Blackhawks at Detroit4-2 Loss Recap

"Stabbing the Drama"

by Gatekeeper
Yell at Gatekeeper

No rest for the wicked, with the Blackhawks, Friday night. After a disappointing loss to the Ducks the previous night, they hopped a plane for a quick jaunt over to Detoilet and a tilt with the awful Redwings. It's only fitting that the Wings would wave goodbye to their legendary arena with a whimper and the end of their 25 season playoff streak. While the fat lady hasn't belted out her tune just yet, she's on deck and warming up in the vestibule.

(Let's hope a crack website doesn't google that in 5 years and make it #FakeNews for 30 seconds)

Anyhow, the Blackhawks were on a "3 games in 4 days" section of the schedule, after just having two 4+ day breaks in the last couple of weeks. After both breaks they came away with losses, their only two since January. Let it be said that they didn't play especially bad in either of those games either. They are, in fact, playing very well. With a little bit of a hiccup against the Ducks, this "should be" just what the doctor ordered.

The Blackhawks and Wings played a pretty even first period that seemed like it might end scoreless, but they combined for three goals in the final five minutes of the period. The Blackhawks opened the scoring in fairly easy fashion, but the Wings scored two in the final two and a half minutes to take a one goal lead into the second. The shots in the first period were 10 to 6 in favor of the Wing.

Action wasn't much different in the second period, especially for the Blackhawks. They were still stuck at 9 shots on net halfway through the game, which was a pretty solid indicator of what they did or didn't accomplish, but they were able to salvage some momentum with a very late goal of their own. The Blackhawks actually wound up leading the period with 11 shots to the Redwings' 10.

Not even the magic Quenneville line blender could save the Blackhawks, and the Wings padded their lead with a late third period goal. Quenneville also pulled his goalie with 3:44 left, but that was quickly negated by a penalty. Once again, not the most action packed period. We saw much more action in the previous night's shutout. If they put in an effort like this Sunday against the Wild the #HostileCurse will be alive and well.

The Good

• Five minutes into the first period, and the Redwings were staring into the face of the "Blues Brothers", Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin. They weaved back and forth in the neutral zone and Kane set the plate with a beautiful backhand saucer right in Panarin's wheelhouse. There isn't much doubt when the racist Ruskie* unleashes that one timer. Party time.
  
  *note heavy sarcasm
  
• The Blackhawks matched the Wings late first period goal with a late second period goal of their own. Of all people, it was Trevor van Riemsdyk. Forgive me if a long, half assed shot through a screen doesn't exactly light my fire. Might as well have been #Fatrick out there farting the puck at the net.
• Joel Quenneville rested Nik Hjalmarsson and Johnny Oduya, which was a good idea. Keep them fresh for the playoffs.
• I love the Wings young kids and Andreas Athanasiou might be my favorite of them all. His speed is just absolutely blinding, and this is with fastest skater record holder Dylan Larkin on the same team. I'd love to see him on the Blackhawks.

The Bad

• Just a couple of moments after TVR took an extended rest for acting like he knew how to fight, the Redwings tied the game. A long shot from Xavier Ouellet escaped Crawford after Patrick Kane and Michael Rozsival couldn't be bothered to properly clear the puck out of their own zone. Let it be noted that Rozsival was out there with Brian Campbell because van Riemsdyk was in the locker room serving his instigation penalty. Oh right, the puck actually clipped Rozsival on the way in, changing direction enough to get by Crawford.
• The Wings took a 2 goal lead with just under five minutes remaining in the second period on another bad Blackhawks turnover. Kane turned the puck over at the Wings blue line and Brian Campbell lost his man. Campbell's man, Tatar, picked up a deflected puck to Corey Crawford's left, and chipped it by Crawford.
• Pat and Eddie were harping on Tomas Jurco's invisible play before the game. While it's certainly annoying, they aren't wrong. If you don't show Quenneville something impressive quick, you're put on the "pay no mind" list. He ended up with a team low 8:13 which will, most likely, earn him a Sunday matinee healthy scratch.

The Ugly

• With under a minute remaining, EIGHT SECONDS TO BE EXACT, in the first period the Wings' Athanasiou trailed a 4-on-3 rush and was able to sneak a shot past Corey Crawford after Brian Campbell got stuck deep in the Wings zone. Artemi Panarin actually made a nice play to try and tie up Tomas Tatar but Tatar was able to fight through to feed Nick Jensen who dropped the puck to Athanasiou, who changed the angle, and scored. Quenneville then blew his timeout by attempting to challenge the goal, claiming it was offsides. It wasn't.
• The Wings took their 2 goal lead back with 5 minutes remaining in regulation. Patrick Kane turned the puck over at the half boards to Henrik Zetterberg who fed Tomas Tatar for his second goal of the night and 17th of the season. Kane had a rough night, overall.
• Both teams were brutal on the powerplay, going a combined 0-5.
• These stupid replays are out of hand. Why are they giving teams so long to examine replays before they are officially charged their challenge? The whole point of this challenge system is that it's basically left to chance, or a gamble. If they didn't want it to play out like that, then don't penalize teams their time-out if they challenge wrong.
• Trevor van Riemsdyk apparently decided he was a fighter in this contest, jumping Justin Abdelkader after Abdelkader laid a big hit on Brian Campbell. This play was where the Redwings turned the momentum around and scored two straight goals late at the end of the first period. Did I mention that van Riemsdyk took an instigation penalty and sat in the box until there were seven minutes remaining in the second period? Swell.
  
• Pat Foley and these stupid stats he spews out, "Michael Kempny has been a plus 2 in the last seven games he's played". Could you rattle off a more generic and pointless stat line? That is that really best you can come up with?
  

The #Fatrick Stankus Fatsy Stats

• The Hawks were just absolutely slayed at the faceoff dots, winning only 40%
• Speaking of van Riemsdyk, he was a team worst -15 Corsi overall.
• Brian Campbell and the #AK72 line were all -3. Brutal!!

The Lineblender
Left Wing - Center - Right Wing
Schmaltz - Toews - Panik
Panarin - Anisimov - Kane
Jurco - Kruger - Hossa
Hartman - Kero - Desjardins

Keith - Seabrook
Campbell - van Riemsdyk
Kempny - Rozsival

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Blackhawks vs Redwings4-3 OT Win Recap

"Man In The Box"

by Gatekeeper
Yell at Gatekeeper

After dispatching of the cowardly Predators on Sunday night, the Blackhawks enjoyed their Monday off and welcomed the Detoilet Redwings into the United Center for a, now rare, tilt with our whiny neighbors to the northeast. This fresh off the announcement that Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Corey Crawford and Duncan Keith were selected to play in the All-Star game.


Anyhow, back to subjects that matter, like the game versus the Wings. The Wings came in as a pretty broken team. They had eight players on the injured list, which wasn't going to lend them any help. Eight players nursing injuries or missing from any lineup is going to be an issue. They Mike Green and Justin Abdelkader in the lineup but Dylan Larkin was hurt mid-game and never returned. That said the Wings boasted some good young talent, but with young comes inexperience and, usually, mistakes. The Blackhawks, on the other hand, were still without Marcus Kruger, but the rest of the lineup was intact. Hawks vets Hossa and Campbell had a couple of career milestones on the horizon. Campbell needed 2 points for 500 career and Hossa needed 2 points for 600 career.

The first period was pretty tame for the entire first 10 minutes, including a lukewarm powerplay, but as soon as they hit that halfway point the flood gates opened. The Blackhawks scored two goals in the matter of twenty six seconds, before the Wings knew what hit them. When the horn sounded the Blackhawks had out shot the Redwings 16-7, and held a 2-0 lead. Not too shabby, right? Looks like the rout was on, right?


The second period ALMOST a complete and utter failure, with the Blackhawks blowing their 2-0 lead and then blowing their 3-2 lead. The only redeeming part of the period was the Kero goal. Everything else was a huge collapse. As I stated on the intarwebz machine, the Blackhawks are consistent at one thing, being inconsistent. Did I mention that the Blackhawks were out shot 20-11; in one period? So, yeah, that.

We got some kind of bastard child of the first and second periods in the final twenty minutes of regulation. We saw a team that resembled the first period Blackhawks with a 15-9 shot advantage. On the other hand, neither team scored and the Wings ended up squeezing the extra point out of the Blackhawks. The good part was that the Hawks were going into overtime with an almost entire powerplay carrying over, which played a big part in the game winner just under a minute into the overtime period.

