Better Late than Never: Hawks 5, Predators 4 and Monday's Big Boy

I'm feeling bullet-y this morning.

* So The Hawks won the coin toss portion of the event, which is way better than losing, don't get me wrong, but what impressed me most is that they potted all four (proper) goals in the last 35 minutes of the match.  That does not excuse what occurred in the first half of the game, but it warms my insides to know that they have the capacity to rally like this.
* The Predators are actually pretty scary, aren't they?  A new coach, with a far different outlook than their old coach, a healthy Pekka Rinne and the emergence of Filip Forsberg have transformed The Devils of the West into arguably the most dangerous threat in The Hawks' conference.
* Why is it that human chihuahua Mike Ribeiro failed to get a look at the 2C role for The Hawks?  Sure, he's kinda douchey at times, but would he be any worse than Richards or, heaven forbid, Shaw?  I think not.
* Did Sharp play in the third period?
* Speaking of ice time, Keith played nearly 33 minutes and it could well have been more had Rundblad not inexplicably taken more shifts in the third period than in each of the first two. I'm not complaining about Rundblad, it's just surprising to see Q place that much trust in him in such a tight game. I guess with two days off before the pond hockey game he could afford to lean on Keith a little more but, man, it's only December.
* Carcillo played 5 minutes.  Why is he out there, again?
* Last thing: it was cool to see former Lakehead Thunderwolf Shandor Alphonso working the lines in this game.  I was wondering where he went....

Two points, including the game-tying goal, in fewer than 10 minutes ice time earn Big Bick the Big Boy Belt.  Say that out loud.

             I know this is a rerun but it's the best photo ever taken in the history of ever.

Altitude High, Hawks 5, Avalanche 2 and Saturday's Big Boy

After an iffy start with two goals against on the first four shots, The Hawks cruised to the win with only token resistance.  Kane continued his hot run, notching three more points (that makes 14 points in his last 8 games) and some fine defensive work, especially by Seabrook and Crawford, ensured the victory.  No belt for those guys, though.

                Just two assists for The Captain but Did you SEE those passes?

                                       How many times do I have to beat you, Erik?

Looking ahead, we have a big game on Monday vs. The Predators and then the big outdoor show in DC.  Without wishing any specific harm to Michal Rozsival I kinda hope he's still gimpy on Monday, at least; I cannot help but feel 7 minutes with Tim Erixon is better than 15 minutes with Rozsie.

Sometimes a Change is as Good as a Rest: Hawks 4, Leafs 0 and Sunday's Big Boy

But, please, let's not let Q think change is indisputably good, okay?

Plenty of worthy candidates for The Belt this evening.  Despite shots being roughly even this didn't feel close at all, and that's with James Reimer waving at two goals and facing the wrong direction for another.  What the heck was he doing out there?  Toews did quite the number on The Leafs' arguable top d-man, as well, overtaking, passing and then standing still to pick his shot whilst Jake Gardiner flailed.  It felt like The Hawks just toyed with Toronto and that's fine with me.

Sharp had 3 assists, Raanta a 30-save shutout, Versteeg scored a beaut and Rundblad notched a sweet one-timer and played a season-high 17 minutes, but Patrick Kane was the straw that stirred the drink tonight.

                                                                  Showtime.

Could'a Been Two

Hawks 2, Blue Jackets 3 in Shootout.

* Looking at the shot count for this game the assumption might be that Bobrovsky stole the game for Columbus, but he hardly looked bothered.  Were the Hawks' chances really not that great or does Bob just make it look sooooo easy?
* How is it that, on Tuesday, Rundblad was good enough to play 16+ minutes, yet he`s a scratch tonight in favour of the guy who played ~10 minutes on Tuesday and 11 minutes tonight?
* What was Rozsival doing on the ice in the final 40 seconds of overtime?
* I had a feeling we would see Morin in the shootout, not in the first three but soon after if it went that far.  He was called in the fifth round and scored, of course.  Enjoy the moment, J-Mo, but don't ever be doing that again.
* From now on, Versteeg should be banished to the dressing room as soon as shootout begins.  His shootout "attempt" was the kind of shot you take to warm up your goalie.
* Bickell wasn't much better, was he?
 

Hockey Fandom Explained

Last evening the difference between fans of three Canadian NHL teams was explained to me.  Allow me to share.

Montréal fans celebrate major victories by rioting and destroying their city's downtown area.

Vancouver fans lament major disappointments by rioting and destroying their city.

Toronto fans throw a parade for their team if they make the playoffs.

It's all about expectations.

