Everything Else

Flames Spotlight: Someone Teach Cal And Gary How To Dougie

By 1503

How quickly things change, especially in a Canadian market where every game is seemingly a referendum on the entire morale of a city or province. It was barely 18 months ago when Flames fans and front office were failing to hide their glee at heisting Dougie Hamilton from Boston GM Don Sweeney, who was still definitely only sporting a learner’s permit and should not have been operating the vehicle alone. Holy run-on sentences, Batman!

Fast forward to now and suddenly there are rumblings that Hamilton could be on the trade block. How did we get here? Well, some of it has to do with misuse, some of it perception, some of it cap problems, and some of it the lingering cloud that is the incoming Las Vegas franchise.

Everything Else

Wednesday Mishegas

By 1455

Just a few notes to go over on this offday on the last Circus Trip ever. By the way, can we make it the last circus ever? Like, is the circus something we need anymore? I don’t think it is. Elephants are awesome and not a single one should be kept in chains. I guess that Cirque de Solei stuff is cool, there are no animals in that. But if we had to sacrifice that to have no circuses ever, I’m good. Anyway…

-So what had everyone on buzz on Twitter this morning was a tidbit from Elliotte Friedman’s 30 thoughts. If you can’t be bothered to read the thing, even though it should be required reading for every hockey fan every week and I still can’t believe they surround Friedman with a gaggle of buffoons every Saturday night on HNIC, he speculates that Brandon Saad might be available from the Jackets. Apparently he was last year too, and the Hawks at least kicked the tires on it.

Ok, first of all, the idea that the Jackets would even consider this makes me weep for the state of the human race, and I’ve done enough of that already in the past week. There’s no question that Jarmo and especially Torts have little idea what they’re doing. Saad is somehow fifth in ice time amongst their forwards, even though he’s the best forward they have. I don’t even know how this is open for debate. He’s also their best possession player once again, because that’s this thing that he does.

While this rant really shouldn’t go on any longer, Saad scored over 30 goals last year. Only 28 players managed that feat last season. That’s 7% of all forwards who laced them up all year. These are valuable fucking commodities. Somehow goals, y’know, the thing we measure who wins and loses by, are not nearly as valued as they should be. Seeing as how hockey’s scoring is starting to resemble soccer’s more and more, maybe guys who can score should be valued in the same way. If you score 20 goals in a season in soccer, they honestly don’t give a fuck what else you do. Christiano Ronaldo hasn’t seen his own half in like six years. Does anyone care?

Rant over. Now to Saad.

Everything Else

And I’m Welcome No More: A Special Guest Hawks-Jets Preview

By 1388

Hawk Wrestler vs. Kenny Smith

RECORDS: Hawks 11-3-2  Jets 8-7-2

PUCK DROP: 7pm

TV: CSN

HOTH: Arctic Ice Hockey

PROJECTED LINEUPS

blackhawks-lineup-card

jets-lineup-card

SCORE-ADJUSTED CORSI%: Hawks – 50.3% (11th)  Jets – 48.8% (23rd)

POWER PLAY: Hawks – 19.0% (14th)   Jets – 18.7% (16th)

PENALTY KILL: Hawks – One day soon!  Jets – 81.7% (17th)

TRENDS: Laine hasn’t scored a hat trick in like a week so he sucks

Gonna try sometin’ a little different today. Krista, a HockeeNight refugee, wanted to let everyone know what you should think about the Winnipeg Jets. We’re going to allow her to do so here. Enjoy, and follow her on Twitter @lechatsavant.

Greetings, everyone. I come to you as someone who knows the Winnipeg Jets all too well. They are a vile bunch of whiners who choose to revise history rather than accept it. I’m all too familiar with this team. You see, I began my love of hockey as an Atlanta Thrashers fan.

It was my best friend who introduced me to hockey via the Thrashers, and we got to the point where we could gauge a win or a loss based on only the goalie (Pavelec good, Mason bad). We were hopeful that nothing would come of the rumors that the team would be relocated. That was some beautiful hope, but it was shattered on May 31, 2011. That was the day the Thrashers died and the Jets were born.

Everything Else

Clowns To The Left Of Me – Jets Spotlight: Blake Wheeler

By 1261

People forget that Blake Wheeler is yet another prime example of excellent GMing by Peter Chiarelli in Boston. But y’know, Rich Peverly was a faithful soldier and all that. But that’s not why you called.

You have to feel a little for Wheeler. If he stuck in Boston, or played in New York or Chicago or Toronto or Montreal, people would realize he might be the premier power forward in the league. Not only is he stuck in Winnipeg where he’ll never be fully appreciated or get to play in the games he deserves, he’s going to freeze his ass off. While this Jets team looks a little more promising than previous editions, no one’s going to be mentioning them as possible West representatives in June.

To fully appreciate Wheeler, one should probably take a look at his WOWYs for just this season (teammates stats when on the ice with him and without).

Live From The Five Hole

Live From The Five Hole – DDFH

By 1496

A week after the Internet Monster ate our last foray into podcasting, it damn near grabbed this one too, so apologies for the interlude about 17 minutes in. But never fear, your Intrepid Nephews (A Thing? time will tell) forged through on the inaugural edition of Faxes From Uncle Dale’s Live From The Five Hole. The upcoming circus trip along with what Jonathan Toews’ current possession (not the one by Danzig) problem is are discussed herein.Everything compute? Nah, the truth is too tangled. And even the satellite sees at one angle.

Everything Else

High On The Hog: Mashinter Shocks The World

By 1703

The Rockford IceHogs, AHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks, had another rough week on the offensive side of the puck. After a goal deficiency cost them all four games of their road trip, Rockford did ride a Brandon Mashinter hat trick to two points on Saturday night.

You read right, folks. A Brandon Mashinter hat trick.

Everything Else

Captain Marvel Ain’t So Marvelous Right Now

By 1429

All in all, things are pretty positive for the Hawks right now. Best record in the West, best goalie in the West (Price still carries the overall belt, you’d have to say), and a bunch of guys scoring. Under the surface, the analytical numbers aren’t exactly positive but are somewhat trending up and the hope being that as a young lineup gets more and more accustomed to the NHL game that should trend up even more. At least that’s the hope.

Except, six weeks into the season the cornerstone of the forwards really isn’t playing all that well.

Everything Else

Story Is The Same One Told Many Times: Habs at Hawks Preview/Foursquare Competition

By 1493


arcadefire2013vs. Hawk Wrestler

RECORDS: Canadiens 13-1-1  Hawks 10-3-2

PUCK DROP: A great 6pm start

TV: WGN, Sportsnet up ‘dere

STUCK AT SCHWARTZ’S: Habs Eyes On The Prize

Projected Lineups

canadiens-lineup-card

blackhawks-lineup-card

SCORE-ADJUSTED CF%: Canadiens – 50.4% (10th)  Hawks – 49.9% (13th)

POWER PLAY: Canadiens – 21.7% (8th)  Hawks – 19.7% (12th)

PENALTY KILL: Canadiens – 80.6% (18th)  Hawks – Almost suck!

TRENDS: In a previous life, Radulov had 11 points in 16 career games against the Hawks… Danault has three goals and four points in his last four games

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. The Canadiens get out to an incredibly hot start, with passable but nothing more underlying numbers and Carey Price once again proving he’s head and shoulders the best goalie in the world. Their fans and media are getting awfully yappy at those who laughed at their moron coach and GM over the summer, and they’re already planning the parade. Does this sound familiar?

You bet your ass it does.