They shit the bed! Do I need to write anything else? I should have played Modern Warefare 3 instead of wasting my time with this game! Next up is the Blue Jackets who are bad at everything including hockey.
Go Hawks!!
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Blackhawks/Ducks Preview
Anaheim Ducks (4-3-0) @ Chicago Blackhawks (4-1-2)
Time: 7:30
TV: Comcast SportsNet
Radio: WGN 720
Internet: Justin.tv/hawks33channel (password is “stoogetvcom”
The first of four meetings between these two clubs begins tonight in the United Center. Both teams are coming off losses in their previous games, with the Ducks losing a frustrating 5-4 decision to Phoenix on Sunday, while the Blackhawks of course fell to the Colorado Avalanche 5-4 by way of the shootout at the UC on Saturday.
For the Ducks, this is the first of a brutal 7 game road trip, in which they play 5 clubs who were playoff contenders. Hopefully, the Blackhawks can start this trip off on a sour note for Anaheim. This is the 2nd game of a 3 game homestand for Chicago.
The Ducks definitely have players, both up front and on the bluelines, who can hurt you offensively. Their biggest threat is reigning Hart Trophy winner and NHL MVP Corey Perry, who after coming off a 50+ goal campaign last season, has picked up right where he left off. Perry is tied for the team lead in points with 7. Players that also have seven points for Anaheim are Ryan Getzlaf, Ageless Wonder Teemu Selanne, and offensive weapon Lubomir Visnovsky. Other notables for Anaheim include Bobby Ryan, who when put with Perry and Getzlaf last season formed the best line in hockey, and their goaltender Jonas Hiller.
Hiller, after suffering through vertigo last season (which is part of the reason Ray Emery is Chicago’s backup goalie), has definitely seemed to lose a step in his six starts this season. Usually, Hiller can be considered one of the NHL’s top goaltenders. However, through six games Hiller has posted a 3-3 record with a subpar .892 save percentage and a 2.71 GAA. Hopefully the Blackhawks can inflate those numbers even more tonight.
Overall, aside from the opening night loss in Dallas, the hasn’t been too much to complain about in the Blackhawks overall game. Sure, they got stoned by a hot goalie in game 1, they zombie-walked their way through the late stages of the loss against Boston, and a couple of bounces didn’t go their way against Colorado on Saturday, but for the most part, when the Blackhawks can get their transition game going and limit the opponent’s chances, it usually turns out well for them. It also helps when your penalty kill, which was a big weakness for Chicago last season, is one of the most elite in the league. If the Hawks continue to play the way they have for most of the year, they should have no problems beating any team in the league. Sometimes, though, that can be a huge “if”.
Former Maple Leaf Jason Blake is out for Anaheim for about the next three months after undergoing wrist surgery last month. Thankfully, the Blackhawks still have no injuries to report.
Let’s Go Hawks
KTM
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Blackhawks/Avalanche Preview
Chicago Blackhawks (3-1-1) @ Colorado Avalanche (5-1-0)
Time: 8:00 PM Central
TV: Comcast SportsNet
Radio: WGN 720
Internet: Justin.tv/hawks33channel (password is “stoogetvcom”)
After an impressive, thorough, and all around dominant victory over the Phoenix Coyotes, the Blackhawks stay out west to take on the red-hot Quebec Nordiques Big Falling Snow Pile Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center.
As was the case with Phoenix, it seems as if the Blackhawks never play well against the Avalanche. Memory seems to recall a game where Tomas Fleischmann scored a couple power play goals in the third to once again, as was the case more times than preferable last year, cost the Hawks much needed points. However, considering the Hawks haven’t played Phoenix well the last couple of seasons and beat them handily two nights ago, it should make all of us feel a little bit better.
The Blackhawks, coming off a game where they dominated in all phases of the game (cue Lovie Smith impression) , should really keep things in tact from Tuesday. As long as the Hawks win the special teams game (especially if the power play looks halfway decent), they should be ok. And if they can beat Semyon Varlamov…
When it was announced that the Avalanche gave the Capitals for a first round and conditional second round pick, most people (including me) thought they were crazy for doing so, especially with Varlamov’s less than great career in DC. However, he has been a huge part in the Avs success so far this season, going 3-1-0 in his first four starts. David Jones leads the team with 4 goals.
