Everything Else

Shots, Pastries and Protein Shakes

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The Blackhawks tried really hard to make the Maple Leafs look like a pretty good puck possession team in the first and at least part of the second period of the game tonight. For those who have somehow managed to go without following half of the Leafs fan base on Twitter, that is a tough task. The Leafs were an abysmal possession team last season and while they have made some changes this season, puck possession is not their strong suit.

Goaltending is the Leafs strong suit and that came in mighty handy once the Blackhawks decided they should go ahead and try to win the game. The offensive onslaught in the third period by Chicago was impressive. James Reimer played really well and saved the game for the Leafs.

War On Ice

Event Summary

  • James van Riemsdyk notched his 100th goal as a Maple Leaf during the game tonight. He matched up against younger brother Trevor van Riemsdyk on several occasions once Joel Quenneville decided to shake the defensive pairings up a bit. TVR did have a takeaway from JVR. JVR also burned his brother around the boards a little bit later. Ah sibling rivalry.
  • Speaking of defensemen, Niklas Hjalmarsson took a puck to the face in the second period when a Leafs shot deflected off of Andrew Shaw’s stick while Hjalmarsson was crouched down to block it. He bled a ton, looked pretty woozy, went back to the room, got stitched up and came out for the 3rd period. Personally, I don’t like that decision. It’s really early in the season and he is a very important piece of the team. I would have erred on the side of caution, but strangely, they don’t ask me for my opinion on this stuff. Hjalmarsson hobbled off the ice in the 3rd period after blocking a shot again, but at least he used his leg instead of his face that time. Got a tweet after the game from Elina Hjalmarsson saying that she’s been asking her husband to wear a visor for a long time. Here’s hoping he’ll listen.
  • Shots, shots, shots. The 2nd Power Play Unit looked terrific tonight. They moved the puck well and had a lot of quality chances. The 2 goals they scored were the sum total of the offense for Chicago on the night. The 1st Power Play Unit was a complete buzz kill, which continues to be frustrating bit of hilarity game in and game out.
  • Pastries. I love turnovers. Apple turnovers are the best. Turnovers within a few feet of either blue line are awful. They have a very bitter aftertaste. Duncan Keith and Bryan Bickell ate a bunch of these against the Leafs. The rest of the team scarfed down a punch of these particularly nasty pastries as well, but Keith and Bickell stood out as eating more than their fill. Johnny Oduya managed to grab a dozen box of turnovers in the defensive zone. He was kind enough to put one on a platter for Peter Holland right in front of the net. Yes, Peter Holland. He of the “I have 11 career NHL goals and 4 are against the Blackhawks” fame. The team tightened up a lot in the 3rd so maybe they had a protein shake at intermission and decided to leave the fattening foods for after the game.
  • Protein shakes. Blend well or they will be gritty. Nobody likes a gritty shake. Quenneville had his blender set to puree for the majority of the evening. The defensive pairings were as mixed up as the line combinations. The Kane Shaw Sharp experiment lasted about 15 minutes of the 1st period before changing into the Richards Kane Sharp (RiSK, I kind of like that) experiment. After starting out with regular shifts, Jeremy Morin had 3 shifts in the 2nd period and 1 in the 3rd. Pretty sure I saw Kevin Dineen throwing a rolled up newspaper down the hall toward the locker room for Morin several times during the 3rd to keep him busy.

Game tomorrow so don’t stir in your own juices too much tonight and make sure to eat all of the pastries tomorrow morning so there aren’t any left over for the team.

Everything Else

Good Ontario Boys: Hawks at Leafs Preview/Pregame Thread/Guacamole Party

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Hawk Wrestler vs. Canadian_maple_leaf_2-1

FACEOFF: 6pm Central

TV/RADIO: CSN for those in the 606, NHL-N for those not, HNIC for those in the hinterlands, WGN Radio

SUFFERING SCOUSER LIKE MYSELF: Pension Plan Puppets

The Hawks take on the second half of the Ontario double tonight, sliding into the ACC for Hockey Night In Canada and a tussle with the constant narrative that is the Toronto Maple Leafs.

One would assume that this is where Corey Crawford returns to the lineup. He was the backup on Thursday so he’s clearly just about ready. He could be saved for tomorrow night at home against the Jets, but you feel like tonight’s the night.

Everything Else

October Surprise, Or Lack Thereof

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The first month of the season is in the books–well, it’s the first three weeks but with the Hawks having played all the games in October they’re going to it just makes it cleaner to do this now. We haven’t learned all that much about the Hawks this month that we didn’t already know. They’re a very good team, they have a couple roster holes that they still haven’t really cleared up, and the power play gets a lot of chances but doesn’t finish as often as anyone would like, like a drunk male model.

So, what have we seen this month?

Everything Else

1000 Hurts – Hawks 4, Sens 4 (Hawks Win Ants In The Pants)

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Box Score
Event Summary
War on Ice

While certainly the most sloppy game the Hawks have played so far this year, it was far and away the most eventful, with four blown leads before things needed to be settled individually. That’s how fickle and weird regular season hockey can be. Contrasting directly against Tuesday night’s near-impeccable performance against the challenging Ducks and walking away with nothing, the Hawks came right back around tonight and sloppily got out of Ottawa with two points. But that, so the saying goes, is why they play 82 of these goddamn things.

Everything Else

Big Ontario Dynamite: Hawks at Senators Preview/Pregame Thread/Fondue Party

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Hawk Wrestler vs. 

FACEOFF: 6:30pm Central

TV/RADIO: CSN, WGN Radio

BULLSHIT BULLSHIT BULLSHIT: Silver Seven Sens, Bonks Mullet

The Hawks begin the Ontario two-step tonight in the capital, or actually outside the capital because the Canadian Tire Center is nowhere near Ottawa. It’s like in a field or something. called Kanata. And also, Canadian Tire doesn’t actually sell tires. I mean, it does sell tires but it’s much more like a Target than a Pep Boys. I know, they’re weird up there. Anyway, now that that’s out of the way…