PLAYOFFS: Blackhawks at St. LouisGame 1 - 1-0 OT Loss

"We Carry On"

by Gatekeeper

First of all, I'm never going to stop bitching about 8:30 central starts. They are asinine. If you don't want to hear it, tough shit. Minimum 11:15 to 11:45 PM for game end times is completely unacceptable for two teams that call the central time zone home. Lick my ballbag, NHL.


Wednesday night the NHL playoffs began, with the Blackhawks travelling 5 hours south to that disgusting butthole of America, St. Louis. We are all very familiar with the history of this insufferably entitled team and fanbase, and their history with the Blackhawks. Not only are they entitled, they are completely undeserving of praise or respect on top of it all. They have earned nothing relevant in their entire existence. If the Blackhawks can beat them, it will be colossal asshurt circus for months upon months. If the B-Lose actually win the series, we can look forward to a "first round win / finally beat the Blackhawks" banner raising, in the fall, because they won't make it much farther than that. On to subjects that don't incite extreme nausea or violent diarrhea...

The Blackhawks came in nursing some injuries and the had a significant forward that had to rush from a Chicago delivery room to St. Louis for the game, in Andrew Ladd. Corey Crawford was coming in having played a grand total of 60 minutes in the last month. Artem Anisimov, Marian Hossa, and Andrew Shaw all spent significant time with the team doctors resting their injuries, over the last few weeks as well. Duncan Keith was also off the menu, while serving the final game of his suspension for swinging his battleaxe in the face of Charlie Coyle. This could be two weeks of pure hell.

The first period was somewhat the pace you might expect from these two teams. The Blackhawks looked extremely sluggish while the Blues threw their bodies around like a bunch of clowns. Unfortunately, the Blackhawks weren't able to take advantage of the three gift powerplays they were handed. That cannot continue to happen. The Blackhawks out shot the Blues 11-4 and, if I was a betting man, I would say there were a few missed shots on net by the home scorer in favor of his team. Miraculously, the Blackhawks and Blues were still scoreless, when the horn sounded.

The second period was less physical, and saw the puck handlers showcased much more often. This let to a more even shot total, as well as a few really tense moments. The Blues actually led the middle frame in shots by a slim 10-9 margin. This time, the Blackhawks were the team taking brainless penalties, but they magically avoided any harm done. There was no way that Quenneville didn't have smoke coming out of his ears in the locker room.


The third period was a little cleaner, but the rest of the action was business as usual. THe Blackhawks out shot the home team, once again, 8-2. Without their top defender. That's amazing. Other than that, it was a pretty pedestrian period, ending up 0-0, and sending this one into overtime. The OT lasted about 8 minutes and the Blues got a fluke goal to win the game. Morally and emotionally, this was a win for the Blackhawks. Back at it, Friday, with Duncan Keith back.

The Good

• Andrew Ladd was just all over the ice. Maybe he needed to just not think about what was going on back in Chicago, but he was as physical as any Blackhawks player without doing stupid things. He had some nice looks on net as well.
• Corey Crawford did everything he could, to win this game. He deserved a better fate.
• The Blackhawks held a team to 18 total shots and 1 goal, in their own building. Oh, right, without their best defender. Nothing at all to complain about there.

The Bad

• The Hawks didn't learn their lesson from the Blues first period ass hattery, and came out in the second and Rozsival quickly took a poor penalty.
• The few times that Erik Gustafsson was pressured by the Blues, he completely pissed right down his leg. Welcome to the NHL, kiddo.
• The Blues came back out in the third period with their usual physical goonery, laying big hits on Rozsival and Svedberg, which left open spaces elsewhere.
• Seven seconds into overtime, the Blues took a delay of game penalty. Should be game over, right? The Hawks had a chance or two, but spent a majority of the powerplay was spent chasing the in their own zone.

The Ugly

• Watching the Blues players take whacks at the Hawks players after the play is just maddening. Bunch of cheap shot artists. Patrik Berglund is a prime example. Complete bag of douche.
• The Blackhawks moved the puck with urgency during their first period power plays, but could not get their shots through to the net.
• The Manshitter took a late second period, lazy, offensive zone penalty. He is completely overmatched on the ice. Joel Quenneville will continue to put him out there to do everything badly, without any logic. Clearly he's on the "does no wrong" list, in Q's eyes. Weise, and Ehrhoff would like answers as to why. For example, late in the third period Ryan Reaves hit Erik Gustafsson pretty heavily with Mashinter on the ice, without a worry in the world. Seeing Q throw this meathead out on the ice in OT is both baffling and frightening.
• The game winning goal was as ugly as most of the Blues fans' family trees. Backes was deep along the Blackhawks goal line and tied to send a pass across the crease to a Blues player, but the puck went off Trevor van Riemsdyk's skate and between Crawford's legs. Super weak.

