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Storm of Swords: Blues At Blackhawks – Preview/Pre-Game Thread/Equinox

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bluestrumpet_jersey @ AltLogo_medium

Game Time: 7:00PM Central
TV/Radio: NBCSN/WGN720
Moo: St. Louis Game Time

Last night’s game was the kind that makes me want to pull my hair out. The game was intense in all the wrong ways. The Flyers aren’t a better team than the Hawks but they were able to pull Chicago down to their level. The Hawks allowed them to dictate the pace and feel for the game. The Hawks do their best when they’re shoving their game down the other teams’ throat, not when they’re running around like lunatics on bath salts. Two fights in a game isn’t unheard of, even as fighting loses favor, but the Hawks had only 9 fighting majors for the season total. Two in a game shows how much they were out of it last night.

So how do the Hawks now respond when they have to face a team that has notoriously tried to bring the Hawks down a level and away from their game? Count me as someone who is not terribly optimistic.

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Mister, Would You Please Help My Pony? – Flyers 3, Hawks 2 (OT)

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Box Score
Game Summary
Extra Skater

The vast majority of the games the Hawks have lost of late, there’s at least been some kind of mitigating circumstance. A bad bounce here, a hot goalie there, but for the most part, the Hawks by and large dictated the play even in spite of some curious play and lineup choices. Tonight was no such occurrence, even though the Hawks earned a point and drew “even” with the Avalanche as they lost in Montreal.

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Get On Down To I-76: Hawks at Flyers Preview/Pregame Thread/All You Can Eat Buffet

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oldschool vs. Radio-Flyer-Classic-Red-Wagon-lg

FACEOFF: 6:30pm Central

TV/RADIO: CSN, NBCSN, WGN Radio 720

GET ALONG, 76ers: Broad Street Hockey (but good God don’t ask about our cheesesteaks)

After getting some things back aligned against the Grand Rapids Griffins on Sunday, the Hawks look to keep it going with a return to the scene of the crime (the first one, not the second. God I love writing that).

News out of the morning skate sees Antti Raanta taking the start. While I fear for how he will deal with Wayne Simmonds, Scott Hartnell, and others in his smallish grill all night, let’s all be relieved that Q wasn’t tempted to try and wheel Crawford out for both halves of this back-to-back (especially as tomorrow night basically constitutes the Hawks Central Division Last Stand). Michal Rozsival and Brandon Saad will both miss out with injuries to various parts. While some will cower in fear at the thought of Brookbank drawing in, by every measure he’s been just about Rozie’s equal this year and whatever problems he’s had could be attributed partially to lack of sharpness.

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Monday Notes

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Just cleaning up some stuff going around today.

-Brandon Saad won’t travel to Philly tomorrow, which makes one think it’s pretty unlikely he’ll play against St. Louis on Wednesday. Saad basically takes all the depth scoring with him, especially with both Kris Versteeg and Ben Smith now on the top six, at least at times. Though at some point Andrew Shaw will score without the aid of Jonathan Toews. Maybe.

–JenLC at the old site breaks down how the Hawks can fit in Teuvo Teravainen if they bring him over (I don’t even know why I’m including the “if” any more). Basically it involves sending Antti Raanta down, as he doesn’t have to clear waivers, and calling up Jason Labarbera. This one makes sense in a few ways. The Hawks have two back-to-backs in March, and it’s questionable whether Raanta would be trusted with a start in either. He also really should be playing, and being in Rockford’s playoff push couldn’t hurt. After the Boston-Ottawa trip next week it’s likely Crawford would go the rest of the way anyway, so you might as well have Jason Labarbera back up. There’s a back-to-back to end the season in DC and Nashville, but there’s a decent chance one or both of those games won’t matter (if the Colorado Regression shows up, and members of Colorado Regression).

Oh, and Eddie O was on The Score banging the Teuvo Drum in his continuing efforts to carry the company message, because what this kid needs is tons of pressure on him when he arrives in a strange country with strange teammates in the hardest competition he’s ever faced.