vs. 
FACEOFF: 7pm Central
TV/RADIO: CSN for the locals, NBCSN for the non-locals, WGN Radio 720
GOIN’ CRAZY OUT BY DA LAKE DERE: Hockey Wilderness
This road trip broke up nicely into two distinct legs, and I’m sure the Hawks categorize them as pre- and post-Vegas. Hopefully that two-day stop in Sin City left the Hawks feeling refreshed instead of lethargic. Not that they had too much to complain about, because even though they ended up 1-2 the effort over the three games was mostly, mostly ok. It wasn’t perfect, and probably not even close, but a bounce here or there and they could have walked with a maximum six points instead of only two.
We had so much fun last time, we’re going to do it again. This Friday, for the Hawks-Jets game, we’ll be washing up at our usual haunt in the West Loop (I think that’s what you call it) The Bottom Lounge — 1375 W. Lake St (upstairs). If you work downtown and want to kick off the weekend on the right note, by telling me I suck or hitting Killion with a fish, then please come on by. Or if you don’t work downtown, either way. I’ll have some of our shirts on hand if you want to get them without the hassle of waiting for shipping and the like. We hope to see you there.
The Rockford IceHogs split a home-and-home with the Chicago Wolves over the weekend. Rather than give you the blow-by-blow this week, I thought I would weigh in with some thoughts on the Hogs as they enter February still atop the Midwest Division of the American Hockey League.
Normally I will spend a couple of hours Sunday breaking down the past week’s action. However, between the Super Bowl, shoveling my driveway and proctoring an 11-year old through a book report, I am taking a slightly different course.
With some player movement taking place over the last few days, let’s take a look at the current bunch. I’m just going to riff; perhaps an intelligent observation or two will sneak out of my head.
No passengers: ESPN Chicago
Just keep setting up 88: Trib
Has he entered Q’s circle of trust: CSN
Tradebait: HF
Rumors: TSN
I’m relieved I waited until this afternoon to wrap this one up. The anger last night, slightly booze-fueled, was more than it should have been. That’s what happens when you toss away the first game on the trip yourself, because when you just lose one with nothing majorly wrong and you’re suddenly 1-2 on a tough trip things get amplified.
Most of my anger last night was directed at Joakim Nordstrom which is simply wrong and useless. But it felt good at the time I guess. It’s a symptom of perhaps a larger problem, but we’ll get to that in a minute.
There was a lot of angst directed at the Hawks’ sloppiness and that’s not to be dismissed, but going back over the game this morning there’s a pretty good reason why the Hawks had a tough time finding each other and it wasn’t just because it was the second game in two nights, or looking forward to Vegas.
@ 
Game Time: 9:30 Central
TV/Radio: CSN/WGN720
Aboard The Orca: Fear The Fin, Battle Of California
Both of these teams can beat the snot out of the Ducks. We’ve now proven that. What can they do against each other? Well in the last meeting the Hawks scored 3 goals in just under 3 minutes in the first. It wasn’t a complete dominance though – the Sharks were able to make things interesting and the third period had its moments before Bickell put the game away three quarters of the way through the period.
In their last 10, the Sharks are 6-3-1 and they’ve won their last two match ups. They’re not really challenging Anaheim for the top spot in the Pacific since the Ducks have already built themselves quite a little lead out there. San Jose is firmly in the playoff race as usual though, even if no one really expects them to do much when they get there (except for maybe flame out in some horribly embarrassing fashion again). It’s no surprise that a line with Pavelski and Thornton has been producing. The two have been trouble for a while and Pavelski has goals in the last three games. He’s been pretty much a point per game player when taking on Chicago so he’s certainly one to keep an eye on. On the second line, Couture is actually tied with Pavelski in points but trails far behind him goals, 18 to Pavelski’s 25. Past the two top lines and those threats though, there isn’t much that’s scary in San Jose’s bottom 6, especially since that fourth line still is dragged down by our old friend John Scott. Hertl is still fun to watch but hasn’t quite found his form that he had at the start of his rookie year before he was taken down with a knee injury.
On the blue line though it’s a bit of a different story. Brent Burns continues to thrive as a defenseman when going forward. His 36 points put him in the top 5 in scoring for d-men but he’s in a rough spot lately with only 1 point in the last five games. Getting him going the other way can work to your advantage though. San Jose finally wised up a bit and paired him with Vlasic over Meuller. Giving Burns a bit of a safety net when performing his high wire acts. Beyond Vlasic however, the Sharks are a bit of a mess. If guys like Matt Irwin scare you, it’s probably only because you’d imagine he’d be really awful to deal with at party’s. He’s got a face that just looks like he’d talk your ear off for hours about playing Call of Duty while you desperately try to think of a reason to excuse yourself.
In the crease, we’ve got an Antti-0ff! Q opted to go with Crow last night against the league leading Ducks, so we’re going to see Raanta in his first start since the All-Star break. Niemi hasn’t ever been too stellar against the Hawks since his trade but he’s still a goalie that can steal the occasional game.
The Sharks remain a team that will be very good most nights and can look as dangerous as anyone in the league but still remain a team with some major holes. They’ll certainly make the playoffs. They might even win the first round. But I don’t think anyone looks at them as serious contenders for the cup. You’d have thought Doug Wilson was looking to just sabotage the team this year based on his summer but it looks like he even screwed that up. The Sharks are likely at a point where they need to blow the whole thing up and start over but keep holding on to hope.
For the Hawks, well.. just more of last night, right?
Lets Go Hawks
And that’s what they call the old palette cleanser. Coming off a very disappointing regulation loss in Los Angeles two days ago, the Hawks responded with a team effort through and through. They held the Ducks to a mere 22 shots. They never trailed. The game was really never in doubt once the Hawks took the lead and hey, even Johnny Oduya played a solid game. Progress!