The #Fatrick Stankus Fatsy Stats

• The overall Blackhawks corsi was at 54%. I'll take that every game
• Hjalmarsson was a team worst -22 overall corsi, but a lot of that had to do with the Blues powerplays.
• Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin were the best overall Blackhawks possession player, each having a +19 overall corsi

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

Svedberg - Hjalmarsson
van Riemsdyk - Seabrook
Gustafsson - Rozsival

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Fatrick's Stanley Cup Playoffs Predictions

As we sit here on the eve (or morning of by the time I finish this) of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, I felt it was time to reveal my first round predictions. I don't know about the rest of you, but this really is the greatest time of the year. I mean who doesn't welcome the return of 5 on 5, sudden death overtime? You know, the way hockey was meant to be played. Anyway, enough about that, lets roll onto the predictions since midnight is fast approaching.


Western Conference

Central Division

1. Dallas Stars vs. WC. Minnesota Wild - Dallas in 5 games
2. St. Louis Blues vs. 3. Chicago Blackhawks - Chicago in 6 games

Pacific Division
1. Anaheim Ducks vs. WC. Nashville Predators - Anaheim in 6 games
2. Los Angeles Kings vs. 3. San Jose Sharks - Los Angeles in 7 games

Eastern Conference

Metropolitan Division

1. Washington Capitals vs. WC. Philadelphia Flyers - Washington in 7 games
2. Pittsburgh Penguins vs. 3. New York Rangers - Pittsburgh in 5 games

Atlantic Division

1. Florida Panthers vs. WC. New York Islanders - Florida in 5 games
2. Tampa Bay Lightning vs. 3. Detroit Red Wings - Detroit in 6 games


-What to watch for in the opening round-

• Look for the Flyers to give the Capitals all they can handle
• The Panthers and Penguins are the two teams most likely capable of pulling off a sweep in the opening round.
• I said it on the Shoutcast, and I'll say it again. The Detroit Red Wings will catch people by surprise.
• The Blues/Blackhawks series will be one for the ages, filled with absolute nastiness.
• >Martin Jones will steal a couple of games for the Sharks, against his former team.

Now these are only my first round predictions, and they are sure to be way the hell off, but that's what makes this time of the year so great. Nothing like making a complete ass of yourself. As the playoffs go on, I'll give round by round predictions, but right now I will give you my pre - playoffs Stanley Cup Final. Its the NHL's worst nightmare; Los Angeles Kings vs. Florida Panthers, with the Kings hoisting the Stanley Cup again.

Feel free to forward all hate mail towards Gate, he'll appreciate it. That is Puckin Hostile at GMail.com...

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#PuckinHostileInvadesLumbusTrip Wrap-up

This past weekend the Puckin Hostile crew, minus our Canadian import, made the trek to tropical and balmy Columbus Ohio to see the Blackhawks face their adopted little brothers, the Blue Jackets. Unlike the paranoid, tin foil hat wearing #PERDS fanbase, the Lumbus fans have been fairly welcoming and accepting of the swarm of Blackhawks fans heading 5 hours east a couple of times a year. I honestly and truly respect them for hanging in there, because some Hawks fans can be fairly intolerable, like maybe #NowDerek.

Shocking, I know, but more on that later.

Saturday morning, two separate Hostile sponsored jalopies packed full of large mostly older, out of shape, men packed up and headed southeast. The #Fatrick family, including @UncleRozsival, squeezed into one vehicle, while I fired up the Hostile-mobile with an old friend, who was also former player/goalie of mine, Andy. Thanks to the unpredictable midwest weather, there was a nice layer of fresh snow coating the grass but, as we would find out later, the snow and cold weather had much more serious effects on other motorists. Not to worry, though, #Fatrick had the Canadian with him in spirit:


As we made it into the hell that is Indiana, we noticed quite a few spin out accidents and it became evident that there was not only snow, but black ice throughout northwest Indiana. Shockingly, I guess hell really CAN freeze over. Once we hit the Rensselaer area, our comfortable 80 mph was quickly reduced to 15 mph, thanks to a gapers block due to the first of multiple serious accidents as a result of the slick roads. This accident was an overturned Target truck. If you look closely to the top right of the picture, you can see the Indiana State Trooper (neon green vest) that mocked me for snapping a picture as we rolled by at 4 mph. Hey, what else are we supposed to do, pay attention to the road?



