Everything Else

Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight – October 13th

By Sam Fels 1192 0

First Screen Viewing

Blue Jackets vs. Lightning – 6pm

I’m gonna resist the urge to continually least he Leafs here, even though they’re probably the most entertaining TV at the moment. The Jackets have taken six of the first eight points on offer, and the Artemi Panarin Contract Drive is in full force with seven points already in those games. The Bolts have only played twice, splitting them, and contain their own amount of firepower. The Jackets are kind of a scientific study this season, as this is what happens when you’re under the delusion you can compete for a Cup but the two players most responsible for that delusion don’t want to stay in your city for more than four minutes after their contract expires.

Second Screen Viewing

Hurricanes vs. Wild – 5pm

The Canes are off to another spiky start, as Scott Darling isn’t choking on his own vomit yet. They’re still playing the same style as they did under Bill Peters, but it’s a little more controlled and they have a few more weapons. As you saw on Thursday, the Wild can’t really play defense at the moment for dick, so this one should be up and down as well.

Other Games

Penguins vs. Canadiens – 6pm

Canucks vs. Panthers – 6pm

Maple Leafs vs. Capitals – 6pm

Islanders vs. Predators – 7pm

Ducks vs. Stars – 7pm

Sabres vs. Coyotes – 8pm

Flames vs. Avalanche – 9pm

Everything Else

Game #5 – Blues vs. Hawks Preview: See The Same Faces At Different Places

By Sam Fels 1765 0

 vs. 

RECORDS: Blues 1-1-1   Hawks 2-0-2

PUCK DROP: 7:30pm

TV: NBCSN Chicago

THE CALL OF KTULU: St. Louis Gametime

I’m not sure exactly what’s up with NHL scheduling, other than it’s designed by the NHL so inherently it’s boneheaded. Last year, the Hawks and Blues crammed in all of their matchups save one from March 1st on. This time around, they’ll meet three times in the season’s first 16 days.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to have a nice long break from dealing with all the horseshit that comes with anything St. Louis, but you’d think you’d want to spread these out a bit. Or maybe it’s like what your dad told you about getting booster shots. Just go, swear loudly while it’s happening, and get it over with. And then you don’t have to do it again. Or was that just my dad? Except I’d probably rather have a booster shot than be in St. Louis. Luckily for the Hawks, they aren’t in St. Louis tonight. They’re in the cavernous confines of home on Madison St for the first visit from the scourge down I-55. Quite the Mr. Saturday Night Special.

Clearly, not that much could have changed in the week since these two last did “DUCK-SEASON-RABBIT-SEASON.” The Blues picked up their first win of the season on Thursday, taking advantage of the Flames’ insistence that Mike Smith is in fact not a reanimated corpse and pumping five past him, including a hat trick for Jabba’s parasite, David Perron. That give them a mark in each standings category.

It being early hasn’t stopped Mike Yeo from going totally Mike Yeo. The return of Joel Edmundson, who didn’t play last week, caused some decisions to be made on defense. So Yeo treated his young d-man like everyone thinks Joel Quenneville treats young players but doesn’t, and healthy scratched Vince Dunn. Even though Dunn is their only other puck-mover besides Colton Burpo in the lineup. Edmundson has joined Alex FineAndMellow on the top pairing, which is a far better situation than having Jabe O’Meester’s wandering gangrene. One would expect that Dunn returns tonight, unless Yeo really needs to see Disco Robert Bortuzzo and his Ouzo for Two-zo or whatever in the name of John Wayne’s ass a Jakub Jerabek is.

Up front, there’s only been rearranging of the furniture. Perron has moved up to the second line with Brayden Schenn and Jaden Schwartz, though the latter will miss out tonight with a leg injury. Likely that moves Alex Steen up. And Jordan Kyrou has slotted down with Alex Steen (or whoever replaces him on that line tonight) and Tyler Bozak, who needed an injection of anything that could move at more than a glacial pace.

So that’s their story.

The Hawks’ remains the same. Cam Ward took the morning off but certainly is the starter tonight. It could be the last one before Corey Crawford returns on Thursday against the Yotes (no connection to their being good seats still available for that one), though why Crow wouldn’t need a start or two with the Piggies to knock off some ring rust is an answer I don’t have. Anyway, Crow was at the morning skate and taking the starter’s share, so whatever it’s going to be it’s close.

