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Game #71 – Hawks vs. Jets Q&A: Game Time Art

By Sam Fels 1639 0

Game Time Art is still our Jets weirdo. And he’s happy to be so. Which tells you everything you need to know. Follow him @GameTimeArt.

So the Jets have lost to the Preds twice in the past couple weeks. Does that put any fear into your playoff hopes or does the fact that the Jets (barring something stupid) will win their first playoff game and quite possibly series since being resurrected be enough for everyone?

In a strange way it doesn’t really put fear into most Jets fans because those last two meetings have been with a Jets team with four or more regulars out of the lineup including their top center and top defenseman and really save for a stretch of ten minutes at the end of one game and ten minutes at the start of the other, a depleted Jets lineup hung in ok against the Preds, so I think there is still hope that if the Jets can get healthy, they should give Nashville a good fight. That said, I think everyone expects good things from the first round and then we’ll worry about a potential second round blood bath against the Predators.

Blake Wheeler has 77 points. He shifted to center when Scheifele was hurt. And yet he doesn’t seem to be getting any Hart Trophy love. While it would be hard to make a case for him over say MacKinnon or Hall or Malkin or Kucherov, shouldn’t he at least be discussed?

Maybe a little… If there was an award for most inspiring leader who leads inspiringly – is that the Messier award? – then Blake should get that hands down. As far as most valuable player, I’d say he deserves a brief mention but I don’t even know if he’s the MVP on the Jets as I’d argue Connor Hellebuyck has been far more important to the Jets win totals than anything Blake has done. Then again, maybe I’m just not used to seeing actual good goaltending for my team so I could be biased.

Flying under the radar a bit is Kyle Connor, thanks to Wheeler and Laine and Barzal in the Calder race. What’s most impressive about his game as a rookie?

I love Connor’s ability to weave in and out of traffic when he has the puck, especially when it comes to skating into the offensive zone. He seems to have this ability to find just enough room on the ice to make a move past a defender or at the very least give himself an extra second to move the puck forward or pass it off to a teammate.

How much has Trouba been missed?

A lot and really it’s only because with Trouba out, it has meant Tyler Myers I’d argue has gotten more minutes per game than he can handle and Myers’ game – especially in the defensive zone – has suffered because of it. Byfuglien has done well in stepping up as he does and Josh Morrissey is quietly good as always, but Trouba is kind of the lynchpin that holds the Jets defense together. To put it in a much dumber context, Trouba to the Jets defense is like syrup to waffles. Sure, the waffles are ok without it, maybe even good depending on the quality of the other ingredients you have, but syrup just makes the entire dish so much better. Jacob Trouba is syrup.

With only 12 games to go…what do you foresee for the Jets come the spring?

Increased health going into the playoffs for one thing, a first round series where the Jets have home ice and which should be a win because I think they match up well against Minnesota, Dallas or Colorado and then a second round where the limits of my heart being able to function properly will be severely tested.

 

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Game #71 – Hawks vs. Jets Douchebag Du Jour: Winnipeg’s Inferiority Complex

By Sam Fels 2352 0

We understand that this is a Canadian thing. They’re all a little touchy about not being the first place on a lot of people’s tourism list… aside from Montreal. Which only makes the other Canadian cities even more tetchy.

But no one takes it to the levels of the residents of one Winnipeg, Manitoba. You may remember that a little while back, a stupid little vignette by the San Jose Sharks production team made it clear that the Sharks players didn’t much care for going to Winnipeg. This of course sparked an outrage, with the Winnpeggers (Winnipegians?) touting the three restaurants they have and the movie theater that’s open on Fridays and Saturdays. Of course it’s just like every other city on the continent!

What we know of course, is that it’s not. It’s ridiculously cold. It’s not very big, as its population is only 778k, putting it on par with places like Columbus, Ft. Worth, and Charlotte. At least the last one has some decent BBQ!

What do you think of when you think of Winnipeg? Cold. People being miserable from the cold. And players and teams getting the hell out of there just about as soon as they can. Broadcasters wistfully telling stories about wishing to be hit by a bus rather than be outside any longer. Their greatest player, Dale Hawerchuk, beat it for Buffalo, for fuck’s sake. Teemu Selanne couldn’t wait to high-tail it to California. Just wait until Blake Wheeler is a free agent and wonders what it might be like to drive to practice in something warmer than -14.

