Wasn't that refreshing? A nice little break is just what I needed, I know that. Back to hockey, and shenanigans aside, the Hawks needed that break to let some banged up players heal. If you were going to write this story, you would have arranged the injuries of the Captain and Alternate Captain around a week long break. Thank you Hockey Gods! The Hawks also made a move to add a little depth at Center, for Brendan "Tommy Gunn" Morrison. He was made his Hawks debut in Vancouver, against his former team. NHL story line writers, this is where you insert game winning goal by Tommy Gunn. Just a suggestion. I guess it was a little too late.
For those of you that aren't old as dirt, like I am, the title and picture refer to a popular late 70's/early 80's sitcom, in which a creepy apartment maintenance guy, named "Schneider", befriends a single mom and her kids. How's that for a sign of the times? Moving on, The first period of last night's game definitely showed a little rust with both teams, but especially by the Hawks. They were out shot 12-9, but luckily only surrendered one goal. They did a nice job of coming back after the Canucks opened the scoring, though. The Hawks started out the second giving up a big chance, but came back and out shot the Canuck 14-6 in the frame. Unfortunately, they weren't able to beat the Canucks goaltender. The third period was a fairly even with the Hawks outshooting the Canucks 12-10, and each team getting a goal, but this one was going to need extra time to decide who was going to get the extra point. The Hawks had excellent chances in OT, but in the end, the Canucks took advantage of some soft coverage and won the game.
- MegaMayers tied the game up for the Hawks, after they lost momentum, in the first period. He took a pass that was intended for Kaner and drove it back into the slot, beating Schneider. Nice to see his hard work paying off.
- Stalberg had 3 excellent chances in the second period along, and was stopped on all three. He reminds me of the Blonde Playboy tramps; All that talent and nothing upstairs.
- On what seemed like his 50th chance of the night, Vik Stalberg scored his 15th goal of the year off Alex Edler's ass, and past Schneider. The first line was all over the Canucks at that point, but Toews and Kane just couldn't finsh.
- El Capitan made a move that was absolutely undressed Edler, in OT, with a little Shake-n-Bake move, but wasn't able to finish.
- Not to take away from Schneider's play, but Crawford had a very good night, himself. None of the three goals could be hung on his hook. He faced a deflection, a break-a-way, and piss poor coverage in OT. For all those calling for his head on a stake, you have to give him his due when he plays well, and the point blank stop on Sedin, in OT was a total theft.
- All in all, the Hawks played a fairly solid game, after a week off, on the road, in Vancouver. They got a point, right? Let's not panic, but we can expect better.
- Hammer picked up where he left off last week, opening the game by not handling Hossa's tweener pass, which Crawford had to bail him out.
- The Hawks failed Crawford miserably when the top line couldn't get the puck out of the zone, and it ended up on the stick of Kesler. Keith got caught in no mans land, and redirected the shot off the shaft of his stick. Great job backing your goalie up after he just made 3 or 4 big stops. The Hawks wingers were guilty of heading out of the zone before they had full control of the puck and it bit them in the ass.
- Tommy Gunn's first few Blackhawks shifts were pretty awful. He iced the puck badly on the powerplay, and then turned over the puck a few times in the Hawks zone. He is, by no means, a bust, but he was looking a little rough around the edges, early.
- Cody Hodgson tied the game back up, for the Canucks, when the Hawks all got mesmerized by Vik Stalberg's bad stickhandling and eventual turnover at the Vancouver blue line, and let Hodgson sneak in behind them for the break-a-way goal. You have to point the finger at Seabrook and Keith, because they were certainly napping, or admiring Vik's stunning good looks.
- The guy that sung the national anthems was brutal. I don't know WHO he was, or what his qualifications were, but he couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. That was the most flat version of those songs that I've ever heard. I guess it was better than the "Fat Gallagher" that usually does the Canadian one.
- The Hawks lost 19 of 23 face-offs in the first period. OUCH! Overall, they were absolutely gang raped at the dot with the top 3 centers all turning in a 35%, or below, performance for the game.
- Hey, Powerplay? YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG! It's still fucked in a bad way.
- Keith, Seabrook, Bolland, and Kane all left Daniel Sedin wide open, 3 feet in front of Crawford, IN OT, and he took a pass from his brother to win the game. How do you NOT cover that creepy ginger? Was Bolland trying to cover him with The Force?
- You wouldn't know he even played, but Big Slow WAS on the ice for his 5 minutes of fame. Five minutes and twenty one seconds, to be exact. What you DID notice, though, was the fact that other D-Men had to rotate in to cover for Scott, because he doesn't have enough talent to be on the ice in a tight game. He didn't see the ice after the middle of the second period. And Sami Lepisto still sits in the press box. Don't give me any of that "toughness" bullshit, either, because the Hawks were outhit 33-16 and Andrew Shaw was ragdolled all night long.