Blackhawks vs. Panthers 7-0(!) SO Loss Recap

"Joker and The Thief"

by Patrick Norton
Tweet at Norton

I thought I’d take a more unorthodox angle with the recap from last night’s game. Yes, I watched the game, but this is the only way to truly capture the utter beat down endured.

GOAL SUMMARY

First Period

• Nobody scored

My thoughts after the period: Okay, okay. Not bad. We were a little sloppy, but we got out alive. All that matter. As long as we come out strong in the second we’ll be okay.

Second Period

• FLORIDA GOAL - Aleksander Barkov - Assisted by Huberdeau and Demers - 0:17
• FLORIDA GOAL - Jonathan Huberdeau - PP - Assisted by Barkov and Yandle - 10:21
• FLORIDA GOAL - Jonathan Marchessault - Assisted by Barkov and Huberdeau - 11:40

My thoughts after the period: What in the name? That sure escalated quickly. Damn, we’re just not playing well tonight. Maybe we’ll turn it around and force overtime again.

Third Period

• FLORIDA GOAL - Jonathan Marchessault - Assisted by Sceviour - 4:59
• FLORIDA GOAL - Jonathan Marchessault - Hat Trick - Assisted by Huberdeau and Trocheck - 7:13
• FLORIDA GOAL - Nick Bjugstad - Assisted by Sceviour and Pysyk - 7:53
• FLORIDA GOAL - Reilly Smith - Assisted by Trocheck - 11:45

My thoughts after the game: Well that sucked. At least Kansas is keeping it close. *insert sad Price Is Right noise*

The Good

• Absolutely nothing. This game was a heaping pile of trash. I don’t remember the scores from last year, but I remember the Hawks having a pretty unsuccessful road trip down in Florida last year, too. Let’s hope they throw this one in the trash and halt the comeback efforts of the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night.

The Bad

• A whole lot, but “The Ugly” takes the cake with this game. If the result had been slightly better, you’d see me giving the benefit of the doubt with this, but 7-0 is excessive and unacceptable.

The Ugly

• The powerplay looked like the penalty kill for the Hawks. Lazy passing, not wanting to shoot, and lacking a net front presence resulted in a nice 0/3 on the man advantage. Sure, even if you score on those it’s still a four goal game, but it would’ve been nice to have SOMETHING to cheer about.
• Patrick Kane fought… in a fight. Yeah, cool, we’ll never see that again, but I hoped we never saw that at all, especially when there’s only seven games before the playoffs. We can’t have Kane going down with a shattered orbital bone.
• Brent Seabrook slipped backwards on the powerplay in hilarious fashion. This was in the first period on a powerplay, so it was kind of a sign of things to come.
• Corey Crawford gave up four goals and Darling gave up a three spot in relief. Not Jimmy Waite’s proudest moment. It didn’t matter though as one goal would’ve been enough.
• We’ve complained and said the Hawks can’t play one period a night and expect to win. Well tonight they played zero periods and I can’t imagine they expected much of a nice result.
• Steve Konroyd was in the booth. True story: I watched this one in a crowded room, so I didn’t have to hear his annoying Canadian wail. That was the only positive of my night. He still probably stunk up the booth, so he still lands down here. 
• WGN needs to figure out how to made a gosh darn clear picture. It sucks. I’d rather watch a CSN game on my phone than a WGN broadcast on a 60” HDTV. (presented by Samsung. #PleaseSponsorUs)
• The Hawks did not seem committed to putting a decent product on the ice. Hopefully we don’t look back in five years and remember this as the turning point in the season. This was the equivalent of the NBA resting players because I’m pretty sure nobody played tonight. 
• What do Brent Seabrook, Dennis Rasmussen, Richard Panik, Johnny Oduya, and Andrew Desjardins all have in common? Their +/- was a 0, which isn’t much to brag about, but when everybody else is a minus, it’s almost impressive. 
• Toews, Kane, and Campbell (Welcome home!) all finished with a -4. Hjalmarsson and van Riemsdyk ended up at -3. The rest went between -2 and -1. 
• There was a combined thirty-four minutes of penalty minutes from the Blackhawks side. Ruh roh. The PK actually wasn’t bad surrendering only ⅕ chances, but you can’t win games when you’re playing undisciplined.
• Kansas lost to Oregon. I can’t believe it. I’m lost for words. For any of you Hostile readers that watched the basketball game last night, Josh Jackson was atrocious. I’m so pissed off about this and I don’t even go there yet. 

You have to listen to Ep. 78 of the Shoutcast to understand tonight's title. Find it on iTunes or Soundcloud. We're recording three weeks in a row starting on Tuesday, so get ready for a Hostile takeover on your iTunes downloads.

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Blackhawks vs Panthers2-1 Shootout Win Recap

"The Panik Broadcast"

by Gatekeeper
Yell at Gatekeeper

Quickly, I'd like to mention that Terry Boers called it a broadcast career, today, due to failing health. If you don't know him, he's been a part of Chicago sports radio for roughly 25 years. Basically my adult life. His tone and sarcasm probably had a lot to do with my satire and cynicism. I hope his health improves and that he continues to get more accolades. Like him or not, he's a Chicago sports radio icon.


On to hockey complaining...

For once, The Blackhawks weren't the squad with the most drama in the arena. The Florida Panthers, fresh off the unceremonious firing of their head coach, made their first appearance of the Tom Rowe era. Because nothing screams of future success like the model of Bob Pulford's coaching/GM double duty. How does THAT name taste going down? #NowDerek... There was a little Blackhawks drama coming in, with captain Jonathan Toews missing his third straight game with a mystery upper body injury. This had all the fixins for an inspired Panthers win; if not for Corey Crawford.

The first period was not exactly what the United Center crowd had hoped for, after a couple of weeks on the road. The Panthers definitely held the advantage in play for almost the entire first twenty minutes. It's pretty safe to say that the Blackhawks had very few scoring chances, yet they were able to take the lead late in the frame. Officially, the scorer said that the Hawks were only out shot 13-8, but it certainly seemed more like 13-4.

