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!

It was like both teams had taken Ambien and were sleep walking through the game.  They were slow.  I mean, slooooooow.  You can’t really blame the Hawks.  Why expend more energy than you have to to beat such a lousy team? And the Wild are lousy, at least on the road.  Even Patrick Kane was able to score a goal in the 3rd period, unassisted at that. (Other goals were scored for the Hawks by Dave Bolland and Troy Brouwer, both in the 1st period.)

Watching for the bad calls was the only thing keeping the crowd lively.  At times you could hear a pin drop in the UC.  It was eerily quiet.  Even the fight between the Wild’s Shane Hnidy and the Hawks’ Jake Dowell in the 1st period was blah.  No sooner had they gotten going at each other and the refs were breaking it up (which elicited a resounding, collective boo from Hawks fans), even though neither Hnidy or Dowell had put the other on the ice. And for that little go-around, Hnidy and Dowell got a 5-minute major penalty!  Similarly, in the 2nd period, the ref would independently call boarding on both the Wild’s Cal Clutterbuck and the Hawks’ Tomas Kopecky; both were minor penalties which indicated the hits were no big deal and certainly not severe enough to necessitate a boarding call.  If you blinked, you would have missed it.  I love it when refs try to phase out fighting or what they deem questionable hits by excessively penalizing them.  Yeah, because we don’t know what they’re doing.  Tonight’s game illustrates, at least in one way, why fighting in hockey is necessary.  It picks up an otherwise dreary game.  (And mad props go to the Hawks’ penalty-kill unit tonight.  They were mighty busy.)

Other of tonight’s calls that left us all scratching our heads came in the 3rd period when the Wild’s Benoit Pouliot was called for diving and the Hawks’ Cam Barker was called for interference. Even the scoreboard keeper was confused at those “penalties.”  The scoreboard at first called Cam Barker’s “interference” as “roughing.”  Hey, the statisticians’ guesses were as good as ours because we didn’t see Benoit Pouliot embellishing and we sure as hell didn’t see Cam Barker interfere. We did see Pouliot tripping, which came on the heels of another missed tripping call that should’ve been on the Wild, but how a ref could get diving out of that I don’t know. Perhaps the weirdest call of the night, at least against the Wild, was on goaltender Niklas Backstrom who was called for slashing in the 2nd period. <shrug>  It was about this time that the fans started realizing that the refs were just pulling calls out of their cracks…or they were smoking crack.  Something having to do with a whole lot of crack.

Overall, it was a weird game.  The refs must have been high and the players were in a funk, but the fans were in rare form.  Indeed, many wore their old Martin Havlat sweaters as if to say thank you to Havi for last season.  One fan even pointed to the ‘24′ on his Havlat sweater when he made it on the jumbotron.  That’s what’s great about Hawks fans.  Unlike other fans from other teams, we honor our former players.

Final score: Hawks win 3-1 against the Wild in a very strange game.

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!

Cam Barker’s 2nd period bad pass to…who? Dave Bolland?…hard to say… got picked off by Olli Jokinen for the goal.  Barker would redeem himself with his goal scored on Kipper in the last 4 minutes of the 2nd.

But Verbeauty’s PP goal in the last 7 minutes of the 2nd period was a thing of…well…beauty.  Clearly Steegy is earning his Calder nom.  And Verbeauty had the assist (as did Pahlsson) on the game-tying goal in the last 40 seconds of the 2nd when Dustin Byfuglien scored.  Way to go boys!  What an effort!

Still, the Hawks would fade in the 3rd period.  Patrick Kane was checked hard for the puck in the final minute of the game, which allowed the turnover that would score the empty-netter to end the game, 6-4 in the final.

While the team in general may have forgotten they were in the playoffs, Seabrook seemed to understand the up-the-ante mentality, making the big hits and masterfully blocking a humdinger of a shot for Khabibulin at the crease in the first period. (And a Happy 24th Birthday to Seabs!)

It’s also good to see the Hawks are using the power play better, with Patrick Sharp scoring a PP goal in the 1st period thanks to a nice pass from Jonathan Toews.  Looks like Sharpie is back to his old self again, even checking a Flame or two with a nice how-do-you-do in passing.  And as it was in the first game, Marty Havlat seemed to be one of the only ones who could take it to the net and score in the 3rd period.  Again, that’s just good ‘D’ on the Flames’ part.

And while this game was overall lackluster, a special nod goes to penalty killer Adam Burish and the penalty kill unit.  Although Bur should have known better than to cross-check Dion Phaneuf in the dwindling minutes of the game.  That cheap shot started a kerfuffle (as Pat Foley likes to say) between Dustin Byfuglien, Matt Walker, Ben Eager and Rene Bourque, Jarome Iginla, and Dion Phaneuf, resulting in Dustin Byfuglien and Rene Bourque being sent to the dressing room*.

