On to San Jose! Good luck boys!

Also of note was a Vancouver newspaper that made sport [See page 1, yes page 1 (!), of the preceding link] of Patrick Kane’s incident with a Buffalo, New York, cab driver last summer.  I don’t mind anyone picking on Patrick Kane for that incident.  I certainly have, because from what I know of Kane as a person, I don’t like him, and I especially don’t like him as a hockey player.  But, what is conspicuous about the Vancouver paper poking fun at Kane is that they chose playoff time to do it, which is just sort of lame.  That was so last summer Vancouver.  You should’ve commented on it then.  Doing it during the Hawks/Canucks series just comes off as sour grapes and poor sportsmanship.  Once again, real classy Vancouver!

And last, but certainly not least, is the goon hockey undertaken by the Canucks in this series.  I guess that shouldn’t surprise us.  But what is chuckle worthy is the whining of Roberto Luongo about how the Blackhawks are supposedly engaging in goon hockey!  Wayne Gretzky last year held the trophy for the whiningest individual in hockey, but even Luongo could give “The Great One” a run for his money in this series!

Last season I used to chide Dustin Byfuglien for face washing and otherwise harassing Roberto Luongo during Hawks/Canucks games.  My criticism came mostly from the fact that the Hawks would have to penalty kill an avoidable goal tender interference call; that and I don’t like goon hockey because it’s like cheating.  Winning a hockey game because of gooniness isn’t winning the game based on expertise, but rather because of what a team can get away with.  So if the Canucks are going to engage in goon hockey (which they regularly do) then I think it only fair that the Hawks answer with a little bit of gooniness themselves.  And in this series, keeping pressure on the net and on Luongo, has certainly been one of the greatest keys to the Hawks’ success.  So why should Luongo expect a classier version of play than his own team engages in?  And why should he expect an opposing team to change his diapers?  Just because your save percentage has gone below .900 doesn’t mean you get to be a crybaby.  So to Roberto Luongo I say: WAH!  Tell it to your mama.

As for the overall play in this series so far, I’m surprised there haven’t been more scuffles.  What, no dirty hits or cheap shots from Kevin Bieksa?  What, no hair pulling from Alex Burrows?  What, no reason for Ben Eager and Dustin Byfuglien to beat the stuffing out of you two?  Bummer.  Well, there’s always next season!

And hats off to Dustin Byfuglien and Jonathan Toews for their hat tricks in this series!  As the adage goes, victory is the best revenge.  And how!  Yes, who wouldn’t prefer a couple of hat tricks (or even a Gordie Howe hat trick) to just a donnybrook?  It also shows you what Jonathan Toews is capable of when he doesn’t have to babysit Patrick Kane at every turn.  As Red Wings coach Mike Babcock told The Hockey News, “to me the guy you build the franchise around is the Toews kid…He’s a will machine. He just keeps coming and keeps coming…”  And that’s why he has more points in the Stanley Cup Playoffs than any other. (Yes, even more than leading NHL scorer Henrik Sedin!…Nelson Muntz finger point and “Ha! Ha!”)

And finally, there is a little bit of vindication for Huet haters (or Huet dislikers) like myself.   Some have been afraid of the backlash and so haven’t been vocal about the Hawks needing a new net minder, but the sentiment was still there.  I’m just sorry the Hawks wasted so much of this season trying to beat a dead horse.  Lots of fans knew that given a chance, Antti Niemi would rise to the challenge and be a great net minder.  I’m just grateful the Hawks organization figured that out in time for the playoffs.  Sorry baby Huey.  I think your tenure in Chicago may be over.

So, da be, da be, da be, that’s all folks… at least for now.  But remember Canuckleheads…stay classy!

P.S.  Oh yeah, and stop calling Byfuglien “Buffy.”

It’s lame enough to grab a guy by the hair, but by the beak???  Really?  Isn’t that a little like grabbing a guy with a piercing by his nose ring in a bar fight?  Or kicking a guy in the cubes?  It goes against the bro code and it’s a cheap shot.   Ok, so the Blues are out of playoff contention and have to act as the spoilers.  But no respect can come from cheap shots.  Still, I think the Hawks had plenty to say by scoring four goals in the first period.  Ha!  Take that baby Blues! (And in the coming periods it would be nice to see the Hawks have a go at T.J. Oshie and David Backes.  They’re just crying out for a comeupance!)

P.S. Way to go on that goal Bickell the pickle!  Same for Duncan Keith, Ben Eager, and Kris Versteeg who all scored in the first period.

P.P.S.  Loving Dustin Byfuglien as a d-man.  I know he used to be a d-man and I’m wondering why anyone would ever have made him a forward.  Let’s keep this guy on D.  Seems that’s where he’s most at home.