There’s no indication that Brandon Davidson will replace the other Brandon or Jan Rutta in the lineup, so it’s probably the same as it was Thursday. Alex Fortin looked springy on Thursday so should stay in the lineup ahead of SuckBag Johnson. Other than that, the talk yesterday was Brandon Saad being moved to the fourth line with John Hayden slotting up, but we’ll see how long that lasts. I’m not all that convinced it’ll be long.

There’s not much of a breakdown here. The Hawks are going to be an adventure pretty much every game. They can’t keep teams locked down for 60 minutes. Fuck, we’ll settle for 40. Q will probably do his best to have Toews or Kruger out against Ryan O’Reilly as much as he can, just in the hopes of winning a faceoff every now and then. Still, Yeo would be reluctant to get into a track meet with the Hawks, which Bruce Boudreau was all too happy to on Thursday. He lacks a sense of whimsy, that one.

So basically either the top two lines come up with four goals and Ward doesn’t completely fold in on himself, or the Blues win. Fairly simple.

Game #5 Preview Suite

Preview

Spotlight

Q&A

Douchebag Du Jour

I Make A Lot Of Graphs

Lineups & How Teams Were Built

Everything Else

Game #5 – Blues vs. Hawks Spotlight: That’s The Way You Go, The City Is So, So Cold

By Sam Fels 1937 0

Let us just throw some numbers at you: .940, .946, .932, .911, .926, .923, .937, .922.

Those are the playoff save-percentages of the last eight Cup-winning goaltenders. The only outlier there is Jonathan Quick‘s 2014 run, which was buffeted by an offense that went Human Torch in the playoffs, thanks to Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter, Tyler Toffoli, Justin Williams, and Marian Gaborik. So to get to a Cup, the buy-in for a goalie is just about .922.

Jake Allen‘s career playoff SV% is .922. So you might be a pleasant person, with inclinations of optimism (in which case, what are you doing here?), and say, “Well, that’s at the very bottom rung, but it’s at the table. The Blues could do it with this guy!” Well congratulations, you’re the Blues GM now.

Dig a little deeper, and you’ll see the problem. That .922 is buffeted by one series, in 2017 against the decidedly punchless Minnesota Wild. Allen threw a .956 at Minnesota over five games, winning that series pretty much by himself, and condemning Bruce Boudreau to another sweaty, Klondike-filled summer turning more read than he normally is.

But after that, when the Blues came up against an actual offense in Nashville, Allen was hurled back to Earth with impolite speed with a .909 over six games. Which aligns nicely with his .897 in 2016 as he and Brian Elliot played Hide The Pickle in the crease, or his .904 the year before as he hilariously threw up a kitten against that same Wild, including a real tour-da-fuck? in Game 6 of that series. Take away that one series, and Allen’s playoff SV% is .904.

Now let’s throw in the little nugget that Allen has exactly one regular season of a save-percentage over league-average. Would you, a rational human being with passable knowledge of how the game works, turn over your starting goalie job to him yet again?

Let’s pull back. Would you, a rational human being with a passable knowledge of how the game works, make the ultra-aggressive moves of signing Tyler Bozak to a free agent contract at age 32, and then give up a good deal of draft picks–signaling the future doesn’t mean much to you–to acquire Ryan O’Reilly, indicating you expect to not only make the playoffs this year but go far, and then turn the most important aspect over to Jake Allen?

No, you’re not crazy or masochistic or have fallen down the rabbit hole into Wonderland where you’re currently chasing around the Mad Hatter with a tire iron because seriously, fuck that guy.

And yet here we are with the Blues, once again. You may not think the additions of O’Reilly and Bozak puts them over the top. It probably doesn’t unless they get unexpected contributions from a few kids in the lineup. But you don’t make them thinking you’re just going to settle for third place and a first-round exit, either. Short of somehow convincing John Tavares that St. Louis was in Ontario (and feel free to take it, Ontario), this was about as much as the Blues could do to get in the ring with the Jets and Predators.

But what does it matter if the anchor is made of cardboard? Anyone think Allen is going to be able to stonewall either the Jets or Preds in the first round, the most likely opponents? The Blues would either have to win the division to avoid either to lead off the spring, or someone engineer a wild card spot that gets flipped over to the Pacific, where only San Jose or Vegas would probably be worrying. And you don’t commit yourself to $12.5 million worth of new centers to aim for a wild card spot.

