Snow Blind: Two Games, A Mighty Blizzard and a Single Post

Another catch-up post as I only sort of watched Sunday's game, otherwise occupied with snow removal and related bullshit, and racked out seconds after Monday's non-result.

Hawks 5, Penguins 3
A Close Game, but for weird reasons.  The Hawks gifted PITT all three goals, with Toews trancing out instead of taking out Hornqvist, everybody being non-committal on Guentzel's tally (but especially Anisimov, who was simply terrible in this game) and Cam Ward, who was otherwise okay, getting leaky on Brassard's one-timer. Even Kane was a bit topsy-turvy inasmuch as his three helpies erased some defensive laziness and a heart-in-mouth drop pass to no one.
Meanwhile, The Pens suffered stretches in which they couldn't seem to find their legs, their defence were occasionally bewildered and their keeper, Casey DeSmith, struggled with some long shots eluding him.  The Penguins' general sluggishness was compounded by them trying but failing to skate with The Hawks rather than plug up the middle and slow things down.  If either team had their shit only slightly more together they could have run off with this one.  
The Hawks' Special Teams were looking good, the PP just missing out on going 3-for-3 by mere seconds.  The PK was perfect on the night with Seabrook and Dahlstrom pulling the most minutes there.  Notably, Gustafsson was left OFF the PK entirely which was wise, I think.  He can do a lot of things but straight-up defence...not so much.
Drake Caggiula finally debuted and I liked what I saw.  We'd seen him when he was with EDM, of course, and all I could recall is his speed and hustle, which is pretty much what he brought in this game.  The fourth line, along with Kruger and Kunitz, was energetic all night, laying hits and being nuisances.
Goals From Unlikely Sources sure helped as Keith and Kunitz scored their first goals of the season, both on long shots that probably should have been stopped (see DeSmith, Casey, above) but nevermind...

Flames 4, Hawks 3
In a bizarre reverso of the previous night it was The Hawks who were lured into a wide-open affair with similar results as, on the second of a back-to-back, they simply hadn't the necessary jump to pull it off.  They came close and, but for a cocktail of dumb stuff in the final minute, very nearly got away with it.
Collin Delia was again impressive, and this is with him still figuring out positioning, rebound control and puck handling.  His reflexes and athleticism are incredible so, if/when he comes to grips with the other details of netminding, he's going to be tough to beat.  He did allow his first bad goal of the season when he let Gaudreau's second goal trickle through him but, hey, just one of those in five starts....I'll take that.
Dylan Strome's Timing isn't great.  I was actually going to type some stuff about Strome's passing being just a tad off a lot of he time, either slightly late or slightly early, but in light of his taking three dumbass penalties last night I'd say the timing of that rubbish is somewhat worse.  They were all needless, lazy, selfish acts.
Quietly Excellent: I thought Perlini (!) and Kahun each had strong games despite having nothing to show for it and Brandon Davidson has surprised me these last two games.  Every stride he takes looks as if it's a massive effort but, unlike his smooth-skating colleague Forsling, he's getting the job done.  He didn't commit any turnovers, was even for the two games and was quick to defend his teammates without being stupid about it. If you can get that from a depth Guy that's a win, every time.
That Final Minute: A shambles.  The first and worst sin was Anisimov shooting from where he did because he's not Patrick Kane and of course he missed the net and when you miss the net from that angle it is always coming back your way in a hurry.  Empty net, there, Artie...
And Gustafsson's seemingly half-hearted attempt to track down Hathaway bearing down on the empty net was disappointing, getting turned inside-out and settling for a final desperate swipe with his stick rather than skating.  Caggiula came from a lot farther back and had a better go than Gus did.  Maybe dead legs, maybe overconfidence, maybe just a poor decision, but not at all good.

Next: At home Wednesday vs. NSH who shut out TOR on Monday.
Roster Stuff: Sikura and Martinsen were quietly dispatched to Rockford while Hank Jokiharju was activated after his gold-medal winning stint on the Finnish Junior team.

