Tonight the Blackhawks beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5 to 2 and Viktor Stalberg scored his first NHL hat trick, but perhaps more memorable is that the Hawks were called for ‘instigating’ twice.  So it looks like the Blackhawks will be the team that the NHL proves their instigating penalty on. 

And what is instigating exactly?  According to the NHL’s ever-changing rule book,

“A player who is deemed to be both the instigator and aggressor of an altercation shall be assessed an instigating minor penalty, a major penalty for fighting, a ten-minute misconduct (instigator) and a game misconduct penalty (aggressor).”

Does nobody think this is too severe? After all, Canucks’ Alex Burrows cheap shotted Bruins’ Shawn Thornton in the Canucks/Bruins game the other night, but nobody called constant bur-on-the-butt Burrows for instigating.

It also looks like the NHL is confusing an “aggressor” with an “instigator” as if they were one and the same.  According to the NHL an “aggressor” is,

“…the player who continues to throw punches in an attempt to inflict punishment on his opponent who is in a defenseless position or who is an unwilling combatant.”

Um, yeah, but what do you call an Alex Burrows-type who repeatedly takes cheap shots on guys (hair pulling, biting, scratching, spearing, high-sticking) in order to entice them into fighting?  See, because the dictionary defines instigating as “urging, provoking, or inciting some action or course” and in the case of Alex Burrows in that game the other night, it was he who instigated first.  To put that in playground rules, Alex Burrows started it first!

But the NHL give themselves an out for bad refereeing:

“Referees are provided very wide latitude in the penalties with which they may impose under this rule. This is done intentionally to enable them to differentiate between the obvious degrees of responsibility of the participants either for starting the fighting or persisting in continuing the fighting. The discretion provided should be exercised realistically.”

Another way to define “wide latitude” is “subjectivity” ensuring that no two games are called exactly alike, or properly.  Why subjectivity?  Because refs have preferences for certain teams and dislikes for others, and because the NHL rules are so vague as to be interpreted in many different ways.  For instance, if the instigating rule were a law it wouldn’t hold water; it would be voided for vagueness.  So why should the NHL purposely leave the instigating rule vague so as to ensure confusion and bad calls, i.e. improperly refereed games?

And I guess I can understand why they created the penalty for being the 3rd man to engage in a fight (the old “3rd man in rule”) to guarantee that NHL fights didn’t turn into bench-clearers, but coming to the aid of a teammate after he got checked dirty — like Steve Montador and Jamal Mayers in tonight’s game who were defending Andrew Brunette and Niklas Hjalmarsson respectively — shouldn’t be instigating or a game misconduct.  These kinds of rules are ruining the integrity of hockey and need to stop!

My gosh, did you see Niklas Hjalmarsson get pounded on the ice tonight?  He was on the business end of a dirty check to the head from Blue Jackets’ Jared Boll and a nasty high-stick to the eye from Tomas Kubalik.  Granted the high-stick was an accident, but the dirty hit certainly wasn’t and deserved an answer from Jamal Mayers.  So I disagree with the whole “instigating” penalty as it’s defined by the NHL and as it’s being enforced by the refs.  I understand the fine line the NHL walks between trying to keep the players safe and over-enforcement, but all these rules are ruining hockey.  Seriously, I’m with Don Cherry on this one: If you overly penalize fighting, you will ruin the character of the game and therefore the game itself.

That said, congratulations to Viktor Stalberg on his hat trick and to Dave Bolland on his shorty goal;  Tazer (who took a puck to the head off a deflected shot from Duncan Keith in the 1st period) and Jelly go ice your heads; and hey NHL, can we cool it on the instigation penalties for one hot minute???

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.

However, in pre-season play it has been delightful to watch Brandon Pirri’s rising star.  This kid is amazing!  He almost had a hat trick in last night’s loss to the Penguins.  And while the guy in the Hawaiian shirt at the bar where I was watching the game disagreed with me, the call on Pirri for “interference” in the last minute or so of the game was in error.  Unless I missed something, it looked like Pirri was just following through with a check on the boards, though it was difficult, judging from the camera angle, to see where the puck had gone.  What wasn’t hard to miss was Pirri on the ground, on his back, getting his ears boxed by, it looked like Pens’ Zybnek Michalek.  Still, it looks like Pirri will go far.  Apparently opponents think so too or Pirri wouldn’t have become an early target.   So bang on Pirri.  You’ll get that hat trick yet! 

And speaking of pummelings, how in the hell could Red Wings’ coach Mike Babcock defend that nasty hit to the head from Wings’ defenseman Brendan Smith on Hawks’ winger Ben Smith during the September 28th pre-season game???  Babcock called Brendan Smith’s resulting suspension “extreme.”  Really Babcock?  Extreme?  You know what’s extreme is when you get your bell rung so hard that you can’t move, have no idea where you are, and need a trainer and your teammates to help you off the ice!  Babcock’s comments really shocked me.  Normally he is pretty level-headed about such things, but not this time.

You can clearly see from the video that Brendan Smith intended to throw a shoulder as his elbow was flailing out well after the hit. (In other words, the shoulder and elbow were going and there was momentum there well after the hit.):

It clearly wasn’t an accident and the NHL was more than justified in suspending Brendan Smith for the remainder of the pre-season and for 5 games of the regular season.  Well done NHL, and rule 48.1 concerning ‘illegal checks to the head’ will be a good one if applied and enforced properly.

What additionally concerns me is that the refs weren’t calling many of these goony hits during the Sept. 28 Hawks/Red Wings game.  I saw lots of elbows and shoulders being thrown and spearing well before the hit on Ben Smith, so part of the blame for Ben Smith’s injury must lie with the officiating.  Too many missed calls.  Oh but the refs didn’t miss a beat in sending Brent Seabrook to the box for a five-minute major for “fighting” when Seabrook was just trying to defend Ben Smith.  Really?  That’s what constitutes fighting now?  I didn’t even see Seabs throw a punch!  Third-man-in rule maybe, but if you call a major, it better be…well…major.

And sorry Brendan Smith.  I don’t buy your aw-shucks routine, your apology to Ben Smith, or your lame explanation that you were “never targeting his head.”  Perhaps the minor leagues will teach you about playing respectable hockey.  Shame on Mike Babcock too.  There is no defending that kind of hit, though it’s not unexpected from the Red Wings, one of the gooniest teams in hockey. (They used to be THE gooniest team in hockey ’til the Canucks started giving them a run for their money.)  Still, the Hawks got the ultimate revenge by winning over the Red Wings, 4-3, a win that was clearly for Ben Smith.

And speaking of injuries, it is unfortunate to lose Viktor Stalberg to a knee injury before the season has even started.  We eagerly anticipate his return of course; the Hawks need and clearly miss his grit, though Michael Frolik exhibits a fair amount of grittiness too.

Grit is something the defensemen have needed the past few seasons too, and it looks like the Hawks have beefed up by pairing Niklas Hjalmarsson with Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith with Nick Leddy.  I love these pairings and hope they continue.  I also love that Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews are on separate lines.  These two may work well together on special teams, but Jonathan Toews can excel much more without having to constantly set Kaner up for sweet goals.  I also don’t think Patrick Kane is effective as a center, but time will bear that out I’m sure.

Also on kind of a sad note, I was sorry to see Marty Turco go after last season.  I thought maybe he had another season in him with the Hawks if for no other reason than to impart some of his veteran moves to the up-and-comers, but if he had to be on his way, so be it.  Corey Crawford is coming along nicely, though I still miss Antti Niemi. And, hopefully it is not in doubt that Alexander Salak should be back-up net-minder.  Ray Emery just doesn’t have what it takes, at least, not yet.

All-in-all it looks like the kids are alright.

While I’m not the “beta chapter” of the Matt Walker fan club, as described by the self-appointed “alpha chapter” of the Matt Walker fan club in St. Louis (and for those who don’t know, Walker played for the Blues first), I can recognize good, solid play when I see it.  But I think critics of Matt Walker misconstrue him.  I watched Walker all season in Chicago in 08-09 and he was solid — laying on heavy hits, blocking shots, and playing the role of an all-around good enforcer.  Yet just like in Chicago, fans in Philly just didn’t seem to get what Matt Walker was all about.  Most fans merely judged Walker on his goal points, assists, and his +/- score which is a ridiculous thing to do to a defenseman whose primary role involves hits and enforcement.  Would you have judged a similarly aggressive defenseman like Chris Chelios in the same way?  And if Chris Chelios had had to have surgery due to an injury, would he immediately have been put on waivers?  I know the Flyers had to free up cap space with Matt Walker, but hopefully it doesn’t tarnish Matt Walker’s reputation as a solid and aggressive defenseman, which he has been and still is.

Incidentally, when Chelios played for the Blackhawks in the late 90s, he recorded two consecutive seasons with minus ratings, and in his career he went entire seasons without scoring at all or only scoring once with a few assists.  But that only means Chelios was what they call a defensive defenseman.  It of course doesn’t mean Chris Chelios wasn’t a good defenseman.  And just as you wouldn’t hate on Chris Chelios for recording a -7 season, Chicago Blackhawks fans don’t necessarily use only those criteria — goals, assists, +/- scores — to judge the play of similarly defensive defensemen like Niklas Hjalmarsson either.  In other words, it’s particularly unfair to judge a defensive defenseman only by his offensive stats.  It’s odd too because even though Hjalmarsson and Walker were paired on the same line in the 2009 playoffs and were a big reason why the Blackhawks got as far as they did in the playoffs that year, people only seem to recognize Hjalmarsson’s contribution, not Walker’s.  So what makes Matt Walker so different from Hjalmarsson other than that it’s easy to make “Big Country” the fall guy because he’s so humble he’ll actually take scorn and derision from fair-weather fans? Is that why all the hatin’ on Walker?  Because he actually takes it, and no one, including even Walker himself, defends him?

They call Walker “Big Country” I guess to mock his folksy manner, or because he’s not very verbose with the press, but what’s wrong with that? Dave Bolland is the same way but I’ve never heard of Bolly being called a country bumpkin.  What gives? Should Walker act like Chris Pronger or God forbid Sean Avery?  Those guys talk so much trash they give their true, obnoxious selves away.  I’m guessing given a do-over Elisha Cuthbert (who was very publicly dissed by ex-boyfriend Sean Avery in 2008) wishes she had dated a Matt Walker-type instead of Sean Avery, just to put that in perspective.  And the Sean Averys of the hockey world?  Well, thankfully they’re few and far between since that’s not how most hockey players are; most are gentlemanly and humble.  So, why make sport of Walker’s aw-shucks demeanor?  If you ask me (and I’m guessing Elisha Cuthbert), the world needs fewer arrogant sports stars, not more.

I also don’t understand why Matt Walker was and has been written off by Philly fans.  I think, once fully recovered, he could be as good as the “fans” would let him be no matter where he plays.  For instance, Walker virtually flew under the radar here in Chicago and he had his best season ever.  Now just imagine how well he could play with wellness and a little encouragement.  I mean really, how well would you do your job with jerks in your face constantly making fun of you, implying you’re a boor, and deriding your performance?  Still, there were many more lackluster defensemen here in Chicago who were more deserving of criticism like Brent Sopel, Cam Barker, or even takes-up-too-much-cap-space Brian Campbell.  Yet for some reason it was Matt Walker who was judged most harshly by outside hockey “pundits”; the same hockey “pundits” who went on to dog him in Tampa Bay and Philly.  Gee, did it ever occur to you that if you cut the guy a little slack and didn’t put such immense pressure on him, he might actually relax and be able to perform as expected?  And what?  Can’t hockey players even suffer injuries anymore without the constant threat of being traded?  You know it degrades humans to view them as mere chattel.

So here’s your education so-called hockey “pundits.” You want to know where the value-add for Matt Walker can be seen?  Look at his penalties in minutes. Count how many blocked shots he has in a game or how many times he cuts off passing lanes.  He’s a goaltender’s best friend.  Count how many times he harasses the puck away from his opponent.  And look at what he can do when he’s on the PK.  That’s where Matt Walker makes his contribution.  Still, his offensive stats in Chicago weren’t so shabby either for the kind of aggressive, defensive defenseman that he is.  For those who are offense-minded, he scored 1 goal, had 13 assists, and was +7 for the season in Chicago, and that’s with all his hits and enforcement duties and an average of 13-16 minutes of ice time.  I can’t find his hits tally for his time in Chicago, but his PIM was 79.  In Tampa Bay the following season he had 2 goals and 3 assists, his hits tally was 82, and his PIM was 90, and that was him playing with injuries.  Granted he was -11 for the season in Tampa Bay, but how is that all Matt Walker’s fault?  The entire team had problems in the 09-10 season.

As for Philly, well, Walker got injured and so he never got a chance to be the value-add that it was hoped he would be. Can’t you chalk that up to happenstance?  It is the rarest of hockey players who don’t have an injury at some point.  Still, when Philly “fans” talk about Walker’s time in Tampa Bay or Chicago, it appears that they just don’t understand the role he played which is why they didn’t even bother to give him a chance in Philly, especially once he was injured.  It’s as if they turned Walker into a self-fulfilling prophecy.  I guess the fans are fickle and so their behavior can be dismissed somewhat, but what about the Flyers putting Walker on waivers when he got injured?  Seems like they may have jumped the gun a little, though, as always, you can blame the cap for that.

And like Tampa Bay and Philly, it’s too bad Chicago didn’t know what they had in Matt Walker when they let him go.  I think things would have been a whole lot different for Matt Walker had he stayed in Chicago, but I was actually happy for him when he went to Tampa Bay in 2009 because I thought with his signing of a 4-year deal worth $1.7 million a year, he might actually finally have gotten the respect he deserved.  Unfortunately, Walker was back on the bus the very next season, this time to Philadelphia in exchange for Simon Gagné, much to the chagrin of Flyers fans.  But you never really gave him a chance did you Philly?

Regardless of what the fickle fans say, I’ll always remember Matty as the guy who broke his finger in two places during the 2009 playoffs, went back to the locker room, had it put back in place and taped, and went back out on the ice.  Look at this YouTube video of an interview Walker gave about his broken finger:

That’s the kind of hockey player Matt Walker is, and it’s the kind of player he will be if a team and its fans would give him a chance to prove himself. And precisely because Matt Walker played with that broken finger in Chicago, he had trouble the next season in Tampa Bay with, you guessed it, his finger (as well as some other hindrances that would follow him to Philly, apparently).  So, instead of being a hero for playing through the pain so as not to let the Blackhawks and the fans down, he gets traded to Tampa Bay and then to Philly! Seems no good deed goes unpunished for Matt Walker.

So, for whatever it’s worth, to Matty I say thank you for a great 08-09 season in Chicago.  It was and still is my favorite Blackhawks season, and it should have been the season the Hawks won the cup.  I’m just sorry so few recognized your contribution, or saw what you were truly capable of.

P.S. And hey Philly, tell Chris Pronger the Blackhawks want their Stanley Cup finals game-2 winning puck back.  I mean really, who does that?  Who steals the winning team’s souvenirs???  Such poor sportsmanship! (even for a goon.)

So, as they say, let’s go to the film.

Despite the commentators in the above YouTube video obviously stumping for a suspension and purposely not seeing what was right in front of them in a slow-mo, slow-frame replay, this was NOT a dirty hit from behind.  It was a side hit, and probably a hard one, but Hjalmarsson didn’t even throw an elbow, again, despite what commentators were saying (and the commentators are suspect in this case because they knew that, upon review, the NHL would hear their comments and be swayed by them). 

So, with hindsight being 20/20, what the NHL should have seen is that while there was an injury, it was as a result of a clean hit with unintended consequences.  I mean, seriously, are there no accidents anymore?  No, really, how much of an example is the NHL willing to make of a player?  How intensely are they willing to scrutinize hockey ’til it’s nothing resembling the sport we all came to know and love?  And what’s next, no-tackle football? These contact sports — like hockey and football — are dangerous.  Yes, you can make rules and punishments to deter dirty play and prevent injury, but you can’t prevent all injuries.  You just can’t, at least not without ruining the game.  So, I have to ask, is that what the NHL seeks to do?  Are they trying to ruin hockey by so overly scrutinizing it that no one will want to watch?

And before critics accuse me of being blinded by favoritism, since I have always been a big fan of Niklas Hjalmarsson, readers should remember that I came to the defense of Alex Ovechkin for his hit on Brian Campbell last season.  I did not think that a dirty hit either, at least not intentionally, but it was a hard one. (Although I think the entire hockey community, including Ducks fans, can agree that James Wisniewski’s hit last season on Brent Seabrook was pre-meditated, given the charging from across the ice and his leaving his skates to deliver that knock-out hit, and deserved the suspension Wiz got and then some.)  So, believe me when I say, if a Hawk is guilty of a dirty hit, you won’t see me defending them just because I’m a fan. I was certainly not shy about criticizing Dustin Byfuglien for instigating with goalies last season, so neither would I defend a dirty hit, no matter if it was from a Hawk or an opponent.

So just to sum up, the NHL needs to unclench.  Punish true offenders and stop tarnishing the reputations of good hockey players who are just doing their jobs. (Poor Niklas Hjalmarsson looked like he’d been flogged after he was suspended two games he was so dejected.)  I’ve spoken my piece, now I’m going to crawl back into my hockey withdrawal.

P.S. Just so this post isn’t entirely negative, I was pleased as punch to see that the Hawks had signed Bryan Bickell and Jack Skille.  These guys more than proved their worth to the organization last season and so it’s good to see them rewarded, though I’m not quite sure Corey Crawford is ready for the bigs.

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.

Tazer deftly maneuvered the puck through heavy traffic, around opponents, and faked out Preds’ goal-tender Dan Ellis who went low, as Tazer went to shoot upstairs.  Ellis tripped Toews but could not deter his shot up high as Toews went down. (And Stan and Rocky could sit there with a grin on their faces and say that’s why they now pay Tazer the big bucks.  Although, let’s face it, Toews from the beginning was always worth the big bucks.  He’s just now getting paid what he’s worth.)

Unfortunately in both goals scored by the Preds in the 1st and 2nd periods, the shots on Huet were screened by a Hawk. (Cam Barker for the first, and Niklas Hjalmarsson for the second.) I understand that defensemen need to back up their net-minders, but perhaps they should also learn to get out of the way. Things deteriorated in the 3rd period when the Preds scored two additional goals within seconds of each other.  The Preds took the Hawks, 4-1.

Honorable mentions in this game go to Niklas Hjalmarsson for a skillful block of an attempted wrap-around goal from the Preds (and some “hammer”-worthy hits); an easily shaken off hit on Troy Brouwer that was so hard it shook several panes of the glass (and probably Brouwer’s teeth); and a ghastly shot of the puck blocked by Brent Sopel’s knee, though he continued to play through the pain while limp-skating.

On a happy note, I love the power-play unit combination of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and Marian Hossa.  I think once these guys gel together, it will improve the PP-unit’s percentages.

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!

“Meatball”…ha, ha.  This is the best ‘One Goal’ promo yet.  Mad props go to IKEA for being such good sports.  And look, Niklas Hjalmarsson has a sense of humor.  Who knew?

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?