vs. 
FACEOFF; 7pm Central
TV/RADIO: NBCSN, CSN, WGN Radio
MUSIC CITY MAESTRO: On The Forecheck
The Hawks head into Nashville tonight to wrap up the regular season and…
Yeah, sorry folks. That sums it up basically. All yours.
I’m going to put as much effort into this wrap as the Hawks did in this game:
Discuss.
I thought I’d knock this out today, with two games to end the season and attendance at HockeeNight’s thing on Saturday making Sunday completely useless. So let’s do our full season Atop The Sugar Pile.
The Dizzying Highs
Niklas Hjalmarsson – I named him The CI’s Player Of The Season in last night’s issue. And for me, everything has basically centered around him this campaign. Yes, Duncan Keith is the main cog in the engine, or maybe even the engine himself, that drives the Hawks game. But Keith was allowed to be that this season because Hammer was so good and earning the top assignments. It allowed Keith to dominate lesser competition, and when Keith is controlling the ice everything about the Hawks’ game opens up.
While we can look at almost every other Hawks and find a portion of their season that dipped or had a slump, it’s hard for me to remember a time when Hammer’s game varied 5% either way. The only time he looked vulnerable was lately when he had to be paired with Sheldon Brookbank. But who wouldn’t? Hammer’s poise defensively and with the puck has been startling to watch when you consider where he was two years ago. He never panics, he’s always in position, and his short but assured passes to the middle simple deflate every forecheck and start the Hawks the other way.
Has he been the all around game that Keith has? No. But he’s the best defensive defenseman on the team this year. He might be the best kept secret in the NHL, but I don’t think it’ll stay that way for much longer.
vs. 
PUCK DROP: 11-Fucking-30 in the AM
TV/RADIO: NBC, TSN2, 87.7FM (This is where David Kaplan orally farts now, in case you were curious)
BELCH: St. Louis Gametime
I’m sure when NBC flexed this game to another Sunday morning coming down they were hoping for a deciding tilt in the Central Division. What they’ll get is basically two entrenched team, one that’s coming off an utter disaster and another mental meltdown and one that’s missing two of the five best players in the league that is basically just trying to get its game in order. It’ll be a passionate affair as these contests always are, but considering the start time and the lack of much riding on it, probably not exactly what the execs were hoping for.
vs. 
PUCK DROP: 6pm Central
TV/RADIO: CSN, WGN Radio
WE MEANIES ONLY TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER: Jackets Cannon
The Hawks continue this exercise in perspective tonight in Ohio, facing a pretty spiky Blue Jackets team that is scrapping for either a wild-card spot or even taking the last automatic one in the Metrosexual. They also played last night and did their cause a world of good by shutting out the Flyers in Philadelphia.
Fantastic: HockeeNight
Yup:SCH
Call it whatever you want: Chicago Tribune
Clutch in the shootout: SunTimes
A new look: TSN
Well they won’t box up the video of this one and send it off to Toronto for safe keeping. This one looked every bit like two teams missing some key players who really don’t have much on the line just getting through the schedule. But I suppose when you’re missing two of the five best players in the league and then are stripped of one of your top four, you’ll take the points however they get there. So it goes.
And in reality, I liked the Hawks’ structure tonight for the most part. They were hitting the line with five, they were coming all the way back to be available, and when they do that they really keep the other team from getting sustained pressure. The Wild had their moments, but I don’t feel like Crawford ever had to be a poltergeist to keep the puck out of the net. Sure, he still looked behind him twice but those were results of some fluky bounces and deflections.
Of course, a deviation from that structure is what caused the tying goal, but we’ll get to that.
