The Rockford IceHogs, AHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks, have a crowd on the blue line these days.
With David Rundblad finishing his season in Europe and being assigned to Rockford on Friday, the Hogs had eight healthy bodies to patrol the back end. Coach Ted Dent will certainly have numerous options for the final dozen games on his team’s schedule.
Box Score
Game Summary
War On Ice
It’s Trevor Van Riemsdyk’s world, we’re all just living in it.
vs. 
PUCK DROP: 7:30 Central
TV/RADIO: NBCSN, WGN Radio
GOIN’ CRAZY OUT BY DA LAKE DERE: Hockey Wilderness
The Hawks get to round out their tour of Central Division jobbers tonight with a home date against the Green and Red from the Twin Cities. Even though the Wild are going to have scrape and claw to just get the last playoff spot over the Avalanche, that doesn’t mean they haven’t been a total headache for the Hawks this season. It’s something you’d think the Hawks want to set straight, but at this time of year we’re never certain where the Hawks focus is.
The one nice thing about this recent funk from the Hawks is that games like this come up on the schedule and are not overlooked. Facing a team like the Winnipeg Jets normally would have the Hawks set the “Give-o-Fuck” meter to slightly above 0. Last night, the Hawks could afford to do no such thing.
Paced by all three scoring lines and a rare, solid road effort from LOCAL GUY Scott Darling, the Hawks wrapped this one up at the 37 minute mark when Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa scored within 30 seconds of each other. That was all the Jets needed to fold up the tents for the night.
Two more goals in the third and that was that.
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PUCK DROP: 7pm Central
TV/RADIO: CSN, WGN Radio
JET CITY WOMAN: Arctic Ice Hockey
Well, there can’t be a better way to get healthy after losing four in a row than spending the weekend taking on the Central Division jobbers known as the Jets and Wild (and then a Stars team that will be without Klingberg and Seguin, or the Western Canada swing after that… say, the schedule gets pretty light here, huh?) Considering the Stars’ injuries and the Blues’ sudden case of suck-itis (13 goals to the Flames and Oilers, huh?), if the Hawks have any desire to win the division or put one last regular season surge on film then you’d have to think it starts now.
Tonight in the Peg: Blackhawks
Uh oh: SN
Maybe take a breath: CSN
At least sit Mashinter: SCH
Morrow retires: PHT
It’s clear that Joel Quenneville recognizes what his team’s problems are. Defensive depth, trouble scoring at even-strength, some mismatched lines. He attempted to address them tonight, rightly or wrongly. It didn’t quite work and the Hawks dropped their 4th straight game. If it wasn’t for Panarin’s buzzer-beater in St. Louis, they wouldn’t even have a point in that stretch.
This one started a lot like the Kings’ game, but for a longer stretch where the Hawks had the upper hand. They actually took the lead this time when Ghost Bear broke his stick and fell over, giving Hossa a runway that he didn’t turn down. Once again, they hit a post or two or Neuvirth made a couple big saves that kept them from extending the lead. The bugaboo of a PK reared it’s ugly head again at the end of the 1st.
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Game Time: 7:00PM
TV/Radio: NBCSN, TVA-S, SportsNet 1, WGN-AM 720
Stare Into The Lion’s Eyes: Broad St. Hockey
As the above headline will indicate, Flyers Twitter is a weird and amusing place to dwell in for even a short amount of time. Perhaps it’s their championship drought despite having numerous good to great teams over the last 40 years that’s driven them batty, or their often times confounding management. Or maybe it’s the fact that by and large those fans live in a dyspeptic cracker hellscape of a state with two of the most abhorrent accents in any English dialect; a place that until recently had a legitimate thoroughfare officially labeled on maps as “The Road To Nowhere”. And of course, Travis fucking Hughes still hasn’t paid us our cheesesteaks going on six years later.
And those denizens have had plenty to be excited about lately as the Flyers have unexpectedly surged into the playoff conversation in the Eastern Conference.
But isn’t everyone? TSN
This is how it will be OK :BlackHawk Up
But time to Panic? Daily Herald
But for how long? Toronto Star
On Pace for history:NHL