Four Swedes and Closer than it Needed to Be: Hawks 5, Wild 3 and Tuesday's Big Boy

The stars were aligning for a disappointing result; Duncan Keith being out for the evening with an undisclosed (ha ha ha!) illness caused Coach Q to trot out two defencemen that he's shown little trust in and a third d-man whom he should not trust, yet does.  On top of that, Antti Raanta got the call between the pipes vs. the jostling Wild and their affinity for "net presence".
Well, it wasn't the prettiest effort, with a terrific, dominant second period sandwiched by two inconsistent frames but, even so, the game didn't feel as close as a one-goal game.  That one of The Wild's goals was on a penalty shot reminds us that this was really more like a 4-2 game.  
Speaking of the penalty shot - these things happen; Hoss had to make an effort to foul Neiderreiter and Raanta's only fault on the subsequent PS was that he's too small.

As for the defence, The Hawks blue line had a rather Red-Wingy look about it with four Swedes at the points and, being completely optimistic here, it's possible that this game may prove important going forward.  Coach Q fooled around with his d-pairings for much of the evening before appearing to settle with Seabrook/Oduya, Hjalmarsson/Rozsival and Rundblad/Erixon...and it wasn't a disaster.  Despite spending a straight six+ minutes on the bench in the third period Rundblad hit a season-high for ice time, cracking 16 minutes and even saw some power play action.  Erixon barely cracked ten minutes but, as the newest new guy he saw only even  strength shifts, which is probably okay.  The kids did alright.

Yup, it's this guy again, on merit of a goal and two primary assists.  

                 Next, I shall try to bounce this off Versteeg's head toward yon twine.

Let's Not Get Ahead of Ourselves: Hawks 2, Flames 1 and Sunday's Big Boy

Despite tearing off an eight-game winning streak that only ended on Saturday after laying an egg vs. The Islanders, The Hawks were perhaps fortunate to have not lost several of their last half-dozen matches.  Outshot and outplayed by St. Lewis, Montréal and Boston, very nearly beaten by the inferior-in-every-way Devils and outlasted by The Islanders, The Hawks could easily be battling for a wild card spot rather than resting atop the Central Division.  By virtue of allowing 30+ shots in each of their last six games, including two games in which they yielded more than 40 shots, The Hawks plummeted from first to twelfth in Shots-Against-Per-Game.
Needless to say, recent results were flattering to deceive.

Whether or not tonight's 2-1 win over the skidding Flames is the best indicator of anything being corrected or set right is left to be seen, but allowing a more reasonable 24 shots-against is encouraging, as is the fact that The Hawks finished stronger than they started, quite the opposite of their "effort" against The Islanders.

No goals tonight but the primary assists on both Hawks' goals came from Captain Serious, Jonathan Toews.  Not bad considering it was unclear if he would even play this weekend.

                                                 Not seeing double, apparently.

Oh, Jeremy, we hardly knew ya

The Chicago Blackhawks announced today that they have acquired defenseman Tim Erixon from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for forward Jeremy Morin; Erixon will report to the Blackhawks.

No, seriously, it felt like just when I started to get a sense of Jeremy Morin's skill set he'd be returned to Rockford or, this season, relegated to the press box for a month.  Hawks fans can bitch about Morin being mismanaged and Coach Q having an apparent hate on for the lad, but the question remains; if Morin plays, who do you sit?
Yes, Regin and Danault parachuting in for guest spots would not have made Morin feel very valued, but it was plain to see that neither of those players were going to be around very long.  Still, sitting out for a month would be bloody hard.  At least Q didn't trot Rundblad out as a forward.
Not sure what to think or say about Erixon except that he couldn't possibly be worse than Rozsival was in Long Island on Saturday...

All the best, J-Mo.  Say hi to Jack Skille for me.

Toews

Coach Quenneville, the master of understatement and creator of the Enigma Code, asserts that Toews "isn't too bad".  That said, it's a quick turnaround to Saturday and a date with the finally-recovered-from-the-Milbury-effect Islanders.  Dare we speculate on Teuvo Teravainen making an appearance this weekend?

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Hawks 3, Bruins 2 and Thursday's Big Boy

The Good:
- An eighth straight win.  Nothing wrong with that.
- Scott Darling outduels last season's Vezina winner.
- Kane's patience on the eventual game-winning goal.
- Klas Dahlbeck scores his first NHL goal.

The Bad:
- Toews leaves shortly after being run hard from behind by Dennis Seidenberg.
- Klas Dahlbeck standing around.
- Edzo and Pat Foley gushing about what a wonderful season Kris Versteeg is having.  I'm pleased for 'Steeger and for the team, but let's face it; a German Shepherd with thumbs could rack up 60 points playing with Kane.  Even Carcillo could probably get 30.

