Blackhawks vs. Blues2-1 OT Loss Recap

"Blue Moon"

by Patrick Stankus

The Blackhawks took to United Center ice for the final time during the regular season on Thursday night for a meeting with their division rivals, the St. Louis Blues. Both teams were coming into the contest banged up, so the lineups were a bit screwy, especially for the Hawks. As a result, playoff performer Bryan Bickell found his way back down I-90 to Chicago, and into the Hawks lineup. Its safe to say, if both teams meet in the first round of the playoffs beginning next week, the lineups will look differently than tonight.

Despite the lineup changes, once the puck dropped, the play dictated that of a traditional Hawks/Blues game. Both teams traded hits, (I know how much everyone loves hits) with the Hawks actually outhitting the Blues 13-11 in the period. Aside from a late first period penalty to the Blues, the first period was pretty ho hum with Scott Darling making a couple of good stops to keep the game scoreless. When the horn sounded ending the period, the Hawks held lead in shots 9-7, but neither team could find the back of the net.

The Hawks opened the second period by taking back to back penalties within the first eight minutes of the period. Fortunately for the Hawks, the red hot penalty kill came through and killed off both penalties, generating some momentum for the home team. With both teams at four skaters a side, Jonathan Toews opened the scoring for the Hawks to give them a 1-0 lead with just over seven minutes remaining. In the closing minutes of the sandwich stanza, we were treated to a Reaves/Mashinter scrap, which will warrant another game for Mashinter to be in the lineup. Despite a late power play in the second, the Hawks couldn't convert and they took a 1-0 lead into the second intermission.

The third period was a colossal shit show for the first sixteen minutes of the period. Aside from a few decent hits, which again, everyone loves to hate, the period was a complete bore. That changed when Andrew Ladd was awarded a penalty shot, and had a chance to seal the win for the Hawks. Elliott managed to come up with the stop, and gave the Blues some life. With just over a minute to go, Scott Darling kicked out a rebound to right Vladimir Tarasenko, and well you can figure out what he can do with a wide open net. On to overtime we would go, and seal the Hawks fate as the three seed in the Central Division for the playoffs.

Once again the overtime would look like a video game gone bat shit crazy, and not in a good way. After a couple of chances by Patrick Kane that were denied, the Blues came back the other way, but a sliding play by TVR kept the Blues from winning the game. Luckily Tarasenko ended this gimmick shortly thereafter with his second goal of the game, and made Saturday's game in Lumbus absolutely meaningless. #DRINK
The Good

• TVR had a real strong game. He had an assist, and had a great sprawling play to keep a loose puck out of the net in overtime. For someone who's struggled of late, it looks like TVR might be gaining some confidence again.
• Jonathan Toews tallied the lone Hawks goal, and was 79% at the dot. A strong effort by the captain.
• The penalty kill continues to roll. Tonight they killed off both of the Blues power plays.
• Aside from the rebound goal, Scott Darling was good in net for the Hawks. He made 33 saves on 35 shots.

The Bad

• Who didn't enjoy that scrap between Reaves and Mashinter? Glad they both enjoyed their limited ice time.
• The Blues out shot the Hawks by a 35-25 margin. This just continues to hammer home how suspect this defense is.
• Scott Darling's rebound control, or lack thereof was on full display on Tarasenko's game tying goal.
• By allowing St. Louis to tie the game and get it to overtime, meant the Hawks are locked into the three seed in the Central.
• David Backes didn't play. Therefore there would be no chance at "Wakey, Wakey, Part  II" tonight.
• I wasn't going to recap the game tonight, but Gate was under the weather, and looked like this, so I decided to help him out;
  

The Ugly

• Between his "effort" on the penalty shot, and the fact he was the only Hawk that was a -2, Andrew Ladd had a forgetful game.
• Anisimov, Crawford, Hossa, Keith, and Shaw all didn't play. That was fun. (Sarcasm)
• The power play was 0 for 2 on the night. We're familiar with that kind of a night.
• God, I hate the fact that Vladimir Tarasenko is on the Blues. Such a good player, but such a horseshit city and team.
• Pat Foley was brutally honest when it came to describing Saturday's game as he said "it means nothing." Way to at least try and get some sort of viewers for hockey. Lets be honest though, Saturday's game does mean something. I'll at least get to say #NowDerek right to Derek's face in Lumbus.
• Bryan Bickell played. No seriously, he did. GOOD RIDDANCE. I'm done with this song and dance. Apparently the Rockford Olive Garden's bread sticks aren't what it takes to shape him back into a respectable hockey player.

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Puckin Hostile ShoutcastEpisode 54

In this 54th Puckin Hostile Shoutcast, the 4 Horsemen get amped up for a road trip to Lumbus for the Blackhawks final regular season game straight out of the #FatCave.


The group discuss the following:

-More talk about the The Puckin Hostile Store, and designs.
-New iTunes review
-The Rexall Funeral
-Several significant league suspensions and injuries.
-The Garret Ross saga basically ends, but not without teeth gnashing.
-Blackhawks roster moves (including Bryan Bickell), signings, possible signings, and injuries.
-Patrick Roy flame-a-palooza
-Datsyuk might be leaving for Russia, ahead of schedule.
-Games vs the Flames, Canucks, Wild, Jets, Bruins and Coyotes.
-A long list of excellent listener questions and emails.
-And of course, as always, an abundance of inappropriate references and jokes in incredibly bad taste.

