Darling Sent To Rockford

Head Crusher The Blackhawks announced this morning that they had re-assigned hometown golden boy Scott Darling back to Rockford, which really rubbed me the wrong way. Go figure, right? This is why I'm agitated at the Blackhawks organization over this move. When Darling...

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Blackhawks at Ottawa5-4 Shootout Win Recap

Big Night For Big Hoss For the second time in five nights, the Blackhawks found themselves playing their season series with the Ottawa Senators. This time however, the Blackhawks were the ones traveling as they start a quick two game road trip to Ontario. The first period...

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Blackhawks vs Ducks1-0 Shutout Loss Recap

Die, Die, Die, My Darling The red hot Anaheim Ducks came to Chicago to face the Blackhawks, Tuesday night. In sort of a surprise move, the Blackhawks decided to give Scott Darling his second start in a row against Ducks rookie John Gibson, which I was vehemently against....

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Blackhawks vs. Senators2-1 Win Recap

"Sweet Home Chicago" Much has been made in the past week of the Blackhawks goaltending situation since Corey Crawford went down with an upper body injury. On Tuesday Antti Raanta pitched a shutout in his season debut, and thus by the meatball coalition was anointed the new...

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Blackhawks at St. Louis3-2 Loss Recap

To The Rats The Blackhawks took the trek down Route 66 to smelly, St. Louis last night, to face the disgusting farm animals known as the Blues. These are teams that don't like each other at all, and don't hide it. This was a great way to spend a warm October Saturday night. The...

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Blackhawks at Nashville3-2 Loss Recap

"Skeptic" The Blackhawks traveled to Nashville, Thursday night to face the Preds, who were looking for revenge after the Blackhawks overtime win the previous week. This time around it was the Blackhawks who were icing their backup goalie, rather than the Preds. The first period...

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Raanta-nomics

I feel like it is time to throw a bucket of water on this smoking ember before it becomes a raging inferno. There is no, nor will there be, a starting goalie change for the Chicago Blackhawks. The faster you get that through your heads, the less silly you are going to make...

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Blackhawks vs Flyers4-0 Shutout Win Recap

Antti, Antti, Antti Philadelphia is known for the little guy who comes out of no where, and captures the emotion of a city. And after one game in net for the Blackhawks this season, Antti Raanta has won over the hearts of the meatball coalition. Raanta posted a 32 save shutout...

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Puckin Hostile Shoutcast Episode 13

Gatekeeper and Pat finally have some regular season hockey to talk about, whether it be the terrible Sabres, Oilers, and Avs, or the surprising Islanders. They also have a chance to discuss the Blackhawks "earning" 7 of 8 points, as well as the surprises and disappointments...

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Blackhawks vs Predators2-1 OT Win Recap

"The Chase Is Better Than The Catch" The Blackhawks welcomed the Nashville Preds to the United Center Saturday night. This game featured former Hawks Viktor Stalberg and Carter Hutton, but the bigger story was new coach Peter Laviolette's debut in Chicago as the new coach...

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Blackhawks vs. Flames2-1 OT Loss - Recap

The Return For most of the meatball coalition, Wednesday night at the UC was the much anticipated return of Stanley Cup hero Brandon Bollig. Unfortunately for the meatballs, we did not see the overhyped, never going to happen bout between useless hockey players in Bollig,...

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Blackhawks vs Sabres 6-2Home Opener - Win Recap

This Momentary Bliss The Blackhawks opened their home schedule last night at the United Center, hosting lowly Buffalo Sabres. Everyone pretty much knew what was at hand, with the Blackhawks being one of the top teams in the entire league and the Sabres racing towards the...

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Blackhawks at Dallas3-2 Shootout Win Recap

Filtered Truth The Blackhawks came out rather flat last night, Dallas, but were able to take a 1-0 lead into the first intermission on only three shots. They game up eight shots and had to have their goaltender stand on his head early to keep the game scoreless. The Blackhawks...

