So I didn’t get through the whole Central before the season started. Whoops. There were things to do. Luckily all we have left are the two teams that are most certainly going to be the also-rans in this division, unless Peter Laviolette can find leftover Trotz elixir and sprinkle it on his Preds. Am I half-assing this? Yes, of course. But no more so than the Jets spent building their team, so I don’t feel too bad about it.
vs. 
FACEOFF: 8:40pm Central
TV/RADIO: NBCSN, 87.7 FM
ON THE SKYWAY: Hockey Wilderness
As they did last year, the Hawks find themselves having passed up one chance to strangle the life out of this series in St. Paul but with another to do so in Game 4. This time, however, they have a spikier Wild team to deal with (one that’s already escaped this dungeon this spring) and not quite the doomsday arsenal they once did.
If we go off yesterday’s practice, it would appear that Joel Quenneville is going to hit the blender again and try and spread out his scoring (or watch Sharp’s and Hossa’s usefulness get completely erased by Michal Handzus getting beaten silly by Granlund, Koivu, or Haula. Take your fucking pick). That’s if you believe this wasn’t just subterfuge. Even if he’s serious about putting Ben Smith up top and Kane with Kruger and Saad, you know it won’t last much more than a period if the Hawks aren’t up 3-0 and we’ll go back to what the lines have been this series anyway.
They didn’t give us a whole lot of time, did they? About five minutes after Nino Neiderreiter taught the Avalanche about regression and market correction, the NHL announced that Game 1 between the Hawks and the Wild would be on Friday night with Game 2 to follow Sunday afternoon.
While I don’t put too much stock in it, the schedule should give the Hawks something of an advantage. The Wild’s mind might still be in Denver when they show up here Friday (if not their lungs) and they won’t get much more time after that to refocus on Game 2. And make no mistake, they Wild have to take one of the games here this weekend to have any chance. The Hawks are not the Avalanche and are likely not going to biff two road games in a row for the second time these playoffs. So the Hawks may get something of a distracted opponent.
But that doesn’t mean they can start booking their hotels in Southern California just yet. This Minnesota team is better than the one the Hawks curbed last spring, possibly much better, and is playing its best hockey. It’s also coming off perhaps the franchise’s signature win (Andrew Brunette would like a word) and may be riding the high figuring it’s on house money now with nothing to lose. And it’s not exactly like the Hawks dominated the Wild in the regular season.
Let’s go to the tale of the tape, shall we?
Well, we’re about to embark on it all. Before we head into the dress rehearsal tomorrow (please Brandon Pirri, have like four assists), and before we roll out our Central Division special on Monday and then it all kicks off on Tuesday, there’s a few questions we should wrap up. So, let us away, friends.
Will Patrick Kane crack 100 points?
He’s going to make a run at it, that’s for sure. There’s something that happened to Kane last year. He seemed to thrive in cementing himself as a top five player in the league, at least offensively. There seems to be a new determination in him to do things he hasn’t done before. He wants an Art Ross, he wants to be in the Hart conversation, he seemingly wants to erase what he used to be known for. But, as good as he was last year, he was only on pace for only 95 points.
Well, we’re about to embark on it all. Before we head into the dress rehearsal tomorrow (please Brandon Pirri, have like four assists), and before we roll out our Central Division special on Monday and then it all kicks off on Tuesday, there’s a few questions we should wrap up. So, let us away, friends.
Will Patrick Kane crack 100 points?
He’s going to make a run at it, that’s for sure. There’s something that happened to Kane last year. He seemed to thrive in cementing himself as a top five player in the league, at least offensively. There seems to be a new determination in him to do things he hasn’t done before. He wants an Art Ross, he wants to be in the Hart conversation, he seemingly wants to erase what he used to be known for. But, as good as he was last year, he was only on pace for only 95 points.
We’ve been looking inward for a bit now, and you know what happens when you look inward for too long. You start thinking you have complexes and shortcomings that aren’t there, and deciding this or that is the reason you can’t love or can only get off by being spanked with a cricket bat and then you dump all your money to some therapist before you end up sitting on the floor in your apartment with a bucket of chicken wearing nothing more than your underwear as you smear the grease on your chest and….oh, wait, this was just my Saturday night. Ok then…
But sometimes, it’s best to look at everyone else and point out their faults. Well, maybe not best but it sure is a hell of a lot more fun. And it’s easier to blame others for your problems than yourself (unless you’re Catholic). So let’s start that process today by examining what should be the Adams Division or maybe the Northeast except for that thing where the two Florida teams are involved because Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa fans love to go to Florida in the winter if they don’t live there already. Seriously, have you been to that stretch between Ft. Lauderdale and Miami in January? It’s lousy with French-Canadians. They’re everywhere, interspersed with the old Jewish men who constantly looked bewildered. Probably because they are. Oh, and Scum. Because Detroit is so far Northeast.
We’ve been looking inward for a bit now, and you know what happens when you look inward for too long. You start thinking you have complexes and shortcomings that aren’t there, and deciding this or that is the reason you can’t love or can only get off by being spanked with a cricket bat and then you dump all your money to some therapist before you end up sitting on the floor in your apartment with a bucket of chicken wearing nothing more than your underwear as you smear the grease on your chest and….oh, wait, this was just my Saturday night. Ok then…
But sometimes, it’s best to look at everyone else and point out their faults. Well, maybe not best but it sure is a hell of a lot more fun. And it’s easier to blame others for your problems than yourself (unless you’re Catholic). So let’s start that process today by examining what should be the Adams Division or maybe the Northeast except for that thing where the two Florida teams are involved because Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa fans love to go to Florida in the winter if they don’t live there already. Seriously, have you been to that stretch between Ft. Lauderdale and Miami in January? It’s lousy with French-Canadians. They’re everywhere, interspersed with the old Jewish men who constantly looked bewildered. Probably because they are. Oh, and Scum. Because Detroit is so far Northeast.
It had to come down to this eventually, but it’s time to take a look at how the lines figure to shake out given the roster turnover. At least for how they’ll probably look for the first 10 minutes of Banner Night against Washington, before Quenneville gets impatient and plays Handzus 18 minutes.
The inimitable Laaarmer wants to know:
Saad, Pirri, Shaw, Kruger, Toews. Who’s gonna play where and with whom?
(you all know this is the question you want answered)
Hello my pretties. I’m back from a brief hiatus, and I’ve returned to bathe in a stream of contract extensions! Oh the paper cuts! Anyway, it’s time to keep rolling with our preview of the upcoming season (can it really be less than a month?) So let’s not waste any more time, yes? Yes. Indeed. How so. Indubitably.
If, as Hawks fans, you could pick one player to make the leap to becoming a better player, whose leap would be most beneficial to the team? -Why?
Hello my pretties. I’m back from a brief hiatus, and I’ve returned to bathe in a stream of contract extensions! Oh the paper cuts! Anyway, it’s time to keep rolling with our preview of the upcoming season (can it really be less than a month?) So let’s not waste any more time, yes? Yes. Indeed. How so. Indubitably.
If, as Hawks fans, you could pick one player to make the leap to becoming a better player, whose leap would be most beneficial to the team? -Why?
