A Chicago Blackhawks Site
2011-12 Regular Season
‘Hawks Notes : More On Keith Suspension
Mar 24th
(Warren Wimmer/Icon SMI)
As I’m sure you all know by now, Duncan Keith has been suspended for 5 games by the NHL (Brendan Shanahan) for his blatant elbow on Vancouver Canucks forward and all around creep Daniel Sedin.
Keith made the argument to Shanahan that he was trying to impede Sedin from making progress in the neutral zone. No sale. This was always going to be a tough sell for Keith even had Thing 1 not been injured.The replay clearly shows Keith getting his elbow up and if you believe the Thing 2 (Henrik), Keith made clear his intention to even the score after a highly questionable (and probably suspendable) hit he took from Thing 1. In the future, Keith would do well to keep his mouth shut about such actions. He made up his mind to take a shot at Sedin and there was no reason he had to advertise it to the world – they would have found out eventually, right?
Duncan Keith Suspended 5 Games for Hit on Daniel Sedin
Mar 23rd
"You think I'll get five games for this? You're outta your mind." (Photo: Rob Grabowski/US Presswire)
Everyone knew the hit was dirty. Everyone knew a suspension was coming, especially when it was learned Daniel Sedin would miss time.
But five games for a first-time offender for retaliation on a similarly dirty – though less lethal – hit? Given other recent dirty plays around the league – *cough* Shane Doan *cough* – with lesser penalties, I’m a little more than surprised Duncan Keith was leveled with this type of suspension.
Even player safety czar Brenden Shanahan admitted he took into consideration Keith had never been suspended in his seven seasons in the NHL. If that’s the case, what would’ve happened to Keith had he slipped up previously?
Test Of Mettle: Canucks Visit UC For Potential Playoff Preview
Mar 21st
Photo: 2010Vancouver.ca
The last 3 years the Blackhawks have faced the Canucks in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Why should this year be any different? The way it’s shaping up right now, it’s a decent possibility that Vancouver will be the Blackhawks’ first-round opponent. Tonight’s game will give us a preview of what we can expect.
Tonight will also be a test of the Blackhawks’ mettle: can they continue their first period dominance? Can they beat teams that are ahead of them in the standings the way they have beaten teams below them? And can they continue their recent solid play in the absence of Captain Jonathan Toews?
Buckle up, people. This game’s going to be close: either be a hard-fought win, or a very disappointing loss. No blowout in sight this evening.
Blackhawks and Blue Jackets Preview: Just Avoid a Let Down
Mar 20th
Nothing New Here. Move Along.
This is really quite simple. The Columbus Blue Jackets, albeit lately playing well, are the worst professional hockey team among the 30 that make up the National Hockey League. They score the 2nd fewest goals in the NHL, give up the 2nd most goals in the NHL, have the 26th ranked powerplay, the worst penalty kill, generally don’t score first and might have the single worst general manager since Mike Milbury turned the Islanders into the Pirates of this league. In short, the Columbus Blue Jackets are absolutely terrible and probably should be competing for the Calder Cup instead of the Stanley Cup.
We got that covered? Great.
For Starters, a W: Boxing with ‘Hawks and Capitals
Mar 19th
Nuccio DiNuzzo, Chicago Tribune
It’s not some sort of state secret. Every coach in the NHL will tell you getting the first goal can change the complexion of game. If a team is lucky enough to get the first two, then you can pretty much focus on burying the opposition.
For the third straight game – all wins, by the way – the Blackhawks scored first, and for the second consecutive contest they got the first two goals before their opponent had a shot on net. No more fucking around, they seem to be saying.
The ‘Hawks scored early and finished late, beating Washington 5-2 on Sunday at the United Center. For a team most were writing off without a healthy Jonathan Toews, the ‘Hawks are 7-1-1 since the Leap Day win over Toronto and are within four points of Detroit and Nashville for the No. 4 seed and home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs with nine games to go.
If Washington wants to get back on track, it can start Monday by knocking off the slumping Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena and doing the ‘Hawks a favor.
Stuff before Boxing…
♦ Remember when most figured Coach Q had given the crease to Ray Emery for the duration of the season? Nakis and I never were convinced of that, and Q is being as predictable as ever and riding the hot hand. Corey Crawford wasn’t tested much Sunday, but his 16 saves were enough to improve him to 7-2-0 with a 2.12 goals-against average since Feb. 16. He struggled in a three-game stretch in losses to Dallas, Los Angeles, and getting yanked in the win over Toronto, but he’s back to playing above average, which is really what most of us are asking for to continue.
With nine games to go, no one has any idea if Q will commit to either one of them. It seems to be working right now, though.
♦ So, Michael Frolik still plays for the Blackhawks. Interesting.
♦ Patrick Kane really has been stepping up lately, and it’s coming just at the right time. With the news that Toews suffered a setback in his recovery from a concussion, Kaner has helped make that a little easier news to take given how well he and the ‘Hawks have been playing. There’s never a good time to have the Captain out, but this nice little stretch is making it more tolerable.