Luckily, we weren't set back too far by the traffic and shortly hit Indianapolis to pick up Frankie the Fish, aka @Hostile_Derek. After a quick pit stop, we were off to Lumbus. The #Fatrick family was not far behind, but were slowed down by some fast food establishments they could not possibly pass up. From Indy to Lumbus was an interesting two hours. We hit several pockets of heavy snow that ratcheted visibility down to hundreds of feet and then, within seconds, opened up to bright sunny skies. Midwestern weather; UGH!





Once we got to Lumbus, more specifically the Sheridan Capitol Hotel, it was pretty evident that the entire Chicago fanbase has traveled to see the Blackhawks play this game, even though it was a line-up full of 3rd liners vs a team that really didn't have much to play for. Based on what we heard later, the Sheridan was not the only hotel to have check-in lines down the hallways and almost out the door. I guess Blackhawks fans are the only ones this eager to actually get INTO Lumbus.


After a quick half hour break to decompress, we saddled up, grabbed an UBER, and headed over to the Nationwide arena. Pregaming wasn't exactly an easy task, because all the bars around the stadium were packed solid. Packed with red jerseys, that is. The embarrassing Chinese knockoffs were on full display, too.

Nationwide reminded me a lot of the Bridgestone arena in Trashville, in that there was only one entrance, which left everyone to stand out in the unusually cold weather. The arena itself is a really nice building. When you walk in there is a big open area where you can look out over the ice, which is a really nice touch.



The Canadian recapped the mess that was the actual game, but it was not without incident, in the stands. We were up with all the upper balcony heathens, and probably 100 feet from Pat Foley and Steve Konroyd. Our not so little Frankie the Fish got into several shouting matches with opposing fans, which then led to a little pride swallowing when the Hawks eventually choked and lost in OT. Some of the highlights were chirping the CBJ fans about their golf swings, and Derek getting told to, "shut up!" by a 9 year old Jackets fan. Well played, kid. I had to personally run down the aisle and fist bump the kid for that one. For those wondering if Frankie the Fish is just as annoying in person, check these videos out:

Is @Hostile_Derek annoying?......Yes!

Posted by Puckin Hostile on Saturday, April 9, 2016

@PuckinHostile @Patrick_Stankus @atomicfroster #hostileinvadeslumbus pic.twitter.com/EMsTKtpehr

— Zesty Pokka News (@Hostile_Derek) April 10, 2016

I want to give a shout out to the group of Blackhawks fans right in front of us that we celebrated with, for at least the first period. Good times! I also want to thank the Jackets fans for tolerating us. In any other city, punches would have been thrown. I made sure I went down and smoothed things over, after the game, with the groups that were chirping back at us, mainly because I didn't want to have to carry a drunk AND concussed Derek out of the arena. We followed up with some team pics and some pictures with the CBJ Pepsi Power Patrol cheerleaders. As you can see, one of us was sloppy drunk, like a high school girl after her first beer.





Right after these pictures were taken, our third wheel (Andy) saw CBJs player Nick Foligno leaving a postgame fan meetup in the concourse and shouted, "Enjoy working on your golf game". We were promptly asked to leave by security. Whoops.

As you can see below, #Fatrick and @UncleRozsival decided to have a nice romantic candlelight dinner at OH Pizza and Brew, before retiring to their cozy King sized bed for a night of snuggling and spooning, while us remaining clowns decided to head to Dick's Last Resort to meet up with some fans, drink a few beers and have a late dinner. Twitter follower @MichaelWeaselo met us for some hockey chatter before we all retired for the night. Good times.



The trip back home was largely fueled and sponsored by Tim Hortons, because you can't pass up Timmies, I guess.


Until next year, Lumbus!

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Puckin Hostile2015-16 Season Report Card

This year I thought I'd take a load off the crew, just a bit, so I split the end of year report card up between the three of us. We have all put in a lot of time, and we might as well take advantage of the benefit of having an actual team of writers.

...and I use the term "writers" very loosely.