Clearly something went wrong tonight.  Maybe the Hawks had jet lag.  Maybe they just didn’t bring their ‘A’ game (to dust off an old trite sports expression).  Well, whatever it was, hopefully the Hawks shake it off by Wednesday.

*Update: Though it wasn’t said at the time (probably because nobody, including the ref, the linesmen, and Toronto, knew what the heck was going on) apparently Dave Bolland, Ben Eager, and Dustin Byfuglien from the Hawks and Curtis Glencross and Rene Bourque from the Flames all received game misconduct calls for that end-of-the game donnybrook.  Hopefully nobody gets suspended.

Martin Havlat was one veteran who clearly had his nerves in check. Not only did he score an assistless goal in the third period, but look at how much poise he showed in being able to score a mere 12 seconds into overtime! And though it was only briefly mentioned, Andrew Ladd made Havlat’s game winner possible (as did Dave Bolland with an assist of perfection) by scrambling to get to the net for the screen shot. It was a thing of beauty.

And while Khabi-”the Wall”-bulin was his usual stellar self, he was particularly good tonight about freezing the puck. If Khabby has had one weakness this season (beyond being injury-prone), it would probably be that he has allowed too many rebounds. So, it’s good to see that that problem has been corrected just in time for the playoffs.

In all fairness, though, we should give a nod to Flames’ goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff. Had the Hawks not figured out fairly early that they had to take it to the net and shoot upstairs, which is hard to do with the kind of ‘D’ the Flames were working with tonight, the Hawks might not have been able to squeak this one out. Kiprusoff was just too good.

Perhaps the Hawks would have been equally as good as the Flames on offense (and let’s face it, the Flames were better for most of the game) if Q hadn’t been so line-change crazy. In the first minute of the game he changed the offensive line twice and it just went on like that all night. Is this a Q thing? Because I have to say, I don’t like it. The offensive line hardly has a chance to get out there and gel together, and *boom* Q’s changing it up again.

Still, congrats Hawks! With game one nerves out of the way, it can only get better!

Well, that’s ok Pat. We still love you. In the future, just please don’t say the “s” word again until after the game is over, kay?

Also, for all those who badmouthed Matt Walker, I think his return last night showed just how important he is to the Hawks. Like when Duncan Keith was injured, Matty’s absence was greatly felt. So hopefully some people can admit when they’re wrong and will join me in welcoming Matty back.

And horror of horrors, is Dave Bolland seriously injured??? According to the Hawks’ injury report on 4/1:

“Head coach Joel Quenneville said that Bolland is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury and will not play Wednesday vs. St. Louis.”

When did that happen??? What a cruel, cruel April Fool’s Day joke! (Troy Brouwer is also day-to-day.)

But to get back to yesterday’s game, the game against the Blues is what you want to see heading into the playoffs (assuming the Hawks make it). While the offense can have a few off nights like the games versus the Canucks last Sunday and against the Canadiens Tuesday, I think the biggest hole is the lack of defense on the net. That’s what was so great about Matt Walker last night. He was there, on net, to block shots. And that, including seeing big Dustin Byfuglien and even Patrick Kane checking (or in Kaner’s case, attempting to check) was a sight for sore eyes.

- Recorded a career-high three game point streak (5A) from (Feb. 3 – Feb. 7).

- Established a career-high three points (3A) against Calgary on Feb. 5.

- Logged a season-high 22:26 time on ice against Colorado on Dec. 12. 

It isn’t just Matty.  All the Hawks have stepped up their game.  Today in particular, the birthday boy, James Wisniewski, took a pounding on the boards (It looked like one hit for every year and maybe even one to grow on).  Still, he managed to score in the first period.  Happy birthday Wiz!

And how about Cristobal Huet?  He’s looking like Khabibulin lately.  Why couldn’t he have played this way all season???

Dave Bolland’s line has also been indispensable of late.  The Hawks must have known the Stars would come out swingin’ in this game to keep from being swept by the Hawks this season.  Still, the 10 minute misconduct call on both Dave Bolland and Steve Ott was a bit much.  Yes, they scrapped, but did anyone see any behavior that would have merited sending them to the locker room?

And finally, I’ve held my tongue all season, but I just can’t help asking why Steve Konroyd has to call some of the road games.  It’s not just that he’s not as good as Eddie Olczyk.  It’s that Konroyd — or as he’s known by my friends and I, Steve “Hemorrhoid” — is…well…irritating.  Like Tucks Medicated Pad irritating.  He has no sense of humor that I can see, he’s a bit of a know-it-all, though he doesn’t know it all, and he comes off as a bit of a snob.  And he and Pat Foley have zero, as in nada, chemistry.  Pat Foley is a jocular, witty kind of guy, which makes for an excellent and entertaining announcer.  But Konroyd is a stick-in-the-mud.  If Hemorrhoid has to hang around, he should stay at the desk and do the game highlights between periods.  At least then I can mute him and go get a beer.  Anything less is intolerable.

But still, great game today Hawks, even though most of it was spent with the mute button on.

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.