Just Bad...: Flames 5, Hawks 3

When was the last time one of these Western Canadian swings went well?  2015? 2014?  It's become ridiculous.
It's looking as if not even Corey Crawford is going to get this team where they need to be.  Crow was excellent - maybe he'd like either of Monahan's goals back but it's hard to fault him on the others and, given the terrible coverage in front of him, 4 GA doesn't look that bad.  Too often the D were backing in too far before even thinking about closing their gaps and the forwards weren't picking up their guys very often at all.  Just a bad, bad effort in which the final score actually suggests that The Hawks were in this game.  The Hawks were outshot nearly 3:1 fer goodness' sakes.
Only Three Hawks were north of 50% Corsi: Toews, Kruger and Fortin, and we have to take Fortin's stat, here, with a grain of salt 'cos he spent much of the game cruising the neutral zone looking for the stretch pass.  Despite appalling possession stats I thought Schmaltz was good, trying stuff, at least, but Anisimov was downright awful and Kane kinda came & went, still not feeling his normal self, I suspect.
The Third Line accomplished nothing.
DeBrincat put us through a third consecutive game in which he was painful to watch.  His pass to send Saad in to score was the first he'd made this week.
Seabrook was excellent.  His Corsi line tells a different story but, with Keith "unavailable" he was out almost every second shift, always against The Flames top six.
And Then There's Maude.  I know I said I'd just pass on slagging Manning but I can't let this crap pass without comment.  He has no idea what he's doing.  His positioning is dogshit and his decision making is terrible.  I'd like to see what would happen if, given two opposing players to contend with, he chooses to check one of them, y'know, instead of pissing around between the two guys, accomplishing nothing.  Edzo continues to talk about "the element" that Manning brings which is, presumably some snarl, but all we've seen in that vein is some slashing and the occasional cross-check to the back of a player who's just scored on us.  He's had one meaningless fight in which he fought a middleweight to a draw and the only hits he's made have been on stationary players along the boards, so I don't wanna hear about "the time and space" he creates for his teammates. Yeah, Hard Pass on this idiot.  
I Didn't Mind Martinsen and, if Q doesn't get any ideas about expanding Marty's role I'm quite fine with him doing what he does for the amount of time he's being allotted to do it.  He hasn't hurt the team in his last couple of games and his puck retrieval has been impressive.

Anyway, this wretched road trip is mercifully done and, now The Hawks have a few days in which  to focus on either continuing to do all that stuff that failed to work over the last six or so games OR they can start making some passes and not allowing their opponents' third forwards unlimited access to primo shooting zones.  Y'know, good hockey...

Illyus & Barrientos - Just Bad Shit

Done, Son: Flames 4, Hawks 3

* That's probably The Hawks' season done & dusted.  Maybe they were out of it earlier, maybe not, but this half-assed effort underlines how far off the plot they are.  If you're only willing, or only able to play 20 - 25 minutes of half decent hockey this is the result you can expect.
* Oesterle, despite his qualities as an okay puck-mover, is a shitty, shitty defender.  He has no business being anywhere near the ice during 3-on-3 overtime 'cos he hasn't got anyone to back him up, which he needs.  A lot.
* Three goals against were caused by turnovers, one of which was inexcusably stupid, and the fourth saw Oesterle get absolutely pantsed.  Too much responsibility is being placed on so-so players and it probably seems necessary to the coaching staff because many of the players who should be carrying a heavier load have been making a mess of things far too often
* Tonight's lineup "featured" four skaters who failed to make The Hawks out of training camp.  This is not to slag on those players; Kampf and Jurco have had good moments and Hinostroza's been a pleasant surprise, but what the hell can one expect if a team that hopes to contend is leaning on Guys that are mostly marginal?  
* BUT the reason those Guys are up from Rockford is because too many players are underachieving mightily.  Toews works hard every game but, especially lately, accomplishes little.  Saad has been a disaster.  Anisimov, albeit recently back from injury, has been out of step.  I'm not sure what to expect from Duclair but it would sure be nice to see him win a puck battle someday or not lose the handle while trying to stickhandle around defenders.  After a promising rookie season Hartman has been a disappointment.  Kane has been good for the most part and Schmaltz & DeBrincat have been outstanding given where they're at in their careers, but how much can one line's worth of players accomplish?
* That so many Hawks are somewhere between struggling and pissing the bed makes me wonder....how much of this is on the players and how much is on the coaching staff.  It just seems so odd, so improbable, that so many players that The Hawks are counting on to produce, cannot.  Is it a lack of skill or a lack of motivation?

