File Under "Good Enough": Hawks 3, Ducks 2 and Friday's Big Boy

Despite only one line working well and general confusion, lack of cohesion and a pair of idiotic penalties, The Hawks took the two points when raw talent prevailed over lunkheadedness.  Also, The Ducks.  Here's what I thought I saw.

- Andrew Shaw does a few things very well but it's starting to look like the stupid things he does outweigh the couple of pluses he brings.  His two penalties were just plain dumb and not borne out of desperation or even anger.  This is of zero consequence, though, as he'll never miss a shift, will he? Luckily, Ryan Getzlaf is apparently just as stupid as Shaw.
- Trevor Daley hit the goalie twice today, which is progress.
- I understand that when things aren't working, for whatever reason, it's incumbent on Quenneville to jostle things up a bit, but Toews skating with Shaw & Garbutt is just bad human resources. They will undoubtedly find some small successes here and there but this cannot be a long term solution. Hossa with Dano and Kruger is less bad, but what does Kruger offer offensively apart from a handful of opportunistic goals each year?  The scorers need to be with scorers; let them ride out this rough patch, get used to each other again, and let comes naturally to these guys happen.  Dano and Hossa showed a little chemistry today, I thought, so it's a shame Toews wasn't able to join in.  Even Teravainen would be a better choice centering The Slovaks, but of course he was playing wing with Desjardins and Mashinter.  What the hell?
- I guess those nice things I said about Tanner Kero were all crap since he was scratched while the barely ambulatory Mashinter remained in the lineup.  Whatever success and fine reputation Quenneville has earned loses it's authenticity when galoots like Mashinter, Bollig, Burish and Eager remain on the lineup card.
- The Ducks suck. They have a few fine players and their goaltender played well enough today, but any team that leans on Shawn Horcoff for 18 minutes and carries another four guys that are basically dead weight are going to underwhelm more often than not.
- Once again, the "second" line carried the mail today, with many even strength shifts looking like The Hawks had a man advantage.  The other lines weren't awful, but none of them got much going for more than an isolated few moments or a shift here and there.  I don't know how long they'll be able to get by with only one line clicking.  
- Crawford was better than the boxscore suggests, as he was left swinging on the Cogliano breakaway and Stewart's goal was a fluke on a pass that Stewart screwed up.  These things happen and it's nice that he won't have to take the fall for a game he was actually decent enough in.

Tough one, today.  Anisimov was dangerous all day, Kane had entire shifts where he just did whatever he felt like doing and Seabrook notched three helpies, but I liked the complete game that Keith played today. As well as from scoring the tying goal he was moving the puck exceptionally well and making good passes in all zones.

                                             Lovin' those orange sweaters, though.

Do You Want it Or Not?: Hawks 5, Sharks 2 and Wednesday's Big Boy

Right off, The Hawks played a good game on Wednesday.  Not great, but pretty good.  The Sharks weren't entirely terrible, but there were a few factors that kept them on the outside looking in.
- How did The Sharks reel off six road wins in a row when coach Peter deBoer is apparently unwilling to match lines even when at home and with last change?  I would have to dip into the archives to see what the nature of those six wins were but I'd hazard a guess that The Sharks were playing some fine hockey, 'cos their coach isn't doing them any favours.  Please note that when deBoer coached The Devils they were awful, and now they're not.  Hmmm...  What is with these Sharks coaches and their stubbornness?  It took Todd McLellan three years to realize that trotting out his top line against Toews always ended with his top trio getting pantsed.
- Martin Jones was not very good, dropping for everything and kinda just waving at the puck.
- The Sharks, as a group, appeared to be only intermittently interested in winning this game and, when they did get some momentum going, The Hawks were in lead-protection mode.  That's going to end in tears more often than not.
- Apart from having consistently spectacular facial hair, what is Mike Brown for?

