In tonight’s Indian, as I listed the things that were not totally up to snuff through the first half of the season, I wondered if it was going to matter if it all. Maybe the Hawks had just fallen down the rabbit hole, and logic and reason and anything that made sense was simply not going to make a difference any more.
Well, here’s tonight for you. Phil Collins would probably tell you there’s something in the air.
There was a moment in college, I think around my sophomore year, that I decided I would do my best to get really good at chess. I can’t tell you why exactly. I thought it would make me seem smarter, more sophisticated, I was bored, or maybe I just thought it would make me more interesting to women (that was probably it… women love chess players, right?…. I’m an idiot).
Anyways, I remember playing online on Yahoo games, which I’m not really sure people play anymore but I thought it would be a decent place to learn the game against strangers. I would do fairly well some games and just get destroyed in others. In particular, I remember one game that I lost in exactly four moves. I moved four pieces and on my opponents fifth, checkmate.
Is that how Blues fans felt when it went Toews to Seabrook, Seabrook to Keith, Keith to Hossa, Hossa to Saad and then Saad to Toews and into the net?
Mix-Master cut faster:(Daily Herald)
Because I feel disgrace because you’re all in my face: (Comcast Chicago)
Engine running hotter than a boiling kettle: (Suntimes)
The {dude} is crafty like ice is cold: (Blackhawks)
And I know the fly spot where they got the champagne.{and the Nucks won’t find it}(TSN)
We’re offered Moet – we don’t mind Chivas (Globe and Mail)
Well this is just getting ridiculous….
Beat Raps:(Chicago Tribune) (Daily Herald)(Comcast Chicago){ap}(NHL)(Fox)
Gangsta Raps:(Cheer the Anthem)(Blackhawk UP) (Hockee Night)
Verdi’s take: (Blackhawks)
Blocked Shots are key (autoplay)(Comcast Chicago)
Clowe got two games and Brendan Shanahan is blind..Brownie points to the first person to answer why that is..(clue it’s in his quotes) (Puck Daddy)
When the laughter stops….(The Score)
30 Thoughts: (CBC)
Troy Brouwer says what most of us assume: (Toronto Sun)
Geno to IR: (NHL)
Hockey can be such a strange game. At no point tonight did I feel like the Hawks were out of control or in danger. And yet it took a reviewed goal and overtime to glean the two points from what felt like a pretty overmatched Edmonton team. Maybe I saw it all wrong. But I don’t think I did.
To be fair, the Hawks did some of the things you can’t do against the Oil. They had a stumble on the power play, which let them in on a counter (also didn’t help that Shaw completely fell asleep on Petry there). They gave EdMo unnecessary looks on the PP, which led to a Yakupove goal (though it was off a broken pass, and was about the only time I notice good ol’ Yaks).
And without getting out of 3rd gear, the Hawks found their way back, and found their way to two points. It seems like they’re just always doing whatever to get the two points. So I guess I won’t bitch about that.
So there it is. The Hawks officially have the longest points-streak (or unbeaten streak) to start a season in NHL history. This one isn’t even tainted by the NHL’s new-ish format (mostly), as the Hawks haven’t lost in OT even. Under the old system — y’know, one that made sense — the Hawks would just have three ties to go with their 14 wins.
It’s cool to say now. I guess I’m glad it happened. But in a few months, it’ll either be a nugget that goes along with something we’ll remember much more fondly and distinctly, or it’ll be a marker for what could and probably should have been. It’s a record that is designed to be buried by what comes after it. After all, can you name who has the most wins to start an MLB season? You can’t. It’s the ’82 Braves and ’87 Brewers. And I had to look that up, because neither went on to win anything.
Game Day: (Daily Herald)(NHL)
They are ready: (Vancouver Province)
Aiming for History: (Pro Hockey Talk)
Good for these players: (Puckdaddy)
Soviet legend remembered: (RT)
Do players need to be saved from themselves? (The Score)
You watched the game. You saw what happened. Let’s get to it.
–The theme of this win comes down to the Hawks fourth line so that seems as good of a place to start.
Marcus Kruger is continuing to impress. Kruger has definitely added lower body strength this season. While he was getting pushed off the puck in the corners and along the wall his first couple seasons, it’s just not happening as much this season. And the result is added time for him to make his patented nifty passes to open linemates.
You know how I get. It’s not the blowouts or the last second wins that get me excited about the long term prospects of this team. Though I do enjoy the exhilaration of those, or the immediate release of jubilation, it’s the games where you exhibit a superiority that portend to what you might do in the future. At least in my eyes it is.
Tonight was one of those nights. Though the Sharks are probably no longer a conference power, they are not a conference also-ran either. And the Hawks simply outclassed them tonight. Out. Classed. It’s a term we haven’t been able to use very much the past two seasons, if at all. But outclassing means that at no point did you think San Jose could get the best of the Hawks with everything being equal. Every time the Hawks threw out a line or unit, it was better than what they faced. And tonight, it was.
Sure, this Sharks team is in a tailspin, but they never looked a threat. And the Hawks coasted. Let’s see why.