The Good

• Brian Campbell scored the first Blackhawks goal, on the powerplay, halfway through the the opening period. Hossa controlled the puck long enough in traffic for Campbell to join the play, and then fed Campbell. It looked like Campbell's shot was going slightly wide, but hit Alexey Marchenko ever so slightly and redirected just enough to get past Mrazek. This goal got Soupy within one point of 500 for his career.
• Twenty six seconds after the Brian Campbell goal, Ryan Hartman got himself a partial break-a-way almost identical to Artem Anisimov's just a few moments earlier. Hartman wasn't able to beat Petr Mrazek, but Mrazek left a big fat rebound in the crease. "All you young hockey players out there just watch what Panik did, there". He went hard to the net and was able to jam the puck past Mrazek like a marshmallow through a keyhole.
• The Blackhawks were able to regain their lead with under two minutes remaining in the second. Ryan Hartman was able to control the puck real nicely and avoid an Abdel-Bickell hit long enough to send a long shot towards Mrazek, that was saved. The rebound fell between the feet of Tanner Kero, who was doing the dirty deed in front of the net, and Kero was eventually able to whack the rebound past the Wings goalie.
• Thirty eight seconds into overtime the Blackhawks led with their hot hands in Keith, Panarin, Kane and Anisimov. Duncan Keith blew a long clapper by Mrazek and it was game over.
• The Blackhawks powerplay was 2 for 6, which is just fine. Thirty percent is a good clip.
• #DickFuckingPanik had his 17th and 18th points of the season. Still on pace to get that 35 I predicted.

The Bad

• The Artem Anisimov partial break-a-way in the first period was a joke. They need to just rename the city E-troit, because there D is nowhere to be found. Then you had the 2 quick goals just a few moments later. WOOF
• Just after the nine minute mark of the second period, the Wings tied up the game. This was following a negated powerplay just seconds in after Patrick Kane took a lazy high sticking penalty. Just as both penalties were up the Hawks were caught chasing the puck around and Tomas Tatar snapped a nice feed at the bottom of the circle past Crawford.
• Was Mike Green good at one point or was that just an optical illusion looking through Ovi color glasses?

The Ugly

• Not even two minutes into the second period, and the Blackhawks were picking the puck out of the back of their net. Andreas Athanasiou found a soft spot in the Hawks defense named Brian Campbell and Trevor van Riemsdyk. Athanasiou snapped a nice top shelf shot over Crawford's glove from the right circle, and things got a little more serious once again.
• In a late second period 4 on 4 situation that Brian Campbell coughed up, Trevor van Riemsdyk tried to emulate the Seabrook snow angel...at the fucking blue line. This left Crawford to defend a 2-on-0, which he did nicely.
• With nineteen seconds left in the second period the Blackhawks got a great front row seat of Drew Miller and Luke Glendening swatting at the puck half a dozen times, which eventually led to the tying goal, again. Brian Campbell and Trevor van Riemsdyk together are a total
• Corey Crawford's early third period turnover almost turned into an enormous disaster, but he was able to bail himself out, luckily. #Fatrick will be loving the highlights of that one.
• Justin Abdelkader taking a stupid offensive zone penalty with sixteen seconds remaining in regulation of a tie game was just classic. a classic fucking joke. Welcome back to the lineup, stupid ass, and thanks for the extra point.
• I like Mark Lazarus, I really do. He's a quirky and sometimes funny dude, but that stupid Pearl Jam Counter that he does is god damned annoying as the #HarmsHole, if not worse. That's saying a lot. Pearl Jam is highly over rated and the brakes need to be pumped on this band. I'm seriously starting to hate them because of the irrational love for them. Alice In Chains every day of the week. It's not even close. Layne Staley was just a junkie and died young. This is for Laz and the rest of the Squirrel Spam fanboys:
  
  I'm going to start a #VanHalenCounter because David Lee Roth would knock Eddie Vedder out with his flaccid dong. They're my favorite alltime band, but I'm not dry humping the pressbox desk every time Ray Kramer plays a Van Halen song over the United Center speakers. Give it a fucking rest. Literally no one cares.
• Speaking of "beat" writers, Laz proclaimed in the morning skate that Michal Rozsival was playing tonight. It magically disappeared, but other accounts picked it up though. Own your mistakes, Mark.
  

The #Fatrick Stankus Fatsy Stats

• For the second game in a row, the Kempny and Seabrook pairing was the best possession pair.
• The Blackhawks just stomped all over the Marchanko and Sheahan pairing.
• Drew Miller didn't fare thee well either, with a robust -14 corsi.

The Lineblender
Left Wing - Center - Right Wing
Hinostroza - Toews - Hossa
Panarin - Anisimov - Kane
Hartman - Kero - Panik
Desjardins - Rasmussen - Tootoo

Keith - Hjalmarsson
Kempny - Seabrook
van Riemsdyk - Campbell

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Preseason: Blackhawks vs Red Wings6-1 Win Recap

"Your Decision"

by Patrick Stankus
Tweet to #Fatrick

The Blackhawks rolled into the home stretch of their preseason on the ass end of a Red Wings "home and home" series, Tuesday night. This lineup would look more like an NHL lineup than the collection of toddlers that they rolled out Sunday evening. Corey Crawford and Duncan Keith were in the lineup for the first time, which could only help the Blackhawks chances. Young phenoms Alexandre Fortin and Gustav Forsling were in the lineup, again, proving that the coaching staff really wants to take a long look at what the future holds for them. It's nice to see some young players show promise. More than we can say for most recent Hawks draft picks, eh?

The Blackhawks actually resembled an NHL team which made the game a lot easier to enjoy, and two first period goals were a big part of that. The Hawks lines had some new names sprinkled in, but plenty of familiar ones were involved in the action. Duncan Keith and Andrew Desjardins had primary assists in both of the goals. The Blackhawks also doubled up the Wings in shots 12-6, as well as powerplays 2-1. Funny how the team plays so much better when Kane, Keith, and Crawford are on the ice, eh?

When the puck dropped on the second period, the Puckin' Hostile Crew made a change on the recap. #Fatrick picked up his regularly scheduled recap duties from Gate, and thus the recap will probably go to hell in a hand basket. Can you tell the difference? Anyway early in the period, the Hawks would receive another power play courtesy of another Jonathan Ericsson penalty. While the first unit had some good looks, it was the second unit that cashed in to increase the lead to 3-0. Midway through the period, the Hawks would make a change in net, as Scott Darling would takeover for Corey Crawford. Darling would yield a goal to see the Wings cut the lead to 3-1, but Nick Schmaltz would add his first goal of the preseason, giving the Hawks a 4-1 lead after two periods.

The third period was, lets be honest, not entertaining. The Hawks completely dominated the play throughout the final frame. In the period, the Hawks out shot the Wings by a 10-3 margin. Following a nice chip n' chase by Ryan Hartman, Alexandre Fortin would tally his second goal of the preseason to give the Hawks a 5-1 lead. The Hawks however weren't done scoring. Late in the period, while on the power play, Gustav Forsling had a beautiful shot pass, that Artem Anisimov redirected past Jimmy Howard to give a 6-1 lead, which would prove to be the final score.

The Good

• Five minutes into the first period, and Duncan Keith was right in the middle of the Blackhawks first goal. A long Keith shot into traffic didn't make it to the net, but it did drop a few feet out. Ryan, or as Foley called him "Mike", Hartman spun around and smacked the loose puck past Jimmie Howard. After a pretty "Meh" camp, he finally had the spotlight. If I can have Hartman over Mashinter or Tootoo, I'm taking it. Otherwise, I don't see a use for him.
• Late in the first period, Andrew Desjardins found himself with the puck on his stick at the left circle. His shot changed direction when it went off the shin pad of Vinny Hinostroza and squirted right between Howards pads. Two early Hawks goals, by two young players looking to stick around.
• It was refreshing to see a defenseman rush the puck up the ice like Brian Campbell did on the Hawks power play goal in the second period. Fortin took the puck from Campbell, and made a slick pass to #DickPanik, who buried it. Please tell me this is a sign of things to come with the power play.
• Nick Schmaltz scored his first goal of the preseason off a redirect of an Artemi Panarin bomb. It was nice to see Schmaltz score, but I'm fearing all the meatballs will have their anointing oil out for him because of it.
• Well, I'm one who always likes to preach patience, but Gustav Forsling is looking like he could be a solid ole defenseman. The shot pass he had on Anisimov's goal was fantastic. He seems to have that hockey sense so many prospects wish they had. Granted it is preseason, but he's been impressive to say the least.
• Another interesting roster decision that looms is that for Alexandre Fortin. Fortin has been nothing short of impressive on the forward front. For a team that can lack speed at times, it'd be nice to see if he gets a fair shot with 9 games if he makes the final roster cut.
• Duncan Keith looked like his old self tonight, despite it being his first game. Keith ended the night with 2 assists and a +3. 
• Ryan Hartman had a solid game as well. Problem for him is, he needs to be effective like this on a more consistent basis.
• Corey Crawford made his preseason debut for the Hawks tonight. He didn't face much action, but at least the black gear is highly approved by the Hostile Crew.

The Bad

• Eric Tangradi took a run at Patrick Kane in the third period. Luckily for Kane's sake, it was Eric Tangradi going after him. But it was nice to see our gritty enforcers Tootoo, and Desjardins send a mess...... oh wait, nevermind.
• Pat and Eddie O seemed really interested in the game tonight. Never too early to start the #DrunkPatFoley talk I guess.

The Ugly

• Apparently the Blackhawks aren't the only ones who need some fine tuning when it comes to the preseason. I pulled a #DickPanik and overslept past the start of the game, and Gate started the recap. That was until I informed him I signed up for tonight, and therefore properly drove this recap straight off a cliff after the first period. But hey they don't call us the best recap team for nothing.
• Move along, there's nothing else to add tonight. Seriously if you made if this far, have a beer. I am done.