If this season ends badly, and all signs point to that being the case, expect a major housecleaning, top-to-bottom.

Unhappy New Year: Flames 4, Hawks 3

It was one of the most evenly contested games I've seen in awhile but, frustratingly, The Hawks probably could have buried The Flames had they bothered to show up in the first period.  It's the same refrain: they just cannot muster up a full 60-minute effort.  Ever.
It's late, I'm tired and I'm disappointed, so this will be short.
* Jeff Glass was alright, probably better overall than on Friday.  A couple of the goals were honest enough and Giordino's shot for the winner was darn-near perfect, but had David "Baby Huey" Kampf bothered to do something about Matthew Tkachuk's stick we'd be looking at a win, here.  Sharp is sitting out to make room for this buffoon?
* Speaking of M. Tkachuk...I don't like that guy.  That permanent, punchable smirk makes him hockey's Martin Shkreli.  
* Still liking that 2PP unit, for some reason.  Maybe the fact that they only sorta know what they're doing affords them an element of surprise - if they have little idea what they'll do next imagine how little their opponents know!
* Keith was not good yet played 28+ minutes, not at all a recipe for success.
* Wingels has to stop it with the bullshit penalties.  He's gotten the gate three times in the last five games and The Hawks were scored on each time.
* Kempny and Franson both played alright but, with the loss, you know one or both of them will be scratched on Wednesday, right?
* Richard Panik will never score again.  Ever.

Monday Morning Mockery: NHL "News"

Canucks Walked Away From Potential Trade for Evander Kane
Apparently, the deal involving Kane in exchange for Bo Horvat and All-You-Can-Eat Sushi for life was blocked by the Greater Vancouver Restaurateurs Association.

Is It Fair to Compare Marner to Kane?
Patrick Kane, in this case.
No, it is not.
Two months ago the Toronto hacks still believed Marner was too small, and played even smaller than that, not quick enough and, given the wealth of young talent on The Leafs' roster, highly unlikely to displace Matthews, Nylander et al for the few spots available for untested rookies. Good for Marner for rising above being constantly measured and found wanting.
But Patrick Kane he is not and it's a silly question to consider only 20 games into Marner's career. Facebook isn't the only source for Fake News, I guess.

Johnny Gaudreau Addresses Broken Finger
"Hullo, broken finger."
(Apologies to Art Carney)

Didn't Deserve to Win, But Didn't Deserve to Lose:Hawks 3, Flames 2

It was a game in which both teams played well enough to win and also badly enough to lose.  Both sides had stretches in which they couldn't do much right, and then it would flip-flop, with their opponent making a mess of things for awhile.  That said, The Hawks took more of these "turns" than they should have.

The Hawks kicked off the scoring with a wonderful goal that began with Anisimov hitting Ryan Hartman with a 100-foot pass just as Hartman had come on the ice, springing the rookie on a rush in which he shrugged off Dennis Wideman, expertly corralled a hopping puck and fired a hard shot over Chad Johnson's glove hand.
The Flames actually held the balance of play for much of the first period and rode that momentum into the second frame, scoring twice to take the lead, before Brent Seabrook threaded a point shot past Johnson to even things up.  A fairly even third period followed, typified by what I mentioned earlier - several minutes of Flames domination followed by a superior shift or two by The Hawks.  It's a new spin on end-to-end hockey!
Late in the third Artemi Panarin launched a hard shot, that Johnson merely struck with his glove rather than catching it, and Marian Hossa outfumbled Johnson and Flames d-man TJ Brodie, shoveling in his 10th goal and putting The Hawks ahead for good.

