It’s difficult to not be supremely overconfident after watching the Blackhawks pick the wings off of the…ahem, Red Wings like a demented child would to a harmless fly but I will give it a go. It’s why they pay me the big bucks.
Regular Season Recap: Chicago Tribune
Verdi talked with Joel: Daily Herald
Uno Mas: Cheer The Anthem
The three guys that need to be shut down: Blackhawk Up
Ben Smith is ready: Comcast Chicago
Josh Harding will win (and should) but No Hossa love? Puckdaddy
Well…they still are Kings of the Mountain: TSN
My Sens got shitpumped by The Flightless Birds: Ottawa Citizen
Sheer Turmoil from the top down and I love it: Calgary Herald
I had a few thoughts on this whole Viktor Stalberg possibly being a healthy scratch stuff, and couldn’t convey it in just 140 characters.
It’s rare that I would try and calm down anyone about any of what Joel Quenneville does, as I’m as skeptical of him as anyone. Well, except for maybe the tallest writer at this site. But let’s see if we can’t pull this bus over to the soft shoulder and turn the hazards on.
I had a few thoughts on this whole Viktor Stalberg possibly being a healthy scratch stuff, and couldn’t convey it in just 140 characters.
It’s rare that I would try and calm down anyone about any of what Joel Quenneville does, as I’m as skeptical of him as anyone. Well, except for maybe the tallest writer at this site. But let’s see if we can’t pull this bus over to the soft shoulder and turn the hazards on.
Oh no! I made a musical reference to a non-Detroit band! Killion’s going to shit a chicken!
Anyway, when you talk to Scum fans (at least the most reasonable ones, but boy is that a world’s tallest midget contest), you get the feeling that they have an inordinate amount of faith in Jimmy Howard. On the other side, you get it because a lot of the Wings goaltending has been so bad over the years (whatever the win-loss record might say) that an actual above-average goalie might look even better than he actually is.
Before I get a bunch of tweets and comments about how I’m totally undervaluing Howard from the Great Unwashed of Southeast Michigan (and that one dude in Kansas), let me be clear: I don’t think Howard sucks at all. He’s very good. And in a positional matchup, this is the only area where the Wings can boast even a push with the Hawks. And any goalie who punches Corey Perry in the back of the head has to be somewhat admired.
Oh no! I made a musical reference to a non-Detroit band! Killion’s going to shit a chicken!
Anyway, when you talk to Scum fans (at least the most reasonable ones, but boy is that a world’s tallest midget contest), you get the feeling that they have an inordinate amount of faith in Jimmy Howard. On the other side, you get it because a lot of the Wings goaltending has been so bad over the years (whatever the win-loss record might say) that an actual above-average goalie might look even better than he actually is.
Before I get a bunch of tweets and comments about how I’m totally undervaluing Howard from the Great Unwashed of Southeast Michigan (and that one dude in Kansas), let me be clear: I don’t think Howard sucks at all. He’s very good. And in a positional matchup, this is the only area where the Wings can boast even a push with the Hawks. And any goalie who punches Corey Perry in the back of the head has to be somewhat admired.
While the forwards that McClure previewed still have some threat and generational skill sprinkled throughout, when Hawks fans look at this back end is when they probably start licking their chops. The Scum defense was passable enough to see off a Ducks team that really only has one threatening line, as suddenly Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu looked every bit of the combined 175 years old that they in fact are. They will get no such respite here.
Here’s how the pairings shake out:
It shall be Scum: Detroit Free Press
One more for the road: Comcast Chicago
Last Encore? NHL
Game 7 in Boston: Toronto Sun
Game 7 in DC: NY Daily News
This may be an issue: PuckDaddy
Well, that’s that then. An underwhelming series came to what was pretty much an underwhelming end. Sure, it looks glossy to have an emphatic scoreline, but I find the most encouraging aspect of the whole thing to be Quenneville’s quote that he wasn’t too thrilled with the last two games and feels that that there’s a few levels the Hawks are going to have to reach before we pack up the cats for the summer.
And I have to agree.
The Hawks weren’t great tonight, just as they weren’t great in Game 4. They did enough, some players more so and some less. And though it’s easy to say that you only have to pull out enough to win to beat the Wild when you’re Milton Berle, I don’t think it’s so simple as to just turn it on when you feel the challenge is up to your standards.
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Faceoff: 8:30pm Central
TV/Radio: CSN, CBC, NBCSN/WGN 720
Show Me One Night: Hockey Wilderness
Unlike last year, the Blackhawks now find themselves in an elimination game where they are the ones capable of sending a team off to their summer homes earlier than they’d hope. It’ll also be the first chance they’ve had at advancing past the opening round of the post season since the year they’ve brought home a bunch of hardware and a party that lasted all summer long.
The 3-0 shutout in last Tuesday’s game wasn’t exactly a dynamic effort but it still showed that the Hawks are capable of taking home a victory without really putting it all out on the table just yet. The Wild have started each of the games on a very strong note but the Hawks have been able to sit out the storm and even if they get behind, find a way to get back into it, even if that did take til just about the very end of regulation in Game 3.
