Speaking of getting it right, the Hawks couldn’t in tonight’s shutout by the Avs. I don’t think we have ever seen Captain Serious, Jonathan Toews, so frustrated. In the dwindling moments of the game, Toews was slow to get up after having been knocked once again to the ice, and he just never seemed to recover his will. When the game was over, Toews uncharacteristically was one of the first off the ice to the dressing room, foregoing his usual fist bump to each of his teammates. I can only imagine what he had to say to his teammates once off the ice. Hopefully he angrily yelled at them and said something like, “I can’t carry an entire team by myself. So if you don’t have the heart to get out there and do your best and stop bumbling around with the puck, then what are you doing here???” Toews had every right to take a breeze on his team after the game was over; they took a breeze on him while the game was still on.

That said, I was rather surprised that Coach Quenneville defended Carcillo’s hit saying,

“It’s a quick moment when you’re going for a counter hit fighting for a puck…He (Carcillo) probably had better leverage than the other guy. His intent certainly wasn’t what happened.”

There’s that word again: intent.  I’m not so sure there wasn’t intent there.  Certainly Carcillo didn’t mean to hurt Gilbert, but he did intend to slam him into the end boards that hard.

And how do you defend a forceful hit like that when the guy doesn’t even have the puck? In fact, remember James Wisniewski’s hit on Brent Seabrook in 2010?  After that despicably dirty hit, which earned Wiz an eight game suspension without pay, Quenneville said:

“You hit a guy without the puck, you could kill a guy…It’s the most dangerous hit in the history of the game…He tried to hurt him…If that’s not intent, that’s as bad a hit as you could ever have in the game.”

Ok, so how can Q decry Wisniewski’s dirty hit on Brent Seabrook, who didn’t have the puck, and not Daniel Carcillo’s dirty hit on Tom Gilbert, who also didn’t have the puck?  In both cases extreme force was used against the boards.  How do you justify that?

It’s one thing if you’re going full-bore trying to beat a guy for the puck, run out of ice, and meet the end boards; but it’s another thing entirely to see the end boards, high-stick a guy in the face, and plow him into the end boards because you know it will shut him down.   That’s what Carcillo did and it’s what NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan called “using the boards as a weapon.”  I agree.  So, does Q really want to make the argument that Dan Carcillo just doesn’t know his own strength?  Q’s own prior statement about dirty hits on guys who don’t have the puck is a direct contradiction to his current argument about Carcillo’s hit not being dirty.

That brings to mind the other problem that I consistently see with these suspensions.  It’s nice that a team will send a coach to back their player at a press conference or in interviews, but perhaps the teams’ managers, coaches, and even owners should start taking responsibility for how their players play.  Again, I have to come back to the Vancouver Canucks and the 2004 Todd Bertuzzi incident.  Certainly Bertuzzi didn’t mean to so severely injure the Avalanche’s Steve Moore that it ended his career, but that’s what happened.  Now how much responsibility should the Canucks’ owner, management, and coaches have borne for that goony type of play?  According to the NHL, $250,000.  That’s it.  Meanwhile, Todd Bertuzzi was forced to walk the plank and face the sharks virtually alone.  But everyone knows that the goony type of play that the Canucks engage in does not come solely from the players themselves.  So, to make Bertuzzi take almost the whole of the punishment — bad press, civil lawsuits, a criminal investigation, and a resulting sentence — sold Bertuzzi up the river. (It was like how after the congressional investigation Major League Baseball and the teams themselves took no responsibility for the steroid problem in baseball, as if the pressure to juice had all come from the players themselves.)  And what did the Canucks get?  A slap on the wrist and a fine.  Is that fair???

Perhaps the NHL should start looking a little further up the food chain when assessing blame for dirty hits and overall goonery.  Rough, aggressive play and fighting are part of the game.  But goonery is bad sportsmanship and is proving season after season to be more and more dangerous.

