Thanks for the season so far Hawks, and now on to the playoffs!  Go Hawks!

P.S.  Hats off to the 4th line too.  They used to play about 8 minutes or so a game, and now they play about 12 minutes a game.  They’ve earned the ice time with their points contribution of late, particularly Colin Fraser.  Keep it up Fraz!

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!

There was a little bit of a to-do in the 1st period with Penguins’ Matt Cook and Hawks’ Duncan Keith.  Matt Cook delivered a tough hit on one end and then at the other end Duncan Keith elbowed Cook in the face.  Keith got a 2-minute interference call, though it could’ve been a 5-minute major or even an ejection. (Cook would later pay Dunc back with some knuckles to Dunc’s jaw which laid him out on his knees.)  Seconds later, Marian Hossa scored a stunning goal off of some agile passing from Patrick Kane and Brian Campbell. (Yes, Brian Campbell!)

Then the Pens’ Evgeni Malkin went at Colin Fraser in the dwindling minutes of the 2nd.  Geno had Fraser on his back on the ice and still the ref didn’t intervene.  I’m all for a good scrap, but I think you can call off the dogs when you’ve got a guy on his back!

Evgeni Malkin struck again in the last minute and a half of the 3rd period with a pass to Jordan Staal who put it past Antti Niemi for a goal after the Pens had pulled Marc-André Fleury from the net.  Still, the Hawks would battle back in the overtime period with Kris Versteeg hammering the puck past Fleury for the win.

Truthfully I was a little surprised that Hawks’ secondary goalie Antti Niemi was put in net against Pens’ Marc-André Fleury.  I thought maybe it would’ve been wiser to put Niemi in last night’s game against the Predators and put Cristobal Huet in net against the defending champion Penguins tonight.  But Niemi proved me and other doubters wrong.  He held the Penguins scoreless through two, almost three, periods.

All-in-all, an amazing game.  The kind you DVR and watch over and over if only to watch the Penguins eat it.

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.

Also, on a goal scored by Cam Barker in the opening minutes of the third period (on which Colin Fraser assisted) Barker made a sweet deke, as did Patrick Sharp in the 3rd round of the OT shootout for the game winner.  You know, there isn’t a lot of mention of the deke, but I think if the Blackhawks employed it more, they might fake out the opposing goal tender for more goals.  Just a thought.

And poor Kris Versteeg.  What a bad night he had.  He just couldn’t get a break.  Steegy got handed two weird penalties — one for slashing, though we all thought it was goal-tender interference, which also would’ve been a bogus call, and one for actual goal-tender interference.  Neither of the penalties was deserved, or even actual.  Meanwhile, the refs were missing hooking calls like hooking didn’t even exist.  Geesh, why can’t the NHL hold a conference on bad refereeing?  Seems just as important a topic as fighting or so-called “dirty” hits.

And blast!  I keep forgetting to write a post about Dave Bolland’s back surgery.  Bolly will be out 3-4 months.  Get well Dave, take lots of pain killers, and get back soon!

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.

Hjalmarsson has helped to ease the loss of one of my favorite d-men from last season.  It was hard to see Walker leave, and in his absence Cam Barker just seems naked out there.  But Hjalmarsson has helped to fill the void.  And apparently Hjalmy picked up a trick or two from Walker: like how to defend the net.  When Huet was inexplicably absent from the crease, Hjalmy was there, risking a major penalty and defending the net with a swing of the stick on the encroaching Tucker that was more reminiscent of the MLB than the NHL.  Seriously, this season, for my money, Hjalmarsson is the kid to watch.  (I’m also curious to see how Jack Skille will do.  I think he will come along nicely given the chance.)

Beyond Huet’s gaffes (You know the word gaffe dontcha Huet?  It’s French for faux pas.), the lousy puck handling and bad passes last night, which led to all those turnovers, were cringe-worthy.  But the officiating, if you could call it that, didn’t help matters either.  Even Pat Foley had to comment on the lousy job the refs were doing.  Still, what was with the circus out there?  Was the ice not right?  Were their skates too sharp?  Was there a new puck provisioner?  Or were the Hawks just rusty?  Their ‘D’ is amped up compared to last season, which is such a wonderful thing to see, so hopefully they’ll work on puck possession and passing and reduce the amount of those turnovers.

Yes, and let’s talk about Huet.  When Baby Huey stinks up the crease, he makes me miss Patrick Lalime.  Yes, really, Patrick Lalime.  And unlike last season, I hope the powers-that-be don’t wait until well into the season to admit that Huet is hit-or-miss. (Another word for that is ‘unreliable.’)  Time to start talking about Antti Niemi, because if the Hawks stick with Huet, I just don’t see them making it past the regular season.  No way.  Riddle me this: had Niemi been in the net, would we have gone into overtime?  Well, okay, maybe the Hawks still would’ve ended up in OT, but would it have taken NINE shoot-out attempts to win the game? After the game was over, I kept hearing “nine times” in my head over and over like Principal Rooney says in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.  (And yes that was my way of working in an homage to our dearly-departed John Hughes, a Chicago institution who is sorely missed.  I’m convinced Mr. Hughes is in heaven trying to explain misunderstood teens and tweeners to God.)  Still, I was ecstatic to see Andrew Ladd get the glory for the final shoot-out goal and the win.  Laddy often flies under everyone’s radar, but he is consistent and reliable and therefore deserves a little recognition.