The #Fatrick Stankus Fatsy Stats

• The corsi of this recap took a massive hit as #Fatrick took over after the first period

The Lineblender
Fortin - Anisimov - Kane
Panarin - Schmaltz - Panik
Motte - Kruger - Hartman
Hinostroza - Desjardins - Tootoo

Keith - van Riemsdyk
Kempny - Seabrook
Forsling - Campbell

Crawford
Darling

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Blackhawks vs Redwings4-1 Win Recap

"The Red and the Black"

by Gatekeeper

The Blackhawks made a rare "FOUR O'CLOCK START" Sunday against the Redwings at the United Center. Even Lady Gaga and her hunky boyfriend, Chicago Fire's Kelly Severide, were in attendance. Luckily for the Blackhawks, Pavel Datsyuk was NOT in attendance, though. The Hawks still had to deal with those young Detroit speedsters, which could prove to be a task in and of itself.

Looks like the Blackhawks were much more ready for this tilt than they were for the Bruins on Thursday. The Hawks were up 1-0 before the crowd was able to sit back in their seats for the anthem, and were up 2-0 before the game was ten minutes old. They managed those 2 goals on 11 shots, with the Wings finding the back of the net once on 8 shots. Not a bad start, but it wouldn't continue.

The Redwings completely dominated the second period, at one point out shooting the Blackhawks 12-1. It really didn't get much better, with the period totals ending up 13-3. Luckily for the Hawks, their goaltender held the Redwings to a scoreless period. That is the only good news for the middle frame as far as the Blackhawks were concerned.

Apparently they just took the middle period off because they came out and started up where they left off following the first period. They gave up 13 shots, but had 12 of their own and had 2 goals. This was plenty to walk away with a season sweep of the Wings. Oh how sweet it is.

The Good

• It took the Blackhawks exactly one shift and twenty one seconds to take a 1-0 lead. Patrick Kane led a 2-on-1 after picking up the puck at the red line. Kane skated up the wing and snapped a wrist shot through Mrazek. Just that quick Kan had his career high in points and the lone assist went to Rozsival. His 300th of his career.
• With about 5 minutes gone in the first period, after the penalty against Toews, Duncan Keith made the game 2-0 with a long shot from the point. Eddie then went on a jaunt about how even though Mrazek was screened by two of his teammates, he shouldn't have stared them down after because they are good players. Fuck that! It's hard enough getting screened by opponents. Either block the shot or be prepared to be held accountable when you completely stick it directly in your goalie's ass. No excuses. Especially when your dopey teammates earn you a spot on the bench opening the door, like this instance.
• Just past the halfway point of the third period, the Blackhawks went to the powerplay and wasted no time. Artem Anisimov deflected a long Artemi Panarin slapshot up and over Jimmy Howard's shoulder.
• Sixty eight seconds after the Anisimov goal, Jonathan Toews had an Andrew Desjardins shot go off the inside of his knee and into the net to expand the Blackhawks lead to 4-1.
• The Blackhawks were 2-for-3 on the powerplay. Nothing to complain about there.
• Crawford made 33 saves and held the Blackhawks together when they were getting absolutely smoked, in the second period.
• I have to give Michal Rozsival credit. When I noticed him, he was making smart, safe plays. Might be the best game I've seem him play this year.

The Bad

• A couple of minutes after the Keith goal the Wings took advantage of a borderline offsides play, and caught Trevor van Riemsdyk without his stick. Gustav Nyquist ended up with the puck on his stick and snapped a roofer over Crawford.
• Trevor van Riemsdyk has been an adventure lately. He got caught playing grab ass leading to him losing his stick and, eventually, standing thee watching the Nyquist goal right in front of his face.

The Ugly

• Jonathan Toews beat Brendan Smith after Seabrook and Fleichmann put in some nice work to clear the zone on an early 4-on-4. Toews went down and hit the boards awkwardly and came up favoring his left arm. That's all the Hawks need at this point.
• Just a minute after the Nyquist one of my favorite Wings players, Andreas Athanasiou split Seabrook and Gustafsson but was too close to get a shot off so he dropped the puck to Teemu Pulkkinen while Seabrook completely took Crawford out. Pulkkinen then proceeded to ignore the gaping net and hit Seabrook right square in the dookie.

The #Fatrick Stankus Fatsy Stats

• The third line had a rough night scraping the bottom of the corsi sheet.
• Thanks to that strong second period the Wings had a pretty healthy overall team corsi advantage.

The Lineblender
Ladd - Toews - Shaw
Panarin - Anisimov - Kane
Desjardins - Teravainen - Fleischmann
Panik - Rasmussen - Weise

Keith - Hjalmarsson
Gustafsson - Seabrook
van Riemsdyk - Rozsival

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Blackhawks at Detroit5-2 Win Recap

"Rise Up"

by Gatekeeper

After it was announced that no less than 9 Blackhawks players would be playing in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, the actual Hawks wee set to pair off with their once biggest rival, Detroit. Nowadays there isn't quite the 3 hours of nausea that we all once held so dear in the days gone by. These days they are a team full of aging "has beens", a few players like Nyquist, Tatar and Jurco and a crop of brand new shiny pups. Names like Dylan Larkin and Andreas Athanasiou should frighten the hell out of the Eastern conference, because they are going to torch the hell out of defenders for many years to come. This night, though, the Hawks get to face them as green rookies. Thank god.

The first period was like a day at the dog races. For the first 10 minutes there were barely any stoppages in play as both team raced up and down the ice. This kind of play bodes well for the Blackhawks so it was really exciting for all of us watching. It was a surprise that the stats only had the shots at 9-8 in favor of the Blackhawks, but the most important stat was the 1-0 score.

The second period was more excitement, but this period was even more in the Blackhawks favor. They weathered some early penalties to cash in on a couple of powerplays of their own, while their goalie stood on his head, once again. The Hawks were actually out shot 16-13,thanks to those penalties, but the Blackhawks pair of powerplay goals were all the scoring.

The Wings showed a little life in the third period, but the Blackhawks had already done the damage they needed to. The Blackhawks scored 2 goals on 11 shots while the Wings finally broke the shutout, scoring 2 on 9 of their own shots. Tomorrow its @AtomicFroster as the Hawks meet the Bruins.

The Good

• With less than 2:30 away in the game, the Blackhawks caught the Wings with a lazy back check and Erik Gustafsson fed the late coming Brent Seabrook who beat Petr Mrazek cleanly from the top of the circle for a 1-0 Blackhawks lead.
• Thanks to the help of a penalty drawn by Andrew Ladd the Blackhawks cashed in on a 5-on-3, as Kane hit Panarin on the back door for a dunk. Just like they drew it up.
• With the second penalty still on the board, Brent Seabrook absorbed a hit from Riley Sheahan, who was out of position looking for the kill shot, but not before dishing the puck off to Duncan Keith. Keith barely held onto it long enough to get the puck to Kane. Kane 1-on-1 with the goalie is just fucking unfair, and Kane gave Petr Mrazek a good ol fashioned "rodgering".
• One of my favorite players, Andrew Ladd, scored what looked to be the knife in the heart for the Blackhawks. Just a dirty, in close rebound goal. This is some exciting shit.
• Thirty five seconds after the Ladd goal, Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin lit the #AK72 alert once again. Kane drove the zone and sent a perfect pass cross ice that Panarin one timed for a Blackhawks 5-1 lead.
• Dale Weise was finally able to climb the Canadian wall and make it to Joe Louis arena, but not in time to play. Baby steps right? Looks like he'll make his debut in Boston tomorrow.
• Corey Crawford was outstanding, once again. It's getting repetitive, but it needs to be pointed out for all those times the meatballs came at him. This win was career high 34th.

The Bad

• Andrew Desjardins took a borderline hit from Jonathan Ericsson, and went face first into the boards. He jumped up and took exception, which did nothing but earned him a double minor becasue Ericsson wasn't fighting anyone. Desjardins was taken to the quiet room, but came back a little later. Funny how that never happens at home, putting the Hawks down an extra guy (so someone can serve the time while player is being evaluated).
• The Wings scored another goal with 2 minutes left, but Wings fans didn't care at that point, because three quarters of the fans were gone already. Good job Hockeytown USA.

The Ugly

• Christian Ehrhoff had a great chance in his 6th shift of the game, having Mrazek dead to rights but pulling a "noonan" and chipping the bouncing puck wide of the net. Not really his fault, but still an A+ chance missed.
• Erik Gustafsson got fucking owned but Pavel Datsyuk early in the second period, and it left him spinning like a top.
• Halfway through the third period, Patrick Kane took a stupid penalty, which ultimately turned into a Brad Richards powerplay goal. Too many fucking penalties!

The #Fatrick Stankus Fatsy Stats

• Once again the Hawks opponent led in total (56-52) and 5v5 (45-43) Corsi.
• Trevor van Riemsdyk and Christian Ehrhoff led the Blackhawks in overall Corsi, but a lot of that had to do with the sheltered zone starts.
• If you want to know hot much Joel Quenneville likes Tomas Fleischmann, he was a regular on the penalty and led the Blackhawks with 12 defensive zone starts.

