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Game Time: 7:00PM Central
TV/Radio: NBCSN, WGN-AM 720
The Great Southern Trendkill: Defending Big D
Now that the pomp and circumstance of the Winter Classic is behind everyone, the Hawks can get back to the matter of actually pursuing titles that matter, such as the division, conference, and engravings in sterling silver. That begins tonight with the Stars visiting the snowy west side for their second of three trips this season.
Just a couple things to announce on this Friday that feels like a Monday but isn’t. We haven’t done one of these in a while so it’s time. A week from today, January 9th, we’re crawling out to A.J. Hudsons, 3801 N. Ashland here in Chicago. It’s for the game against the Oilers, so it should be an enjoyable enough event as we won’t really have to pay that much attention to the game after the 1st period, one should think. And yes, Hudson’s does double as my Liverpool FC bar in the mornings so you can some see where I cry often enough. And Trumer Pils is the beer special all month. If you’ve had it you know.
Second, our friends at Project Rescue Chicago are having their annual Freezin’ For A Reason Fundraiser for their rescue shelter. As you know, it is blog policy here that dogs are far more enjoyable than people, and we want to help. Please go to their event page and donate to help the cause. These are the people who trained my nutcase dog PJ, who’ll be recognizable to any of you who read the Indian regularly from the editorial page. So please help them out, they’re good folks.
Box Score
Event Summary
War On Ice
With the lack of snow or other wintery conditions, the game didn’t have the look the NHL probably wanted but we probably haven’t seen an outdoor game with a better quality of a game. Even in the warmer than usual temperatures (when I was in DC over the holidays I was walking around in just a hoodie) the ice seemed to be better than we’re used to seeing in outdoor games… and the broadcast crew used every opportunity to tell us how big their boners were for it.
This game was one of pretty heavy pendulum swings. The Hawks came out slow in the start of the game before turning it on in the second. It helps when the Capitals wanted to spend every minute they could in the penalty box. The third ended up going back the Capitals way. Even before the goal to end it, the Caps were outshooting the Hawks and getting the better looks. Penalties are certainly a part of it both ways but overall things were pretty even and both teams ended up tied in shots.
Lets get to it
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FACEOFF: Noon… or maybe 1pm…or 1:30… could be 2? All of it Central
TV/RADIO: NNNNNNN!BC, WGN Radio
YO! MTV CAPS: Japer’s Rink, Russian Machine Never Breaks
Well, it’s finally here. The landmark the season kind of pivots around. With the holidays over and the season about to head into it’s interminable slog phase, and almost right on the halfway point, the NHL has its winter landmark. It’s the Winter Classic… between two teams who have no history with each other at a venue that wouldn’t even be close to old enough to drive yet. But hey, let’s enjoy it anyway, right? The NHL regular season offers no other more singular stage than this one.
Explaining the Rockford IceHogs current funk is pretty simple. The kids just aren’t getting the puck in opposing nets. The IceHogs still maintain the top spot in the AHL’s Midwest Division with 42 points in 34 games. The holidays have not been kind to the young Blackhawks prospects, though.
Rockford has dropped five of its last six games over the last two weeks. In four of those losses, the Hogs have been held to one goal. Coach Ted Dent has scrambled some of his forward lines as well as his defensive pairings to little avail.
Let me offer some opinion at this point.
Ed Note: This ran in last night’s print edition.
While last year the air raid sirens from the Hawks’ broadcast booth began before Halloween proclaiming Duncan Keith to be the prohibitive Norris Trophy favorite as the league’s best defenseman, most notably in the form of the insufferable Ed Olczyk, this year things have been far quieter in that department. And that’s quite a shame, because while it’s taking nothing away from Keith’s previous Norris campaigns last year and in 2010, by many statistical measures he’s having far and away his best season as a professional. And that he’s doing it at 31 while already being as decorated a player as there is in the league with two Cups, two Gold Medals, and two Norrises to his name.
