On Thursday night, the Blackhawks traveled to the tire fire capital of the USA, St. Louis, MO, to take on the Blues in the second to last preseason game of the year. Thursday's game also marked the most anticipated return in Chicago sports history since Brandon Bollig's last year, when Marcus Kruger took to the ice in his preseason debut. Aside from Kruger the Blackhawks roster of NHL players was as much of a stretch as the seems on Ken Hitchcock's suit jacket. Meanwhile, the Blues assembled their roster as if it was a meaningful game, trying to prove their scrubs could beat the Blackhawks C squad.
The opening frame was a complete shit show. Bad goaltending, lots of penalties, goals a plenty, and bad defense. It was all on display. The Blues opened the scoring just over 3 minutes in. Their lead didn't last long, as the Hawks answered back with 2 goals in just under 2 minutes. That was the last of the lead the majority of the soon to be bagging grocery lineup would see. The Blues added 2 more goals in the 1st period to take a 3-2 lead into the locker room.
The sloppy play carried over into the 2nd period, with the Blues handing the Hawks 4 power plays. It doesn't matter who is in the lineup for the Hawks because the power play sucks. The Hawks failed to convert on any of the chances, while yielding a shorthanded goal to the Blues. After 2, the Blues led the Hawks 4-2.
In the 3rd period, the Blues took 2 more penalties to try and hand the Hawks the game, but again, the Hawks couldn't convert on either 2 opportunities. The Blues added another shorthanded goal on the Hawks 1st power play to give them a 5-2 lead, in which would wind up being the final score.
- Hey did you guys hear? Marcus Kruger got his visa issues solved, and played in his 1st game of the preseason.
- Ville Pokka led the Hawks in ice time, and aside from a Svedberg lapse on the 1st Blues goal that made them both look silly, I thought he looked alright. I still don't think he's ready for the jump to the NHL. Sorry Derek. My guess is tomorrow he leads the line to the bus back to Rockford.
- Another Hog that I thought looked alright was Ryan Hartman. We saw a glimpse of him last year, and I would expect either he or Kyle Baun could lead the Rockford Shuttle of forwards this season.
- I don't know what to make of Viktor Tikhonov. On one hand I really want him to make the team because I like the idea of adding a Tikhonov shirsey to my collection. On the other hand I see him being a very frustrating player. I wouldn't be shocked if he was on a one way ticket back to Russia soon.
- Scott Darling looked sub par tonight. What do you expect though when you're facing a team with 90% of their NHL lineup while your team is made up of AHLers. Regardless, I did not like the first goal he allowed. If Crawford had given that up, dear God.
- Its hard to pick on the power play when the team is basically a C squad, but nevertheless, 0 for 7 on the power play is an eye sore. Oh and did I mention the 2 shorthanded goals they allowed?
- Bryan Bickell was sporting an "A" on his jersey tonight. My guess is this was the Blackhawks idea of showcasing his "Cup leadership" as a marketable trade tool. Too bad everyone in the NHL knows he's completely useless at $4 million dollars a year. He also managed to be a -2 tonight. Really looking forward to this for the upcoming season.
- Speaking of things to look forward to, ladies and gentlemen, David Rundblad. Rundblad had a nice swing and a miss to a bouncing puck that led to the Blues 2nd goal. For overall a million bucks, it looks to be a fun year of Rundblad.
- Whoever had the idea to make Troy Brouwer the #1 star of the game can go to hell.
- If you haven't listened to the Puckin' Hostile Shoutcast, then here are my feelings about 3 on 3 OT. It sucks. PERIOD. Check back in 5 years, I guarantee people will be talking about how much they hate it, just like they talk about how much they hate the shootout now. Remember that slobbering love affair everyone had with the shootout when it first debuted?