On to parent/teacher conference:

The Pivots bought to you by Gatekeeper
19 - Jonathan Toews
Gatekeeper - It's no secret that Jonathan Toews has had a down year. Yes, I know he draws hard matchups. Yes, I know he is one of the two most concerning opponents for teams facing the Blackhawks. The fact of the matter is that point totals in the mid 50s isn't enough for future hall-of-famer, Captain Serious. He needed to be that stabilizing force, with Hossa, that allowed Quenneville to plug in just about any player at left wing and compete. At the very minimum. Instead, it has been a revolving door of left wings that even saw Marko Dano swapped for Andrew Ladd. The jury is still out on that move. This isn't the first time his linemates have been changed. While Kane is having a career season, Jonny is having one of his worst. In fact, the only worse seasons were the shortened lockout season (for obvious reasons), 2011-12 (only 59 games due to injury), and his rookie season. I get that he is the captain, and yadda yadda yadda, but he needs to be better going forward.
GRADE - B minus

15 - Artem Anisimov
Gatekeeper - I think everyone was pretty critical of Anisimov, especially for what the Blackhawks gave up, but he has fit in nicely. He has his flaws, but as we saw with Jonathan Toews and his line mates, it's not always as easy as just plugging a guy, or in this case guys, in. His faceoff ability is, quite frankly, dog poop on a stick. He might still be better suited for a 3rd line role if Teuvo Teravainen can make that jump to legit full time threat, but for the foreseeable future the top two spots are locked. This is fine and well, because he's locked up for the next 5 seasons. Ride this pony while it's a raging inferno. The Hawks have Teuvo's rights for a few and Kruger is signed for 3 more, so they have a strong core up the middle, which is the complete opposite of past years.
GRADE - B plus

86 - Teuvo Teravainen
Gatekeeper - The great Quenneville conundrum. World class talent in a miniature package, but where do you play him? He can play right wing, and has played quite a bit at wing, not only in the NHL. Everyone seems to be stuck on this notion that he needs to be a center to be successful, but when you put him with defensive wings on the third line, you're wasting his talent. Do you slide Anisimov down? Do you slide Hossa down? WHERE SHOULD TEUVO TERVAINEN PLAY? The answer, at the trade deadline, almost sounded like it could have been "some other team". Teravainen might be the epitome of "this is why we can't have nice things". I was of the opinion that they could slide Hossa down to the 3rd line and carry those slugs while Teravainen can play El Capitan's little buddy. Hell, with Ladd playing up there, the size is taken care of. I'm just an idiot basement dwelling blogger that lives with his parents

wait, that's #Fatrick.

Anywho, While he can have a flash of brilliance playing with the slugs, it's not doing much for his confidence. For example, look at the jump in his step when he played with Kane and Panarin. He didn't look that much out of place at all. The bottom line is that he deserves better. The positions that Quenneville puts him in aren't the best for maximizing his talent. If you don't like him, and want to give him the run-a-round, then just trade him for a defender. The kid has been an absolute trooper. Give him some stability.
GRADE - B Minus

16 - Marcus Kruger
Gatekeeper - Another company man. Kruger took a pretty decent one year home town discount last summer, after the dreaded "Bowman promise" left him twisting in the wind. He was performing his usual duties like a good soldier when he had his wrist dislocated, putting him in IR for 4 months. I fully expected that we had seen the last of Marcus Kruger, and he would get his reward elsewhere. Stanbo surprised us, once again, by signing him to a 3 year extension followed by his unlikely return to the lineup. Surprisingly, Kruger stepped right in, like he never missed a step, and has bolstered the penalty kill since his return. He is going to eat a decent size chunk of their cap, but he has a place.
GRADE - A

70 - Dennis Rasmussen
Gatekeeper - Moose has had an interesting year. He was unexpectedly called up and played well. I honestly didn't expect to see him at all this year, but here we are. He played 46 games and was able to chip in 8 points. Rasmussen is not ever going to be flashy, but he's a decent sized guy that is pretty flexible. This came in handy with Marcus Kruger missing 4 months. His only hope next year is playing the wing, because the Hawks are set up the middle.

