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!

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.

When the Blackhawks traded James ‘Wiz’ Wisniewski last season, I was the first to balk about that.  How could the Blackhawks trade a valued and tough d-man like that?  Since then, the Hawks have been struggling with their ‘D’ no question about it.  But watching as Wiz and Brent Seabrook exchanged pleasantries before the first intermission in tonight’s Hawks/Ducks game and then watching Wisniewski gun for Brent Seabrook in the 2nd period and purposely leave his skates and take Seabs out by the head?!  Oh, them’s fightin’ words Wiz!  And are you kidding me with that “charging” call?  What?  No automatic ejection?  Not even boarding?

At least Duncan Keith rushed in to box Wisniewski’s ears after that dirty hit.  Similarly, Nick Boynton more than proved his worth in having a go at Wisniewski in the last minute of the game.  If only Boynton had gotten some good shots under Wiz’s visor!

And seriously, if ever we Hawks fans had to prove that the ‘War Room’ in Toronto was out to get us, this game would live on in infamy as proof!  This isn’t like the Alexander Ovechkin hit on Brian Campbell.  When Ovi hit Soupy, I’m not so sure there was “intent” there like everybody keeps saying.  Did Ovi intend to hit Soupy that hard, or is Brian Campbell just that crunchy?  However, when you take a running skate from the blue line, like James Wisniewski did, and then shoulder and forearm a guy in the head while taking a running leap off your skates, I think you can safely be said to be gunning for someone!  Judging from Joel Quenneville’s reaction on the bench, I think he agreed.

And yes, while the NHL will certainly review this, will they rightfully punish James Wisniewski (meaning a big fine and multiple game suspensions), or simply take it out on the whole of the NHL by restricting players even more?  No NHL, for the nine millionth time, you don’t need to crack down on fighting or body checking.  You simply need to more harshly punish offenders.  That’s all!  And you can start by throwing the book at James Wisniewski because while Wiz played on, Brent Seabrook was out having a very unpleasant MRI. (And he will probably be out for several games hereafter with a nasty concussion.)

P.S.  Props go to Corey Crawford for maintaining poise during what was clearly a nerve-racking game!

P.P.S.  Jonathan Toews still looks too thin and sickly.  Seriously, what’s wrong with this boy?  Does nobody else notice this??  I think this is why the Hawks keep losing.

Within two minutes of the initial puck drop, Kris Versteeg charged the net with the puck and was tripped. (That would be one of many penalties that should have been called on the Sabres that wasn’t.)  Then Jonathan Toews attempted to follow through for the goal with one of his signature “Superman” moves, but was denied by Lalime.  Lalime would shine again, when, about seven minutes into the 1st period, it was a 4-on-3 in the Hawks’ favor and still the Hawks power-play unit could not get the puck past him.  While Lalime was exceedingly good at blocking shots, he allowed many rebounds, so the Hawks should have scored on that 4-on-3 at least.  Clearly the power-play unit still needs some work, though the penalty-kill unit is still in rare form.

Seems the Hawks may have a slight problem in general with follow-through, however.  While the Hawks outshot the Sabres 17-11 (in the 1st period, that is), they still did not score.  Perhaps the Hawks should’ve watched the Sabres for tips on follow-through as Buffalo turned it around in the 2nd period, outshooting the Hawks 17 to 7 and scoring the sole two goals in two periods.

Early on in the 3rd period, the Hawks seemed to turn it around again when Patrick Sharp scored a little over a minute into the period thanks to Dustin Byfuglien forcing a turnover.  Meanwhile, the Sabres appeared to be a different team entirely only getting one shot on goal for the first half of the 3rd period.  And even though the Hawks outshot the Sabres 16-5 in the 3rd, Lalime and the Sabres turned it on again in the last 5 minutes to hold on for the win, 2-1 over the Hawks.  Overall, the problem for the Hawks in this game was follow-through; they just didn’t have it.

