Kijiji Ad of the Day: Freezer

Freezer stopped working this winter, free to anyone who wants to scrap it... just have to come grab it.

I was just thinking "I really feel like taking something heavy to the dump, but I just don't have anything to scratch that itch."  
Ah, somebody else probably got it...

Kijiji Ad of The Day: Dead Man's Book

Paperback version. Understanding dBASE IV, by Alan Simpson, SYBEX,1989. This book is in very good condition. The only mark on the book is one individuals name and there dead so it doesnt matter. Shipping Collect on Delivery in Canada at your cost is possible. I will pack for free. The free packing is tempting but I don't need no DEADS MAN's BOOK. Especially all marked up like that.

Well, That Happened

                                                    (See y'all on Draft Day, I guess.)

That Gets Ya' One More Night in Suck City: Hawks Many, Blues Few and Saturday's Big Boy

That was just what we needed.  Well, obviously, nothing but a win would be falling short, but we got a really good, four-line effort tonight and earned a Game Seven in the city of low-grade pet food and mayonnaise sandwiches.
- No, seriously, all four lines cashed in tonight.  With a better bounce and better hands (Dez!) the fourth line could have had two or three goals.
- I appreciated the ice time allocation tonight, as well, which felt about right to me.  Gustafsson might argue that point but, hey, I'm not the guy who tried to ring the puck up the boards to no one.
- One sorta kinda niggling negative: despite nabbing two points, once again I thought Ladd was sloppy & lazy a lot of the time.
- Hoss was a beast, though.  Still a little too shooty, but he always has and always will be, I guess, but he was also finding teammates with crisp passes, which he doesn't always do.

This is all I really wanted to talk about.  Richard Panik only notched one helpie tonight but he played a near perfect game...for Richard Panik.  He had the throttle stuck wide open all night, harrying STL defencemen, frightening their chicken forwards off the puck...basically a snarling turnover machine. His unexpectedly subtle spin-and-pass move to Toews was just the icing on the cake.  

                                                                    My man!

No Sleep 'til The U.C.: Hawks 4, Bluets 3 and Thursday's Big Boy

Late again 'cos I just watched this thing tonight. How I managed to get through the day without any SPOILERS is beyond me.
It's likely all been said, so it'll just be quick & dirty stuff today.
- The Hawks were rarely great, occasionally good, pretty lucky once or twice and kind of a mess a lot of the time.  It looked to me a lot like one of those games in mid-to-late-March, in which they skated well enough but were just out of sync with each other and with their passes. It wasn't all awful, but they won't likely get away with this kind of effort again, not in this series, anyway.

- Have I mentioned that I like Richard Panik, the guy who couldn't make The Maple Leafs?  While I am certain that he is not regular basis first line material, I mostly liked him skating with Toews & Kane.  There were a couple of occasions where a winger with better, or any, hands would have made a better play than Panik had, but his corner work was exemplary and that effort left T&K more available for other things.  I finally figured out who he reminds me of; Jocelyn Lemieux.  Panik appears to take greater care in his own well being than ol' Joc, though, or maybe he simply has a frame more suited for recklessly launching himself into anything not wearing red white & black.  Anyway, that was a compliment.  
- I was astonished that Q was sending the fourth line out there, not only late in the third period but in the overtime frames, as well.  Dez was fine, as much as he can be, and Weiss had a handful of inspired if chaotic shifts, but Mashinter... oh boy.  This was all the more strange given that Q is typically Mr. Short Bench in a tight game.  I just know that if he persists with this Mashinter thing it's gonna bite him in the ass sooner than later.
- I don't think I've seen David Rundblad play with such confidence, although I'll admit that he worried me more than a little bit when he was swanning around deep in the STL zone.  That said, maybe 6+ minutes of that was about right and we can work our way up to 8 or 9 minutes on Saturday if things go well.
- Seabrook has to be better.  He was on the ice for all three goals against was very much in the play and failing to do what is expected of him on at least two of those goals.  
- On the other hand, I hardly noticed TVR, which I consider a success.

How about that Corey Crawford, eh?
I thought, at first, that Schwarz's goal was a bit soft but, after looking at a whole bunch...that was about as perfectly placed a shot as you're likely to see. All credit to The Hawks' No,1 Guy for keeping them in it long enough to win it.

Idiot Parade: The Three....What are the Opposite of Stars?

Third: TVR

Even though he coughed up the puck that led to what was ultimately the game winning goal, Van Riemsdyk gets some slack because he shouldn't have even been there in the first place.  I assume he's just doing the best he can, which ain't much.