And then they send him to Rockford.
GRADE - B

Players like Tanner Kero, Philip Danault and Vince Hinostroza made appearances, but weren't worth full assessments


The Wingers bought to you by Gatekeeper
88 - Patrick Kane
Gatekeeper - What an eight month period for this dudebro. If you don't know the story of what happened in August, this is not the place for it. I've never been a big fan of Patrick Kane the person, and I'm even less a fan, now. Nonetheless, he's having a career year. He's the most likely candidate for the Art Ross and within reach of the Rocket Richard trophy. He finished with 46 goals and over 100 points. If it weren't for Patrick Kane, the Chicago Blackhawks would be in serious trouble. Artemi Panarin probably isn't close to as successful without Kane on his line. All of this while being a pretty detestable human being to anyone with a shred of decency. The fan base is completely divided over their loyalty, or lack thereof, and it has made for a fairly bittersweet regular season thus far. Nothing I can say here hasn't already been said, so I gave him this grade simply because of the distraction he created for the rest of this team and, honestly, the entire league. Obviously, based on hockey alone, he'd be an A plus.
GRADE - B

81 - Marian Hossa
Gatekeeper - One of the great debates, other than the obvious stinky elephant in the room, is whether Marian Hossa is declining or just having an off season. I would say, possibly both. It's been gone over again and again, but the Blackhawks are really going to need to suck up this decline and find a way to use him effectively. If they don't he could retire early with another team and the Blackhawks would get hit with a significant cap recapture penalty, which is something they absolutely cannot afford. So what should they do? It has been my opinion that they should drop him down the line-up to a less significant role, like the third line, and maybe move a younger wing up to Hossa's original spot. This take the pressure off and allows him to stay somewhat under the radar, while being a great mentor for some of the other young players. All this said, he has had a down year and the years will catch up. Preserve him as best you can, Blackhawks.
GRADE - C

72 - Artemi Panarin
Gatekeeper - I am not ashamed to admit that I had my doubts about Artemi Panarin, as everyone should have. He was coming from a league that, whether you agree or not, is inferior to the NHL. That was reason, alone, for tempered expectations. He's smallish, and played with Ilya Kovalchuk in the KHL. All that has been cast away, though, and he should finish the season as runaway the Calder trophy winner. The mainstream media dropped off the Gostisphere bandwagon, but they are still trying to convince themselves that there is some rational reason to vote for someone else, ANYONE! This is complete bullshit, of course, but this is nothing new. Panarin was an enormous find. Credit to Stan Bowman for convincing him to join this organization, when he could have literally gone anywhere. He definitely softens the blow of losing both Saad and Sharp. Great for everybody.
GRADE - A plus

65 - Andrew Shaw
Gatekeeper - This guy is like a cockroach. He will survive nuclear fallout. Shaw is that pest that never goes away. In addition, he is the player that Quenneville loves. That #GRIT, #MOARHITZ, and his versatility basically make him the other son that Quenneville never had. I'm sure I'll be wrong about this, but I cannot see a way that they can bring him back this summer, based on their salary cap crunch. Don't get me wrong, he's a very useful bottom 6 player and can adequately temporarily jump into any role when needed. The key word is "temporarily". He's a bottom 6 player and needs to stay there. Paying him any more than his current salary to be himself is too rich for the Blackhawks blood. Someone will need to step into this role next fall, and it should be interesting.
GRADE - B

16 - Andrew Ladd
Gatekeeper - He only played 19 games with the Blackhawks, but had 12 points. Eight of those points were goals. I'd say that filled the huge left wing hole that Saad left. All that said, he's going to be a free agent on July 1st, and there is no way the Blackhawks will be able to afford keeping him. I've always loved Ladd's game, and it'll be sad to see him go, once again, but that is life. Stan brought the pieces in to help, and Ladd was one of them.
GRADE - B plus

25- Dale Weise
Gatekeeper - Dale Weise has become Antoine Vermette. Despite bringing him in to bolster the bottom 6 along with his teammate and line mate in Montreal, Joel Quenneville seems to have no plan of using him in a position where he can succeed. When he has played, it has mostly been on the 4th line. When he has played on the 3rd line with Teravainen and Fleischmann, they have been good. That's not good enough for Coach #3CUPZ (should have been 4). If you're going to wonder why he's not producing more than one assist, look a the game logs. He has played more than ten minutes in only 5 of those 15 games. No surprise to anyone, but his hard headed coach, the most productive line he's played on was with Teravainen and Fleischmann. When he is saddled with Desjardins, Rasmussen or Mashinter (roughly 30% of the time) on his wing, he is not as successful. I would have given him a worse grade if he wasn't getting jerked around by Quenneville so much.
GRADE - C