And I’m really loving Ben Eager and Colin Fraser as co-enforcers in the absence of Adam Burish.  Bur could do no better in terms of quality of scraps.  Once Eager and Fraser learned the fine art of discernment — you know, figuring out when to drop the gloves and when not to — these two became indispensable.  Bang on boys! (Literally.)

With the Hawks getting their rough-housing out of the way a few times in the first period of tonight’s game against the Blues, it was no surprise that they waited past the first half of the first period to score.  The long-suffering Troy Brouwer scored one past Blues’ net-minder Ty Conklin with relative ease off an assist by Jonathan Toews.  And, with a little over two minutes left in the first, Brian Campbell also scored on a slap shot thanks to a screen from Kris Versteeg.

And with a little over three minutes left in the 2nd, Jonathan Toews came around back of the goal in what looked like it would be a wrap-around and then deftly passed to Marian Hossa who shot quickly for the third goal.

The rest of the 2nd and a little over two minutes left in the 3rd period it was hum-drum hockey until Dustin Byfuglien followed through with a clean check of Blues’ Barret Jackman.  Then Blues’ Brad Winchester and Big Buff had a bit of a go, but nothing major.  In the last 20 seconds of the game, Blues’ Cam Janssen encroached on Cristobal Huet and Huet pushed back until Brent Sopel swooped in to protect Huet.  Ben Eager then scrapped with B.J. Crombeen, even though Crombeen refused to drop his glove.  Regardless, the Hawks would take the Blues 3-0 in a shut-out for Cristobal Huet.

P.S.  And good news on the Patrick Kane front.  Despite that nasty trip into the boards during that last game between the Hawks and the Lightning wherein Kane hit his eye, Kaner is back.  Is he ok?  Of course.  He hit his head, and he doesn’t use that often enough for that to have been cause for concern.  Yet, for some unknown reason he was the star of the game tonight even though Cristobal Huet had the shut-out.  Well, I guess that’s just good P.R. and of course you need those kids to get their parents in the those seats!

Walker showed his net presence tonight by repeatedly blocking shots for Lightning net-minder Antero Niittymaki.  Ironically, Matt Walker’s brand of defense was kind of like catching lightning in a bottle last year for the Blackhawks, and yet the Hawks inexplicably let him go. Maybe they just didn’t know what they had in Walker (or maybe they weren’t willing to pay Walker what he was worth despite recognizing what they had in him.)  Still, I don’t think anyone will dispute that part of the success of the Hawks’ defense during the playoffs last year was the Matt Walker/Niklas Hjalmarsson defensive combination.  In fact, I’m not so sure that Niklas Hjalmarsson didn’t learn some of his signature moves from Matt Walker since they both have the same brand of ‘D’ in common.

Undoubtedly, Matt Walker was his own one-man ‘D’ in tonight’s game.  Still, Niittymaki let his guard down in the 1st period at about the midway point, coming too far out of the net, which allowed Patrick Kane to score an easy goal on a wide-open net. (Later, Patrick Kane would get laid out on the boards with a nasty hit to his forehead by Lightning Matt Smaby. Kane would not return to the game.)  The second Hawk goal, which came at about the midway point in the 2nd period, came off a wicked pass by Marian Hossa, who set Ben Eager up for the goal.

And speaking of Ben Eager, it was hard to see Matt Walker go at it with his former teammates, Ben Eager in particular, in the 2nd period. Ben Eager would again go at it a few minutes later, this time with Zenon Konopka, which resulted in a 5-minute fighting penalty for each.  I guess the Hawks had to expect some rowdiness from the Lightning, one of the most penalized teams in the NHL.  Jonathan Toews I guess also couldn’t have been too surprised by Matt Smaby’s dirty, late hit on him, which laid him out with a shot to his head late in the 2nd period.  What was surprising however is that Toews got a roughing call for taking a swing at a Lightning player, any Lightning player, in retribution.  Yet for some reason Smaby was not called at all for his nasty hit on Toews.  Hopefully the NHL remedies that no-call in the days to come.

Despite the Lightning rough-housing, Marian Hossa also had a brilliant goal off a sweet Patrick Sharp pass in the 2nd period.  Upon the slick wrister from Sharpie, which he shot high, Hossa pulled the puck out of the air, put it to the ice, and shot it for the goal all within seconds.  Niittymaki didn’t even know what hit him.

And in the 3rd period, it was more of the same mad rush to the net on the part of the Hawks when Dustin Byfuglien brought the puck up the boards and  passed to Jonathan Toews who battled it in for the goal.  Pat Foley was right: a goal is the best revenge.