You can find the episode on iTunes by following this link: iTunes

Puckin Hostile Shoutcast - Episode 54 MP3 Direct Download
You can listen below on the Talkshoe player:
Get the Shoutcast on Soundcloud here: Also, Check out and share the Puckin Hostile Stanley Cup Highlight video: Music by "The Bloodline" For all your custom jersey needs visit Black and Tan Sports at: http://www.facebook.com/BlackAndTanSports

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Blackhawks vs Coyotes6-2 Win Recap

"DEVOUR"

by Gatekeeper

And then there were three. The Blackhawks hosted the Coyotes at the United Center, Tuesday night, in a game that really didn't mean much for either team. The Blackhawks could move up in the standings, but couldn't finish any worse than third. This means that the "fucks given" could have been be hard to find. The Yotes were coming off a terrible game against St. Louis which saw them take a 2-0 lead and then proceeded to give up five unanswered goals. Here I thought the Blackhawks played an incomplete game, on Sunday. Holy hell. On to the action:

To be quite honest, Blackhawks played the first period against the Coyotes a little on the sloppy side. Thankful for them, the Yotes are utterly terrible. The Hawks managed 2 goals on just SIX shots, one of the aforementioned goals being shorthanded. The Coyotes managed only 7 shots, themselves, during the opening period, even with two powerplays.

Surprise, surprise, the Blackhawks actually made it forty whole consecutive minutes giving a shit. They came out and scored on their first powerplay and then, with the help of a 5 minute Arizona game misconduct, scored two more powerplay goals. They also dominated in shots 16-6. What more really needs to be said?

The third period of this one just turned into a mere formality. The Blackhawks added their 6th goal, and gave up two late ones that did nothing but prevent a shutout. The one thing that the Blackhawks really needed to reel in was the three third period penalties, which helped lead to the 18-9 shot advantage in favor of Arizona. That's just sloppiness. A win against a team they should beat, without their top defender. We'll take it.

Shoutcast tomorrow, Blues on Thursday, and the MUTHA EFFING PUCKIN HOSTILE INVADES LUMBUS trip Saturday. If any of you will be there also, we'd love if stopped over to say hey.

The Good

• Five minutes into the first period, regular healthy scratch #DickPanik found a loose puck in front of Louis Domingue. Good thing Joel Quenneville is keeping him well rested for the playoffs, eating the shrimp cocktail in the press box. Don't want to show off your secret weapon. Crazy like a fox, that Quenneville.
• Just past the halfway point of the first period, and after killing off a short 5-on-3 powerplay, Jonathan Toews put a defensive clinic on for rookie Max Domi. He knocked the puck away and raced in on a shorthanded breakaway. Even with two guys on his ass, Toews was able to fake Domingue out of his jock and tuck the puck in behind him. All business.
• Patrick Kane continued his torrid pace just over five minutes into the second period, on the powerplay. His bosom buddy, Artemi Panarin gave him a nice feed, and Kane picked apart Domingue.
• Once most of the ass kicking was over, and the Yotes were beaten into submission, it was time for the 4th line to jump on the scoresheet. Marcus Kruger fed Andrew Desjardins
• The Blackhawks penalty kill has been significantly better since the return of Marcus Kruger. Credit where it's due, he seems to make everyone on the PK better. The Blackhawks killed off all 6 penalties, in this game
• Panarin is quickly climbing the scoring leaderboard with three straight three point games.

The Bad

• Two minutes into the game and Richard Panik snuck in behind the Yotes defense looking like he'd have a breakaway, until the the rookie referee jumped right in his way. That got him a big boo from the crowd, as it should have. As we found out late, if he scored there, he could have been up for a hatty late in the game.
  
  But Quenneville will keep playing the Manshitter over Panik because #3CUPZ.
• Dale Weise had a breakaway in the waning seconds of the second period, on a feed from Teuvo Teravainen, and Domingue finally made a save. Weise can't even buy some luck.
• Of the four former Blackhawks now playing with Arizona, Vermette and Tikhonov both made the score sheet for earning penalties. Jiri Sekac (remember him?) got an assist on the terrible Connor Murphy goal.

The Ugly

• Mid way through the second period Antoine Vermette hit Artem Anisimov awkwardly from behind. I know it was a dangerous hit, and worthy of a penalty, but I really don't feel that it was much more than a hockey play gone bad. I would also go as far as to say that the five minute penalty was sufficient, but as the rule book states, "Referee must also assess an automatic game misconduct if the major penalty for boarding resulted in an injury to the face or head". One might also say that the two power play goals by Van Riemsdyk and Ladd were also sufficient punishment. Lets all hope Anisimov's injury isn't lingering. Quenneville said after the game that he was day-to-day.
• Scott Darling must have been bored as all hell in the third period, after facing only 13 shots, because he let up a goal that was about as soft as baby shit. The only real harm was to Darling's stats, so let it be.
• Brad Richardson was able to score the Coyotes second goal of the game with just over 6 minutes remaining in the third. Svedberg was left to cover two Arizona forwards, in front of Darling, and they usually doesn't end well. Darling wasn't able to control the loose puck and Richardson chipped it over him.

The #Fatrick Stankus Fatsy Stats

• This is my biggest point of contention with advanced analytics. Let me preface this by saying, I believe in a vast majority of the advanced possession analytics, BUT...
  
  On Sunday, when the Blackhawks looked like they didn't give a rats ass (and they didn't), I was told it was because of "score effects". Alright, what are score effects? This is a theory created by the analytics crowd that claims that if a team is down, they will try harder, and the winning team will conversely go into a shell. This would also suggest that the team that is losing really wasn't trying in the first place, but that is neither here nor there. How can you even diagnose these magic "score effects" you ask? When you don't want to admit your team just plain lost interest. It is a completely arbitrary and subjective term. Worse than even #HITZ.
  
  Lets just say, for the sake of argument, that this silliness is true, ok? How do you explain the Blackhawks out shooting the Yotes 16-6, with an already 2-0 lead in this game? Where are the "score effects" or, as I like to affectionately call it, #ScibityDibity? On Sunday they were out shot 21-12 because of these magic "score effects" floating around in the ether, or so I'm told. Score Effects! Sounds so fancy and official.
  
  Why can't it just be that a team stop caring and let their foot off the gas? Kiss my fat pasty white ass with that horsehit! Sometimes things cannot be explained with fucking numbers, graphs, or stupid ass terms. Sometimes SHIT JUST GOES WRONG, or as Dr. Peter Venkman best said it:
  
• Screw everyone I've had enough advanced stats talk for one game.