Colin Fraser is often overlooked as well, which is why it was so gut-wrenching to see his goal get overturned.  Head up buddy.  Everyone took notice of that valiant effort to get that goal.  You’ll get ‘em next time.

Likewise, Kris Versteeg too, while certainly not overlooked, is finally getting his due this season.  No longer is he “the rookie,” nor are they even talking about the dreaded sophomore year (which just guarantees a jinx if  Patrick Kane is any indication).  With Steegy, they’re finally just talking about how good he is, that he’s maximizing his full potential, and that he’s found his stride.  Every team needs a Scrappy Doo, and even though Steegy took some serious hits last night, he got right back up and was like “Let me at ‘em”!  Bang on Verbeauty.

There’s so much to talk about strategically too.  They must have read my letter to Santa, because last season how often did I complain about the need for a center, a defenseman, or anyone, to stand in front of the opposing team’s net and screen shots?  Nice to see Dustin Byfuglien has found his purpose in life. (Oh but please for the love of God Buff, don’t pick out your own clothes anymore!  For the sake of all that is good and holy, let a woman pick out your red carpet threads from now on since the only thing that red suit was missing was a pair of devil horns!)

And while I’m doling out the shame-on-yous, if the PR people for the Hawks are reading this, stop introducing the Hawks as “Patrick Kane and the Hawks.”  Nobody buys that and it’s embarrassing…for you.  Try “Jonathan Toews and the Hawks” or “Dave Bolland and the Hawks.”  Anything but “Kane and the Hawks.”  We know.  He needs some good PR after his recent arrest but Chicagoans aren’t that stupid.  So why don’t you just  push Kaner to do more charity work.  Although I will give a nod to Kaner’s handlers.  Seems someone sat him down and had a little chat with Mr. Rock-You-Like-a-Hurri-Kane.  Admittedly his play is much improved.  He’s taking more shots because he’s actually able to take it to the net.  Now if he could just land a few more, folks could believe again that he’s the hockey player his people keep propagandizing that he is.  I do feel sorry for Kane, because last season he was more of a PR/media creation rather than an actual hockey player.  But now, he seems to be hunkering down and finding his own way.  For his sake, let’s hope he can keep it up.  What a difference 10 pounds of meat and an attitude adjustment can make huh?

And I saved the best for last.  How awesome was it to see ‘Tony O’ Esposito, Stan Mikita (Oh how I wish Stan Mikita’s Munchables really existed), and the Golden Jet himself, Bobby Hull, back on the ice again!?  Won’t be seeing that again til heaven.  And it was a little bit of heaven just to see that last night.  Hopefully they can bring some good karma back to the Blackhawks organization.  Here’s hoping for a good season everyone!

P.S.  Missing Ben Eager and Adam Burish.  Get well soon boys!

Also, Jonathan Toews and Matt Walker put an opponent into the glass and held him there after Brian Campbell got a nasty check on the boards in the first period.  FACE!  Later on in the same period, Dave Bolland had an awesome assist (thanks to Troy Brouwer snatching the puck away from Dion Phaneuf) that set Andrew Ladd up for a goal mere seconds after the Flames scored.

Adam Burish scored in the second right before Patrick Kane nailed someone in the nose again, ending up in the penalty box for yet another double minor for high-sticking.  That’s twice in three games that Kane has tagged someone up high, intentionally.  Again, there is a difference between defending yourself and being a goon.  Kane lately is being a goon and he’s making the team suffer for it.  Kane’s penalty alone made up half of the eight minutes of penalties in the second period.

Like the first two periods, the third period was immediately electric when Colin Fraser scored a tricky goal only minutes into the period (still not sure how Fraser was able to scoop that in).  A scrap ensued between Matt Walker (who has just been phenomenal these past few games!) and Andre Roy as a result of Fraser’s goal and the Flames’ mounting frustration at repeatedly meeting “the Wall,” Nikolai Khabibulin.

And, as the cherry on the sundae, Troy Brouwer scored an empty netter, on the penalty kill no less, in the last two minutes of the game.  Wow, if the Hawks can continue turning in performances like this 5-2 victory over the Flames, there’s no reason the Hawks can’t lead the division.

All in all, this is the kind of hockey Blackhawks fans have been dying to see more of; the kind that keeps opponents on their toes.  Hopefully the Hawks have caught their second wind and can carry it on through the second half of the season.  They certainly showed what they are capable of tonight — particularly Havlat, Bolland, and Barker who all scored, and Jonathan Toews who had an awesome screen shot — in the 3-1 win over the Oilers.

Cam Barker, Colin Fraser, Duncan Keith Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and James Wisniewski muse about who’s going to do what during the All-Star Skills Competition.  Brian Campbell is in the Fastest Skater Competition, Jonathan Toews the Accuracy Shooting Competition, and Patrick Kane is in the Breakaway Challenge.  And Wiz thinks that Dustin Byfuglien would win hands-down in a hotdog eating contest.