Sure, the renovations to the rest of the house look great. Do they really matter if the foundation is causing the whole thing to lean to one side?

 

Game #5 Preview Suite

Preview

Spotlight

Q&A

Douchebag Du Jour

I Make A Lot Of Graphs

Lineups & How Teams Were Built

Everything Else

Game #5 – Blues vs. Hawks Q&A: Oh Dear God Brad Lee Got Loose

By Sam Fels 1851 0

Hi, I’m Brad. I live in St. Louis. Much of my wardrobe is blue. I’m the captain of the USS Game Time, the fan-run paper we sell outside every Blues game. It’s a lot like what the Committed Indian was when Sam was more committed. Or before he got committed. I forget. For the record, in the very last issue of your deceased Hawks paper, I responded to one of these Q&As. It was for Game 6 of the 2016 first-round playoff series between the Blues and the Hawks. In that last issue, because the Blues eliminated the Blackhawks in Game 7, I predicted it would be the last issue. However, I thought it would just be the last issue of the season, not for forever. Someday I should use my powers for good.

This is the second time the Blues and Hawks have played in a week. Sam didn’t send new questions for me to answer. He said answer last week’s. But that’s so last week. I’ve written up some amazing questions, maybe the best questions ever asked on this website. Then I wrote some answers. Next time you attend a game in St. Louis and a guy who looks like Santa or a woman you think may be homeless because she has plastic grocery bags over her shoes to keep her feet warm waves a publication that says, “Blackhawks Suck,” (we only print the truth) please consider buying one. My three kids eat a lot.

Now, entertaining answers AND incredible questions from Brad of Game Time.

Q. The Blues finally have a win and a well-balanced record of 1-1-1. You mouth-breathers down I-55 plan the parade down Market Street yet? (Obvs, I’m doing some Sam cosplay here)

A. Expectations are a bitch. Hawks fans still have them for some reason. They shouldn’t. Sure, during the offseason Blues GM Doug Armstrong added some important players. If you compare the forward lines from tonight to a year ago, it’s an incredible change — on paper. On ice, it’s been a different story. The best example I have is from the Hawks game last Saturday. The Blues tried a stretch pass after a decent outlet out of their own zone. The players were a little out of step, so the timing didn’t work. They got another chance quickly, but they turned the puck over just inside the Chicago zone. A Blues player blew a tire and the Hawks went the other way on a two-on-one. Future Supreme Court Justice nominee Patrick Kane put a shot on net, the rebound came straight out and the resurrected corpse of Marcus Kruger put home an easy opportunity (feel free to call him Zombie Kruger from this point forward). They were two examples of plays where it seemed like familiarity made a difference. Spoiler Alert: I’m going to talk about Jake Allen farther down. The biggest concern might be the defense. Let’s ask a question about that.

Q. Hey handsome Brad, your beard looks well-manicured. Blues defenseman Joel Edmundson also has a beard. He was hurt to start the season along with Carl Gunnarsson. That led to guys named Chris Butler and Niko Mikkola being on the roster on defense opening night last week. Jay Bouwmeester is still an NHL player? What the hell are they doing with the defense in St. Louis?

A. In the week it took the Blues to get their first win, the chicken or the egg conversation went like this: Allen is playing crap in goal and making the defense look bad. Or, the defense looks like traffic cones on the Dan Ryan and it’s making Allen look bad. How about they all started the season sucking? Second year guy Vince Dunn was a healthy scratch Thursday. They tried playing Jakub Jerabek on the third pairing. He was a -3 in less than 8 minutes of ice time. He was a castoff Oilers defenseman they got for a late-round pick right before the season started. Playing him smells like the stench of desperation or the visiting Wrigley clubhouse after two teams poured champagne on each other in 24 hours not long ago. Here’s what you need to watch: Edmundson, who got a goal in his return to the lineup, playing not quite Duncan Keith minutes with Alex Pietrangelo, every Bouwmeester mistake creating a scoring chance for the Hawks, a hopefully resurgent Colton Parayko — who arguably has the biggest shot for St. Louis but is reticent (sorry for the big words, Hawks fans; reluctant) to let it loose, a hopefully dressed Dunn and big and slow and low hockey IQ guy Bob Bortuzzo. On paper, again, it’s a decent unit. Subtracting Bouwmeester would be nice (last year of contract, hip surgery last season). Bortuzzo controlling his stick and elbows would be a nice change of pace. Seeing Pietrangelo focus more on his end would be even better.