The Lineblender
Ladd - Toews - Panik
Panarin - Anisimov - Kane
Mashinter - Teravainen - Weise
Desjardins - Kruger - Fleischmann

van Riemsdyk - Hjalmarsson
Svedberg - Seabrook
Gustafsson - Rozsival

oh hey, look, Highlights....

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Blackhawks vs Bruins6-4 Win Recap

"BURNT OFFERINGS"

by Gatekeeper

The Blackhawks finally limped their way back home, licking their wounds, Sunday for early game. The Bruins were in town to try and play late season spoiler at the United Center. The Hawks were playing their second game of a 6 game Duncan Keith suspension, and were also without 4th liner Andrew Shaw after he left the game Friday with what looked like a rib or abdominal injury. This was going to be a long week for Blackhawks fans, with Corey Crawford still out and two important personalities missing. As Samuel L. Jackson once said:


The Blackhawks didn't seem to miss Keith or Shaw, in the first period at least, out shooting the Bruins a shocking 19-8. The Hawks had chances early and often. Both teams were a little shaky to start, but the Hawks able to wipe the sleep out of their eyes and jump on a Bruins team that was clearly on their heels. The Bruins tired to resort to their default thuggery, but that backfired with the Blackhawks took a 2-0 lead during late first period coincidental roughing penalties.

The Blackhawks blew the game open like Fatrick's heart after a sack of McRibs in the second period. There is no other term than DOMINATING for this performance; until the final minute of the period, that is. The Hawks came out and scored 4 goals before the Bruins knew what hit them. The Bruins, though, shockingly out shot the Blackhawks 21-12 in the second period alone. We probably shouldn't be all that surprised that they were able to cut the lead to 4 before the end of the period.

The third period was a complete 180 degree turn from the first 39 minutes of the game. The Blackhawks gave up 2 more goals and could have very well easily given up the lead, based in their piss poor effort. How this team goes from 0-60, and back down to 0 is beyond comprehension. You need consistency in the playoffs to succeed, and this team has been the exact opposite of consistent. The roller coaster of emotions from beginning to end left us all with a sour scowl, despite the win. You're going to need to give me an effort better than this for me to expect a deep playoff run. I can see right through this charade.

I would, also, like to point out the celebration of linesman Andy McElman's retirement. Bravo to a brilliant career, and thank you for your service, sir.


The Good

• With just over 13 minutes gone in the first period, Artem Anisimov broke his slump with his first goal in forever, to give the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead. Artemi Panarin foul tipped a one timer from Brent Seabrook at the left circle and the shot turned into a pass, right to Anisimov's stick. Anisimov swept it into the net past Rask, who had committed to the initial Panarin shot.
• Very late in the first, with Toews and Chara off for roughing, Patrick Kane picked off a half ass low percentage pass by the Bruins' Joe Morrow, and had himself a breakaway from the Hawks blue line in. Tuuka Rask really didn't stand much of a chance with Kane having all the time and space he needed. Backhand, goal, Daggar.
• The Blackhawks hot play continued early into the second period. Suddenly hot Artem Anisimov started the play behind the Bruins net, feeding Patrick Kane with a slick behind the back pass. Kane out muscled Adam McQuaid, and chipped the puck past Rask for goal number two of the game.
• Sixty six seconds after the Kane goal, Marian Hossa and Jonathan Toews snuck in behind the Bruins defense after a change and ran a 2-on-1 to perfection. Hossa saucered a beautiful pass over the aforementioned Adam McQuaid to Jonathan Toews, who chipped it past Rask and into the net. The route was on, so we thought, but Tuuka Rask was done for the day.
• The Blackhawks weren't done there, though. Jonas Gustavsson got a rude awakening when the #AK72LINE struck again. Matt Beleskey turned the puck over, in the neutral zone, and the Blackhawks flipped it back the other way. Artemi Panarin, stole the awful pass and chipped it to Artem Anisimov at the Bruins' blue line. Anisimov quickly dumped the puck off to Patrick Kane, who brought it in and waited for the trailing winger. Kane then sent the puck back to the guy who started the play, Panarin, for a one timer.
• Patrick Kane got his 100th point of the year, on his hat trick goal, which was pretty fitting. This time it was on a powerplay rush after the Bruins took a too many men penalty. Hats rained on the ice, and everyone was celebrating; then...
  
• Patrick Kane got his 40th goal and 100th point. Both commendable milestones.
• On the surface, Scott Darling looked like he has a pretty bad game, but the fact of the matter is that The Blackhawks gave up FORTY SIX shots. He had a respectable .913 save percentage. The rest of the team just allowed him to be teed off on.
• oh right, and #NeverForget:Looks like he might need a bucket of chicken after this penalty call

The Bad

• That big dope, Zdeno Chara tried to take a swipe at El Capitan early on and Jonny was having none of it. How is anyone afraid of that big ancient clod, anymore, is beyond me. I found myself hoping for Toews to break his face with a cross check in the yap. Enjoy Las Vagas, you big ugly toad.
• Some time in the third period Marian Hossa left the Blackhawks bench after a collision, and it looked like a left leg injury. JUST FUCKING SWELL!
• The Blackhawks couldn't even get the empty net goal right. Marcus Kruger "zoom zoomed" into the zone early, and negated an Andrew Desjardins empty net goal. This stupid crap is just absolutely maddening.
  
• Usually you see a team take a 6-0 lead and you assume they out shot their opponent heavily. Not so, at all. The Blackhawks were out shot by TWELVE, 46-34. Be concerned.
• With Hossa out and the Hawks playing like crap, Quenneville really pulled out the "slap chop" in the third period.
  

  Lines will be 16-19-12, 72-15-88, 25-22-86 the rest of the way with 11 & 53 stapled to the bench. #Blackhawks

  @TheChiTownKid April 3, 2016

  
  
• He's not someone you notice until he's not around, but Gene Honda's distinct voice over the PA was missing, and it just wasn't the same. Too bad they weren't able to get Harvey Wittenberg back for a game.
  
