Hawks Hockey Hoiden

Line changing seems to be the name of the game of late for the Hawks. On the Jonathan Toews line now is Patrick Kane again and Troy Brouwer.  Hmm, not bad in terms of forechecking and all out aggressiveness.  And how about that Madden line with Kris Versteeg and Dustin Byfuglien on wing; Madden who has steadily increased his face-off wins and overall performance?  And Jordan Hendry replaced Tomas Kopecky (Bout time somebody did!) on the Colin Fraser line.  Has Coach Q finally solidified the offensive lines?  Well, let’s hope so.  Let’s hope Q has finally found a winning combination. (more…)

Sports Illustrated may not spend as much space talking about hockey players as NBA, NFL, and MLB players, but when they do cover hockey, it’s usually spot on.  The October 26, 2009, issue features the article “Captain Serious” which takes an objective look (for once) at Jonathan Toews.  Seems Toews is either ignored by the media, or put in some ridiculous promo not befitting his staid personality.  Even if Toews hasn’t morphed into the media darling that Patrick Kane seems to be, he is so reliable you could set your watch to his performance; that alone is worth 100 Kaners. (more…)

Karma (or whatever you want to call it) can be a tricky thing.  Look at the Curse of the Bambino.  It would be 86 years (1918-2004) until the Red Sox won another World Series, supposedly thanks to the sale of Babe Ruth to the Yankees.  Similarly, look at the Curse of the Billygoat.  The Cubs haven’t been to the World Series since 1945 allegedly thanks to Billy Sianis’ smelly goat (and it ain’t lookin’ like they’ll be returning any time soon).  Could it be that the misfortune-plagued Blackhawks have also cursed themselves for the goings on in the off season?  (more…)

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

What a home-opener last night at the UC between the Hawks and the Colorado Avalanche!  Almost makes you wish you were there. (Almost.)  But if I hadn’t been at home I wouldn’t have gotten to see the replay (about 6 times) of Niklas Hjalmarsson’s swing-batta-batta swing into the face of the Avs Darcy Tucker.  In a word: awesome.  And Hjalmy didn’t even get called for high-sticking! (more…)

Yes, this blog is back, at least temporarily.  While I’m still livid with the Hawks management for screwing over Martin Havlat and Dale Tallon, the latest Hawk debacle with Patrick Kane has forced me to come out of my hole and comment. (more…)

Warning, this clip from the Blackhawks/Red Wings game yesterday of Adam Burish getting cut by Ben Eager’s skate after a check goes awry is a bit graphic with the close-up and all, so if you can’t handle the sight of blood, DO NOT WATCH IT!!

Oh my gosh, this looks even worse than yesterday when I saw it. It is a miracle that Adam Burish did not get cut so severely that he bled out! This has got to be a hockey player’s (and a fan’s) worst nightmare! Thank God (and I did) Bur was not seriously injured!

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.  (more…)

And in case you’re wondering why I haven’t written any posts about the Hawks/Canucks games lately, see the post below this one.  I just can’t quite enjoy the games as much with all the fairweather fans, so I don’t feel like writing right now.  I will however congratulate Patrick Kane on his hat trick Monday night (good to see Kaner shake off the goldfish to score the first hat trick of his NHL career), Jonathan Toews on his two (typical excellence from Tazer with or without the flu), Adam Burish on his one (and just a stellar game from Bur) and the Hawks themselves on an outstanding game.  Like other actual fans, I’m nervous about who the Hawks play next.  The Hawks playing the Ducks with James Wisniewski on the team now will be a little bittersweet, and of course the Red Wings…well…we’ll all have to familiarlize ourselves with our local seafood purveyor and pre-order up some octopi to skewer!

Adam Burish asks the right question:  Are the Flames so sensitive they can’t take a little trash talk?  Really???  And do they think we can’t see Jarome Iginla in everyone’s faces?  Do they think we can’t see that they started it? Do they think we can’t see that all this trash talking is really part of the Flames ‘D’; to get the Hawks so riled up that they retaliate and guys get sent to the dressing room?  Really?  Do ya think we don’t know that Flames?  Do you think we can’t read your lips?  Bur is right.  He’s not just talking to himself out there.  Give me a break and stop pansying up hockey!  Man up Flames!  Hockey isn’t played in the press boys!