In tonight’s game 5, it looked like Dustin Byfuglien agreed when during a check of Flyers’ d-man Kimmo Timonen at about the 10 or 11 minute mark of the 3rd period, he took out Dan O’Halloran as well.  Two goons with one hit.  It was a thing of beauty!  O’Halloran seemed to know that hit was meant for him too by the look on his face.  Karma can be tricky Danny boy.  The hockey gods don’t seem to like your intentional missed calls on the Flyers.

Finally, just to add insult to injury, Hawks’ Dustin Byfuglien scored the last goal of the 7-4 victory over the Flyers with an empty-netter in the last minute-and-a-half of the game with Dan O’Halloran having to rule it a good goal.  So sweet.  Go Hawks!  Get that cup!

P.S. Hats off to Q for taking Big Buff and Kaner off the first line and moving Marian Hossa and Tomas Kopecky up with Toews.  It totally threw off the Flyers.  They couldn’t put the bullseye on any one player and with Buff checking up and down like a mad man, it was discombobulating to the Flyers.  Hopefully Niklas Hjalmarsson can figure his game out by game 6 though, because we need him blocking shots.  Don’t know what’s up with him, but he has that deer-in-headlights look about him.

When the Blackhawks traded James ‘Wiz’ Wisniewski last season, I was not shy about saying what a mistake that was.  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, charging across the ice and purposely leaving his skates to take Seabs out by the head?!  Oh, them’s fightin’ words Wiz!  And are you kidding me with just that “charging” call?  What?  No automatic ejection?

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!

The Hawks were a little shaky in the 1st period.  John “Mad Dog” Madden flirted with the puck about 5 minutes in clearing it just to the edge of the goal line, but it was a no goal. (And were you all counting how many face-offs Madden didn’t win?)  Niklas Hjalmarsson, too, almost snuck one between Kings’ goal tender Jonathan Quick’s legs, but Quick contorted his body like Gumby and swept the puck back out.

Unfortunately the Hawks did not shake off their shakiness in the 2nd period, allowing Kings’ Wayne Simmonds an open lane to score with relative ease.  And still, the Hawks did not find their sea legs (or I guess their ice legs). The only point of interest came with less than a minute left in the 2nd when Wayne Simmonds batted Niklas Hjalmarsson’s stick out of his hand wherein it went flying up into the air and yet it was Hjalmarsson who was called for roughing and for the ensuing mêlée.  How exactly do you miss a stick flying through the air like that?  Did it launch itself???

Despite Wayne Simmonds unceremonious breaking in of newbie Niklas Hjalmarsson, which should have lit a fire under the Hawks, they still had trouble getting chances in the 3rd.  The Kings’ ‘D’ just shut the Hawks down.  Then about 7 minutes into the 3rd, Jonathan Toews patiently waited on net which paid off when Patrick Kane set him up; Toews short-shot the puck for a goal to tie the score 1-1.  Still, the Hawks didn’t have it in extra innings.  Though both teams remained scoreless in the overtime period, the Hawks were 0 for 2 in the shootout while both the Kings’ shots made it in; the Kings took the game 2-1.  Jonathan Toews was mumbling something that was sure to be derisive about himself to himself after his missed shootout shot, and Patrick Kane could only shake his head after he missed his.  Tazer, don’t beat yourself up.  You were the only one on your team to score.

Kaner…well…your contract is all but a done deal.  As you were.

And though Huet made some spectacular saves, including one without his stick, he had trouble this game covering the width of the net.  He must resist the temptation to be drawn off to one or the other side leaving too much of the net open.  But he’s been turning in such an outstanding performance lately, that it’s hard to have a bad word to say.

In addition to Huet’s consistently excellent performance, it is good to see that Coach Quenneville hasn’t settled on the power-play unit line-up.  He keeps changing guys in and out trying to better the power-play scoring.  So far, the right chemistry has eluded Q, but hopefully he keeps trying.

So, chalk the last couple of games up to fatigue, I guess.  The Hawks are apparently road-weary and wanting to get back home.  Hopefully they’ll be refreshed by Tuesday’s home game against the Blue Jackets. Get home quick boys.

