Jack Skille (20) is playing like he's on a mission to make the big club (Chicago Tribune)

For the first time this pre-season, we’ll all be relegated to our smart phones (or in my dad’s case, his U.S. Cellular handout flip phone) checking on updates. The Blackhawks will get their first glimpse of the new Console Energy Center in Pittsburgh when they take the ice against the Penguins at 6 p.m. CST. Judging by the look of the lineups, we shouldn’t be missing too much with this game not being televised.

Sidney Crosby will once again dodge the Blackhawks as he ices down his vagina this evening, but  Evgeni Malkin will man up and play (though probably pretty sparingly). The ‘Hawks are also going pretty thin, with  Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp, Marian Hossa, Duncan Keith and both  Marty Turco and  Corey Crawford taking a night off.

The best news of the day came when  Jeff Taffe was sent down to Rockford so I don’t have to watch that shithead stumble all over the ice for the time being. With 19-year-old  Jeremy Morin looking pretty damn good for a roster spot and  Jack Skille playing exactly like he needed to in order to stick with the big club,  Taffe and Evan Brophey are easy-to-live-with casualties.

As McClure of SCH pointed out, it would be nice to see more out of  Makarov Cocktail and  Viktor Stalberg in this one, especially since the coaching staff is giving them every opportunity to show what they can do with the studs on this team.

Short and sweet for tonight. I’ll be keeping up on my Droid. GO ICEHOGS ‘HAWKS!!

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