Everything Else

Some Will Die In Hot Pursuit: Hawks 1 – Avs 5

By Sam Fels 1344 0

In a season where I’ve begged coach and players to look at the big picture and not react game to game, I’m going to try and take the same tack. Sure, some of us wanted this one a little more than we might for any other regular season game. That’s because A) it’s always satisfying to see a team getting too much hype get its market correction (and I saw nothing tonight that convinced me the Avs won’t, as weird as that sounds in a 5-1 dry heave) and B) because the Avs are a garbage organization that deserves that correction. But it didn’t happen, and I don’t want to kick things over games in November.

And that scoreline tells a story that I’m not sure the game follows. Credit to Colorado who were opportunistic and their goalie Drunky McPunchPunch was stellar (must be easy at home where it’s easier to imagine the puck as a woman’s face). Just because you present a team with most of its chances doesn’t mean they don’t have to convert them and the Avs did.

But the Hawks… well, it was there. Could have been so much different. If one very important player wasn’t huffing paint, it very well might have been. Let’s get to the bullets..

Everything Else

We Are Electrocution: Lightning At Blackhawks – Preview/Pre-Game Thread/Quarterly Review

By Matthew Killion 1135 0

Nikola Tesla in his laboratory @ oldschool

Game Time: 7:00PM Central
TV/Radio: CSN, WGN-AM 720
DANGER! HIGH VOLTAGE!: Raw Charge

Last year, the Lightning were one of the more prolific scoring threats in the NHL. They averaged a  3.06 G/G, third best in the NHL (trailing only Pittsburgh and Chicago). They were led by perhaps the most dangerous 1-2 punch in the league with Martin St. Louis and Steven Stamkos leading the league in points (60 and 57, respectively) while Stamkos trailed only Alexander Ovechkin in goals for the shortened season. They’re going to be dangerous every time they touch the puck.

Now, scoring a bunch of goals every game is all well and good but it becomes a major problem for a team when you allow the other team to score the exact same number of goals every game. The Bolts scored 147 goals last year but allowed in 147 for perfectly matching 3.06 G/G and GA/G. Defense should have become a priority in the offseason for Yzerman but it still seems his defense is going to be a hell of a lot better skating forward than backward. 

Everything Else

Moneyball Will End Fighting

By Sam Fels 1398 0

I was going to post a Central Division roundtable that I’d put together with our blogging friends from around the division. But I’m going to shelve that until tomorrow, even though I’m hesitant to pile even more onto what is admittedly a tired debate about the place of fighting and goons in the game. But it needs to be addressed, I think.

As you know, last night George Parros took a nasty fall and had to be stretchered off. He’ll be ok, as only his Princeton-educated brain was bruised. Or however ok you can be when you have a brain injury (which we really should start calling it, just like “Global Warming” should be “Climate Change.”) His face-plant into the ice didn’t really have much to do with fighting, and could have happened in any portion of the game. I remember Kevin Stevens taking such a fall and having a very nasty injury, and that was just a play around the net.

But of course, it’s going to engender a whole new round of furious discussion. My views are well stated, but just to reiterate: Though I’m not one who calls for the end of fighting, I recognize that there really is no way to keep the fights I can accept (two actual players spontaneously getting angry at each other) while getting rid of those I abhor (the staged ones between two slobs who serve no other purpose, and neither does their fight). So I would have to accept a total ban on fighting, and would be all right with that.

But it doesn’t matter where you stand, because fighting will be phased out. And it will be phased out not only because of player safety, but because of the evolution of the sport.

Everything Else

Capital Knockers: Caps 4 – Hawks 6

By Sam Fels 1248 0

And we’re off and running. Had you forgotten what a season feels like when it starts in October? You probably did. I know I had. Let’s get right to the bullets.

-First, the ceremony. This is something the Hawks organ-i-zation really does well, if not a little over the top on patting themselves on the back. But the use of the ice as a big screen is always cool, and just like in 2010 they used interviews with the players to highlight the key moment (this time being the :17). It really brings it home that they were in just as much shock as we were. We were all kids then. Speaking of which, nice touch on having the kids bring the banner to the players, though it would have been better to give them a quick, personal introduction.

-I always find it a little off that Rocky is wildly cheered when introduced, same with McDonough, but then I hear all the moaning when ticket prices are raised. Who do you think does that? Still, they both deserve the cheers, because all we ask is that they provide us a winner for our money.

Everything Else

Upward Grind – Capitals vs Hawks Preview, Pregame Thread, Freshman Orientation

By Matt McClure 1263 0

new-york-daily-news-house-of-turds-cover-boehner vs oldschool

Game Time: 7:00PM Central
TV/Radio: NBCSN, WGN-AM 720
What A Bunch Of Clowns: Japer’s Rink, Russian Machine, Puck Buddys

It’s unclear whether or not it’s ironic or appropriate or appropriately ironic that two teams from Washington and Chicago actually begin working on a day that began with a full government shutdown, the literature majors in the audience can determine that. What is clear, however, is that the Blackhawks will tonight raise a banner for the second time in the salary cap era, something no other team has done. And unlike the last time this happened, they’re in an actionable position to do so again.

Everything Else

And So It Begins – 2013-2014 Hawks Season Preview Q & A

By 1254 0

Last week when solicited, you, the loyal Committed Indian Juggalo for the important questions that you need answered regarding this upcoming season, you certainly did not disappoint. Despite a maximum four-banner winning season from our Men of Four Feathers and minimal (by comparison) post-championship roster turnover, there are still some pressing issues facing the club as camp is about to break.

So without further ado, we begin.

Everything Else

And So It Begins – 2013-2014 Hawks Season Preview Q & A

By Matt McClure 1449 0

Last week when solicited, you, the loyal Committed Indian Juggalo for the important questions that you need answered regarding this upcoming season, you certainly did not disappoint. Despite a maximum four-banner winning season from our Men of Four Feathers and minimal (by comparison) post-championship roster turnover, there are still some pressing issues facing the club as camp is about to break.

So without further ado, we begin.

Everything Else

My Heart Says No But My Head Says Stay: Bruins 2 – Hawks 1 OT (Series ties 1-1)

By Sam Fels 1255 0

Well, this isn’t any fun at all. And I think both sides would agree.

There’s so much on either side to indicate either just a shrugging this off as one game and the Hawks were always going to need to take on in the Hub, and also time to engender genuine worry. I guess what that means is that this series is exactly where most everyone thought it would. On a knife edge, between two so perfectly matched teams that barely an inch or a bounce will separate them. It isn’t going to be over any time soon, is it?

But there are warning signs. And now the Hawks face a true hornets’ nest waiting for them on Causeway St.

Everything Else

The World Is In Your Way – Game 1 – Bruins vs Hawks Preview, Pregame Thread, Freshman Orientation

By Matt McClure 1390 0

bruins country bear jamboroo vs AltLogo

Game Time: 7:00PM Central
TV/Radio: NBC, CBC (Anglo), RDS (Franco), WGN-AM 720
The Impression That I Get: Cup of Chowder, Days of Y’Orr

Now the real fun begins. After an abbreviated 48 game season of intra-conference play and three playoff rounds with their fair share of scares for each team, the Hawks and Bruins will meet in the post season for the sixth time ever, and for the first time ever in the Stanley Cup Final. With the Bruins two years removed from their last title and the Hawks three, it’s a juggernaut matchup that the league has dreamed of, but probably doesn’t deserve after what it’s put everyone through. And though superficial analysis would have one believe that these two teams are diametrically opposed stylistically, they’re actually far more similar than one would expect.