Blackhawks at Edmonton - Loss Recap

"Play It Again, and Again, and Again, and Again, Sam"


"Tebow will now rename his move The Gagner"

Deja vu all over again. The Last time the Hawks played in in Edmonton, they were completely embarrassed and blown out of the building. They were out played and out classed. Then the Hawks hosted the Oilers, and though the game was closer they still weren't able to beat them. Would the third time be a charm or would the Oilers continue to dominance of the Hawks? Another Hawks loss would draw come concern, because no team should be dominating the Hawks. NONE!

The Hawks looked like a team that wanted to win, in the first period, at least. They had a majority of the chances, despite two powerplays against, and they out shot the Oilers 14-9. Good start, right? It wouldn't last. The Oilers got back in the game with a three goal second period, but a shorthander by the Hawks tied it back up, before the intermission. Even though it looked like the Oilers spend most of the second period trying to give the Hawks the game, they just would take it. And that is when the the sky fell. The third period was, well...BAD. The Hawks were outscored FIVE to one, which sent the Hawks to Calgary with their tails between their legs, following an embarrassing collapse that ended up 8-4.

The Good

• The Hawks came out of the gates with some great pressure, especially the first line. Only cashing in once proved to bite them in the ass. When you have the opportunity to put a team away, DO IT!
• Megamayers took advantage of a napping Devan Dubnyk about five minutes into the first period with the Hawks changing he just threw it at the net, and it ended up past Dubnyk. Awful goal, but hey, they'll take it.
• Watching Cam Barker trip over his own feet and the blue line, letting Bolland and Shaw in on a 2-on-1 was absolutely fucking HILARIOUS! Thank you Minnesota! I guess he had the last laugh, with a ridiculously horrible goal that chased Crawford from net and opened up the flood gates, eh?
• Kaner had a great forechecking sequence to start the second period with two beautiful steals. After the second one, he fed Shooter for a 5-hole, one timer goal, just 40 seconds into the period.
• Hey, folks! Nik Hjalmarsson actually hit someone! Never you mind that it was a rookie playing his second NHL game. He has to start somewhere, amirite?
• Shooter and El Capitan hooked up, shorthanded, late in the second period, to tie the game up 3-3. Toews was all business, taking the low hard shot off Dubnyk's pads and Shooter had a big rebound land on his stick. An easy one for him to putt into the net, and the Hawks have some life.
• Bolland brought the Hawks within one goal off an Andrew Shaw rebound that he was able to sneak past Dubnyk. Unfortunately, that momentum wouldn't last more than a brief moment. Twenty eight seconds, to be exact.
• Oddly enough, all the Hawks centers were over 50% at the dot, except Bolland, who was just a shade under.

The Bad

• Tommy Gunn on the point of the powerplay? Are you fucking KIDDING me, Q? That's REALLY showing some serious desperation. HE is not the answer.
• Taylor Hall put the Oilers on the board just a few minutes after Sharpie's goal. The 100 foot breakout pass from Sam Gagner deep in the Oilers end hit Hall in stride after he had gotten in behind Seabrook. Hall raced in and even though Seabrook recovered and caught him, the puck somehow found it's way past Crawford, who seemed surprised. Soft goal. Gagner ticker: 0g-1a
• Sam Gagner brought the score to back even at 2-2, just about half way through the second period. Crawford was too aggressive on Gagner driving tight to the net, and got tied up with Leddy. Once Gagner decided to go around the net, there was a gaping net waiting for him. Gagner ticker: 1g-1a
• The Oilers scored their third goal of the second period on the powerplay, when Ryan Whitney beat Crawford on a long shot that he really should have had. Either way, Thanks for the power play against, Bickell. Let us know how the doghouse is, and tell Sami Lepisto that was all said "Hi". Gagner ticker: 1g-2a
• Gagner continued his scorching play, while the Hawks continued to play like a hot mess in their own zone. Crow was WAY too far out of his net and the puck came out hard off the glass to Gagner, who had another gaping net. 4-3 Oilers. Gagner ticker: 2g-2a
• Cam Fucking Barker put the Oilers up 5-3 that Crawford just completely fucking missed. WOW, and HOLY SHIT! God Fucking Awful, Crow! You HAVE to make that. I've defended him all year, and I just can't defend that. Good night, Corey. Gagner ticker: 2g-3a
• Gagner got his 6th point and 3rd goal of the game just a few brief moments after the Bolland goal, to end all comeback that the Hawks had in mind. Taylor Hall beat Shaw and Hammer into the Hawks zone for the puck. He turned around and fed it to Gagner, who was towing a Marcus Kruger trailer behind him. Too bad that trailer couldn't bother to tie up his stick or something. Nick Leddy was standing in front of the fucking net covering NO ONE so THAT helped a lot. 6-4 Oilers. Gagner ticker: 3g-3a
• Gagner's 7th point and 4th goal of the night...ah whatever! Seriously, Fuck off! 7-4 Oilers. Gagner ticker: 4g-3a
• Jordan Eberle put the exclamation point on the night, and Gagner got his 8th point with about three and a half minutes left. Eddie and Pat actually got into a fucking argument, on the air, about the Oilers not taking their foot off the gas. Fuck it, run the god damn score up! If the Hawks are going to do dumb shit like dress horrible players and force themselves to roll a short lineup on the road, make them pay. Don't let them off the hook. The Oilers scored 9 earlier in the season, what makes this ANY different, Edzo? You're just butt-hurt, and as angry as the fans are. Gagner ticker: 4g-4a

The Ugly

• O'Donnell was dressed for warmups and then sat for the game, with Big Slow playing two games in a row. Ugh, great personnel move. Great team to have to roll 4 D-men against for most of the game, Joel. Can we ask Chris Kuc about that Hall of Fame coaching decision, now? (Hint: click the link to see what he said when questioned about Scott playing in Vancouver) Worked out brilliantly, didn't it? Not only that, but with the Brunette injury and Bickell sucking the fat bung hole while hanging out in the doghouse, the Hawks were rolling 3 lines of Offense and 2 lines of Defense. Way to ride the hell out of your horses, Joel! I'm sure THAT wont show tonight on the second night of the back-to-back.
• Only Bryan Bickell would hit himself in the face with his own stick. What a dope. Anyone tell you to keep two hands on your stick? They tell you that from day one of mites. Two dumb ass penalties SHOULD make him a perma-scratch for the rest of the season, because he's just a useless sack of rotten meat.
• I feel the need to point out a few things. Sam Gagner's 8 points, is the most by and NHL player in almost 25 year, and the last one to do it was Mario Lemieux. It also tied an Oilers record which is owned by The Great One, and Paul Coffey. This is Sam Gagner we are talking about. The same Sam Gagner that came into the game with 22 points in 43 games. We're not talking about Crosby, Malkin, or even Datsyuk, here.

Here are your video highlights:

Blackhawks vs. Oilers - Loss Recap

"The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde"


Welcome to 2012! The Hawks were back at the United Center to host the Edmonton Oilers, Monday evening. Yes, I'm speaking of the same Oilers that whipped the Hawks asses 9-2 about a month go. This was a very good chance for the Hawks to get a little revenge, but it was not going to be an easy task. This Oilers team is fast, and can obviously score at will. They are one of those teams that you can't hate, if only to admire their youth and skill. Even though he wasn't playing, the Oilers have one of my favorite ex-Hawks Nik Khabibulin. He was the Bryzgalov before Ilya was. I still hold spot in my goalie handbook for him. On to the festivities:

The first period was MUCH better than the last game in Edmonton, as both teams managed 10 shots, and the Hawks jumping on an Oilers turnover to lead 1-0 after 20 minutes, but it wasn't to last. Thanks to a bad Hawks major penalty the Oilers jumped into the game, scoring 2 powerplay goals on the ensuing powerplay, and another even strength goal. The Hawks were able to score one of their own, but still went into the locker room down 3-2. In the third period, the Hawks failure on the powerplay is what cost them a win, even though each team had a goal. They have no one to blame but themselves.

The Good

• El Capitan was the beneficiary of some LEGAL hard work by Car Bomb, and was able to take the Car Bomb pass and get a fairly weak goal on Dubnyk to put the Hawks up 1-0.
• Bruno tied the game back up for the Hawks just after the Carcillo major ended, when he tipped a Hammer shot past Dubnyk. With momentum in the Oilers favor at that point, this was a huge play by a veteran leader.
• Jimmy Hayes scored his first NHL goal with just under 4 minutes to go in the game, after the Hawks blew a 4 minute powerplay. Nice to see the kid step up and make something happen, just too bad it wasn't enough.
• Crawdaddy had a beautiful breakaway save late in the first to keep the Hawks up 1-0, but a couple of the goals he gave up were a little on the soft side.
• The Hawks out shot the Oilers 42-30 which is right where you would like to see the Hawks be.

The Bad

• Of course 16 seconds into the 5 minute powerplay on Car Bomb, the Oilers pick up a rebound in the crease, and stuff it home. That's Karma, right there.
• The circus continued with a minute and a half left in the Carcillo major. Hammer took a stick to the face, which wasn't called. He then laid on the ice, but not long enough to draw a whistle. He then decided to toss his stick around the zone like like a puppy kicking a tennis ball around, instead of just getting into the play and tying a player up. Once he finally picked his stick up, he spun around like an idiot with his back to the player he should have covered, Taylor Hall, who put the puck past Crawford on a fairly weak shot at a weak angle. It was a play straight out of a Three Stooges flick.
• Andy Sutton put the Oilers back up 3-2 when Stalberg, Sharpie, and Pistol all let him skate right up the middle of the ice and receive a pass. Not a good combination when you have a guy that can't move and a rusty guy that hasn't moved in 4 fucking weeks out there together. Maybe you should have played Pistol more than once a fucking month JOEL.
• Former Hawk Ben Eager scored a bad goal, on a backhander, about halfway through the third period to ice the game. In what should have been an easy stop, Crawford didn't pick up the backhander and it beat him to the stick side. That makes for two bad ones out of four goals.
• I'd never wish injury on a Hawks player, but maybe this Carcillo injury will open the door for a player with some talent other than serving Shanaban suspensions.
• Pistol and Big Slow both played under 7 minutes each. Great job running your horses into the ground, Q. This will prove to be a very wise choice in April, I'm certain.
• Everyone but El Capitan (64%) got their dicks whipped at the dot. Belanger and Gagner laid the smacketh down, to the tune of 14-20 (70%).