Q. Does Jake Allen forget to take his ADD meds before most starts?

A. Blues fans either love Allen or they hate him. There’s no in between — kind of like his level of play. Fundamentally, he does a poor job squaring to the shooter and being in a solid position. The result is lots of movement laterally and some spectacular saves. Because he doesn’t prepare properly, he has torecover and use his athleticism. Fans see amazing saves and give him credit while others see he played himself into the position of having to make the spectacular move. Watch how often opponents shoot short side or take quick shots directly off the faceoff. It’s because he has a poor setup, poor preparation. Are there nights he does a better job? Absolutely. But take Thursday for example. The Blues had a 5-1 lead. The game ended 5-3. Allen stopped 91.2 percent of the shots he faced. That’s pretty average. In fact, it’s also his career save percentage. He’s definitely better than Cam “Don’t Forget I Won That Cup Years Ago” Ward. The backup is Chad Johnson. He hasn’t played in a game yet, but probably will take the ice tonight or at home Sunday in St. Louis against the Ducks. My favorite goaltender is in San Antonio, Ville Husso. The future is always better, right? Just like the future years on that Brent Seabrook contract. Alllllllof those future years.

Q. Mike Yeo probably sucks. Do you realize this or has the Budweiser made in your town killed enough brain cells so that you don’t know it yet?

A. Mike Yeo is not an especially creative man. Mike Yeo is not what you would call an inspirational leader. Mike Yeo’s teams consistently finish fourth in the division — fifth last year. He doesn’t have a good track record with cultivating young players. His teams don’t play especially well on the power play. He’s trying something new this season by playing guys who actually have skill on the fourth line, including the center you’re going to hate in the future, Robert Thomas. He might not ruin young speedster Jordan Kyrou. Chris Thorburn hasn’t suited for a game (YET). However, if the Blues struggle to string some wins together the first half of the season, it’s important to remember that Mike Yeo has one year left on his contract after this season. Also, Craig Berube, who has experience stepping in mid-season as an NHL head coach, is behind the bench as the associate head coach. I’m not saying the coaching career of Mike Yeo in St. Louis is on life support, but I think I got a notification Yeo recently updated his LinkedIn profile. And if Yeo starts coaching to avoid getting fired, he’ll only get fired.

Q. Who is the one guy on the Blues who is most valuable to the team so one of the unskilled Hawks players (too many to mention!) can sweep the leg and send him to injured reserve?

A. Well the defense looked like an over-baked tomato casserole you Chicagoans call pizza — thick, gooey and liable to cause a heart attack — without Edmundson, but the easy answer here is Jaden Schwartz. The undersized dynamo is every hockey fan’s wet dream. He’s fearless, hard to push off the puck and maybe the smartest hockey player on the roster. His next bad decision with the puck will be the first I remember. When he broke his ankle in Detroit last December, the Blues fell from the top of the conference to out of playoff position. Hating the Red Wings, something Chicago and St. Louis fans can unite around. Anyway, don’t put your grubby paws on him.

Q. Thanks for doing this, Brad. Writing the questions and giving the answers too? I’m paying you double. Last question: I saw on Twitter that some Hawks fans bought your paper last weekend in St. Louis. I’m sure they hated it, but does that make Game Time the best fan-run paper in the NHL?

A. Yes. But it’s important to mention that it’s the only one.

 

Game #5 Preview Suite

Preview

Spotlight

Q&A

Douchebag Du Jour

I Make A Lot Of Graphs

Lineups & How Teams Were Built

Everything Else

Game #5 – Blues vs. Hawks Douchebag Du Jour: Joel Edmundson Is Just The Latest Savior

By Sam Fels 1790 0

You’ll see this in Brad Lee’s manifesto in the Q&A. It’s not the first or last time you’ll hear it either. You can change the names, the era, whatever else, there’s always someone new who is going to save the Blues from the back end. It was Erik Johnson once. It was Kirk ShattenKevin at another point. Remember when it was Chris Pronger? That almost worked! Then it was Alex PuceJello. Or maybe it was Colton Burpo. We do get them confused, seeing as how they all look the same trailing the play. Apparently, now it’s Joel Edmundson.