The middle twenty weren't exactly much better than the opening period, but the Blackhawks were able to accomplish something by closing the shot deficit after ONLY getting out shot 12-11. The two period total was down to 25-19, which was progress, I guess. You know what is boring? A late November Tuesday night game against the Panthers.

The Panthers were able to tie the game early in the third period and when I say early, I mean early. Thirty five seconds in. Once again the action slowed down to a snore-worthy pace, but the Blackhawks actually out shot the Panthers for a period. Barely. The final regulation totals were 39-33 in favor of the Cats. Giving up 39 shots at home is pretty brutal.

The overtime started with a Panthers powerplay that the Blackhawks killed off pretty easily, and there was the usual end to end rushes. Neither team was able to finish the game, and it was up to the hero, #DickFuckingPanik, to put the kitty cats to bed in the shootout.

The Good

• Jaromir Jagr skated in his 1,652nd career NHL game, passing Chris Chelios (1,651) and tying Mark Recchi for fourth on the all-time list.
• With just over two minutes remaining in the first period, Dennis Rasmussen found #DickFuckingPanik behind the Cats defense. Panik was able to gather the bouncing puck, truck in on Bobby Luongo, and tuck the puck around the Stomb-oalie. Not only did he score the only Hawks goal, but he won the game in the shootout with a really nice top shelf snapper and led the Hawks in shots on goal with 5. Keep mocking me about my 35 point prediction. He's at 10 points with about 3/4 of the games remaining.
• Corey Crawford was outstanding again. Hew saved 38 of 39 and bailed the Blackhawks out several times. Overtime, shootout, stickless, shorthanded. He was simply great. If you can't respect a .974 save percentage then you're just stupid.
• I'm officially on the Hartman train. He's been confident and solid, no matter where he's played.

The Bad

• It only took the Panthers thirty five seconds into the third period to tie the game on the powerplay. Brent Seabrook blocked a shot that rendered him basically useless. The puck then somehow eventually ended up on the stick of Jaromir Jagr right at the edge of the crease, who put it away.
• Not only did Patrick Kane take a sloppy penalty with 20 seconds remaining in regulation but when he came out of the box in overtime, he half assed a pass that would have given him a breakaway and it dribbled away harmlessly.
• Artem Anisimov took a Duncan Keith shot off the ankle on the third period and had to end up going to the locker room.
• One player who's train I'm not on is Nick Schmaltz. He seems to be getting endless opportunities and he has 1 goal in 24 games. By all means, keep putting him out there with Kane and keep watching him try to crowbar passes when he has an open shot. Let's all rag on Kruger, who basically only has defensive zone starts while stuck in the bottom 6.

The Ugly

• Before the game even started, we found out that Coach Whizzo was sitting Michal Kempny for Jurassic era relic Michal Rozsival. To put it bluntly, this is bullshit.
  
• In the third period Vinny Hinostroza cut his angle a little too close to his own goaltender's crease, and swept the legs right out from under Crawford. Crawford lost his stick and laid on the ice for an extended period but the play continued. Eventually, Crawford had to gather himself and dive to his right to kill the play.
• Jordin Tootoo played under six minutes. Can we end this charade?
• I was so bored by this game that I had time to put this fitting creation together. Sure would be nice to have a Photoshop guy around these parts.
  

The #Fatrick Stankus Fatsy Stats

• I couldn't believe my eyes that the Hawks actually won 53% of their faceoffs. Marcus Kruger won 15 of 20 faceoffs by himself.
• The Jonathan Marchessault/Aleksander Barkov/Jaromir Jagr line just clowned the Blackhawks all night in possession.
• The Triple H line of Ryan Hartman/Vinny Hinostroza/Marian Hossa were the leading Blackhawks possession line.
  

The Shootout

• Patrick Kane stopped by Luongo's glove
• Vincent Trocheck missed wide
• Artemi Panarin beat Luongo
• Aleksander Barkov stopped by Crawford
• #DickFuckingPanik beats Bobby Lu top cheddar

The Lineblender
Left Wing - Center - Right Wing
Panarin - Anisimov - Kane
Hartman - Hinostroza - Hossa
Rasmussen - Kruger - Panik
Motte - Schmaltz - Tootoo

Keith - Hjalmarsson
Campbell - Seabrook
Forsling - Rozsival

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Blackhawks at Panthers4-0 Shutout Loss Recap

"Got Me Wrong"
by Patrick Stankus

The Blackhawks finished their quick trip through Florida on Friday night by visiting the Panthers in Miami. The Hawks were coming in off a 2-1 loss on Thursday night in Tampa, which ended their 12 game win streak. The two trips that I usually pencil in as losses before the season starts are the Western Canada swing, and the Florida swing. After Thursday's showing, the Florida swing got off to the start I had expected, but how bad could it get in Miami?

Once the puck dropped, it was quite clear this game could go right down the shitter really fast. Just over a minute, Andrew Shaw took a hooking penalty, and our worst nightmares were coming true.  After the Hawks killed off the penalty, it was all down hill. The Panthers rang up three goals in the final 10 minutes of the period to go up 3-0 after the opening frame. You can debate that two of those three goals were soft. Oh, and that third goal, well don't we all enjoy seeing a weak, short side shot go in with 2.1 seconds remaining?

The smoldering tire fire that was the Blackhawks continued right where it left off in the first period. The lack of energy, and overall pace was very apparent. The looks that the Hawks did have were a lot of one and done chances on Roberto Luongo. The highlight of the game came by way of Rob Suckderi in the second period. Suckderi turned a puck over on a weak clearing attempt, and Aaron Ekblad picked up the loose puck and beat Scott Darling cleanly on the glove side with a snap shot to make it 4-0. But by all means, blame Rozsival for that one. After two periods of play, the Hawks would trail the Panthers 4-0.

