Ladd has only played in 3 seasons, he's one of the few Hawks who have won the cup. Normally you'd think that someone who has thier name of the cup could provide a lot of leadership for the young team - but Ladd himself is only 22 and played very few games with the Hurricanes team that won the cup in '06.

Ladd will proably up his point total some more this year but not by much. He's actually scored more every year he's played, so there's still hope for him to live up to his first round pick potential. Right now though, he'll probably play on the third line and be pretty decent there.

Hockey officially starts tomorrow

2008-10-03T12:51:00.004-05:00

Keep that in mind all of you who also follow baseball.. Neither of our teams are out of it yet either.. though it doesn't look good for the cubs at all.

Since the season starts so soon we'll be flying through the rest of our player previews and of course writing about any options for The Bulin Wall.. how great is it though that he might actually go back to Russia, just like everyone has yelled at least once from the 300 level of the UC.

In other news.. if anyone sees this guy walking around chicago today, please, beat the everliving shit out of him.. no one will deserve it more, maybe not even Detroit fans

Fuck LA

Season Preview: Patrick Sharp

2008-10-03T11:24:00.002-05:00

My ex-girlfriend last year said that if she had a chance to go back to prom, and could ask any hawk to go with her, she'd pick Patrick Sharp. Why she would think about going to prom at 23 years old and why exactly she'd pick Sharp I wasn't too clear on, but it's probably because he's a good lookin' guy who had a phenomenal year.

Season	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PP	SH	GW	S	S%
2007-2008	80	36	26	62	23	55	9	7	7	209	17.2

Playing on a line with Kane and Toews certainly seemed to agree with Sharp. He had career highs in goals, assists, and points. In fact he almost doubled his career high in points - 62 up from 35 the year before. Sharp was second on the Hawks in points behind Kane.

The Hawks lack of depth at center could be one of the biggest set backs for Sharp this year. It seems Sharp might drop down to center the second line now instead of playing on the wing like he did last year. Sharp has played center before, so it won't be a huge change for him - a lot of reference sites still have him listed as a center actually. It'll be interesting to see if Sharps great season last year was a product of who he was playing with, or if he really is coming into his prime. I suspect it's a bit of both but he'll still be a key player this year. Sharp was a beast on the Kill last year and led the NHL in short handed goals at 7 (tied with Alfredsson).

One thing I always seem to forget (maybe you do too) is that Sharp is only 26 years old. He has room to improve having only played over 50 games in a year three times now. Behind the choice of Toews, I could have easily seen the C going to Sharp as he is a leader on this team.

Not that it really matters or counts for anything, but Sharp was overlooked at the start of last year and should have gone to the All-Star Game.. Now fantasy hockey magazines are advertising articles like "Who will be this year's Sharp?" He's made a name for himself in the league now, lets see what he can do.

Kane Commercials

2008-10-01T13:45:00.002-05:00

I was tempted to write "Kane Kommercials" up there for about half a second - then I realized just how ghey it would be.

Two new commericals featuring Kane.. I would have thought Toews would have deserved at least one...

Surprises? nope

2008-09-30T14:31:00.002-05:00

So I'm out of town all weekend without any real access to the internet/cable and what happens? The Hawks finally did something about their goalie problems and put Khabby on waivesr.

Of course in his moment to finally claim the starting position as his own, Huet lets in 7 goals against the fucking Blue Jackets.. atta boy.

In other news - Koci got his ass kicked again

Season Preview: Captain Fantastic

2008-09-27T20:28:00.003-05:00

There isn't much more to say about Johnny B. Good, other than we won't have to hear Dan Kelly call him "Johnny Toews" ever again. We are lucky to have him, and it isn't an exaggeration to say that the Hawks have their Yzerman, Sakic, Modano, whatever. The best way to describe how important Toews is is to have some fun with Behindthenet.ca and look as some sabermetrics for hockey. Except they're impossible to understand, but the one I did get is that Toews, as a rookie, led the Hawks in +/- per 60, which is a measure of a team's +/- per 60 minutes if he were on the ice the whole time and if he weren't. It also weighs the strength of the guys he plays with and against. Toews is worth a goal every 60 minutes. At least at even strength.

But he's obviously more than that. He's clearly the team leader, and has been from the moment he scored on his first shot, and certainly was when he told the entire team they didn't hate to lose after a lacklustre performance against the Kings. (Actually, all our performances against the Kings, save one, were lackluaster last year, but you get the point.) He's not only our best offensive performer, he's our best defensive center to. He also happens to draw the 3rd most penalties per game on the team. His PK time with Sharp last year was deadly. His wrist shot is still being studied by Chris Osgood. And he's handsome. And he loves his mother. Basically, it's not a stretch to say, barring injury, there'll be a 19 hanging in the rafters one day. So enjoy the ride. 80 points this season is probably the minimum we'll get, along with a challenge of his teammates during some losing streak. He's also looked to have bulked up a little, according to reports, so look for John T. Killer to be a physical presence as well. Who can wait?

Season Preview: James Wisniewski

2008-09-26T16:04:00.002-05:00

So what if he'll be out until December? Any excuse we can get to post what very well may have been the highlight of last season, we're going to take:

Pounding Jordan Fuckyoo on one leg is something Hawks fans will be talking about for years. But Wiz is so much more than that, and upon his return the Hawks will have a blue-line corps that most other teams are going to envy. Wiz took significant steps forward last season, almost cracking 30 points while missing 15 games and being, at best, the 4th d-man. This season, he will most certainly find himself on the 3rd pairing. He was also a +12, and provided some toughness that the Hawks so sorely lack. We'll miss his shot from the point, but if paired with Sopel, which looks likely, he'll have more than enough chances to showcase it with Catfish covering. Probably won't get any PP time, so maybe his output won't be the same. But he's also solid, if not better, in his own end, and of course, he's going to beat someone's face in. Get well soon, Wiz.

Season Preview: Cameron Barker

2008-09-25T11:46:00.002-05:00

(Doesn't this look like the picture of someone who just got caught jerking off?)

I'd like to start by saying I always find it funny that the national sites, or someone outside of Chicago, calls him Cameron Barker. That's not a hockey name. Thankfully, we don't do that here.
Where to start with Cam? Cam is the girl you're hooking up with and will slide her head down your torso only to stop, smile at you, and then come back up. Repeatedly. He has teased us with the flashes of the D-man we've always hoped he'd be. He'll show a mean-streak once a month, and flatten everything in site. He'll blast a shot into the top corner from an impossible angle. He'll zing a cross-ice pass right onto the tape. And then he'll do nothing. For games. Sometimes weeks. We've seen the non-chalant attitude. The absence of a physical presence. Well, Cam, this season, it's time to get your lips around it or we're just going to kick you out of bed and masturbate in the bathroom.
To be fair to Cameron, the 2nd half of last season he was pretty good. Or at least not consistently bad. Frankly, it's debatable partnering him with 51 Phantom is a good idea, which seems to be the way Toe Savard is leaning. Campbell's game is to get up the ice, join the attack, all the time. This will leave Barks as the stay-at-home cover guy, and he's not suited for that. He should be the one shotgunning up the ice, to use his big shot and soft hands. But we'll settle for him QB-ing the second power-play unit well, and not looking like he doesn't care half the time.

Season Preview: Brent Sopel

2008-09-24T22:18:00.002-05:00

Honestly, I'm not really sure what to write about Brent Sopel. I know he wore the A for a good part of last year and seems to be a good guy to have on your favorite team, but I've never really paid attention to him? So why am I writing about him? Because he was next on the list.. so fuck it..

Lets learn about Sopel together... Sopel had 1 goal, 19 assists, a +9 rating, 28 PIM... What he did do though, is lead the team in blocked shots with 122. I really feel that's an underrated stat - I'll have to check with The Forechecker though to see what he says about it since he's a stat guy.

What Sopel does bring to the ice is a veteran presence to our insanely young team. He's a smart player who you won't see making many of the mistakes someone like Seabrook will be making. Sopel will help develop the younger players (which is the main reason he was given an A for last year). I'd expect him to see him paired up with Campbell as long as Savard doesn't break up the Keith/Seabrook pairing. If Savy does, then expect to see some combination of Seabrook, Keith, Campbell and Sopel. These are our best 4 on D and will be a pretty solid group on the Blueline.

One interesting thing I did learn while doing "research" for this, which mostly included watching the Daily Show and drinking, is that someone like Sopel enough to create a website entirely devoted to him... seriously. Evidently he's a "man of style" which is good to know.. maybe he and Avery can teach us how to dress sharp

Central Division Interview - End of the Bench

2008-09-24T14:42:00.004-05:00

Hey - remember when I was asking questions to other people who follow teams in the Central? Well I'm back at at it. I got lazy and didn't email questions out for a while so sorry about the delay... Here's an interview with Drew from over at End of the Bench, Blue Jackets site

The Blue Jackets seemed to have a ton of players coming and going for this year - how is that going to impact the team? Who are players to watch and who is the team going to miss?

All signs (at least, what the media tells us) are that the changes are a net plus. The big name on the "OUT" list is Nikolai Zherdev. While I hate to see a guy with so much promise leave the organization, I get the impression that he wasn't exactly a great locker room guy. He'd run his course, and I think it's pretty apparent that he's not a "Hitchcock guy". Of the guys coming in, there is the skilled name of Kristian Huselius who should help replace that which was lost in the Zherdev trade. Of the "difficult to play against" names, you have Raffi Torres, and Mike Commodore. Neither of these guys is going to be one of the three stars on a regular basis, but you know they're going to bring it every night and will be fan favorites. And the defensemen coming back from the Rangers, Tyutin and Backman... they're names I recognize and they're "proven" NHL'ers. They should help replace the departed Ron Hainsey, and stabilize a backline that has always been suspect in Columbus.