We can’t tell you why. It looks to us like “Joel Edmundson” is just another term for “Robert Bortuzzo.” Except without any of the Disco Stu jokes. Sure, he’s big at 6-4, 215. Boy the Blues sure do love them some big d-men. Hey, quick question, who was the last Cup winner with a raft of big d-men? Can’t think of one? Yeah, exactly. We’re sure the Jets are just quaking at the thought of their so teeny, so slow forwards having to put up with this Godzilla-conquerer in a playoff series.

Oh right, Edmundson plays “with an edge.” Generally that means he plays dumb. And wouldn’t you know it, that’s true! More than 60 penalty minutes in all three of his seasons. Running out of position to make hits to make a “statement,” which is usually, “I’m a shaved ape and I think Filip Forsberg just went around me again.” But hey, he looks great punching people in the back of the head after a whistle. They actually scout for that in St. Louis.

Sure, he’s a better partner for Alex PlayaCarmello than Jabe O’Meester. So’s a police horse that’s retired. But just look at that beard! So rugged. So dark. It just screams, “I eat Hardee’s between periods!” With that beard and vacant look in his eyes he could be a Cardinal! That’s really what they’re after.

But don’t worry, folks. When the Blues are done getting blitzed in another playoff series because their defense was too dumb and too slow, it’ll be Jake Allen‘s fault. And that will likely be true, which will be great because we get at least one more season of Blues fans screaming from the Ozark-tops that Edmundson and Parayko are this generation’s Pronger and Niedermayer. But extra tough. And then they’ll flex and pull four muscles and rip three ligaments.

 

Game #5 Preview Suite

Preview

Spotlight

Q&A

Douchebag Du Jour

I Make A Lot Of Graphs

Lineups & How Teams Were Built

Everything Else

One Day As A Lion

By Adam Hess 2136 0

As Sam goes on his Duncan Keith Appreciation Week, I asked him if I could jump in on the fun, because we all need to express more appreciation for Duncan Keith. Sam has already gone through a lot of praise and declarations about Duncs the other day. Everything Sam said was A). correct, and B. awesome (Adam is on many drugs. -ED). Duncan Keith has meant more to this franchise and the decade of success we as fans were able to experience with them than a lot of people realize, and maybe even more than Keith would want credit for. What he has meant to the team is almost difficult to put into words, and yet Sam has done it well time and time again.

I am here to talk about what Duncan Keith means to me, which is just as sappy and emotional as it sounds.

Unlike most of the others around these parts, I did not grow up with the Blackhawks. I was born in 1994 (please don’t yell at me for bringing that up), so I grew up in Dollar Bill era of Blackhawks history. They were never on TV. The most exposure I got to the Hawks as a kid was using them in NHL 2K4 on my PlayStation 2. To give you an idea of how little that meant, Tuomo Ruutu was one of the best players on the team in that game, and he was a rookie. It had Eric Daze listed as the captain, and when I learned later that he was never the captain of the team I felt betrayed.

So when the Hawks went to the Western Conference Final in 2009, that was the first real exposure I got to the team. I had watched hockey sparingly prior to that, usually just the Stanley Cup Final, so I didn’t know who Patrick Kane or Jonathan Toews were; all I knew was what some of my friends were telling me – these guys are the truth and the future. The first Hawks game I ever watched all the way through was the clinching game against Vancouver that year, and then a few of the WCF games against Detroit. The only names I really recognized on the TV were from the Wings.

But my interest was piqued, so I started watching the Hawks regularly in the 2009-10 season. That season was also the first time we saw the full beauty and ascension of Duncan Keith. He was brilliant throughout the whole season and finished second on the team in points with 69 (NICE) in 76 games, which from the blue was a point total at the time that was seemingly reserved for Nick Lidstrom. He was the best player on the team in that playoff run – despite Toews’ team-record breaking production that ended up winning him the Smythe that Keith deserved – and the best defenseman in the NHL, and deservedly won the Norris Trophy over Lidstrom.