Montreal has world class restaurants (and strip clubs, so we’re told). Toronto is a worldly city, apparently. Vancouver is one of the more aesthetically breathtaking cities in the world. Even Calgary has a fucking rodeo. Winnipeg? Winter storm warnings and darkness.

And that’s ok. You can take pride in that. You’re hardy souls. You don’t hear the people of Duluth proclaiming to be a world destination. Or Fargo, and they even got a movie and TV show named after them (though you’ll notice either actually took place there because…GAH!). Boise, Idaho doesn’t either and that place is apparently cool.

It’s cool, Winnipeg. Lots of places suck. Buffalo sucks. Detroit sucks. Ottawa seems kind of a drag. You’ll survive without acclaim. We promise.

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If The Standings Made Sense

By Sam Fels 2263 0

We here at the FFUD offices have always railed against the NHL standings. The presence of the OTL point, the now gimmick 3-on-3 overtime, and shootouts in general have always given the league false parity. It’s rewarded genuinely bad teams while screwing over some actually good teams. It’s certainly skewed how some things are viewed. For instance. last year’s Hawks-Preds series was a 1 vs. 8 in the standings, but in reality the Predators only had four less regulation wins than the Hawks. It wasn’t that kind of gap, but the Hawks prowess in overtime  saw the gap in points. And as the Preds quickly proved, that gap was basically utter horseshit.

What’s funny is how hard the NHL makes this to look up. You can’t look up regulation wins on the main site, because they don’t want you to see that. You can only get ROW, but again, overtime is basically a bullshit, carnival game now so it’s hardly a measure of what kind of team you are. It just measures how many 2-on-1s it takes you to score. So you kind of have to Excel it from HockeyReference, which I’ve done here and perhaps not perfectly. So excuse me if I’ve fucked up. Here’s the list of straight regulations wins this season:

 

 

It makes for interesting reading on some levels. On the local level…well, not so much. If you throw out everything that happens after 60 minutes (just like all my late-night encounters HAHAHAHA SO VERY DROLL!), the Hawks are 23-32. Yikes. Anyway you slice that, it’s U-G-L-Y YOU AIN’T GOT NO ALIBI. That’s what happens when your goaltending and blue line blow, I suppose. So the Hawks can’t claim much bad luck overall, at least when it comes to overtime and such.

At the top of the standings you see the teams you’d expect. What’s also a bit curious for those of the red and black persuasion is that the other six Central teams are all in the top ten in regulation wins. Which shows you just how bad of a year it was for the Hawks to choose an off year. In the Metro or Pacific, they may have been far better off.

The Metro is funny, as the Penguins have the most regulation wins in that division but only the 12th most in the NHL. The Hurricanes only have one less win in 60 than the Penguins, but won’t sniff the playoffs because they’re getting clocked in overtime. Which you could say is fair because they lack true, top line scoring. Or you could say it’s a damn farce because 3-on-3 is a joke. It’s a little infuriating for Hawks fans I guess, because the Hawks only have one less regulation win than the Jackets and two less than the Devils and Flyers, and all three of those teams are competing for playoff spots while the Hawks have had a thumb in their ass for a month or more now.

Anyway, food for thought for you.

 

Everything Else

What Do You Do With Duncan Keith So Early In The Morning?

By Sam Fels 2409 0

A couple weeks ago, our colleague and probably the most flowing lochs in the Hawks blogosphere Chris Block gave his state of the Hawks post. There’s a lot in there, some of which you might not have known, but there’s one part of it I’ve been meaning to dive deeper into. I do encourage you to read the whole thing though, and then give Chris a hard time for bailing out of doing Wrestlemania with me even though it was his idea.

At the end of this, Block ruminates on whether or not the Hawks should at least kick the tires on moving Duncan Keith this summer. The reasons are pretty clear. The Hawks have to get out from under some of their ridiculous contracts (although Keith has been worth every penny, any contract that runs 13 years has to be considered ridiculous). Keith is getting older. While the hit remains the same the actual salary starts diving next year making him even more affordable than he already was. And Keith is aging, and not all that gracefully at that.

We’ve talked about it a few times over the years, but looking for Keith precedents in previous players is a hard thing to do. Few d-men have dominated games and seasons simply on quickness and instincts, as Keith did for far longer than he had any right to. One name we have used is Scott Niedermayer. He retired after his age-36 season (Keith will be entering his age-35 season next year). And Niedermayer was more offensively gifted than Keith and by some distance. The hands don’t go away even if the feet do. Keith has no such attributes to fall back on.