Second: Q

How can someone be so smart yet so dumb?  Quenneville is in consideration for a Lifetime Achievement Award for persisting with Van Riemsdyk.  TVR racked up the worst +/- of all regular Hawks defencemen this season and currently has the worst +/- of all Hawks in the playoffs.  Yet he never missed a game and didn't even miss a shift after an error that many other coaches might consider grounds for euthanasia.  Q has been accused of having blinders on where his "guys" are concerned but this is the most extreme example of his failure to recognize a truly mediocre hockey player being passed off as an NHL regular.

First: Shaw

Embarrassing, unacceptable and somewhat typical.  This is doubly irritating because it occurred in the last stages of an otherwise excellent game by Shaw.  If things go poorly tonight in St. Loomis this event could well be Shaw's last actions in a Hawks uniform, which is a horrible way to go out.

More Drama than a Bus Full of Drag Queens Heading to a Wig Sale: Hawks 3, Blooos 2 and Friday's Big Boy

I'm generally not a fan of the whole "going upstairs" thing and coaches' challenges and all that.  I prefer to maintain the human element, however flawed it may seem from time to time, and I fear that this constant second-guessing of on-ice officials will only lead to higher and higher expectations.
But that stuff went all right for The Hawks tonight.
Here are the super-brief-up-past-my-bedtime notes.
- I wrote something a few weeks ago about bad passing and I'm sorry to say that those days are upon us once again.  The Hawks had generally good legs, good positioning and decent drive in the the second and third periods, but the passing was imprecise.  One-timers failed or were abandoned when the pass came in too close to the body and, more infuriating, too many passes were weak and slow, causing the recipient to either wait too long for the puck or make them change their body positioning to accept an off-target pass.  It's not like The Blues mounted an especially aggressive forecheck, either - it just looked like sloppy play from my angle.
- Ladd was bad, and he'll know that and will try to correct it, I believe.
- You know what Svedberg did to get himself benched for 2/3 of the game?  Nothing!
- Crawford was very good.  That last-second goal against will have pissed him off to no end and that's probably a Good Thing.
- I really liked Richard Panik tonight. As is often the case, he accomplished nothing where the scoresheet is concerned but he made a nuisance of himself each and every shift.  And, like I always say, he never stops moving his feet.  Panik played more "physical hockey" in this game than Mashinter has in his life.  It helps when you can skate well enough to catch an opponent now and then...
- So, here in Canada, we got this game on SportsNet who chose to show us the St. Louis broadcast (I dunno if it was CSN or Fox or what).  I thought those two goombas who do the Edmonton games were bad but Darren Pang is easily the worst colour man working today.  He doesn't know how to say some of The Blues' players' names, is just as inane as Pierre Maguire and continuously miscalls the events on the ice.  Continuously.  I so hope that SportsNet gets the CSN or NBC feed for Sunday, 'cos I don't know how much more of that little jackass I stand.

                                                                  He's back!

                            Boo him all you like, he's still better than any of those Blues

Problem Solved!

From blackhawks.nhl.com:
The Chicago Blackhawks announced today that they have recalled defenseman David Rundblad from the American Hockey League’s Rockford IceHogs and reassigned forwards Bryan Bickell and Dennis Rasmussen to Rockford.

Even I, the world's most inveterate Rundblad apologist, find this puzzling.
I cannot imagine Q slotting Rundblad in ahead of Goose or Ehrhoff, unless he hates Ehrhoff more than he hates Rundy so what's this about?  As far as I know, Svedberg is day-to-day and still on the roster, so this cannot be a cap-compliance thing.  I think.  
The best I can come up with is that Rundblad looks awesome in a suit and will class up the press box, propping up Bobby Hull.
As for the others, I guess it was worth a shot to see how Bickell looked, even if everyone figured on "terrible", as was the case.  I thought Moose had a pretty good game against Columbus but, if we're going to carry 28 defencemen, something's gotta give.
Assuming Hoss, Shaw and Large Arthur return tomorrow, who will be the odd forward out? I'm guessing Weise, because who is Q to deprive us of another vital Reaves vs. Mashinter encounter?

          What a nice collage.  I like that it includes Rundy's usual view of the arena!

Blackhawks Recall Bickell

From blackhawks.nhl.com:

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

Bickell, 30, has registered two assists in 23 games with Chicago this season. The Bowmanville, Ontario native has also recorded 31 points (15G, 16A) in 44 games with Rockford.

Yikes, I must admit that Bicks had been gone so long and missed so little that I had completely 

forgotten about him.  Still, if he assumes Mashinter's spot in the lineup that would be A Good Thing.

