"Maybe if I imitate MJ, Coach won't bench me...guess not"
I know this sounds like a broken fucking record, but talk about a frustrating loss. Just when I thought things might start to hit the upswing, with Boss 81 back in the lineup, and they play a game like this. Stellar job throwing away two points, and playing 59 minutes and 46 seconds, fellas. Thanks for the effort.
Before I get into this shitshow circus, I want to suggest that you all take a gander over at Second City Hockey, and check out an article written by a guy that I have great respect for, Sam Fels from The Committed Indian. It's a good read, and it mirror's my feeling exactly.
The Good
Fernando Pisani had a nice goal against his ex-mates, off an Oiler turnover, after a nice one handed feed by Jack Skillington. Again, Skille is one of the most energetic players on the ice, and that energy resulted in the only Blackhawks goal.
After just a few shifts, Boss 81 showed why he's simply better than everyone else on the ice, but didn't show up in the scoring. I thought maybe this would inspire someone to do, well, SOMETHING. Toews and Kane went back into hibernation, after their "Odd Couple" game of the year.
The Bad
Jeremy Morin was basically benched after turning over the puck at the blue line resulting in a Taylor Hall breakaway. That's not really the way to work on a rookies confidence, but what do I know? If you're not going to play him, send him back to Rockford. Don't waste the nine games they have before a year drops off his contract, by sitting him on the bench. The logic in this astounds me.
What was Skille rewarded with after his hustle lead to the Hawks only goal? A grand total of 9 minutes and 25 seconds of ice time. The only people to see less were FrankenScott and Morin. I'm so tired of pointing this out game after game, but it's clearly working, isn't it? Again, what do I know?
Former Blackhawk Jim Vandermeer completely rocked TomoKop, so mush so that it dislodged the glass. There is your 3 seconds of fame, Jimmy. I think the glass, itself, hurt Kopecky more.
I was ALWAYS a big fan of Nikolai Khabibulin, and I've made that known, so I can't say it broke my heart to see him make that beautiful save on Toews. That is a very difficult save to make, and it basically won the game for the Oilers. I just wish it was made in a losing effort. I'm still a fan.
By the way, Shooter has not only dropped down to a -11 on the ice, but he has apparently lost his scoring touch. Just Peachy.
The Ugly
Poor Corey Crawford can't catch a break. He played a great game and accrued the loss, because of two sloppy defensive breakdowns in 14 seconds. It really IS sad. Yes, he over perused the original shot from the point, and was late getting over to the far post, but once again, our NORRIS TROPHY WINNING DEFENSEMAN was on the case. Case closed, right? Crawford did made a really nice save on Taylor Hall, after a bad Jeremy Morin turnover.
Yep, once again John Scott. He might have taken the most ugly slapshots ever taken, early in the first, when he broke his stick. Then made a spectacle of himself by breaking roughly $600 in sticks, in the first period alone. Those sticks were worth more than John Scott's career. He did somewhat redeem himself by repeatedly punching fuck stick Zack Stortini's face, but he still has a very limited skill set. Is it really even worth him getting dressed for 5 minutes and 38 seconds of ice time? Is it me, or is our "tough guy" not so tough? Stortini was looking for some ass a few shifts earlier, and Scott whimpered away like puppy that just got smacked. What's wrong John? You need an invitation and a permission slip from mommy to dance? Obviously, Stortini wasn't very scared of him, as he chased him down between whistles. For that, I crafted this portrait of John Scott:
