The Blackhawks have made a move, trading a third round pick in this year’s draft for Tomas Jurco, late of the Detroit Red Wings/Grand Rapids Griffins.
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Beautiful Garbage: Yotes 3 – Hawks 6
Coming into this one, you had a feeling it could get weird in some way. Not unlike heading into Exit on a weekend night. The Hawks had labeled the Yotes once at the UC, and then played out some absurdist shit out in the desert where the Hawks were clearly trying to get out with two points with the minimum amount of effort and let the Yotes back into it constantly. It’s a wonder Crawford doesn’t wield a butterfly knife at his defense on nights like this, because Darling never sees this kind of negligence.
And tonight fit the bill, as the Hawks pretty much scored at will but also couldn’t locate a fuck to give in their own zone if it had blinking lights and an airhorn on it for the first 20 minutes, if not 40. But against what is basically a hybrid NHL-AHL team, you can do that. Especially when Mike Smith is looking for the Phantom Tollbooth.
Let’s clean it up:
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American Garbage – Coyotes vs Hawks Preview, Southwest Airlines Points Redemption
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Game Time: 7:30PM
TV/Radio: CSN, WGN-AM 720
Joe Arpaio Should Die In Prison: Five For Howling
If it feels like forever since the Hawks had a traditional 7:30 start at home at the UC, it kind of has, as it’s been nearly a month since they had one. It was a riveting affair, as they always are, against the Winnipeg Jets on January 26th, and tonight figures to be just as rollicking against the the league’s second worst team in the visiting Arizona Phoenix Glendale Coyotes/Quebec Nordiques/Seattle Metropolitans.
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Toews The Dead
If I were you, every time I saw the word “narrative” in any post about anything, I’d run screaming for the hills. I know I’m sick of seeing them, and sick of writing them. Maybe I just need a better synonym for the word. It’s hard to find one though. Account? Story? Chronicle? We’ll work on it.
Jonathan Toews’s recent scoring binge is just the latest turn in what has become the complete slapstick-gone-wrong way we watch and cover sports these days. We can thank Twitter for basically ruining everything, and this is just another example. Because once again, we mistake those shouting the loudest for being in the majority, when these are usually two very separate things. But say it enough, and it at least feels like reality if not outright becoming so.
There are certain truths to Toews. He is a great player. He is having possibly his worst season in the NHL (and even with this binge is still in a lot of ways, but we’ll get to that). These two things are not mutually exclusive, but they sure get treated like they are.
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Another World Awaits Us – Blackhawks 5, Wild 3
Here’s one way to beat Devan Dubnyk – shoot the puck when he’s not looking.
The Hawks scored twice in the third period and caught Dubnyk with his proverbial pants down each time. The first goal was off a face-off where Nick Schmaltz collected the puck and fired it towards the net in one motion. Dubnyk had no idea where the puck was.
A few minutes later and after an annoying Zach Parise goal (are there any other kind?), Schmaltz made another nifty play by giving a no-look, behind the back pass from below the goal line. Dubnyk was tracking the player instead of the puck and by the time he realized the puck was on his left side, Toews was chipping it past him.
This gave the Hawks a 4-2 lead. Of course, the Wild came back because that’s what they do. Corey Crawford was there and Toews finished off his virtuoso performance by scoring an empty-netter from 150 feet away.
That’s that.
Other things that came to mind…
–The Round Mound of Minnetonka Bruce Boudreau is an easy punching bag and tonight was a great example why. Visitors to this site know that Mikko Koivu drinks Jonathan Toews’ milkshake on a regular occurrence. So tonight, Boudreau decided to give Erik Haula’s line a chance to match up against him for…reasons.
Maybe Boudreau was experimenting or tinkering to see what they could do in a future playoff matchup. But I think the answer became crystal clear in the second period after the Toews line scored twice on back-to-back shifts. As we’ve seen for the past decade…when Boudreau is asked to adjust a gameplan in-game, he is unable to.
This led to a third period where the Toews line found the back of the net three more times. As I mentioned, maybe Boudreau was giving it a whirl to see what would happen. It sort of reminds me of how I would suck things up like socks or plastic bags with the vacuum when I was a kid because I wanted to see what would happen.