The Lineblender
Ladd - Toews - Shaw
Panarin - Anisimov - Kane
Desjardins - Teravainen - Fleischmann
Mashinter - Rasmussen - Panik

Keith - Hjalmarsson
Gustafsson - Seabrook
Ehrhoff - van Riemsdyk



...and finally, Just a reminder that the Hawks players kicked Mrazek's ass in the AHL too.

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Preseason: Blackhawks at Detroit4-1 Loss Recap

"Gets Me Through"

by Gatekeeper

Despite the absolute shitshow and embarrassment going on in Buffalo New York, The Blackhawks wrapped up their preseason opening "home and home" series with the Red Wings in Detoilet, last night. When 21 year old, former 6th round draft pick Vince Hinostroza is your starting first line center, it's pretty clear that you've iced a young thin squad, and the final results backed that up. No Toews, No Kane, No Hossa, No Keith, No Seabrook, No Hjalmarsson. You get the point. It was half the Wings against the Rockford Icehogs.

The first period started out heavily in the Blackhawks favor, but that changed about 7 minutes in. The shots were 13-5 overall in the first twenty minutes but the Blackhawks went into the intermission down 1-0.

Even though a majority of the second period was boring, and the Blackhawks led in shots, again, they went into the second intermission down 2-1. Everything after the first period was generally boring, so I will spare you the rest...

The Good

• The 4th line of Mashinter, Hatrman, and Kero started a dominant, almost 2 minute, flurry in the Wings zone early in the first. Hartman almost scored a few times, and the Blackhawks were able to make a full line change. Despite that pretty good first period, they were each -2 on the night.
• I didn't hate Daniel Paille out on the ice, but there is nowhere for him on this team.
• Late in the second period, Andrew Shaw used some rare powerplay time to snap a long wrist shot past the Detoilet goalie Jared Coreau, tying up the game. This was really the lone bright spot.
• Mike Liambas drew 3 penalties. That is a plus, right?
• Trevor van Riemsdyk led the Blackhawks in time on ice.

The Bad

• The Blackhawks went down 1-0 when the trio of Ryan Hartman, Ville Pokka and Jan Hejda all backed far too deep into the zone and let Tomas Tatar pick their goalie apart.
• Five minutes into the third period, Brad Richards and Tomas Tatar victimized the back end of Jan Hejda, Ville Pokka and Michael Leighton to take a 3-1 lead. Hejda did a fly by past the net, leaving Tatar in the crease all alone to jam a Leighton rebound into the net. Pokka's play to push Richards outside wasn't really all that bad, but the support behind him didn't help him out whatsoever.
  
• Tomas Tatar ended up with a hat trick, scoring a late empty net goal.
• Can we put this Jan Hejda experiment to bed? He's awful.
• The Jurco/Richards/Tatar line were all +3. Enjoy it while you can, Detoilet.
• I was anxious to see Tikhonov, Kero, Pokka and Gustafsson play, and I was greatly disappointed. Tikhonov had a decent tip off the post, but none of them really had strong games, despite what the postgame crew will tell you. Each did a thing or two well, but with a chance to really show Hawks fans something, they all fell short.

The Ugly

• Brandon Mashinter sucks. Bad. Now I know why he was sent to Rockford early last season. Purely as a hockey player, he might be a shade above John Scott. That's not saying much.
• Shortly after the Shaw goal, a brutal Blackhawks line change left Justin Abdelkader all by himself at the Blackhawks blue line. Kronwall hit Abdelkader on the tape and he was in all alone on just inserted Micheal Leighton. 2-1 Wings and it was pretty much over from then on out
• Ryan Hartman went from having a great start to taking 2 penalties, later. He's right on track for taking over that Shaw spot, someday.

The Lineblender
Kopecky-Hinostroza-Paille
Bickell-Shaw-Tikhonov
Liambas-Knott-McNeill
Mashinter-Kero-Hartman

Hejda-Pokka
Svedberg-van Riemsdyk
Gustafsson-Rundblad

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Preseason: Red Wings at Blackhawks - 5-4 OT win

Knife in Yer Gut

by Gatekeeper

The Blackhawks had a game. They won said game 5-4, in overtime.

We were a little tied up with recording the shoutcast, which began during the second intermission, so right to the highlights and low lights (and download the shoutcast, ya lazy bastards):

The Good

• The Blackhawks opened up scoring pretty early. Kyle Super Baun-Baun whacked a puck out of the air, dangerously close to a high stick, just over seven minutes into the first. Nice play, after all was said and done, though.
• Just about a minute after the Baun goal, Jonathan Toews took a pass off Trevor Daley's skate and easily blew a wrist shot past Opie Howard, from about 20 feet out. Not the most sharp play by Howard, but it was off the stick of Jonny Clutch. It's OK if he pooped his diaper a little.
• #LemontNativeScottDarling looked sharp. He had to make 15 saves in the first period, including 2 powerplays. One of the powerplays was a 5-on-3 and we all know Dr. Lineblender's opinion of those. He finished saving 22 of 22.
• In the second period, Teuvo Teravainen put the Blackhawks up 3-0, on the powerplay, just over 5 minutes into the second period. I could get used to this Finnish Cold powerplay.
• I liked what I saw from Dano with Toews and Hossa. This was one game, though. He was shaken up in the second period, but returned later.
• Ryan Garbutt had a nice third period goal, where is kind of got in behind the Detroit forwards, and was able to snap a wrist shot past future Grand Rapids Griffin, Tom McCollum.
• It's about time the Blackhawks figured out how to manage to get all the preseaon games on TV.

The Bad

• Someone needs to explain to me what Michal Rozsival has over Jan Hejda, and Lubomir Visnovsky. Both seem like competent players, more specifically Visnovsky. Rozsival's questionable ankle doesn't exactly give me the warm and fuzzies. If Visnovsky can stay healthy, and that is a big "if", he could be extremely useful, especially on the powerplay.
• The 3-on-3 overtime is going to end MOST games. While I don't really like it, 3vs3 is better than the shootout, in my opinion. It helps that the Blackhawks speed, and top end skill will clown most opponents. Just wait until we see some team that is slower and defensive. Those kinds team are going to be absolutely annihilated. Once the Blackhawks were able to gain the 3-on-1 advantage, the game was over. It's almost unfair, but it will be fun from this side of things.

The Ugly

• Mark Visentin had a pretty awful night, but the team in front of him wasn't much better. He gave up all 4 Detoilet goals and saved only 16 of 20 shots. His play strongly resembled the play of Steve Passmore.
• David Rundblad. Not the best way to open up your brand new 2 year contract. I don't get it. I just do not get it. But, HEY; #3CUPZ
• Watchout! The Blackhawks led in #HITZ, 31-30.

The Lineblender
Dano-Toews-Hossa
Teravainen-Anisimov-Kane
Paille-Rasmussen-Haggerty
Garbutt-Desjardins-Baun

Seabrook-Hejda
Daley-Rundblad
Visnovsky-Svedberg

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Blackhawks vs RedWings3-2 Shootout Loss Recap

Give It Away
by Patrick Stankus

Wednesday night saw the once fierce division Detroit Red Wings pay a visit to Chicago, on NBCSN's "Rivalry Night." Unlike previous rivalry night match ups, this one lived up to all the hype. While the two teams no longer face each other 6 times a year, the build up to a game with the Wings is still there, and tonight added another chapter to the long, storied history. If you didn't enjoy tonight's game, then I'm sorry, you are not a hockey fan.

The first period saw the Blackhawks come out with a lot of energy and intensity sustained for all 20 minutes. It was by far the best opening frame we've seen from the Hawks in awhile. Despite dominating the play, and out shooting the Wings 17-6, the game would remain scoreless after one.

During the second period, the flow and pace to the game remained high, with both teams tallying 8 shots each. Getting the puck past either goaltender would prove to be difficult. That changed though just after the 15 minute mark, as Tomas Tatar opened the scoring on a back door play. The Wings lead wouldn't last long, as just 39 seconds later, Brandon Saad would tie the game at two. That's how things would stand after the second period.

Much like the early portions of the game, the third period would continue with the exciting play that dictated tonight. The game would take a crazy turn in the final minutes of the third. Darren Helm scored the go ahead goal with just over two minutes to play, and the Hawks looked dead in the water. But to the Hawks credit, they battled back, and Kris Versteeg tied the game 43 seconds later, thus sending the game to overtime.

If you thought the chances and pace to the game couldn't get more intense for the overtime, you were wrong. Both teams saw numerous chances in the extra frame, but both Crawford and Howard couldn't be cracked, and we'd head to a shootout. For the Blackhawks, only Toews would score, while for the Wings both Nyquist and Tatar would tally, and give the Wings the 3-2 shootout win.

The Good

• The Hossa-Toews-Saad line continues to impress. Saad had one of the Hawks goals, while Hossa showed why he is one of the best two way players in the NHL.
  
• Wasn't it nice to see Kris Versteeg finally shoot the damn puck on net? Not to mention, look what happened as a result. We need to see more of that, instead of the extra passing and stick handling.
  
