I Don't Do Game Previews, Yet... Hawks vs. Flames Notes + Other Things

My car is being repaired and there's freezing rain outside so, really, what else do I have to do?

Tonight:
As already stated everywhere, Johnny Gaudreau won't take part in tonight's tilt, or any game for a month or more, as he broke a finger during The Flames 1-0 win over Minny on Tuesday. Undaunted, the Prairie Oysters turned around and defeated Arizona 2-1 the following night.  Both wins came with backup netminder and heretofore mediocre 'tender Chad Johnson in the cage, so we can presume that it'll be Johnson getting the nod tonight, as well.
For The Hawks it would appear to be status quo for tonight's lineup as it's expected that Vinnie Hinostroza will be available and, since no one has offered any explanation about Marcus Kruger having missed the last half of Tuesday's match in Wpg., he's probably okay, too.
There's a specter of dumb looming large for the last half of this Circus Trip, though, as it's reckoned that Trevor van Riemsdyk could be available to play by the time they reach California.  With the roster loaded and The Hawks receiving decent service from the seven defencemen currently in situ, it will be interesting to see what they choose to do. It could be as simple as flipping Tyler Motte to the disabled list or it could mean someone gets going to Rockford.
But, let's be real...TVR will play, maybe even as a forward.

News! News! News!

Sabres' Kane Takes a Shot at His Teammates
This is not all on TSN, either, as other news sources made similar judgments on Kane's frank breakdown of how awful The Sabres have been, lately, the most stirring soundbite being "if a team scores twice against us they'll probably win".  And it's not an entirely fair parsing of Kane's intentions as, while he does condemn their effort, Kane is at least consistent in referring to "us" and "The Sabres" and never "those guys" or anything at all like that.  He's owning this funk, as well.  I'm no fan of Evander Kane - I think he's a bit of a goof - but I really don't believe he was separating himself whatsoever from his team's struggles.  I guess it's fashionable for the hockey media to jump on Kane at the slightest provocation based on the host of meatheaded things he's done and said in the past, but this time they got it wrong.

Leo Komorov...what have you done?
Gotta grow that moustache back, fella.

                                                                      NO!

                                                                Oh my, yes!