–The Wild are a very quick team and play just as fast but as McClure noted during the game, there is no structure in their breakouts or in the offensive zone. A typical Wild offensive sequence consists of firing as many pucks on net as possible from whatever angle is open and/or going high to low.
This will lead to the occasional annoying goal but when they play a team that is disciplined and well-structured, it will also lead to periods like the second where the Hawks quickly snuffed out any chances and counter-attacked like crazy. All four lines dominated in the second period and the Hawks very easily could’ve put the game away then if it weren’t for a few excellent Dubnyk saves.
–The Kid line of Vince Strohs-Kero-Hartman was extra grindy tonight and probably deserved scoring a garbage goal. For the first two periods, they had the Wild pinned in their zone and behind their net. Their shifts felt like 50 seconds of Hartman and Hinostroza continually skating behind the Wild net and pushing the puck to the slot where two or three point blank shots were fired at Dubnyk. Against lesser competition, they’re probably rewarded with at least a couple of goals.
–So maybe worrying about Jonathan Toews was a little silly. Also, I’m dying to see how Boudreau tries to match up against his line in a 7 game series. Sadly, the Flames will beat them in 7 so we’ll never know.
–At least the officials got tonight’s illegal Parise no goal call right. Parise scored midway in the third after batting a puck out of the air that was nearly over his head. The official made the no-goal call immediately and there was no need to even review it.
Had the league got the offsides call right two weeks ago, the Hawks would’ve taken 4 of the last 4 points from the Xcel Center. Alas.
–Not to only shit on the Haula line but Scandella and Dumba were absolutely scorched by the Hawks to the tune of a combined -26 Corsi. And Boudreau couldn’t wait to put both of them out there when Suter and Spurgeon were off the ice.
–The Hawks take on the Yotes on Thursday. We’ll see if Arizona leaves any of their players here after the game.
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The Voice Of Many Colors Sings A Song That’s So Bold: Hawks at Wild Preview/Manicure
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RECORDS: Hawks 36-18-5 Wild 39-13-6
PUCK DROP: 7pm Central
TV: CSN Local, NBCSN to the “others”
IN THE WOODCHIPPER: Cold Omaha
PROJECTED LINEUPS
ADJUSTED TEAM CORSI %: Hawks – 50.9 (12th) Wild – 49.9 (21st)
ADJUSTED TEAM xGF%: Hawks – 48.7 (19th) Wild – 54.2 (2nd)
POWER PLAY %: Hawks – 19.0 (16th) Wild – 21.9 (4th)
PENALTY KILL %: Hawks – 77.1 (28th) Wild – 82.9 (10th)
The Hawk and Wild will continue their preamble tonight to their almost assured second round meeting in the playoffs. While the Hawks will make noise about giving the Wild “something to think about,” the gap is almost certainly too much. It’s definitely too much with Doobie Brother playing as well as he is, because there’s just no way the Wild are going to drop enough points to make any Hawks nuclear streak matter. And it’s hard to envision how either of these teams trip up in the first round, whatever Bruce Boudreau’s faults, because the Blues, Preds, and whatever swamp thing emerges as the bottom wild card haven’t shown anything close to being a threat.
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Live From The Five Hole – Talk To Me (Featuring Scott Powers)
After the bye week, we return with a very special edition of Live From The Five Hole, as the esteemed Scott Powers of The Athletic joins us and gives some great insight about the current state of the Hawks as the playoff push begins, as well as a great look at some of the prospects coming down the pike. We even subjected him to some of the weirdo questions that we have been fielding lately and he handled himself with predictable style and grace. And it’s a good thing too, as Sam was eaten by the internet monster about a quarter way into the ‘cast (sky point). Grab the audio after the jump.
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High On The Hog: Vinnie, We Hardly Knew Ye
The Rockford IceHogs got a boost from Vinnie Hinostroza this past week. It doesn’t show much on the score sheet; Hinostroza was credited with a single assist in the three games he played while he and several Blackhawks teammates were sent to Rockford this past week.
The Hogs had won three straight before Vinnie came to town, extending that streak to a season-high five games before being shut out by Charlotte Saturday night. How can I point to him as making such a big difference? Simple. Speed.
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The Goo Goo Dolls are a Replacements Cover Band – Blackhawks 5, Sabres 1
If the Hawks keep putting together performances like they have in the past two games, they may want to petition the league for more bye weeks in the seasons ahead. The Hawks, once again, ran roughshod over the opponent. The only difference this time, Robin Lehner was no Cam Talbot.
The Hawks got production from all four lines as each line scored with Kane and the Russian Spies scoring twice. Additonally, 10 of their 12 forwards scratched the scoresheet. Only Vince Stroh’s and Dr. Rasmussen came up empty but that was hardly any indictment on their game.
On the defensive side, the Sabres really were only able to generate offense when the Hawks were guilty of turning the puck over just inside the offensive blue line. This was happening quite a bit in the second period which is why we saw a lot of end-to-end chances with both teams trading prime opportunities. Once the Hawks cleaned up their zone entries and capitalized on their opportunities, the Sabres were toast.
The Hawks defensemen played another strong game of cutting down shooting lanes, efficient breakout passing and of course, active sticks. As Sam mentioned, all they’ve conceeded in the past 48 hours was a softie from Lucic and a great play by Eichel. If this keeps up, the remaining regular season may not be the slog we expected.
Other things…
–Ryan Hartman has a real shot at scoring 20 goals this year. He scored another impressive goal tonight that makes the memory of Andrew Shaw dissipate like a McFly family portrait. Hartman made a power move at the top of the blue line to gain separation from the defender and then ripped off a wrist shot right over Lehner’s shoulder.
He serves as an important reminder that not all prospects are created equal. Hartman cooked in the AHL for two seasons before finally getting his turn this year. While we’re quick to point out that the great ones don’t need much to establish themselves, the good, or productive, ones can take a little longer. And Hartman is on the path to carving out a productive NHL career. He may not be able to hang against top competition but plenty of millions have been made by slaying bums.
–For a guy who has won three Stanley Cups, one Hart trophy, a Conn Smythe and played in an Olympic gold medal game, it was a little strange to see Patrick Kane celebrate like he scored an OT game-winner in a 5-1 game. Not to mention, this wasn’t the first goal he’s ever scored in Buffalo. Weird.
–Well, this is certainly the Jonathan Toews we all remember. We’ve spent a lot of time this season examining what seems off with Toews and I’ve pointed to that lack of jump he seemed to be missing. Since Nick Schmaltz has been recalled and put on his wing (and probably a little before then), Toews has that explosive burst in his first few strides again. Maybe his back is finally 100%; maybe he finally feels comfortable with his two line mates; or maybe he grew a batch of kale in his garden laced with amphetamines.
Either way, with a top line creating chances like this to supplement Kane and the Russian Spies, the Hawks look like they could be the class of the West.
–Thought it was a little strange to see Joel Quenneville toss out his top power play unit on the ice with less than 4 minutes left in a 5-1 game that was clearly over. In the years he’s been behind the Blackhawks bench, I don’t think I can recall him ever doing that and he certainly had his opportunities in the first few years.
In last year’s meeting versus the Sabres which the Hawks won in ridiculous fashion, you may recall there was a moment where Byslma stalled for a good two minutes before deciding whether he wanted to challenge a goal. The camera cut to Quenneville whose face was that familiar shade of pink and purple.
Almost wonder if that helped form his opinion on Byslma and played into his decision tonight.
–That seems like enough of that. Next one is in Minnehaha. Until then.
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Two Days In February – Hawks at Sabres Preview, Curbside Check-In
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Game Time: 5:00PM CDT
TV/Radio: NBCSN, WGN-AM 720
Frank Sedita Is Corrupt As Shit: Die By The Blade
Because today is the contrivance that is Hockey Day In America, both the Hawks and Sabres will be travelling from the midwest to play a prime-time game rife with manufactured storylines. The one in particular that will get beaten to death will be the return of Buffalo’s prodigal son, one Garbage Dick, as it always does whenever the Hawks play the Sabres. But because the NHL is now a giant warm, flat beer of parity, the Sabres now find themselves threatening for a playoff spot with only the briefest spasm of competence.