I played sports my whole life, and I was always more of a defensive player regardless of the sport. I was a shortstop and catcher, drawn to the positions because of how important they were to the defensive side of baseball. My 8th grade basketball coach always made me the primary defender on presses. I only played football one year, but I was a cornerback. Defense was my thing. So it was easy to be drawn to Keith, who was playing defense better than anyone else at the time.

I was a sophomore in high school (again, please don’t kill me for saying that) when the Blackhawks won that 2010 Cup, still young enough to play backyard sports with friends and at least pretend you were one of the players from your favorite team. A bunch of my buddies took to hockey because the Hawks were the talk of the town, and we had a whole ring of street hockey players (this is your only chance to make Jeffler jokes at me). I was a righty, but I still always imagined myself as Duncan Keith.

The next two years of Blackhawks hockey were not the best, as they bowed out of the playoffs in the first round in back-to-back years, but as I was finishing high school, the Hawks were one of my only reliable escapes from the typical bullshit of being a teenager, and Duncan Keith was the steadiest presence through all of it. He only missed eight games through those two years. And despite his best efforts, he wasn’t quite his dominant self.

Skip to me starting in college. There was no hockey for my first semester in 2012, which was probably a blessing, but once the lockout ended and we had that shortened 2013 season, what we got to experience was the most dominant three years of hockey Hawks fans had known to that point, and quite possibly will ever know. My memory of specific moments is sincerely awful, but there was never any secret that Duncan Keith was always the straw stirring the Hawks drink in that run, and as I was growing the most I ever had as a person, the Hawks were doing the most they ever had as a franchise because of him.

And let me tell you a bit more about this play that Sam talked about earlier today. I have to tell you guys, when Duncan Keith scored that goal, I almost jumped through the ceiling, and then had to keep myself from crying like a baby.

I had nearly died about three months earlier, after falling through a glass table in a truly exquisite show of idiocy – there wasn’t even alcohol involved in the incident, if you can believe it. My lung was punctured and collapsed, and over the next month (between March and April of 2015) I spent a total of 11 days in the hospital over different spans and ended up needing a surgery called a Thorocotomy which involved, as the surgeon described it, peeling scar tissue off my lungs like an orange peel.

I missed the rest of my college semester and was unable to do a lot of things I normally would’ve been able to do. The only normal thing in my life over those few months was the Blackhawks, and thus Duncan Keith being dominant. That playoff run kept me from falling into a dark place. Duncs’ goal in Game 6 let me release months of frustration and pain. Sports matter, guys.

I didn’t grow up with the Blackhawks through my youth, but I did grow up as a man with them, and I almost mean that literally because they were growing up as a team as I was growing up as a person. And as much as it must’ve been so beautiful for people like Sam, Matt, Slak, and others to get to watch it all happen as adults after slogging through the bullshit years, being able to grow up with this team was special. And Duncan Keith was a huge part of that for me.

So Duncs, even though you will probably never see this, ahead of your 1000th game, I wanted to write this and thank you. I might not be who I am today without you.

Everything Else

Absolut Duncan

By Sam Fels 2392 0

Let’s continue Duncan Keith Week with a video:

I could talk about this goal for hours, probably. One, I’m not sure I’ve ever yelled louder at a sporting event than this one, and you can ask former editor Matthew Killion to confirm. There was a lot going into this night for all of us, and me especially, but we don’t have to get into that here. Surface level, the Hawks had a chance to clinch the Cup at home for the first time since dinosaurs roamed the Earth. A scoreless first period only built up the tension, and the fact that much like the rest of the series, the Hawks were kind of outplayed up to this point. Corey Crawford had to stop Steven Stamkos twice on the same breakaway, they didn’t create much, and slowly what seemed a certainty began to be a question.

And much like the rest of that run, Duncan Keith decided he’d simply had enough. Usually, when there are four opposing skaters back in the zone is not the time to go shotgunning up the ice if you’re a d-man. But Keith has never continually bent to logic, and what made his game so special is that he didn’t and it usually worked. After all, Kane had the puck, so if he could find a pocket of space, chances are Kane would find him.

Maybe my favorite part of this is Keith simply streaking around Cedric Pacquette for the rebound, as Pacquette didn’t shut his yap for the first half of the series amidst all the press about how he was the ultimate checking center and pest, especially after the Lightning’s Game 3 win. They didn’t win another game and we didn’t hear much from him after that. Keith left him with his dick in his hand and that’s all he’d win after this.