• I can't believe I'm saying this, but Michal Rozsival wasn't that bad tonight.
  
• Stick taps to both Corey Crawford and Jimmy Howard, they were both superb tonight.

The Bad

• Brad Richards "defense" on Tatar's goal was simply stellar. Nothing like staring at the puck, and allowing a guy to go back door in the slot untouched.
  
• Where are all my "we need replay, to get the calls correct people" tonight? (Crickets chirping) Seeing as which the Hawks benefited from a blown call tonight, now I guess all is right with the world, until the next call goes against the Hawks. This is exactly why I don't want expanded replay. Where does it end? Keep it for goals, and that's it.
  
• What a fantastic slashing penalty Bickell took in the first period. Then he has the nerve to bitch about it to the referee. Seriously who is going to miss this guy after the draft?

The Ugly

• Its a shame this game had to be decided in a shootout. I would much rather see a game like this end in a tie. And you'd think in today's world where every one's a winner, the casual sports fan (who's ruining hockey) would agree, that ties are better than deciding a game in a glorified skills competition.
  
• Again, the Hawks left points on the table. While the Vancouver game is one where I'd take the point for an overtime loss, tonight is not. They outplayed the Wings, and failed to seal the deal. They lost this game in the first period, and gave the Wings confidence after being scoreless after one.
  
• I'm still chuckling over Q's assessment of the Q-Cummer. "So far, so good" he said. Really? How can you make that assessment about someone when they play 6:24.

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Blackhawks - Red Wings 4-1 Loss Recap

Motor City Meltdown

That wasn't just the look of Joel Quenneville during and after the game, it was also the look that Blackhawks' fans had after the shellacking they took in Detroit on Friday night.

The scoring got started early in the 1st period as, Kris Versteeg reverted back to his old self, and centered a pass from along to boards to a wide open Drew Miller, and Luke Glendening hammered home the rebound to give the Wings a 1-0 lead. Versteeg's assist was rewarded with a seat on the bench for the remainder of the period. The Hawks were able to answer back with a power play goal (jump for joy) by Patrick Kane just past the midway part of the 1st period.

You could make an argument that the Blackhawks were lucky, and had no business being tied at 1 after the 1st period, but they were somehow. Whatever interest the Hawks had in playing during the 1st period, was long gone when the 2nd period began. Again, two turnovers in the center of the ice proved costly. This time Versteeg's "turnoveritis" infected Kane and Rundblad, thus giving the Wings a 3-1 lead after two.

While the Hawks outshot the Wings 10-6 in the 3rd period, it was too little, way too late. The Wings added an empty netter to seal a 4-1 win over their former division rival. (NBCSN this is type of matchup that should be on rivalry night, not random Eastern Conference teams to fill an early timeslot)


The Good

- Corey Crawford (when he wasn't being hung out to dry) along with TVR were the two most notable Hawks to me that had some level of interest in playing.
- The Hawks were lucky this game wasn't even more embarrassing with a final score of 7 or 8 to 1. They can thank their goalie for keeping it closer than it should have been.


The Bad

- Why the hell did Duncan Keith get over 27 minutes of ice time in this beat down?


The Ugly

- Turnovers. A trio of turnovers by Versteeg, Kane, and Rundblad were brutal to say the least. Its not complicated, never throw a lazy pass to the open ice. Maybe Q and the coaching staff should find something other than clown faces to draw on the dry erase board.
- In keeping with the turnover theme, both Kane and Versteeg were a well earned -3 on the night. But the highlight may have been Versteeg just standing along the boards like an ass clown after he turned the puck over.
- Steve Konroyd's analysis is awful. He is the ultimate homer. Yes, the goalie interference call on Shaw was bad, but if you really think that would have changed the outcome of the game, you need to have your head examined.
- I love hearing Coach Q say he wants "consistency" on the ice. Well how the hell are they supposed to develop chemistry and consistency with the coaching decisions that are being made? The only thing that is consistent on the Blackhawks is the constant and unnecessary line shuffling that goes on.
- Seriously, what the hell was that, that I just wasted my time watching? That was pathetic.

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PreSeason : Blackhawks vs Red Wings2-1 OT Win

Through Oblivion


The Blackhawks opened up their pre-season, last night, in a pretty boring manner. After CSN plus learned to light up the Hawks feed and after it became very apparent that the United Center organ was broken, the Wings and Hawks took the ice for a sloppy and extremely boring first period. Of course, that first period yielded one of the least exciting goals we will see this year. The second period was only slightly more entertaining because the Blackhawks were able to tie the score. The rest of regulation was just as boring as the first period, which led the game to overtime. The Blackhawks eventually won early in OT, which meant that we would have to wait to see these new 3-on-3 OT rules. This was good, because the quality of play with more room to trip and fall would have been ugly.

The Good

• Crawford saved 13 of 14 shots, and was relieved by Scott Darling just over halfway through the second period.
• Speaking of Darling, he was perfect and looked much better than the scrimmage the night before. He looks ENORMOUS out there.
• With just over 2 minutes left in the second period, Deuce, Brad Dickards and Crazy 8s put together a little end to end rush that resulted in a Kane break-a-way and eventually the game tying goal. Gustavsson didn't stand a chance and every fan watching knew it was going to be a goal when Kane picked up the puck at center ice. Nice to see Richards fitting in with his new weapon.
• Roughly halfway through the third period, Marian Hossa led a magical shift where the Blackhawks toyed with the Wings, deep in their zone, for about a minute and a half. If you have only been watching the Blackhawks for a few years, you're taking his talent for granted. The guy and his talent are amazing.
• Brandon Saad nearly ended the game in overtime with an impressive knife right up the gut and then the ensuing backhand shot off the post. Saad is going to be scary good this year.
• Just a few moments after Saad almost won the game, Duncan Keith took a Toews faceoff won and beat Mrazek with a long low sot for a Blackhawks win. EDIT - The goal was eventually given to Toews on a slight deflection
• The Hawks continued their great play at the dots, with only rookie Dennis Rasmussen getting worked over.
• I didn't notice much about Dahlbeck, Rasmussen, or Danault, but that probably has to do with the collective sloppy and terrible pace. From what I saw of Danault, he could step in for Kruger at any point. This is good news, with Kruger going to RFA at year's end. Dahlbeck and Rasmussen did not look out of place, even though they did not stand out.

The Bad

• Just over 5 minutes into the game, Luke Glendening tipped Danny DeKeyser shot past Crawford in a pretty vanilla play. It was a stupid fluke redirect, about 6 feet in front of Crawford. The Wings 3rd liners skated through the middle of the Hawks top pair who looked none too interested.
• The Hawks were outshot 12-4 in the second period and won the middle frame 1-0. The Wings out shot the Blackhawks overall, 22-19 thanks to that big but futile second period.
• Manshitter and Bass split the team low TOI with 7:37 and 9:19 respectively. These guys show me nothing. If you are going to tell me that EITHER of these fucking hammer throwing clowns give you more than Jeremy Morin or Ben Smith, you are out of your meathead mind.
• Rozsival was terrible all night. He looked slow and was turning over the puck relentlessly. His time might be done.

The Ugly

• The United Center organ is reportedly broken and has been since Frank Pelico tried to fire it up for the Training Camp festival Monday night. The national anthem was terrible as a result.
• Cementhead Cody Bass tried to fight Aaron Rome and the two of them got 5 minutes for hugging it out. It looked like a makeout session between two middle school kids.
• Cuba Gooding Jr not only scored during shoot the puck, and disrobed, but made everyone forget "The Stripper" was ever played. Click here to see the video

The Lines

Sharp-Toews-Hossa
Saad-Richards-Kane
Carey-Rasmussen-Morin
Mashinter-Danault-Bass

Keith-Seabrook
Dahlbeck-Hjalmarsson
Cumiskey-Rozsival

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Blackhawks Week That Was - 1/24

1/18 - Blackhawks vs. Bruins
3-2 Shootout Win

• Brad Marchand is such a little pain in the ass. He had two goals, neither of which were things of beauty, but he gets the job done. He seemed to eat Crawford up. If you count the shootout goal, he actually had a hat trick. At least the Hawks didn't get worked like the Kings did the following night.
  
• The Brandon Bollig goal was a sign from above, because he made a terrible decision from a terrible angle and was rewarded. There is no way Rask would have expected a bum like Bollig to shoot from that angle and get that kind of favorable bounce. Not only the goal, but he was creditted with another 7 hits. The UC scorekeeper must be giving him hits for just stepping on the ice.
  
• El Capitan definitely made the bonehead play of the night, after missing a shot and breaking his stick he proceeded to throw half of the stick into the crowd. As a result, he was assessed a 10 minute misconduct. Just drop it, kid.
  
• The Hawks had one of their few off nights at the dots, falling down into the 47% range. #TruckNutz got eaten alive, winning only 5 of 15.
  
• Toews and Kane finally stepped up in a shootout, and made it look easy. Quite frankly they should be doing this more often than not. These guys aren't rookies.
  
• Another assist for Duncan Keith, who just plows along towards his second Norris Trophy.
  
