Preview: NHL
Crow-Less:Chicago Tribune
TV Money: TSN
That won’t help attendance in the desert: ESPN
Maple Leaf Projections:TSN
This headline explains so many things: Globe and Mail
vs. 
GAMETIME: 7pm Central
TV/RADIO: CSN for the locals, NHLN for the outsiders, WGN 720 for the dead
WAITING FOR THE GOPHERS: Hockey Wilderness
The Hawks embark on a pretty ridiculously packed schedule the next 10 days here. There’s three games in the next four days, five in the next eight, and seven in the next 12. Only after the 17th’s trip to Nashville will the Hawks get as much as three days off. And the roster is looking a bit stretched tonight with both Michal Handzus and Andrew Shaw not making the trip.
It came a little sooner than I expected it, but I think we all saw it coming once Brandon Pirri was kicked off the second line as soon as Handzus was removed from his iron lung. Today he was sent down, along with Mike Kostka who will be on a conditioning assignment. In their place Joakim Nordstrom was called up, as was Jeremy Morin.
The call-up of Morin is curious, as this was a player we’d all pretty much figured Q had written off and was never going to warm up to. It’s obvious Morin is too good for the AHL but he may not be good enough yet for a serious Cup contender in the Hawks (though I think he will be one day). Nordstrom has already gotten a few cartoon hearts to float of Q’s chest in preseason, and has played very well in Rock Vegas.
How this shakes out on the roster? I’m not sure I can tell you.
The IceHogs played in 3 games during the extended holiday weekend. 2 of the games were well played by the boys from RockVegas, while the other was one they would love to forget ever happened.
Gamesheet: NHL
Advanced Metrics: Extra Skater
I disagree with the lede: Chicago Tribune
Toews and Keith and maybe Crawford to get the Call on January 7th: TSN
Great One gets paid: Sportsnet.ca
Saturday’s Gamesheet: NHL.com
Advanced Metrics: Extraskater.com
Exclamation Point: Chicago Tribune
Tragic: TSN
Week 8 brought 3 more games for the IceHogs with one coming at home against Abbotsford and two coming on the road against Charlotte. Unfortunately—or fortunately depending on how you look at it–for Rockford, they were only able to pick up one win.
5-1: Tribune
Fuel to burn: Cheer the Anthem
Gamesheet: NHL
Advanced Metrics: Extra Skater
This is probably going to be important: TSN
No more NHL coming up after Sportscentre:PuckDaddy
Gamesheet from Saturday: NHL
Advanced Metrics from Saturday: ExtraSkater
Nine Seconds: Hockeenight
Circus Observations: CSN
Hossa home: ESPN
Detroit Swimmers: PuckDaddy
Thanks for pardoning the Saturday night wrap. You know how these things go.
While the players said different on both sides, and there was still some yapping and some gatherings after whistles, there’s definitely some heat out of the Hawks-Canucks rivalry. As more and more distance is put between the Playoff Trilogy, and each team has more and more its own things to deal with, that’s going to continue. It was always a rivalry built on this crop of players, and the more they change then it will fade out.
That doesn’t mean last night’s win didn’t feel particularly good, because it did. Maybe it’s partly because it was Vancouver, and maybe it was beating another team almost certainly using the game as a measuring stick. It was weird, until taking the lead I thought the Hawks were carrying most of the play. But as soon as they were up 2-1 it was bunker time, even though they weren’t the team that had played the night before. But whatever works, right?