Dismal Night: A few Hawks had forgettable performances in this match, namely Forsling, Kane and Panik. Forsling was guilty multiple times standing between two Flames forwards but not covering either of them at all.  Kane had some nightmare shifts, with a bobble that first led to a Flames rush followed by a confused attempt to make amends which only amounted to getting in Corey Crawford's way while Sam Bennett scored for The Flames.  Later, Kane would tap a puck out of the air and toward the gaping net, only to accidentally strike it a second time and away from the twine. Probably just one of those nights, for Kane.  As for Panik...he was just everywhere yet nowhere that he needed to be, and his non-contribution did not not go unnoticed by Coach Q, as Panik played less than ten minutes and bounced through three different lines as the game progressed.
Possession is Nine-tenths of The Law and The Flames earned the legal high ground in this match, with Sean Monahan's line soundly putting the boots to Toews' line.  The Hawks' bottom six struggled as well, although I'd hang on asterisk on Kruger & Rasmussen, which I'll get to in a sec.
Outstanding Efforts by Large Arthur's Line as well as the duo of Seabrook and Kempny helped immensely.  Sadly, these were the only five Hawks players with possession stats north of 50.  That was Kempny's best game, thus far, and he even picked up his first NHL point in the bargain.
Special Teams That Were Actually Special were key to The Hawks, as well, with the PP and PK units both being perfect on the night.  Kruger and Rasmussen did the lion's share of PK duty, with both of them logging season-high minutes and Moose logging more time than all Hawks forwards, save Toews and Kane.  So there's the asterisk for Krugs and Moose: of course they got their usual helping of tough assignments, but they also spent a load of time on the PK.  At even strength these two broke even in possession, which is about as much as one can ask for from your shut down guys.

                                       Wonder Twins Power...activate!

So, really, half the forwards had pretty great games and the rest were anywhere from meh to awful. The Hawks were denied two near-goals, one by Mark Giardano's quick stick and other by Kane's double-tap so, despite being outshot and out-chanced, this could easily have been a 5-2 laugher.  It didn't hurt that Chad Johnson, after two great games for Calgary, went back to being Chad Johnson, with rebounds a-poppin' all over the place.

Hartman's tally was a beaut and you gotta love Hoss being Hoss when it mattered most, but with Old Number 50 making save after save while most of his D in front of him kinda flailed, Corey Crawford once again receives the steely gaze of Stormare.

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!

It Drives Me Nuts and They Don't Care: Hawks 5, Flames 1

Indifferent first period.
Sloppy second period.
Hell-bent for leather in the third.
Sound familiar?

This has kind of been the pattern for The Hawks all season.  It's hard for me to complain too much since they've only dropped 1½ games in their last eight, but the way they're going about it is a little worrisome.  Late-game charges got the job done vs. New Jersey and Toronto, while they simply ran out of time against Columbus, and I wonder how long they intend to play one great period each night and still be able to succeed.  But, hey, at least they're not blowing leads like they did so often the last few seasons, right?
The Hawks were outplayed for much of last night's affair...sort of.  Calgary carried the puck a lot more and took a load of shots, but rarely got the second chance.  Crawford was good but he didn't need to be great in this one, despite the gaudy shot count, and The Hawks' D did a mostly good job clearing pucks away (although I thought I heard circus music on one particular sequence with Keith and Soupy stepping all over the puck...).
Sermon & summary over.  On to the bits.

Panarin: It's hard to get too excited about an empty net goal, but Small Arthur's effort and skill on this one was a joy to behold.
Motte: the speed, the puck control and especially the little kick he had to make to get the puck back to his stick made me swoon.  There's no way Elliott was ever going to go cross-crease in time to stop that, as long as Motte recovered the puck in time.
Forsling returned after missing two games and it seemed to me that Calgary was intent on rattling him (again) by aggressively finishing their checks on the wee Swede.  While that did lead to at least one bobble, and while New Goose was not always able to squirm away from The Flames' forwards, he instead made smart, safe outlets.  I suspect he's been cautioned about the long passes he was prone to attempting earlier this season.
Panik had a strong game despite not cashing in, probably his best all-around effort, with some hits that mattered and some signs that he isn't necessarily married to the 100% forward attack mode he most often favours.  He pumped the brakes a few times, using his D to organize some pressure rather than simply launching everything toward the net.  It's a small thing, but I wonder if he's just feeling more confident with his role, and not constantly worried that he'll tumble down the depth chart & back to the press box.
Rasmussen was as good as I've seen him, logging the most PK time of all the forwards and, while Moose was not outstanding at the dot, he won a crucial draw while killing Kruger's penalty.  
Penalty Kill: more of this, please.