Yes, Nick Lidstrom played until he was 41, and comedically won a Norris at 40 simply because voters didn’t know they could vote for anyone else. But Lidstrom’s game was much more calm than Keith’s, sort of letting things come to him and simply being ahead of everything in his mind. There was no high-wire with Lidstrom. Keith’s game has been all high-wire since the moment he arrived and looked like a kindergartner who got hold of Jolt Cola (dated reference alert).

Watching Keith this year has been mostly an uncomfortable experience. You can see his computer trying to recalibrate with how to play knowing he can’t take all the risks and be as aggressive as he used to be. Keith could actually do a lot of things wrong in the past and his quickness would allow recovery to see him get away with it. He could venture outside the circles in his own zone, he could chase more in to the corners or behind the net, he could skate into more traffic with the puck and squirt out. He can’t really do all of those things anymore, but the internal mechanism is still saying he can too often. His instincts and brain constantly seem to be at odds.

That doesn’t mean Keith is useless or a complete anchor, as say Seabrook has been at times this season. He hasn’t been anything like a ghost like Sharp has been on most nights, to use two his contemporaries. To me, the worst case scenario with Keith is that he can be an effective second-pairing d-man, and probably can for a couple more seasons. And I think he could do that in a couple of ways. Against easier competition he could still push the play up the ice as he used to. Or you could just use him as a human shield as Oduya was used here, or Dan Hamhuis is used in Dallas right now, or Pesce and Slavin are used in Carolina, or a few other examples. You’d ask no offensive or puck-moving responsibility of him, and just have him basically keep the puck out of his net against top lines while whoever is designated for the top pairing role can simply run over what they see.

But therein lies the problem. Whichever you choose to do with Keith, you then have to solve your top pairing problem. I’m one of the few who is comfortable with Connor Murphy as one half of that, but you need the other half and that’s the half that has to be the possession monster. That’s the half that has to get up and push the play, join the offense, and score. And right now, that’s nowhere near in the Hawks system. Unless by some miracle they think Henri Jokiharju can do that next season. I suppose Ivan Provorov went straight from the WHL to the Flyers, so it can happen. But he wasn’t asked to play on the top pairing either. We know it ain’t gonna be Gustav Forsling either.

Keith would still have value to other teams, if he were to waive his NMC. Off the top of my head, the Islanders, Leafs, Flames, Oilers, Canadiens are all teams that have defensive depth issues that want to win sharpish. We could probably figure out a couple other teams that would at least make a call, even with Keith’s age and expense.

But still, does Keith get you back a young, top-pairing potential d-man? Skeptical of that. If you’re just swapping him out for more mid-pairing or bottom-pairing flotsam, I don’t know that moves you forward. Yeah, if you can get the Oilers to give up on Nurse, go right ahead. And I guess they’re capable of any kind of stupidity.

For the Hawks, Keith is almost certainly the most movable of “the core.” They wouldn’t ever dare move Toews or Kane, given how their entire marketing strategy has been built on them, problematically at times, for going on 11 years now. Seabrook’s play has made his deal immovable. Keith has never had the connection with the Hawks that the two forwards do. You don’t see him on the Chevy ads or the posters, and that’s mostly because he doesn’t have much interest. Keith is also the only one you see openly flouting McD’s rules about how to be presented during interviews and such. He clearly just does not give a fuck about that aspect of being a pro hockey player, and honestly more power to him. While on the ice Keith has been the most important cog to the Hawks success (and he has, don’t even play), he hasn’t been nearly as important to the Hawks off it. And don’t think that wouldn’t play a role.

Still, I doubt the Hawks and Stan Bowman would do this unless they got some offer they couldn’t refuse. But it seems more plausible than it did even just a month or two ago.

Everything Else

High On The Hog: Grinding Out Points

By Jon Fromi 1670 0

The Rockford IceHogs, AHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks, managed just two regulation goals in their weekend road jaunt against their two most familiar division rivals. They still managed to collect three of four possible points as they kept pace in the Central Division standings.

The IceHogs still are on the outside looking in as far as the postseason is concerned. However, they kept the gap between them and the two teams above them in the standings a manageable one.