12 - Tomas Fleischmann
Gatekeeper - Going from Weise to Fleischmann is like night and day. Quenneville loves this guy and I have no disagreement about that. Flash has come in and filled that affordable bottom 6 role beautifully. He has chipped in 5 points, including 4 goals, in his 19 games with the Blackhawks. This makes you wonder what Bruce Boudreau DIDN'T see in Fleischmann last spring when he was only dressed for 6 of the Ducks 16 games. Makes you wonder, because Joel Quenneville might be the most stubborn coach in the league, and even HE likes Fleischmann.
GRADE - B plus

11 - Andrew Desjardins
Gatekeeper - Desjardins is a bottom 6 guy that can play all 3 positions and not get you killed. Nothing more, nothing less. I can't complain about him, but I also cannot praise his play much either. He is just a guy that unspectacularly fills spots economically. This is a job the Blackhawks need filled and he does just that. He shockingly played in 77 games and dumped in 13 points. I can't believe he only missed 5 games all season either.
GRADE - B

14 - Richard Panik
Gatekeeper - Panik came over in the deal that sent Jeremy Morin away once again, this time to Toronto. We were all just happy that Morin was gone and was going to get a chance to play, rather than rot in Rockford, again. Panik has turned into a really nice return, when Quenneville will play him. Six goals and eight points in 29 games is pretty good, despite the line mates he has been dragging around. He has gotten top line time, but sparingly. When most of your time was on lines with Ryan Garbutt, Andrew Desjardins, Dennis Rasmussen and Brandon Mashinter you're lucky to produce at all. The weird thing is that when someone like Hossa gets hurt, Quenneville with throw him with Toews. It baffles me, and anyone with eyes. I hope they keep Panik around. He can be affordable, and he is still young. When he's dressed you regularly see him in the action. I just want to see more.
GRADE - B

53 - Brandon Mashinter
Gatekeeper - The Man SHITTER. This fucking guy. The next generation of useless Brandons with numbers in the offensive lineman ranges. He's big. That is his redeeming quality. Someone, somewhere told people in this organization that Mashinter could fight. They were wrong. He is not good offensively and he is barely serviceable in the defensive end. Most of the goals he did have were basically garbage goals. He did have 4, though, so that brings him from a "D" to a "C". He can sweep a puck into the open net when asked, which is more than we could say for Viktor Stalberg. It ironic part of Mashinter playing is that they have gotten far more out of him than anyone has gotten out of the guy they traded for him, former 1st round draft pick Kyle Beach.
GRADE - C

29 - Bryan Bickell
Gatekeeper - I really should have left him off the hook because he has only played 24 games, but fuck him. I went out on a limb and defended him for far longer than I should have, citing his past playoff performances. Then he absolutely laid an egg in last year's post season. His agent claimed that he had hard to diagnose ocular issue that gave him vertigo like symptoms and he was good to go this year. TWENTY FIVE GAMES, AND TWO ASSISTS. That was all he was able to pitch in. The Hawks tried to trade him, and eventually dumped him in Rockford, much to the chagrin of his wife. This was one person's fault. Bryan Bickell. It's not like he is not physically able to play any more. His problem is between his ears. He goes to Rockford, where it's easy for him to use his size to dominate, and he puts up 31 points in 44 games. He's a bum slaying head case and he needs to go. The Blackhawks have no room for $4 million dead dollars on their cap next year. Whatever it takes, One Trick Bick must go away.
GRADE - F

Ryan Hartman, Mark McNeill, Kyle Baun, and Marko Dano are incomplete because they were here for all of 30 seconds. Ryan Garbutt was traded away. Jiri Sekera and Viktor Tikhonov were snatched up off waivers

The Blue Liners brought to you by Pat
2 - Duncan Keith
Pat - Keith had an up and down year by his standards. He missed time at the beginning of the year after having knee surgery, but bounced back nicely. Throughout the year, Keith had his mishaps of being caught out of position, which almost every time would end up costing the Hawks. His production was on par with at of his past years. In the end he tallied 9 goals and 34 assists in 67 games. He was also a +13 on the year. Its hard to rip a guy who has production like that while coming off in season surgery. Perhaps his biggest mistake though was being suspended for the final 5 games of the regular season, and the first playoff game for swinging his stick at Charlie Coyle's face.
GRADE -A minus

