Everything Else

Feeling So Small

By Sam Fels 1302 0

A lot of people, mostly outside our strange little world, were trying to draw connections between the NHL lockout and that of the NFL referees. However, the issues were very different. The refs were locked out over disputes over pensions and job security. In that sense, the NFL referee lockout was much closer to the teachers’ strike than it was the NHL Lockout.

But the furor over it this week and the resolution last night was an excellent demonstration of why it sometimes hurts to be a cult/niche sport, even though that’s part of the attraction for a lot of us.

Everything Else

Hey, The Kids Are Playing!

By Sam Fels 1466 0

While we stare at people having a staring contest waiting for one of them to blink so we can have something to talk about again, some of the Hawks prospects have actually strapped on the skates in anger. I know, it’s a reach here. But we might as well check in with some of the kiddies.

Everything Else

Knights Of The Roundtable

By Sam Fels 1458 0

It feels like it’s been years since we last did one of these. Probably because it has been. But with the new digs it felt like the right time to bring it back. We got the best and brightest….well, we got the Hawks bloggers who talk to us to discuss the issues of the day. Jeff Bartl from Cheer The Anthem.com, Forklift And Cieslak from Hockeenight.com, Chris Block from The Third Man In.com came out of his Fortress-like lair to chip in (if you’ve seen Fortress, this is a very funny image. Random intestination!), and we even somehow located The Fifth Feather. Let’s see what the boys have to say.

Everything Else

Chris Chelios Is A DeutschBank, And Other Thoughts

By Sam Fels 1335 0

With all this time to kill and too much rattling around the ol’ cranium to not let it spill out occasionally, I think every Monday until we have hockey I’m going to bother you with whatever’s on my mind. Mostly just a review of the weekend sporting action I previewed on Friday. You’ll just have to deal, but you’ve never shied away from being my catharsis before.

Everything Else

A Modest Proposal

By Sam Fels 2020 0

Perhaps you’re like me and every other hockey blogger you read. Maybe  you’ve been inundated with emails from someone imploring you to join some sort of fan protest or walkout against the lockout. If you have, you’re probably like me in seeing the futility of it. Obviously, no one cares what we really think, as the return of our asses to arena seats and our eyeballs to the TV screen whenever these jerk-stores deign to return the game we love to us is pretty much assured. No matter how big of a crowd one gathers outside the NHL offices, you can bet Bettman and Jacobs would laugh at us.

So, in the coming weeks, I’d like to spend my time with something a bit more productive. Instead of just shouting at the rain on both sides, I think it’s more beneficial to try and come up with solutions. It has about as much chance as ending the lockout as these silly protests and walkouts do. But it’ll be more productive for us and at least maybe, if others catch on, we can feel that we did something to try and end the madness. At least we’ll feel better.

Everything Else

Your Weekend Viewing Guide

By Sam Fels 1363 0

Unfortunately, I’m going to be doing these for a while. Not that there was really hockey scheduled to be watched this weekend anyway. But it would have been the training camp festival and it would have felt like the season was really close. Our previews would have been in full gear. Discussions about lineups and surprises on the roster would be at full heat. So we’re just going to have to make-do with what we have here. And thankfully, there’s a lot if you’re willing.

Let’s to it.

Not Pictured: nuthuggers and shin high white socks with black sneakers
Everything Else

Larry Bird Should Come To Hockey

By Sam Fels 2045 0

While what I really want to hear is that everyone’s going to stop acting like children and there’ll be hockey in October and I can get back to work, it’s obvious we need to settle for incremental steps until we get to that point. And what these negotiations have lacked, other than logic or understanding of the world around them, are any creative solutions. Both sides have basically said, “We want money. Give it to us.”

Obviously, for a breakthrough to happen someone is going to have to get creative. Or there’s going to have to be a couple new wrinkles in the CBA to help out. I won’t sit on a hotstove waiting for this one, but I’d love someone to suggest the idea of a Larry Bird Exception in the new CBA.

Everything Else

Iceberg Off The Starboard Bow

By Matt McClure 1382 0

Not that it’s unexpected, but the NHL has cancelled all preseason games through the end of September, as noted by everyone on Twitter.


While it’s no great loss to cancel games that don’t matter which season ticket holders are required to pay for, it’s yet another harbinger of doom as both sides engage in the world’s stupidest staring contest.

Everything Else

The Time To Kill

By Sam Fels 1235 0

Now that the curtain is up, and  you all have perused the shelves and walls and extra rooms, you’re probably wondering what we’re going to do in these parts while there are no Blackhawks signings, poor play, ridiculous line-shuffling, and clown shoes power plays to discuss. Well, we kind of are too.

The three of us have talked about this at some length, and the first thing we can tell you is that a full season preview is probably going to wait until there’s a season. I won’t pretend to speak for Kills and McClure, but I know whenever I think about doing a season preview right now my heart just sinks. I could barely bring myself to read Puck Daddy’s preview. And on the ground, the Hawks team probably isn’t the finished product for the season yet. So we could have a portion of what we do wiped out when the CBA is agreed.

So where do we go from there?