The third period was much like this summary of this recap was, a hurry up to get it over. The Hawks did end up out shooting the Panthers 12-9, so you can go wet your pants if you want some sort of positive vibe. Mercifully the horn ending the game sounded shortly after 9pm Chicago time, with the Hawks falling 4-0 to the Panthers. All that was missing from this shit show trip to South Florida was a trip to Las Vegas as a reward for shitty play. Then again, Gate is supposed to go to Nashville tomorrow, so maybe we'll count that a reward, for sitting through this game.


The Good

• The Blackhawks only travel to Florida once a year.
• You're kidding if you thought anything else would go in "The Good" category.

The Bad

• Tonight was nothing more than a waste of our time.
• Jiri Sekac made his debut. No seriously, he did.
• The Hawks took a page of out #DickPanik 's book, and overslept to miss the start of the game.
• The Power Play was 0 for 2 tonight, and 0 for 5 in the two games in Florida. Why do people like going to Florida again?
• If you wanted to see former Blackhawks Dave Bolland, Brandon Pirri, and Dylan Olsen, you had to look up. Like, way up in the press box.
• The Blackhawks are now 0-2-0 in the post Ryan Garbutt era. Who would have thought?

The Ugly

• Three of the four goals Scott Darling yielded tonight were on the short side. I'd argue all three were stoppable. Its a good thing Corey Crawford has been lights out, because Scott Darling is a fragile goalie with a lack of confidence right now.
• As good as the #AK72Line has been this year, tonight they really stunk up the show. 72, 15, and 88 were all -2 on the night.
• If you had Dennis Rasmussen being the best Blackhawk at the dot tonight, at 75%, please go collect your winnings.
• After the first period, wasn't it nice to watch the Hawks just try and get the game over as quick as possible?
• The #GusBus looked like he had some sort of engine problem, or a flat tire tonight.
• There was a whole lot of suck on Aaron Ekblad's goal that made it 4-0. Take your pick, the back turnover by Suckderi, or the fact the puck beat Darling cleanly on the glove. BARF.
• With just under 9 minutes, and down four, Quenneville thought it'd be funny to pull Scott Darling for the extra attacker. This Patrick Roy bullshit needs to stop.
• Towards the end of the game we were treated to a now famous #AccordingToKonroyd moment. Tonight's moment was his textbook excuse of the Blackhawks being tired because they had played 12 games in 20 days. SHUT THE HELL UP STEVE. The Hawks were awful, NO EXCUSES.
• Whatever honeymoon there was with the 12 game win streak should be over now, and be nothing but an afterthought.

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Blackhawks vs Panthers3-2 Win Recap

"Got Your Six"
by Gatekeeper

With the demise of the Cubs, Wednesday night, the Blackhawks fan base was rejoined by a vast majority of the loudest meatheads, much to the dismay of us non-baseball fans. To add to the festivities, this was the first game post "Duncan Keith Surprise Surgery", where the Blackhawks were going to be forced to find out just how deep, or thin, their defense was. I'm betting on thin, but god forbid you mention that, because #3CUPZ / #StanzPlan. I digress, though. The subject at hand was the South Florida Blackhawks, aka the Panthers.

Things looked pretty good when the Blackhawks opened up and took a lead just four minutes into the game, but they pulled a double bogey, allowing the Cats to tie up the game less than a minute later. Most of the action was in Florida's zone, and they out shot the Cats 12-4.

The Blackhawks second period opened up much like their first period, but they were able to actually hold their lead, this time around. It also helps your cause when you get five powerplays due to some sloppy play by the visiting team. They scored on only one of those powerplays, which gave them a slim 2-1 lead despite their 9-5 shot advantage. This was a prime example of not pouncing on chances when you're served them up on a silver platter.

The Blackhawks only took seventeen seconds to expand their lead on the rollover powerplay, in the third period, but the Panthers were able to cut the lead to one, later in the frame. The Panthers actually led in shots 9-6, thanks to the powerplay time, and they kept things interesting. In the end, the Blackhawks closed out the game with a 3-2 win.

The Good

• Just four minutes into the game, Artem Anisimov took advantage of three napping Panthers defenders and drove from the half boards right through the crease with very little resistance, tucking the puck in around Luongo's right leg. Terrible play by the Cats, but a wonderful catch by the big lumbering center.
• The Blackhawks took a 2-1 lead, four minutes into the second period on the powerplay. Artem Anisimov won a faceoff to open the powerplay and Brent Seabrook let a howitzer go from the point. The puck deflected off Dave Bolland and hopped past Roberto Luongo for a rare powerplay goal.
• Niklas Hjalmarsson definitely showed more offensive flash than we have previously seen from him. That could be a really good thing in the next 6 weeks.
• During a late second period powerplay Quenneville threw out Seabrook, Anisimov, Panarin, Teravainen and Kane. Needless to say, there were some highlight reel passes. I don't hate this unit at all.
• Seventeen seconds into the third period, with the Hawks still on a carryover powerplay, Brent Seabrook found Patrick Kane sneaking in behind the Panthers defense and hit him with a perfect pass. Kane was in all alone and Luongo looked like he just bailed. 3-1 Blackhawks
• Trevor van Riemsdyk had a quiet, but solid night and it needs to be pointed out.
• Crawford had a pretty solid night, as well. He only had 16 saves on 18 shots, but he made a could of grade-A stops.

The Bad

• The Rundblad/Daley pairing is fucking putrid in their own end. This needs to change, like yesterday. Not only that, but I'll give you one guess which pair was the second pair on the powerplay.
• With the 5 Blackhawks powerplays in the second period, it was a foregone conclusion that the Blackhawks would get dinged in the third; and they did. And if you're going to do something right, you might as well go all in. They did that, as well, with a 5-on-3 disadvantage. The Blackhawks had almost completely killed off the almost full two minute disadvantage when the Cats caught the pairing of Daley and Svedberg out on the ice. I'm not pointing that fact out because of their heroic play, so you can imagine what happened.