7 - Brent Seabrook
Pat - While Eddie Olczyk said Seabrook had a "Norris Trophy kind of year," the majority of us would tend to disagree with that statement. While Seabrook set career numbers in goals (14) and points (49), he had stretches of the year where he was absolutely atrocious. There were numerous times where he was caught out of position, missed assignments, and most importantly, turned the puck over at the most inopportune times, which would cost the Hawks. Seabrook is as reliable as they come. We haven't seen these kinds of mistakes out of him in some time, so it was bound to happen. Overall, I thought Seabrook wasn't as bad as people made him out to be.
GRADE -B plus

4 - Niklas Hjalmarsson
Pat - Throughout the season, Hjalmarsson was the most consistant of the Hawks defensemen. He managed to put up 2 goals and 22 assists, while being a +13 on the year. Continuing his theme of being a shock blocking machine, he blocked 151 shots. Year in, year out Hjalmarsson is always willing to sacrifice himself by blocking a shot, or taking a hit to make a play. My one knock on him is his famous blind backhand passes while in the defensive zone. This year however, those seemed to be fewer than in years past. This season was just another solid one in Hammer's career, and he continues to show that he might just be the best bargain in the NHL when it comes to defenseman.
GRADE -A minus

32 - Michal Rozsival
Pat - Oh Rozsival. The guy who gets the most shit from everyone. Overall, you can't deny it, Rozsival had a very solid and respectable year. Surely, there were mistakes. Those are going to happen. I mean he wasn't the one who swung his stick carelessly into the face of an opponent, was it? No. Rozsival played 51 games and matched his previous totals with 1 goal and 12 assists. He was also a +3, which was an improvement from last season. All this while coming back from a horrific looking ankle injury during the playoffs last season. So while you continue to use him as your scapegoat, I'm going to disagree, and say he wasn't that bad this year. Plus, we were treated to this ICONIC photo after he scored his loan goal of the season.

GRADE - B

57 - Trevor Van Riemsdyk
Pat - Similar to Rozsival, TVR found himself returning this season after suffering a couple of significant injuries last season. While he did return during the playoffs last year, the true test for TVR was how he would be able to hold up this season. He answered that question by appearing in all 82 games, and tallying 14 points. Nothing flashy offensively, but I'll take that production from a depth defenseman. With that production and reliability came some bad when it came to skating and turnovers. I'm not going to get into corsi or all those other flawed fancy stats, that's Derek's area of "expertise." I don't know what people want out of a guy like TVR. He's nothing special, he's just a guy, who I would gladly take on my team as a depth guy. He's a work in progress, but next year he'll be relied upon more as some more roster turnover occurs.
GRADE -B minus

52 - Erik Gustafsson
Pat - There was a lot of hype when the Gus Bus left the shop for Chicago. I believe Gate was the one driving that bus. Like TVR, Gus struggled at times when it came to turnovers and missed assignments, but Q seemed to discipline him more than TVR. While he failed to find the back of the net, Gus did record 14 assists, and was a +11 on the year. Those numbers are hard to ignore when it comes to placing him behind TVR on the depth chart, but he hasn't earned Q's trust yet. I look for that to change.
GRADE -B minus

43 - Viktor Svedberg
Pat - As the Hawks tried to put the pieces together of the puzzle on defense, Svedberg was one of the guys who rode the Rockford Shuttle to Chicago. Svedberg appeared in 27 games, and found the back of the net twice. When it comes to the term "under construction," Svedberg fits that category. He needs to work on being more aggressive, and using his reach, there is some optimism when it comes to his development. After being recalled from Rockford, he looked like he had gained some confidence, which is key for his future.
GRADE -C plus

55 - Christian Ehrhoff
Pat - Ehrhoff came to the Hawks in a trade deadline deal for Blob Suckderi. How Bowman managed to get someone to take Suckderi is beyond me, let alone get a guy like Ehrhoff in return. At first Ehrhoff seemed like he could be a reliable defenseman down the stretch, until he had one bad game, and was placed in Q's doghouse....... FOREVER. I still think the Hawks may need his experience in the playoffs, but based on Q's history, its unlikely. I'll grade him based on how Q would want him graded. The only thing stopping me from giving him an F is the fact he already has two of them in his last name.
GRADE - D minus

5 - David Rundblad
Pat - I'm going to have to ask why Gate even wanted me to grade this colossal disaster of a defenseman. Rundblad "played" 9 games for the Hawks before he was sent to Rockford in January. Before ever playing a game with the IceHogs, the Hawks announced they were loaning him to ZSC Lions of the Swiss league so he could party it up in a hot tub in the Swiss Alps with another Hawks castoff, Cristobal Huet. (Remember him) What else can you say about this turnover machine that somehow registered 2 assists? I guess I could say he's back with Rockford now. Terrific.
GRADE -F

Trevor Daley and Rob Scuderi came and went.