In the building, it happened in slow motion. The rebound we never expected to see lying there, practically teasing everyone, because Keith’s initial shot wasn’t all that strong. The arc he took around Pacquette at a speed that didn’t seem possible, and the realization, “He’s going to get there.” And that he would have an open look from three feet (and one you’ll recall he whiffed on in 2011 against the Red Wings that would have gotten the Hawks into the playoffs, which they backdoored into anyway). It’s the amount of separation he gets from everyone else at this moment. No one would have caught him with a jet engine up their ass.

One of the few things Eddie Olczyk and I agree on is that the United Center has never been louder than when this puck flipped up over Ben Bishop. Sure, it was only the second period, but the Hawks weren’t giving up that lead. The catharsis at the moment in that building was real. Clawing back a dream we’d had all our lives. Mostly because they had Duncan Keith and the Lightning didn’t.

That 2015 run is not only Keith’s masterpiece, you’d be hard-pressed to find another playoff performance in this city anywhere that doesn’t involve the words “Jordan.” Both the Cubs and Sox World Series runs were basically team-efforts. The Hawks’ two previous runs were the same, though Keith was among the standouts in those. I guess we’ll have to wait until Khalil Mack’s 10-sack run to the Super Bowl sometime soon.

He scored three goals in that run. One was the OT winner in Game 1 against Nashville. The second was the series clincher against the Predators, and the Hawks desperately needed both or at best they would have been facing a Game 7 on the road. The third was this. That’s certainly making them count.

In between, Keith averaged 31 minutes a night. He gobbled up 44% of the team’s even-strength time, a number only topped by Kris Letang in ’16 for a team that went beyond the second round in the last seven years (fun note: the hightest TOI% of a playoff year is also Keith’s, which was 47% in 2016’s first round). His relative-corsi in the spring of ’15 was +5.4. His relative-xGF% was an unholy +8.7. When Keith was on the ice the Hawks were dangerous and dominant. When he wasn’t, they were clinging with their nails to the side of the dock.

You don’t need the numbers to know how good he was that spring. Thanks to Kimmo Timonen being dead and Michal Rozsival’s ankle becoming a modern art piece against Minnesota, the Hawks only had four d-men for the last two rounds. They had to survive them, and I’m not quite sure how they did other than Bruce Boudreau’s team playing with both hands around its neck again when the lights were brightest and Keith and Crawford at their best in the Final. If it seemed like Keith was never off the ice in the last 13 games, it’s because he wasn’t. The least he played in the last two rounds was 27:23 in Game 5 against the Ducks. Against the Bolts it was never less than 29 minutes. And again, he was utterly dominant in those.

It was barely controlled fury. It was more than the usual Keith-stepping-up-into-the-neutral-zone shit. He was on both sides. He was up the ice and then back. He was stripping someone behind the net, calling Kesler a fuckwad, and then joining the play, seemingly in one motion. You can only play four d-men in a game if on is insistent on being two or three at the same time.

This goal was kind of a microcosm of all 23 games. Keith deciding he’d had enough, streaking somewhere you never figured him to be and no one able to get in his way. Whether it was a goal to be scored or a forward to be dispossessed, Keith was on it like a pissed off bowling ball. Keith basically decided the Hawks were going to win a Cup. And then he did almost all of the heavy lifting.

We know that Keith will never do that again, and maybe that tapped all the reserves for good. I know it was worth it.

 

Everything Else

High On The Hog: Crack Open The BMO

By Jon Fromi 1485 0

After beginning the 2017-18 season 0-for-Cleveland, the Rockford IceHogs are back in action in friendlier confines this weekend. Chicago’s AHL affiliate kicks off the home portion of the schedule Saturday night vs Texas. Sunday, the IceHogs host the Hershey Bears.

Here’s an update on the piglets as coach Jeremy Colliton readies his charges for the weekend set, along with an in-depth look at the upcoming opponents.

 

Roster Moves

On Tuesday, Alexandre Fortin was recalled to the Blackhawks. He played Thursday night in Minnesota. He may be headed back to Rockford in time to take part in the festivities this weekend. If not, there’s a possibility that the Hogs could recall one of their AHL contracts in Indianapolis.

 

Texas Stars-Saturday, 10/13 @ 6:00 p.m.