Collin Delia and Jeff Glass each played well enough for Rockford to take both games into overtime. The Hogs dropped a shootout with Milwaukee Saturday before going into Allstate Arena Sunday and getting an overtime win over Chicago.

Rockford has had to hustle for goals, with just eight in its last five games. The Hogs have won three of those contest and picked up a point in another. This may be the case for this bunch as the season winds down.

Matthew Highmore, Rockford’s leading scorer, has been with the Blackhawks for a few games now. John Hayden was recalled on Saturday by Chicago. Other leading scorers like Vinnie Hinostroza, Tomas Jurco and Erik Gustafsson have been with the Hawks for a while. The IceHogs don’t have the same explosive offensive punch they had earlier this season.

Fortunately, Rockford has some things going for it. The play in goal has made it possible for the Hogs to stay in games of late. They also have some veterans on board who could make a difference in the final month of action.

Cody Franson, assuming he isn’t recalled, adds leadership and a potent shot from the back end. He and Adam Clendening are both contributing to the scoring column. Franson has five goals in 23 games with Rockford; he’s tied for the team lead for defenseman goals with Darren Raddysh.

Chris DiDomenico has seven points (2 G, 5 A) in seven games since coming to Rockford. DiDomenico and Franson hooked up for the game-winner against the Wolves Sunday. The play was pretty on both ends; Franson chased down a clearing attempt in Gus Macker Time and slid the puck cross-ice to a waiting DiDomenico, who showed some stick-handling skill before catching cord and ending the game in Rockford’s favor.

It’s possible that several players could come down to Rockford late in the season and give the team a boost in talent should a playoff spot be within the team’s grasp. Until then, the Hogs will have to make every goal count.

 

Roster Moves

The IceHogs were active this week. Back on Wednesday, Rockford inked former Hogs defenseman Nolan Valleau to a PTO. Valleau played in both games over the weekend, as did Carl Dahlstrom, who was assigned to Rockford on Friday.

With Hayden being recalled to Chicago Saturday, the IceHogs recalled Matheson Iacopelli from the ECHL’s Indy Fuel that evening. The young forward played nine games for the Fuel and scored nine goals in his stint in Indy. Iacopelli took the ice for the Hogs for the first time in a month against Chicago Sunday afternoon.

 

Recaps

As of Monday morning, Rockford (30-24-3-4) sits in fifth place in the Central Division, despite sharing a .549 points percentage with sixth-place Milwaukee.

Saturday, March 10-Milwaukee 2, Rockford 1 (SO)

Rockford picked up a point, but found Admirals goalie Anders Lindback hard to solve and dropped this one in the shootout.

The Ads got the scoring started in the middle frame, taking a 1-0 lead on a Trevor Smith goal 4:15 into the period. Rockford out shot their opponents 19-5 through the first 40 minutes but had nothing to show for it.

William Pelletier got the Hogs even on the scoreboard midway through the third period after gaining possession of a loose puck in neutral ice. The speedy forward made a beeline for the right dot, flinging the puck past the glove side of Lindback at the 12:08 mark.

The score remained 1-1 through regulation and an exciting overtime period which saw both teams foiled on several scoring chances. The third point was decided by penalty shots, specifically Justin Kirkland’s. His attempt beat Delia in the first round; Anthony Louis, Adam Clendening and Chris DiDomenico came up empty and Milwaukee picked up the win.

Lines (Starters in italics)

Henrik Samuelsson-Luke Johnson (A)-William Pelletier

Anthony Louis-Chris DiDomenico-Lance Bouma

Robin Norell-Tyler Sikura-Andreas Martinsen

Alexandre Fortin-Graham Knott-Nathan Noel

Viktor Svedberg-Cody Franson

Luc Snuggerud-Adam Clendening (A)

Nolan Valleau-Carl Dahlstrom

Collin Delia

Power Play (0-3)

DiDomenico-Sikura-Johnson-Clendening-Franson

Pelletier-Louis-Samuelsson-Snuggerud-Dahlstrom

Penalty Kill (Milwaukee was 0-5)

Bouma-Johnson-Franson-Svedberg

Sikura-Martinsen-Norell-Dahlstrom

DiDomenico-Pelletier-Snuggerud-Valleau

 

Sunday, March 11-Rockford 2, Chicago 1 (OT)

Allstate Arena has been a tough place for any AHL team to get a win the last couple of months. The Hogs needed Gus Macker Time to do so but posted two huge points against the surging Wolves.

