Fuck the Circus

I remember last year when the circus trip pretty much sealed the deal that the playoffs weren't happening for us. I mean, we made an admirable run at it after that disaster, but we ended up where we should have, a few points out. Now I know that sounds shitty but when you think about it, it's gonna be hard to convince me that we were a playoff ready team last year. Our situation now is much much better and we are looking like a possible top 5 seed. Wouldn't it be great?

All I can say is that if the post-season brings on as much mental stress (for me, not the team) as I believe it will, maybe I'm ready to wait another year. We're maybe a quarter of the way through the season now and the games pretty much determine the kind of night I am going to have. I can't go out after losses (even on the weekends) and if I do things usually end up a little questionable. But, kids, we're winning.

Khabibulin was named the NHL's third star of the week and becomes the first Blackhawk to earn the honor this year. Well deserved, methinks, as Nik has stood on his head three games in a row now. Sure, this makes the goalie situation a little more tense, but, kids, we're winning. Huet told the Daily Herald yesterday that he was "frustrated" with his playing time. He managed to save a total controversy by saying that he is getting outplayed by Nik, but I'm sure there's still a little acid in that bath. Huet is a top-tier goaltender in the NHL. People have dogged him all year, and I have joined in from time to time, but this is not an easy situation to deal with. Sure, for five million a year I'd probably find a way, but Cris is a competitor and wants to play. There's been talk on the boards (mostly dumbasses, mind you) about trading away Huet instead of Nik, but that is insane. Not only does that present a problem when Nik eventually runs out of gas or gets injured (remember who we're talking about here) and we have to throw Niemi into an even stranger situation that Huet, but it doesn't bode well for our chances of landing free agents in the future.

Yes, there is a cap problem and things should have been dealt with differently. But, kids, we're winning.

Shut the fuck up.
These situations will figure themselves out.
I'll admit, I was a little worried about the prospect of trading a big young forward for an old, slow, dildo-face like Nylander because I really thought it was goin to happen. The only thing that kept me sane was that I believe this team is getting tastes of what makes teams successful. The surge in attendance and attention from the NHL has made these kids step up to the plate. They're not going to be allowed to fail as they were in the past. They watched their mentor and friend, Denis, get mowed down in the PR malestrom. They're being mentioned in nearly every rumor in the NHL, and they have a 20 year old captaining the team (who only has two goals, after big expectations) But, you know what, kids, we're winning. Go Hawks.

Where's Dustin?

I would actually say that you could have asked this all year.
He's been kinda a non-factor for the first fifth of the season. He's played hard and has been a physical presence, but has certainly not been able to put the puck in the net. His line has been solid, and they are great defensive forwards, but the Selke trophy is not really something you aim for.

Now, after last night's trouncing of the Stars, we have new reason to believe he may soon be even more invisible. After stepping onto the ice briefly at practice, Buff left and went back to the hotel and was unavailable for comment after the game. With the new NHL rule in place that protects coaches from having to talk about injury, it was clear that Q did NOT want to talk about it. Even Dave Bolland, when interviewed between the first and second, was cut off when mentioning that it would be "sad to see Buff..."

Could it be the Nylander trade?
Could we possibly dump Sopel too?
This might just squash the chances of seeing a Sundin jersey with an indianhead but i think that we need to grab a center now.
While we're winning.
annnnnnnd i think you're with me when i say that i don't want that trade to involve Nik.

My how the tables turn so fast.

DT has gotten himself into a jam and hopefully he'll come out smelling better than he does right now.

We'll likely know by tomorrow when they take on the Laffs.

Everyone take a deep breath. We're beatin the circus 2-0

Goalie Controversy Here We Come....

Khabibulin starts tonight against the Blows....
So much for a rotation!

The St. Louis Blows...

So, again, I am not going to the fucking game.
It's starting to get a little annoying that the Hawks are popular now (though i don't wish ill upon them), but it's a drag that I can't get cheap seats to a fucking St. Louis Blues game.

Regardless, lots to prove tonight. I can't see Q starting Huet, but if he's going to stick to what he's been saying that will be the call. Huet is a good goaltender and in time will prove his worth and the value of his contract. It's almost a bad thing (notice i said 'almost') that Nik is playing the way he is, because i feel like it is putting a lot of weight on Huet's shoulders. I understand that this is professional hockey and that coming to a new team with a big contract and some controversy shouldn't be a problem, you just do your job...But, this situation is a little different and is playing out so strangely that you can't start yelling "Trade Cristobal!" just yet. The five-hole shit needs to stop now, and he needs to stay upright a little longer. Playing butterfly, he's making it much to easy to shelf him blocker side when he drops the second forwards cross the blue line. These things WILL be dealt with though. I swear. Huet will be a large part of our success in the future, just like he should have been with Montreal.