  
  

The Ugly

• Of course, the Manshitter goal on Friday earned him first shot at taking Shaw's spot. Excuse me while I slam my head in this closet door for 2 1/2 hours. I happened to agree with Thom Pauly from CTA when he said the following:
  But, of course, the Mashinter goal on Friday probably irrationally earned him 3 more games in the lineup, until Quenneville realizes he's useless again.
• The Blackhawks got a little ahead of themselves in the last minute of the second period, letting David Pastrnak in behind the third pairing of Gustaf-Ival and he scored on a breakaway. No harm right? Still have a 5 goal lead right? But then...
• Just 11 seconds after the Pastrnak goal the Blackhawks fell back into their recent, "give zero shits mode". They let their foot off the gas and let the Bruins break into the zone pretty easily off the faceoff. The puck worked it's way around to the point and Adam McQuaid let a harmless shot go and Patrice Bergeron deflected it past Darling. Quenneville tied to pull a rabbit out of his hat and went for the "offsides replay challenge". Denied. They'll pull it back together during the intermission, right?
• The Blackhawks continued to show their lost momentum by giving up yet another sloppy goal, this time two and a half minutes into the third period. The Bruins just played simple grinding hockey, throwing pucks at Darling and then sweeping the blocked shot into the net. Bergeron was the goal scorer, getting his second of the game.
• The Bruins continued their third period onslaught just over the halfway point, Brad "The Nose" Marchand was able to deflect a shot into the net off his skate.
  
  It's debatable whether there was a "distinct kicking motion" but I'm with Pat on plays like this. Either let them all in, or none. Period. When you cloud the rule with terms like "distinct kicking motion" the rule is completely subjective. You want more goals? Blame the goalies equipment, but keep kicked goals out, right? Safetly, my ass. Most players do not kick pucks like the Super Toe Football toy. They try to use the full length of their skate blade SIDEWAYS and redirect it. Kicking the puck straight away is practically impossible, so don't give me that safety bullshit. You will not see guys pulling a Shawn Michaels and superkicking the puck. They still kick the puck on any other part of the ice and it's gone alright.

The #Fatrick Stankus Fatsy Stats

• Given the point totals and the score, the #AK72LINE was pretty normal as far as possession. Panarin and Anisimov were under water, despite having 7 points between them.
• The Blackhawks overall corsi was dogshit, once again (44%). This team is no longer a puck possession team, because they simply don't possess the puck efficiently. They haven't for a majority of the year. They jump on mistakes and score off the rush.
• The one Bruins pairing the Blackhawks absolutely ate alive was John-Michael Lilies and Joe Morrow (-10 and -13 overall corsi, respectivly), even though Adam McQuaid wasn't far behind (-8 overall corsi).WOOF!

The Lineblender
Ladd - Toews - Hossa
Panarin - Anisimov - Kane
Fleischmann - Teravainen - Weise
Mashinter - Kruger - Desjardins

van Riemsdyk - Hjalmarsson
Svedberg - Seabrook
Gustafsson - Rozsival

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Blackhawks at Jets5-4 Overtime Win Recap

"The Final Countdown"

by Patrick Stankus

With the regular season entering its final week, the Blackhawks traveled north of the border to Winnnnnnnnnipeg to take on the Jets for the final time this season. Before the game even started, news broke that Duncan Keith will be suspended six games, meaning he will miss one playoff game. In addition to Keith being out, Hossa missed the game with an illness, while Crawford was still nursing an upper body injury. I guess the good news heading into tonight's game was at least Brent Seabrook returned tonight. Needless to say, it sounds like it could be an eventful final week of the regular season.

When the puck dropped, both teams looked as if they were skating in a daze, like they're are trying to get the regular season over. The Jets opened the scoring just shy of the midway point of the period, but the Hawks would twice over the final six minutes of the game to take a 2-1 lead. I feel like I should mention that we were treated to two rare feats by the Hawks in the first, a power play goal by Panarin, and a goal by The Manshitter. I am still in shock. In the period the Jets would out shoot the Hawks by a 13-9 margin, but trailed 2-1 on the scoreboard after twenty minutes.

The Hawks started the second period shorthanded, thanks to a late first period penalty by TVR. The penalty kill came through and killed off the Jets power play to preserve the Hawks lead. Blake Wheeler tied the game just past the half way mark of the game with his 21st goal of the season. Shortly after Wheeler tied the game, the Jets would get another crack on the power play after Seabrook put the puck over the glass. Just as the case was earlier in the period, the PK was able to keep the Jets off the score sheet. Late in the period, Patrick Kane netted his 40th goal of the season to put the Hawks back on top. When the horn sounded the Hawks would remain in the lead 3-2.

The third period had a wonderful display of sloppy, shitty hockey. Early on, the Hawks had a chance with a 5 on 3 power play, but couldn't convert on it. As the Jets second penalty was coming to an end, Panarin had a chance to put the Hawks up two, but he missed a wide open net. As is always the case, the Jets came down the ice right after they killed off the penalty, and Byfuglien tied the game at three. Blake Wheeler added his second goal of the game, later in the period, to put the Jets in the lead 4-3. Not to be outdone, Artemi Panarin felt the need to add his second goal of the game with just under five minutes remaining, and tied the game at four. Of course, since I'm recapping the game, this one would head to overtime. Fucking awesome.

The overtime period proved to be a short, thank God. After a couple of fabricated 2 on 1s for both teams, Panarin set up a one timer for Seabrook and thankfully ended this "exciting" game as said by Steve Konroyd with a 5-4 winner for the Hawks.

The Good

• The gross power play finally showed up, and opened the scoring tonight with a Panarin one timer. Jump for joy folks.
• Artemi Panarin had himself a nice, little game with a four point night. He wound up with two goals and two assists.
• Other Hawks that had multi point nights were Seabrook 1G, 1A; Kane 1G, 1A; and The Gus Bus 2A. Of the three of them, Kane and Gus especially had strong games. Nice to see The Gus Bus return from his tune up with a strong game.
• The PK killed off all three Winnipeg power plays tonight. I really missed saying that. Can I also say, #KrugerEffect ?