• Bickell was back in the doghouse/morgue playing a team low 8:36. I've given up trying to figure out what the hell is going on there. If Quenneville wants to play his $4 million power forward for only 14 shifts a game, so be it. He didn't see the ice the entire last four minutes of the game and one of his 4 third period shifts was only 9 seconds.
  

Here are the video highlights: 1/22 - Blackhawks vs Red Wings 5-4 Shootout Loss

• The Hawks had their boots on the throats of the Wings, in the first period, and let them off the hook, surrendering a fast 2-0 lead with sloppy defensive play. Johnny Oduya was terrible for a majority of the night. He followed up each terrible decision with an even more stupid followup.
  
• Neither goalie was "great" but Jonas Gustavsson was swatting at flies all night. He fought the puck HARD, and the Hawks simply didn't cause enough chaos in his kitchen.
  
• The Shootout was a joke after El Capitan and Shooter. Hossa's move is now old, Kruger was pathetic, and Shaw was basic. The only real nice save Gustavsson was on Kane. People might not realize just how hard that secondary toe save was. Maybe the Hawks can now hire a shootout consultant, since their faceoff futility seems to be fixed.
  
• Speaking of faceoffs, the Hawks were excellent at the dots, winning an amazing 65% of their draws. This was with #TruckNutz winning only 45%. Toews and Kruger won a clownish 26 of 36 draws, and Shaw was just slightly over 50%.
  
• Bickell AGAIN played a team low 9:31. Something is amiss here. Even if his knees are sore, just plant his big ass in front of Gustavsson to cause some chaos.
  
• Has anyone put an APB out on the artist formerly known as Kris Versteeg? Between him and Bickell, they had a COMBINED nineteen and a half minutes. I can't honestly remember a single shift from either of them.
  
• The story of the night was that Helm, Cleary and Bertuzzi were each minus three, and the Hawks still lost the extra point.
  

Here are the video highlights: 1/23 - Blackhawks at Minnesota 2-1 Loss

• Duncan Keith unexpectedly missed the game with an illness, and the lack of puck movement on the back end showed.
  
• The "dynamic duo" of Oduya and Rozsival were minus 2. Take it for what it's worth. While the Hawks defense was absolutely walked through on the first Wild goal, Raanta misjudged the second goal, by Matt Cooke.
  
• The Hawks looked completely uninterested and anemic. They only managed 17 shots in the first two periods and then tried to turn it on in the third with 17 more. Kane's very late goal was too little too late.
  
• Bickell and Versteeg were still in the 8 minute range of ice time. WHATEVER! That's $6.2 million of forth line glory right there, not counting Handzus' million.
  

Here are the video highlights:

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Preseason: Blackhawks at Detroit - Win Recap

"Summer Breeze"

I guess the schedule makers didn't get the memo that the Wings were moved to the Eastern conference, with the Hawks facing the Wings twice in the first 4 preseason games. Oh joy. Better than terrible Chicago baseball, that's for sure.

The first period was fairly entertaining with the Hawks scoring two goals on 8 shots, and the Wings scoring one goal of their own, on nine shots. Sloppy hockey, for sure, the goals kept it entertaining.

The second period was much less exciting, with no goals scored. Preseason...Blah.

The Hawks opened up a big lead, in the third, scoring 2 goals fairly quick, but surrendered 2 late goals, as well. When all was said and done, the Hawks held on for a 4-3 road win despite a late flurry from the Wings.

The Good

• Just two minutes after the Tatar goal, Byron Froese stuffed a Dylan Olsen rebound right between Howard's legs to tie the game up. Nothing really pretty about the play, especially since Howard really let the rebound get away from him. Froese just spun around and threw the puck at the net, beating Howard.
• Joakim Nordstrom put the Hawks up 2-1 late in the first on a beautiful forechecking play. He caught Alexei Marchenko deep in the Wings zone with his back to the play, and Marchenko completely shit himself. He turned the puck over and Nordstrom drove it to the net. Nordstrom pulled a nice toe drag around the other defender, and beat Howard. Nordstrom also had a nice shorthanded breakaway in the second period, which he didn't do much with it, but half the battle is being in the right place.
• Garrett Ross put the Hawks up 3-1 shortly into the third period. Jimmie Howard played the puck around the boards to his defender. The defender missed the puck and Ross was sitting along the boards waiting for it. Ross quickly beat Howard back to his far post for the goal.
• Fifty six seconds after the Ross goal, Froese scored his second of the game in front of the net, on a nice feed from Seabrook. Froese had gotten position on Ericsson and was rewarded with a goal. That ended Howard's night.
• Datsyuk and Zetterberg were a combined minus 4. Booyah!
• Brad Mills was a plus 3. Yes, I said BRAD FUCKING MILLS.
• I know it's preseason and the competition has been "subpar", but Nordstrom, Dahlbeck and Olsen all looked really good. Olsen is skating with confidence, which is something he hadn't had in a while.

The Bad

• Apparently Quenneville's memory is very short, because he didn't remember the Steve Montador and John Scott at forward abortions. THIS time he lined up future Ice Hog Michael Kostka at forward. What could possibly go wrong? I guess they didn't have enough other forwards on the roster, eh?
• Tomas Tatar opened up the scoring almost halfway through the first period. Dahlbeck got caught reaching at the Wings forward and Tatar was allowed far too much room. The puck was fed from behind the net and right to a wide open Tatar, who chipped it up and over Crawford's glove, who was still looking over his right shoulder.
• Tatar scored his second goal of the game on a late penalty as a result of a Jimmy Hayes penalty. Nyquist took a shot from the left circle and Tatar redirected it from about 10 feet out between Olsen and Dahlbeck.
• Jonathan Ericsson put a late slapshot past Crawford, with 41 seconds remaining, which made it interesting.
• As has become the norm, the Hawks were schooled at the dots, to the tune of 39%. El Capitan and Froese each went 5 of 13 at the faceoff dots.

The Ugly

• The announcers, clearly from Detroit, were fucking deplorable. They didn't mention who scored the first Hawks goal until they had played a full minute after. How hard it is to watch the replay and match up the number? They also questioned a non icing call when the Hawks were shorthanded. To finish it off, they gave Nordstrom shit for getting hurt while blocking a shot, by announcing "I don't know why you wouldn't wear pads there". Like no player ever got while blocking shots and wearing pads. How much padding can you put on the inside of the skate? So much elitist asshurt from those fucking clowns!
• Brandon Saad took a Brendan Smith shot right in the glove and immediately went off the ice. Not good.

The Lines

Saad-Toews-Smith
Ross-Leblanc-Hayes
Bollig-Kruger-Nordstrom
Kostka-Froese-Mills

Keith-Seabrook
Roszival-Svedberg
Olsen-Dahlbeck
Whenever the NHL straightens out their video embedding issue, we'll be including game highlights.

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Playoffs: Blackhawks vs RedWingsGame 7 OT/Series Win Recap

"Dog Day Sunrise"

This was it, folks. The game for all the beans. The Hawks fought back against the hated Red Wings to force a game 7, at home. They had the momentum, and their home crowd behind them. Could the avenge the last game 7 they played in, where Vancouver ended their Stanley Cup defense, in 2011? There were no settled stomachs in Chicago for this one, and a riot damn near broke out, on West Madison, but not for what you'd expect.

The game opened up with a furious pace with wide open skating, physical play, and great chances. This was exactly what everyone had hoped for, in a game 7. The Hawks were out shot early, but rebounded to lead the period 13-10. What a first period.

The action only let up slightly in the second period. There was more wide open skating, physical play and more great chances. The Blackhawks took a 1-0 lead early on, and held onto that lead for the entire period and out shot the Wings 11-6. Twenty minutes to go...

It didn't take Detoilet long to tie up the game. Twenty six seconds, to be exact. They also had a majority of the third period chances. The Hawks came back and eventually won the game, if not for a terrible call, but more on that later. They took the game to overtime and eventually finished off the Wings. Next target, LA! Holy crap, can I breathe now?


The Good

• The Hawks killed off an early Duncan Keith tripping penalty, but not without a few tense moments. Crawford was huge, and the PK stood tall.
• Bickell was an absolute bulldozer early on, plowing through the Detoilet defenders and throwing some big hits. He also pulled a filthy move on The Whipping Boy in the second period, but couldn't get a shot off. If only he could finish.
• Just a minute into the second period the Blackhawks Hossa, Handzus and Sharp took advantage of a long shift and ended up with a 3-on-1. They used their open players perfect, and the puck ended up on Shooter's stick with a wide open net.
• How can you not mention the play of Corey Crawford. He was a wall all game, and had no chance on the goal. Mention Ray Emery; I DARE you! This is Crawford's net, and if anyone thinks otherwise, they are colossal morons.

The Bad

• Keith's first period penalty could have put the Hawks in an early hole, but the PK bailed him out after a stupid trip.
• Thirty seconds into the third period the Blackhawks let the Wings walk around them and score a 2 on 4 goal. Bad decisions all around on this play. Oduya misjudged the play at the blue line and everything fell apart after that. Zetterberg was the fortunate goal scorer on this one. All tied up. This was just the beginning of Johnny Oduya's third period obituary. He played like a hot mess for a majority of the play in that period.
• Blackhawks; faceoffs. Only El Capitan was over 50%, and Kruger was 0-4. The rest were in between, to the tune of 48%
• Jonathan Toews was minus 1 with ONE shot on net. He HAS to be better against LA, and you can bet your ass they will be watching tapes of what Detoilet did to him.
• Blackhawks powerplay. Back to being a steaming pile of rancid bull dung. They will not get away with this against LA, I promise you that.