Let's hope JT can keep up the scoring streak.

If there was a team this year that I expected to put six goals up on at home it would be the Blows.

Go Hawks!

Speaking too soon...

is a problem i have.
Last night's game against the Bruins is a testament to that. I should have known the second I mentioned a successful power-play that it would pretty much insure a lazy/confused effort by the Indianhead tonight.
We looked strange on the PP the entire night, and shit, we had a ton of them. Kane said in postgame that he thought it was because Boston wasn't pressuring on their kills and was waiting for the Hawks to try and cut the box apart. Well, the only way that is going to happen in that situation is to get shots from the the tops of the circles and hope for rebounds or use the extra attacker as a screener. Theoretically, while the defense would be reassembling from a blocked shot or rebound there would be openings at the far posts and possibility to come back to the points for a blast. That's how a power-play works, right? Shouldn't a low-pressure PK make that scenario easier to set up and execute? It sure seemed that their ability to stop the passes from D to D across the zone was the reason we couldn't set anything up, but wouldn't that suggest more pressure? I'm confused.

Anyhow, the game should be looked upon as a victory. This is especially true for Nik, as he has been simply incredible in his starts this year. I'm not sure if he's trying to prove something, but it is working. He looked stellar on both of the breakaways he saw and he work on the PK was lights out. Do you realize we spent nearly a third of the game on the kill? Although it looked good and Boston only converted one of their chances our luck is going to run out. Stupid penalties lead to goals and all of these hooking penalties (let's not get into the too many men infractions we keep getting) are not only bad penalties, but they are coming at times where the bitch slap any momentum we may have. Penalties like Buff's roughing call are acceptable and encouraging and we need our players to determine the difference between them. With a young team I expect a certain amount of greenjeans bullshit, but we brought Q in for a reason and he needs to teach these kids positional tricks to keep them from constantly being in situations where a stick in the ribs is the only way to gain ground. Come to think of it, our vets could use a few drills too.

The bright side of the game besides Nik's play was (go ahead and yell "man crush!") Martin Havlat. Marty is playing with an intensity and focus that I have never seen him display before. I definitely thought he would be our third shooter in OT. He is in the corners and winning battles, he is seeing the ice, and his shots have been well timed and efficient. Sure, he's still trying some silly shit at the blue line and his entries into the offensive zone have been shaky at times, but people, think about how much he adds to this team and look at how much better we are than last year.

Q went with Bolland as the third shooter because in practice he was usually the "last man standing" in drills.
Well, as is evidenced by our last few visits to the shootout, Hawks goalies really aren't that hard to score off of.

I'd be interested to hear what you guys think the line-up should be and what you think about choosing to shoot first. Go ahead and leave it in the comments section.

Got a big week ahead of us and I hope we can pull one of the next two off in regulation time.

Oh Shit! Almost Forgot!

Hawks 4th in the NHL on the Power Play!
2nd on the kill!
Goodbye, Special Olympics, hello, special teams!
was that tasteless?

Brian Burke Leaves Anaheim

Well, the title pretty much says it all. Burke has decided not to continue as GM for the Anaheim Ducks today and Murray replaced him. The belief was that he would be moving (slowly) to Toronto to GM for the Laffs, but that's where it got interesting. Burke claims that he's not heading there right away. Go ahead and light the torches and try and block the exits to DT's office, but all of you that think this is leading to the changing of the guard here in Chicago need to get a clue.

1. Burke does not fit this team at all. His tendency to go with older, more experienced waning stars does not jell with the direction the team has taken. Sure, this could be your argument as to why he would be coming on board, but, sorry, wrong.

2. DT, despite a few fuck-ups this season with a very hard to manage cap, has put a tremendous team on the ice. He has drafted better than any GM in the NHL and basically stole Patrick Sharp (who is on a pace to score 60 this year!) from a Flyers team that wasn't even dressing him.

3. The boat has rocked a little to much recently and I believe that Scotty and John are waiting to see what Dale can do with our surplus of talent this season.


Shannahan also decides his future today it seems. There has been talk of Shanny coming to the Hawks, but I honestly believe we are waiting for a true 2nd line center before we sign an aging winger. Look for him to go to the Devils, who not only have the cash to sign him but also a much stronger need for a big power winger with Rolston on the IR. It's possible that he could end up in Philly if the Devils decide not to stick with Kevin Weekes and spend that extra cash on a goaltender.

