Oh, and since I’m in the middle of watching tonight’s Blackhawks game against the Oilers, I just have to ask, because I’m thinking of it, did Dustin Byfuglien get a nose job?  I swear his nose is smaller and even shorter!  Anybody else notice that?  Also, I think the fact that Jonathan Toews must be exhausted is throwing off the equilibrium of the team.  Give this kid a break and let him sit out a few games before he collapses would ya?!

Along those lines, do you think when Niklas Hjalmarsson goes to take a shower in the morning he sees a whole bunch of purple circles on his chest?  Brings new meaning to “taking one for the team”!  And do you think when Marian Hossa looks in the mirror he thinks he looks like Ziggy too?

Walker showed his net presence tonight by repeatedly blocking shots for Lightning net-minder Antero Niittymaki.  Ironically, Matt Walker’s brand of defense was kind of like catching lightning in a bottle last year for the Blackhawks, and yet the Hawks inexplicably let him go. Maybe they just didn’t know what they had in Walker (or maybe they weren’t willing to pay Walker what he was worth despite recognizing what they had in him.)  Still, I don’t think anyone will dispute that part of the success of the Hawks’ defense during the playoffs last year was the Matt Walker/Niklas Hjalmarsson defensive combination.  In fact, I’m not so sure that Niklas Hjalmarsson didn’t learn some of his signature moves from Matt Walker since they both have the same brand of ‘D’ in common.

Undoubtedly, Matt Walker was his own one-man ‘D’ in tonight’s game.  Still, Niittymaki let his guard down in the 1st period at about the midway point, coming too far out of the net, which allowed Patrick Kane to score an easy goal on a wide-open net. (Later, Patrick Kane would get laid out on the boards with a nasty hit to his forehead by Lightning Matt Smaby. Kane would not return to the game.)  The second Hawk goal, which came at about the midway point in the 2nd period, came off a wicked pass by Marian Hossa, who set Ben Eager up for the goal.

And speaking of Ben Eager, it was hard to see Matt Walker go at it with his former teammates, Ben Eager in particular, in the 2nd period. Ben Eager would again go at it a few minutes later, this time with Zenon Konopka, which resulted in a 5-minute fighting penalty for each.  I guess the Hawks had to expect some rowdiness from the Lightning, one of the most penalized teams in the NHL.  Jonathan Toews I guess also couldn’t have been too surprised by Matt Smaby’s dirty, late hit on him, which laid him out with a shot to his head late in the 2nd period.  What was surprising however is that Toews got a roughing call for taking a swing at a Lightning player, any Lightning player, in retribution.  Yet for some reason Smaby was not called at all for his nasty hit on Toews.  Hopefully the NHL remedies that no-call in the days to come.

Despite the Lightning rough-housing, Marian Hossa also had a brilliant goal off a sweet Patrick Sharp pass in the 2nd period.  Upon the slick wrister from Sharpie, which he shot high, Hossa pulled the puck out of the air, put it to the ice, and shot it for the goal all within seconds.  Niittymaki didn’t even know what hit him.

And in the 3rd period, it was more of the same mad rush to the net on the part of the Hawks when Dustin Byfuglien brought the puck up the boards and  passed to Jonathan Toews who battled it in for the goal.  Pat Foley was right: a goal is the best revenge.

Lightning Todd Fedoruk apparently tried to take out his frustration on the Hawks’ goal-tender Antti Niemi as Fedoruk bull-dozed Niemi unnecessarily in the last two minutes of the game, which resulted in a late broohaha in front of the net.  Then Hawk Kris Versteeg shot it millimeters past the goal line on Niitymaki but there was no pause to even review the “non-goal.” I  guess the War Room figured since the Hawks were up by four, they didn’t need to bother with the review.

And let’s not forget to give Antti Niemi his due tonight for the shut-out of the Lightning 4-0.  Granted, Niemi only had to deflect 18 shots on goal the whole game (whereas the Hawks had 29 shots on goal the whole night), but still, let’s give credit where it’s due.  I’d like to see more of Niemi.  He’s coming along quite nicely.

Overall, great game Hawks.  An easy win, but still, it’s always fun to watch those slick Hawk moves.

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.

Also how many interference calls were missed?  I think I counted two times when I looked up and one of the Oil was holding a Hawk against the boards. Those are pretty obvious penalties to miss, if in fact you’re just missing them and not, say, overlooking them altogether.

And in terms of overlooking things, it’s really too bad that Bryan Bickell overlooked his own safety while open-ice checking Oiler Dustin Penner which resulted in Bickell slamming his head on the ice after tripping over Penner.  It’s never a good sign when two of your own teammates (in this case Niklas Hjalmarsson and Troy Brouwer) have to help you off the ice.  Bickell got his bell rung but good and is certain to have a substantial concussion.  I hope that the Hawks management will remember how Bickell took one for the team and ask him back up when he stops seeing double (or triple or quadruple).

Ok that was the bad, now for the good stuff. How much of a nail-biter was it when Cristobal Huet made that awesome save in the 2nd period by coming out of the crease so far he was halfway to the blue line!  At the same time you have to cringe because of course you never want to see your goalie that far out.  Yikes!  (It was good that Huet was performing so well last night and that Khabibulin was not in net for the Oil because seeing those two go head-to-head just feels really wrong somehow.)

Huet would again star in another nail-biting moment later in the 2nd period.  With the clock showing 0.1 seconds left, Oiler Shawn Horcoff supposedly scored a goal.  It wasn’t a pretty goal and had it stood it would’ve been called a garbage goal, but the War Room ruled a ‘no goal’ determining time had run out before the puck went in.  Once again, Huet had another great night.

Jonathan Toews too had an excellent night. He had two goals — one in the first period and one in the third on a power play — and an assist. (Also to score were Kris Versteeg, Patrick Kane, and John Madden.)  Tazer’s forechecking is now back to his pre-injury caliber so it’s nice to have him back all the way.  It’s nice to have this team back…finally.  Now, if the Hawks can keep up their winning streak on the road, they will make Hawks fans some very happy humans (as Pat Foley would say).

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!

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.

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.

And how many times have we seen someone who doesn’t even have the puck get checked and interference isn’t even called?  At least the puck was in the vicinity of Backes, though true enough, he hadn’t touched it.  It’s just that Cam Barker didn’t time his hit well, that’s all.

…And things did not improve from there with the Hawks losing 2-0.