Peter Mueller and Brandon Yip are injured and will not play in tonight’s game. The Blackhawks (shockingly) have no injuries to report.
Corey Crawford is Coach Q’s guy in net tonight.
Let’s Go Hawks
KTM
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Head West Young Man: Blackhawks/Coyotes Preview
After losing a sloppy 3-2 game in the shootout to the defending Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins, the Chicago Blackhawks head west to take on the Phoenix Coyotes.
The Coyotes have played the Blackhawks well in recent vintage, winning five out of the last eight meetings between the two clubs.
Blackhawks
The Blackhawks come into tonight’s game with a good, not great, 2-1-1 record. I say not great because, in my opinion, they should have won the two games in which they did not pick up the maximum 2 points. A couple notes on the Blackhawks for tonight:
- The power play needs to step up. The Blackhawks have one of, if not the most, talented groups of players in the NHL. And even though they finished 4th in power play percentage a year ago, it seems like every year there are always MAJOR issues with the power play. This time around, the power play needs to figure out how to make short, quick passes instead of the long 50 foot stretch passes that get picked off and throw back down the other way. The Hawks have scored 2 or fewer goals in half of the games they have played so far this season. Fixing the power play would go a long way toward breaking that trend.
- 4 games into the season and it’s already “Marian Hossa was playing great but now he’s hurt” time. The Hawks are optimistic that he’ll come back tonight, but remember, this is the Blackhawks. Ya know…the same team that listed Kim Johnsson as “day-to-day”. He hasn’t played an NHL game since.
- Considering we haven’t hurt otherwise, Corey Crawford will be in net tonight for Chicago.
- Any takers that John Scott will be in the lineup AGAIN tonight?
Coyotes
The Phoenix Coyotes are a team that many people considered a bottom feeder in the Western Conference a couple of seasons ago, especially considering all the “Coyotes back to Winnipeg…?” turmoil the team had been facing the last couple seasons (although now that Atlanta moved to Winnipeg it’s now become “Coyotes to *insert city here”…?”) and the fact that it didn’t seem they had the talent to be a top 8 team in the West. However, the Coyotes responded to that by being a top 5 team in the conference for the last two seasons.
The Coyotes top player is their captain, and only player on the team who was an original member of the Jets when the team moved from Winnipeg in 1996, Shane Doan. The old man has gotten off to a hot start again this year with 7 points in the first 4 Phoenix games.
The biggest change for the Coyotes in the offseason surrounded their netminders. Asshat Ilya Bryzgalov followed up his “stellar” performance against the Red Wings in round 1 of the playoffs last year by demanding he be handed a significant raise. The Coyotes declined to make an offer to the pending free agent, sending his negotiating rights to the Philadelphia Flyers. Replacing him in net are no other than Jason LaBarbera, who has been the backup in the Valley of the Sun for a few seasons now, as well as former Lightning netminder Mike Smith. Don’t expect master performances by whomever gets the nod tonight.
The puck drops at 9:00 for you locals back home in the Chi. A 10:00 start for us in the east. You can catch it on WGN, WGN Radio 720, or on http://www.justin.tv/hawks33channel (the password is “stoogetvcom”).
Let’s Go Hawks
KTM
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Hawks Edged by Bruins
- The Kane/Bomb line is almost unstoppable. When players play there rolls and play them correctly it is fun to watch. Dan plays with heart and knows what he is suppose to be doing on the ice and that is freeing up Patrick enough to do what he's suppose to do.
- Toews is having another slow start. The Toews/Brunette/Sharp line isn't even showing up and his bad back pass lead to the game tying goal in the 3rd period, that's not like our captain. *He also missed on a great opportunity on a shootout goal.
- Hossa was a scratch because of an upper body injury. Hope it's not serious because Boss Hoss was playing with a chip on his shoulder and was in beast mode since joining the Hawks after having his first child.
- Duncan Keith struggled with Nick Leddy again. I'm almost getting sick of seeing this pairing!
- Props to Jamal Mayers for dropping the gloves again, nice to see the grit on the back end again.
