Frenetic Hockey at the Joe!
While Adam Burish’s sneaky wrap-around goal (unassisted) in the first period of the Hawks/Red Wings Western Conference Finals game one match-up today was a sight to behold, the Hawks bumbling cost them. Brent Seabrook whiffed an easy pass off a face-off for a Dan Cleary steal and Duncan Keith did not block Cleary’s ensuing breakaway which led to the Red Wings’ first 1st period goal.
Where oh where has the Hawks’ backcheck gone? Hockey pundits continue to talk about forechecking, forechecking, forechecking, but you can so clearly see that the Hawks did not do as good a job defending their own net. If the Red Wings return at some point to their usual caliber of hockey — which is so aggressive on ‘D’ at times as to be goonish — then the Hawks are in for an ordeal.
Also why did Q put Niklas Hjalmarsson on the PK unit with Matt Walker? Don’t get me wrong, I have liked Hjalmarsson a lot in the playoffs. He’s really come along in the post season, especially considering how late he joined the Hawks, but is he ready to be on the PK? Wouldn’t your most defensive defensemen — Cam Barker and Matt Walker, in my opinion — be a better pairing? And this game again shows how when Q mixes up the lines — defensive or offensive — that it just mucks up the works.
Wow, what a frenetic brand of hockey we saw today! Some of that was because of a stepped-up game on both the Hawks’ and Red Wings’ parts; stepped-up in terms of speed and the level of activity. Some was because of the bumbling (including multiple turnovers and repeatedly leaving the puck) of some of the Hawks like Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith (who also could have avoided those 1st-period penalties). Seabs and Dunc even tripped over each other at one point early on in the 2nd period. Looked like they got their cues crossed repeatedly throughout the game. And there was other bumbling and sloppiness. For instance, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane were off their game, a rarity to be sure (at least for Tazer).
We can also thank the Lord above that Adam Burish did not get his carotid artery sliced open by the wayward skate of Ben Eager who went flying through the air in a check that went awry in the tail end of the 2nd period. (Hope you’ve had your tetanus shot Bur! Your mother must have been freaking out!) As it was, Bur’s neck was covered in blood. That’s just too close for comfort. Gotta be careful with those skates. They’re as sharp as Adam Burish’s wit!
Well, what can you say about a game like this one? Let’s just hope it was opening-series jitters that caused the Hawks to lose to the Red Wings 5-2 and that the Hawks don’t continue to get psyched out by the supposed formidability of the Red Wings.