                                                      Pistols at dawn, Flashman!
- In the last two games Ryan Garbutt has been alright.  Maybe not top line alright, but not a mess, entirely.  He did a few selfish things vs. Vancouver but that little flick pass to Toews last night was subtle and smart, qualities not heretofore part of Garbutt's oeuvre.
- Oh, Trevor Daley, could you consider actually hitting the net with a shot one of these days?
- Was Jonathan Toews in a funk because Duncan Keith was out of the lineup?  Could be a coincidence but, even though the team had a couple of shaky games since Keith's return from injury, Toews is getting ever closer to his usual form.  If there is any merit to this...I don't know why, exactly.  It would be something more subtle than I'm able to distinguish, at least right now.  I think the other defensemen are also doing a better job now that Keith is back and doing Keith things; now those other guys don't have to think that they should or can do the stuff Keith does.
Either that or ROZSIVAL.  Yeah, right.
- I kinda think that with Tanner Kero what we see now is pretty much what we're going to get, as in I don't see him progressing north of the third line on this club.  That said, what I see of Kero I don't mind at all.  Every team needs a couple of guys like Kero and he actually does it pretty well.  I guess having 4 or 5 guys doing that job (plus one that is trying but failing) is a little excessive, but that's not for now.  Kero's tip that just by chance hit Martin Jones was very good, very good indeed.  If he can keep that sort thing happening we may soon bid adieu to A. Shaw.

As mentioned above, this lad subjected us to several weeks of sub-par play, something that probably bugged him a lot more than it bugged Hawks fans.  Often, as Toews goes so go The Hawks, and that may well have been the effect of Toews and his linemates being outplayed most nights had it not been for the so-called second line carrying the mail so ably.  I don't know what was going on with Toews - it could just have been one of those deals where a few mistakes or bad bounces start to get on a player, and the stick is gripped a little tighter and it becomes really tough to do what normally comes naturally . And you know Toews was pissed off about it, what with him dropping the gloves twice in recent weeks, probably as much out of general frustration as anything. The good news is that Jonathan Toews isn't going to shrug and just let it happen (hi, Alex Semin!), and that's just one of the qualities that make him such a great player and leader.  May we resume our regular programming, now?

                                                            Welcome back, Cap'um.

It Seems to Me...

...that if your team gets outplayed, outshot and grossly outchanced by the two teams with the worst record in The Western Conference, your team will soon be among them in the standings.  Edmonton was bad but with caveats; the Calgary game was a nightmare.

Not sure I buy this "Dano is/was sick" line.  Sick of backchecking, maybe.

Better Late Than Never: Hawks 4, Oilers 3 and Wednesday's Big Boy

Yup, late again 'cos I watched this one on DVR a day later.  Hey, it's tough to keep up with these Western Tours.  Points!
- This one felt like three different games, in a way, with The Oilers being the better team in the first, The Hawks getting serious in the second and a pretty even third period, despite The Oilers holding the edge in shots.  It's not surprising, then, that this one went into extra innings.  
- On that tack, sort of, the shot count vs. the outcome once again illustrates that, while The Oilers are becoming increasingly well appointed up front, their defense is still very much a work in progress. The Oilers are going to outshoot better teams from time to time but, for now, their thin defense is going to even things out.
- I don't know what, exactly, went on at The Oiler's training camp but it's ridiculous to consider that Leon Draisaitl failed to make this team from the get-go and Darnell Nurse was "on the bubble" as they say.  I wonder if that's a reflection on their effort in camp or a goofy coaching staff, 'cos those two were the best Oilers in this game, apart from Taylor "When Does This Contract Expire" Hall.
- I've finally seen Teddy Purcell do something, now.
- I watched this on SportsNet which was a strange and slightly frustrating experience.  Their local broadcast team, who apparently are Kevin Quinn and Drew Remenda, are the least impartial hockey broadcasters I've heard since Jim Huson and Craig Simpson.  I didn't immediately realize The Hawks had scored their second and third goals due to these guys' non-reactions.  Like Simpson, Kevin Quinn has never bothered to read the NHL Players Guide, as he consistently said "Jarmalson".  I complain about Pat & Eddie (okay, Eddie) from time to time but games like this remind that they're doing a good job, really.  
- Still on the broadcasters, Remenda was still grinding away about Crawford's save in OT when Hoss scored the winner which, mercifully, gave him something actually worthy of complaint.  He's probably still moaning about The Hawks having too many men on the ice.  ALSO, neither of these fellas noticed or bothered to mention that Teravainen left the bench in the second period.
- Enough Oiler talk: Once again, the Art Line was awesome and the rest were patchy, at best.  The fourth line, Brandon Mashinter and all, had the best looks in the first, I thought, but when Teuvo went down they had precious few shifts together as the lines got kinda wonky after that.
- Even without seeing the vein pulsing on Quenneville's temple I pinpointed the shift that caused Dano to take a time out.  I was surprised to see him return to Toews and Hossa at all, actually, after he lazy-assed his way back into the defensive zone on consecutive shifts.  I'm starting to think Dano cannot really be arsed.
- Now that I've seen Purcell contribute something I have renewed hope that Garbutt will someday do the same.  I shan't hold my breath, however.
- Hey, Kruger got a point!  Game 19.