There were also many avoidable penalties on the Hawks in this game, including one in the 2nd period where Patrick Sharp flagrantly held Sabres’ defenseman Steve Montador around his middle and threw him to the ice.  Add to that another avoidable penalty with that too-many-men-on-the-ice call, also in the 2nd, and the Hawks were too often working in a deficit.  And worst of all, Duncan Keith got called for hooking in the last two minutes of the game. (And yes, despite what Pat Foley and Eddie Olczyk said, Duncan Keith did hook, and before he hooked, he high-sticked but was not called for it.)  In a game where you’re having trouble getting shots on net as it is, is it really a good idea to be a man down? (even though your penalty-kill unit is one of the best in the league?)  Relax Hawks.  Don’t do it.  When you want to commit needless penalties.

But then, maybe the Hawks’ problem was that they were too relaxed in this game.  In fact, some might say the Hawks were downright lax.

While there was plenty of tennis hockey  — back-and-forth and back-and-forth — the Rangers would bust through late in the 1st period for the first goal.  Hawks’ Duncan Keith bent over backwards to block the coming shot and was successful for his part, but Rangers’ Chris Higgins was handed a pretty set-up and shot high on Huet’s glove-side for the first goal.  The Rangers scored in the 1st though the Hawks had 16 shots on goal versus the Rangers’ 5. (In case you’re bad at math that means the Hawks out-shot the Rangers  3-1 and were still losing after the 1st.)

Nothing very exciting going on in the 2nd period except for a bogus hooking call on Jonathan Toews.  Again, the Hawks out-shot the Rangers 14 to 10, to no avail.  The Rangers’ goalie Henrik Lundqvist was just that good shutting out the Hawks in the 2nd period as well.

The Hawks’ persistence would pay off late in the 3rd, however, when on the Hawks’ power play, Lundqvist was unable to freeze the puck and the Hawks kept whacking away and whacking away on net until Jonathan Toews, with a nifty assist from Marian Hossa, netted a goal for a tie.

And could it be that Dustin Byfuglien has found his purpose?  In several attempts tonight Big Buff was in front of the opposition’s net-minder screening shots.  As has been suggested by myself and many commenters here and elsewhere this is what we’d like to see Buff doing with that big body.  Now, if he can perfect that art and keep from instigating with the opposing net-minder, perhaps he may have just found his calling in life.  Oh yeah, and did I mention that Byfuglien had the game winner in the overtime period?  It was as brilliant a goal as Jonathan Toews’ sweet “Superman” goal in the game against the Predators on December 4th.  Big Buff was a blur on the breakaway as he zoomed Lundqvist for the game winner in OT. Final score, 2-1 Hawks over the Rangers.

And in honorable mentions, hats off to the Hawks’ poise as the Rangers committed three times as many penalties.  Naturally in a game this close, you want to keep the penalties to a minimum.

And again, as an almost mandatory mention with these recaps, I must acknowledge Niklas Hjalmarsson.  Everyone talks about how skilled this kid is in blocking shots and just overall ‘D’, but how many have noticed his incredible speed?  For some reason, in this game in particular, I could not deny that not only does this kid have the Red-Wings-type defensive style that has sorely been needed on the Hawks, but he possesses the speed that allows him to be everywhere that lesser defensemen are not. I wonder if clocked, if Hjalmy would have the kind of speed that say, a Kris Versteeg would have?

And speaking of Versteeg, it was good to see Kris Versteeg back on wing. Clearly Steegy was not as at home in center as on wing, so it’s good to see Steegy back where he belongs.

Overall, good game Hawks.  Wish I could’ve battled the blizzard (like the Hawks battled back to beat the Rangers) to see it in person.

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.

Following are comments by Keith, Toews, and Kane, as well as highlights from the Q&A session:

Duncan Keith:

“I was drafted by this team when I was 18 years old.  [Playing my whole career here is] what I envisioned when I was first drafted…”

Patrick Kane:

“Once I came to Chicago and played here I couldn’t imagine playing anywhere else.”

Q&A:

Q: Do you think you’ll feel more pressure with your new contracts?

Toews: “It’s part of the game…for us it doesn’t change anything.”

Q: Dunc, when it came up that the deal was going to be 13 years were you shocked?

Keith: “I can’t say how happy I am to sign for a long-term deal like that.  It says a lot about what the team thinks of me as a player.  13 years is a long time.  I believe in this team…I believe that we’ll win a championship one day.”

