A Chicago Blackhawks Site
“Kruger! My son tells me your company stinks!” : Hawks win in both goals and no goals
Oct 30th
( Chris Sweda, Chicago Tribune / October 29, 2011 )
So life and work got in the way of me seeing any of the game last night. Praise Jeebus for DVR! The Blackhawks faced off against a miserable Columbus Blue Jackets team just a night after laying an egg in Carolina. They got back in the win column, having the good fortune of facing some guy named Allen York (an R.P.I. teammate of Brandon Pirri) in the Columbus net. The Hawks were able to come away with a 5-2 victory. Time is short so just a quick recap today:
Columbus Mismatch: Blue Jackets Visit Chicago
Oct 29th
Photo: Chris Schneider/AP
The Columbus Blue Jackets’ season so far: 10 games, 1 win, 8 losses, 1 OTL, for a total of 3 (that’s “three”) points, and they’re 0-5-0 on the road.
I really should just stop right there and just save you the time, let the game speak for itself. This team sucks, and there’s precious little argument about that.
Hawks fall 3-0 in the land of Kenny Powers
Oct 28th
Photo: Karl B DeBlaker / AP
Hi folks. Bartl is gone for the weekend so this was a perfect chance to break in the new guy-me. I’m Jim, the newest and least worthy writer here at Cheer the Anthem. Boxing will return next week so in the meantime you’re stuck with me. Lets get right to it:
After dominating the opening shift, the Hawks spent the rest of the next 7 minutes getting schooled by the Hurricanes in their own zone. A little over 3 minutes in, Marcus Kruger lost a draw and then failed to tie up Tim Brent, which led to a fluky goal by Tim Gleason. Gleason ripped a low shot past Corey Crawford which was redirected off the skate of Nick Leddy. Immediately following the next faceoff, Sean O’Donnell committed an inexcusable giveaway which very easily could have ended with the Hawks trailing by 2, but the Hurricanes couldn’t convert on the chances. With five and a half minutes remaining in the opening frame, Daniel Carcillo’s stick came up and clipped Jordan Staal’s face, which led to a high sticking double minor – mistakenly assessed to Patrick Kane. The Hawks penalty kill did not disappoint and successfully killed off the Carolina power play which was short its best player in Staal. Corey Crawford was solid all period and was the only reason the Hawks escaped down only one.
Boiled Peanuts and Frogmore Stew: Blackhawks Head South
Oct 28th
Photo: Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images
With the Blackhawks’ poor luck with shootouts of late (or at least, until the victory over Anaheim on Tuesday), one would think it hard to find a team doing worse than Chicago in that category. Fortunately for us, the ‘Hawks visit that team tonight. Carolina, despite having only 9 games under their belt, has 3 games in the ‘OTL’ column.
The bad stats don’t end there, with 5 of their top 6 scorers sitting south of zero in the plus-minus category, and their backup goaltender boasting a 4.46 GAA.
Let’s leave it as, things could be better in the land of NASCAR.
STATS Game: Blackhawks at Hurricanes
Oct 28th
I did this a few times last season when I could, so I thought I’d share some facts heading into tonight’s contest at the RBC Center versus the Carolina Hurricanes.
While the Blackhawks are getting solid contributions from all four lines, the Hurricanes are scrambling after three straight losses. Here are their likely forward lines for the tilt:
Chad LaRose – NAME THAT STAAL … Eric Staal – Jiri Tlusty
SKINNERRRRR! – Jussi Jokinen – Tuomo Ruutu
Alexei Ponikarovsky – Brandon Sutter – Patrick Dwyer
Brett Sutter – Tim Brent (yes, that Tim Brent) / Derek Joslin - Zach Boychuk
Here are some stats/facts …
Wild, Wild West Side: Victorious Shootout Boxing with Blackhawks and Ducks
Oct 26th
(Nuccio DiNuzzo, Chicago Tribune)
As a season-ticket holder, I thank the Blackhawks for the extra hockey the past three home games. As a fan, I’m wondering what the hell is wrong with earning the two points without having to deal with the frustration of the goddamn shootout.
I don’t think I’m alone in thinking the ‘Hawks were lucky to come away with two points after a 3-2 shootout win at the UC on Tuesday night. Patrick Kane saved the night with two gorgeous assists and the shootout winner, though he didn’t make things easy with a bad giveaway which led to Teemu Selanne’s goal.
Dave Bolland took a bad penalty at the end of the first period, then Sean O’Donnell mixed in a delay-of-game before Marian Hossa was given an iffy penalty with 2:10 left in regulation. Fortunately, the Ducks converted on only one of these power plays, leaving the door open for the Blackhawks to earn the pair.
And before Jonathan Toews and Kaner netter goals in the shootout, Hossa ripped one off the post as the horn sounded off a great faceoff win by Toews. How he was able to win it perfectly while putting just the right touch on it so the 2.4 seconds didn’t run off, allowing Hossa to get a missile off is truly amazing to me.
