Distraction Free: Chicago Tribune
Lots to Not Lots: Cheer the Anthem
Well I think we have a new nickname for Brandon Saad: Hockeenight
Steamrolled: Second City Hockey
Seguin cleaned up: http: TSN
The Best of Scum: ESPN
vs 
Game Time: 7:00PM Central
TV/Radio: CSN, WGN-AM 720
BROHIO!: The Cannon
Now that the Great Trade Deadline of Aught-14 has come and gone, it appears that as usual, Stan Bowman and the Hawks like their people and will move forward for the most part with what brought them here, despite a pretty obviously glaring need for some kind of center capable of pivoting a scoring line other than Jonathan Toews. But it’s never been a concern they’ve seriously addressed in five years, so why start now. The final iteration of the 2013-2014 Hawks will take the ice for the first time this year against former division opponent Columbus for their only trip to the UC this season.
Let the overreaction commence! Chicago Tribune
The Hawks get faster: NHL
I can only imagine his tweets and privacy will increase: TSN
Fat Tuesday: Sportsnet
This is fantastic: SCH
I suppose a semi-letdown after the Stadium Series game should have been expected. I’m told that our favorite go-to terms “energy,” “intensity,” and “flat” were being thrown around the postgame show, which is what all the media run to when the Hawks lost a close game. Yeah, maybe the Hawks weren’t in the red but I don’t think they were totally listless either. In fact, I didn’t really have much of a problem with the effort or the way the Hawks played. They got Maple Leafs-ed tonight, as the Avs were ruthless on two big mistakes from the Hawks. One was Keith’s misplay of a pass, and then Oduya’s pretty stupid penalty. And of course, once again Semyon Varlamov is basically the difference.
Sure, when the Hawks are a combined 1- 3-3 against the Avs and Blues — with it looking pretty likely they’ll have to get through both in April — that doesn’t feel good. It can be a little scary, even. But I don’t know if it’s indicative of how things would go in the spring. In a twist, the Blues are 1-10 against the California teams and Vancouver where the Hawks are 6-0-3. Again, I don’t know that means anything.
It’s still early March, and the Hawks showed some signs of tightening up their game. It’s got to get better, but it probably will.
While we were celebrating Hollywood: Chicago Tribune
The Least: Hockeenight
Stan not focused on trades: Chicago Suntimes
Snow Globe moments: Comcast
HA!! Schnieder’s Law: Puckdaddy
Box Score
Event Summary
Extra Skater
I could not have been more excited about the Blackhawks playing at Wrigley Field back in 2009. The Hawks were still on their way up and there was finally energy back in the stands. I gladly paid hundreds of dollars for two tickets for my brother and myself to sit in centerfield, lose all feeling in my toes and fingers to watch the Hawks get off to a fast start before getting demolished at the hands of Scum. This year, while I was tempted to go to the game and even had tickets offered the day before, I couldn’t muster up the same excitment. Whether it was my ongoing headcold or just my disinterest in Soldier Field compared to the iconic Wrigley, I just wasn’t as excited. That doesn’t mean the game didn’t turn to be a pretty exciting and beautiful spectacle though. It just means I was happy to have been watching it from a bar where I only had to walk 5 feet to get a new beer and not worry about whether I would lose a toe.
vs. 
FACEOFF: 7pm Central (more like 7:20)
TV/RADIO: NBC, WGN Radio
YINZER YAP: Pensburgh, The Pensblog
The Hawks and Penguins will venture out to the Lakefront to combat temps in the teens and an approaching snowstorm (it may or may not get here in time for the game, but the way this winter’s gone, it’ll get here). Oh, and each other I suppose.
Both teams did not come out of the break in a fashion they would have wanted. The Hawks looked a little leggy in a 2-1 loss to the Rangers, and the Pens coughed up five goals to the Canadiens at home and eventually lost in a shootout. Both teams would like to kickstart their run-in tonight.
It was about what you would think a game after nearly three weeks off would look like. Players playing at different speeds, wavelengths, sloppy, disjointed, a bit frantic. I don’t think the Hawks looked lethargic per se (well, except for Seabrook) but they definitely didn’t look in sync. It might be a couple games before they do, and the problem there is that that’s when the adrenaline of being back with your teammates might wear off and the miles traveled might catch up. But we’ll run that kitten over when we get to it.
The Hawks didn’t create much thanks to their habit of not being able to complete three consecutive passes, and they’re not really a team built to rugby scrum the puck into the net. Thanks to the form of Spear And Magic Cam Talbot (Spear and Magic Cam Talbot? Spear And Magic Cam Talbot!), that’s kind of what they needed to do.
And once again the hammock nature of the Hawks forwards kind of reared its ugly head again (much like love). The Hawks get dominant shifts from the top consistently, they get decent ones from the fourth line for the most part, and then the second and third lines come out and give a performance art interpretation of Zaireeka. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad, and most of the time it’s splatter pattern. Can we break up the top line yet?
Let’s get to it:
Hossa Ready: Chicago Tribune
Regin will get a shot at 2C: CSN
Crow expects a heavy workload: Chicago Suntimes
Back to his real job: TSN
