Hey there, Vince Vaughn. Can you make the Sedin's heads bleed, please?
Roenick is available and willing, I'm sure.
Two down and two to go. Sunday night was game three of the opening round of the playoffs and the Hawks went in down two games to none. The good part for the Hawks was that they were at home. As unsuccessful as they were in the first two tilts, they were also going to have to make some changes. Would it make a difference in their play, and could the UC crowd help power them past a better team? These are all questions that would be answered after game 3. Either they were going to make a series of this, or they were going to be on the verge of a sweep against, and some time on the golf course.
The first period was BY FAR the best period of the series, for the Hawks. They came out looking dangerous and committed. They ended up out shooting the Nucks 16-10 with the help of 4 powerplays, BUT only netted a 1-0 lead going into the first break. The second period was in the Canucks favor thanks to a bad Hawks penalty. The won the period two one, but the score was still tied 2-2. Another critical third period on the way. As we've seen all year, the Hawks couldn't hold it together for the third period and walked out of the UC with a 3-2 loss and an 0-3 series deficit. This playoff beard won't make it to the end of the week.
- The Hawks opened up MUCH batter than the previous two games with several big chances heading the other way. This is the first time in the series that they have even resembled a playoff team, but couldn't plunge the knife deep into the wound.
- Dr. Linebender had some interesting combinations last night. The lines were as follows: Kane-Toews-Smith, Stalberg-Frolik-Hossa, Sharp-Kruger-Brouwer, Pisani-Dowell-Scott at forward, and Keith-Leddy, Hjalmarsson-Seabrook, Campoli-Campbell on Defense.
- Four seconds in to their first powerplay, Deuce took a clean faceoff win from El Capitan, took one stride in, and put a well placed laser past Bobby Lu, to send the UC crowd into a FRENZY. THAT is what your captain and alternate captain should be doing.
- Cashing in on a Raffi Torres absolute douchebag cheap shot, Sharpie took a feed from Toews and deposited it past Borat. That's a way to make them pay, on what should have been a 5 minute powerplay.
- Brent Seabrook is a complete stud, period. The way he was lit up by Torres for two shifts in a row, and how he powered through it, needs to be pointed out. That's toughness and leadership. Fuck anyone who thinks otherwise.
- Toews, Snake, and Sharpie were all positive at the circles. Even Frodo was 50%. Not that it mattered.
- Well, when I said changes, I CERTAINLY never intended to see Big Show, but we got him. With injuries to Ryan Johnson, Tomas Kopecky, and Bryan Bickell, I guess we had no choice. He played with Dog, and Snake for most of the game. That line does absolutely nothing for me. I don't care how much Steve and Pat want to play it up, it's a BRUTAL line. The most comical thing I saw all night was Big Show 1:12 of POWERPLAY time. That's not a typo, folks. Now, Buff was overrated, but Show is not, nor will he EVER be, Dustin Byfuglien. So, lets cut that silly shit out right now, Dr. Linebender. That just insults my hockey knowledge.
- About 15 seconds into a stupid Big Show penalty, Christian Ehrhoff blasts an open point shot past Crow. Glad we had Scott out there to swing the momentum in Vancouver's direction. His physical presence was priceless. Aside from that, Crow really had a great look at that shot, but sometimes the easy ones sneak by, I suppose.
- Fifty four seconds after the powerplay goal, the Nucks Alex Edler made Nick Leddy LOOK like a 20 year old rookie, carried the puck towards the net and dished it off to Daniel Sedin, who whacked away like Paul Bunyan, and got it past Crow.
- Mikael Samuelsson put the Nucks up, midway through the third, off a 3rd rebound shot. Vancouver took advantage of a bad match up with Smith/Kruger/Pisani out on the ice, even though Kruger went for a change before the goal was scored.
- I'm so fed up with Pat Foley always saying "Where's Daniel" when Henrik has the puck and vice versa. We get it, Pat, seriously. That was old 2 games ago.
- The Hawks played much more physical, but they had SEVERAL chanced to light up an opponent in the open ice, and passed them up. This is ice hockey, boys, not Dancing with the Stars.
- Raffi Torres is a CLASSLESS CEMENTHEAD plain and simple. I can't emphasize what a huge mistake the officiating crew made by not booting that fucking lowlife. Thankfully the league will deal with him, but he needed to be DESTROYED by someone for that elbow on Seabrook. That is where John Scott should have gotten suspended for ending Torres. Instead, the Hawks let him prance around the ice for the remainder on the game. No consequences. Anyway, If we see Torres on the ice, in this series, I'd be shocked and outraged. He SHOULD be tossed for the remainder of the playoffs.
- Kaner, enough of the dancing around waiting for a prefect powerplay chance. When you're skating through the slot, with the puck on your stick, WORK YOUR MAGIC and get it to the net. Even if he flipped floater towards the net for a tip or rebound, at least it's a shot on net. Do you really have the luxury of being picky?
Special thanks to my friend Pete for the titles of the last two recaps.