The Ugly

• Apparently, Sam Gagner hasn't read his scouting reports, and doesn't know that Bryan Bickell is afraid of contact. Gagner was clearly terrified of Bick, almost running from a possible physical confrontation in the Oilers defensive zone.
• I'm convinced that Carcillo is Italian for "Circus". Car Bomb continued to be controversial in the second period, Monday. He dumped the puck into the Oilers zone so the Hawks could change, and tried to make an impact in the worst way; illegally. He put a big hit on Gilbert, throwing him into the boards awkwardly. Pick any assortment of calls on the play, but the Hawks were down for 5 minutes and Carcillo has a dinner date with Brendan Shanaban. To top it all off, Gilbert fell on Carcillo's leg and injured him.
• The bottom line on this one is that the Oilers scored 2 goals on their extended powerplay and the Hawks didn't score any on theirs. It is really as simple as that.

Here are your video highlights:

Blackhawks at Edmonton - Loss Recap

"Now Your Nightmare Comes To Life"

"Good Luck, Dude, I really took it in the ass"

Saturday night's game is against had the Blackhawks against the league's new young guns, the Oilers. The Hawks stuck it to the Oilers, at home last Sunday, and they were certain to be looking for revenge. The Hawks, of course, didn't have their best game Friday night. The Hawks were without the services of Brent Seabrook, and Michael Frolik again, both out with injuries. Along with that, Sean O'Donnell and Razor Emery would be in the lineup to help celebrate Pat Kane's birthday.

The Blackhawks first period was something of infamy. The two teams exchanged goals in the first few minutes, and then the wheels fell off the wagon. The Oilers put up 4 more goals, some of them totally embarrassing, to go into the first break up 5-1. The second period was more of the same crap, with the Oilers scoring 3 more goals, and the Hawks finally getting one. The Hawks had given up long ago, though. This should lead to an interesting third period. The Oilers put few more up on the board in the third period to finish 9-2. Enjoy Vegas guys, you really deserve it. Yes, that's sarcasm.

The Good

• The Hawks were able to answer the Oilers goal, three minutes in to the game on a powerplay. A scrum in front of the net let Shooter pick up a loose puck and fire it past Khabby.
• Bolly ended the Oilers unanswered goal streak at 6 with a late second period powerplay goal. Nice time to start caring, guys.

The Bad

• "O'Donnell back in the lineup, didn't make a good pass". Thanks for doing my job for me, Pat.
• Deuce opened up the game with a -4, and 2 PIM's that resulted in a powerplay goal against, which left him with a -8 in his last four periods play. You think he relies on Seabrook a little?
• Just to pour salt on the wound, the Hawks had a goal negated by goaltender interference when Car Bomb backed into Khabby's kitchen, which resulted in a Frank the Tank goal.
• Ben Smith, anyone even realize he was on the ice? I didn't think so. I thought you were hee to rescue us!
• I said it before, and I'm going to KEEP saying it. Brent Seabrook is more important to this team that people realize. Probably the MOST important and consistent defender this team has.

