vs. 
FACEOFF: 7:30pm Central
TV/RADIO: CSN, NBCSN elsewhere, Sportsnet Up there, WGN 720
IF YOU KNOW THE NAME OF THE KING OR QUEEN BEING MURDERED: The Royal Half
Guess we’ll find out pretty quickly if last night was some sort of watershed point late in the season or a blip in an otherwise uninterrupted downward trajectory, Rents. The L.A. Kings saunter on in to the UC tonight, for their first and only visit this season and first since things went a tad pear-shaped last June 1st.
Not exactly how you want to start a trip that isn’t going to have much margin for error to begin with. And while the downfall was due to a familiar problem (mostly), it’s not one that you fear is going to be a long-lasting one. At least you certainly hope so.
Still, the Hawks once again couldn’t even draw a point out of a game in which they were tied or had the lead in the 3rd, and that is worrisome. You have to close these, especially when Nashville may never lose again. Which is what they did against Washington, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Dallas. I don’t expect it to continue, but a couple more and we can’t label it an anomaly anymore.
Let’s get to it:
vs. 
FACEOFF: 9;30pm Central
TV/RADIO: CSN for the locals, NBCSN for the non, Sportsnet for the Hosers, WGN Radio
THE DEAD PRESIDENTS: The Royal Half, Jewels From The Crown
The post All-Star Break… well you can’t really call it a rush until March or so, so I guess portion? Section? Let’s all agree February kinda sucks and move on. Anyway, there’s no stoppages at least from tonight all the way until the Hawks pack up the bags at some point in the spring. And of course it kicks off with a stop in L.A. to begin the California swing of this six-game roadie. Because why start off easy?
Before and after the game last night, Darryl Sutter called the Hawks the best team in the league. Before it sounded a little strange, especially as Sutter was saying it because of different stats people should look at and Sutter always strikes people as someone who can’t add (but of course, the Kings are one of the more advanced metric team in the league and Sutter’s a big part of that). It also sounded strange to those of us who watch the Hawks every game, who get in a little deep with picking apart cracks we see because there’s just not much else to do.
vs. 
FACEOFF: 9pm Central
TV/RADIO: WGN for the locals, NHL-N for the non-locals, Sportsnet for the Hosers, WGN Radio 720
SUNSET HONEYS THAT MAKE US SAY: The Royal Half, Battle of California, Jewels From The Crown
You would think that this would have been the game circled on the calendar before the Circus Trip started. And yet it doesn’t feel like there’s an extra charge about this one. Maybe it’s because it’s the last game of the trip. Maybe it’s because both teams know that these sorts of things in November don’t really matter. Maybe it’s because neither team has fired on all cylinders this year for the most part. Or maybe it does and I just haven’t noticed. I am kind of oblivious that way.
vs.
FACEOFF: 7pm Central
TV/RADIO: NBC for Yanks, CBC for hosers, 87.7 FM
WALKING IN L.A.: The Royal Half, Jewels From the Crown
So for the first time this postseason, the Hawks find themselves even after just two games, having lost for the first time at Fort Kickass on Madison. To regain the lead, the Hawks will have to do something they haven’t done since in San Jose in 2010. That’s win their first game on the road in a series. That’s right, it’s been that long.
Going back over something I may have left out in the aftermath of Game 2 and heading into Game 3.
-The score kind of blights it, but the Kings and Hawks at even-strength had the same amount of Corsi events, Fenwick, and shots on goal. That might lead some to conclude that we had a return of “CRAW-STINK IS TERRIBLE” but really only Carter’s goal would I have a problem with (Muzzin’s was pretty perfectly placed). Just one of those things where their power play scored one more goal than the Hawks (and the Hawks really can’t lose the special teams battle because this makes it clear just how even they are at equal strength) with the Kings punching back on the counter.
Really I think it just illustrates how even these two teams are, and how all of us might have gotten carried away a little by Game 1 and the first 38 minutes of Game 2.
Just cleaning up some discussion points from Sunday’s opener.
-While some are claiming the Hawks won yet another game where they were outplayed for long stretches, I’m not so sure. Yes, the 2nd period wasn’t pretty (and that’s something the Hawks will have to correct), but everything around that looks pretty all right. The first period saw the Hawks better in Fenwick 10-7, and the 3rd period was even at 6-6.
What is more encouraging is that once the Hawks took the lead, the shot-attempt per Fenwick was only 11-8 in favor of the Kings. Being even in the 3rd when the Hawks had the lead they weren’t completely bombarded, though maybe it felt like that at times. We know this was an issue against the Blues, and against the Wild the Hawks actually didn’t have the lead that much late (only in Game 5 did they protect a one-goal lead late, and once they did they were out attempted 12-5).
We lamented about the shell in the first two rounds, but yesterday the Hawks saw it out through suffocating, aggressive defense which then got the killer goal as the Kings pressed at the wrong time (thank you, Jake Muzzin!). I like that.
vs. 
FACEOFF: 8pm Central
TV: NBCSN
WHY DID I MOVE TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA?: The Royal Half, Battle of Cali, Anaheim Calling
We’ll give this one the full treatment as the winner will be the Hawks’ final step in the Western conference.
The first thing to know about tonight’s decider is that Bruce Boudreau’s record in Game 7s at home is not impressive. In fact, it’s total sewage. In 2008 Boudreau’s Caps, which were just a barely mediocre team that got hot enough to win a terrible division, lost to the Flyers in overtime (cue a Cristobal Huet stick-breaking tantrum). In 2009, the Caps made it to the second round to face the Penguins that had the NHL at its most tumescent, and they even got a Game 7 out of it. And at Verizon Center Semyon Varlamov melted down and this game was over before you could finish your first beer. The following year, the Caps fired 50+ shots at Jaro Halak, from everywhere and anywhere and in such a panicked fashion it felt like the hockey version of a teenage boy trying to bang an exotic dancer, so frantic and panicked that it was. Again, the Caps went home. They’ve never recovered from that loss as an organization. But Gabby brought this act out west with him, with the Ducks barfing up last year’s first round decider to Babcock’s Wings. So yeah, there’s some history here.
I’ve just got random flotsam and jetsam passing around my skull today, so I’m just going to spit it all out in random fashion.
-Though I worry this might kick off a whole thing here, I really wasn’t comfortable with the Patrick Kane’s grandfather’s passing after last night’s game. I guess it’s news or something you have to mention. But to me, that’s Kane’s private matter to deal with. If he wants to share with the press and public, that’s fine. But it just felt like there was a slightly gleeful… exploitation of that angle? Maybe that’s a bit strong.
Kane’s not the first, or even this season. There was Thomas Tartar scoring in the very same building a day after his father died. And I wasn’t really comfortable with that either. That’s his matter, his grief, his process, and we’re not entitled to know about it. Again, if Tartar was willingly sharing that’s ok. But when I hear on the radio about whether Kane will attend the funeral or not or miss games, that’s too personal for me. I feel like the Hawks could have easily said, “Patrick has a family emergency” or something.
I feel like events like this are shaped and used to make players seem more heroic or determined or something that they can play through grief. But you know, a lot of us use work to get through a hard time or after a loss of someone close. It’s a distraction, gives us something else to focus on for a short time instead of the pain. I don’t feel like athletes are any more remarkable in that way than anyone else. I know I have done this. And those who don’t play, or don’t work, they’re no less worthy of praise for taking the time they need.
It just isn’t any of our business. The information is fine, but the glorification of it, the exploitation for an easy narrative, it just makes me itchy. That’s Kaner’s personal business, not ours.