As was the case the night before, it was a goalie duel. Sunday, the combatants were Oscar Dansk for Chicago and Jeff Glass for Rockford. Neither team found the net in the first period. Dansk stopped 14 IceHogs shots in the first 20 minutes, then foiled William Pelletier on a penalty shot early in the second.

Rockford opened the scoring when Cody Franson pinched to the right dot, one-timing a feed from Andreas Martinsen coming around from behind the Wolves net. The goal came at the 6:29 mark; the IceHogs held onto that lead until midway through the third period.

Rockford appeared to take a two-goal lead when Adam Clendening centered to Henrik Samuelsson 7:31 into the final frame. However, the replay showed that Samuelsson had kicked the puck past Dansk.

Chicago’s Teemu Pulkkinen knotted the score at a goal apiece with a power-play re-direct at 12:52 of the third. For the fourth time in the season series, the Hogs and Wolves could not settle the matter in regulation.

Brandon Pirri hooked Martinsen in the second minute of overtime, giving Rockford a 4-on-3 advantage. Chris DiDomenico would capitalize for the IceHogs, benefiting from an outstanding play by Franson.

Chicago’s T.J. Tynan had pushed the puck toward neutral ice. Before he could complete the clearing attempt, Franson beat him to the puck and slid a pass all the way to DiDomenico at the left post. The shot beat Dansk to the twine and seal a huge win for Rockford.

Lines (Starters in italics)

Anthony Louis-Chris DiDomenico-Lance Bouma

Henrik Samuelsson-Luke Johnson (A)-William Pelletier

Robin Norell-Tyler Sikura-Andreas Martinsen

Matheson Iacopelli-Graham Knott-Nathan Noel

Nolan Valleau-Carl Dahlstrom

Viktor Svedberg-Cody Franson

Luc Snuggerud-Adam Clendening (A)

Jeff Glass

Power Play (1-5)

DiDomenico-Sikura-Johnson-Clendening-Franson

Pelletier-Louis-Samuelsson-Snuggerud-Dahlstrom

Penalty Kill (Wolves were 1-5)

Bouma-Johnson-Franson-Svedberg

Sikura-Martinsen-Norell-Dahlstrom

DiDomenico-Pelletier-Snuggerud-Valleau

 

Preview

Tuesday’s game at the BMO against Iowa is a must-win. The Wild sit in third place in the Central but are within reach of the Hogs. Reeling them in begins with a regulation victory. Rockford has three games remaining with the Wild; the remaining two meetings are in DesMoines.

The Hogs last shot at Grand Rapids comes Friday when Rockford visits Van Andel Arena. After winning the first six meetings between the teams, the IceHogs have dropped three straight to the Griffins, who lead Rockford by four points in the standings as of Monday.

Saturday night, it’s another tough go with the Wolves in their building. Each team has won four games in the season series. All four of Chicago’s wins have come in regulation. All four of Rockford’s victories have come in extra skating or a shootout.

Follow me @JonFromi on twitter for my thoughts on the scene in Rockford all season long.

 

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Game #70 – I would’ve preferred the extra hour of sleep – Hawks 3, Bruins 1

By Adam Hess 2001 0

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There is something deeply offensive about the NHL expecting us to watch a hockey game before noon on a damn Sunday. Granted, I’m in Indianapolis so the game started after noon for me, but you get my point. Even the NFL doesn’t ask us to do that except for when they put games in London, and they put uninteresting teams over there on purpose. Then for this game to be the total freakin’ snoozer that it was, I may need to get in touch with an attorney and ask these teams for compensation for my time. To the bullets:

– Brad Marchand sat this one out with what was called an upper body injury. Some people on twitter chalked that part up to the Bruins maybe sitting him after he hit Anthony Duclair with a damn Sling Blade yesterday to avoid any kind of retaliation from the Hawks. Now don’t get me wrong, I know that Brad Marchand is a little chicken shit, but I am here to defend him. I have it on good authority he actually suffered a serious injury to his pea brain this morning after having Daylight Saving Time explained to him.

– For the second straight game I have been responsible for wrapping, the Blackhawks scored two power play goals, and both times came after I tweeted something deriding the PP. Is the Fels Motherfuck contagious?

– Anton Forsberg looked good in this one again, and he’s certainly starting to look more comfortable between the pipes as the year goes on. I’m not yet convinced he’s the ideal backup goaltender for this team next year, but given his contract it wouldn’t be a bad move to keep him around if you can’t find something better.