The Goalers bought to you by Atomic Froster
50 - Corey Crawford
Bryan - Crawford is just an average goalie, Crawford is only good because he’s on a great team, Crawford has a weak glove. These are a few of the many comments heard around the league when you bring up our two time Stanley Cup champ. Unfortunately the best second line in hockey overshadowed his stellar play this season otherwise he would be our main story line. It’s disappointing that he had this mysterious injury late in the year otherwise he would be a strong contender for the Vezina. With a record of 35-18-5 he puts up a career best in the wins column and looking back at the 23 loses you would be hard pressed to find more than a couple you could call a goalie loss.
GRADE - A minus

33 - Scott Darling
Bryan - While our Canadian contingent was one of the shining points of the season his American counterpart was lacklustre. In the first three quarters of the year Darling only got the start when the Hawks played a back to back and often was given the tougher assignment. Coming off the bench once every couple weeks made it really difficult to get any rhythm going, but such is the role of a back up tendy. When he was put is a starters role due to a injury his play remained the same, with a record of 12 – 8 – 4 he only wins half his starts. As we saw by his engagement this all-star break he is prone to over committing and often finds himself well out of position. Hopefully he is only needed to open and close the bench door this post season but if called upon brings the talent shown in the Nashville series of 2015.
GRADE - C plus

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Blackhawks at ColumbusRegular Season Finale5-4 OT Loss

"Cannon Fodder"

The Chicago Blackhawks travel to Ohio to finish the season off against the Columbus Blue Jackets. This game has been marked on the calendar for some time now as this game is the official Puckin Hostile Road Trip. 75% of the group will be in attendance but they make up 95% of the groups combined weight. The Hawks send a crew onto the ice lacking a few mainstay starters in Toews, Hossa, Anisimov, Shaw, Keith, and Hjalmarsson but welcome back the anchor of this teams season, Cory Crawford. 

The Hawks take little time getting on the board, 9 seconds in Panarin sets up a Kane one timer that's sent blazing over Bobrovsky's outstretched left pad. The next two goals would be a result of the previously mentioned Hawks. The effort put forth by the two would put the Hawks up 3 - 0 through one period of play.  At one point the Hawks had three goals on five shots; I can imagine this was a exciting period for the Puckin Hostile Road Trip crew. 

Shots: Blackhawks- 8 Blue Jackets- 10

The second period was nothing like the first, other than the fact that one team would score three goals and the other: zero. Hartnell, Calvert, and ex-Hawk Saad all score in the second tying up the game. The only explanation for this is the advanced analytical stat of score effect. With the Hawks only putting 5 shots on net they were on pace to barely hit 20. This frame was not so hot for the Road Trip Crew.

Shots: Blackhawks- 5 Blue Jackets- 8

The final frame, or what was supposed to be, looked hopeful for the home team early as Wennberg puts the Jackets up 4-3 a couple minutes in. But the Hawks weren't having it, in a push they managed to get 12 shots on net in the third, one of them finding its mark. Kruger would make a nice pass through traffic and set up Kane in front of the Jackets net, Kane cashes in and send this game to @patrick_stankus favourite, 3v3 overtime!

Shots: Blackhawks- 12 Blue Jackets- 6

A minute and half into bonus hockey Teravainen takes a very soft hooking penalty while trying to stop a break away. This would send the Jackets to their second power play of the night. Unlike the first they would cash in, Scott Hartnell standing in front of the net has a shot by Atkinson bounce off his pants and go past Crawford ending the game 5-4.

Shots: Blackhawks- 1 Blue Jackets- 1 

Total Shots Blackhawks- 26 Blue Jackets- 25

The Good:

• Kane and Panarin each net two goals continuing their hot streak, hopefully this continues into the playoffs;
• Crawford was back, he didn't look outstanding but it's nice to get him some ice time before playoffs; and
• As much as having Saad score against us stings, it's good seeing him be successful with the Jackets, his goal against the Hawks gave him 31 on the year, a career best.

The Bad

• Only having two players doing all the scoring and everyone else just looking lost will not cut it in the playoffs;
• 5 goals on 25 shots is not a great night for any NHL goalie; and
• The entire second period.

The Ugly

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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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