Lightning Todd Fedoruk apparently tried to take out his frustration on the Hawks’ goal-tender Antti Niemi as Fedoruk bull-dozed Niemi unnecessarily in the last two minutes of the game, which resulted in a late broohaha in front of the net.  Then Hawk Kris Versteeg shot it millimeters past the goal line on Niitymaki but there was no pause to even review the “non-goal.” I  guess the War Room figured since the Hawks were up by four, they didn’t need to bother with the review.

And let’s not forget to give Antti Niemi his due tonight for the shut-out of the Lightning 4-0.  Granted, Niemi only had to deflect 18 shots on goal the whole game (whereas the Hawks had 29 shots on goal the whole night), but still, let’s give credit where it’s due.  I’d like to see more of Niemi.  He’s coming along quite nicely.

Overall, great game Hawks.  An easy win, but still, it’s always fun to watch those slick Hawk moves.

Ben Eager and Canuck Rick Rypien scrapped early in the 1st period after some late smacking around of Tomas Kopecky.  I was certain that Dustin Byfuglien and any of a number of Canucks were going to go at it late in the first period after Byfuglien was called for holding, you know because the Canucks have a long-standing hatred of Buff.  But Buff quietly slunk off to the sin bin. (By the way, it wasn’t holding.  The correct call would have been either tripping or interference.)  Canuck Steve Bournier also caused a ruckus late in the 2nd period and while not a bench-clearer, it did draw a crowd of Hawks. (Say, does anyone enforce the third-man-in rule?  Just curious.)

And though admittedly I was a little worried about Antti Niemi in net tonight (seeing as how Roberto Luongo was at the other end) he blew everyone away blocking 30 shots to Luongo’s 17. In one impressive save, Niemi reached up to the sky and gloved the puck as if he were a baseball catcher catching a wayward pitch.  Niemi was simply spectacular which of course is why he was the player of the game.

Apparently impressiveness was contagious as Bryan Bickell was back on the ice tonight despite that hard hit to the head he took last night after his open-ice check on Oilers’ Dustin Penner.  Bickell’s tougher than I thought. (And I thought he was pretty tough!)  Clearly this kid has a lot to contribute, but if that hard hit last night on both Penner and himself didn’t prove it, the one and only goal scored in the game by Bickell (a redirect goal scored off of Jonathan Toews early in the third period) sure will!  Hopefully management takes note.

And also of note, if you’re a Canucks fan, is that the Sedin brothers were back together after brother Daniel’s recent trip to IR-land.  There were definitely some sweet, you-complete-me moments upon Daniel’s return, but who cares?

Weee, what a fun Circus Trip we’re having! On to the next!

P.S. This is the second game in two consecutive games where there has been a problem with the clocks.  What gives?  Please clock minders, mind your clocks better!

It was also nice to finally see the refs, in last night’s game at least, differentiating between roughing and fighting instead of carte blanche just calling a 5-minute major penalty for “fighting” whether the gloves were thrown down or not.  I want to see more of that proper kind of officiating, you know, where it’s a 5-minute major penalty for a real throw down (i.e. actual fighting); the kind that potentially draws blood.  That’s what a 5-minute major fighting penalty should look like.

As for last night’s game, it wasn’t Jarome Iginla instigating for once.  Last night, it was Dion Phaneuf who kept picking fights, some he was called for and some he wasn’t.  Even Brent Seabrook got into a scrap last night as did the Hawks’ little coming-along enforcer, Colin Fraser.  Hey why not.  The Hawks were up by several points, why not throw down the gloves a time or two, because, as ever, the Flames kept trash-talkin’ and instigating.  Perhaps the Flames should have spent less time jawin’ and scrappin’ and more time on their defense.  And perhaps they should have pulled Miikka Kiprusoff earlier. (A .750 save percentage over 40 minutes of play? Ouch!)

While we’re talking goal tenders, Cristobal Huet had another stellar night with a .964 save average.  I really do hope I get to eat crow over Huet.  It would be nice if he became the consistent, reliable goal tender we’ve always been told he can be.

And the goals were spectacular last night with Troy Brouwer, Kris Versteeg, Dustin Byfuglien, Andrew Ladd, Patrick Kane, and Ben Eager all scoring.  Versteeg scored twice, and Ben Eager netted his first goal of the season.  It truly was a sight to behold.

It was good to see Bryan Bickell again last night, too.  He only had a little over 11 minutes on ice, so it will be interesting to see how he does with a little more ice time.