Any member of The Art Line could have been bestow'n the mystical pants-holder-upper, but tonight I go with Crawford.  The Pouliot goal was a bit sketchy, I thought, but all was forgiven after this.

                     Apropos of nothing I am smitten with olde English on this eve.

Just As it Should Be: Hawks 4, Flames 1 and Sunday's Big Boy

Briefly, this game went pretty much exactly as it should have; The Hawks dominate in shots, scoring chances and come away with a win.
The Flames, oddly, do not appear to be very good.  This is a team that unexpectedly made the playoffs last season and even won their first round match up against The Canucks.  Tonight, and for most of this season, though, The Flames have been pretty ordinary.  A few peculiar things occurred, like a post-post-crossbar shot that should have gone in and the usually dependable TJ Brodie making a pair of poor choices leading to Panarin's goal, but the truth is that The Hawks had their way with The Flames.
- Keith hasn't missed a beat, has he?  Is he bionic?  Alien technology?  No one should be that good after not skating for a month.
- Rozsival and Daley will = spastic colon for me at some point this season.  Aye caramba.
- That was a solid and well-timed effort from Scott Darling, tonight.  I'm not sure that there's anyone in the system that could step in and take Darling's job, should he falter, but I feel like Stan wouldn't hesitate to make a deal for a backup if necessary.  Yup, The Flames aren't exactly All-World but Darling was sound on this night.
- I really like Artem Anisimov.  A Lot.  He'll just provoke the occasional mention from the hockey media but he is such a perfect complement to Kane & Panarin.  He'll go to the corners, he's a huge obstacle in front of the net (watch practically any video of 72 or 99 scoring and check where 15 is at), has a great stick when backchecking or killing penalties and he's got this deceptive speed that he trots out every couple of games when he gets sprung on a breakaway. Stan Bowman made the correct call in extending this fella's contract before he'd even played a game in Chicago. Now if only he could win a draw...
- Lookit TVR, all scorey and shit.

A close one, tonight, but I asked myself...who was it that made you sit up a little bit when he had the puck?  He might not have the sneaky vision that Kane possesses but this kid is just plain exciting to watch.

                                                  Endless fist bumps, please.

About Last Night: Hawks 4, Mayonnaise-slurping Primates 2, and Some Other Stuff

Late, late, late again.  When I was in BC these games would be done by mid-evening but, being back in Ontario now, most Hawks games don't end until 11pm, leaving me too weary to try to be clever.  Also, I'm enjoying the point form stuff or, more correctly, I'm enjoying not writing coherent paragraphs, so this is how it's gonna be.

- To acknowledge the result, The Hawks played well enough to win, for  most of the game, anyway.  The Blues had their moments but, as much as their sparkling record might suggest, they're not there yet and are several pieces away from being a real force that matters.  Despite the score being close and having experienced some flashbacks to last week's debacle, this one felt like The Hawks were in control.  Specific failures to execute aside, The Hawks' passing was better than in the last bunch of games and breakouts were mostly brisk and decisive. Mostly.
- Duncan Keith - - 27 minutes after missing 10 games.  So much for easing him back into things.
- Michal Rozsival...that was about what was expected for his first game this season.  I wasn't sure it would be possible but Rozsie did, in fact, appear to be even slower than he was last year.  His current default speed is probably "stopped" but he has that extra gear called "dead slow".  It wasn't out-the-ordinary awful or anything but it might have been nice for him to have been in front of Crawford trying to disrupt Steen on that first goal.rather than settling for a lousy excuse for a two-pad-slide behind his goalie.
- Toews just gets NUTS when D. Backes is around.  All credit to Backes for successfully causing Toews to lose his composure altogether, as The Hawks need Toews a lot more than The Blues need Backes.  Toews was of little consequence in this game and, as Captain, he needs to not let himself get into positions like that.
- How is Eddie Olcyk always the last person to realize what's happening. On Dano's non-goal the referee was on the phone to Toronto before Edzo said "heyyy..."  
- Given that Marko Dano was "elevated" to the top line and then played less than 6 minutes I expect he will be fine with being "demoted" to the third line where at least he gets 9-12 minutes ice time.  Not much of a reward, there.
- Okay, it's official: Brandon Mashinter is worse than Bollig.  I'm not sure this guy is good enough to play in The AHL, so get him the hell outta Chicago. I've never seen a worse skater at this level and, even if he did know what he should be doing out there (he doesn't) he hasn't got half the skill needed to complete even the most elementary tasks.  Just awful, and he saw more ice than Dano!
- I honestly did not notice Garbutt until the third period, yet he played 9 minutes.
- I didn't hate Teravainen skating with Kruger and Shaw but it still sorta feels like a wasted asset down there.  That kid needs to be in the top six, full stop.
- Once again, the "second" line was The Hawks' best, despite a couple of rough patches.  Panarin looked like he was rushing passes in the first period and Kane seemed a little wary at times.  