P.S. I won’t waste too much more space complaining about Dustin Byfuglien, but I will say that I’m really tired of seeing Buff instigating with the opposition’s goal-tender.  In a tight game, or a game when you’re down several points, like the last two have been, the last thing you need is a goal-tender interference call and/or a roughing/fighting call because one of your players got in a goalie’s face.  Again, focus on your game Buff and stop jawing with and encroaching on the opposing net-minder…At what point does the Hawks organization take a serious look at players like Byfuglien and Brian Campbell and decide that they may be a waste of cap space?

With Hossa, I’ve been reining in any excessive excitement I might let slip through my steely, hockey exterior. We’ve all been down this road before; we’ve bought into the hype and been disappointed.  Hossa did have some rust to work out of the pipes, but he did not disappoint.  Once Hossa oiled the hinges, he scored a short-handed goal on the penalty kill (as did Patrick Sharp within 28 seconds of each other) in the 2nd period.  Hossa would score again early on in the 3rd period and I was hoping for a hat trick, but alas it was not meant to be.  I am cautiously optimistic about Hossa, but continued performances like tonight’s will win over even this fiercest of skeptics.

While it’s usually good to have new blood, it’s still nice to see the old reliables, like Troy Brouwer who scored a goal during a penalty kill late in the 1st period, Dustin Byfuglien who scored midway through the 2nd (and who had a puck go up his shorts late in the 2nd period…tee hee), and Brent Seabrook who scored early in the 3rd.  Duncan Keith also had 3 assists.  And Niklas Hjalmarsson too is fast becoming old faithful.  He had a diving block in the first period (which is a really good way to break your neck if you slam into the boards head first), but that’s nothing as he seems to perpetually be putting himself in peril for this team.

There was a little bit of bumbling involving some bad passes, and at one point John Madden tripped over his own skates on a breakaway.  Madden would make up for it though, scoring a goal late in the 3rd.  The Hawks were also a little lazy on their back checking tonight, at first at least, but chalk that up to jet lag.  The important thing is that this team keeps improving.  So, what am I thankful for this season?  That the Blackhawks just keep getting better and better.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Coach Quenneville more eloquently calls the Hawks crapping out in the 3rd period, “not playing the whole 60 minutes.”  I call it playing on Ambien.  Again, I understand that you shouldn’t exert optimum effort to beat a lousy team, but you shouldn’t phone it in either, and the Hawks definitely phoned it in during the 3rd period.

That said, it was great to see the old Patrick Kane (You know, the one from two years ago?) with his slick unassisted goal and his fancy stick-handling moves.  He pokes his head out of his hole every once in a while, usually when there’s no backchecking or heavy hits by the opposing team.  And yes, I’m with ‘Team Toews’ so that’s about as much of a lauding as you’ll ever get from me on Kane.  Like Jonathan Toews must almost certainly do, I resent all the media attention heaped on Kane because it is for the most part greatly undeserved.

Cristobal Huet also had a good game with a .935 save percentage.  But, of course, his save percentage doesn’t accurately illustrate just how many stand-on-your-head spectacular saves Huet had.  In one save in particular, he could have literally dislocated his shoulder trying to block the puck.  That save also happened to be one reviewed by the War Room in Toronto which was luckily ruled ‘no goal’ thanks to the herculean effort of Huet.  Now if he could just show up for all the games the way he showed up for that one.

Overall a difficult game to watch, but an ugo win is better than no win at all.

And apparently it is only when Jonathan Toews is gone with an “upper body injury” that we really see just how very much he contributes.  Not only is he the best center on the team, but you see how many extracurriculars he is involved in.  He’s like the Urlacher of the Blackhawks.

So, what specifically can we point to in this loss to the Canucks?  Clearly, it was the lack of discipline that led to repeated, needless penalties.  Special teams can only do so much on the penalty kill.  Additionally, and as Q always says, if you can’t score on a 5-on-3, you’re probably not going to win the game.  And so it was.  Well, look at it this way.  At least Alex Burrows didn’t pull Duncan Keith’s hair!