Hawks Hockey Hoiden

Whose bright idea was it to make sport of the poor guys on IR?…LOL….Trick for them, treat for us.

All anyone is talking about from last night’s game is that “big” hit from Andrew Ladd on the Habs’ Matt D’Agostini.  Really?  This is now considered a “big” hit?  So, either hockey players have become big pansies, or the NHL is once again trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill.  Newsflash: hockey, like football, is a violent sport.  Has been since its inception.  So then why is the NHL trying to dilute fighting and the hits needed to provide proper defense? Why is it such a big deal now? (more…)

If you’re squeamish, do not watch this video!

I was reminiscing about Matt Walker to a follower on Twitter and he reminded me about Walker breaking his finger in the playoffs last year.  So I thought I would post this video and spread the joy.  The reaction on the faces of those women is priceless. (Yup, and that’s why high-maintenance women should not get seats behind the bench.) The really astonishing thing is that Walker played the rest of the game! (that is, after his finger was put back in.)

Walker is still having trouble with his finger this season with the Tampa Bay Lightning and I guess now we know why!  Walker was an awesome d-man for the Hawks.  Why was he let go again???

I had hoped that Niklas Hjalmarsson would get his due for being such an awesome d-man this season, but I thought it would take longer.  (Seems Hjalmy is getting the recognition Matt Walker, for some reason, never got.)  Hjalmy has already gotten his nickname — “The Hammer” — and everything. What I didn’t expect was for hockey groupies to so soon be doing searches to see if Hjalmy had a girlfriend or not. (Unfortunately my stats page does not lie.)  Usually it takes the puck hos about half a season to figure out who’s who (meaning, who they want to hunt down and…you know).  Wait until the first time someone compares Hjalmarsson to Twilight’s Robert Pattinson.  Then “The Hammer” will need a hammer to beat off all those tweener groupies!

Ok, maybe “hater” is too strong a word, but I’m definitely a Huet-disliker.  This does not mean I’m capricious.  I had doubts about Huet last season, but unlike some folks, I do not change my mind back and forth depending on a few wins here and there.  The fact remains that in back-to-back games Huet is generally abysmal. (And when he’s bad, he’s really bad!)  Indeed, Huet’s inconsistency is the bigger picture, if folks would simply pan out and look at it.  So if and only if Huet consistently starts winning games (like all season long) will I eat crow.  (more…)

You had to be at the Hawks/Wild game tonight to truly appreciate how lousy and yet bizarre the officiating was.  On some of those calls I was left wondering what in the world the refs were thinking.  Perhaps I shouldn’t complain though because it was the only real spark in a game where both teams were bumbling about.  (more…)

Someone was kind enough to gift me with tickets to tonight’s Hawks/Wild game at the United Center.  My benefactor used StubHub to order the tix last minute.  We left two hours before the game started and then hit a wall of traffic. (50 minutes in from O’Hare on the Kennedy.) (more…)

After Jonathan Toews sustained what is likely to be a concussion in Wednesday’s game against the Canucks, thanks to a hard hit from Vancouver’s Willie Mitchell, people are still talking about where to assign blame. (more…)

No sooner do we not have to worry about Cristobal Huet in net (if only for a time), and the Hawks become undisciplined and commit penalty after penalty in tonight’s loss 3-2 to the Canucks.  And folks are talking about how Antti Niemi is responsible for losing this game?  I don’t think so!  Niemi was quite busy in the 3rd period blocking an onslaught of shots.  (more…)

Winger Jack Skille has been replaced by Andrew Ebbett who was plucked off of waivers from Anaheim on Saturday.  I’m left to ask why?  Wasn’t Skille doing a good job?  Didn’t he come cheap?  Gee, give a kid a chance.

Yep, and just continue to ignore the huge, 800-pound gorilla in net.