When you sent me off to see the world,
Were you scared that I might get hurt?
Would I try a little tobacco,
Would I keep on hiking up my skirt?
From last night’s Indian.
(click to enlarge, as with everything)
And with that, we’re off for a couple. From Feather, McClure, Killion, and myself, we wish you a Merry Christmas, and a hearty thank you for sticking around and making this so much fun for us.
Extra Skater
Boxscore
Event Summary
It doesn’t really get too much simpler than that.
Sure, the Devils equalized in the 2nd, and then pulled within one in the 3rd. Was anyone worried? Didn’t think so. While the Devils certainly work awfully hard and they do their best to close down whatever space there is, they simply couldn’t keep up with the Hawks. Nor could they really create much on their own, and the Hawks didn’t give them much. Throw in a couple goofy/bad goals from The Ginger, and only 12 shots against, and you have just about as assured a performance heading into the Christmas break as you could ask. Let’s get to The Two Obs.
Box Score
Event Summary
Extra Skater
Shift Chart – Not up yet
It was kind of our sincere hope that Tortorella and the Canucks would have totally blown up by now. I’m sorry to report that it really couldn’t be much farther from that. Torts has the Canucks playing a very solid defensive game, and choked the Hawks out of space for a majority of the game. It’s not the most exciting thing, because the Hawks didn’t have much trouble choking out the Canucks’ space either for most of the game. It really couldn’t have been more clogged or tighter. And sadly, the Hawks found a way to kick a two-goal lead to a team that played last night and didn’t look all that good doing it. Slightly disappointing, but hey, the penalty kill didn’t get its upper palate kicked into its brain which I assumed it would.
Let’s get to the objectivity and observations, shall we?
This is a post I’ve been meaning to do for a while, and some have asked me to write. One of the things I think the internet and blogs and just the wealth of outlets have sadly done to most debates (sports and non) is that every issue is either black or white. There’s two sides to everything. Sometimes there’s only one, and sometimes there’s a whole bunch.
I haven’t done a good job of balancing out my full view on Joel Quenneville. I point out what I don’t like an awful lot, and that throws me into the “Thinks Q is a complete idiot” category. Well, he simply can’t be a complete idiot. Nearly 700 NHL wins would tell you that. But ’tis the season to be nice and all that, so let me try and round out the picture that I and a lot of others have of Q by illustrating what I think he’s done and does well. You already know most of the complaints.
* come down with fire
Lift my spirit higher
Someones screaming my name
Come and make me holy again
Im the day, Im the day
I can show you the way
And look Im right beside you
Im the night, Im the night
Im the dark and the light
With eyes that see inside you
Im a wheel, Im a wheel
I can roll, I can feel
And you can’t stop me turning
Cause Im the sun, Im the sun
I can move, I can run
But you’ll never stop me burning
vs. 
FACEOFF: 7pm Central
TV/RADIO: CSN, WGN Radio 720
BLOGS OF THE BRIDGESTONE: On The Forecheck
Back to the scene of one of the crimes. The last time the Hawks sauntered down I-65 they got smacked around but good thanks to Nikolai Khabibulin’s groin crumbling under the weight of his paycheck/liver and Corey Crawford pulling the full Dante “I’m not even supposed to be here today.” Hopefully, things will go a little better tonight.
I know Mondays are usually reserved for Sugar Pile, but I feel like doing this today. Maybe I’m just feeling nerdy. Maybe I don’t like to be confined by rules (evidence: Kills and my latest Twitter fight over a DLR game), maybe I like to keep you all guessing. Anyway, let’s get to it.
24.3, 2.0
That’s Jeremy Morin’s Corsi/60 minutes, and penalties drawn per 60 minutes, and both lead the team. Obviously there are caveats here and it all seems silly now that he’s been sent down. But it’s worth discussing how this roster is being shaped. Morin’s rate is propped up by not playing all that much (especially the penalties drawn number), but it’s obvious that when Morin is out there he’s highly active. He is buoyed by playing mostly with Brandon Saad, who has been a possession-monster from the time he stepped on the ice last year. However, neither’s Corsi % change significantly when they’re apart, and hold right around 60%
