Everything Else

No One Can Be Trusted, Everyone Is A Suspect – Hawks at Panthers Preview, All-Inclusive Spring Break Package

By 1557

 at 

Game Time: 6:00PM CDT
TV/Radio: WGN, NHLN (US), WGN-AM 720
Panther Like A Panther: Litter Box Cats

With the season coming around the final turn, the Hawks find themselves nearly completely clear of divisional and conference play with 10% of the schedule still remaining. Of the eight games left, only one is against a Central opponent, and since it’s Colorado it doesn’t even really count anyway. And the first five of that stretch are all against eastern conference opponents, beginning with a Florida trip starting tonight in Sunrise before swinging up to Tampa on Monday.

Everything Else

Orgasm Addict: Stars 2 – Hawks 2 (Hawks win Shadowrun)

By 1220

Box Score

Natural Stat Trick

“Well, you tried it just for once found it all right for kicks
But now you found out that it’s a habit that sticks”

For the third game in a row the Hawks couldn’t raise their give-a-fuck level much beyond tepid against one of the products of the league’s sludge factory. And once again they came out of it with points, this time maximum. Only a possible goalie-interference denied them six points out of six from three games that they played as a bar bet. It’s a neat trick if you can pull it off. With the win the Hawks move eight points up on the the Zack Wyldes with nine games to play. They’re almost dormie!

This isn’t one that anybody would use as an example of what the sport can be. The Hawks weren’t bothered, the Stars didn’t seem interested in anything more than getting to the end of the season quicker. It was like an exchange at a 4am bar where the invitation to go home together is out there but the other party realizes they’re too drunk and stupid to do much good if they take it (just me?). The Hawks surrendered 40+ shots again to a team they shouldn’t be doing that against, but we’ll chalk it up to late season, nothing-to-play-for malaise than anything structural or worth worrying about.

As he’s been most of the season, Crawford was able to bail the Hawks out. Because that’s a thing he does.

Let’s clean it up:

Everything Else

Yeah, She’s Doing The Lindy Hop: Stars at Hawks Preview/Vinyl Swap

By 1327

 vs. 

RECORDS: Stars 29-33-10   Hawks 47-20-6

PUCK DROP: 7:30pm

TV: CSN

YU DARVISH FAN CLUB: Defending Big D

PROJECTED LINEUPS

TEAM ADJUSTED CORSI%: Stars – 49.3 (2oth)  Hawks – 50.8 (11th)

TEAM ADJUSTED xGF%: Stars – 48.3 (20th)  Hawks – 49.2 (18th)

POWER PLAY: Stars – 18.1 (19th)  Hawks – 19.1 (15th)

PENALTY KILL: Stars – 74.0 (Dead Ass Last)  Hawks – 77.7 (26th)

What a strange little stretch for the Hawks. They saw teams at the top of the standings, didn’t play well for the most part, won all of them. They returned home to face two things from the bog in the Avs and Canucks, and had to pull a rabbit out of their hat to get a win and a point against them respectively. So where their attention level is going to be tonight is best estimated by throwing a dart at any wall in your office/apartment (and if you’re wondering if I really mean “coworker” instead of “wall”… I leave that to you). They get another look at sludge tonight in the Dallas Stars.

Everything Else

Stars Spotlight: Do We Miss Stephen Johns?

By 1360

No, you don’t. You haven’t thought about him at all this year, other than to laugh at the Stars’ blue line and goaltending. With the Hawks surging to the top of the league, you haven’t thought about the holes on the blue line because they haven’t quite mattered as much as they did last year. And while he can’t seem to convince his coaches yet, Michal Kempny has at least shown a flash here or there of maybe, possibly filling whatever spot Johns might have. But that might not be the whole picture.

Everything Else

Even A Stopped Clock

By 1597

Around these parts, an opportunity to shit all over anything the league, or particularly Gary Bettman, says or does for regarding anything surrounding the overall trajectory or vision of the NHL at a large is rarely missed. And though there was a great deal of public “outrage” over his words when he stated “assume we’re not going” as the NHL’s participation pertains to the 2018 PyeongChang South Korean Winter Olympics, this is ultimately the right decision for the league.

Everything Else

Jackie, Dressed In Cobras – Canucks 5, Hawks 4 (OT)

By 1434

Box Score

Natural Stat Trick

 

Whenever the Hawks and Canucks get together Canucks fans love to recall when every matchup between these one time rivals meant something. Now it means almost less than nothing, if possible. The Blackhawks are going through the motions at this point, resting whoever they can whenever they can, while somehow inching ever closer to wrapping up the division title as Minnesota farts and burps their way into a first round divisional matchup.

At one point almost everyone who watched the sport would agree that Chicago vs Vancouver produced some of the most aesthetically pleasing hockey of the era. Two highly skilled, fast teams, loaded with depth who absolutely hated each other. Tonight was mostly the direct and absolute opposite of that. This was unwatchable garbage for the first two periods with Vancouver barely able to get the puck to the Hawk net (and when they did it seemed to have a 50/50 shot at going in).

And then the usual shenanigans happened. The Blackhawks did exactly what McClure urged them not to do and waited until the last half of the third period to storm back and steal a point, only to eventually lose in OT despite outshooting the Canucks 398-4. Here’s some crap I noticed.