The Bad

• In the waning seconds of a power play in the third period, Artemi Panarin had a chance to put the Hawks up by two with a wide open net, but he pulled a Stalberg and shanked the shot. In typical fashion, the Jets came down the ice after killing the penalty and scored to tie the game. Gotta bury the golden chances when you get them.
• Midway through the second period during a tv timeout, Andrew Shaw left the game, and did not return. After the game Q said he was day to day, and it wasn't serious. I'll drop the Q line of "we'll see" on that one.
• Shaw wasn't the only one who had a rough second period. TVR took a big hit from Wheeler, and Toews took a puck to the head. Basically the Hawks were dropping like flies in the middle frame.
• Scott Darling was alright. He certainly wasn't stellar, but he got the win, and I'll take that.

The Ugly

• We all know TVR's skating isn't his strong suit. It was on full display on Byfuglien's game tying goal in the third period.
• For Christ's sake, I give up on goalie interference challenges. They're stupid. They're all fucking stupid and a waste of everyone's goddamn time. Big middle finger to the GMs for voting this horseshit into the league.
• Not only did TVR take a huge hit in the second period, but overall he had a night to forget. He was a team worst -3 on the night, and looked lost out there more than a few times.
• Well the awesomeness of 3 on 3 OT seems to wearing off. Tonight was another example of that. Its starting to look like the players don't even give a shit. Not even a waffle cone of SOFT SERVE ICE CREAM could have made that exciting.
• Live look at the Hawks defensive core with Keith out.......
  

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Blackhawks at Minnesota4-1 Loss Recap

"A Taste Of Collapse"

by Gatekeeper

The Blackhawks were in the former State of Hockey™, Tuesday night, to extend their road trip against the Wild. They were coming off back to back wins against two teams they should have beat in Calgary and Vancouver. Whatever the case, they were on a streak. Speaking of streaks, the Wild were attempting to sweep the Hawks in the season series, for the first time in franchise history. This would be a great time for the Hawks to go on a hot streak.


In other news, the Blackhawks and Wild honored Minnesota native and Chicago Cougars player Matt Olson with an auction and helmet stickers. A very nice and sentimental gesture by both organizations. On to all that sportsmanship, and shit.

The Blackhawks were stuck on stupid from the drop of the puck. They gave up a goal just two and a half minutes into the game, on the first Wild shot, no less. They followed the goal up with a dumb offensive zone penalty and then lost their top defender to an immensely stupid match penalty. Of course, they decided to finally take the game serious, for a moment, and tie the game, while shorthanded. This left them with one really good defender and four "other guys" for the remainder of the game. I guess we were all going to get to see just how thin their defensive corp was. Oh right, the shots were 8-5 in favor of Minny.

As one might expect, the second period opened up like the wild west. The Blackhawks took at least half the period to get their bearings, but actually settled down a bit towards the second half. By "settled down" I mean "played defend the castle". While they didn't give up many chances, they didn't generate many, either. The shots were 7-6 for the middle period which let to a WHOPPING total of 14-12 in favor of the Wild. Considering their defensive status, I cannot complain about this game plan, either. Hang in there as long as you can, and wait for a mistake. Lets just say they didn't hang in there long enough.

The Hawks "bend but don't break" defense didn't last long at all. The Wild took a 2-1 lead early, and then gave up the back breaker shortly after the half way point of the third period. They gave it an honest effort, but with a #2 defenseman and a bunch of #5s and #6s, they weren't going to get very far. Based on the circumstances this game could have gone down the road to shit town in a hurry. A 4-1 loss is about what I would have predicted, if you told me that both Keith and Seabrook would be out for a majority of a late season division road game.

The Good

• With Keith out of the game and the Hawks killing his 5 minute match penalty, El Capitan and the God of Thunder, Marian Hossa worked a beautiful 2-on-2 to tie the game shorthanded. Minnesota, those are two sets of enormous balls, feel them tickle your chin. That goal gave Hossa 499 for his career.
• Um, they didn't get slaughtered when they very well could have? I guess?

The Bad

• It only took the Wild one shot on net in two minutes and thirty seven seconds to take a lead. Jarret Stoll sniffed his way into the Hawks zone on a fairly harmless looking 2-on-1 but Scott Darling was off his angle and Stoll beat him stick side.
• In all the shenanigans, Andrew Shaw was on some revenge kick after the hit Matt Dumba put on Patrick Kane last meeting, so he spent the better part of the first 30 minutes chasing Dumba around. Shaw finally got him to scrap. The people in Carolina will love his grit, next season.
• Four minutes into the third period, Christian Ehrhoff got caught very deep in the Wild zone, leaving Hjalmarsson and Teravainen to cover for him. Mikko Koivu led the rush and caught a streaking Jared Spurgeon in behind a slowly recovering Teravainen. Spurgeon was in all alone on Darling and beat him to the stick side for a 2-1 lead.
• Trevor van Riemsdyk led the Hawks in ice time and team high 11 defensive zone starts. That's not good for anyone.
• There were 37 TOTAL shots in this game. Neither team managed more than 19.
  

