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.
Happy..Happy..Happy: (Chicago Tribune)
Captain Serious might be smiling:(Daily Herald)
Healthy Hoss:(Chicago Suntimes)
Apparently Jamal Mayers is tired already:(CSN Chicago)
13 Storylines:(NHL)
Why fans wont stay away: (CBC)
The new CBA: (Down Goes Brown)
Words cant express how happy I am to be linking almost real hockey stories again, not to mention none of these mentioned varience or escrow. Now the fun starts!!
Do I really need a reason to post a picture of Cliff Burton? I didn’t think so. He’s who I pray to, so I think he got this done for us all yesterday.
Let’s talk hockey. Fuck and yes. By now you all know the details of the CBA — cliff notes version: same cap this year, $64 million next year, two buyouts, eight-year limit on your free agents, seven on others, 50% variance. Ok then, what does all this mean for your beloved Men Of The Red And Black?
How do the Hawks stack up cap-wise?
Have two games I’d like to wrap up with our famed bullets, last night’s Hogs win over Chicago and this morning’s US-Russia game which I found surprisingly entertaining. First to our Piggies:
-One of the many things that I’ve been disappointed in being robbed of this lockout, and there may be hundreds, is getting to watch the growth of Brandon Saad firsthand. In reality, even just half a season in the A is probably better for Saad than being immediately chucked into the deepest part of the pool. But even from just a month ago you see a difference, as now Saad makes something happen on almost every shift. He did last night at least. As Chris Block has pointed out, the kid is unafraid to take the puck into high-traffic areas and work along the boards. That’s power forward stuff that you really can’t teach. He may get knocked around for a bit among the men of the NHL, but I doubt for long. Best player on the ice last night by some stretch, I thought. If there is a season, I don’t think there’s any doubt now he’s starting the season here and somewhere on the Top 6. I guess it’s been since Versteeg that we’ve had a rookie to get excited about, and Steeger kind of came out of nowhere. We’ve been waiting for Saad since he was drafted, and that’s one of the cooler things about being a fan of any sport, the youngster coming through the system.
It was not a good weekend for the Rock River Bacon Bits. Two losses, one in overtime, meaning it’s been four in a row now. Oh, and their coach is calling out some of the players in the press (or to Chris Block, but he’s more press than anything in the city these days).
It started well on Friday north of the border, the Illinois-Wisconsin border that is. 40 seconds into their tilt with the Admirals, Nick Leddy scored. But as it always is with the Hogs, the penalties they take cost them, and the ones they don’t cash in on cost them. A dumb roughing infraction from Wade Brookbank, and then a Brandon Saad high-sticking double minor saw the Admirals into the lead before the 1st was over. Both PP goals came from Gabriel Bourque and were off of scrambles in front of the net, in case you thought the Hogs were any better at clearing the crease than the Hawks. Oh and the Milwaukee power play was one of the worst in the league before this night.
Nothing: (TSN)
Support Group: (Grantland)
Can Canada save the NHL? (Sportsnet)
Make whole with the fans:(CBC)
Barriers in the KHL:(Pro Hockey Talk)
Second NHL Team in Toronto can’t happen: (Puck Daddy)
The Hogs embarked on their first three-in-three stretch this past weekend. And it didn’t go so well. One win, two losses, and out of first place to Grand Rapids. You would have wanted more.
It started out ok. Friday night saw the return of Yippy Carter Hutton, who three second period goals on six shots from Milwaukee in the second period. That canceled out a pretty Rob Flick opener, where he came down the right wing – his off-wing – cut to the middle and blistered one past Jeremy Smith.
And then it went nuts in the 3rd period. The Hogs exploded for four goals, two of them Ben Smith deflections on the power play. Brandon Pirri added another one, and Marty St. Pierre finished it off with an empty-netter before raising his long stick in the air and knocking out a couple light bulbs.
Then it went pear-shaped.
Well, we thought — or maybe we just hoped — that at this point we’d be paying attention to a first place team. If you squint real hard, we are. This weekend, with two wins in Charlotte over what was supposed to be a pretty fierce AHL squad, the Rockford Icehogs are in 1st place in the Midwest Division. Yes, they’ve played at least two more games than their immediate chasers, and their point total would only land them sixth or seventh in the conference if they weren’t leading the division. But considering how bad the Hogs have been in the past few years, this is clearly a step forward. Of course, if the top club ever deigns to give us hockey again, the engine on this little revival will probably be ripped out. But hey, it’s more fun to talk about a winning team, no matter what level you’re referring to.
So, to the recaps then.
This is how we used to do it, right? Game at night, and then none of us can get it together for a wrap until the next morning? I’m just trying to get it down again in case I ever have to go back to doing this regularly.
It was a strange feeling last night out at Rose-Mizon. Other than the few dedicated Wolves fans (some of whom are just a bit weird, I’m sorry. I get it if you’ve sworn off the Hawks for past indiscretions and the greater affordability and access of the Wolves. That’s fine. But to the point where you buy and wear a Canucks jersey? I mean, come on! You don’t have to be a Hawks fan to know how inherently wrong that is. I know you’re trying to thumb your nose at the establishment, but that’s just thumbing your nose at common sense and decency), there was a sense that everyone else would rather be somewhere else.
The players want to be in the Big Time, most of the fans want to be at the UC, the press would have rather been covering the NHL, and we’re all just kind of here because we can’t be anywhere else.
@ 
Puck Drop: 7:00 PM
TV: CN100
You’re fuckin’ eh right it is. I miss doing these, and game posts are what I do best. So I’m going to fucking do one today, and then there’ll be an actual wrap either tonight or in the morning. Hopefully, it’ll remind us why we’re all here in the first place. But then that just might make us angrier that we aren’t doing this regularly. But fuck it. I’m tired of coming up with shit that you don’t even want to really read anyway. And I’m going to swear even more!
What could I possibly be writing about? Why, it’s the Rock River Swine visiting the O’Hare Annex Lupus (I have a fear of Wolves). That’s right, it’s the battle of….Northern Illinois? I guess Peoria is south enough to not be in that category, right? Let’s go with it.
