by Patrick Stankus
Tweet to #Fatrick
The Blackhawks made a quick trip to Philadelphia on Saturday for a matinee against the Flyrers, thanks to the stupidity of the NHL schedule makers. The trip was made worse for the Hawks as the news came out that Corey Crawford would be unavailable for the game, and then it snowballed that he was undergoing an emergency appendectomy. Lovely news isn't it? Upon hearing that, the Hawks scrambled to sign an emergency backup goalie to Scott Darling. In comes local kid Eric Semborski, who got to live every amateur goalie's dream by suiting up, taking warm ups, and sitting on the bench for an NHL game. Enjoy the moment kid.
The start for the Hawks was less than ideal as the Flyers had a quality chance, just twenty seconds in. Nice way for the defense to welcome Scott Darling to the game isn't it? They did somehow manage to get on the scoreboard first, thanks to an #AK72Line goal by Artemi Panarin. From then on for the Hawks, it was as ugly and messy as me devouring a plate full of McRibs. The Hawks yielded a whopping 16 shots to the Flyers, but thankfully Scott Darling was the one player who gave a rat's ass, and the Hawks skated to the locker room with a 1-0 lead after twenty minutes.
The middle frame for the Blackhawks was a complete disaster. The turnovers led to so many chances for the Flyers, you would think Jay Cutler or Tony Romo suited up for the Hawks today. Both Hinostroza and Kane had costly turnovers that wound up in the back the Hawks net thirty-one seconds apart to put the Hawks in a 2-1 hole. The period didn't get much better as TVR over committed on a three on two chance for the Flyers, and before you knew it, it was 3-1 Flyers. The Hawks peppered Steve Mason with 13 shots, but none of them amounted to anything, and the Hawks trailed by two, after two.
In the final twenty minutes, both teams looked less than interested playing. It was the textbook "mail it in" period. The Hawks took two penalties, but managed to kill off both of the Flyers power plays. Gotta do anything to raise that PK%. Midway through the period, the Hawks did have a power play of their own, but nothing came of it, and the Hawks still trailed by two. It was a pretty uneventful period to say the least. I'm pretty sure the camera showed us more of Eric Semborksi on the bench than actual play. Thankfully the third period didn't take too long, and we could get on with our Saturday afternoon. In the end the Flyers defeated the Hawks by that 3-1 score. Up next for the Hawks is a quick turnaround, as they host Wiiiiiinnnnnnipeg tomorrow night at The UC.
- Despite the ugly loss, its hard not to smile at seeing the pure joy in Eric Semborski's face. Hell, even Q thought it was a great moment, judging by his post game remarks. That's three and a half hours that kid will never forget in his life. Not to mention he has a sweet custom made authentic jersey to go with it. Oh, and I should point out he did a much better job manning the bench door than that asshole assistant coach Gate ever did when I played.
- The #AK72Line made an appearance in the first period, with Artemi Panarin's goal. Yeah, its going to be fun to see how Bowman can pull off this signing. Tick, tick, tick, tick.....
- I'm not going to blame Darling for anything today. You try pulling off what he did today.
- The penalty kill does deserve a nod for killing off all three of the Flyers power plays.
- While the Hawks haven't won a regular season game in Philadelphia since 1996, remember back in the day they didn't play in Philadelphia every season. Its cool though Philly. You can have that streak. I'll always enjoy this moment, when it mattered most in Philadelphia.
- Anytime Nick Schmaltz wants to do something, would be fine by me. This is why we don't get the anointing oil out for prospects, because aside from a few shifts with Kane and Toews, Schmaltz has been awful.
- Wasn't it nice to see Patrick Kane turn the puck over at the center line and then half ass it back on defense? I can only imagine the outcry if Rozsival or the other scapegoat TVR did that.
- Speaking of nice, its always nice to see a guy who has one goal on the season, score two against you.
- Late in the second period, #DickPanik had a potential goal erased after a video review. The call on the ice was no goal, but the war room in Toronto buzzed down, and the play went under review. While looking at the "overhead" angle, it looked like Provorov gloved the puck from behind the goal line. The problem with that is, the camera IS NOT directly over the goal line, therefore an optical illusion of the puck being completely over the line occurs. That makes this camera angle inconclusive, and the war room doesn't take this look into consideration. Oh and did mention Toronto is looking at ten more angles than us? I have no issue with the call being no goal. Its not 100% conclusive the puck COMPLETELY crossed the line. And if you think there should have been a penalty shot for Provorov gloving the puck (because I saw people saying that on twitter), its not. You have to close your hand on the puck, Provorov swiped at it. For the record, this isn't college football, we don't review plays for potential penalties in professional leagues.
- I know what Quenneville was trying to do by putting Panarin and Kane out there on the final penalty kill, but that was just dumb. It was quite obvious the Hawks were ready to board the plane back to Chicago, and leave their starting goalie in a Philadelphia hospital.
- I hate the 11:30am Sunday morning starts like there's no tomorrow, but this noon start on a Saturday is not much better. Afternoon hockey sucks. Period. I'd rather have those 9:30pm starts.
- This morning news broke that Corey Crawford had to have an emergency appendectomy, so Scott Darling was thrown in net. 1pm local time start + being thrown into a start, normally means the game will be an adventure.
- The Flyers gold numbered jerseys are atrocious. Its a shame they couldn't get a little more creative like the Kings did with their fabulous silver 50th anniversary jersey.
- Just when you think the duo of Lauren Magiera and Steve Konroyd can't get any worse, they somehow find a way to do. I'm pretty confident Magiera had never watched a Blackhawks game before this season, and its showing badly. All the more reason the Hawks need to do whatever it takes to bring back Jim Blaney.
- The first period. The second period. The third period. No need to elaborate.
- I'm not as harsh on TVR like others are, but today he was to say it politely, wasn't good.