The Ugly

• Thirty four seconds after the Hawks took the lead, they allowed the Bjugstad, Pirri, and Trochek line to waltz right into the their crease on Corey Crawford. Crawford couldn't locate the loose puck and cover it, so eventually Vincent Trocheck cued it into the net with a little help from Brandon Pirri. Yes, THAT Brandon Pirri.
  
  I'm told by many people, who apparently know more than I, that he sucks and he couldn't do anything like that for the Hawks, so that goal probably didn't count based on Pirri's lack of talent, right?
• I love ol @Strombone1, but there are many times when he just looks like he's mailing it in.
• When your opponent takes eight penalties to your three penalties, that should tell the tale
• Six minutes in the box for Marcus Kruger and a whiff on an open net. Taking lessons from #Fatrick I see.

The Lineblender
Tikhonov - Toews - Hossa
Panarin - Anisimov - Kane
Teravainen - Hinostroza - Garbutt
Desjardins - Kruger - Shaw

Seabrook - Svedberg
van Reimsdyk - Hjalmarsson
Rundblad - Daley

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Blackhawks at Florida3-0 Shutout Win Recap

"Open Season"
by Gatekeeper

The Blackhawks travelled to warm, sunny Sunrise Florida to play the Panthers for the second game of their "Home and home", Thursday night. This would be "the first game of the rest of their lives", following the season ending injury Tuesday night to Patrick Kane. Teuvo Teravainen was called up to take the roster spot, but no player could "replace" Kane. Do the Blackhawks have the balls to dominate without Kane? We will see from here on out.

The first period got off to a good start with the Blackhawks scoring an early goal and out shooting the Panthers 10-4. They had a chance to really put their boots on the Cat's throats with a 5-on-3 powerplay, but weren't able to get any more than a few weak chances.

The second period was almost a carbon copy of the first. The Blackhawks scored their second goal at approximately the same part of the period and play was very similar. This period, however, the Hawks were out shot 9-8. More please.

In the third period, The Blackhawks spent a majority of the play on the offensive. This didn't result in a goal, outside of the empty netter, but they were able to freeze out the Panthers, and head to Tampa with a win in their back pocket.

The Good

• Just a couple of minutes into the game, Patrick Kane's roster replacement, Teuvo Tervainen, picked up a loose puck that was dug out by Andrew Shaw, and beat Luongo for a 1-0 Blackhawks lead. OF COURSE that was going to happen. The story couldn't be written any other way. If this kid can keep this up, at all, the Blackhawks will have something to look forward to without their leading scorer and MVP. That's an enormous "if". Even though he scored, Teuvo was limited to a team low 9:50 and only took 2 faceoffs.
• Almost exactly a period after the Teravainen goal, following another abomination of a powerplay, Brandon Saad beat Mr Strombone for a 2-0 Blackhawks lead. Marian Hossa led the rush over the Cat's blue line, and chipped it to a rushing Duncan Keith. Keith found a wide open Saad, who tried to one time the puck, but it flipped up like a change up and slowly went over the outstretched arm of Luongo.
• Corey Crawford was solid. That's all he had to be. He earned the shutout in a pretty easy game. He really deserved to have an easy bounce back game.
• Hossa quietly had 2 assists. Good start.
• Funny how the Blackhawks come out and win almost 65% of their faceoffs, and they win convincingly. Toews won 21 of 28.

The Bad

• Florida keeps Florida'n. They drew a late 1st period penalty and immediately took not one, but TWO penalties of their own. In typical Blackhawks fashion, they blew the advantage.
  
  "Here take the game"
  "No YOU take the game".
  "We don't want it, YOU take it"
  Hossa hitting the post on a long shot, which was the loudest shot off the post I've ever heard, was the best chance they had.
• The dynamic duo of David Rundblad and Tim Erixon are pretty fucking slow. Just saying.
• Andrew Shaw was somehow credited with 8 hits. Can you feel my excitement? Keeping things in perspective, Jimmy Hayes had 7 which, oddly enough, is roughly the same amount he had his entire Blackhawks career. Whoever credited the Panthers with 50 hits, needs to be drug tested immediately.

The Ugly

• I'm thoroughly finished with this "clear the puck up through the slot" in the Hawks zone. It's a cutesy play and it's dangerous. Knock that shit off.
• I did not hear the names Ekblad, Bjugstad, Barkov or Huberdeau at all. The Panthers need these young players to be big if they want to win.

The Lineblender
Saad-Toews-Hossa
Sharp-Richards-Versteeg
Shaw-Teravainen-Bickell
Smith-Kruger-Nordstrom

Keith-Hjalmarsson
Seabrook-Cumiskey
Rundblad-Erixon

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Blackhawks vs Panthers3-2 Shootout Win Recap

"Hand Of Doom"

by Gatekeeper

The Blackhawks welcomed the Blackhawks South into their home away from home, the United Center. This is not the same old Florida Panthers. They are playoff bound at this point, and had a solid back end. Of course, this solid lineup was composed of former Blackhawks. The Blackhawks started the game without one of their more important defenders, Johnny Oduya, who was out due to injury.

The first period stared with an unfortunate injury, which then led to a 1-0 powerplay goal. The Blackhawks seemed to have more of a sense of urgency after that, with some big hits and a 15-8 shot advantage after twenty minutes.

The second period started off slow for the Blackhawks, but they hit their stride about halfway though. The Hawks out shot the Cats once again 12-8, and were able to add one more goal to their lead. All the physicality was going to make for an interesting final period.

The Blackhawks coughed up their 2 goal lead in the third period, yielding 16 Florida shots to their 10. Not the Blackhawks best 3rd period, to put it nicely. The overtime was chaos, but neither team could end it, and the Blackhawks finally won it in the shootout.

