Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

Throughout Thursday night's game with Phoenix, I kept asking myself who this team in the white sweaters was. The names were similar to last year's Blackhawks team, but the intensity and gameplay resembled that of bad AHL team. You would think that they would play with some extra intensity in front their fathers (who were along for the first annual "father's trip"), but the Coyotes took advantage of their laziness.

Huet, No Way!
It seems that every time we try to defend Huet, he goes and has a game like this. The first goal was terrible. There is really no other way to describe it. What's worse? The fact that his legs were spread wider than an Amarillo hooker, or his reaction time? The other two goals (especially the Upshall goal) were not so much his fault. Sure he's played great in his past couple starts, but those were against basement teams like Nashville and Minnesota.

Haaaanzal....

1 goal, 1 assist. This guy played a hell of a game.

Power Play Woes

What is this new PP style the Hawks are running...err... trying to run. Every team is learning that the shot is gonna come from the point. The wingers are faining shots, only to eventually kick it out to the point for a slapshot. Phoenix's veteran D figured this out pretty easily, and blocked over 50% of the shots on the PP. It also makes things easier for opposing teams when they know Brian Campbell WILL NOT SHOOT THE PUCK! An Ed Jovanovski or Vernon Fiddler need only guard the other D-man. They did this all night, and the Hawks were 0-6 with the extra man. You're not going to be succesful when you play a one-dimensional style.

How I Long for Hossa, Let Me Count Ways

He will solve our PP plight

He will many times turn on the red light

Marian will make us all forget Marty

This Slovak will be showered with praise

81 will let the offense take flight

We'll all be laughing on the night

When Toews lifts the CUP as the opponents watch in dismay

Closing Thoughts

The Colorado team we play tonight beat Phoenix 4-1 on Wednesday.

Long Layover Reading

If you want a pretty accurate description of the Hawk's pending "Capapocalypse," read this great post by David Morris [Kukla's Korner]

Didn't See This Coming: Nashville 2 - Hawks 0

For some reason I thought this would happen. All of the Chicago message boards and websites (including this one) were predicting a cakewalk in Smashville. Neither team played like they wanted to win this game. The Blackhawks were 0-5 on the PP, and no one seemed capable of even having the possibililty of scoring except Patrick Kane and John Madden. Why are forwards playing the point of the PP when we have Campbell, Keith, Seabrook, Barker, and even Hjalmarsson? This has got to go. When the Hawks took a shot on Pekka Rinne, they made sure they hesitated just long enough to give him plenty of time to see it and adjust accordingly. Don't get it twisted, Rinne is another stud from that goaltending factory known as Finland (Backstrom, Kiprusoff, Ramo, Lehtonen, Rask, Niemi?). He was hot, but Chicago rarely challenged him with any degree-of-difficulty shots. This loss is quite deflating. Let's hope for a better effort against Les Habitants. Oh....I almost forgot. Huet played great for the third time in as many games. Let's hope he's on a roll.

Dziekuje 

PS- Who can't wait for Marian Hossa to be ready to go?

Who's Sick of Playing the Nashville Predators?

One of the few good things associated with the Preds

ME! However, the good thing is that they are sure to give us an easy two points tonight at the Sommet Center. There was a KISS concert last night, which means you can expect two things:

1. The ice to be slower than Brent Sopel's one-timers
2. A plethora of middle-aged women's panties pasted under the 300 level seats

When Do "Concussion-like Symptoms" Become a Concussion?

Don't know? When you finally have to stop dancing around the subject, and put the player on IR. I'm not sure how much longer the Hawks can deny what is actually going on with Toews. Missing the past week is a clear indication that something is serioulsy wrong with the Blackhawk's star captain.

Illness

Sorry for the lack of current info, but I've been suffering from a pretty bad illness for a couple days now. I should be back with more posts/articles starting Wednesday