The Ugly

• Ales Hemsky opened up the Oilers scoring forty eight seconds into the game, after blowing the doors off Frank the Tank, and coming in one-on-one with Razor. Tank tried to hip check Hemsky and whiffled, leaving Hemsky to race in all alone before everyone was in their seats. Shooter could have dug in and gotten a stick in there, but just coasted back and watched Hemsky eat his goalie alive.
• In one of the worst goals yet this year, Ryan Jones scored from an impossible angle, to give the Oilers a 2-1 lead. The duo of Deuce and Frank the Tank just isn't working.
• A few minutes later, Ryan Smyth scored on a great pass from Jordan Eberle. Apparently, Q didn't like the duo on Montador and Deuce either, so he put Lurch out there with Keith. We all saw how that worked. Kruger started off by not getting the puck out, and both Keith and Lurch got caught chasing Eberle, who dished it off to a wide open Smyth on the back door. 3-1 with under 10 mins gone in the game, and that brought an end to Razor's night, well, until the second period.
• The forth Oilers goal of the game victimized Hammer and Lurch on the powerplay. Taylor Hall picked up a rebound off Crawford's pads and slammed'er home. 4-1 Oilers.
• Jordan Eberle put the Oilers up 5-1 on yet ANOTHER horrible Duncan Keith decision. He had a chance to keep the puck in the Oilers zone and just turned away, leaving Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to bring the puck up the middle of the ice, and feed Eberle for an easy goal. 5-1 Oilers before the first period is over.
• The Oilers continued their dominance in the second period with a powerplay goal on a 2 man advantage. They played some fucking bizarre behind the net, tic-tac-toe thing, and it worked. They could have been using pool cues, and ping pong paddles at this point. Whatever. 6-1 Oilers.
• Halfway through the second the Hawks gave up yet another powerplay goal by Taylor Hall, to watch the Oilers go up 7-1. At this rate, they were easily going to give up a 10 spot.
• The Oilers put number 8 on the board while the Hawks were killing another stupid fucking penalty on Kane for yapping at the officials. The effort at this point was simply pathetic.
• Taylor Hall grabbed is hat trick goal to put the the Oilers up 9-2, midway through the third. The play was a 2-on-3 and Frank the Tank practically backed up into his own netminders face. Hall just walked the puck in, and never even debated passing. Ridiculous.
• I hope these last two games put this crazy "John Scott is a good luck charm" bullshit to rest. Save the hate mail because I know that very little of what happened was his fault, but they need 6 NHL defensemen on the ice every night. Not four and a fucking half, on the second night of a back-to-back. Really, enough of these fucking games, Joel. This is just ignorance.

Here are your video highlights:

Blackhawks vs. Oilers - Win Recap

"Oil Spill"



No time to enjoy the Hawks big win Friday, with the Oilers coming into town. These aren't the Oilers that we've been use to smacking around, because they were actually leading their division. The young talent includes names like Jordan Eberle, Taylor Hall, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Former Blackhawks netminder Nikolai Khabibulin was in net for the Oilers, and was leading the lead in goals against average. This was going to prove to be a good test for the Hawks before they hit the road for their annual west coast circus trip.

The Blackhawks were all business early in the first scoring 2 quick goals to stun the Oilers. Even though the Oilers were able to score a bad one themselves, the Hawks answered later on the powerplay, to go into the intermission up 3-1. Even though the Hawks held a shot advantage for the second period as well, they tied the period as both teams scored a pair of goals, but the Hawks were still up 5-3 at teh end of the second period. The only goal in the third was the empty netter at the end, with the Hawks winning their last game at home for a while 6-3.

The Good

• El Capitan just dominated the first few minutes of the game, like it was his job, and it was rewarded by a pretty first goal. Stalberg fed the puck from the corner to Tazer, who took it around the net and moved right around in front. As soon as he had a clean look, Tazer snapped a shot up over Khabibulin's shoulder, knocking the water bottle off the net. 1-0 Hawks
• Thirty six seconds after the Toews goal, Frank the Tank took a feed from Kaner, knifed through the offensive zone, and went right around Khabby, for a 2-0 lead.
• Apparently all the Hawks power play needed was...Frank the Tank. He tipped a puck past Khabby, on a long shot from Leddy to put the Hawks up 3-1 with only 16 minutes gone in the game. That was his second PPG in 2 games and 3rd overall. Hell, keep throwing him out there at forward. Play the hot hand.
• The brutal goal aside, Crawford made a couple of gorgeous glove saves in the opening period.
• Twenty two seconds into the second period, the Hawks capitalized on another Oilers turnover and El Capitan jammed a puck in the net himself. Nothing fancy, just good old meat and potatoes.
• Shortly after Eberle's goal, the Hawks capitalized on yet ANOTHER Oilers turnover, and the Deuce scored on a long wrist shot, through a screen, to put the Hawks up 5-2.
• The Hawks had a decent night at the dots, with Tazer leading at 71%, and Krugs the loser of the night, at 20%. Kruger is the worst on he team, winning only 41% of his draws. He needs that to get better, yesterday.

The Bad

• Seabrook fell awkwardly in the second, on a powerplay rush, and limped off the ice, never to return. Lets hope that was just precautionary, because that may affect the Hawks more than missing Keith.
• Jordan Eberle atoned for his high sticking penalty by picking up a loose puck that had gotten past Keith just as he had stepped out of the box and raced in on Crawford. He waited....and waited.....and waited. Once Crawford was finally down and out, Eberle put it past him. This Eberle kid is a stud. He blazed past Keith like he was standing still, and that's not an easy task.
• A late second period powerplay chance resulted in an Oilers goal, as Leddy let Shawn Horcoff get position on him, and he tipped a Nugent-Hopkins pass into the net.
• Well, as I predicted, Bruno seems to have been lost in the shuffle. Under 10 minutes of ice time, mostly with the forth line, and a minus 1. The thing is, I don't think anyone misses him. The only thing left is a healthy scratch in the near future.

The Ugly

• The Oilers scored their first of the game on a real head scratcher. Ryan Smyth seemed to be innocently skating behind the net, and decided to take it to the net and just jammed it in the net, like a kid on prom night. That's an unacceptable goal.
• I'm not going to waste much time bitching about Big Show. He was invisible, which is about the best we can hope from him.