♦ With Toews out, the ‘Hawks went 36 for 55 at the dot Sunday. That’s neat.
♦ Viktor Stalberg winning that race to the puck, getting himself under control then charging the net with a move in mind and patience to execute it was a thing of beauty. For someone who seemed so far off the handle when it came to keeping himself and his blazing speed tamed to be able to fit it into an actual game, he’s seems to be starting to get it more and more each game. Oh, and he gets to light up Columbus again soon.
♦ Alex Ovechkin reminded us that despite him having another “down” year, he’s still one of the best in the game with his move on Duncan Keith. Ovechkin’s goal gives him at least 30 in every season since he entered the league in 2005. Yeah, that’s good.
Here’s Boxing…
Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.Influx of Capitals: Washington Ovechkins Take On Blackhawks
Mar 18th
Photo: Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images
Alexander Ovechkin has 29 goals this season for Washington.
The next closest guy on the stats sheet has only 18.
How do you defend the Washington Capitals? I’ll give you three guesses…
Chicago Gets The Blues: St. Louis Visits The UC
Mar 13th
Photo: Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images
See, the Blues didn’t think it was enough to pound us 5-1 at their rink last week. They’ve just signed a 19-year-old rookie phenom draft pick, and they’re coming into our house hoping to do it again.
Jaden Schwartz, having finished up a 30-game, 41-point sophomore season with Colorado College, inked an entry-level deal on Monday and will be in the lineup tonight against the Blackhawks. Of the 15 goals Schwartz pumped in for the Tigers this year, 5 were on the power play, and 4 were game-winners. And guess what? All of those numbers were down from his freshman year!
You should insert your favorite Spaceballs joke here, by the way…
Point Taken: Boxing with ‘Hawks and Kings
Mar 12th
"Can you believe this effing guy, Dave?"
So you’re telling me that Jonathan Quick guy is pretty good, eh?
Quick beat the Blackhawks for the third time in four meetings this season – including two shutouts and a 0.99 goals-against average in those matchups – and helped the Kings to a 3-2 shootout win at the United Center.
“Experts” seem to tell us that goaltending is the difference between Stanley Cup contenders and pretenders around this time of the season, and if it holds true L.A. is going to be tough to beat with Quick between the pipes.
He stole the show from Ray Emery, who was making his fifth straight start and had another solid outing. If it weren’t the Blackhawks’ ineptitude in the shootout, he would’ve come away with a victory. He stopped the first five shooters before Mike Richards finally broke through, while Quick was perfect on the other end – not to mention stoning Viktor Stalberg on a penalty-shot attempt in the third period.
The main problem was Duncan Keith, who should immediately take the film, CD, floppy disk or whatever it is this game has been recorded on and bury it along with Jimmy Hoffa. Both Kings goals were the result of his turnovers, including one that lead to a 4-on-1 break for L.A. with the game merely 1 1/2 minutes old.
Patrick Kane had a solid night, and Marcus Kruger again was rewarded for playing hard in front of the net. Other than that, the Blackhawks will take the point and move on to Tuesday, when St. Louis comes into the United Center for another showdown.
Here’s Boxing…
Crunch Time: Tough Topics At The March Round Table
Mar 8th
Jeff, Tim, Jim, Chris and JMN performing Shakespeare's "Romeo & Juliet"
It’s been a busy few weeks for the Men of Four Feathers: a losing streak, a winning streak, injuries, rookie call-ups, goaltenders and deadline trades have all kept Blackhawks fans on the edge of their seats.
While taking a break from the mayhem, the boys from Cheer The Anthem sat down early this week to toss around their opinions on these subjects, as well as traffic on the Edens, acetylene torches and the Bermuda Triangle in the March edition of the Round Table…
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Bizarro World: Boxing with Blackhawks and Blues
Mar 7th
(Chris Lee, McClatchy-Tribune)
Our power play wasn’t good. We couldn’t settle the puck down, we couldn’t make a pass and they were forechecking us hard. We didn’t deserve to win. It just wasn’t good enough. – Marian Hossa
So, that’s the world we live in now, eh? The St. Louis Blues are the front-runners for the President’s Trophy down the stretch of the season. Not since Joel Quenneville manned the bench in 1999-2000 have the Blues been this good in the regular season.
With that said, Tuesday night’s 5-1 loss was another recipe for disaster: Shitty power play, shitty penalty kill, outplayed in net and out-muscled throughout. This crap is looking all too familiar.
Hopefully Jonathan Toews will be back Friday and he can kick everyone in the ass a bit, but this game just didn’t seem to be anything more than “blah.” The Blues are flat out the better team, and it pains me to say it.
I don’t have the energy for more. There simply isn’t much to analyze that hasn’t been said already. The Blackhawks have trouble entering the zone on the power play and leaving their own zone, well, always. The play in net is spotty at best. Special teams all around is pretty much a Disney on Ice. I’m not going to beat you down with it.
I’ll get into a bit more here in the summary of Boxing, but I left the actual box score for you to take a look at and decide for yourself what you’d like to analyze. Go ahead and throw in your own thoughts in the comments…
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