Q: Can you talk about how hard it was for the organization to pull this off with the cap?

Kane: “As players we don’t think about that much…but for the organization to get this done at this time…it says a lot about Rocky and Stan and the organization.”

Q: Does this raise the pressure to win the Stanley Cup soon?

Toews: “There’s always going to be some ups and downs…at the end of the day you gotta believe you got every guy in your locker room needed to win…Our first goal is to get to the playoffs and then we go from there…”

Q: Do you have an appreciation for how good you have it right now?

Toews: “There’s no way we can express our thanks…I still feel like a young kid, living the dream and playing in the NHL.  To be blessed to live in this city I can’t think of any better place to be drafted to at 18 years old…As far as the fans go, and this city, and the atmosphere we get to play in every day, it’s incredible…”

Q: Do you follow the other teams and do you know that you’re the most successful team in the city?

Toews: “[Chicago] is a great sports city…I’m like everybody else and I just enjoy watching these teams play.”

Keith: “I was here in the first couple of years after the lockout…it’s amazing to see the turnaround…and to see where we’re headed in the future.”

Hey there, love following your stuff!

What are your thoughts on how the Hawks are gonna keep Hjalmarsson around after this year?  He is my fav player, just got his name/# on my jersey this fall.  I live in Rockford and got to watch him mature as an Icehog :)  But at the end of this year he is a restricted free agent I believe, and right now is only making $600,000/yr.  That ain’t gonna cut it for someone who Stan Bowman calls one of the top 4 defensemen in the league.  How we gonna keep him?  And where would you say he ranks in the opinion of the front office compared to the other restricted (or non) free agents on the team at the end of this season?  I would say he needs to be their #1 priority, ahead of Ladd, Eager, Fraser, Skille, Niemi, etc.

Cant wait to hear your thoughts! Thanks!

Thanks Cakes for the letter and for the kind words of praise.  I always appreciate hearing from passionate hockey fans.

Like you, Niklas Hjalmarsson is my favorite player, hands down.  Like me I bet you saw Hjalmarsson was going to be something special when we saw him in the playoffs last year. (In your case, you probably saw he was going to be something special in Rockford.) Not only should Hjalmarsson be the Hawks’ #1 priority but the defense in general needs to be their #1 priority.  I said this last season and was pleased when at the beginning of this season we saw a much improved ‘D’, so hopefully that means they’re working on it.  They just need to unload some underperformers and make some cap space.  Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, and Hjalmarsson have a lot of ice time because they’re having to make up for those who aren’t performing well like Cam Barker and Brent Sopel, and you just can’t do that forever.  Really, how many games in a row can you expect Duncan Keith to play over 28 minutes?  That’s nearly half the game!

And I’m certain that Hjalmarsson was paired with Brian Campbell because Campbell is that lousy and it takes the energy of a kid like Hjalmarsson to compensate for Campbell’s lousy performance. (You saw Campbell whiff on a near wide-open net in that Hawks/Ducks game last week, right?  And you’ve seen how often he turns the puck over, right?)  Hopefully the Hawks are not in denial of that and are scouting more Hjalmarsson-like d-men as we speak.  And for the love of God, why are the Hawks not considering unloading Brian Campbell?  If you’re looking to make room, that’s where you’d look!  Doesn’t that kind of deserve a resounding “duh” from Hawks fans?

To answer your question, I think the way the Hawks keep Hjalmarsson at the end of this year is to unload some excess baggage (sorry Soupy) and sign him to one of their decade-long contracts.  Hjalmarsson being so young and fielding other offers may or may not bite on that, but hey, in the NHL security is everything right?  So, to beat the cap hopefully that’s what they’ll try to do.  The Hawks can’t hype Hjalmarsson all season, calling him “The Hammer” and like you said, saying he’s one of the top four d-men, and then low-ball him.  The Hawks can also no longer ignore the problem with the defense if they want the cup.  So, yeah, they’re going to have to pony up and spend just as much energy, time, and money on their d-men as they have their forwards.

I love hearing from all of you, so please keep those cards and letters coming!