The Ugly

• With Brent Seabrook sitting out, Duncan Keith took exception to being knocked on his ass by almost taking Charlie Coyle's head off with his stick. It was a pretty ugly play that Keith thought he would get away with, by trying to argue the old, "I slipped and fell". Any sane person could not argue with the call because it was clear in the replay that he was carelessly whipping his stick around like a machete. You can bet the Department of Player Safety will be weighing in on this one. Keith might get a rest for the remainder of the regular season for this bonehead play.
• Christian Ehrhoff didn't do himself any favors in the eye of the almighty Lineblender by taking a really lazy icing after Darling bailed out the defense with a pretty blocker save on a rare early second period 2-0. A questionable Ehrhoff pinch early in third period helped lead to the Wild go ahead goal. Based on Quenneville's past, unless Keith sits the remaining games with a suspension Ehrhoff might not see the ice again. Hell, even if Keith does sit, Ehrhoff might not see anything but the shrimp cocktail in the press box.
• With just under 9 minutes remaining in the game, the Wild took a commanding 3-1 lead. The only really solid remaining defender the Hawks had left, Nik Hjalmarsson, was running on fumes while getting double shifted. Nino Niederreiter beat Hjalmarsson up the half boards, and chipped a pass to a streaking Eric Huala. Huala beat Darling and, for all intents and purposes, put the game out of reach.
• To show you what a silly and subjective stat hits are, Patrick Kane led the Hawks with 3. LED THE TEAM!
• Hawks centers were completely pistol whipped at the dots, winning only 14 of 43 or 33%.

The #Fatrick Stankus Fatsy Stats

• The Blackhawks team overall corsi was 57%, which is really good. Another time when the eye test and the stats don't really match.
• Michal Rozsival should have tire tracks up and down his back with his team low -4 corsi and -7 fenwick.

The Lineblender
Ladd - Toews - Hossa
Panarin - Teravainen - Kane
Fleischmann - Rasmussen - Panik
Desjardins - Kruger - Shaw

Keith - Hjalmarsson
Ehrhoff - van Riemsdyk
Svedberg - Rozsival

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Blackhawks at Vancouver3-2 Win Recap

"From Canada With Love"

by AtomicFroster

The Chicago Blackhawks take to the ice for the second night in a row as they finish off a back to back in my home province of British Columbia and play the struggling Vancouver Canucks. Darling gets the nod and will play two games in two days, a rare thing for a NHL goalie, but really what do they do anyway other than let pucks hit them? Right Gatekeeper?! The two teams are headed in opposite directions as the Canucks have scored only three goals in their last six games and the Hawks netted four just last night in Cow Town. 

The first period starts with the Hawks lineup looking a little different than of late, Kruger rejoining the team last night, Rasmussen in for the first time in nine games, and Anisimov out with a case of lower body general soreness; he is listed day-to-day so Teuvo will take his spot up on the second line. Some would want you to believe that he's a healthy scratch and in Q's doghouse but I don't believe the hype. Also the third D pairing is featuring Ehrhoff rather than Uncle Rosival. The frame would be a rather boring one if not for a late period goal by Fleischmann set up by TVR and Ehrhoff. The Hawks did have the better of the chances and almost doubled up the Nucks on shots. 

Shots: Blackhawks- 13  Canucks- 7

The second starts with Henrik Sedin taking a tripping penalty and sending the Hawks on the PP. Can the Hawks break their horrid streak of power plays? No-- the Hawks don't score and are now 0-23 at this point. Eleven and a half minutes in, the Canucks put a point on the board via an Alex Burrows one timer wrist shot set up by Linden Vey from behind the net. The goal seemed to wake up both sides and the pace for the rest the period was quickened with the Canucks controlling the majority of the chances. Hawks fend off the push and exit the period all tied at one.

Shots: Blackhawks- 9  Canucks- 6

The final frame starts with the same pacing as the second ended but this time with the Blackhawks controlling most of the play. It's too bad you can't score a third hand assist: Panarin with a great heads up play slap passes the puck from his own zone to a streaking Kane but the pass is to hot for Kane to handle. He takes it behind the net, passes to TVR who one touches it to Teravainen, who then buries it in the open net. Toews takes a 4 minute rest in the box for a highstick and the PKers along with Darling come up large, killing the penalty. Unfortunately, the Canucks do end up evening up the score at two with a Baertschi goal the was generated from Panarin over handling the puck in the offensive zone. Luckily the tie was short lived as Toews sets up a Ladd slap slapshot putting the Hawks over the Canucks 3-2.  *sidenote the Canucks pulled the goalie with only couple minutes left as to not upset Gatekeeper.

Shots: Blackhawks-10  Canucks-15 

Total Shots: Blackhawks-32  Canucks-28 

THE GOOD

• Winning the second game of a back to back which has been next to impossible for the Hawks this year;
• TVR's play tonight was exactly what we are looking for from the young D man;
• Darling getting two wins in two days this close to the playoffs is great, it will give him the confidence he needs;
• All lines looked be able to handle them selves on the ice unlike the weeks past where maybe one would show up; and
• I, @atomicfroster got my first win making my recap stats 1-2-2;
• Blackhawks clinch a playoff spot for the eighth straight year.

THE BAD

• While I liked Panarin's pass to set up a Teuvo's goal I was not impressed but his turnover that lead to a Baertschi goal; and
• I'll go easy on them tonight and leave it at that (even though it should not be this close with the worse team in the league). 

THE UGLY

• News came that Crawford may not play again during the regular season, being thrown into the fire come playoffs is a less than desirable situation;
• Anisimov, is he hurt? is he scratched? Calling him day-to-day rather than scratching him is a easy was to avoid the media storm that could have ensued; and
• Letting @atomicfroster beat you! 

Ladd - Toews - Hossa

Panarin - Teravainen - Kane 

Fleischmann - Rasmussen - Weise

Desjardins - Kruger - Shaw 

Keith - Hjalmarsson 

Svedberg - Seabrook 

Ehrhoff - van Riemsdyk 

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Blackhawks at Flames4-1 Win Recap

"Rejoice And Give Thanks"

by Patrick Stankus

I'm so sorry to start the recap on such a sad note. Tonight, was supposed to be a surprise with a recap by @UncleRozsival, but since he bailed like Ryan Kesler when it comes to fighting Jonathan Toews, you are all stuck with a #FatCap tonight. I'm sorry, I tried folks. While our beat writers were tweeting about the Saddledome catwalk, I was working the phone tirelessly trying to get a hold of our favorite diabetic guest.