The Ugly:
- Toews leaves shortly after....yeah...
- Being outshot 34 - 21 in the game and 10 - 2 in the third period alone.

It's this guy.  Has he looked bad on any of the goals he's allowed in his half-dozen starts? Scott Darling has already leapfrogged two goalie prospects in The Hawks' system since training camp and is poised to nab Antti Raanta's job as backup as well.  The big fella kinda stole this one.

                      There are precious few photos around of Darling in a road jersey.

Where to Begin? Hawks 3, Devils 2 and Tuesday's Big Boy (or not)

Bleh.  
Only one Hawk forward, Sharp, looked really good, and it took him half the game to shake off a month of rust.
Scott Darling was fine.  He faded a little too far to his left on Tootoo's goal but I can cast no blame on him for Gionta's bunt single.
Speaking of, if Dahlbeck makes a better (i.e. less panicky) outlet pass there the Gionta goal never happens.  Not to dump on Dahlbeck in this, his second-ever NHL game, 'cos most of the other d-men were kind of yippy (I'm looking at you, Seabrook).  What is amazing is that Dahlbeck got four more shifts after his error, just because Quenneville is so smart.

Forget it, nobody gets it and, as a team, they deserve to have their pants fall down after barely escaping with 2 points against a non-playoff team (yes, it's only December, but come on...).
Instead:

                                                   Just not tonight...somehow.

                                              Yeah, we got it...you're The Devils.

Lightning Strikes Twice: Hawks 3, Predators 1 and Saturday's Big Boy

Hey, lookit, The Hawks are in first place in The Central Division.
They also sport the best Penalty Kill percentage, the highest goals for- goals against differential and the lowest Goals Against Average in the League.  These facts allude to nothing in particular and are mentioned only to shower praise 'pon the players.

Hasn't Brandon Saad seemed quiet, lately?  Some games I hardly notice him and, lately, when I do it's because he's making drop passes to nowhere.  Even so, he's putting together a decent campaign, one that will, at his current pace, earn him a career-high 57 points.  Sneaky devil!  Tip o' the iceberg, folks; when I see him scoring goals off the rush and out-muscling bigger players to make a pass I KNOW that someday soon this kid will crack 80 points.  For the second night in a row Saad enjoys the benefit of secure trousers.

                                                          Continue kneeling....

27 Seconds to Spare: Friday's Big Boy

                              KNEEL.

 

                                                                That is all.

I Just Noticed This:

I didn't realize that The Rockford Ice Hogs Alumni Association a.k.a. The Florida Panthers are not only above .500 but are in ninth place in The Eastern Conference.  Just wait 'til they get Morin down there!

Against All Odds: Wednesday's Big Boy (Hawks 4, River Scum 1)

You know your team will lose games, a few if they're an elite team or a lot if they're The Oilers, but there are certain games you really don't want to lose.  Any game against St. Lewis falls into the latter category, not just because giving up a four-point gap against a divisional rival is a poor result, but also because....St. Lewis.
I felt a great deal of trepidation heading into this match, mostly because Antti Raanta scares the heck out of me.  I still believe that he will be a middling-to-good-possibly-very-good goaltender at the NHL level, but his challenging style is challenging my nerves and I always feel like he's one scouting report away from being walked around eight or nine times some night in the very near future.
I also have this lingering fear that the Richards-Kane-Versteeg combo will regress to the mean, or jump the shark or be exposed as a line that should not and cannot work.
Fortunately, I appear to be worrying prematurely, as Raanta was fine - not at all perfect and still a little scary - and 91-88-23 continued to do whatever they're doing that clearly works very, very well.  It didn't seem entirely easy, but I can't decide if The Hawks let off the gas now and again, as The Blues enjoyed stretches in which they outshot The Good Guys quite decidedly, or if they were just messing with them.  

I still believe that playing with Kane is making Kris Versteeg appear far better than he has any right to as Kane, I believe, is making the most of some pretty dodgy passes but, hey, he's there and the job is getting done.  Versteeg is welcome to wear The Belt anytime he racks up three points.  I would even consider commissioning some Big Boy suspenders for him if this becomes a regular thing.

                                        Success begins with a hearty breakfast.


In other news, The Hawks have returned Adam Clendening to Rockford and summoned Klas Dahlbeck.  I knew I'd get that right, eventually.  Also, I've been spelling Clendening's name wrong for three months.  I feel shame.