Let’s talk about the rest in Boxing…
Tuesday Dinner: Blackhawks Hope To Serve Roast Duck
Oct 25th
Photo: Getty Images
One of the curiosities of last season was the holy-crap performance of aging veteran Teemu Selanne. Despite having four decades in his rear view mirror, he notched 31 goals and a whopping 80 points in 73 regular-season games, adding a goal-per-game performance in the playoffs. Selanne and 4 other Ducks players were all north of 65 points on the 2010-11 season, and Selanne plus the other 4 will all be in the lineup tonight at the United Center: forwards Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, and Bobby Ryan, and defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky.
But I’m sure Anaheim Head Coach Randy Carlyle is hoping his offensive stars will start to shine soon, as the Ducks are near the bottom of the barrel in scoring, just barely nudging past 2 goals per game on average. Those five players account for fully two-thirds of the Ducks total offense to date. Pay close attention to those players, you shut down the Ducks offense — almost.
Boxing Returns Tuesday: Bad Bounces Beat Blackhawks
Oct 23rd
Photo: AP
On Saturday evening, Jeff was having his weekly psychotic episode. These almost always include (but are not limited to) alcohol, friends, and the Michigan State Spartans football game. This one was particularly bad, as the Spartans went down 14 – 0 in the first 7 minutes of the game, rallied to a 31 – 14 lead — which they then blew in the fourth quarter, only to win against #6 Wisconsin on the already-legendary Hail Mary pass with no time left on the clock.
I’ve spoken to the doctors, and Jeff may be well enough to take visitors as early as tomorrow afternoon. But in the mean time, your fix of “Boxing” will be delayed until after the Ducks game on Tuesday.
I know, you’re disappointed, for the second time. As the Blackhawks were not able to pull together the same fate as MSU: they also came from behind, they also blew a late-game lead, but lost 5 – 4 in a shootout to Colorado. This defeat was much the same as Thursday’s victory, but the bounces went against the Blackhawks this time.
Potential: Blackhawks Finish Home-And-Home With Avalanche
Oct 22nd
Photo: Randy Guttierrez/AP
The Blackhawks’ season looked, at the outset, to be fraught with peril: shaky backup goaltending, injuries to key forwards, defensive pairing mix-and-match, questions about conditioning, and the ever-present ticking time bomb that exists in the form of newly-acquired winger Daniel Carcillo. The first six games of the season find the Blackhawks with a 4-1-1 record, and showing the potential for another Stanley Cup run. Thursday’s game was a good example of that potential.
Watching the Blackhawks take on the Avalanche it was apparent that these were two closely-matched teams: young and fast, with quick and dangerous snipers up front and scary-good goaltending on the back end. Thursday’s game saw lots of end-to-end action, goaltenders peppered with shots — and standing on their heads to keep their teams in it, and a lot of quick transitions at the blue line.
Tonight, we are going to see that same Avalanche team again; and again, the Blackhawks are going to have to play the same fast, disciplined game to get past them.
Calmer Than You Are, Dude: Boxing with Blackhawks and Avalanche
Oct 21st
(Ron Chenoy/US PRESSWIRE)
Whew, now that was fast-paced hockey.
The Blackhawks were able to calm themselves after the Avs’ initial first-period rush, get into the flow of the game and come away with a 3-1 victory in Colorado, going 2 for 2 on the brief road trip.
I’m tired, so just a few quick observations before Boxing …
♦ With the entire game going pretty much back and forth at warp speed, both Corey Crawford and Semyon Varlamov saw nearly everything thrown at them, neither giving up a bad goal on the night. The Blackhawks put two difficult shots past Varlamov, while Crawford wasn’t able to get in front of an unfortunate bounce. Varlamov should be spending the night in jail after his ridiculous save on Marcus Kruger.
♦ “Bick-Bo-Fro … douchebag”: A bit of a left turn from the “quid pro quo” comment from The Hangover, but this line has been something special thus far. Poor, poor Michael Frolik. Varlamov robbed him of his first goal on a beautiful chance right in front. Bickell has played his ass off and Bolland, well, …. please for the love of holy Christ stay healthy.
♦ Dan Carcillo’s fantastic pass set up Jonathan Toews’ goal, marking yet another solid feed from Carcillo. He got rewarded with his 2nd point as a ‘Hawk, though it’s not for the shortage of some great opportunities he’s set up which simply haven’t gone in the net.
♦ Duncan Keith disrupted a play in the neutral zone, which ended up leading to Patrick Sharp’s handsome goal. After Keith forced the turnover, the ‘Hawks were able to get into transition, pepper Varlamov with a couple of in-tight chances before Sharp sniped the short side to beat him. It was the second straight solid game for Keith, who has been taking plenty of heat lately.
OK, time for Boxing. Two images, click to enlarge …
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