5-3 (Chicago Tribune)(Daily Herald)(Suntimes)(Hockee Night)(SJ Mercury News)
A frantic start: (Cheer The Anthem)
Finding ways to win: (FOX 32)
The first of many (Autoplay): (Blackhawks.com)
Stan is confident: (Comcast Chicago)
The best trade in Boston history is??? (Sportsnet.Ca)
Oh Yah dat Crosby is a wuss…Really????( CBC)
Apparently in a short season..Drinking games are taken more seriously: (Globe and Mail)
A Fighter’s life chronicled: (Toronto Star)
It’s been a while since it felt like the Hawks were playing a regular season game that was central to the hockey world. Saw a bunch of tweets and columns today from non-Sharks or Hawks affiliated people today. I don’t think anyone would say they were disappointed in the entertainment provided.
There really is no such thing as a “statement game.” It’s fun to think there is, and it feels better when you win one to think there is, but it’s kind of a myth. Who knows how we’ll regard this result in a month or two. But other than getting a win in San Jose for the first time in three seasons, beating your closest competitor, and now guaranteeing the minimum amount of points we all agreed was necessary for a successful road trip, we learned a couple things. Possibly. Though I wonder if any of them will be the overriding theme.
Haven’t dusted this one off in a while. Let’s take a look at some stats and stuff. But we’ll start with the stuff. My boy Rob Vollman over at Hockey Abstract.com sent me this player usage chart.
Ahh yes, the late game wrap the next morning. What a fun time these things are. The Blackhawks kept up their impressive point streak to start off the season but for the second time in a row.. fell in the skills competition.
For all the hype we may put on these games, this one turned out to be a pretty lackluster affair. There were plenty of runs on Keith (too be expected and pretty understandable), strong play from both goalies, lots of awful power plays and then a silly little shootout
We are utterly delighted to announce that The Fifth Feather is joining our team. As you probably already know, The Feather has been maybe the smartest Hawks blog going for a while now, and we’re lucky that that level of hockey intellect and snark will be part of our dysfunctional family. Don’t worry, he won’t be making our twitter feed any more schizo, as he will still be found @fifthfeather. And for all you other Hawks blogs, if you’re worried that we will systematically add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own to make an all-powerful species, we will. Resistance if futile. -Fels
So this is what the other side smells like. I can see why I’ve been away for so long. Anyways, let’s get to it. You’ve all waited long enough.
–Patrick Kane is looking more and more like a basketball player in hockey equipment after every game this season. What I mean by that is his ability to slow down the play, handle the puck, and maneuver his way around the ice is very point guard-esque. His assist on Hossa’s OT winner in Dallas should’ve been on an Ahmad Rashad-narrated highlight reel. (Is Ahmad Rashad still alive? Is he still roaming NBA sidelines? These are questions I need to know answers to. Also, let’s put “Inside Stuff” back on the air while we’re at it. That show was great.)
The Hawks special teams save the day. I’ll now take a break while you try and shake the cobwebs from the embolism you’ll have had reading that.
No….not yet…..
Ready?….
Ok, now we go. The Hawks weren’t great for the first half of the game, and what moments they did conjure were stopped, dropped, and rolled by an inspired Kari Lehtonen (no doubt motivated by McClure’s reminder in the preview that he usually steals one from the Hawks once per season. I’m contagious, apparently). And while they improved in the last 30 to claw back a two-goal deficit, it was their power play that got them there. Along with two important and pretty dominant kills. Isn’t that a welcome change?
Our world famous bullets:
@ 
FACEOFF: 9pm Central
TV/RADIO: NBCSN, Comcast, WGN Radio 720
ACME’S FAVORITE CUSTOMER: Five For Howling
Turn it right around. That’s how this season is going to go. Any gleam from a win is going to be quickly washed away with the flow of another game right on its tail. So it is as the Hawks return to the Valley Of The Sun/Invisible Owner to face the Coyotes in their home opener tonight.
A lot of the narrative will be about a rematch of last year’s playoff series, Raffi Torres not playing and Marian Hossa playing, Mike Smith, Corey Crawford, etc. But with the urgency now spiced to taste in every game this year thanks to there being only 48 of them, no one should pay too much attention to it. It’s a game on the schedule you need to win, no more no less.
Monty not even close: (Chicago Tribune)
All about routine: (Chicago Suntimes)
Oduya happy to be back: (Daily Herald)
A look inside with Capt. Mustache: (Comcast Chicago)
The Art of Compromise: (Fox 32)
A fine-tuned PowerPlay: (ESPN Chicago)
Of course NJ is the first team to test the new CBA Rules: (Puck Daddy)
Missed opportunity to fix a flaw: (Ottawa Citizen)
Now that the three of us have returned to our normal, NHL-watching ways, we needed to find someone else to chime in with our Rockford Icehogs update. Luckily, we found one Kim Wrona, from Runs On Duncan.com to help us out with that. So this will be the first installment of Pigs In Zen, Kim’s Hogs update. Now let’s show how adult we can all be by giving here a warm welcome. -Sam
After winning three games at the end of December, the IceHogs went on to lose four straight to kick off the new year. They rebounded at the end of Week 14 in the AHL as they defeated Grand Rapids and Milwaukee on back-to-back nights.
So let’s clean up the rest of the forwards, as in those who will or might make an appearance or two in the Indian Head this season. It might be more than you expect, as this compacted, back-to-back heavy schedule could lead to the injuries piling up. So let’s wrap it up and we can move on to the blue line.