– Erik Gustafsson has been pretty good since he got his new contract extension, which we around here credit to the Fels Motherfuck. But he got a shitton of power play time today, and while he looked fine in it, I struggled to figure out what he’s shown to earn that time that Gustav Forsling did not when he was here. I’m gonna remain a Forsling apologist until he gets his fair shake at the NHL level, and that has yet to happen. I don’t think the Hawks can call him up anymore without it being an “emergency” call-up, so its not happening this year. But you’re gonna end up next year having a young offensive defenseman with little NHL experience still trying to find his offensive game at the NHL. Good asset management there.

– Jonathan Toews is starting to have better luck, with three points tonight, all of them assists. There’s not much more to gain on this season, but if Toews can end the year strong, that will be a good thing.

– Please don’t make me watch boring ass hockey games before 1pm anymore, NHL. Thanks.

 

Everything Else

Game #69 – Crack A Smile And Cut Your Mouth And Drown In Alcohol – Hawks 4, Bruins 7

By John Pullega 2153 0

Box Score

Corsica

Natural Stat Trick

Each effort more useless than the last. To the bullets.

– Brad Marchand, acting on every instinct to be the biggest, wettest garbage bag of human shit possible, likely ended Anthony Duclair’s season today, and perhaps his career with the Blackhawks. Pat and Eddie went out of their way to say that it looked like an accident, but I don’t know how they came to that conclusion. Here it is in slow motion:

And full speed:

The full-speed shot makes it look even more intentional, with Marchand leaving his feet and slinging his arm at Duclair’s head. With Marchand’s pedigree as a pus-filled ass polyp, you have to assume that it was at least partially nefarious, as it looks like Duclair is in his sight the entire time. But with Marchand playing as well as he has and the Bruins on a playoff run, don’t be surprised to see him get maybe a game suspension.

As for Duclair, what a horrible way to end his year. He’d had a rough go of it lately, and now this. Season in a nutshell.

– Duncan Keith had one of the worst games I can remember since he came up all those years ago. His bad passing, poor positioning, and inability to strap in his jock led to the Bruins’s first three goals, respectively. He and Seabrook were on the ice for three of Boston’s four PP goals as well.

He’s obviously lost a full step, and without him, the Hawks have only Murphy who has any potential to play defense as a defenseman. We knew going in that the Hawks would need to rely on Keith, so if this is what he’s going to be, the next few years are going to be drudgery.

– Erik Gustafsson had a hot and cold game. The offense was on display early, as he set up Toews on a tip, buried a goal from the blue line, and set up Highmore with a gorgeous shimmy on the far boards followed by a slick pass through the Royal Road. But he also let Pastrnak behind him for Boston’s game-tying goal (and wasn’t helped by Brent Seabrook, who let human plantar wart Brad Marchand soft-shoe his way around him effortlessly) and looked generally lost in the defensive end.

Gustafsson is a fine player to have when you have four or five other guys who are obviously better than him on your team, and when you’re paying him $1.2 million over two years, not per year. But if this is one of the guys that the brain trust is going to lean on next year, this team is fucked.

– John Hayden looked good coming up to replace Vinnie. Other than his unnecessary fight in the first, he showed strength with the puck and seemed to fit decently with Schmaltz and DeBrincat. The Hawks are going to have to decide whether he’s going to be a scoring power forward—which was sort of the point of sending him down in the first place—or a big body who drags his dick around looking for fights. If it’s the latter, this team, again, is fucked.

– Credit to Kampf for setting up the Hayden goal. He had a nice strip and an even better pass off the far boards to spring Hayden.

– Congrats to Highmore on his first NHL goal. Like Hayden, I’m still not sure what he’s supposed to be, but he didn’t look particularly bad today.

– As is becoming more common, Berube got hung out to dry on most of his goals. The stat line is going to look horrible after being out there for six, but I’m not sure what he’s supposed to do with the defense that’s in front of him.

We’ve got 12 more. And if the Hawks decide that the defensive corps that they dressed tonight is what they’re going with next year, the next 94 games are going to be one gigantic Giordano’s fart.

Beer du Jour: Coffee and Eagle Rare.

Line of the Night: “They’re getting going north fast, and it’s coming down your throat.” –Adam Burish during the pre-game, describing the Bruins’s transition game.