No one Hawks player really stood out for me in this game, but one of the coaches distinguished himself rather firmly.

Congrats to Coach Q for deploying the worst player in the NHL last night not once, but twice in the last five minutes of the contest.  Does he not think The Blues can erase a one-goal lead in short order, especially when you choose to essentially put yourself a man down?  Good God, man, they scored 4 unanswered goals to beat his team last week...
It's rare to see Quenneville change the lineup after a win but the only guys to skate this morning were last night's scratches, so maybe, just maybe we'll see Tikhonov or Desjardins draw back in, but I doubt it.

                                    Stop scowling, dummy, you did this to yourself.

Good News, Bad News

The Good News is that Duncan Keith has been skating and may even rejoin the lineup by the weekend.  Is Thursday the weekend?  Maybe in The Hawks' world, but we'll see.

The Bad News:
(From blackhawks.nhl.com)

The Chicago Blackhawks announced today they have recalled forward Brandon Mashinter from the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League.

Mashinter, 27, is tied for second on the IceHogs with seven points (4G, 3A) through 12 games in his first campaign as team captain. The Bradford, Ontario, native has notched 27 penalty minutes in 23 career NHL games with San Jose (2010-11) and the New York Rangers (2012-14). He has also tallied 201 points (100G, 101A) and 538 PIM in 410 career AHL tilts with Worcester (2009-13), Connecticut (2012-13), Hartford (2013-14) and Rockford (2013-16).

A-yup.  

So Toews drops the gloves and this is what happens?  Oh well, we made it through almost a fifth of the season without a gorilla in the lineup and that's progress, I guess.  I suppose, also, that he won't be any less effective than Hartman or Hinostroza.  Buckle up for a pointless tussle with Ryan Reaves on Saturday.

                                                 What the HELL is THAT thing?

The One-line Ripoff: Hawks 4, Oiler 2 and Sunday's Big Boys

As usual, I'm exhausted so it will be points again so as to maintain some degree of coherence.