Tonight saw the Blackhawks open a crucial four game road trip that begins with a tough back to back in Calgary and Sunday in Vancouver. Returning to the Hawks line up for the first time in 2016 was the true #16, but now #22 in your programs, Marcus Kruger. Oh how I have waited for this day to come. Stop kidding yourselves. You damn well know you have to with the way things have gone for the Hawks of late. Should I mention to that Scott Darling was getting the start for the Hawks? Frankly who cares about that. All we care about is, MARCUS KRUGER IS BACK!!!

Once the puck dropped it was clear the Hawks had seen the Central Division standings. The Hawks came out with a sense of urgency, and energy, something they have lacked of late. Early on, both teams traded shots, with few quality chances. That would change in the middle part of the period, as the Hawks dominated play, but Joni Ortio made a couple of terrific saves to keep the Hawks off the board. In the final minutes of the period, the Hawks seemed to take their foot off the gas, and it nearly bit them. Luckily for a change, Scott Darling made the saves he's supposed to make, and a couple of really good saves to keep the game scoreless after 20 minutes.

Early in the second period the Flames would pick up right where they left off in the first period. The Flames had multiple chances, but each time Darling was there to make the save. Just past the five minute mark, Andrew Ladd opened the scoring off a brutal turnover by T.J. Brodie to give the Hawks the lead. The lead didn't last long, as seven minutes later, Dougie Hamilton tied the game at one. The later stages of the period saw the game get a bit chippy with six penalties called in the final ten minutes of the period. In the final minute, Andrew Shaw put the Hawks back on top with a redirect from a Michal Rozsival shot, to give the Hawks a 2-1 lead after two periods.

The third period saw both teams rack up double digit shot totals, despite there only being one power play in the period. The Hawks were the team that had the opportunity on the power play, but nothing came of it. As time wound down, both teams would trade one and done chances, but none that really stood out as a prime scoring chance. In the final minutes, Calgary would pull Joni Ortio for the extra attacker. The Hawks added two empty netters from Ladd, and Teravainen to seal a 4-1 win on the start of the four game road trip. Up next is a stop to @atomicfroster 's land in Vancouver for an Easter match up with the Canucks.


The Good

• As mentioned earlier, Marcus Kruger returned to the Hawks line up. If you had listened to Brian Hedger from the start, you would have never thought you'd see this day this season. Thanks for being 100% wrong Mr. Hedger.
• Scott Darling was solid in net for the Hawks. He made some big saves when the Flames had a lot of momentum towards the end of the first period, and while the Hawks were parading to the penalty box in the second. In the end Darling made 31 saves. Lets see how he does in the back to back if he indeed gets the start in Vancouver.
• 2/3rds of the fourth line, and Andrew Ladd deserve a lot of credit for the go ahead go in the second period. Hard work down low by Shaw, Kruger, and Ladd saw them cycle the puck back to the point, where Rozsival put a shot on net, with traffic in front. The stunning result? The puck was in the back of the net.
• Kruger returns, and the Hawks PK kills off both of the Flames power plays. Lets hope this trend continues.
• The Hawks lost the face off battle 28-26, but based on how bad they've been at the dot of late, I'll take this.
• Andrew Ladd had himself a nice little three point night, with two goals, and an assist. Hey this is the guy the Hawks were supposed to get from Winnipeg right?
• Okay the tons of mentions of Kruger returning is part of the joke, but come on and admit it. The fourth line was outstanding tonight.

The Bad

• Artemi Panarin was caught napping on the Flames lone goal. Panarin completely lost his check in Dougie Hamilton, and allowed Hamilton beat him to the slot and to chip a loose puck past Darling.
• Noted Hawks enforcer Jonathan Toews decided to go after Dougie Hamilton, after Hamilton lit up Seabrook with a hit. I didn't have any problem with the hit. I'm guessing Toews wanted to show former teammate Brandon Bollig how to be an enforcer?
• A #FatCap wouldn't be complete with a bad Andrew Shaw penalty. This time it was an offensive zone slash because he was mad he got knocked down. I'm not going to miss these penalties.
• The feast or famine power play was a famine tonight. They were 0 for 2 in their chances.

The Ugly

• What the fuck is up with Calgary's third jersey? Its a complete disaster. What the hell was wrong with this jersey being your alternate from a few years ago?
  
• Speaking of disasters, when is Calgary going to find a starting goalie? My apologies, but Joni Ortio?? What is this, pick a random ass guy from Finland and see if he's the next Miikka Kiprusoff. Not to mention seeing a goalie in Calgary wearing #37 made me wonder if I was seeing Trevor Kidd in net again. How'd that 1990 draft go for you guys? (Do yourself a favor and look that up if you don't know what I'm referencing)
• What the hell was T.J. Brodie thinking with a cross ice pass while skating backwards?? Christ almighty that was a brutal turnover. Thankfully Ladd made Brodie pay for that mistake.
• Artem Anisimov was 25% at the dot tonight. Let us all say it together, WOOF.

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Puckin Hostile ShoutcastEpisode 53

In this 53rd Puckin Hostile Shoutcast, the Manshitter Episode, the 4 Horsemen catch up after a long two week period for both the crew and the Blackhawks.

The group discuss the following:

-#OlsonStrong campaign launched between MIN/CHI
-New iTunes reviews
-A cameo by Gate's son
-The Puckin Hostile Store / Fan Pics
-Our first parody twitter account
-"Puckin Hostile Invades Lumbus" trip looms
-A laundry list of suspensions and injuries
-#SvedGroot extension
-The Garret Ross conundrum
-The #HarmsHole strikes again
-Hawks frustratingly sucking
-Games vs the Blues, Kings, Flyers, Jets Wild and two against the Stars.
-And of course, as always, an abundance of inappropriate references and jokes in incredibly bad taste.