Here are your video highlights:

#Blackawks vs Oilers - Preseason Recap

The day has finally come, where we are finally able to watch NHL hockey again. GRANTED, most of the team on the ice will be collecting paychecks from someplace like Rockford, but it's Blackhawks hockey nonetheless. My apologies for the late recap, but I had some technical difficulties with my game notes (i.e. deleted them). ANYWHO lets begin...

First of all, I want to point out what idiots the Blackhawks web team are for the way they presented the game to the fans. The put a link up that pointed to a list of directions to get to the feed. The problem is that they obviously don't understand that a heavy majority of the people on the interweb can barely figure out how to wipe their own asses. There should have been a direct link to the feed on the splash page. THAT'S ALL!. With each step you add another point of failure, which will cause confusion. Maybe failure was the goal, and if it was, you achieved that. Get your act straight, guys!

Secondly, in the day and age of HD and 3D televisions, we have to watch a game from a PC with a low def feed? Really? We can produce 3D porn, and we can't get a professional NHL team's preseason game on television? That's absolutely ridiculous. This is not 1940 where people needed to sit around one radio to listen to their favorite programs. We're not asking for Rockford Icehogs or Chicago Express games. These are the CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS. We can see every meaningless MLB and NFL preaseaon game, but Hawks fans are huddled around their PCs trying to follow a tiny little fuzzy puck? Yeah, right, thanks guys! There aren't as many people as you might guess that can hook their PCs up to a TV, and it's not like that even helps, because the feed is so fuzzy and grainy that we can't even read the numbers on the players backs. Don't even get me STARTED on the idiotic "50/50 raffle" box that took up damn near a quarter of the screen. So, the twatterverse can tongue the bungs of the Blackhawks about the stream all they want, but the fact of the matter is that there wasn't much effort put in at all, and we're not talking about some team that never wins, in the middle of rural USA. It's one of the most storied franchises in all of sports, one of the biggest markets in the NHL, and recent Stanley Cup champs.

Now, onto the actual hockey:

The first period was generally pretty boring, even though the Oilers had a majority of the scoring chances, and neither team could manage to put anything up on the board. The second period was another story. The Oilers jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead after the Hawks gave up a powerplay goal, and then gave up a generally soft one, but they were not to be outdone. The Hawks came storming back, jumping on some Oilers mistakes and turnovers, to tied the game up at 2-2 going into the intermission. The third period didn't go as well, for our heroes. They gave up a late third period goal, and then an empty netter to finish off their first preseason game a 4-2 loser.

The Good

• Ray Emery played a very solid first period, but followed it up with a couple of "tweeners" in the second. Overall, he had a passing grade, though, in my eyes.
  
• Those of you that picked Rusty Olesz to be the best Blackhawks player last night are going to Las Vegas with me, to help daddy get his little girl's college fund rolling. He had a solid game skating with Captain Serious and Viktor Stalberg and scored the first Hawks goal. When it came time for him to take advantage of his chance, he buried it. This is a good way to shut the whiners up, and earn that salary. It helps a little that the puck was put on his stick, wide open, by an Oilers defender. He needs to buy that guy dinner.
  
• Jamal "Megamind" Mayers was the second most surprising player, as he took a feed from Rookie Mark NcNeill and roofed it over the Oilers goalie to score the second preseason goal for the Hawks. That's a good way to get the fans of your new team to warm up to you.
  
• Brandon Saad didn't show up on the score sheet, but the kid can play. Along with Joe Lavin and Jimmy Hayes, the Hawks clearly have some promising rookies. All of them could play at the NHL level and probably deserve to, but it's not going to happen right away with the roster the Hawks have. Jimmy Hayes is fast and huge, when you watch him out there. The kid is going to be a very good player someday, and we can thank Toronto for basically giving him to us.
  
• Salak looked pretty good before the Eberle goal, but that one cost him and the Hawks.
  

The Bad

• The Oilers opened up the scoring with a powerplay goal that Ryan Smyth poked in after Razor Emery couldn't handle the long shot by rookie Ryan Nugent-Hopkins that went through him like a slot machine, and laid in the crease. It is, what it is. First game of the preseason, sloppy goal, first point for the first overall pick.
  
• The second Oilers goal could be put squarely on Razor's shoulders. He over pursued Josh Green coming into the zone and left his blocker side wide open. Most NHL players will hit that spot, and Green did.
  
• Edmonton's third goal was a result of the Hawks getting lazy after yet another failed powerplay, and letting two Oilers behind them in on a 2-on-1. Jordan Eberle just picked Alex Salak apart, and the Hawks weren't able to recover.
  
• 0-5 on the powerplay guys? I understand the manpower isn't there, but lets generate SOMETHING. There IS talent out there, and the Oiler were playing with a split squad too.
  
• Kyle Beach anyone? Didn't think so.
  