The Good

• Immediately following the Petrovic penalty, the Blackhawks were able to actually sustain pressure on the Cats, ending up with a Jonathan Toews powerplay goal. I heard all kinds of griping about the Hawks not retaliating, but they got a powerplay goal. At this point goals are rare, acting like a slobbering goon does nothing but probably put you in the hole.
• Following the Hossa penalty, and unfortunate block of a Patrick Sharp shot wound up on the tape of Kris Versteeg, who had a fairly open net. Versteeg stung his former team burying the goal, and it was 2-0.
• Lemont Native Scott Darling was pretty good. He buckled in the third period, but was strong for the remainder of the game. Still not the best goalie on the team, but he was adequate.

The Bad

• The Blackhawks gave up two early 2-on-1's that could have been ugly fast.  Luckily, no harm no foul.
• Just a few minutes after the Bickell stick infraction, Marian Hossa ended up in the box for knocking Bobby Lu's stick away from him, while it lay on the ice next to the net. Strange calls.
• Darling lost the shutout late in the third period, but my mind was on the missing league leading scorer.
• The Hawks were goofed on, at the dots, again. Losing 60% of the draws won't win you a lot of games.

The Ugly

• Just a few minutes into the game, and Alex Petrovic cross checked Patrick Kane in the side while he was in a vulnerable position and Kane went down awkwardly. He stayed on the ice for a while and got up holding his left arm. That's all this team needs. As I said on Twitter, they need this like 6 O'Donnells on the blue line. A source told me that the injury was a broken clavicle and Kane was done for possibly the season. God dammit.
• Derek McKenzie got a penalty shot in the second period because of a loose stick being "shot" towards him, by Bryan Bickell. Stupid ass play. Why would you do that? FrankenBickell.
• A crazy hop late in the third period ended up being reviewed and was over the line. I'm sure this was a conspiracy to make the Blackhawks lose too. I wasn't in the mood to argue that, after hearing the Kane news.

The Shootout
Toews scored on Luongo
Trochek stopped by Darling
Sharp beat Luongo
Bjugstad never got a shot off.

The Lineblender
Saad-Toews-Hossa
Sharp-Richards-Kane
Versteeg-Shaw-Bickell
Smith-Kruger-Nordstrom

Keith-Rundblad
Seabrook-Hjalmarsson
Cumiskey-Rozsival

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Blackhawks Week That Was - 12/13

11/16 - Blackhawks vs Panthers - 6-2 Win

• The big news was losing Corey Crawford with an apparent groin injury. Antti Raanta came in and filled in great, with 29 saves.
  
• Three of the Hawks goals ere on the powerplay, which propelled them to a top 5 position. I'll take that. The firt one was 1:10 into the game and they never looked back.
  
• Shooter (1G, 2A) and Kaner (3A) each had 3 points. Money players, earning that cabbage.
  
• Former Hawk Dylan Olsen bit his former team in the ass, with a goal to break the shutout, in the second period. The other most recent former Blackhawk, Jimmy Hayes, led the Panthers with 4 hits.
  
• The Hawks were over 50% at the dots. Good stuff.
  

Here are the video highlights: 11/17 - Blackhawks at Dallas - 6-2 Win

• Like their previous game, the Hawks came out Paul Walker style. Fast and Furious (too soon?). Thor, Michael Kostka, scored in his first shift back from injury.
  
• Sharp and Saad each had two goals; IN THE SECOND PERIOD.
  
• J-Mo had a hell of a third period, earning himself 16 minutes in penalties.
  
• How the Hawks let noted dick cheese, Antoine Roussel, get two goals is beyond me. Fuck that guy, seriously.
  
• After 4 goals, the Hawks chased Kari Lehtonen from the game. Dan Ellis didn't fare much better.
  
• Deuce and Carter Seven were each plus 3. That's what you want from your top pair.
  

Here are the video highlights: 11/19 - Blackhawks vs Flyers - 7-2 win

• The Flyers are just a bunch of dumb asses several times they took cheep shots behind the play. I hope they rot in futility like St. Louis. The Hawks gave up a 1-0 first period deficit and opened up the flood gates in the second, with 5 goals.
  
• Even though the Hawks won by such a large margin, they still managed to give up two powerplay goals. Second worst penalty kill in the league. How does this happen after having one of the best last season?
  
• Sharp had a goal and two assists, while Hossa had 3 apples himself. Even though he didn't have any points, Hjalmarsson was a plus 3 to lead the Hawks
  
• The Hawks were at 58% as far as faceoffs go. Kruger took the most faceoffs of any Hawks center and won 11 of 14 (79%). None of the Flyers centers were over 50%
  
• The Hawks scored two powerplay goals (Keith, Sharp) and a shorthanded goal (Handzus) themselves.
  
• Ray Emery was pretty terrible. He didn't exactly have much help in front of him but some of the goals, specifically the Seabrook one, were awful.
  

Here are the video highlights:

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The Week That Was - 10/25/13

As with everything, life and family take precedence over hobbies and extracurricular activities. Especially when you write a blog in what little free time you have. I touched on this through Facebook and Twitter about a week and a half ago, but going forward my game recaps will change format. They will be more brief and consolidated into end of the week summaries. Thanks again for understanding and supporting my silly little dream.

All that being said, here goes:

10/19 - Blackhawks vs. the Maple Leafs

• Brandon Pirri scored his 2nd goal in as many games, on the powerplay, on a set up by Brandon Saad. These two youngsters are showing some great chemistry.
  
• Bryan Bickell and Michael Kostka scored their first goals of the season. Kind of poetic that Kostka scored his against his former team.
  
• The PK took another kit with Khadri's powerplay goal.
  
• The Hawks had 40 shots on net while only allowing 20. MOAR BETTER
  
• The Hawks won 56% of their faceoffs, which is about as much as you can ask. They particularly picked on Tyler Bozak all night.
  
• Nick Leddy quietly had a nice night with 2 assists.
  

Here are the video highlights: 10/22 - Blackhawks in South Florida

• The Hawks surrendered yet another third period lead, this time a 2 goal lead. This is unacceptable against a team that's struggling like the Panthers.
  
• Carter 7 and Deuce had a rough third period, each lugging a minus 2.
  
