Everything Else

Sell The Kids For Food

By Sam Fels 1529 0

Time to check in on the Hawks prospects.

Let’s start in the OHL, where Garrett Ross was named OHL player of the week. Seven points in three games will do that for a player. He currently stands at 49 points in 38 games, which is good enough to be in the top 20 in the league. That actually puts him right behind Boone Jenner, who very well may be a Jacket this time on Saturday. Though Jenner is a couple years younger. While Ross shouldn’t be pegged as a future star or anything anytime soon, he assuredly should be watched when he gets to Rockford next year. Though all of it comes with the caveat that he is playing against kids he is older than.

Everything Else

Well, We’re Waiting – The Committed Indian.com’s Season Preview: Marlboro 72

By Sam Fels 1223 0

A quick note. You all seem to be caught off guard with the multiple posts recently. I know, it’s weird. But we’re going to keep doing it, so be prepared. Comment on all of them.

Right, to the blue line. There is no surer unit than the Hawks top pairing. There’s no speculation, there’s no controversy, and it remains the envy of a lot of teams in the league. At least there’s one thing we can all count on. So the only thing we have to figure out is how to tweak it.

Everything Else

Well, We’re Waiting – The Committed Indian.com’s Season Preview – The 4th Line (Or What Should Have Been)

By Sam Fels 1149 0

Well, as we know this has gotten all jumbled a bit, but we’re still going to hold strong with what we see the lineup shaking out as. As long as we get to everyone, we should be ok. Anyway, we’ll do this one and then later today the extra/rookie forwards who might pop up during the season. Then off to the defense and goaltending and such. Who’s excited?!

To it, then:

Everything Else

Schedule’s Out, Sam Starts Raging Coke Habit

By Sam Fels 1390 0

Well it’s all official now. The t’s are crossed, the i’s dotted (though this is the NHL so it could totally be the other way around), and the schedule it out.

Some highlights:

-The Hawks will start out with eight of their first 10 games on the road, including the Ice Show trip. So yeah, better have your story straight pretty fucking quick this year. Could be buried in a hurry.

-That’s made up with a seven-game homestand to finish out February. That stand sees the Kings and Canucks comes in, as well as the Sharks twice, and the Oilers. And we know how the Oil have done against the Hawks recently.

-For the first time I can remember, the Hawks will play back-to-backs at home. There are three of them, Feb. 24 and 25 against Columbus and Edmonton, March 5th and 6th against Minnehaha and Colorado, and March 25 and 26 against LA and Calgary.

-The Hawks have four other back-to-backs.

-At the end of April there’s a nasty little jaunt back out to Western Canada to face Vancouver and Edmo before returning home to close out the season against Calgary and then at St. Louis, which will be the first time the Hawks don’t end the season against Detroit in I don’t know how long.

-The Hawks see the Blues and Preds five times, and Scum and the Jackets four times.

-There was also a letter from Rocky and McD, which all told was pretty weak. There was no apology, no mention of the lockout, and kind of a thank you. But you know what? It’s probably not worth kicking stuff over. It would have been nice for something better, but it’s not going to change anything either way. I’ll apologize for them. They’re sorry. There.

Everything Else

Fare Thee Well, Moriarty

By Sam Fels 1320 0

You probably missed it, they only slipped it out on Twitter. No fanfare or the like. But the Moriarty to my Holmes, the Skinner to my Bart, the Liam Gallagher to my Damon Albarn, Sean Gallagher (wow, that Gallagher analogy really works then!) of St. Louis Gametime has given up his post as head of both publication and blog.

I know a lot of you didn’t care for SLGT, either paper or blog, but they’ve been a fantastic foil for pretty much our entire existence. There is no outpost we share a bigger bond with. In their more honest moments, McClure and Killion would tell you that possibly the best night of this blog was one we spent in St. Louis drinking with the SLGT staff (a night that included GMH screaming at the top of her lungs for us to do shots with her, the look of utter shock on the bartender’s face when her question of my college roommate of how many glasses he would need with his pitcher of Bud was answered with, “glasses?”, and of course Kills and McClure slow-dancing with Killion demanding he had to lead).

Everything Else

Well, We’re Waiting – The Committed Indian.com’s Season Preview: The 2nd Line

By Sam Fels 1316 0

Let’s keep this ship rolling right along. We get to the first “hole” the Hawks have, and that’s the second line center. They have wingers who fit here, Marian Hossa and Viktor Stalberg (and before you start, 21 goals without a PP one makes you a second line winger on most if not all teams). You could have Brandon Saad here as well, because I think this is where he’s ending up. We know Kane will end up here at times, and that Patrick Sharp probably should but won’t. But for now, let’s go with how it pretty much looked like last year, and that’s Stalberg-Kruger-Hossa.

Right, to it.

Everything Else

Well, We’re Waiting – The Committed Indian.com’s Season Preview: The Top Line

By Sam Fels 1592 0

So I know I said next week, but I just couldn’t wait any longer. It’s been so much fun to write about hockey again that I just want to dive in head first, put my face in and blow. It’s fucking taco night around these parts!

This year, with our compressed time-frame, instead of going player by player, we’re going to go unit-by-unit (cue adolescent snickering…which is kind of the official theme of this blog). So all four lines, the extra forwards, all the defensive pairs, goaltending, special teams (wait til McClure lets loose on these). Or at least what we project these units will look like. But we’ll get around to everyone.

The theme this year is just an excuse to post that picture of Ted Knight and think about the wheelbarrow of coke he had with him at all times. I think we’re all ok with that.

Usually we go from the net out on these things, but I’m tired of that. So let’s start with the BIG GUNS! (Number #1)

Everything Else

While You Were Sleeping – The Roaming Hoardes

By Sam Fels 1445 0

Yesterday we went through what the division had been up to before hibernation. Today, let’s swing around the rest of the conference. And we can pretend the Eastern Conference doesn’t exist, because for this season it really won’t. At least not until late June. And if the Quenneville-Kompon-Kitchen axis of dumbassery (QuenneKompchen?) shows all of its strength, that won’t be our problem anyway.

Are you ready? Let’s roll.

Everything Else

While You Were Sleeping – The Nemeses Within

By Sam Fels 1591 0

You may have forgotten it all, so I thought I would try and remind you what the rest of the division got up to before we all went into hibernation. Just a quick primer.

Scum – You may vaguely recall that Nicklas Lidstrom retired after last year. While this will cause a lot of gushing during every Wings game this year and a lot of whining about how much they miss him, none of that will come from Wings fans in the know (so that’s Graham and JJ from Winging It). Because as Hawks fans who got awfully familiar with the sight of Hossa and Toews torching him to the outside last season, Lids was a mere shell of the legend that we remember.

However, after a big push for Ryan Suter to replace him came up empty,  the Wings are staring at a gaping hole on the blue line. They hilariously signed Carl Colaiacovo to do….something. Brendan Smith will be up full-time, whatever that does for you. And Kyle Quincey will be around for the full season. So….yeah, attack this.

But oh, will they whine about the travel in this shortened season. Lord how they will whine.