The home portion of the season gets underway at the BMO Harris Bank Center when the Texas Stars visit following their Friday night tilt in Iowa.

The Stars are new to the Central Division, though Hogs fans are mighty familiar with this team from the 2018 Western Conference Final. Texas defeated Rockford in six games to advance to the Calder Cup Final, which they dropped to Toronto.

The Stars develop players and are also committed to winning, which they have done with regularity. Now entering their tenth year of operations, Texas has three trips to the Calder Cup Final, including an AHL championship in 2013-14. They have reached the playoffs in seven of the last nine seasons.

There was quite a bit of turnover from last spring’s club. Several lynchpins to the Stars playoff run, like their Rockford counterparts, have moved on. This includes captain Curtis McKenzie, forwards Brian Flynn, Sheldon Dries and Jason Dickinson as well as swingman Brent Regner.

First on the list of familar faces is Travis Morin, who has been with the team since its inception. The 34-year-old forward is on an AHL deal with Texas and is coming off a 61-point season (10 G, 51 A). Center Justin Dowling (17 points in the postseason) is also a long-time fixture for the Stars who is capable of creating offense, as is Denis Gurianov (19 goals in 2017-18).

Texas added Park Ridge, Illinois resident Michael Mersch, a power forward who scored 49 points (21 G, 28 A) for Ontario a season ago. Also coming in to help up front is former Bruins farmhand Colton Hargrove, who is coming off a 33-point season (16 G, 17 A) with Providence.

Erik Condra, who spent the last two seasons with Syracuse, has 366 games of NHL action under his belt. He is still an effective two-way player at the AHL level and will bring a lot of experience to the table for Texas, much like Flynn did last season.

On the defensive side of the puck, AHL veterans Dillion Heatherington and Reece Scarlett (who injured his left leg in the season opener with Grand Rapids) are joined by Joel Hanley, who has spent time in Portland, St. Johns and Tuscon in his five-year pro career. Gavin Bayreuther is also back for his third season after a seven goal, 25 assist effort in 2017-18.

John Nyberg is beginning his first pro season, though he did square off with the Hogs in the playoffs last spring. Free agent defenseman Ben Gleason is also in his rookie year with Texas.

Mike McKenna, who anchored the crease for the Stars late last season, is now continuing his tour of the AHL with Belleville (his 15th AHL stop). Last year’s starter through much of the regular season, Landon Bow, should be the primary goalie for Texas. Joining him in net is rookie Colton Point.

 

Hershey Bears-Sunday, 10/14 @ 4:00 p.m.

Arriving at the BMO Sunday, after visiting Grand Rapids on Friday night, is the AHL’s oldest franchise, the Hershey Bears. The IceHogs have a home and away with the Bears after facing Hershey for the first time ever in two games last season. Rockford won both meetings.

The Bears were last in the Atlantic Division in 2017-18, missing the playoffs for only the second time in the last 13 seasons. A number of the team’s leading scorers are with other clubs, like Chris Bourque (53 points) and Wayne Simpson (42 points). Riley Barber (20 G, 18 A) returns to Hershey for his fourth season. Liam O’Brien (17 G, 9 A) is another holdover.

One new addition is center Mike Sgarbossa, a seven-year AHL vet who had 40 points (16 G, 24 A) with Manitoba last season. Another notable newcomer to Hershey is former Hogs forward Jeremy Morin. Back to the AHL after a year in Europe, Morin is on an AHL deal with the Bears. Morin had several productive campaigns with the IceHogs, including a 30-goal effort in the 2012-13 season.

Longtime AHL veteran Aaron Ness is back for another season on the Hershey blueline after scoring four goals and 25 assists for the Bears last year. 6’2″ defenseman Lucas Johansen (6 G, 21 A) is back for his second season, as is Connor Hobbs (3 G, 13 A). Colby Williams is another experienced defender who returns to the Bears lineup.

The net duties are being handled by Vitek Vanecek, who is starting his third pro season in Hershey. He posted a 3.04 goals against average and an .888 save percentage in 32 games last season. The IceHogs beat him in 4-3 in an overtime game in Hershey back in February.

Rookie Ilya Samsonov was the Capitals second-round pick in the 2015 NHL Draft. The 21-year-old came over from the KHL, where he had played for the last three years.