slumpbusting: Blackhawks
Raanta is ready: ESPN Chi
I assume Q will try him in goal: CSN
Good news for a capped team: TSN
A story with “filthy,” “between the legs,” and “Penn St.” that isn’t terrible: Deadspin
And by that I sort of mean that Scott Clemmensen happened. Not that he was truly awful, though I’m sure he’d like goals #3 and #4 back. But we all knew that with the Panthers coming in after playing last night and rolling out their backup, journeyman goalie that the Hawks would only have to be locked in for so long to build a lead they couldn’t possibly punt. They kind of tried to, but only half-assed their cough-up effort (in the same way they half-assed some of their breakouts) and when bothered were able to slip away again.
The night was overshadowed by Corey Crawford’s injury, and then the Vaudevillian display that would have come if Antti Raanta hadn’t gotten up from being run by Jimmy Hayes (marking the first time that Hayes aggressively went to the net at the United Center). Whether it ends up being long-term or not, we’ll just have to wait. But we better hope not.
Mary, there is no hope for us. If this GM van don’t make it across the state line we might as well lay down and die. Because if Florida takes us we’re taking everyone down with us. Where we’re coming from will be the death of us.
Because all we can do is what we’ve always done.
It was a birthday gift of a Mexican Telecaster; from this day on I will play along to all my Young Pioneers records. And there will be a poetry spoken silently between me and the stereo. I’ll work mornings so you can work through the night.
vs 
Game Time: 6:00PM Central
TV/Radio – WGN Ch. 9, WGN-AM 720
Heaven’s Waiting Room: Litter Box Cats
It’s been nearly two years since the Panthers graced UC ice, and it was a snowy affair that time as well, with the game being postponed due to the Panthers team bus not being able to traverse the snowy Chicago streets in rush hour. And while Mother Nature has blessed us so far today with a picturesque yuletide dusting, it’s unlikely to cause such a snag this time. That game can also be recalled as the Hawks’ last win before going on a nine game losing streak, which hopefully does not repeat itself as well.
I haven’t actually bothered to look up the stats… but if memory serves me right, the Hawks tend to actually be pretty damn great when it comes to the second leg of back-to-backs. Like we saw on recent circus trip, when the Hawks should have been on their last breath, they actually ended up playing one of their most complete games.
So coming on the second game in as many days, I almost expected them to come out with their hair on fire and get close to a DLR. It’s just what happens. Only this time, not so much. We’ve seen some sloppy games but this might have been one of the worst we’ve seen for the year. The fact that it came from two of the top teams in the West, and therefore the top of the league, makes it that much more disappointing. If the Hawks shit the bed against the Oilers, we don’t get too upset. They aren’t really going to be a threat. The Ducks though, they could be a problem. As we wrote in the preview, we expected a back and forth exciting game. We didn’t get it. Both teams were garbage and the Ducks won in the silliest part of the game. Moving on…
We are the ones who lost our faith. We dug ourselves an early grave. We are the dead, can we be saved?
A ghost is all that’s left of everything we swore we never would forget.
One day the dreamers died within us, when all our answers never came. We hid the truth beneath our skin but our shadows never looked the same.