- While I wouldn't go so far as to describe the first and third periods tonight as "textbook", they were very good, at least.  That second period, though...woof.  To say that hot mess was all down to The Hawks is disrespectful to The Oilers, as they're only a couple of forwards and...well, a bunch of defensemen away from being a huge nuisance for a long time, but The Hawks just seemed confounded for all but a few minutes of that period.
- It appears that Corey Crawford's couple of recent sub-par outings were just a blip, thank goodness.
- Unfortunately, I noticed Trevor Daley tonight. He did skate his way out of trouble there, once, but he couldn't seem to get rid of the puck fast enough in this game, whether it was "passing" it to no one in particular or turning a scoring chance into a shot that missed by 10 feet.
- Erik Gustafsson, though...I don't mind this guy,  He shows remarkable poise for a lad who has played only a dozen or so games in N. America and I've yet to see him make a truly poor play.  He's not the quickest guy and he's rather small (6', 176#) for an NHL d-man, but he's shifty and times his actions well enough that he doesn't need to be faster or larger than his opponent.  It's a shame that he's buddied up with Daley, because...
- ...Viktor Svedberg doesn't really belong in this lineup.  Perhaps he's a slightly better option than Rundblad but it pains me to consider that replacing Mr. 6'8" with Rozsival will be an upgrade.  Svedberg has done nothing to merit playing 20+ minutes per game, apart from being partnered with Seabrook.  Ideally, Gustafsson should be alongside Seabrook, but then you have Daley and Svedberg which would be enough to cause spontaneous diverticulitis to anyone unlucky enough to behold such a horror.
- Hossa sure fought the puck tonight, but it always seems to take him a few games to get his mojo working after missing some time.  His line had only a handful of okay shifts, I thought, which sucks because that probably means Teravainen gets scratched in favour of Garbutt on Thursday.
- That said, maybe the third line could use Teravainen to inject some skill/sense/patience into that group.  The Shaw-Kero-Dano combo were not terrible but never appeared to have a plan tonight, with Kero and Dano often just lurking around while Shaw did Shaw things.  They had a few good looks but the ratio of effort to scoring chances was not positive.
- I just wish to point out that tonight's fourth line have zero points and are a combined -18 in 40-man games, so far. 
- Eddie Olcyck cracks me up.  When he droned on about Taylor Hall not keeping his feet moving on a backcheck it made me wonder who told Edzo about backchecking?  He certainly didn't bother with it when he was a player.

The Hawk's second line continues to be among the top combos in the league.  It's hard to believe that Artemi Panarin has adjusted  so quickly to "the N. American game" as well as the smaller rinks.  That kid is so fun to watch and it's amazing to see he and Kane work their magic together.  Anisimov has been spot-on, as well; he's not nearly as scorey as 72 and 88 but he's deceptively effective, as he's quicker than he looks, has incredible reach and threads a nice pass, as well.  Oddly, some of his best moments have come at times when he was separated from Anisimov and Kane, but nevermind.  If Quenneville tinkers with this line I will hire Steven Seagal to punch Q in the groin.

      The two little guys once again combine for a big game and share the belt tonight.

Bark at The Moon: Laika, The Canine Cosmonaut

Today marks the 58th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik 2, containing Laika, the first living creature to orbit the earth.  Laika had a one-way ticket not only to space, but also to great fame and admiration, having subsequently been immortalized in several monuments, many books and countless postage stamps and other works of art.  Selected from a pool of stray dogs recovered from the streets of Moscow, Laika was determined to have The Right Stuff, leading the 6kg Terrier & Husky cross to space and into history.

                                         Laika in her office and eventual coffin.
It's a good, if terribly sad story, and is reasonably well-told here:
Laika's tale at Wikipedia

If this is of any interest please consider reading Rick Abadzis' excellent graphic novel, Laika, a slightly fictionalized but outstanding account of Laika's story.

                                                     From Rick Abadzis' Laika.

Work with animals is a source of suffering to all of us. We treat them like babies who cannot speak. The more time passes, the more I'm sorry about it. We shouldn't have done it ... We did not learn enough from this mission to justify the death of the dog. - Dr. Oleg Gazenko

Back in the Saddle? Hawks 4, Kings 2 and Monday's Big Boy

Dead tired so straight to the bullets:
- It was nice to see The Hawks show some of that old resolve and actually play like they wanted this game.  It wasn't an easy game, either, 'cos The Kings know what they're doing, but The Hawks battled back, pressed hard to even things up and then take the lead.  The Kings chucked a lot of shots toward Crawford in the second half of the final period but The Hawks did a good job limiting good chances and, rather opportunistically, salted it away with 90 seconds to play.  
- See what happens when Teravainen plays with linemates who know what they're doing in the offensive zone?  Also, that no-look backhand pass from Kane....sick.
- I'll bet J. Quick thought he was pretty smart, digging his skate in to push to his left when Anisimov was bearing down on him.  To be fair, though, I think everyone expected Big Art to go backhand, Anisimov included.
- So that was Marko Dano?  Okay then.
- Has anyone else noticed that, most nights this season, Shaw has just mailed it in?  He only seems to be where he should be a few times every week.  Go ahead and put him on waivers, though...someone will take a flyer on him.
- Toews + Panarin = awesome.  More of that, please, ideally without Garbutt.

Once again, the best Hawk was their last line of defense.  It wasn't all down to Crawford tonight, as it was last week, but he was at his best when they needed him most.

                                    "I'm running out of things to say to Dan Roan."