You can find the episode on iTunes by following this link: iTunes

Puckin Hostile Shoutcast - Episode 53 MP3 Direct Download
You can listen below on the Talkshoe player:


Get the Shoutcast on Soundcloud here:



Also, Please check out and share the Puckin Hostile Stanley Cup Highlight video:

Music by "The Bloodline"


For all your custom jersey needs visit Black and Tan Sports at: http://www.facebook.com/BlackAndTanSports

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Blackhawks vs Stars6-2 Loss Recap

"LOSING GROUND"

by Gatekeeper

After almost a two week hiatus from recapping the big dog was back in the house for this latest March "embarrassing losses don't count" game. The Blackhawks were coming in after losing a lacklustre game, in a shootout to the Wild, Sunday. Many people among the intarwebz want to brush off this late season struggle, but it should be concerning that they have not yet found their chemistry with 10 games remaining. Sure, panic is not the answer, but being thoroughly concerned is not over reacting, by any means. The Hawks opened up with the forward line the way most of us would prefer, so there wasn't much to complain about there. I, myself, would have rather seen more Christian Ehrhoff, but it has become evident that Quenneville doesn't like Ehrhoff as much as most of us do. He didn't like Vermette last year, either, but look how that ended up. Moving on to the dog days of...

spring???

The first period was a god damn pitiful abortion. There is simply no other way to put it. They played the first half of the period pretty well, but the second half of the period was barely squirt worthy. The Stars scored 4 goals in about 7 minutes, to chase the Blackhawks goaltender to the bench. The Blackhawks were no only out scored by a large margin, but they were out shot 15-9. The worst part of this was going to be the fact that I had 40 more minutes of uninspired hockey to endure.

The second period was certainly better than the first, but it's not like it could have been any worse, though, right? I honestly lost interest in this piss poor effort. The shots were actually tied at 10-10 and both teams scores goals. This effort still wasn't going to earn back any favor from this guy. A dark cornfield in Oklahoma City sounded more exciting at this point.

Everyone was just waiting this one out, in the third period, including the Blackhawks coach. He gave the Stars a free empty net goal, which should have told everyone that he had given up. Or we can all just stick out heads in the sand wearing our #3CUPZ tinfoil hats. The Blackhawks actually out shot the Stars 13-8 and had a goal, themselves. Didn't really matter at this point.

Shoutcast tomorrow...

The Good

• With just over 3 minutes remaining in the second period, the Blackhawks finally did something worth commending. Andrew Shaw won a faceoff deep in the stars zone and then was able to bunt a fat, belly high Andrew Desjardins deflection into the net for the one bright spot.
• Richard Panik scored the second Blackhawks goal of the game about midway through the third period. He found himself on the Stars back door and was able to hang on long enough to stuff the puck past Lehtonen's right foot like #Fatrick through a turnstyle.
• Nothing. Nothing more. They should be embarrassed.

The Bad

• The first really good Blackhawks chance was at the four minute mark of the second period, where Lehtonen made rapid fire saves on Marian Hossa, Andrew Shaw and finally Andrew Desjardins. They followed that up with a very disciplined Too Many Men penalty. Aces.
• Radek Faksa scored the Stars 5th goal of the game late in the second, over Michael Leighton's shoulder. LUKE, I AM YOUR FAKSA!
  
• When Richard Panik and Andrew Shaw are your best players for two consecutive games, you're fucked.
• To my friend, and big Stars fan, Selina:
  

The Ugly

• The Stars took a 1-0 on a terrible fucking goal. The Teravainen line lost a deep faceoff on the Hawks zone and the Van Rozsival duo couldn't control the puck behind the net. Colton Sceviour picked up the puck and tried to, badly, wrap the puck around. Luckily for him the puck banked it off the shaft of Darling's stick into the net. Terrible, and it doesn't get better from there.
• The very next shift, Sceviour also got himself an assist from behind the net. The Blackhawks were running around like a bunch of mental patients on speed in their own zone and Erik Gustafsson completely lost Vernon Fiddler in the Hawks left corner. Sceviour found the puck on his stick, saw Fiddler straddling the goal line and hit him with a pass. Fiddler had the whole net to shoot at, with Darling looking over his right shoulder and the puck on the left side. 2-0 Stars.
• Next it was the 24th ranked PK's turn to suck. A Jonathan Toews penalty turned into a Patrick Eaves powerplay goal, as they left Eaves wide open in the slot to one time a laser over Darling's right shoulder. The Blackhawks...
  
  eh you get the idea.
• Just to make sure we all vomited up our Hot Pockets, the Blackhawks completed the total fucking meltdown by giving up their 4th first period goal, for good measure. This time it was of the shorthanded variety. It must be pointed out that Patrick Kane's effort after mishandling the pass a the Stars blue line was atrocious. It was literally not possible to give any less fucks than he did on that play. Following the first period, Scott Darling was sent to spend the rest of the game on the bench in favor of Michael Leighton.
• Quenneville pulled the goalie with six and a half minutes left in the third. Would you like to guess what happened? Yeah, empty netter. CUT THAT STUPID SHIT OUT! Patrick Roy should be immediately impeached from the Hall-Of-Fame for starting this asinine trend. The Blackhawks powerplay has been RANCID DOGSHIT the last several games. What makes you think they could suddenly pull it off with another body out there in the way? Roy and Q, I have a couple of these for you:
  
• I'm sick and fucking tired of all this, "They'll just flip the switch like they always do". There are no less than NINE different players on this team. This is NOT the same team as the 2010, 2013 OR 2015 team. Expecting them to suddenly recapture the glory that half of them never had is naive. They are not playing well at all, and they have shown little chemistry. When they DO show chemistry, Quenneville splits them up. Not only that, but the efforts are getting worse. As the great DITKA once said, "Those who live in the past are cowards and losers". It's time we start living in the present and being concerned.

The #Fatrick Stankus Fatsy Stats

• When fancy stats go bad. The Blackhawks overall corsi was actually obnoxiously good at 61%. Every player but Duncan Keith and Tomas Fleischmann was + Corsi
• If this entire game wasn't bad enough, the idiots at CSN Chicago broadcast that meatball asshole Montana Brenan all over my TV. The ultimate "fuck you" to all Hawks fans.
  

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

Keith - Hjalmarsson
Gustafsson - Seabrook
Rozsival - van Riemsdyk

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