The Ugly

• I hate to go back to the feed of the game, but they are cutting back to the penalty box for 5 seconds at a clip, while a powerplay is going on, so we can watch David Toews pick his nose, something isn't right. We're not idiots, and we know where the players go when they get a penalty.
  
• John Scott got beat so bad, in a foot race for an icing call that John Wiedeman couldn't gather the words to describe it. It was really embarassing, and just showed that he is NOT an NHL player. Can someone please bite the bullet and set this walking calamity loose? Enough, PLEASE
  

Here are the video highlights for your viewing pleasure:

Oil Change

Shortly before the game last night, the Blackhawks announced that they had traded Jack Skille and some shlubs for Michael Frolik and a goalie named Salak. These weren't the only changes with the team. The Hawks completely changed up their "D" pairings, moved Sharpie, and Brouwer around, and had Ryan Johnson suit up to take Skille's spot, until Frolik reports. In the first half of the first period the Hawks were slightly out of sorts, but they rebounded in the second half of the period to dominate with one goal on ten shots, and only giving up four shots. The second period was a bit more even, but with the Hawks scoring another goal, although both teams had 12 shots on net. The third just became a circus with penalties galore, but the odd thing is that they were all really minor infractions, if you don't factor in the two questionable Oiler misconducts, after the Hawks 3rd goal.

The Good

• The Hawks spent the first eight minutes of the first period getting use to their new lines, and it was showing. That was until the new line of Captain Serious, Kaner, Sharpie, with Deuce, and Leddy decided they wanted to play a little hockey and completely dominated the Oilers for about a minute straight. Promising.
  
• The following shift for that line resulted in a Sharpie goal, with a feed from Tazer. Maybe they really DO want to wake this team up.
  
• As an opposing team, if One Trick Bick is left with a break-a-way from his own blue line in, you're not playing a good game, and this was the case on the second Hawks goal. How they didn't catch his big slow ass is beyond my comprehension, but I'm taking it.
  
• The revamped lines for last night's game were Kane-Toews-Sharp, Brouwer-Kopecky-Hossa, Bickell-Bolland-Pisani, Stalberg-Dowell-Johnson at forward, and Keith-Leddy, Hjalmarsson-Seabrook, Hendry-Campbell on Defense.
  
• Finally, on the 6th powerplay of the night, the Hawks got a powerplay goal. Toews, fed Kopecky who put a pass between his legs to Kaner, who put it into the net. Even the worst team in the league is going to get lucky, with six straight powerplays.
  

The Bad

• The Hawks had a plethora of powerplay chances, but the powerplay as a whole is clearly still broken. The best chances were as a result of long passes and one-on-one situations. Just remember that the Oilers are the worst penalty kill team in the league.
  
• The Hawks had 3 partial breakaways in the first 22 minutes of the game and couldn't cash in on any of them. The forth was Bickell's breakaway goal, in the second. That is not what I would call efficient.
  
• Ryan Johnson plays his first game in a long while and he felt that he needed to get on the score sheet with a penalty. Looking better every game, Ryan.
  
• Hoss disappeared sometime during the second period intermission, never to be seen again. Reports are that he has a minor upper body injury. Lets hope it is a precautionary issue, and not another serious injury. He was the only Blackhawk to not see ten minutes of ice time.
  
• Toews was only 40% on faceoffs, but he was 64% in the offensive zone. That 0-5 in the neutral zone draws was the downfall. Everyone else was good at the faceoff dot but Kopecky, who was a brutal 33%. Thank god Frolik is coming to save us from any more Kopecky any center debates. OOFFAA!
  

The Ugly

• The Hawks game up Corey Crawford's shutout bid with about three minutes to go in the game, as Crawford kicked a huge rebound out to Jordan Eberle, who one timed it into the net. The Hawks have become the league's epic third period failure team, and if Crawford wasn't solid, they could have easily given up their lead. Getting outshot 8-4 in the third period is not a promising sign. Thanks for taking your foot off the gas ONCE AGAIN, boys. It's become a full fledged habit, at this point.
  

Here are the video highlights for your viewing pleasure:

How do They Sleep While Their Beds are Burning

We've been waiting 20 games for this, but lets not all drop our happy pants and fire up a circle jerk. This is the lowly Edmonton Oilers, and this is how we are SUPPOSED to beat them. You really have to ask yourself how in the hell the Hawks allowed themselves to be beaten twice by this team, AT HOME! Lets not even start the happy circle jerk after Friday's game, either, because the Flames aren't all that much better. Anyway, this is what it is, an easy win against a young struggling team. We'll take it.

The Good
The Hawks dominated the first period with 20 shots on net, and the second period wasn't any better. In the third, I got the feeling that it was one of those games where you really feel bad even shooting on net, towards the end. That's just embarrassing for the Oilers at home. Anyone who has played sports has been on the shit end of a landslide, and no one wants to watch that 7th or 8th goal put in. The Hawks CLEARLY called off the dogs in the third, because it could have been a 7-0 or 8-0 game.