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2014 - 2015 NHL Predictions

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Since we're only hours away from the start of the NHL season, and now that I'm back from a 3rd world country and have access to a computer, I figured its better late than never to give you my predictions for the 2014-15 season.

We'll start in the West, since that's where the best hockey is played.


Western Conference

Central Division

1. Dallas Stars
2. Chicago Blackhawks
3. St. Louis Blues
4. Colorado Avalanche (Wild Card)
5. Minnesota Wild (Wild Card)
6. Nashville Predators
7. Winnipeg Jets

Pacific Division

1. Anaheim Ducks
2. Los Angeles Kings
3. San Jose Sharks
4. Vancouver Canucks
5. Edmonton Oilers
6. Phoenix, no wait, Arizona Coyotes (because the name change will solve the attendance problems)
7. Calgary Flames

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division

1. Tampa Bay Lightning
2. Boston Bruins
3. Montreal Canadiens
4. Detroit Red Wings
5. Toronto Maple Leafs
6. Ottawa Senators
7. Florida Panthers
8. Buffalo Sabres

Metropolitan Division

1. Pittsburgh Penguins
2. New York Islanders
3. Washington Capitals
4. New York Rangers (Wild Card)
5. Columbus Blue Jackets (Wild Card)
6. Philadelphia Flyers
7. New Jersey Devils
8. Carolina Hurricanes


Western Conference Final

Dallas Stars vs. Los Angeles Kings


Eastern Conference Final

Tampa Bay Lightning vs. New York Islanders


Stanley Cup Final

Los Angeles Kings vs. Tampa Bay Lightning


Stanley Cup Champions - Los Angeles Kings


Presidents' Trophy - Anaheim Ducks
Hart Trophy - Sidney Crosby
Rocket Richard Trophy - Steven Stamkos
Vezina Trophy - Henrik Lundqvist
Norris Trophy - Drew Doughty
Jack Adams Award - Jack Capuano

There you have it, my predictions for the upcoming season. And no I was not drinking when I came up with these predictions. Make sure you save them so you can tell me what an idiot I am when the season ends.

@Patrick_Stankus

Puckin Hostile Shoutcast Episode 12

Gatekeeper and Pat finally have some Blackhawks hockey to discuss with the preseason camp, the nightmare of calamities that was the Blackhawks preseason, the trade of Nick Leddy and we couldn't forget the meatball-tastic signing of Gorilla Salad. For all your custom jersey...

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Where Do We Go Now?

Now that I have broken down the latest Blackhawks roster moves, what happens next? I have been critical of Stan Bowman from time to time, but generally he has been alright. In the long run, at least a simple majority of the moves have been successful, but this ship is heading...

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The Great Space Coaster

After the completely asinine, head scratching camp invite of Daniel Carcillo, Friday, the real fun began for all of us crazy basement dwelling bloggers in Chicago. It quickly spread like wildfire that the PTO that Carcillo had signed was actually going to blossom into an...

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PreSeason : Blackhawks at New York Rangers3-2 Shootout Loss

"Dead Eyes" The Blackhawks closed out their preseason with a 3-2 shootout loss Friday night. After today's shenanigans, I'm getting right to the highlights: The Good I like what I see with Turbo Teravainen on the first powerplay unit with Shaw, Kane, Sharp and Seabrook....

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Death Becomes UsGorilla Salad Returns

In a move that no one could have predicted, the Blackhawks announced that they had added Dan "Gorilla Salad" Carcillo to their training camp roster. That was the reaction of most all Chicago fans. As the story unfolded more, Blackhawks Coach Joel Quenneville said that he...

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PreSeason : Blackhawks vs Canadiens3-1 Loss

The Blackhawks faced the Canadiens, last night, in a pretty boring game that ended up a 3-1 loss. This is the preseason so I'm just going to point out a few observations. -Michal Rozsival had a terrible turnover after attempting an asinine pointless spin-o-rama deep in the...

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