• Hawks centers actually had a second good night at the dots winning another 56%. This time Marcel Goc was their whipping boy
  
• Somehow, Ben Smith was credited with 4 blocked shots.
  
• Crawford had a really nice stop on a Huberdeau penalty shot.
  
• The Hawks powerplay continued to click with the Toews goal, on a feed from Keith.
  

10/24 - Blackhawks at Tampa Bay

• Khabibulin was simply just not good. Few more of these and the meatheads will be calling for his head on a stick. He faced 25 shots and let 6in. That's terrible.
  
• For the third game in a row, the Hawks were over 50% at the dots. Stamkos had his dick beat in at the dots, but with 4 points, who cares?
  
• Kane looked like a man on fire with a goal and an assist, but still managed a minus 3. Oduya joined Kane with his own minus 3.
  
• Seabrook had a quiet plus 4 night. Carter 7 on the case.
  
• El Capitan had a nice two point night.
  
• Stamkos was incredible. 4 points. That guy is a stud.
  

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Blackhawks vs. Panthers - Win Recap

"Snow Blown"



Fresh off their thorough spanking of the shell of the team formerly known as the Buffalo Sabres, the Hawks were back on the ice Friday night for a tilt with the Blackhawks Miami Chapter, otherwise known as the Florida Panthers. Kind of like getting the band back together, wasn't it? Just in case you've been living under a rock since June 2010, the Panthers feature no less than 5 recent former Blackhawks and their former GM, old Uncle Dale Tallon. The Panthers are really in a unique situation because they had to try and acquire higher salary players, to get to the salary cap floor. Must be nice, eh Uncle Dale? In doing so, they brought in and over paid some former Blackhawks talent and other discarded players like Tomas Fleischman, Marcel Goc, Ed Jovanovski, Sean Bergenheim, and Canuck for a second Marco Sturm. With this formula, Florida had put together a nice little first half. Coming into Friday night's game they were 21-14-10 and sat in the 8th spot for the Eastern Conference playoffs. They were just recently overtaken in 1st place by the recently awaken Capital, but had spent a good deal of time in first place, in their division. The story lines were abound for this one, and what better to do during Snowpocalypse 2012?

AS one would expect from game that was delayed 30 minutes because of the weather, it started out slow, and uneventful. That all changed when a Hawks breakaway goal opened up the scoring and then they followed that up with a powerplay goal to sent the Panthers into the locker room down 2-0. The second period was similar to the end of the first. The Hawks tacked on another goal, and almost had a fourth of the game, but it was waved off because of a high stick. The Panthers were the only ones to score in the third period, but all that did was ruin the shutout bid. The Hawks walked away with a 3-1 win.

The Good

• Kaner wasn't scoring recently, but his passing shoes still have some miles on them. His rocket touch pass sent El Capitan past Garrison and in on Theodore. Jonny did what Jonny does, with a sweet backhand goal to put the Hawks up 1-0.
• The third time was the charm for the powerplay as the Hawks finally capitalized on the third powerplay of the first period. Deuce blew a long slapshot through a Bruno screen and past Theodore for a 2-0 Hawks lead, going into the intermission.
• To the relief of everyone watching both in the UC and at home, Kaner finally cracked the score sheet with a nice 5-hole goal. He made a nice play to poke the puck past a pinching Florida defender, and was in on a 2-on-1. Stalberg drew the defenseman over and even though he looked like he really didn't want to shoot, he did anyway, and beat Theodore. Lets hope this ins the end of the Kaner yips. He seemed to have a jump in his step after that goal.
• While he wasn't asked to do all that much, Razor played a good game. So nice to not have goaltender worries. Furthermore, the defense held the Panthers to 19 shots. You really can't ask for much more than that.

The Bad

• Just to remind everyone that scoring powerplay goals against Buffalo is no grand achievement, the Hawks proceeded to open up the game blowing 2 powerplay chances. Nothing is fixed until WE say it's fixed.
• Bruno nearly put the Hawks up 4-0 with a gaol that was waved off because of a high stick. It didn't look like a high stick on the replay, but apparently the officials in Toronto agreed with the on ice officials.
• #ShawFact: Shock&Shaw got his bell RUNG, when Keaton Ellerby checked him from behind in the corner.
• Jason Garrison wasted no time taking advantage of a Toews penalty early in the third, to bring the Panthers within two goals. Not much more can be said. Razor didn't make it all the way across on the shot and Garrison blew it by him, low glove side.
• The Kids are finally coming back down to earth, but I'm still convinced that Purple Hazer and Shaw have earned longer looks. Smith isn't really showing much that makes me think he needs to stick around. When Sharpie is back, Smith heads west.

The Ugly

• There was a moment of concern in the second period when Toews seemed to injure his arm. He labored through a shift and then went off the ice holding his arm. He finished the game, but lets home nothing bad comes of this.
• Shaw and Bolland were absolutely hog tied at the dot, going a combined 5 for 20.

Here are your video highlights:

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Blackhawks at Florida - SO Win Recap

"Steal Panthers"



After coming off a barnburner Monday, which was probably the most intense regular season game I've seen since last season's closing game, our Blackhawks began the annual "Fathers Trip" on sunny South F-L-A. No need to act like we weren't familiar with half their roster and their GM. Skille, Versteeg, Kopecky and Campbell all dressed for the game. Florida sat at 6-4-1 coming into this contest, which isn't too bad, considering they are the Winnipeg Jets of the states. This one was sure to bring out the bad blood from the players that were on the Hawks "discard" pile. It was going to be interesting to see how the currents Hawks treat someone like Skille and Versteeg. Jacob Markstrom, the player that pushed Alex Salak out of the organization, started in net for the Panthers. All that aside, this is the fist game in quite a while that they were without the services of Duncan Keith, as he sat out with an injury.