Jonny Toews needed this game. It might just be his breakout game of 2010/11, and only time will tell. He was the lucky recipient of a juicy rebound after Patty Kane set up the play, with a nice feed to Seabrook. Toews beat it through Khabby's pads for a 1-0 lead. Jon's powerplay goal was just laughable. What more can you say than he got a very lucky bank shot? We'll take it, after the litany of horseshit we have endured this season. The third goal was a gift after a Duncan Keith-ian type turnover which Hossa fed to Toews, who ripped it past Khabby and it was 3-0. Natural Hat Trick for Captain Serious. It's nice to see the money men opening up the trip with some fire.

Poor Sharpie could have gotten a hat trick himself, but just couldn't find the net until his shorthanded goal, late in the second. He clearly has some sort of funk going on, because the Shooter of 12 games ago would have had 4 goals last night. It's the NHL and streaks happen.

Marty Turco, THIS is what you were brought here for. That previous 20 game mess, was all a test, we hope. Eighteen shots, few of them difficult, and Marty can turn in his time sheet. This was on the original bill of sale.

The Bad
Sloppy play early in the first shift or two lead to an Oiler powerplay when Bolland was guilty of finally doing something, for the first time this season. They recovered well and just rolled over the Oilers. I felt like I was watching the Chicago Globetrotters playing the Edmonton Generals for the rest of the game.

It's hard to find bad in a game that the opponent doesn't even show up for, but Bryan Bickell just looked completely out of place when handling the puck. Yes, I know he scored that meaningless goal, so he can obviously shoot, but passing and carrying the puck is painfully embarrassing. It really never mattered, but the team could use a LITTLE puck control out of him. I know, I'm really nit-picking, but it's really the only noticeably bad.

The Ugly
There was one ray of light for the Oilers, and ugly play for the Hawks, midway through the second. Ales Hemsky lead a shorthanded chance into the Hawks zone and schooled Dave Bolland, then Brian Campbell, and for good measure Duncan Keith had to be included in the festivities. Hemsky then sent a perfect feed over to a wide open Dustin Penner, who shot it at the one spot that he shouldn't have. I know I'm not the only one that thought he scored, and first glance. Even TURCO had the expression of a dog that just pissed in the house, and judging by Dunc's reaction; he thought it went in, too. I STILL want to know what Dunc is doing in this play. He floats back, parks in front of Marty, gets hypnotized by Hemsky's puck control, then doesn't pick up the trailing forward, and allows him to take the pass and fire it on his goalie. This all begs to ask what Brouwer, Bolland, and Kopecky are doing out there together with Campbell, and Keith on a powerplay. For the ten billionth time, that is NOT a powerplay line. Not now, not ever. That line is such a bad combination that I might beg Bryan Bickell to carry the puck for them. Yes, THAT BAD. Anyway, Watch it for yourself:



I guess you can sleepwalk through a play when you're up 3-0, on a powerplay, and dominating every other second of the game. I have nothing else.

Here are the complete video highlights:

Spoiled Oil

"Maybe if I imitate MJ, Coach won't bench me...guess not"

I know this sounds like a broken fucking record, but talk about a frustrating loss. Just when I thought things might start to hit the upswing, with Boss 81 back in the lineup, and they play a game like this. Stellar job throwing away two points, and playing 59 minutes and 46 seconds, fellas. Thanks for the effort.

Before I get into this shitshow circus, I want to suggest that you all take a gander over at Second City Hockey, and check out an article written by a guy that I have great respect for, Sam Fels from The Committed Indian. It's a good read, and it mirror's my feeling exactly.

How Soon is Now?
The Good
Fernando Pisani had a nice goal against his ex-mates, off an Oiler turnover, after a nice one handed feed by Jack Skillington. Again, Skille is one of the most energetic players on the ice, and that energy resulted in the only Blackhawks goal.

After just a few shifts, Boss 81 showed why he's simply better than everyone else on the ice, but didn't show up in the scoring. I thought maybe this would inspire someone to do, well, SOMETHING. Toews and Kane went back into hibernation, after their "Odd Couple" game of the year.

The Bad
Jeremy Morin was basically benched after turning over the puck at the blue line resulting in a Taylor Hall breakaway. That's not really the way to work on a rookies confidence, but what do I know? If you're not going to play him, send him back to Rockford. Don't waste the nine games they have before a year drops off his contract, by sitting him on the bench. The logic in this astounds me.

What was Skille rewarded with after his hustle lead to the Hawks only goal? A grand total of 9 minutes and 25 seconds of ice time. The only people to see less were FrankenScott and Morin. I'm so tired of pointing this out game after game, but it's clearly working, isn't it? Again, what do I know?

Former Blackhawk Jim Vandermeer completely rocked TomoKop, so mush so that it dislodged the glass. There is your 3 seconds of fame, Jimmy. I think the glass, itself, hurt Kopecky more.

I was ALWAYS a big fan of Nikolai Khabibulin, and I've made that known, so I can't say it broke my heart to see him make that beautiful save on Toews. That is a very difficult save to make, and it basically won the game for the Oilers. I just wish it was made in a losing effort. I'm still a fan.