Everything Else

High On The Hog: Meeting The New Kids

By Jon Fromi 1545

The Rockford IceHogs got an influx of new talent last week, with some of the new kids making an immediate impact. The Hogs managed three of a possible six points in three contests this past week.

The two newest faces belonged to defenseman Luc Snuggerud and forward Anthony Louis, who both signed amateur tryout contracts following their signing with Chicago. Both players got into action beginning this past weekend.

Everything Else

Such Hockey – Blackhawks 6, Avalanche 3

By 1217

Box Score

Natural Stat Trick

HockeyStats.ca

If this game didn’t serve as the perfect microcosm for the health of these two franchises, then I’m Dale Tallon’s uncle.

With just under ten minutes left and Colorado holding a 3-1 lead, Jonathan Toews tipped in a Duncan Keith point shot. Some 45 seconds earlier, it appeared Toews was still in the offensive zone by a foot when Richard Panik crossed the blue line. The Avs rightly challenged and ended up being burned by a technicality because Panik did not touch the puck while Toews was offside.

34 seconds later, the Hawks were winning 4-3.

So in one corner, there were the Chicago Blackhawks who had a similar call go against them in Minnesota about a month ago. The Hawks were able to hold on and win the game in overtime. In the other, there were the Colorado Avalanche who are playing out the string and looking for any reason to fold up the tents. And they didn’t disappoint tonight.

Other things…

–I can’t believe Ed Olczyk was actually right in a coaching analysis but I’m still befuddled how Jared Bednar didn’t call a timeout after the Hawks tied it at 3. Tanking aside, the Avs probably still had a chance to draw a result out of that game and at least feel a little good about themselves for their road effort. Instead, they got buried and only appear closer to a perennial lottery pick for the foreseeable future.

–Three games in and John Hayden has certainly established himself on this roster (Obviously subject to change at any moment with Joel Quenneville behind the bench). Appearing on the scoresheet is important, of course, and he registered another two assists tonight. However, a couple other things equally as important have jumped out.

In tonight’s game, he destroyed Erik Johnson near the end of the second period that led to a 2-on-1 for Toews and Panarin. Earlier in the second, he gained possession deep in his own end. Instead of blindly firing a pass to clear the zone, Hayden calmly circled back in his own corner to relieve the pressure of Colorado’s forecheck and then made a pass to a Hawks defenseman leading to an easy breakout.

Last night, he was able to maintain possession in the corners as he had a defender practically sitting on him. This happened on more than a few occasions.

For a guy whose biggest criticism was lack of skating skills in the NCAA, these sort of plays serve as evidence that he certainly seems to have a lot of confidence in his ability.

–Right, the offsides challenge. Look, we’ve been down this road with all four major sports and it seems like the more challengeable plays that are allowed, the quality of the product suffers. The NFL is just a game surrounded by whistles, challenges and catch rules that no longer make sense. MLB challenges take far too long and end up being wrong too many times. The NBA is still in decent shape as they only check replays for buzzer beaters and 2 vs. 3 pointers.

We’re only a couple years removed where the NHL was lauded for their replay system. It was also because the only thing they challenged were whether a goal was legal. The offsides challenge has only led to more confusion about what used to be a relatively simple rule to understand.

You can’t be in the offensive zone before the puck. Simple.

Now we have to know whether a player has the puck on his stick, has possession, if the blades of their skates are touching the ice while they’re in the offensive zone, what rotation the Earth is spinning at and whatever else. It’s just too damn much and all it ends up doing is confusing a fanbase that needs no help doing so. It also serves to turn off any new coming fans who won’t waste their time trying to comprehend a simple rule.

I guess that sort of defines most things the NHL does as a whole so maybe it makes sense.

–Minnesota continued their slide tonight as they dropped another one in regulation to Winnipeg while also holding a players only meeting afterwards. The Hawks opened their lead in the Central to 7 points and even with the Wild holding a game in hand, it’s hard to imagine the Hawks falling asleep at the wheel long enough to let them back in.

Years from now when the Hawks are scratching and clawing for 80 points a season, we’ll look back at this game fondly. Enjoy it.

Everything Else

Gibby Wasn’t Talking About This Outfit: Avs at Hawks Preview/Clinic Hours

By 1452

 vs. 

RECORDS: Avs 20-47-3   Hawks 46-20-5

PUCK DROP: 6pm Central

TV: WGN Locally, NHL Network outside the walls

THEY ACTUALLY WATCH THIS: Mile High Hockey

PROJECTED LINEUPS

ADJUSTED TEAM CORSI%: Avs – 45.8 (29th)  Hawks – 50.7 (13th)

ADJUSTED TEAM xGF%: Avs – 45.3 (29th)  Hawks – 49.0 (18th)

POWER PLAY %: Avs – 12.9 (Dead Ass Last)  Hawks – 18.8 (16th)

PENALTY KILL %: Avs – 77.8 (25th)  Hawks – 78.0 (24th)

Sometimes a team comes into the United Center and they need no introduction. Tonight is not one of those nights. Then again, the Avs have been singularly bad this season, and maybe that makes them unique. They have 43 points. 43. The Hawks had 43 points on December 15th. That was three months ago.