...annnd i'll probably feel a whole lot better when you're gooooone...

Wow. Another bonafide ass-whipping from our new look Hawks. Seriously folks, in two games at the UC back to back we put up TWELVE goals. That's fucking ridiculous. Not to mention the fact, that if Kipper wasn't such a mutant it likely would have been near nine goals last night. It's encouraging to watch a team gain it's confidence the way that the Hawks have early in the season. It's also nice that Q has come on to a success. No matter how you feel about Savvy's exit, (you know what side of that fence I stand on) you have to understand that a floundering transition doesn't behoove any of us. Q has taken the reins and structured our boys just enough, leaving certain areas of his coaching style on the mantle for now. I am surprised at how aggressive the team remains in the offensive and neutral zones, as in Colorado and St. Louis, Q played a much slower tempo of hockey to excellent results. Then again, he wasn't running a line of twenty year-olds out there as his top scoring line. Joel understands the strengths of his team and has been manipulating them brilliantly in a very short amount of time.

Also, I think it's time to go ahead and give a big high-five to Steeger. Kris has played his ass off every shift since being asked to join the big squad. Even in a short stint last year, I was impressed with his ability to play bigger than his size and am completely blown away by how far that has come in this new season. Will he win the rookie of the year? Probably not. But, seriously, who knows? Finally, youth has not only promise here, it is delivering. He will be in the Calder voting this year, i believe, and if he continues to see the ice and play as positionally sound as he has this month and last, he'll be at the top of it.

I guess we'll have to talk about this Marty rumor today too. Let me say, I think the rumor thing is a little out of control. The only thing is, we've never had a team that anyone gave a shit about to make a trade with unless they were taking our stars for garbage. The potential of being on the other end of that table makes me giddy. That being said, shut the fuck up about trading Marty Havlat. It's no secret Marty is one of my favorite players in the game today. He's electric with the puck and is one of the most gifted skaters in the NHL. If he can continue his dominance of teams this year he'd certainly get my vote for comeback player of the year. Recently on hockeybuzz.com, Eklund mentioned moving Marty and a young NHL ready center (Kontiola) and/or another prospect (Aliu or Skille) for Nathan Horton, a young fourth-year center from the Florida Panthers. Horton is a total stud. He's tough, he can score, he is younger than Marty, and he's less expensive. I know the Panthers got fleeced on the Olli Jokinen deal in the off-season, but can they really let that happen again? Marty would be a great rent-a-player if he stays healthy and could land some serious picks at the trade deadline. Isn't that kind of a risk though? As much as I love the guy, if the Panthers are to put Horton on the table the Hawks need to make that happen. Here's the thing though...

Havlat will remain a Hawk until the trade deadline at least.


Gonna be a great week if we can keep up this domination as we head into the circus road-trip at the end of the month.
Go Hawks.

Hockey Fans Can't Be Trusted

So, I’m a regular on the Blackhawks messageboard, but I suppose you could call me a snooper. Rarely do I post, and mostly when I do, it’s not all that intelligent. Regardless, it’s wonderful to read all the ridiculous trade garbage and salary cap fixes sprung from a twelve pack of High Life in the den the night before. To be honest, it was kinda surprising to find out that Ottawa was considering trading Spezza, Chris Neil, and Gerber for Nik and Petri Kontiola. But, alas, it is true. Also, I didn’t know that along with Spezza, we were also going to nab Sundin, and maybe even Shannahan.
Look dudes, I’m as excited as you are that people are considering Chicago a contender and a team to play for. I agree, it’s nice to have rumors swirling this early in the year that don’t involve us losing our best players. But, people, can we temper this with a little dose of…I don’t know…reality? Let’s set our sights on a player the likes of Vermette or Mike Comrie and then when we sign Mark Parrish the fall won’t be so harsh. Let’s not set ourselves up for disappointment by ordering our Winter Classic jerseys with Spezza on the back just yet, o.k.?
Yeah, sure, I’ve played armchair GM too. It’s tempting. But chanting, “Tallon’s head on a plate if we don’t score a 2nd line center…” is getting a little tedious. I know you likely majored in hockey operations or payroll management at JJC, but shut the fuck up and watch the game. I don’t care how many times you’ve been to the Edge to see them practice, or that you knew Denis was gone because you saw Marc Bergevin talking to DT outside by the Jordan statue. Your job is to cheer when we score, not to pretend that you’re so gifted you could run the team. Besides, Spezza’s kinda a pussy.