The Chicago Blackhawks as a potential girlfriend...

see, i've thought about it.
the parallels are kinda scary.
you know right before a girl breaks up with you something flips.
she starts dressing nicer, being way cooler about how fucked up you got last night, and generally giving you the space you've wanted all along...then, you find out it's because she's trying to pick up dudes at rainbo or something and everything starts to fall in place. the things that were making you feel the relationship were going better end up being the message that self-destructs before you can read it.

i have a sneaking suspicion that this analogy might apply to our Hawks this year.

with all of the hullaballoo about how much better the hawks are, how much better their tickets are selling, and how much we have to look forward to, a simple assessment of our roster leads us in another direction.
Yes, on paper our defense is better.
But, will someone please take a quick peek at our first two lines?:
SHARP TOEWS KANE
??????? KONTIOLA/BOLLAND HAVLAT

havlat hasn't played sixty games since '03.
kontiola and bolland are unproven like a motherfucker.
there is no left wing.
before his season last year, the idea putting patrick sharp on the first line with your youngest studs would've made nostradamus blush.

yeah, we beat the blue jackets last night in the preseason.
why does this make media outlets jump on the idea that the hawks should be booking flights to disneyworld?

things are going good, but why is chicago unable to balance their excitement?

ticket sales are going up too, which is due in a large part to the fact that season ticket holders get a shot to buy winter classic seats before anyone else. likely, a package of season tickets for some people pays for itself the second the seats to the classic get put up on stubhub. not to mention the crowd of douche nozzles that are going to be at every game needing an explanation of offsides. now, i don't mind the hawks getting attention, and i truly believe that hockey should be a more appreciated chicago sport. but i don't want that to happen overnight and have to deal with the same frustrations i've known being a cubs fan for so long. (thanks, john mcdonough. no, seriously.)

shit.

i need to pour out the rest of this haterade.