Stefan Legein? Is he in or out? Is that a big prospect to lose? I hadn't heard anything about him til he decided to retire (at 19).

He's out. Is it a big prospect to lose, I have no idea. Some folks say "yes", but let's be honest... nobody really knows. I do know this: the decision he made was certainly not an easy one. I am someone who had a dream, and pursued it from a young age until midway through college. When the time came that I knew I didn't want to do it anymore, it was tough to change direction in my own mind, to say nothing of the folks around me who thought I was throwing away a certain future. I wish him the best.

Dirk from On The Forecheck said some shit about your team (and Nash's mom) last week, here's your chance to fire back (I suggest mentioning that someone wanted to live in the Republic of Bashkortostan rather than Nashville.) They're asking for it.. Or do you want to battle it out with St. Louis to see who should have to change the color? Two teams with "blue" in their names is a bit too much for one division, isn't it?

I hate the Predators with all my being, but I have nothing bad to say about them. Seriously, until the Jackets beat the Preds more than once a decade what do I have to say. Plus, I happen to like the city of Nashville. But if they (whoever they are) paid me more to live at "home", I'd probably do it, too. I didn't follow the reaction on the Radulov situation much, so I can only compare it to some stereotypes I've created in my own head. Americans have a propensity to think that anything they created (NBA) or think they created (NHL) is the greatest thing in the world (maybe it is) and that this should be the end destination for all the greatest players in the world (there are other factors besides competition, money, etc). Radulov is the first (relevant) big star to jump ship. Wait until LeBron James signs in Spain, Randy Moss plays in the CFL, or Rick Nash goes to play in Sweden. Of course those scenarios are all speculative, but we'd be naive to think it's impossible.

After seeing last night's preseason game(short recap - Crawford looked pretty solid, Kane's vision and passing is still sick, Sharp and Campbell need just a bit more time to get going and a lot of the kids on the team look good, but need time) I have to think there's a bit of a rivalry going on between the BJs and the Hawks right now. I don't know if it'll ever escalate into much but it really seems like the teams don't like each other right now. There were a fair number of fights last year between the two teams and even though it could have been nothing more than young kids trying to make a name for themselves, it seemed like we could have some pretty exciting matches against Columbus this year.

Honestly, who had the better highlight reel goal last year, Toews or Nash?

Which Nash goal? The between the legs shot against the Blues or the double-depantsing in the desert? :) I'll go with Nash vs. Phoenix for the win, John.

Do you think Umberger is going to remember to keep his head up when Campbell is on the ice from now on?

Brian Campbell had the setup of a lifetime for that hit. He took it, and did his damage. I think Umberger has learned his lesson.

How good could Leclaire be if he had a better defense in front of him?

You saw what he can do with a seive for a backline. This year, the defense is supposed to be better. If he stays injury-free and plays 60-75% of the games, I say he has a shot to compete for the Vezina.

I've actually spent a good amount of time in Columbus though I never got out to a hockey game. The area around the arena seemed pretty lively though. Is (or has?) Columbus going to fully embrace the Jackets, or is it always going to play a distant second to the buckeyes?

Yes, Columbus has fully embraced the Jackets, and yes, they will always play second fiddle to the Buckeyes. There are plenty of people in this town who love hockey, and plenty for whom the Buckeyes hold no quarter. But if you poll every person in this town, you'll find that support for the Buckeyes outweighs support for the Blue Jackets. You can't put a franchise in place for eight years and expect it to be as relevant to the public as a school that's played football for over 100 years (and for most of that time, had no major pro sports in town to compete against). Not going to happen. They can coexist, and if the Jackets can find a way to win and be competitive, the rest of the world will see this, too.

Last question as always - how do you see the division playing out? Who finishes where?

Based on no research whatsoever: Detroit, Chicago, Columbus, Nashville, St. Louis

Thanks Drew

Also, it looks like Sean from St. Louis Game Time was dead wrong in his answer to my question about Erik Johnson - his shoulder may be 100%, or 110% but the young star is out for the a good portion of the year after a ~~freak gasoline fight accident~~ golf carting mishap

What is this guy planning on buying?

2008-09-24T11:10:00.002-05:00

Inspired by this interesting article on Puck Daddy about the tons of Winter Classic tickets available on StubHub, I thought it might be interesting to check in every once in a while and try and guess what the hell the seller of the most expensive tickets for the outdoor game might be spending their money on if some dumbass is stupid enough to buy them.

As mentioned in the article above, the most expensive tickets right now are $19,900 but you can only buy them as a pair. So the tickets together will cost you $39,800, not counting the extra $4,000 that StubHub will add on for commission.

What could the seller be planning on buying? Here's some things that you can get for $39,800:

10,602 gallons of gas ($3.75 National Average)... or a new Toyota Prius (starts at $24,270) with enough left over for 4,141 gallons of gas - probably enough to last that car many many years
5 - 60" Class 1080p Flat-Panel Plasma HD TVs (with universal remote!) - they'll need something to watch the game on afterall
4,975 cases of Old Style (in bottles.. cause this guy is classy). That's 59,700 bottles...
44 Puggles
Two years of education at a private college
Two of whatever Eliot Spitzer got from his prostitutes (or double plus a good tip... again.. classy)
Khabibulin's goaltending services for 2.15 days (6.75 Million divided by 365 for his daily rate)

Season Preview: Brent Seabrook

2008-09-23T15:38:00.002-05:00

found on www.excelfitness.ca

Ahhh.. Brent Seabrook. Seabrook seems to be one of those players that people seem pretty torn over. Unlike Keith, who people just want to argue about how good he will get, Seabrook seems to have his fair shares of unbelievers.

Seabs was the primary ice partner of Keith on the blueline last year and his TOI average of 21:29 shows it. Seabrook brings much more of the physical side to the defense that Keith lacks. Seabrook lead the team with 167 hits last year which put him at 27th overall in the NHL. (Ruutu might have led the team in hits had he stayed on last year - he finished with 171 and was 24th overall. Also, did anyone know Dustin Brown led the league with 311 hits - 45 more than 2nd place?). Seabrook will drop the gloves on occasion but it'd probably be better for him to practice that aspect of his game a little more. He's by no means a heavy weight but since he's playing a lot with Toews and Kane he usually doesn't have to face up against other teams big guys. Either way you've got to like his willingness to fight when he feels it's needed to protect his teammates, even Keith.

Seabrook tied with Keith for points on the year and will probably be close to around 30 points again this year if his short track record is any indication. He'll block a fair amount of shots and will probably take the most amount of shots as a defenceman.

It could be a big year for Seabrook especially if he can work on his conditioning and maybe play a little less now that someone like Campbell is on the team to also eat a lot of minutes. Last year Seabrook seemed to really tire out towards the end of the season but the team will obviously need him to play hard if they want to make any noise in the playoffs this year. Seabrook could grow into a leader on this team given the effort on his part. At only 23 years old he has huge potential and needs to keep upping his game over the next few years

Quick Links.. hockey is coming..

2008-09-23T12:38:00.003-05:00

So there will be a preview of the next Blackhawk up later today (hopefully) but in the meantime I thought it's worth mentioning that the Hawks have made some news around the internet today.. and it's all about season ticket sales.

I saw this first over at Kukla's Korner and now Mirtle has also just written about it. I don't think it'll come as a surprise to anyone around here, but the Hawks set a record with season ticket sales. Latest numbers have it around 13,425 from 3,400. The thing I find most shocking about this is that 3,400 people actually still had season tickets.. they deserve their own statue outside the UC.

Kukla's mentions that it "marks one of the biggest one-year turnarounds in sports ticket sales history for a team that did not qualify for the postseason." I'd be curious to see what some of the other jumps were...

Also mentioned lately, the game tonight is almost sold-out... wow. Lines for tonight's game have been posted on the official site. Toews is out but the Sharp-Kontiola-Kane line is one to watch for along with Barker and Campbell playing on the blueline. I'll be at the game tonight but if the training camp pictures are any indication, any pictures I take will fucking suck. I need a new damn camera.

oh, and another bit of self promotion - Here Come The Hawks was listed as a "blog to watch" on Fanhouse's preview of the Hawks - thanks to the writer Brian for that

For those who didn't see it....

2008-09-23T10:52:00.002-05:00

Our opening front-page cartoon from The Committed Indian:

Bey haby, bow ahout lettin' me fuck your cap space too?

Season Preview: Duncan Keith

2008-09-22T14:01:00.003-05:00

"From playing against him he seems to be becoming a better and better player. He's a real strong skater and with his skating ability and bringing the puck up the ice he can be a real helpful player for the Blackhawks. It's going to help having a skater of that caliber who can bring the puck up the ice."

Yeah - Nicklas Lidstrom said that about Keith. I know we all hate him but he's had a stranglehold on the Norris trophy for this entire decade, save one year where Niedermayer won so he probably knows a good defender when he sees one.

You’ll be able to tell a lot about Hawks fans by the way they look at certain players. Some fans will say Keith had his breakout year last season and we can expect a lot more of the same – others say that Keith hasn’t shown his full potential yet and THIS is the year that he’ll have his true breakout.

Last season the Hawks were pretty crippled by injuries (not an excuse for anything, just a fact) and they really needed their young players to step up. Keith is one of those players that did. Paired with Seabrook for the most part, Keith came into his own and was one of the many highlights of last season. Going into the All-Star break, Keith was averaging over 20 minutes on the ice per game and had a +/- of 14. For his play, Keith was named as the lone Blackhawks representative to the All-Star game (Sharp got screwed).

Keith ended the season +30, which tied him with Zetterberg for 5^th overall. He also finished the season averaging 25:33 minutes on the ice, that puts him right at tenth overall for last season. Bringing on Campbell will hopefully help keep Keith’s TOI to a more manageable rate for a young player and hopefully keep him fresher for the post season, assuming that's needed.

As I mentioned in Campbell's preview, Keith is really fucking fast. His speed allows him to get into the mix on offense and still get back in time to make plays on D - just ask the Predators' Legwand, who Keith chased down and caught last year in overtime to save a game. (why can't I find any video of this sort of thing? trust me, it happened though). Keith and Seabrook are well on their way to being a solid shutdown defensive pair and we should expect to see Keith continue to improve. He'll continue to log big minutes, not allow goals when he's on the ice, and probably get his ass kicked if he gets into a fight (please leave that to Seabrook).

It needs to be said...

2008-09-21T00:59:00.002-05:00

Congratulations Cubs. The training camp was fun to go to.. but it doesn't beat seeing the cubs clinch their division. I hope to one day see the Hawks do the same thing. Pictures of the cubs and hawks events soon to come..

Season Preview: Brian Campbell

2008-09-20T01:23:00.002-05:00

Other than Toews, arguably no player is going to have more pressure on them from the fans (and probably the front office) than Campbell. We should all know the deal by now, coming into the summer Campbell was one of the biggest names becoming an UFA. To the shock of many, he signed with these Chicago Blackhawks. Why did he do this? Probably had something with the $7.1 Million Tallon decided to hand him for the next 8 years. Having been in Chicago for the Hull/Mikita game with the Sharks also probably gave him a great glimpse of how great it can be to be cheered on by all of us amazing fans. There were reports that other teams offered him more but he came here.

Campbell and Keith will give our D two players with great speed, though if I remember the All-Star game correctly Keith smoked Campbell in a race. Campbell will take over for Jason Williams as the main "quarterback" for the Hawks PP. In the '07-'08 Season Campbell was on the ice for 47 goals with the other team a man down. He knows how to handle the puck and create opportunities. He isn't much a huge physical force on the D but seems to know how to pick his spots and can lay a big hit on occasion.

One point to watch is how Campbell will respond to the pressure a big contract like this can bring. For the kind of money he's getting some will feel he's not a success if he doesn't bring home the Norris trophy - but that's just not going to happen.

Campbell won't score many goals (highest in a season is 12) but will generate a lot of assists (160 of his 195 points come from the A). This will be key on the Power Play since that has been a notorious weak point on this team. At only 29 Campbell will probably be looked at as a leader on the team and may even get chances to wear the A depending on how that will work this year. Campbell will be a very solid addition to the already strong D the Hawks have and can provide some space for Keith and Seabrook to continue to improve without having too much asked of them too early.

Also look for him to make the All-Star team again this year and never ever throw a baseball again in his life.

Season Preview: Nikolai Khabibulin

2008-09-19T20:11:00.002-05:00

Okay, so that's a bit of a cheap shot, but still. Anyway, much of the season hinges on Khabby, or more to the point, what return Khabibulin brings. But first, it's best to look at what he actually is. Firstly, Khabby has never been an elite goalie. He may be paid like one, but the numbers simply don't state that. He's only had a save percentage over .920 once, and that's from a majority of a career spent in what will be called "The Dead Puck Era". His GAA has only been below 2.2 once. What Khabby has been is a goaltender who put together one great playoff, when the 'ning won the Cup, and Nik put up a .933 SV% and a 1.71 GAA. Nik could always be categorized as "above-average". The problem has been his paycheck has forced two coaches to try and treat him as elite. This has led to Nik being overplayed, and faltering under the workload. He has shown flashes of being very good, but these get avalanched when first Yawney, and then Savvy would try and ride him. And our playoff hopes would crash under an avalanche of soft backhanders from the slot or wrap arounds that sneak under his paddle.

Obviously, at some point, Nik will move on. No man in his right mind thinks it's a good idea to blow over 12 million on your goalie. Then again, we need more evidence that Tallon is in his right mind. By moving Lang, Tallon has left himself some slack to wait until another team's goalie get hurt or proves ineffective. But it's doubtful this will up the return too much. Nik is still old, overpaid, and overrated. He most likely will have to be packaged with a young player to get us the help we need up front.

The other problem is Nik will not go quietly into that good night. He has a history of being a malcontent when not playing as much as he likes. If Tallon waits too long, Khabby will make himself a distraction, and this team doesn't have enough room for error to deal with that. So let's keep fingers crossed it doesn't get to that. So long, Nik. Too much was expected of you, and you didn't deliver. We'll be corgil when we run into you, but we like our new companion, Cristobal, better.

SEASON PREVIEW EXTRAVAGANZA!!!

2008-09-18T17:55:00.002-05:00

We've waited. And waited. We poured over any bit of news we could find. We've read blog after blog. We even tried getting a life. Didn't take. But now, finally, the season is here! And with the kickoff of training camp tomorrow, we thought we'd kick off our season preview, player-by-player. And because it makes some sense, we'll start from the goal line out, so today's preview centers around The Amazing Cristobal Huet.

Well, okay, that's not him. But it's still The Amazing Cristobal. So whatever. I got to have fun with photoshop. Up yours. Anyway, what to make of our new starting goaltender? At least, we think he will be. We'd all like to believe that Tallon is just blowing smoke when he says Huet and Khabby will split time. But the more he says it, the more I think he thinks it can actually work. Which may be Dale hedging his bets on Huet, who has never been a full time starter for a team over a full season. But that would lead to wonder why he signed him for Vegas High-Roller Money? And if he did think him worthy of a starter, why is he hanging on to Khabibulin and thus reaming our cap situation, forcing us to unload one of our only experienced forwards? Questions, questions...

As for Huet the player, we do know that he is younger, slightly cheaper, and probably, at least, a little better than the incumbent. A .920 SV percentage and a 2.32 GAA are nothing to be sneezed at, though they aren't glittering. His stretch run for the Caps was, however, where those numbers jumped to .936 and 1.63. But that was over 13 games, and that was leading a team to win hockey's worst division by far. Back-stopping the Hawks to a playoff spot in a LOADED Western Conference is a different matter all together. Frankly, the jury is still out on whether or not he can do it. But at least it's unknown, whereas with Khabby, it's all too sadly known.

The Hawks, and us, would settle for steady performances from Huet, and none of the back-breaking, beer-dropping softies that Khabby let in on occasion, ones that this young team had a hard time recovering from. If Huet can reproduce even a sliver of the form he showed with the Caps, then the playoffs will be a cinch. But he shouldn't have to, as the Hawks D-corps is much more solid than Washington's.

And now Cris will draw a moo-cow....

Rozner Writes About Hockey, A City Mourns

2008-09-16T10:12:00.002-05:00

We here at Here Come The Hawks absolutely love it when Barry Rozner wakes up from his desk to belch something about the Hawks, because quite frankly we could use the self-confidence boost. Well, apparently, today, Rozner saw his shadow in his office and that means we get a really dumb column. Actually, we get the same thing when he doesn't see his shadow, and probably would if he couldn't see his computer either.

Here's a name for Hawks to remember this season

One down, two to go.

It's no secret around the NHL that the Blackhawks have been trying to trick someone into taking Robert Lang, Martin Havlat and Nikolai Khabibulin, so kudos to GM Dale Tallon for moving Lang and even getting a draft pick in return.

Hang on to your kudos there, buddy, you might need them. Though Lang could be a headache at times, 20 goals and 60 points is nothing to dismiss, especially when he's one of exactly two veteran, scoring forwards that you have. He also chipped in some pretty big goals, and if he kept Havlat somewhat content, that's something too. His departure leaves us with ONE forward on our Top-6 with more than a year of experience, and he's made of butterflies and dreams.

Lang was no small headache for coach Denis Savard, as Lang, Havlat and David Koci - the group known as the Czech Republic - were often seen partitioned in the dressing room, speaking in their native tongue.

Koci was around for all of 10 games, but it's nice to see people bond so well so quickly, isn't it? And this was before Obama brought us all together!

If the Hawks are stuck with Havlat, at least without Lang - another veteran who didn't care to play in his own end of the ice - Havlat may have to be part of the team this year.

Yes, generally when you're stuck with something, you have make it a part of your team or self. For instance, if I'm stuck with a rash, then that rash is a part of me. I still have to explain it away to whatever blonde I'm flirting with at the bar. "Oh, it's uh, from uh, power sander cleaner. I was trying to get answers from a mob informant. Exactly, just like Weeds! Don't you just love that show?" Just like we're all stuck with you, Barry.

So that's a good start.

What is? The fact that the Hawks are now even more inexperienced at forward? Or now Havlat, who you just called lazy and a malcontent, is here to stay?

It's also, by the way, no secret in NHL circles that Anaheim GM Brian Burke wanted to leave for Toronto this summer and may still have his eye on that situation.

But if that option is gone at the end of the 2008-09 season, when Burke's contract is finished in Anaheim, don't be shocked if the Hawks make a play.

This isn't actually that ridiculous a statement. I know, I was shocked too. The Hawks do not have a hockey operations guy above Tallon, though one has to wonder if this isn't exactly what Scotty Bowman was brought in to do, without the fancy title.

New boss John McDonough probably didn't know Burke when he took the job, but we're told he knows him now and is fully aware that an extraordinary opportunity may await with Burke's contract about to run out.

More people coming together!

It would be quite a change on the West Side, as Burke is not about making friends and kissing babies. He's about physical play, standing up in your own building, and winning.

He's just the kind of front man hockey people respect and, better yet, some dislike.

"Some" dislike? No one can stand this fucker. That tends to happen when your vagina bleeds on everyone's feet when another GM, perfectly within his rights mind you, makes an offer sheet to one of your players. They're still crying about Dustin Penner! Oh, and that's after they were able to pretty much fleece the Oilers for Pronger because the missus didn't like being cold and held Kevin Lowe hostage. Good times.

The Hawks remain one of the softest and smallest teams in the league, and Burke would solve that problem instantly.

How? Turn Patrick Kane into The Incredibule Hulk? Send him to Barry Bonds's trainer? "You wouldn't like Kaner when he's angry. You get the soda."

Oh, you mean by trading prospects we no longer value for hulking forwards who can't score, the Ducks downfall last season. Todd Bertuzzi, come on down!!!

The Hawks are one of the youngest teams in the NHL, severely lacking veteran character, and Burke would alter the chemistry before his nameplate was glued on the door.

Didn't you just say that trading Lang, a veteran was a good idea? Didn't you want to put Havlat, a veteran, in his carry-on? Granted, they're not exactly "character" guys, but they actually have TALENT. Let Kevyn Adams be "character" and find me experience on HOW TO SCORE. Generally, that's how the NHL decides who won or lost a game, but how many goals you score. I'm sure Bettman would love to decide games by market size, but he hasn't gotten there yet.

Despite the awkward, summer-long victory parade down Michigan Avenue, the team hasn't sniffed the playoffs since 2002 and has participated in the postseason once since 1997.

Trumpeting last season's improvement as a grand achievement and reason for ticker tape is an odd way of teaching young players what genuine success is in the NHL, a perpetration of a sham Burke would never allow.

Did I miss something? Was there a parade? Floats? Smiling models waving? The only things I've ever seen Hawks fans, and any writer who knows anything, get excited about was that A) The Hawks were a bona-fide organization again and B) They had a team much better than anything in years and with the potential to get much better. Nowhere did anyone think this was a satisfactory finish or feel as if we accomplished anything. The excitment is in reference to the idea that maybe this team COULD accomplish something. Maybe Barry had his own parade. And ask Johathan Toews if he think last year was a success, or Kane or Sharp or Keith, and see if their first sentence isn't, "Well, we didn't make the playoffs."

Now, based on how good they've repeatedly told us they are, we fully expect the Hawks to win a minimum of two playoff series next spring. So with progression like that, no one need fear for their jobs even if Burke comes aboard.

Is that the Royal We, Mr. Rozner? Who has said that, anywhere? Most predictions I've seen have the Hawks between the 6-8th seed. Most fans think that's about right, too. And where is this organizational trumpeting? All they've said is they've gotten better, and it's hard to argue with the addition of Campbell and Huet. You might expect that, Sir Rozner, but you're an idiot.

Playoffs or not, Burke could only benefit an organization that is nearing a half-century without a Stanley Cup.

He won his 15 months ago.

Ah yes, the championship-justifies-all argument. That Cup he won 15 months ago? Almost had nothing to do with Burke. No, really, it didn't. Getzlaf, Giguere, Perry, Kunitz, Penner, Pahlsson, all were drafted or acquired by someone else. Selanne wouldn't sign anywhere else. Neidermayer only came because his brother was there, as pointed out by a post on the 300 Level. We'll give you Pronger, but again, wife. And letting Niedermayer and Selanne on vacation last year forced him to swap McDonald for Doug Weight. Let us know how that looks in two years.

What's exciting about the Hawks is they have a chance for a sustained term as a contender. Burke would almost assuredly forfeit that for a one-time run. If that worked, great. If not, you're fucked. Without any of the customary fun. We'd never argue Tallon is a genious, and new GM and/or president may be necessary very soon. But if Rozner's championing his cause, then scratch him off the list.

Dr. Tallon Strikes Again!

2008-09-12T21:20:00.004-05:00

GENTLEMEN! I HAVE CREATED....A THIN FORWARD LINE, WITH NO EXPERIENCE! Dale Tallon, or maybe the people telling Tallon what to do, like shiny things. They like expensive things. But they don't think of the consequences of buying these things on the rest of the budget. I used to blow all my money on drugs, and then couldn't afford the cookies and pizzas those drugs necessitated I would need later. This is where Tallon has left us, at least at the moment. Because of his splash on the Huet signing, without a plan as how to move the other goalie out, our biggest weakness, a forward line lacking depth and experience, just got weaker.

I only hope there's another deal in the works, and will reserve final judgement until then. But the preliminary scores are not encouraging. We have, at the moment, a disgruntled goalie who will make a nuisance of himself, and four top-6 forwards with 1 YEAR OR LESS experience. Add to that we have less than 1M of cap room, and the flexibility to fix this would appear to be at the bar with the tooth fairy and Santa Claus. I'm getting itchy all over.

Well..

2008-09-12T17:52:00.003-05:00

It seems like we might actually be stuck with the Khabby/Huet tandem afterall.. The Hawks announced they're sending Lang to the Habs (hey! just like all those internet rumors said!) for a second round pick in 2010.... The Hawks should be under the cap now but the problems are still not over... I'm bummed...

Official release

Central Division Interview - On The Forecheck

2008-09-12T11:02:00.003-05:00

Up next in this here weekly series of blog interviews is Dirk from On The Forecheck. Dirk follows the Predators with great analysis of stats and numbers and overall pretty much the best writing you'll see following the Preds. I sent him these questions earlier this week and some recent developments have kinda fucked up one of the questions - but that happens.

Who actually thought it would be a great idea to give a franchise over to a guy with the nickname "boots"? How big of a fuckup is this and will it effect(affect?) the Predators this season?

Well, if you ask anyone around Nashville, "Boots" was preferable to "Balls" at the time! Yeah, he turned out to be a complete fraud, but at least the local group is in a position to buy him out, once the bankruptcy proceedings go through. As to an impact on the hockey team this season, I don't think there will be any, but the sooner this is over with the better.

How big of a blow is the Radulov mess to the Predators future? Is there anyone else in the system you can hope to shift a focus onto now that it seems Radulov won't come back? Do you hate him for the decision, or are you just disappointed?

Radulov was certainly the team's best offensive prospect, and the Preds will miss what they hoped to get out of him this year; something around 35 goals. It'll likely be up to the duo of Patric Hornqvist and Ryan Jones to replace that production. The guy to get excited about just might be Jones, lately the captain of the Miami (Ohio) Redhawks, who should be much more of a team-first guy than the mercurial Radulov, and is the type of exciting, hard-working plugger that fans adore.

As to Radulov, you just have to shake your head and wonder what makes a guy who came over here, invested four years in working his way through Junior Hockey and with Nashville to develop himself into an NHL star, then throw it all away when he would have been eligible for a huge contract next summer. If he pots 35 goals in 2008-9, you can bet he'd be looking at a $30-40 million dollar contract either from Nashville or someone else with deeper pockets. For his sake, the Russian economy had better hold together for the next few years.

(So just yesterday Puck Daddy wrote that Radulov actually might want back into the NHL after only a few games in the KHL. I can't say anyone else in the Central should really be happy about that news, and while many fans I'm sure are pissed at him about this Dirk likens the situation to Fedorov's holdout with the Wings back in '97 and seems ready to welcome him back.)

With the exception of Radulov, what were the Predators biggest moves in the off-season, either in addition or subtraction?

The big trade sent Marek Zidlicky, a good powerplay QB, to Minnesota for Jones and a draft pick. Personally, I thought the Preds should have packaged Zidlicky along with picks or prospects to land a major talent that could help the team win right away, because after Brian Campbell signed at $7.1 million per year and Dan Boyle got $6.7 million per, Zidlicky's $3.3 million pricetag (which runs through 2009-10) looks awfully affordable for a legit offensive blueliner.

Everyone gives places like Nashville shit for not being a "real hockey town", how do you respond - what's the scene like in Nashville for hockey fans?

I'd encourage anyone laboring under that delusion to just come on down; the atmosphere is great, and the energy in the arena is much like a college game. Opposing goalies are taunted, there's crowd interaction with Paul McCann, the PA announcer, and the fans are genuinely behind this team. I've seen some pretty amazing NHL moments in person (the massive McCarty/Lemieux brawl, Wings winning the Cup in '97), and the Sommet Center gets as loud as anywhere else in the league.

Now, it is true that hockey will never be #1 in Nashville; football is king south of the Mason-Dixon line, and many in the local sports media still talk like they've just come out of "Hockey 101". Building the broader base of people with at least a decent understanding of the game will take time, but that's the way it works.

Your site focuses a lot on the numbers and statistics which has always been more of a baseball thing, I've always loved hockey more for the action, speed and athleticism, but what drew you to hockey rather than baseball? Which stats do you enjoy watching for the most?

I used to be a pretty big baseball fan, but having lived away from an MLB city for over 10 years now, that's pretty much worn off. As to hockey, growing up we had an ideal pond across the street that would freeze nice and solid for a few weeks every winter, but it wasn't until college that I tried actually playing in beer leagues. There's definitely nothing like the combination of speed, power, and fluidity that hockey brings, relative to the other major sports.

As far as stats go, the neat thing about all of this relative to the NHL is that it's still wide-open territory. How can we succinctly summarize the impact of a given player, and evaluate him against the performance of some guy from the other conference? Are there ways to determine what type of player (sniper, playmaker, mucker) might make the most effective addition to a given lineup? There are a zillion questions to be answered like that, and the toolbox available for that work, while limited, is growing more sophisticated with each passing year.

The one stat I enjoyed watching last year was the Penalty Plus/Minus; finally, the NHL started noting in the Play By Play files which player drew a given penalty, allowing us to quantify what everyone knows to be a game-changing effect of great players; the ability to take a defender out of position and force them into a hook, hold, or trip. Generating a power play opportunity for your team is, outside of scoring an actual goal, one of the most useful things a player can do for his team in a given game. For the record, Dustin Brown of L.A. led with a +43 (he drew 43 penalties more than he took), although Sid Crosby was not far behind at +39 despite missing time due to injury.

Every team needs a good rivalry, right? Do the Predators have one team in the division that you love to hate? Is it the standard Detroit, because we all pretty much hate them? I think Columbus would be a great rival for Nashville - is there anything going on there? If not, care to start something now? Go ahead - feel free to insult Rick Nash's mother or maybe just the Buckeyes in general (they hate that shit).

I think there's a Big Fish, Small Fish thing going on here; Predators fans absolutely hate Detroit above all others, because, as an up-and-coming team, obviously the team on top is the one to target. Also, there a ton of ex-Detroiters (like myself) that live in the area, and for years, matches against the Red Wings looked and sounded more like a Detroit home game. That's no longer the case.

With Columbus, they definitely have it in for the Preds, but Nashville has historically owned them. According to Hockey-Reference.com, the Predators enjoy a .756 lifetime winning percentage against the Blue Jackets, who roll over easier than the Bulgarian women's team. As to how easily Rich Nash's mother rolls over, hey, I try to keep mine a family-friendly blog...

Finally, how do you see the division playing out? Who makes the playoffs and what will the final record be between the Preds and the Hawks?

The easy part here is that the Wings should cruise away with their 47th consecutive Central Division title, and Columbus and St. Louis will come in 4th and 5th, respectively. Over the course of the season, I think the Preds will still keep ahead of the Blackhawks, because they've already got a deep lineup that's perfecting a well understood, consistent team philosophy. Basically, they'll be ready to go right from Day One. With Chicago, there are some depth questions behind those exciting stars, a two-headed goaltending situation that could become a real distraction, and I wonder how Denis Savard will handle the pressure of coaching a team that actually has expectations of success this year. I'll call the Preds for a 3-2-1 record against the Hawks in the regular season, with both teams making the playoffs.

Thanks again to Dirk

8 more days...

2008-09-11T09:48:00.002-05:00

Then training camp will start - This 60-man roster will slowly shorten.. the meaningless preseason games will end and the season will start.

Season tickets have been mailed and it feels amazing to hold 42 tickets in your hand all at one time.

In addition to Hall, Pilote and Magnuson - the Hawks relatively subtly announced that they will also be having Larmer, Amonte, Probert appreciation nights. They're calling them Blackhawks Heritage Collector's Series.. I have no idea what the fuck that means exactly but it might be getting a little out of control. There's still another night on their schedule with the player TBA..

Tomorrow I'll be posting an interview with Dirk from On The Forecheck.. until then.. there's this:

Central Division Interview - St. Louis Game Time

2008-09-05T10:08:00.005-05:00

All the talk of hockey by politicians is fucking weird - it annoys me to see the two mixed but it's also getting me even more excited for the season to actually start. We know we're all close know.. who isn't getting excited about $7 beers already?

With the season so close - I thought it'd be a good time to get in touch with some of our foes around the central division and see what's going on with them. Hopefully, once a week til the season starts I'll be posting short email interviews with authors of other blogs from around our division. Sam and I will also be doing some individual player previews once we figure out what the hell we want to say about them. So in all - it's going to start getting busier around here now that we've survived the summer.

So first up on the interview schedule - it's Sean Gallagher (another one.. not the former cub) from St. Louis Game Time:

I was in such a state of shock that the Hawks actually signed two of the best free agents this year (even if one of them is yet another overpaid goalie) that I barely paid attention to other moves made in the central division around free agents or anything else, so what are some moves the Blues made, were there even any? Anyone prospects coming up?

The biggest move the Blues made this summer was to not re-sign Matt “Big Country” Walker, allowing him to go to Chicago where he can wander the streets in full bewilderment a la Crocodile Dundee. The bright lights of the Windy City ought to quickly have Walker in all sorts of mad-cap adventures that culminate with his down-home country charm and wit allowing him to escape city slickers with high falootin’ hubris as well as crafty ne’er-do-wells who mistake a bumpkin accent for stupidity rather than realizing that smart is smart, no matter how ‘country’ the person may be. Oh, and they also signed a bunch of guys who will fill out the roster in Peoria.

What should we expect from the Blues this season? What are you looking forward to seeing?

You should expect the Blues to pretty much suck, throwing their fans onto the horns of a dilemma: root for the team to win more or root for the team to lose more, pushing them towards a shot at the first overall pick and John “Sidney Crosby carries my jock” Tavares. The Blues will play lots and lots of youngsters in key spots this year which means that fans will see lots and lots of enthusiasm. And lots and lots of mistakes. I’m personally looking forward to seeing TJ Oshie who has been a one-man wrecking ball and offensive star for the North Dakota Fightin’ Sioux for three years. A youngster who also managed to out-score a talented young man named Jonathan Toews when the two were linemates in Grand Fork, ND, we just hope his game translates to the N as well as Mr. Toews’ did.

I know about your thoughts about Matt Walker, what can we expect from him? Should we hope he is going to punish St. Louis the way Edmonds did recently?

Matt Walker, when he’s not working away at a cure for cancer, perfecting his “sound” on the pan flute or hand-buffing his custom-built monster truck, will provide the Hawks with exactly the same thing he provided the Blues: solid if unflashy defense, simple no-mistake play in his own zone and exactly one goal every nine years or so. He’s a great guy to fans, a great teammate in the room and very much the definition of a seventh defenseman. Plus, he’s like a crazy-savvy neo-hero in the mode of Crocodile Dundee as previously mentioned.

Are we going to see much from Erik Johnson this year? What's the word on his shoulder?

You’re going to see more of Erik Johnson than you care to as a Hawks fan. His shoulder is supposedly 100% (don’t know why he didn’t say 110%, but we’ll let it pass) and his role on the team is guaranteed to expand over last year’s when he played limited minutes and in limited situations and still led the blueliners in points.

Last I heard, the Blues were still interested in Shanahan, think he'd come back to St. Louis? He continues to play for teams I tend to despise, except for the Whalers of course, (who can hate the whalers?) is that whole situation being held up by the Sundin fucker?

The Blues broke with NHL tradition by coming right out to the media and announcing, “We’re in the fucking Brendan Shanahan sweepstakes!” knowing full well that fans in this town love former heroes. They then, very unsubtly, announced that single-game tickets were on sale the very next day. The Shanahan move is a shitty PR scheme if we’ve ever seen one. Why would a guy like that come here for the last year or two of his career? What benefit could there be? I mean, unless he wants to trade in his wife (the former Mrs. Craig Janney) for yet another teammates’ wife.

Any luck finding that Jay McKee picture in drag? That has to exist somewhere right?

The best Jay McKee in drag pic we could come up with was a photochop of him as the real Marilyn Monroe. I haven’t slept well since I saw it. Speaking of Fragile Jay McKee, if your team is interested in him, we can work something out. Some Chicago-style hot dogs, perhaps? Hell, I’m sure we could pop for the plane ticket and everything….

There was a little bad blood between our two teams this year, Savard claiming some cheap shots and Jackman apologizing for hurt feelings (a noble gesture from a lovely youngman, I'm sure) - Think that will carry over to this year? How many fights between our squads do you see?

Blues/Blackhawks games have always had an extra edge, but back in the days when our team was good and yours was deeper in the standings than Bill Wirtz is now and during the days when we both sucked, the rivalry died a little. Last year was the first real charged up games in quite a while. Even in the stands it was getting pretty chippy, which we can all enjoy. We love when you guys come to town because our fan bases can argue and make fun of each other, but at least there’s some sense of mutual respect. Red Wings fans, by comparison, are just an ungodly amount of retarded. I hope they all die. As for the games, I’d put the over/under on on-ice fights at 2.5 per game.

Finally, how do you see the division playing out? Who finishes where? What will the record be between the Blues and the Hawks?

Division: expect the Wings to walk away again, the Hawks to beat out the Preds for the two spot and the Blues and Jackets to battle for last. Expect the Blues to always get up for the Hawks, as Oshie tries to outduel his fellow “underage in a bar” arrestee buddy Toews and Johnson to tries to out-MacInnis his landlord and break a goalies’ hand with a slapshot like Al did when you guys thought Thibeault was a good goalie. I’ll go ahead and predict a season split between the two, with each team getting one win in the other guy’s barn.

A big thanks to Sean for answering the questions - and it's always good to hear other teams hate Detroit nearly as much as we do..

Coming up next week: I don't know.. maybe Nashville? Who ever answers their email first I guess

Another Sample

2008-09-01T17:59:00.004-05:00

(click to enlarge)

This is the kind of stuff we hope we will consistently provide when we carry the torch on from The Blue Line as the official Hawks' fans program. For info on how to advertise or how to help out, email committedindian@gmail.com.

Allow me to pile on..

2008-08-26T13:52:00.005-05:00

Sam already covered this - but seriously, fuck Chris Chelios.

Image from River City Sports Blog

The idea that Chelios would come here as a player is laughable. He hasn't been a relevant player for years now and the only thing I remember him doing last year (other than sitting out the entire finals) was him repeatedly ~~slashing~~ cross-checking Kane in a corner at the last home game against Detroit while the entire UC screamed for his head. In case he doesn't realize, we've got a bit of a youth movement going on here and I don't think it makes much sense for him to be on the ice while hawks warm up to "Youth Gone Wild" - scratch that.. lets strive to never have Skid Row play at Hawks game ever again. His 12 points in 69 games don't do much to really show he's got anything left in the tank either..

His "just somehow maybe involved with the Blackhawks" quote is worse than the idea of him actually wearing the Indian head sweater. In case he doesn't get it - we wanted Bowman because the guy is a fucking hockey genius. He can help the front office find the right pieces to win a cup. Chelios at best could show Keith the best way to throw out some cheap elbows..

You broke your promise to us Chris.. stay in Detroit.. move to Malibu.. but don't come back here. There's a fucking reason we boo whenever you hit the ice...

Where's Jack Ruby When You Need Him?

2008-08-25T15:51:00.002-05:00

This is how you know that despite some strides, Chicago is far from a hockey town. Late to the party on this one, but it took me that long to recover from the sight of this scumbag parading around the trophy he hardly had anything to do with winning. Did he even dress during the finals? If there were even a decent number of true hockey fans in the building, Chelios would have been booed vehemently, if not had 7 dollar beers chucked at him. Would you allow Brett Favre to parade around the Lombardi Trophy? Of course not, because he would have thrown a season killing INT before his team ever gets to the Super Bowl, but you take my point. If the Cubs go on to win the Series, Jim Edmonds isn't going to parade into Busch Stadium with the World Series Trophy.
I don't care that he's from here. Chelios is a Judas. A Traitor. He was an overrated captain here in Chicago, who always took selfish, dumb penalties when we least needed them. Get bent, Chelli.

Olympics

2008-08-22T11:02:00.002-05:00

As I sit here procrastinating, watching the Olympic basketball (and the English soccer fan in me can't help but root against Argentina. Diving, cheating bastards.) I keep coming back to just how galactically stupid the Olympic hockey tournament is. I know all of Canada is already dissecting who will make their team and what roll they would play, I can only conclude there isn't much to do up there. (Though that seems odd, all my friends rave about Banff, and the beer's so much better up north.) For the hoops, the NBA season ended two months ago. These teams have had since then to gather together, practice, form cohesiveness, and develop an identity. Meanwhile, the Olympic hockey teams get what, one practice before the games start? This is why generally the hockey resembles monkeys humping a football, to quote USA legend Herb Brooks. Now, generally this leads to Canada losing before any hardware is handed out, and the baying wolves from the Land of Maple Leafs is quite hilarious. But it's hardly a representative competition. I, for one, couldn't be happier that Vancouver will most likely be the last Olympics to include the pros.

This is not to say International Hockey is a bad idea. I've always thought the World Cup, which sprang from the Canada Cup, was a great tournament. That's because those teams actually practice together for a good month beforehand. No, there's no good time to have it, as in September it'll have to compete with the start of the NFL and pennant races in baseball, but it's far better advertisement for the game than the slop that takes place under the Olympic flame.

Free shit, Fight the Pens

2008-08-21T10:53:00.007-05:00

April 1st will be Glen Hall night... Nov. 12th is the Magnuson/Pilote number retirement ceremony and Fri. Jan 16th is Patrick Sharp bobblehead night.

John McDonough is showing more of his marketing side offering a lot more give aways than last year, or at least different types of things. Instead of the normal cheap crap with a hawks logo pasted on it seems the Hawks will be giving different cheap crap with the hawks logo.

The Hawks also were probably the first hockey team to annouce that Fri, Oct. 31st is Halloween.

I won't be getting any of this crap because just about every game with a giveaway isn't included in my partial ticket plan. They don't have the dates for the other 21-game plan up anymore since it's sold out so I can't check if I just got unlucky or if McDonough chose to be a prick and is going to force me to buy two more tickets for the Hall/Pilote/Magnuson games on purpose. Not that I really need a Patrick Kane figurine in my apartment anyway.

The Blackhawks are fighting it out with the Penguins again, this time over at Icethetics. Right now the vote is showing that more people like the Pens center ice design than the Hawks.

Fuck that. Go vote for the Hawks - and do it the Chicago way, early and often. No one needs another '92...

I wonder if the Blackhawks would be pissed if I just stole this image from them.. probably..

Training Camp starts in less than 4 weeks... go hawks

Another New Idea from the Hawks

2008-08-14T10:12:00.003-05:00

As if the convention wasn't enough, the Hawks announced they are opening the first day of Training Camp open to the public for the first "Chicago Blackhawks Training Camp Festival". The festival includes the opportunity to watch the year's first practice on the United Center Ice, a 5K race (what?), a 3-on-3 street hockey tournament and I'm sure a bunch of other activities. I think the 5K is a hilarious idea - and if I hadn't almost killed myself last night after running for the first time in months I might even sign up.

Not to sound like I'm just drinking the kool-aid the front office is selling everyone - but this sounds like another really great idea. The prospects camp, which is free every year, is a great way to get a hockey fix in summer - this sounds like another chance to get excited before pre-season games even start.

The hockey tournament is shoes only, no rollerblades. I'm guessing that has more to do with insurance..

tickets are only $5 - which is nice since preseason games are priced the same as regular season and mostly a waste of time.

Perhaps the only down side is that the players will be wearing their ugly practice sweaters...

Do any other teams do this? Do they maybe do it for free? I don't know...

The Douchebags are Coming

2008-08-12T11:53:00.002-05:00

I can only pray that yesterday's rush on tickets was our fellow, REAL Hawk fans, out of sheer terror that refugees from the Bud Light Bleachers, as shown above, are going to take over the UC. However, I'm almost too sure that won't be the case. Now that the Hawks are going to be a story, and they will be, because the Bears and Bulls aren't even going to sniff the playoffs, Hawks games will be the place to be. I suppose we all knew this was coming, we weren't going to be a secret club forever. And the more sold out games and better atmosphere will make this an even more attractive place to play for future free agents. (This is assuming Dale doesn't screw our cap situation over for years to come, and that's a BIG assumption.) As well it will provide more revenue to afford said FA's. But you can hear the rumblings of complaint now. You're going to yell "Wait for the whistle, fuckstick!" at least 512 times this year. You're going to wonder how the mouth-breathers in the 100 level can't figure out halfway through the anthem that hey, if everyone else is cheering, perhaps I should too! You're going to call upon every reserve of energy you have to not let go a straight right at the guy who asks you if Gretzky still plays. You'll swallow the barf that will arise when the bimbo who went with her boyfriend as he got the boss's tickets asks what the blue lines on the ice mean, and refers to the periods as "quarters". These things are going to happen, my fellow followers, and we're just going to have to put up with it. It's probably preferable to when there were 7,000 of us watching Paul Kariya score his 4th goal against us of the evening, but there will come times when we won't be so sure.

Slight Change in Plans

2008-08-11T17:30:00.003-05:00

After much discussion between the original creators of The Blue Line and myself, we have decided that because this is a second generation of this sort of thing, and a new era for Hawks hockey, The Blue Line will be having a baby, and that baby will be called The Committed Indian. It will look much like the Blue Line, and we'll still bring you the same informed, sardonic, witty, and, most of the time, rude publication that some of you know and love from the 90's, but with a new name and perhaps a new idea here and there. We'll still use blackhawksblog.blogspot.com as our internet outlet, and we'll still loathe Red Wings fans. Call still going out for anyone who'd like to help, email at committedindian@gmail.com

We've all been had...

2008-08-11T01:06:00.006-05:00

We should have seen the warning signs.. We all knew it was too good to be true.. But the shit has hit the fan.. It wasn't Scotty that we hired ... No word yet how this will effect (affect?) the team but I have a feeling Charlie could be a good 4th liner

Tickets for single games minus the Classic go on sale tomorrow but in a recent announcement we were also told us how to get Classic tickets... all you have to do is buy 150 tickets to a game and pay up front...

From a recent email -

Early Bird Special -
Get in on the Winter Classic!
Reserve your group of 150+ to a Blackhawks game (excluding Preseason & Premium games) by Friday, August 22 and have the opportunity to purchase tickets to the Winter Classic on Jan. 1, 2009 at Wrigley Field. Group tickets must be paid in full (within 30 days) in order to purchase Winter Classic Tickets. Winter Classic tickets are limited, so order today!

Can purchase two (2) Winter Classic tickets for groups of 150+

Can purchase four (4) for groups of 200+

Can purchase six (6) for groups of 300+

So.. Pensblog - you were planning on getting a road trip to our fair city right? Think you can buy 150? I'll gladly take the Winter Classic tickets you get off your hands for you..

Second City Hockey has heard rumors of Lang going to the Habs (save for something on a message board though, I haven't seen anything about that).. Nothing will happen til Sundin makes up his mind though

Anyone know what's going on in this picture?

Mailing it in again...

2008-08-07T11:02:00.006-05:00

We should all be very thankful ESPN doesn't care about Sundin the way they do Favre... That's about the only reason we should be happy that hockey isn't as popular in the USA as football or baseball.

Al Cimaglia talks about the same topic that Sam did a few days ago - but in a much longer post with way fewer jokes. It's a good read though but it's about 28 pages long - none of you would have ever read something we wrote if it was that long but you should give his article a shot. It's good.

Also, I think you should go read this over at HockeeNight...

Finally, since there's not much else to write about - I'm stealing shit from other sites again... Pensblog has been posting great motivational posers so I thought I'd give it a shot

You can make your own if you click here - email me your creations and I'll post them here..

Montreal.. what the fuck guys?

2008-08-05T21:11:00.003-05:00

First you riot after beating a team in 7 games that you should have beat in 4... 5 at the most..

Now you fucking steal all the Stooges equipment? Granted Iggy is pretty lame now.. but what did Mike Watt ever do to you?

Still no word on when Winter Classic tickets go on sale... thanks Gary.

Just a Taste...

2008-08-05T11:01:00.002-05:00

I hope this is the kind of stuff we can consistently provide you here and inside the Blue Line when it returns, hope you enjoy:

(Click to enlarge.)

On Goalies...

2008-08-04T16:34:00.005-05:00

NHL.com has an article about Huet "relishing" the opportunity to come and compete for the starting job here in Chicago.

It's basically a bunch of bullshit but here's the one interesting piece. Tallon has still not talked with Khabby yet since signing Huet. Tallon says, "he's in Belarus, and it's hard to get a hold him there".

You're paying a guy $6.7 million and he can't afford a phone?

It seems to me that Khabby would be the kind of guy that would get pretty pissy about the whole situation and sulk for a while. Even if he is part of training camp I can't imagine he'd be fully in it. He's gotta want out just as bad as we all want him out...

Khabby to his agent: "Trade me right fucking now!"... then hang up

There's also this...

While it’s rare for a team that already has a No. 1 goalie under contract
to make such a bold offer to another clear-cut No. 1 goalie on the free-agent
market, it’s also rare for the free agent to sign knowing playing time was not
part of the guarantee.

Huet is apparently a different breed

So I guess NHL writers are paid just to agree with whatever the GMs say.

It seems obvious to anyone that a player like Huet wouldn't be coming to Chicago unless he's promised the #1 job. Granted he could easily beat out Khabby for the starting job anyway...

Check the official site if you want to hear Tallon make a joke that only he thinks is funny and a bunch of reporters who are obviously very sick of the Hawks having a press conference every fucking week..

Some very rare praise for Detroit...

2008-08-01T17:28:00.003-05:00

Well.. rare praise from this (or any other) Chicago blog or fans..

I, like any other good Hawks fan, can't stand the Red Wings. I hate the team more than any other. I love when the Hawks beat them, so last year was especially nice. Their fans annoy me more than any other teams (except maybe the Flyers for some reason). But I've also got to say, I hate how fucking good they are. They make the right trades, get the big free agents and always seem to pick some guy in the late rounds of the draft that ends up being one of their best players. I can't even remember the last time they didn't win the division - though it didn't hurt that the rest of the teams have been pretty weak. ESPN and other sources may have a big hard-on for the Braves of the 90's.. but the Red Wings actually win championships. Man, I hate them...

But hate them as I do, I have to really give them credit for the way they've acted in letting Bowman come join the Hawks. While I doubt they would have been quite as understanding if his son wasn't working here, they've shown they are a class act organization. Still, I hope we beat them 8 times this year...

The thing I'm most excited about having Bowman here for is the guidance he'll have on Savard. Some seem to think that Bowman will be a threat to Savard and could become the next coach, but I think it's pretty safe to say Bowman doesn't want that role again. He's an amazing hockey mind, but he's also in his mid-70's... I don't think he'd want to go back to the high pressure situation. I might be in the minority, but I actually think Savvy has been a good coach. He's not great.. He makes mistakes.. He still needs to learn.. but who better to learn from than Bowman?

Tallon, however, I'm not quite so fond of... he needs a lot of work and this article from Scott Burnside over at ESPN really seems to sum up what I think we're all hoping to see:

Bowman, as far as we can tell, has never said anything just to make someone feel good. Few men have ever seen the game as well as Bowman, and when he tells Tallon et al what he thinks of a player or a situation, he won't be worrying that it's going to hurt someone's feelings.

We also shouldn't forget, Bowman is the one who helped turn Yzerman, one of our boy Toews' hockey heros, into one of the greatest two-way forwards ever. If you're sick of the comparisons between Toews and Yzerman now, you might want to not read anything about Toews for the next 15 years...

So enough of the praise for Detroit... that's probably the last time you'll see it here.

You know the Hawks have made it when....

2008-08-01T10:29:00.003-05:00

You can get a national, or at least big-time hockey publication to print absolute nonsense about you:

http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/17428-Campbells-Cuts-Expect-Bowman-to-get-more-power-in-Chicago.html

If you'll allow me a www.firejoemorgan.com like rant here (a site every baseball fan should read, by the way) let's dissect this piece by piece.

"It is well-known new Hawks president John McDonough is not a big fan of either Tallon or Savard and that McDonough was the driving force behind the signings of unrestricted free agents Cristobal Huet and Brian Campbell."

Well known to who, exactly? Your friends at the bar, Ken? The mice in your apartment? Who? What is a well known fact is that Tallon had been batting his eyes at Cambpell like an out of work actress at a Hollywood producer for over a year. This included making a run at him during the deadline last season. Was McDonough dictating what prospects to give up? To think this could be the case is laughable. McDonough is simply to bright a guy to think he can interfere with hockey decisions.

"The Atlanta Thrashers had the inside track on Campbell in the first hours of free agency. He was reportedly about to accept Atlanta’s offer when McDonough apparently ordered Tallon to improve the Chicago’s offer to Campbell, who ended up signing with the Blackhawks for $56.8 million over eight years."

Sure, it had nothing to do with Campbell wanting to play in a surging hockey market for a possible contender for the next 8 years. Actually, Campbell was just heartbroken The Gold Club was no longer in existence. There are just as many rumors that Atlanta still offered more money than the Hawks did.

"It was much the same with Huet. The night before free agency opened, the Capitals thought they had a deal done with Huet for $15 million over three seasons. But again, apparently at McDonough’s insistence, the Hawks sweetened their offer, adding another year and $565,000 per season."

If the Caps really thought they had a deal with Huet the night BEFORE free agency, why then would Huet bother to test the open market? And how does Huet sign affect marketing in any way? Though he's a good goalie, this isn't Patrick Roy and Dominik Hasek's lovechild coming to town. (Boy, there's an image.) Even more-than-casual fans couldn't tell you everything about Huet. And most Hawk fans know they already have one overpaid goalie, so why McDonough would order this signing beggars belief.

"After all, why would Bowman leave the Red Wings for the Blackhawks, aside from the chance to work with his son Stan, who is an assistant GM in Chicago and is currently fighting Hodgkin’s lymphoma?"

Just a hunch, but I'm willing to wager that Ken Campbell hates his father. Must not have batted him 4th in Little League, or something.

"With McDonough at the helm, the Blackhawks are being driven as much by marketing forces these days as they are by hockey decisions, so hiring a recognizable and successful figure such as Bowman makes a lot of sense."

If Campbell knew anything about McDonough, he'd know that McDonough considers winning and marketing the same thing, and you need only to look at his one year as president of the Cubs to see so. As that was the year DeRosa, Lilly, and Soriano were brought in and McDonough made clear only winning the World Series was acceptable, and winning it again and again. He said the exact same thing when taking over the Hawks, that Stanley Cups are the best marketer. But that's ok, journalism doesn't require research or even the least bit of common sense these days.

Honestly, no one will be that shocked if Bowman eventually is installed as GM or coach. And the idea that he's overseeing the GM post while his son waits for the throne is something out of Shakespeare. But as said yesterday, both McDonough and Rocky Wirtz wanted actual hockey eyes looking over everything, not making their best guess. We can all feel safe that Tallon's the one making decisions, because if he wasn't, I'm pretty sure Khabby would have been elsewhere before the Huet signing. That would have made more sense.

What Bowman is...

2008-07-31T16:07:00.004-05:00

Essentially, that's what he's going to be, the consultant to tell the owners who to keep and who to chuck. No one stirs up opinions of Hawks' fans, other than raised beer prices, like Dale Tallon. However, it was unclear who would know it was time to pull the trigger on Tallon, or keep him around. McDonough? Not a hockey guy. Rocky? He had the foresight to put Pulford out to pasture, but then again, the 4 year old who always has to wear a helmet living next door could have figured that one out. Bowman will give the Hawks a solid, very solid, hockey guy to look this organization up and down, with the reputation that anyone would have to respect his opinion. Now hopefully he'll inform us that there was a glitch that will relieve us of paying Khabibulin.

If we carry this Office Space metaphor out, clearly Toews is Peter, and I would guess Havlat and Lang to be Michael Bolton and Samir, with Wiz clearly as the redneck neighbor. Some would argue that Havlat is Jennifer Aniston's character, but from what I can tell she's much more physical.

Suck it Detroit

2008-07-31T11:25:00.001-05:00

Scotty Bowman has committed to the indian... Watch the press conference live at 2:00 right.... here

Looking at draft picks... while drunk

2008-07-30T00:09:00.020-05:00

So it's an odd coincidence that Sam mentioned the baseball games that are going on tonight in an earlier post - because after a 12 hour day at work I decided to not go home right away, but to go to the Billy Goat and watch the end of the games. I got there around the 6th inning, celebrated the Cubs victory then hopped the El home. Once I got there - I drank more beer and saw this picture on Yahoo Sports:

OK - Great... Stamkos signed with the lightning.. why does that matter? We all knew it was coming... I'm sure he'll be able to beat at least one of the ex-penguins out of a roster spot...

Then I remembered seeing this picture on the Hawks site...

So that got me thinking... Are there more pictures of draft picks with this stupid pose... Turns out there are fucking tons of them... Very quickly I was able to find:

Pat White from the Canucks....

Taylor Ellington also from the Canucks...

And Brendan Smith from the Red Wings... what a dick

Then I saw this picture of Eric Johnson of the Blues...

and I nearly choked on the last of my beer... was this the best of the pictures they took of this guy that day? They had to take more than one right? And this is the best they got...

So by now I've run out of beer... and while the rest of my roommate's beer looked tempting I decided to switch to Dewar's because I'm classy like that...

While searching for the pointing the stick at the camera I also found a few of these types of poses...

Is this really the best that the NHL can do for their future superstars? Why does every draft pick have to have the same few poses like they're the gayest senior portraits the world has ever seen...

But it turns out it's even worse when a few teams/players end up choosing a different style...

Any picture has gotta be better than posing with a guy who ends up looking like a creepy uncle who wants to watch you in the shower because he's your "owner"

Now here's a fucking good picture for a future perennial All-Star...

Who wouldn't want this guy as their captain? I've never caught a fish that fucking big before...

By the way.. the entire time I've been writing this I've been watching Generation Kill on HBO (yeah.. i'm so fancy I drink scotch and pay for HBO)... but the show rules... If you never watched The Wire.. you blew it.. If you have access to HBO and you don't watch this.. you might as well be a Red Wings fan...

I also apologize for my first drunk post.. but I can promise it won't be the last one...

Watching the baseball this week...

2008-07-29T15:43:00.003-05:00

It is rare, if that even comes close to describing it, that both baseball teams in this town play important games at the same time, if at all. But watching these games last night, and looking forward to the rest of the cubs' fans annoying Wisconsin residents and the White Sox stay in a Minneapolis garage I can't help but look forward to this winter when the Hawks will once again be playing important, big games.

Not since the Men of Four Feathers were skating on the 185-foot surface across the street have they consistently had big games. Games where you spend the whole day with a strange energy, there's a real buzz in the air, where work is an impossibility, where you try and think of new and creative ways to call the Blues or Red Wings 3rd line center a faggot all day long. Sure, there were a couple last season, but deep down we knew we weren't going to make the post season. Barring some real goofiness from Savard, always a possibility, or a litany of injuries, and knowing the Hawks training staff, maybe that's more than a possibility, the Hawks will be a playoff team, if not a conference contender. And we will have those days again, which we more than deserve, quite frankly.

Oh, and Please Allow Me To Introduce Myself

2008-07-26T16:07:00.002-05:00

By the by, Matt has been gracious enough to let me help out here occasionally, and I hope I can bring some attitude and humor to this that my roadie-for-Tool good looks would indicate I can. (Yep, a mention of Tool after a Stones reference in the title. I got range, bitches!)

Little about myself, been a Hawk fan since I could stand, and stand I did in the old Stadium from the age of 8, which led me to nearly being thrown on the ice around 7 times. I'm a local comedian around town, hopefully I'll catch you at a show, God knows I could use the audience. Oh, and I will be reviving The Blue Line this season, The Fans' Program, and we hope to put some of our best stuff on this site too. So anyway, cheers, and Let's Go Hawks! (What a dorky fucking ending. So much for that attitude I was talking about....)

Cold Water on Winter Classic, and I Don't Mean Bud Light

2008-07-26T15:59:00.001-05:00

Not that it becomes me to be the wet blanket when most are excited about something, (I’m far too skinny to be a blanket.) but there are aspects to the upcoming Winter Classic at Wrigley that make me a little urpy. Don’t get me wrong, it’s exhilarating to see that the Hawks have come so far in such a short time that the NHL would want to grant us its showcase event to highlight that. There is no doubt it will be an occasion most will talk about for years. And the opportunity for the Hawks to announce their return to prominence on the ice on national TV against our biggest rivals who just happen to be holding the world’s most prized beer mug is obviously a prospect that is drool-worthy. But not everything syncs up for me.

Firstly, it would seem our most dedicated fans are going to be the ones screwed most by the location. Sure, everyone’s going to want to be at this. But they’ll all be fighting for the right to freeze their ass off in order to not see much. The sightlines are going to be downright awful. There isn’t one layout I can think of that will provide even most of the 40,000 with a view of anything happening on the ice, except if they move one end as close to home plate as they can and even then those toward the outfield won’t get much of a look in. This is a plus as it’ll be harder for the mouth breathers from the Motor City to toss any mollusks on the ice, and they’ll land mostly in left field. Anyone who’s seen Soriano play defense would be used to the sight of something clumsily flapping around out there.

Secondly, the ticket situation. Does anyone in their right mind trust Bettman to get anything right? Don’t be shocked if not every season ticket holder gets in, and partial season ticket holders are 50-50 at best. And why do Red Wing season ticket holders get a shot at all? I understand Penguin fans got one last year, but Ralph Wilson Stadium holds 80,000 people. If I don’t miss my calculations, that’s twice as much as Wrigley. What can Red Wing fans add, other than a curious odor? Expect more fights than usual on New Year’s Eve with these fuckers crawling around.

Lastly, this is a great event that draws attention to the NHL, which is so badly needed even teenage girls would blush. But after last year’s the powers that be made all the right noises about not wanting to overdo it. Well, that went out the window, didn’t it? You can be sure there will be another one the following season in the New Yankee Stadium, and then Toronto or Montreal or the Bruins will be clamoring for their own. This will be yet another idea Bettman drives into the ground for the NHL. It seems to be what he does best.\

All that being said, I’ll still find my way into Wrigley on Jan. 1, and love every minute of it. If I remember any of them.

Another introduction

2008-07-26T15:32:00.003-05:00

So I'm happy to say that I'm not going at this site all on my own anymore... For anyone who is super observant, you might have noticed that the last post had a credit on the end that said "Posted by Matthew K."... that's me. I've posted everything on this site so far - but not anymore. There will be a new writer joining me and posting hopefully pretty often. I'm sure this will really help during the season since I'm probably not going to be able to watch every single game or hear every rumor about the team.

We've also had some brief conversations about other things we could be doing both on this site and in other areas. I'm pretty excited about it. Lets see how long it takes for him to get quoted on the New York Times...

Expect his first post sometime soon.. until then.. there is absolutely nothing new going on with the Hawks.. except the occasional "classic" game on the NHL Network.. but.. I am about to take the Hawks to the finals in NHL '94.. there's something for you

Ain't no cure for the summertime blues...

2008-07-25T11:21:00.005-05:00

So the Hawks finally did it - they pulled off the trade we've all been waiting for. Pascal Pelletier will finally be putting on a Blackhawk sweater....

Well - maybe not.. Summer is boring for hockey news - The Pelletier for St. Pierre trade is really the only thing that has happened since the press conference.

Mike Haviland became an assistant coach, I guess that's kind of exciting too...

Oh, and the Winter Classic logo was released - I dig it..

The Cubs minor league team in Peoria, named the Chiefs, acted like they're from Charlestown and had a massive brawl yesterday.. Some schmuck tried to throw a ball into the other team's dugout.. missed and hit a fan who had to be taken to the hospital... nice

Sadly Ryno didn't get to play Reggie Dunlop since he wasn't at the game..

And I feel like this blog is official now, as Forklift pointed out in the comments for a previous post, I got a link from Stu Hackel over at a little paper called the New York Times - Thanks Stu!

More importantly though in terms of blogging - I also got my first negative comment in the same post from a Detroit fan - Adam (if that is his real name) proclaims that "everyone knows that people love cockmeat" - very profound. I won't be responding to douchebag comments like that always but thought it was nice to point out my first one.. kinda like how store owners frame the first dollar they make when they open.

So Adam - thank you for welcoming me.. and eat a bowl of dicks

Here's hoping something exciting happens soon..

A conversation with Mike Quigley's Office

2008-07-23T14:23:00.004-05:00

After reading all the negative comments on the articles posted today - I felt it was my job to send Mike Quigley some love.. Here is an email I sent and a response from his office:

From: HereComeTheHawks

to commquigley
Dear Commissioner,

Here Come The Hawks is proud to call you our County Commissioner - even if I'm not totally sure what it is that you do and actually I don't think I live in your district either.. but that's besides the point.

I'd like to say we all appreciate your support of the Hawks, even if others don't really get that it's all in good fun. Detroit does indeed suck, only partly because they just can't seem to take a joke. Have you had much of a response to the resolution yet? Either pro or con? What exactly did the resoultion say? Is there a place to read it online?

Also, I have to try and since you're in politics - can you get me tickets to the outdoor game?

Hope to see you at a game - Go Hawks

-Matthew

From: commquigley@aol.com

to me

Hi Matthew-

Thanks for your email. People from Detroit are not reacting well to our resolution. It was all in good fun to get people excited about the game.

Unfortunately the Commissioner does not have any access to additional tickets. I think they are giving priority to season ticket holders at Wrigley and the Blackhawks if you know any season ticket holders.

Kimberly
Office of Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley

Kimberly was also kind enough to copy the resolution in with the email too - The letters in the final line were all normal - so I just took a stab at seeing what they'd actually be..

RESOLUTION COMMEMORATING THE NHL’S

SECOND WINTER CLASSIC AT WRIGLEY FIELD

SPONSORED BY MIKE QUIGLEY, COOK COUNTY COMMISSIONER

WHEREAS, the Chicago Blackhawks have been a Chicago sports tradition since 1926; and

WHEREAS, the Chicago Blackhawks have won the Stanley Cup three times, in 1961, 1938, and 1934; and

WHEREAS, the Chicago Blackhawks played at the Coliseum from 1926-1929, the Chicago Stadium from 1929-1994 and currently plays at the United Center; and

WHEREAS, the National Hockey League has announced that New Year’s day 2009 will feature yet another installment of the epic and long time rivalry between two of the original six franchises of the National Hockey League – the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings; and

WHEREAS, this game will be the NHL’s second Winter Classic and will take place at Wrigley Field; and

WHEREAS Wrigley Field, which opened in 1914, is the second-oldest major league baseball park; and

WHEREAS, the Friendly Confines is going to be covered in ice for this historical hockey game; and

WHEREAS, the game will be the third regular-season outdoor game in NHL history and harkens back to games of youth playing on frozen lakes and brings an excitement to the sport like none other; and

WHEREAS, the match up will be the 701^st meeting between the Red Wings and the Blackhawks; and

WHEREAS, no NHL opponents have played more regular-season games against one another than the Red Wings and the Blackhawks; and

WHEREAS, the Blackhawks through a mixture of young talent and veteran savvy are bringing the roar back; and

WHEREAS, Chicago’s selection for this auspicious occasion further illustrates our city and county’s Olympic spirit.

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the Cook County Board of Commissioners, gathered here this 22nd day of July 2008, wishes the Chicago Blackhawks much success in this historic game; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that January 1 , 2009 shall be known as “Chicago Blackhawks Day” in Cook County; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Cook County Board of Commissioners have declared Wrigley Field and the surrounding neighborhoods to be an Octopus Free Zone; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a suitable copy of the rEsoluTion be pResented tO the DetroIT red WingS, the Detroit City CoUncil, and the Chicago BlaCkhawKS.