The Ugly

• After Filppula went off with an injury, it was blazing through twitter that Shaw gave him a slew foot. I watched the play a few times, and I didn't see it. Call me blind. Shaw looked slightly off balance, but it didn't look like he kicked Filppula's foot out. It's ice, folks. It's slippery.
• Watching Duncan Keith work the first powerplay point is fucking maddening. Nick Leddy needs to be there, end of story. Leddy is the only Hawks defenseman capable of carrying the puck past center ice.
• The ugliest of ugly!!! Ugly like Tyler Kennedy. The Blackhawks looked to have scored the game winning goal with 1:49 left, and because of some chippy bullshit behind the play, referee Stephen Walkom claimed to have blown the play dead. Brandon Saad got pushed into the Detoilet bench and then body slammed to the ice. For his trouble Saad was assessed a coincidental minor with dumb shit Kyle Quincey. Saad did nothing, but receive a rough ride, and was thrown to the ground. You don't make that call with 2 minutes left in game 7 of a tie game. Not on any planet. The NHL averted a huge controversy with the Hawks winning in OT, and Stephen Walkom averted what might have turned into an uncomfortable legacy. I hope Walkom has Brent Seabrook on his Christmas card list.

REDEMPTION

• This needed a section of it's own...Brent Seabrook and Dave Bolland had been the Blackhawks goats for the entire series, and changed that all in a matter of a few seconds. Bolland threw a big hit on Gustav (don't call me Gus) Nyquist in the neutral zone, separating him from the puck. The hit freed the puck up for Seabrook to grab and head into the Wings zone. He got over the blue line and unleashed a wrist shot that went off the foot of Tigger Kronwall and over Howard's glove. Game, Set, Match; on to round 3!!!

Here are the video highlights:

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Playoffs: Blackhawks at Detroit - Game 6 Win Recap

"Sweating Bullets"

Game 6 in Detoilet with the season on the line. We all know how the Blackhawks got here. Here is what went down:

The Hawks looked a lot like the Hawks of games 1 and 5 as play started, Monday night. The shots were even at 10-10 and the Hawks had an early powerplay goal, but Detoilet was able to tie the game late very late in the period.

The second period was owned by the Wings. They out shot the Hawks 18-10 and had the only goal of the middle twenty. This left the Blackhawks with 20 minutes left in their season. How would they respond?

Te answer the previous question, the third period was all Blackhawks. Even though they were out shot 10-8, they scored three goals to the Wings one, and forced the series back to Chicago for game 7. Playoff hockey, baby!! If you're not bordering on a full Myocardial Infarction, you're not breathing.

I'm not predicting ANYTHING, and my optimism will stay VERY guarded. Wednesday will be a nervous night in the Puckin Household. The Vancouver series a few years ago (Fucking Chris Stromboli) taught me not to get ahead of myself, but the odds are favoring the Hawks.

The Good

• It didn't take long for the Blackhawks to take a 1-0 lead, with a Brendan Smith (aka The Whipping Boy) penalty led to a Marian Hossa goal. El Capitan took the puck from behind the goal line right to the net, with all hell broke loose in front. Hoss was the one who finally put it into the net and after a delay from the booth in Toronto, it was confirmed. Imagine the powerplay being a huge part of a playoff win. Shocking, I know.
• The Hawks didn't take long in the third period, to tie the game up. Just a minute into the period an Oduya keep in and a Hjalmarsson corner dig out, ended up on the stick of Handzus. Zus waited Howard out and surgically beat him stick side. The play was set up by The Whipping Boy being out of position again. Brendan Smith stupidly got mesmerized by the puck like a Labrador chasing a squirrel and chased it into the corner, leaving Handzus wide open.
• Four minutes after the Handzus goal, Toews looked to get away with an offsides play that eventually ended up in the Wings corner. Toews dug the puck out and fed Bickell, who had position on The Whipping Boy. Howard made the first save, but Bickell poked the rebound in around Howward's leg, for a Blackhawks lead. After further examination by Pierre McGuire, the play wasn't offsides because the Ginger Jack Ass brought the puck back into the zone himself.
• The Hawks kept pouring it on about half way though the third period. Frolik out raced Carlo Colaiacovo and was in on a breakaway, when Colaiacovo slashed him and drew a penalty shot. Frodo took full advantage of Howard's bad positioning on the penalty shot and beat him on a backhand high to Howards glove side. 4-2 Hawks. Detoilet fans and Mike Milbury can bitch all they want about the call, but these are today's NHL rules. Slash a guy on the hands from behind on a breakaway and you'll get called.
• I would have never guessed, in twelve parsecs, that Bryan Bickell would become the Blackhawks John Druce, yet here we are. One Trick Bick has taken all of my shaming to heart. He's hitting people, and making shit happen in front of the net. He's a man possessed.
• Yes, Crawford gave up a total woofer of a goal, that put the Wings up 2-1, BUT he also made up for it with SEVERAL huge saves. 35 saves in nothing to bark at.

The Bad

• With the first period closing, the Blackhawks Dave Bolland failed to get the puck out of the zone and Detoilet capitalized. The Whipping Boy was able to direct the puck along the boards to the 150 year old Drew Miller (or he just looks that way), who just sent it on net. Crawford made the initial save but Eaves scooped up the rebound and put it around Crawford, to tie up the game. That's not good for my acute angina
• Everyone takes a turn to be stuck on stupid for the Blackhawks, and this time it was Michal Roszival. Two dumb second period penalties didn't help the Hawks effort. Keep playing with penalty kill fire and they will get burned.
• With about 4 minutes remaining, El Capitan was sent in by a Hjalmarsson stretch pass for a breakaway and missed. He is clearly off his game because he doesn't miss those. Those are usually money.
• After a stupid Marian Hossa penalty late in the third period, the Wings dug a loose puck out of the Hawks corner and a long Brunner slapshot ended up beating Crawford with 51.7 seconds remaining. Just had to make it interesting, Hoss, didn't you? 4-3 Hawks.
• Dream Warrior and Lucky Number Sleven were both minus two. How does that even happen in a game that you score 4 goals and win?
• Stalberg still hasn't made it out of Chateau Bow Wow, because he only played 7:35. By far the least time by any Hawks player.

The Ugly

• I never thought I'd say that a bad El Capitan penalty changed momentum, but that's exactly what happened. It's almost like the Hawks collectively all thought, "not again". They finally shook off the stink off in the third period, but it took quite a while.
• I can't express how annoying it is to watch Duncan Keith blindly shoot into opponents shin pads. It's like he's oblivious to the previous 1,000 times he's done it. Wake up and adjust, already!
• Crawford picked a terrible time to give up a weak goal. Half way through the second period he let up a 45 footer to forth liner Joakim Andersson (who coincidentally won 8 of 9 faceoffs against Hawks centers). It was just a wrist shot that Crawford just completely whiffed on. Complete woofer of a goal. If there is one think I've learned as a goalie it's that you should never trust your glove alone, on a long shot. If you get your body/head/weenis in the way and you miss with the flipper, you still block it. We can all let him slide based on his followup performance, but I hope Stephane Waite is beating this into his head with a mallet.
• If you can imagine, the Hawks were even worse than past games at the dots. They were 39% AS A TEAM. El Capitan was the only Hawks center than even sniffed 50%. It's really amazing the Hawks managed 4 goals, when they were that awful.
• The Whipping Boy, Brendan Smith. The guy was in on almost every goal against. Hilarious. I'd like to find that guy on Twitter who was yapping at me about Smith during game 2. How's your boy treating you now? Somewhere, Ben Smith is laughing his ass off.

The fine gentlemen at HockeeNight started this, and I have to jump on the bandwagon.
Mighty Mike D from Cheer The Anthem gets the credit for the mash, and the #GorillaSalad reference is genius. I'm just mad I didn't do this first.

Here are the actual video highlights:

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Playoffs: Blackhawks vs RedWings - Game 5 Win Recap

"More Than Meets the Eye"

Saturday turned out to be Detoilet's first chance to eliminate the Hawks and send them packing for good. After this magical season, the Blackhawks worst arch enemy had a chance to upset them and end their season. With the Rangers getting eliminated right at game time, it was up the the Blackhawks to keep from having two highly touted teams bounced. On to the action.

The Hawks came out more physical in the first period, and had a majority of the chances. They also had the only goal of the period. Forgive the fans for not falling for this false sense of security, because we've fallen for it before. Big hits and a goal on 12 shots were a good start but 11 shots given up were also concerning.

The Hawks opened up a two goal lead in the second period, after letting the Wings tie the game. They out shot the Wings once again, 16-11. One would think a 2 goal lead would last, but we've learned not to count our blessings in this series.