By the way, Shooter has not only dropped down to a -11 on the ice, but he has apparently lost his scoring touch. Just Peachy.

The Ugly
Poor Corey Crawford can't catch a break. He played a great game and accrued the loss, because of two sloppy defensive breakdowns in 14 seconds. It really IS sad. Yes, he over perused the original shot from the point, and was late getting over to the far post, but once again, our NORRIS TROPHY WINNING DEFENSEMAN was on the case. Case closed, right? Crawford did made a really nice save on Taylor Hall, after a bad Jeremy Morin turnover.

Yep, once again John Scott. He might have taken the most ugly slapshots ever taken, early in the first, when he broke his stick. Then made a spectacle of himself by breaking roughly $600 in sticks, in the first period alone. Those sticks were worth more than John Scott's career. He did somewhat redeem himself by repeatedly punching fuck stick Zack Stortini's face, but he still has a very limited skill set. Is it really even worth him getting dressed for 5 minutes and 38 seconds of ice time? Is it me, or is our "tough guy" not so tough? Stortini was looking for some ass a few shifts earlier, and Scott whimpered away like puppy that just got smacked. What's wrong John? You need an invitation and a permission slip from mommy to dance? Obviously, Stortini wasn't very scared of him, as he chased him down between whistles. For that, I crafted this portrait of John Scott:


Here are the video highlights:

We have a Bleeder!

Game number one without Boss 81, and their first chance to wear those alternate jerseys I love, but that's the only thing that looked good. Two open nets missed in the first minute of the game, and it seemed like it was going to be a good game. Well, it was partially good, but only for the Oilers. Ugly, ugly, and embarrassing.

The Good
Toews had a typical Captain Serious goal. Nothing pretty but accurate and to the point, and Kane finally decided to make an appearance with 10 seconds left in the first. Maybe that stick to the nose woke him up, but I swear I saw him crying when he was on the bench getting his nose looked at. Either way, the two guys that need to pick up Boss 81's slack are finally showing a faint pulse.

Dowell, and Sharpie scored but they were futile attempt to make it a game. It was nice to see Sharpie add to his league leading goal total. At least someone is having an excellent season.

The powerplay had a typical game, and it's hit or REALLY miss with them. They scored two PP goals and looked good doing it, but the back to back powerplays in the second period turned into a critical turning point. You HAVE to score on a 5 on 3. If you don't, you might as well not come out for the third period, and the Hawks basically didn't. Game over early in the second period.

It was nice to see Stalberg playing with some talent, and he did nothing to make me think he didn't belong there. Now if was can get Skille some help, we might have something.

The Bad
Bolly? Anyone? Anyone? 9:45 of playing time means he was either hurt or Quenneville is finally fed up with the Invisible Man. The only person that played less was Bryan Bickell.



I'd like to hear an explanation as to why green rookie Ben Smith is skating on the third line, while the Hawk that showed the most spark is still rotting like a Halloween pumpkin on the forth line. Skille was once again skating around like he was on the way to the crapper with explosive diarrhea. He drew a penalty with his speed, had several excellent chances, and has been attempting to hit everything that wears another jersey. He was second on the team with 6 shots on net, only behind Captain Serious. Really? Have we lost all common sense? Stop with this crap, already. The team is struggling and one of the players that's been showing heart is stuck banished to Siberian, with no help.

It looked bad from the outside, but the Goaltenders got absolutely zero help. Turco let the first soft one in, and after that, he couldn't do anything right. Marty The Midget had so little help that I'm pretty damn sure I saw Duncan Keith actually throw the puck in his own net. He tries to kick a rebound out and it goes right to a wide open player, fifteen feet from the open net. Anyone out there accounting players in their own zone or do we just expect them to always miss the net? Corey Crawford didn't fare much better than Turco, either. Bad luck and pathetic defense really didn't make his night end very well for either of the netminders.

The Ugly
Holy balls, that first period turned from bad to shitstorm in about two minutes. That was the worst display of defense I've seen in recent memory. Accurate words escape me, to explain that Shanghai Fire Drill. The only saving grace was the Kane goal. You can blame the ref for the 4th goal but if you have your head up and you're looking at your passing lanes, you don't make that pass. It's about time Moustachio put a shock collar on Keith and let'er rip every time he attempts another stupid pointless fancy pass.

Jassen Cullimore finally looked like, well, Jassen Cullimore on that 5th Edmonton goal. Excellent job tying up your guy's stick, sucker. Great job welcoming your backup goalie into the game. Quenneville looked none too happy after that goal, and he shouldn't have, because the Hawks looked like dog shit soup.

Tomas Kopecky was a -5 on the night, and that's just brutal. Call it bad luck, because he wasn't directly responsible for all 5 goals, but he may have needed to take a seat for a while. Brouwer and Boynton were -3

Really the whole game was ugly. Like Brent Sopel Ugly.

Here are the video highlights: