Everything Else

An Example For All: Bruins 2 – Hawks 2 (Hawks win Beer Pong)

By Sam Fels 1403 0

Box Score

Event Summary

Extra Skater

I don’t want to get too extravagant or over the top here, but I can’t help but smile at how the Hawks and Bruins demonstrated everything good the sport can be a little more than 13 hours after Vancouver and Calgary pretty much embarrassed everyone involved with it. Because today was as good a game as the regular season can produce. And it involved none of the bullshit that sometimes comes with teams with a history.

It was fast, it was passionate, it was physical at times, both teams traded periods of having the upperhand. Big saves, big hits, nifty passing, defensive responsibility, it wouldn’t have looked out of place in late May. If there’s any downside, it was just another illustration that a contest like this is somewhat sullied by having it end in a skills competition. It easily could have ended 2-2 and I doubt anyone would have walked out of that building feeling like they didn’t get their money’s worth.

Everything Else

Play For Today: Bruins At Blackhawks – Preview/Pre-Game Thread/Bloody Mary Bar

By Matthew Killion 1220 0

Bruins_Eastern_Conference  @ oldschool

Game Time: 11:30AM Central. Wait… that can’t be right, can it?
TV/Radio: NBC or NHLN-CA/WGN720
Still Smarting: Days Of Y’Orr, Stanley Cup of Chowder

Despite the whiskey and beer haze, the memories of June 24th are still fresh in my mind as I hope they are in yours. It doesn’t hurt to go back and watch this video every few weeks like I find myself doing when I need a smile (probably should turn down your speakers). That win was in way so much more fun because of the polar opposite types of endings – a come from behind knockout punch against a subtle confusing delayed celebration. Either way, it was a special night to remember no matter how many brain cells I killed.

You’d hope it remains the same for the players too. Sure there are subtractions and additions on both benches but for the most part, the cores have remained the same on each side and the bewilderment had to have turned to disappointment and anger on the Boston side. Though the games were entertaining and physical, it lacked the sideshow drama and ill-will that built up against the series like we saw in Philly (Chris Pronger).

So at a completely unnatural time for hockey, we’ll get to see not only the always entertaining Original 6 match up, but the a Stanley Cup re-match that also features 3 of the last 4 winners of the chalice. Get yer coffee and bacon ready.

Everything Else

Those Faded Lines: Ducks 2 – Hawks 4

By Sam Fels 1318 0

Boxscore

Event Summary

Extra Skater

Oh right, they can do it.

We said if the Hawks performed like they did against the Avalanche on Tuesday that they would win far more often than they would lose. I don’t know if they were significantly better tonight than Tuesday, but they sure as fuck weren’t any worse. And it led to them essentially rag-doll the hottest team in the league that currently sits on the Presidents’ throne, save for a nervy five minutes there in the 3rd. Don’t worry folks, the driver is still in the bag when it’s needed.

For me, the big tactic from the Hawks was an uber-aggressive defense. Not so much in jumping into the rush, but standing up at the Ducks blue line, jumping the Ducks in the neutral zone to whatever puck carrier there may be, and standing up at their own blue line. The Ducks have given the Hawks fits with their straight-line game for years now. It seemed like the Hawks just decided they were going to blunt those lines at center ice. They wouldn’t even let the Ducks get the puck behind them and down low, and whenever they did they were 100-feet away. The Ducks certainly weren’t at their best, but they weren’t allowed to be for long stretches. Every time the puck gained control of the puck outside of their zone, they were smothered.

You can’t do that every game, as eventually you’ll give up a bevy of odd-man rushes to a team that’s ready to play that quickly. And the Hawks gave up a couple, but not many. It was high-pressure stuff, and the Ducks didn’t really have an answer.

Everything Else

See You In The Shallows – Ducks vs Hawks Preview, Pregame Thread, Sensitivity Training

By Matt McClure 1364 0

oc ducks vs oldschool

Game Time: 7:00PM CDT
TV/Radio: CSN+, NHLN (US & Canada), RDS, WGN-AM 720
Mommy’s Little Monster: Anaheim Calling, Battle of California

Whether anyone wants to believe it or not, this Ducks team enters tonight’s tilt on West Madison only two points off what was a record pace from last year’s Hawks team during an abbreviated campaign. But then again, last year’s Ducks weren’t off far off that pace either, and they ended up bowing out in 7 games to Scum. A longer season should reveal more truths about both squads, with the two teams squaring off this evening.