Ok kids, I’m back. Sorry to leave my little hockeylings hanging yesterday, but as much as hockey is life, sometimes real life interferes. Luckily, I taped the game and was able to go radio silent until this morning so as not to hear the score. So here, belatedly, is your run down of last night’s loss to the Kings if it’s not still too painful. (more…)
It was good to see former Blackhawk James “The Wiz” Wisniewski, even if he was playing for the bad guys (the Ducks), though he was more of a blur. The Ducks were really amped up and played a very fast game; so fast the Hawks were having trouble keeping up on the way back to their defensive zone! (more…)
Tensions ran high tonight in the Hawks’ 7-2 win over the Sharks. Coach Quenneville was barking early at a missed boarding call wherein Tomas Kopecky was hit from behind and his helmet went flying; Brian Campbell got booed as he always does at the HP Pavillion (and I always try so hard not to laugh at that and am never successful); the penalty-kill unit had an awesome night, even for them; and of course Marian Hossa made his debut with the Blackhawks. Boy did he ever. (more…)
The most consistent thing about last night’s 5-2 win over the Oilers was the inconsistency of the officiating. Beyond all the missed hooking calls that were so numerous I lost count, there were a couple of missed boarding calls (i.e. dirty hits from behind). The weird thing is the refs didn’t allow any fights. So, in theory, the refs would allow dirty hits which had the potential to do damage, but they wouldn’t allow fighting ostensibly because fighting leads to injuries? Yeah, that makes sense. (more…)
Last night’s 7-1 win over the Flames was breathtaking. For the first time this season, it felt like the magic of last season had returned. I can’t decide if that was because the Hawks have finally gelled with each other, or if the Flames just fell down, psyched out by the remembrance of the playoffs last season. I want to believe it is the former, not the latter. (more…)
Playing teams in the Pacific Division is always seemingly tricky for the Hawks. Playing teams as good as the Sharks, you can’t be undisciplined and commit stupid penalties like John Madden’s holding call in the opening minute of the game. (Madden would make up for it in the dwindling minutes of the 2nd though with a goal on a nearly wide-open net.) The Hawks committed almost twice as many penalties as the Sharks. Still, the Hawks squeaked out another win, 4-3, seconds into the overtime period on a brilliant goal by Brent Seabrook who was set up but proper by Jonathan Toews. (more…)
Wow, I just can’t say enough about how improved the Hawks’ defense is this year. So far I’ve seen backchecking (actual backchecking!), guys laying down to block shots and impede opponents’ lanes, and screening in front of the opposing net minder’s crease. Finally I can say that the Hawks have a working offense and defense. (more…)