The opening period went the Hawks way, with the good guys scoring on one of their seven shots, but game up far too many shots themselves. As luck would have it, they were able to keep the puck out of their net, though. The second period was much better in terms of Hawks momentum, and they virtually made up all of the shot differential, and each team was able to put up a goal. In the third, the Hawks blew their one goal lead late and neither team was able to score in the OT frame, so it took a shootout for the Hawks to win this one.

The Good

• Nice to see the Hawks open up the scoring on a team, in road game, no less. Bruno got a steal deep in the Panthers zone and Tazer jumped into the play. Bruno fumbled a bit and fed El Capitan, who was falling down. He still got a stick on it and directed it into the net. Just how they drew it up, eh Edzo?
• I'm beginning to become a big fan of MegaMayers and his fighting prowess. He took a big hit at the Hawk blue line from Matt Bradley, and before Car Bomb could come to his assistance, Mayers had already gotten up and begun to pummel Bradley. He takes no shit, and I like this. A LOT. Keeps Car Bomb from doing dumb things, which is good for everyone.
• Watching Frodo pick Skillington's pocket in the Hawks zone, and seeing Skillington take a bad penalty on Frodo later in the game both made me snicker. Win-Hawks, hands down.
• The goal that put the Hawks up 2-0 in the second was a thing of beauty. Kaner led the rush in the zone and waited; and waited; and waited. He waited for Bruno to clear the slot and hit Boss 81 on the back door, who one timed it past Markstrom. Hoss and Kane are just men among boys. And when I say the back door, I mean the "back, back, back, back" door. I didn't think he had anything to shoot at, yet it ended up in the net.
• Great close up of Car Bomb saying "Fuck", after missing his great chance in the second period, where he split 3 Panthers and was almost 1-on-1 with Markstrom.
• Frodo seemed to be inspired by his former team, and was the Blackhawk that was most involved in the Panther's zone, in the third period. He's still snake bitten, but it's not stopping him from trying.
• All things considered, they didn't look bad, missing their top D-man. Officer Seabrook had a bit of a mean streak with his hetero lifemate watching the game from the cheap seats. He painfully punished the Panthers forwards a few time, both during the play and after whistles.

The Bad

• Frank the Tank and Pistol struggled a little bit, early on. A bad turnover on the back end, set up a couple of great chances. Frank the Tank only played four shifts in the 3rd period, but three shifts in OT, and Pistol only played three shifts in the 3rd, but two in OT. Punishment for earlier gaffes?
• Looks like Pick-to-Click Vik was channeling his inner Versteeg when he turned it over late in the second before hitting the Panthers blue line. It resulted in a good chance coming back, and Edzo was sure to point that out.
• The Panthers were able to cut the lead in half with under 2 minutes left in the second period. The Panthers money line was able to pull some zigging and zagging, and Weiss ended up with the puck on his stick, and put it past Crawford. Hearing Versteeg with the assist made me cringe.
• The Panthers tied up the game with 2 minutes to go in regulation, as Seabrook was left alone with two Panthers players, and one of them scored the equalizer. The Hawks weren't able to get the puck out of the zone, after a big Crawford save. It was dumped in by Kulikov, and tipped past Crawford by Jovo-Cop, who for some odd reason was standing in front of the Hawks net. I'm not really sure what O'Donnell thought he was doing, but he left his partner to thwart two defenders all by his lonesome.
• That Sharpie OT break-a-way would have been money. Let's not forget to point out the beautiful pass Hammer gave him. It's not often Hammer gets lauded for his offense, so here it is.
• Dineen, why you no Versteeg in shootout? I would have liked to see that.

The Ugly

• The powerplay took a step backwards last night, but I'll cut them some slack when they only got one to work with.
• 43 shots is just FAR too many shots to me giving up in ANY game. Luckily, Crawford was on fire for the night.
• Incredi-Bolly got faceraped at the dot again, going 9-25.

The Shootout

• Crawford was better than Kopecky
• Toews was bested by Markstrom
• Goc couldn't put it past Crawford
• Markstrom beat Bolland
• Fleischmann was stopped by Crawford
• Kaner was the money man, and beat Markstrom for the win

Here are your video highlights:

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Made With Bits of Real Panther, So You Know It's Good

Last night the Hawks were playing the 1st of the final 10 regular season games, against a recently familiar foe, the Florida Sex Panthers. With all the Brian Campbell and Marcus Kruger hoopla going on, in the days leading up to it, this game almost seemed overlooked. Once again, the Hawks would have to face former GM, Player, and Color man Dale Tallon. This was also the first time the Hawks faced their former player, Jack Skille. There is no doubt that the Panthers will use the win earlier in the month and the Tallon/Skille revenge factor as motivation in the game. The drama was abound, and the Hawks HAD to have this win and these two points.

The Blackhawks looked a little sloppy in the first couple of shifts, but tightened up a little later in the period. Even with some decent scoring chances either way, both teams were scoreless in the period. In the second period, the Hawks took a 1-0 lead and were outshooting the Kittens 24-13. In the third period, the clouds parted and the sun shined through, with the Hawks scoring 3 more goals and decidedly shutting out the Sex Panthers 4-0. Exactly what needed to be done.

The Good

• In the second shift of the game, Pick-to-Click Vik used his speed AGAIN, to drive hard to the net. He was blasted into Tomas Vokoun by Mike Weaver, but he had a couple of steps on the defenders, and drew a penalty. That's exactly what Vik needs to continue doing. He did the same thing, again, in the second and fed Kaner for a nice chance. He also scored a big goal, but I'll expand on that more later.
  
• Kruger started on the third line, and second powerplay unit. As would be expected and as I predicted, he wasn't very noticeable. Maybe our new swede is broken!
  
• After three pretty bad powerplays, Seabs unleashed a howitzer of a one timer on a feed from Deuce, to put the Blackhawks up 1-0. It was really a matter of time, because the Hawks had an advantage in chances. The new configuration, with Deuce at the point and Seabs on the trigger side, could work nicely.
  