Crawford was good, Large Arthur racked up another two points to maintain his streak (and now leads the league in scoring) but it's tough to ignore Kane's three points, the most satisfying being the zinger he fired through the not-as-good-as-they-say-he-is Brian Elliott.  #88 receives the Nod of Approval.

No News is...Not News: Oct.25 Hockey Media (Plus a few whispered words about Monday's Hawks Game)

Canadiens No. 1 in NHL Power Rankings

NHL Standings on this day, one year ago.

After 120 games (9.8%)

NHL
Teams ranked by points over .500		GP	WOT	LOT	GF	GA	P
Montreal Canadiens	+9	9	9 0	0 0	35	12	18
Washington Capitals	+5	7	6 0	1 0	29	18	12
Nashville Predators	+5	8	6 2	2 1	25	16	13
New York Rangers	+4	10	6 0	4 2	28	20	14

And...two months later.

After 516 games (42.0%)

NHL
Teams ranked by points over .500		GP	WOT	LOT	GF	GA	P
Dallas Stars	+19	35	26 4	9 2	124	88	54
Washington Capitals	+19	33	25 4	8 2	105	71	52
St. Louis Blues	+10	36	21 3	15 4	92	85	46
Boston Bruins	+9	33	19 3	14 4	104	85	42
Minnesota Wild	+9	33	18 1	15 6	91	80	42
Los Angeles Kings	+9	33	20 7	13 2	84	76	42
New York Islanders	+8	35	19 5	16 5	96	82	43
New York Rangers	+8	36	20 3	16 4	104	93	44
Chicago Blackhawks	+8	36	20 7	16 4	96	87	44
Montreal Canadiens	+7	36	20 2	16 3	105	89	43

Just sayin'.

Are The Leafs Better Off Without Stamkos?

I thought we were done with this?  Evidently not.

First, the very suggestion that a team, The Leafs at that, being better without Stamkos is like saying pizza is better without cheese.

Anyway, it was Stamko's call, so it's not like The Leafs have any bidness leaning back and saying "Yep, we got that one right, guys."  They are fully entitled to order pizza without cheese, though, if that floats their boat.

Babcock Takes Issue when he Learns Don Cherry Called The Leafs' Goalies "Lousy"

I never thought I'd say this, but Cherry's on the money, here.

But Mike Babcock has to have his guys' backs.

Everybody's right, everybody's happy.  Except me, which means it must be time for....

Hawks Notes: Flames 3, Hawks 2 (Oct. 24)

                                                    Fuckin' 'Steeger

This loss is kind of on me 'cos I pointed and laughed at Kris Versteeg in the first period.

But it's not entirely on me.  

I didn't play like I was disinterested for two periods before deciding to make some passes and take shots from reasonable angles.  The Hawks generated as many quality chances in five minutes of overtime than they did in the first two periods combined.  

I didn't allow another two PPG.

I didn't waste a roster spot on Jordin Tootoo, who lobbed two point-blank shots square into the middle of Brian Elliott, and still hasn't made a pass this season.

                                         Things kind of went to hell after this.

What else?

- The Hawks had waaay too much trouble exiting their zone, with a lot of crappy pass attempts and what looked like a severe lack of concentration. The worst example was Keith putting almost nothing on a pass to Campbell behind the net.  What the hell, guys?

- The Schmaltz - Hossa - Hartman spent the entire game as three individuals oblivious to the presence of one another.

- Richard Panik once again played at a third-line level, which was a shame 'cos we sure could have used at least one of those three-foot putts he missed.

- At least Rozsival wasn't a disaster, right?

