Hawks Hockey Hoiden

It’s official, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane both signed 5-year contract extensions with the Blackhawks worth $31.5 million each (or $6.3 million a year each).  Duncan Keith signed a 13-year, $72-million deal (or $5.5 million a year).  At the press conference announcing the deals, Jonathan Toews said “It’s been an incredible ride so far…It doesn’t get any better than playing here in Chicago.” Patrick Kane ribbed Toews adding, “I get to be honored with Captain Serious again too…though it’s actually nice to not be sitting next to him for once…” (more…)

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…)

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…)

My reaction to the Blackhawks signing Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane to 5-year deals, and almost signing Duncan Keith to a 13-year deal?  Yippee (!), oh great (!), and holy crap 13 years (!?) respectively.  Thank you.  That is all.

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…)

Last night’s Hawks/Maple Leafs game was a bit laborious.  The Hawks gave out in the 3rd and I think so did we.  Fans seemed contented with the win seemingly oblivious to the fact that the Hawks squeaked out a win against one of the worst teams in the NHL.  Should the game have been as close as it was at 3-2?  (more…)

In today’s blog post, Don Ehrenhaft of HockeyInsight.com takes a stab at the critics of the Blackhawks’ goal-tending — whether Huet or Niemi — arguing that they should get some perspective.  He admonishes:

It is always easy to point out a weak goal and base judgment on that particular event, but I would like to compare the Chicago goalies to the other so-called stars this season…

(more…)

Sports Illustrated may not spend as much space talking about hockey players as NBA, NFL, and MLB players, but when they do cover hockey, it’s usually spot on.  The October 26, 2009, issue features the article “Captain Serious” which takes an objective look (for once) at Jonathan Toews.  Seems Toews is either ignored by the media, or put in some ridiculous promo not befitting his staid personality.  Even if Toews hasn’t morphed into the media darling that Patrick Kane seems to be, he is so reliable you could set your watch to his performance; that alone is worth 100 Kaners. (more…)

You had to be at the Hawks/Wild game tonight to truly appreciate how lousy and yet bizarre the officiating was.  On some of those calls I was left wondering what in the world the refs were thinking.  Perhaps I shouldn’t complain though because it was the only real spark in a game where both teams were bumbling about.  (more…)