• Kaner, El Capitan, and Vik played tic-tac-toe, forty six seconds into the third period, and got the Hawks off and running with a 2-0 lead. It SHOULD look that easy all game. The chemistry between those three is going to be important, if the Hawks expect to do anything but get booted in the first round.
  
• Kaner added to the lead, on a hot pass from Deuce. The shot changed speeds after it hist a defender and squirted through Vokoun's 5-hole. Might have been a softy, but Vokoun was pounded like an porn star all game long. The percentages were with the Hawks.
  
• Open up the flood gates with a little Czech connection. Boss 81 lead the rush and fed Frodo, who sent the puck back across the ice to Tomokop, who hit a GAPING net, and the Hawks were up 4-0.
  
• Crow earned a well deserved shutout, but lets face it, the Hawks SHOULD shut this team out. They are inferior and really should be whipped all over the rink.

The Bad

• Even with the Seabrook powerplay goal, the Hawks should have had MANY more chances against a team like the Panthers. I'm not sure what happened, but it started before Sharpie got hurt. Again, not a time to go cold, gentlemen.
  
• When Tomas Kopecky (3-4, 75%)leads the team in faceoff percentage, and Frodo (7-11, 64%)is right behind him, your team had a rough night at the dots. El Capitan was over 50%, but Kruger, Snake, and Johnson were all under 50%.

The Ugly

• In a 4-0 shutout, there can't really be much UGLY, so I'll give the team a break. I can't be a "Debbie Downer" every night.

Here are the video highlights for your viewing pleasure:

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All Good Things Come to an End

After a few quiet days off the Hawks were up for a south Florida match up with Dale Tallon's Panthers. This team wasn't looking real good in the standings, but came out with some attitude. Maybe it was for Tallon, or maybe it was for Skille, but they clearly had an agenda, in that first period, and it held on. They should all take Tomas Vokoun for dinner after that game. It had to end some time, and hopefully the Hawks can start a new streak tomorrow night.

After over 10 games of excellent play, the Blackhawks came out in this game looking a step slow from the get go. Five minutes in, the Hawks were down 1-0. Ten minutes in, they were down 2-0. End of the first period, and they were down 3-0. Not how you start a game against a last place team, on the road. Some changes were made for the second period, and the team everyone is more accustomed to seeing stepped on the ice, bringing the deficit to 3-2. Even though the Hawks were all over Florida in the third, they could not solve Vokoun, and the Panthers held on for a 3-2 win.

The Good

• El Capitan was the only Hawk that looked like he had any motivation at all in that first period, and it was NOT contagious. He had no help.
  
• Just as we were ALL yelling at Soupie to shoot the friggin puck, he circled behind the net, and found Kaner wide open, and Kaner buried it. Big play by two important Hawks.
  
• It looked like the Hawks were rolling, once they scored the second goal. A Bickell forecheck sent the puck to Dave Bolland, who fed Boss 81 for a deadly one timer, and only a one goal deficit. The second half of this game was looking better, and better. WAS.
  
• I am thoroughly convinced that Marty planned the play where the Panthers almost picked his pocket, with the puck on his stick, in his own corner. He waited for an open pass and SHOULD have given it up to his D-man, but he didn't panic despite the pressure. He felt that pressure and handled it just fine.
  
• The change in net, and something said in the locker room must have woken up the sleepy children, because they came out in the second period, scored 2 goals and out shot the Panthers 15-4.
  
• The Blackhawks looked like the Harlem Globetrotters against the Washington Generals, in the third period. The Panthers barely even touch the puck, and that's not a figure of speech.
  
• Outshooting the Panthers 39-15 sure looked nice, but I'll bet they'd love that first period back, now, eh?
  
• Vokoun is a stone wall, and the only reason that team wasn't blown out of that rink, after only playing twenty twenty decent minutes.
  

The Bad

• The Panthers came out with some attitude, and laid SEVERAL big hit on the Hawks in the first period. Three goals against and two failed powerplays. Piss poor first period, gentlemen, get your .
  
• Bolland feeds Sharpie all alone in front of the net...missed the net. If we could read his lips he would have been saying "FML!"
  
• Campbell picks up the puck 10 feet in front of a wide open net, and he shoots over the net.
  
• The Hawks sure picked a bad game to go 0-3 on the power play. Stellar timing, indeed.
  

The Ugly

• The Hawks looked horribly flat coming out and the Panthers took a 1-0 lead when Nick Leddy failed at getting the puck outside the blue line and Michal Repik send a shot netward. Crow kicked out a fat rebound right onto David Booth's stick, and we all know the end to that sad tale. Goals don't come much easier than that.
  
• Ten minutes into the game and the Hawks were CLEARLY struggling when Hammer decided that a good outlet pass would be right to Sergei Samsonov, which would be great, if he was still playing for the Hawks. Samsonov rolled it into the zone and fed Bergfors, who's shot was blocked out to Clay Wilson. Wilson sent a shot in that Hawk Harrelson might say "had eyes", and those eyes found Crow's 5-hole. Two nothing Florida.
  
• The Hawks put the cherry on top of a BRUTAL first period, by giving up a soft goal with 6 seconds left. Blackhawk for minute, Marty Reasoner, roofed a wrister on Crow, who was not sharp at all.
  
• As one would expect, Marty Turco was the netminder when the Hawks came out for the second period. Crawford was NOT sharp, and needed to be relieved. Turco hadn't played in almost a month, but he looked ready, when called upon, which was RARE.
  

Random Observations and Annoyances

• When I hear the term "Veteran Banger", I think of Ron Jeremy. Just saying, Pat.
  
• Is it bad that the "Iron Maiden, April 16th" on the boards behind the left net had me jealous and distracted?
  
• "Great pickup by our crew". Oh really, Edzo? Isn't that what all those cameras are for?
  
• I have to finally say this, and I love Tony Esposito, but those Binny's commercials are absolutely FRIGHTENING! Those places should be burned to the ground for making a mockery of an NHL Legend.

Here are the video highlights for your viewing pleasure:

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