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: Hawks 6, Coyotes 2 and Tuesday's Big Boy

The Good
- Two points, obviously.
- The power play is working well again. For now.
- Ditto for the penalty kill, despite The Hawks' best PK guy taking two minors himself.
- This was achieved despite starting the game without four regular players and losing another mid-game.

The Bad
- Large Arthur joins the list of walking wounded.  As I type this I have not heard any details on what ails him or if he's expected to be out for awhile so, if anyone finds out,  feel free to pop that intel in the comments box.

The Ugly
- That third period was veering dangerously close to a replay of Sunday's serious case of Ain't Give A Damn, and a full-on deja vu was avoided mainly because The Coyotes lack the capacity to mount much of a comeback.  These late-game letups concern me; this team is in no position to be charitable, as Edzo wanted us to believe they were being on Sunday prior to The Bruins reeling off four unanswered goals.  The "they don't want to show them up" bit is absolute bullshit; if the team on the other bench can't keep up on a given night, that's their problem, not The Hawks'.  When The Hawks are clicking they have to keep their boot in it until the last horn blows, 'cos it's proven bloody difficult to keep clicking even under ideal circumstances, so I rather wish they wouldn't do anything to alter their rhythm.

There were a brace of legitimate candidates in this match, but I've really been liking how peppery the captain's game has been as of late, so Jonathan Toews is last night's Big Boy.

                                            Johnny loves him a shorty, he does.

Apropos of Nothing Except the Mildest Irony

I just observed someone misspelling "typos" whilst complaining about other peoples' mistakes.

Or should I say "misteaks"?

In Other News

Patrick Roy still an idiot:
One of the most self-aware players of all time bitches about one of his guys celebrating a personal milestone.  It was a pretty subdued celly, really, so what's Roy's problem?
He goes on to complain about his team's "losing mindset"; isn't it largely up to the coach to instill some direction in that regard?
I expect that any success The Avalanche experience, which ain't much, is despite Patrick Roy's efforts rather than because of it.

                                                                    Grump.

Habs Call Up John Scott
Because why not?  After all, they thought George Parros and Brandon Prust were lineup-worthy.  I humbly request that Scotty play with Desharnais for the ultimate Mutt & Jeff experience.

                         Furthermore, I demand that they stitch "Daddy" on his jersey.

Kadri Updates His Image
Nazem Kadri, after being pinched twice in one week for Diving was, apparently, hell-bent on dispelling any notion that he's "that type of player".  Well, now we know he's "another type of player."

                                        There will be no Lady Byng for you, son.

A Tale of Two Lines: Hawks 6, Bruins 4 and I just want this to be over

Put this win down to being at home and having last change.
Take that away and Patrice Bergeron's line neutralizes the Anisimov trio, game over.

What else?
- Can we please call Time on Brandon Mashinter?  Here's hoping that was the last nine minutes we'll have to endure of that meat bag stumbling around with absolutely no idea what he's doing. Sweet Jeebus, we've seen some dubious guys fill that role but I don't know if it can get worse than this. 
- I just about puked when Doc praised TVR to the moon.  When did "versatile" start meaning "bad at everything"?
- On a cheerful note, I rather enjoyed Pierre McGuire correcting Edzo, caught talking out of his ass again...

                                              And that's all I have to say about that.

Demolition Derby: Hawks 5, Jets 4 and Friday's Big Boy

It's funny how, even with a bunch of mistakes, setbacks and iffy goaltending this turned out to be a pretty entertaining game.  As always, here's some stuff I think I saw.
- So, Scott Darling wasn't great but hoo-boy Ondrej Pavelec was terrible.
- Mitigating that were The Hawks' manpower issues; Hossa didn't make the trip due to illness, Keith stayed home due to nastiness, Andrew Shaw suffered an LBI in the first period and did not return, and Toews spent a good chunk of the second period in The Room being repaired after being struck in the ear.
- For the first time in a couple of weeks The Hawks had the passing game working reliably.  Whether they were being more patient or just taking more care or The Jets allowed this happen, I cannot say for sure.  Kane and Panarin were looking like it was business as usual (a la December, anyway) and even Kruger got in on the action with his sweet little dish to Small Arthur in the slot.
- Again, The Jets are Bad at Hockey, but The Hawks' defense didn't do too badly given that Keith was unavailable and TVR was selected to skate the big minutes with Hjalmarsson. It pleased me, however, to see Rozsie taking shifts on the top pairing late in the game.  It was good, also, that Seabrook wasn't too bad tonight.

It's too bad this didn't happen sooner and maybe it took a trip to Manitoba to make it happen, but Small Arthur broke out of his mini-slump most emphatically.  Two goals, two helpies and secure trousers for this Big Boy.

                                   Not that Arthur, the other one.  The small one.