The Hawks continued their new more consistant play in the third period, they out shot the Wings a cartoonish 17-4 in the period and iced the game with their 4th goal. There will be a game 6 in Detoilet on Monday.

The Good

• Dr. Lineblender was in full effect Saturday night. The defensive pairs were back to what they were early in the season(2/7,4/27,32/8). Saad was playing with Stalberg and Shaw. Bickell, Handzus and Hossa were together. Toews, Kane and Sharp were together. The forth line was Kruger, Frolik and Bolland.
• The combination of Bickell, Hanzus and Kane caused all kinds of problems for the Wings defense resulting in Bryan Bickell with the puck on his stick in front of a gaping net. This time around the puck made it's way to the back of the net for a 1-0 Hawks lead.
• Andrew Shaw put the Hawks back up by one goal, in the second half of the second period, tipping a Duncan Keith powerplay shot past Howard. The Hawks had dominating control of the play for the duration of powerplay. The Wings simply couldn't even get a stick on the puck. Where has this powerplay been, and why can't they do this all the time?
• After another Abdelkader penalty, El Capitan finally broke his slump with a sweet snipe from the right side of the net. He read Howard down on the ice, banked it off Howard's mask and into the net. 3-1 Hawks.
• Shaw got his second goal of the game, when he picked up a Stalberg shot that was blocked wide of the net and wrapped it around the post beating Jimmy Howard, who was late getting back to his post. Shaw just happened to be coasting behind the net, when the Stalberg shot went wide and died just in front of him. In one motion he pushed it to the goal line, and into the net.

The Bad

• With the Hawks holding momentum almost halfway through the first period what does Stalberg do? He takes a lazy offensive zone interference penalty. Fucking brain dead.
• I am sick to death of Duncan Keith shooting into opponents shin pads. Sick and fucking tired of it!
• Dan Cleary used a 4 on 4 situation halfway through the second period to tie the game up. Zetterberg set him up with a nice backhand saucer pass that Brendan Smith got a piece up, and ended up on Cleary's stick. Frolik was late on the back check and Cleary beat him to the net.
• The Hawks were still pretty bad at the dots, but better than the last few games. Toews and Bolland were the worst, at 40% and 47% respectively.

The Ugly

• I haven't bitched much about the refs this series at all, but the Wings got away clear and obvious too many men penalty in the second period. Brutal! They missed several calls, including what should have been a goal, in the first period and a Frolik breakaway.

Here are the video highlights:

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Playoffs: Blackhawks at Detroit - Game 4 Loss Recap

"Hand Of Doom"

By now you all know the bad news. The Wings beat the Hawks 2-0, to go up 3-1 in the series. The Hawks controlled the first period, but went completely mental in the second, loosing all composure. The third period was all about Red Wings lock down, and the Hawks headed back home with the prospect of being eliminated Saturday, at home no less.

I'm too disgusted with this effort to put up a cutsey period by period analysis. Let's be honest here, the Hawks are in bad shape, and 60 minutes from an early summer of golfing. Memorial Day may end up being the Blackhawks memorial. On with the bad news, brace yourselves:

The Good

• It's hard to find a anything good in a 2-0 loss, but the Hawks actually played very well in the first period. They out shot the Wings 14-10 but couldn't capitalize on the MANY Wings turnovers. Maybe I need to give Jimmy Howard credit, but just who the hell is this Jimmy Howard and where did he come from??????
• Corey Crawford did what he is suppose to do. He played well, and only gave up one goal. In fact, the way he has played for both series should tell you that all that "play Ray Emery" horseshit should be over. He has not cost the Hawks a single game. The Hawks are beating themselves. As I'll reitterate below, Two goals scored, in three games, are in no way shape or form Corey Crawford's fault. If you even utter the name of Ray Emery, you deserve to be flogged with a bag of rusty nails.
• I know he ended up with a couple of infractions in that nightmare of a second period, but it should be pointed out that Bryan Bickell has been HITTING PEOPLE! In what are probably the final games of his Blackhawks career, he finally figured out that he's bigger than most opponents and can use that to his advantage, rather than act like he is some 180 lb sniper ripping off wrist shots from 55 feet out. Enjoy New Jersey or Florida, Bick.

The Bad

• As was said by some people watching the game with me, you could just see the goal coming from a mile away. Six straight powerplay minutes (or should I say 5:59) and the second Kindl got the puck on his stick, I knew it was going in the net. You cannot physically kill every powerplay, especially when you've gone apeshit and taked three penalties in the first half of the second period.
• The empty net goal doesn't even matter, but their puck possession prior to it should be noted. PISS POOR.
• 40%, 47%, 44%, 29%. Those are the Blackhawks faceoff percentages, minus El Capitan's 61%. It all starts with puck possession for this team, and they weren't getting it.
• Is it too late to go back and wish for the San Jose matchup?

The Ugly

• I have no explanation for Jonathan Toews absolutely losing his shit in the second period, and taking three penalties. The frustration was clearly evident with El Capitan. The third penalty was the worst, because the game winning goal was scored with one second remaining on it. You can't expect to win many games scoring 2 goals in three games. I'm not looking forward to a summer of the rest of the NHL fanbase mumbling about how Toews cracked under the pressure.
• I said it before, and I'm repeating it once again. Their fucking terrible powerplay and lack of anyone named Toews winning faceoffs was a concern. To all of you Twitards that wanted to argue the fact, because they were rolling through the regular season, HOW YA LIKE ME NOW?????
  
• Oh, and when I was concerned they were peaking too early, yeah that.
• Lets talk about Toews and Sharp missing breakaways in the first period shall we? Bet they'd like to have at least ONE of those back now, dontcha think?
• How the hell does your best puck moving defenseman end up with EIGHT FUCKING THIRTY EIGHT of ice time? Really, Q? This was your answer to the Wings trap? If there wasn't some unreported injury, this alone should get Quenneville fired. It makes NO fucking sense.
• Other blogs and fans might tell you it's still not time to panic, but they are wrong. Get your voodoo dolls and antacids out because the Hawks are dangerously close to choking.

Here are the video highlights:

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Playoffs: Blackhawks at DetroitGame 3 Loss Recap

"Random Acts of Senseless Violence"

After a disappointing game 2 the Blackhawks were in Detoilet for game 3. No preview needed, you know the drill. On to the action.

The Hawks came out with a little more of an edge in the first period than they have in a while, but it wouldn't last long. They weren't able to manage any goals, but they out shot the Wings 15-9. Not a bad period in a hostile environment.

The second period was a completely different story. The Wings took control around halfway through the period and never really lost it. They matched the Hawks first period out shooting them 14-8 and out scoring the Hawks 2-0.

The third period was even in score, and slightly favored the Hawks in shots, but the Hawks never fully recovered from the terrible second period, and lost 3-1. The now faced the unfortunate possibility of going down 3-1 before getting back to the UC.

The Good

• The line of Toews, Stalberg, and Saad was utterly dominant in the first 5 minutes of the second period. It was like a 5 minutes powerplay.
• Not even half way through the second and El Capitan had 6 shots on net. It all came to a screeching halt there, though.
Crazy 8s got the Hawks back within one goal, with fifteen minutes remaining in the third period. He was able to out race the Detroit defense for a breakaway, and beat Howard 5-hole.
• Go figure that a couple of the best Hawks chances were when the third line that was together all season got back together. Stalberg breakaway and the following rebounds.
• The Hawks penalty kill continued to stay hot, and is probably the only reason the Hawks didn't lose 5-1.

The Bad

• Andrew Shaw started his horseshit late in the first period. He drew all kinds of attention dragging a Wings player to the box with him, but Bickell stuck his yap into the mix and ended up with two minutes of his own, leaving the Hawks shorthanded. Shaw was out of his fucking mind all night. He ended up getting thrown out with a late misconduct shortly after making one of the few positive plays he made, which was a big check on Colaiacovo.
• The Wings opened up a 1-0 lead about halfway through the first period after Nyquist out raced Leddy and then twisted Seabrook around like a top. He out waited Crawford and then put it over the fallen goalie.
• Almost immediately following the Nyquist goal, thirty seconds to be exact, the fourth lines faced off and the puck ended up in the back of the Hawks net again thanks to Drew Miller. Timeout Hawks, and a much needed one.
• Shooter got a breakaway with about 5 minutes into the third and was stopped by Howard.
• Another Wings game, another night of getting their dicks kicked in at the dots. Shaw and Handzus were the only two Hawks over 50%.

The Ugly

• It didn't take long for Jakub Kindl to take a bit of a cheap shot on Stalberg and send him to the locker room. Kindl saw Stalberg coming for a big hit and undercut him, sending him into the boards head first. Real Cute.
• The Hawks were probably robbed of a goal when Shaw was called for being in the crease and interfering with Howard. I can't say that it looked like he interfered at all, on any replay I saw.
• Datsyuk stuck a daggar in the Hawks heart with a 2-on-2 goal just seven minutes into the third period that Crawford should have saved, with the time and view he had of it.
• I'm not sure if I am being over critical of a 4th line player, but Kruger has looked like absolute shit on the ice. Bad turnovers, terrible passes, and just overall bad decisions. I'd be happy only seeing him on the PK, at this point.

Here are the video highlights:

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