More Adidas sneakers than a plumber’s got pliers, got more suits than Jacoby & Meyers.
Riddle me this my brother, can you handle it? Your style to my style, you can’t hold a candle to it.
vs 
Game Time: 7:00 PM Central
TV/Radio: NBCSN, TSN2, WGN-AM 720
Hell’s Kitchen: Scotty Hockey, Blueshirt Banter
With all of the buzz the last couple of days being over the Olympic Team selections and of course the horrendous weather that’s put the entire nation in its frigid grip, it’s easy to forget that the Blackhawks were last seen on Sunday night blowing another third period lead and ultimately falling in the skills competition to the Sharks. They’ll get a chance to correct that tonight once again on United Center ice, this time against the visiting Rangers, who are basically a mess, and that’s being complimentary.
vs
Game Time: 7:00 PM Central
TV/Radio: NBCSN, TSN2, WGN-AM 720
Hell’s Kitchen: Scotty Hockey, Blueshirt Banter
With all of the buzz the last couple of days being over the Olympic Team selections and of course the horrendous weather that’s put the entire nation in its frigid grip, it’s easy to forget that the Blackhawks were last seen on Sunday night blowing another third period lead and ultimately falling in the skills competition to the Sharks. They’ll get a chance to correct that tonight once again on United Center ice, this time against the visiting Rangers, who are basically a mess, and that’s being complimentary.
Week 14 was much better for the IceHogs than their past 6 games had been. They snapped their winless streak and picked up points in 2 shootouts against Midwest Division opponents. While it wasn’t a sweep of the weekend by any means, it was a decent way to start off 2014.
Tonight on Madison: Blackhawks
Next month in Sochi: PHT
Shooter’s reaction: ESPN CHICAGO
Do you think they’d medal?: PD
That’s probably the end right?: CSN
Well now we know the official numbers of Hawks and who’s going and who’s not. The Hawks will have 10 Olympians in Sochi, barring injury to either them or someone else causing yet another Hawk to fill in (Seabrook and Saad could both be first call-ups in that situation, as could Crawford I suppose but doubt). They are:
Slovakia – Hossa, Handzus
Czech Republic – Rozsival
Sweden – Hjalmarsson, Oduya, Kruger
USA – Kane
Canada – Keith, Sharp, Toews
WE DON’T HAVE ANY COMMIES CUZ WE DON’T NEEDS ‘EM TAKE DAT POO-TIN!
Anyway, some random thoughts:
Captain Canada????NESN
Sharp deserves it:PuckDaddy
That’s what happens when your country invented the sport: NHL.com
A column about hockey and cold weather…..Mind Blowing idea: SunTimes
Rosy to represent my Great-Grandmother’s Nation: Chicago Tribune
Hossa and Zus to represent Slovakia:USA Today
Swiss Trio:IIHF
Well I think Chicago has seen that first-hand: Comcast
Actual management potential in Buffalo: Puckdaddy
That time again to get a little nerd-y. Or a little more nerd-y than we already are.
0
This got some play last week thanks to The Score’s Jay Zawaski. But that’s the amount of goals at even-strength that Patrick Kane has scored with Michal Handzus as his center. And that’s the center he’s played the most with. It kind of defies belief. You’d think Handzus would have been struggling to the bench just once while Kaner was dancing through defenders or something. It just hasn’t happened.
If you’re interested, and you are, Kane has scored his most even-strength goals with Brandon Saad, the winger he’s played with most, with 7. He’s also scored 7 with Andrew Shaw. This may be something even Joel Quenneville has seen, as Saad has joined Kane on a line the past few games.
This doesn’t mean that Shaw is the perfect center for Kane, perhaps just the best out of bad choices. Kane scored four even-strength goals with Brandon Pirri, but the seven with Shaw have come in half the amount of time on the ice. Kane’s Corsi% is also about 12 points higher with Shaw than either Pirri or Handzus.
Why? Harder to pin down. Some could be matchups. We know Shaw doesn’t win any draws so it’s not that. Mostly, it might simply be the mobility that Shaw has and he can at least be somewhere when Kane has the puck. Most of Kane’s production is off the rush and one-on-one. You don’t want him trying to produce on a cycle too often. Shaw can at least keep up.
Is Shaw a #2 center? Almost certainly not. Honestly, I think he’d be better at wing where his forechecking and getting to the net would be more pronounced by not having to constantly be low in his own zone. But right now, he might be the best solution of what currently is on offer.
Box Score
Event Summary
Extra Skater
For the fourth time in a row, the Blackhawks have dropped a game that goes all the way to a shootout. If that really upsets you, sorry. I still just can’t get too worked up about it. The only detriment to this game is that it ruins an otherwise solid performance from Crawford. In the second game of his return to the team, Crow put up a 40 save performance but wasn’t able to stop either shooter in the skills competition. So it goes on this frigid night.