- Bickell's breakaway goal was fantastic he didn't do too much with the puck and just buried it 5 hole. It's also nice to see Bicks taking the body and doing it in the right situations he needs to be bringing this every night all season to be effective.
- Big ups to the penalty kill. So far this season is looking like a strong point to the Hawks unlike last season. Nice job Stan Bowman for knowing what the Hawks where lacking and good job bringing in the right guys to fix the situation.
- Dave Bolland had another good game. His line of Frolik and Bickell has been fantastic, now if we could only get the first line going.
- We got 1 point!
- Losing the momentum in the 3rd period with no puck support and letting the Bruins do basically whatever they wanted to do. Looks like we lost our legs and basically got pushed around the entire 3rd period.
- Tim Thomas was awesome like he's been all of last season and the playoffs. Good start to the season for him.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Blackhawks Down the Jets!
It’s a little too early for the Halloween puns, but the Blackhawks looked ghastly at the start of last night’s game against the Winnipeg Jets. With 2 goals nearly three minutes apart, Jim Slater (yeah I had no idea who he was either) looked as if he was about to single-handedly hammer the nail in the Hawks coffin (I said it was too early for the Halloween pun, not that I wasn’t going to use em) when Coach Q delivered what was obviously a pretty solid ass-chewing to his team. It was all goal horns and spinning red lights after that, as the Blackhawks took control and shut down the Jets with 4-3 victory.
I loved the Kane, Hoss, Carcillo line. On paper you think hmm…. But I have to say I was intrigued from the moment I heard Q was going this route. It made for some fun hockey.
Carcillo gets slagged off for almost never using his brain, but the truth is he has always been a better hockey player than most people think. Sure he looks like John Holmes younger brother, but the guy actually does have some game and when he’s on the ice and playing smart whoever is beside him is going to get plenty of opportunities, and last night this is exactly what happened. He’s never had the chance to play with this many “skill” guys and it’s going to be really interesting to see if he’s able to maintain the balance between his various personalities. We saw him do it last night and both Hossa, and Kane were both better because of it.
FEATHERS EARNED
Patrick Kane – Talked about elevating his game and is now doing just that.
Daniel Carcillo – Played smart, played hard, and looked like he belonged out there.
The chick from the Mike Anderson Chevy Giant commercial – Okay, I’ll admit that initially I thought she was kind of hot, but if I have to see her rock that fucking granny-wig while spouting “greeeaaat customer service” one more time I’m probably going to stab someone in the ear with a cattle prod.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Blackhawks/Jets Preview
The Atlanta Thrashers Winnipeg Jets come into the United Center tonight looking for their first win of the season. This is the first Winnipeg Jets road game in more than 15 years, and generally, the franchise has struggled in Chicago. The Blackhawks have won the last two meetings, both 5-4 by way of the shootout. The Jets are coming off their home opener in which they were stomped on by the Montreal Canadiens. The Blackhawks fared much better in their home opener, as they routed the Dallas Stars 5-2 at the United Center on Saturday night.
The Jets aren’t that good of a hockey team, but they do have players who can hurt you. Nik Antropov, Evander Kane, 2011 first round pick Mark Scheifele, Zach Bogosian, and of course former Hawks Andrew Ladd and Dustin Byfuglien will all be offensive threats. Ondrej Pavelec will be netminding Winnipeg tonight.
The Blackhawks are coming off a much needed 5-2 victory over Dallas on Saturday. However, it appears a couple lineup changes will be in the cards for Chicago. Daniel Carcillo will be in the lineup tonight after serving a 2 game suspension for the beginning of the season. It also seems as if Carbomb will be skating with Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa. Why? Nobody knows…knowing Joel Quenneville the lines will be changed after the first shift of the game.
Also, Ray Emery will get his first start of the season. He was sick with the flu earlier in the week, but he is all ready to be between the pipes tonight for the Hawks. It’s probably a good idea to give Crawford a rest now, because knowing Joel Quenneville, Corey Crawford will start the last 39 games of the season.
The puck is set to drop at 7:30 at the United Center. It will be broadcast on Comcast SportsNet as well as WGN Radio 720. Let’s Go Hawks.
KTM
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