And once again, the contributions of Niklas Hjalmarsson cannot be ignored.  It was Hjalmy’s stone-cold hit on Rene Bourque that amped the Hawks’ offense, inspiring them to score 5 times in the 2nd period. The only one that could’ve deserved that bull-dozing hit more than Bourque was Jarome Iginla.  Still, watching Hjalmy take out Bourque was like watching a Great White Shark breach the water and connect with massive, brute force with its intended target.  That would explain Hjalmarsson’s toothy grin while watching the replay from the bench.  This kid only gets better.  And so do the Hawks.  For the first time this season I have hope.  Actual hope.

And, you don’t see this often, but Brent Sopel scored a goal late in the first period. Sopie’s screener, Bryan Bickell, would go on to screen the second goal as well which was scored by Patrick Kane, on another set-up by Jonathan Toews, in the 2nd period. (Hmm, Patrick Kane sure does score a lot when his contract is about to be renewed.)

Speaking of you don’t see that often, Sharks’ Manny Malhotra had a go at Brian Campbell of all people.  Someone shoulda told Malhotra that Soupy ain’t on the scrappin’ list.  Ben Eager is on the scrappin’ list however, and so when Eager and Doug Murray went at it shortly after the Malhotra/Campbell kerfuffle, gloves were actually dropped.  For some reason, Ben Eager got an additional 2-minute minor for unsportsmanlike conduct, but the reason why is anyone’s guess. (Looked like Eager may have taken a cheap shot at Sharks’ goal tender Evgeni Nabokov.)  All of that scufflin’ made for an exciting start to the 2nd period, though.

Also, I just can’t stop talking about Niklas Hjalmarsson.  His battles for the puck, particularly in the corner, are epic.  This kid is a legend in the making, no doubt, so it was great to see him finally get some recognition as the second star of tonight’s game.  Bang on Hammer.

Now, on to the Circus Trip.

P.S.  How great was it to see Bobby Hull and Chris Chelios on Jeremy Roenick Heritage Night?

Perhaps no one missed Toews more than Cristobal Huet.  In the November 5 game against the Phoenix Coyotes, Cristobal Huet allowed 3 goals with a save percentage of .870.  In the November 9 game against the Los Angeles Kings, Huet allowed 1 goal with a save percentage of .944.  What’s the difference?  Well, it has to be Jonathan Toews and Ben Eager who both returned to the ice November 9 after a 6- and 13-game absence, respectively.  For his 19 minutes on ice, Toews scored one power-play goal and was on the ice for the other power-play goal effectively illustrating what the problem with the power-play unit had been during his 6-game absence.  Likewise, Ben Eager’s physical presence alone seemed to restore the Hawks’ confidence, though he was only on the ice for a little over 8 minutes.

Can there now be any more questioning of Jonathan Toews — his maturity, his stamina, his consistency, the way he takes care of his team, and his prowess?  Can there now be any doubt that Ben Eager is the enforcer?  Welcome back boys!

Indeed, look how conspicuous some of these underperformers are when Jonathan Toews is off the ice.  For instance, Brian Campbell has always been a bumbler (at least with the Hawks), but how much more so now that Tazer isn’t there to pick up  the slack of his teammates’ bad passes, turnovers, and other bumblings?  How much more apparent is Dustin Byfuglien’s bad skating when on an opponent’s breakaway, big, bumbling Buff is left in the dust, which, in last night’s loss to the Avalanche at least, resulted in an avoidable goal.

And Ben Eager.  Well, clearly we haven’t been giving this boy his due.  In Eager’s absence is Colin Fraser seriously expected to act as enforcer???  I give Fraser snaps for trying, but please Ben Eager, eat your spinach, take your vitamins, and get back soon! (Or better yet, let’s travel back in time and re-sign Matt Walker who was an excellent, if uncredited, enforcer.)

Additionally, and as Sassone alluded to — Jordan Hendry, John Madden, Andrew Ebbett, Tomas Kopecky, and Jake Dowell — ain’t cuttin’ it.  The only newbie I see hustling out there is Niklas Hjalmarsson.  He’s so busy, he’s running circles, literally, around other defensemen like Brian Campbell and Cam Barker.  The Hammer is going to hammer himself out if he doesn’t get some help out there, and soon!

And the power-play unit.  Just the mere mention of it makes my stomach turn.  While the Hawks scored once on the power play last night, I think it is obvious even to the most casual hockey fan that there needs to be some vast improvement there.

The Hawks have had a fairly light schedule so far.  So does anyone really see them staying atop the division if they continue on like this?  Everyone knows the boys from Rockford are hungrier because they don’t have cushy multi-million dollar contracts to fall back on.  It’s play well or get out.  So, bringing up some eager beavers from Rockford might wake some of these Hawks up and make them realize their jobs aren’t guaranteed.