Why Does it Have to Be This Hard? Hawks 2, Western Canada 0

Awreet, since I watched both weekend games one after the other I'm sure I'll get some events mixed up, so I'll just pop in some general comments about both games.  It helps that both matches had a similar feel, with many things in common, both good and bad.
- The Hawks needed to come out of this weekend with four points and they managed that but, Sweet Mother of Zuul, they didn't exactly cruise to either victory.  That this occurred against two utterly feckless teams is somewhat worrisome.
- I say "somewhat" because we all know that The Hawks can be much better.  They seem to have this annoying let-up every March, so there's that, but the time to get serious is upon us, as there is still a dim hope of snagging home ice in the first playoff round.
- Both games "featured" a lot of the crap passing, poor timing and weird choices that we've been treated to over the past 3-4 weeks. Too often a player, mostly but not exclusively Panarin, either hangs onto the puck too long, missing a chance to hit a moving linemate, or hits the eject button too early and either launches a pass toward a colleague who's in no position to accept a pass or misses their mark entirely.  There were fewer of these instances this weekend, though, and a greater number of sequences in which The Hawks moved the puck kinda well but, again, consider the level of the opposition before declaring this a turning point.
- Scott Darling was very, very good.  I'll try not to diminish his efforts by pointing out (multiple times) that the quality of their opposition this weekend flatters to deceive, but the big guy allowed no soft goals, had decent positioning and a quick glove hand in both games.  He spent a lot of time in a semi-butterfly (kinda like in the photo above), though, with his stick flat on the ice, jerking his head back and forth trying to get a bead on the puck.  He's a large fella and covers a lot of the lower part of the net by doing that, but I have this niggling worry that if this represents his Plan A he's going to get lit up by teams that are more disciplined and accurate with their shooting (i.e. all the other teams in The West).
- The defense wasn't awful in either game but, again, level of opposition.  TVR was actually working rather well alongside Ehrhoff, which was weird because I thought it was supposed to be Ehrhoff that would push the play from the back and jump in on the offense.  TVR's first assist was a bit lucky as Flasch was fortunate to corral a pass that hot from so close, but the assist on Teravainen's goal was impressive;seriously, did anyone not expect TVR to shoot?  Anyway, good for him but let's not forget he was also alone, standing still when Burrows scored, earlier.
- Svedberg was on the ice for that goal, too, and was just as guilty of loitering as TVR.  I'm not sure what Svedberg hopes to accomplish by simply camping out in front of The Hawks' net; he hasn't shown any ability to read the play and lacks the quickness to react to any threat beyond his immediate reach, so he mostly just stands there, being in the way.  He was able to use that considerable reach to break up some plays along the boards but, really, this guy shouldn't be playing until his game becomes more active than reactive.
- As ridiculous a job Coach Q has done with the defense at least he had the good sense to immediately reunite possibly the finest fourth line in the league, Kruger, Shaw & Desjardins. These three wasted no time getting back to the task of consistently moving the puck north before handing the keys to one of the other lines and even cashing in a couple of times for good measure. The best Hawks line, overall, this weekend.
- Of small concern is the fact that Andrew Shaw took a lot more faceoffs than Marcus Kruger.  This could just be a cautious approach with Kruger just returning from wrist surgery, as he took 3x as many draws in his second game back than in his first, or it could just be a matter of which side of the ice these draws were taking place, as Coach Q seems to always want his centers drawing the puck backhand-style. It actually worked out fine on Sunday, as Shaw inexplicably laid waste to his Canuck counterparts, winning 11 of 12 attempts.

- Andrew Ladd had himself a good weekend after two weeks of just pilin' 'er up and down the wing.  He didn't have to work especially hard for any of his goals but that's okay; sometimes the gimmes lead to other things in the near-future.

- Teravainen was alright centering the second line.  I suspect that having played center the last few weeks had him better-prepared for the task than the last time he was parachuted into that spot. Amazingly, Teravainen led all Hawks forwards in ice time on Sunday.
- Looking ahead we're off to Minny on Tuesday for a chance at redemption against the eighth-placed Wild.  I would half expect Coach Q to come back with the same lineup as Sunday's, but that probably depends on whether Large Arthur was, in fact, out on Sunday due to an injury or if his exclusion was a coach's decision. Weise wasn't bad in limited duty on Sunday, so I see him getting the nod over Panik.

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.

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.

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.