Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Hawks Begin 9 Game Trip Against Hated Canucks


The Chicago Blackhawks will begin a 9 game road trip against the hated Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night in British Columbia.  The heart and soul of the team, Jonathan Toews, will make his return to the lineup after missing a game and a half plus the All-Star game with a wrist injury suffered when he was slashed in a game against the Florida Panthers.  Patrick Sharp will also make his return after missing the last 3 weeks with a broken bone in his left wrist.  Center Brendan Morrison is expected to make his Hawks debut after being acquired in a trade over the break from the Calgary Flames.  Morrison could move into the second line center slot moving Marcus Kruger down to the fourth line.  Corey Crawford will get the start in net for the Hawks.  Corey Schneider will start for the Canucks as Roberto Luongo will hide on the bench again with the Hawks in town.  The Hawks need to pick it up on the road during this trip as they come in just 10-9-2 away from United Center.  The Canucks come in 14-6-3 on home ice.  This is the third meeting of the year for the bitter rivals with both teams winning a game in the other team’s building.  Marian Hossa leads the Hawks with 53 points and Jonathan Toews has a team high 27 goals.  For the Canucks it’s the Sedin’s leading the way Henrik with 52 points, and brother Daniel with 21 goals.  Both teams come in with 64 points just 3 points  behind The Red Wings for the Western Conference lead so needless to say it is a big game tonight.

Friday, January 27, 2012

Hawks Acquire Center Brendan Morrison


The Chicago Blackhawks have acquired center Brendan Morrison from the Calgary Flames in exchange for Rockford Ice Hogs defenseman Brian Connelly.  Morrison has 4 goals, 7 assists, and is a -1 in 28 games this season for Calgary.  Morrison has 200 goals and 401 assists in 923 career regular season games with the New Jersey Devils, Vancouver Canucks, Dallas Stars, Anaheim Ducks, Washington Capitals, and Calgary Flames.  He has also added 446 career penalty minutes.  Morrison has 8 goals and 21 assists in 58 career playoff games.  Morrison was the 39th overall pick in the 1993 entry draft.  He attended Michigan for four years before breaking into the NHL in 1997 with the New Jersey Devils.  Morrison helps at center which is the Hawks biggest concern aside from defense.  Morrison will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. 

Brian Connelly had 5 goals and 31 assists in 44 games for Rockford of the American Hockey League this season.  Connelly was named to the AHL All-Star game this season.  Connelly is currently playing in his 3rd season in the AHL following three years at Colorado College of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.  

  

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Hawks Need to Be Better Defensively At the All-Star Break

I have been seriously under the weather for the past week so I have missed a few posts but here is my Blackhawks assessment at the break:  The Chicago Blackhawks hit the All-Star break with a 29-15-6 record and 64 points.  The record is respectable but is good for only 4th place in the wicked Central Division following two straight losses to Nashville.  The good news is the Hawks trail division, Western Conference, and NHL leader Detroit by just 3 points.  The Hawks will begin a 9 game road trip in Vancouver on Tuesday night following the All-Star weekend which interestingly enough will pit all of the Canucks on Team Alfie and all of the Hawks on Team Chara.  Maybe the bad blood will start a little early, although not likely in a game of this caliber.  The Hawks biggest issue this season has been turnovers in their own end that are ending up in the back of their net way too often.  Chicago has allowed 144 goals this season and only 5 other teams have allowed more.  The 3-1 loss to the Predators on Tuesday night was another glaring example.  On the first goal, Sean O’Donnell made the cardinal sin of hockey and through the puck up the middle which was promptly stolen and put behind Corey Crawford who was also being screened on the play by you guessed it the guy O’Donnell should have been covering.  On the second Predators goal Nick Leddy had the puck stolen behind the net when he failed to move the puck and a wide open Mike Fisher was fed the puck and scored another easy goal.  Just one game but I could give at least 50 more examples through the first half of the season just like it.  The defense needs to be better if this team is going to take the Central Division and make a deep run in the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs.  The more and more I see the more I believe a trade deadline deal for a top 4 defenseman is a necessity to shore up the defense.  The Hawks need a physical presence that can clear the puck out of the zone with regularity.  This could possibly be the toughest year in history to make it out of the Western Conference and the Hawks need to position themselves now.   

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Hawks Lay Egg in Music City


The Chicago Blackhawks fell to the Nashville Predators 5-2 Saturday night in the music city.  After a long night getting out of snowy Chicago and circling the Nashville airport for over an hour a letdown was the worry heading in.  The Hawks got off to a good start when Marian Hossa gave the Hawks a 1-0 lead 15:05 into the first.  The lead would only last just over two minutes as Craig Smith tied the game on the power play.  At 5:15 of the second period the game began to slip away as Corey Crawford allowed and atrocious center ice goal from Kevin Klein that gave the Predators a 2-1 lead.  Colin Wilson and Sergei Kostitsyn would add second period goals and that was the end of Corey Crawford.  Crawford had an awful night allowing 4 goals on 17 shots including the center ice goal.  Marian Hossa would cut the lead to 4-2 48 seconds into the third period but the Predators would get it back.  Patric Hornqvist deflected a point blast past Ray Emery to give the Predators a 5-2 lead.  The Predators would hang on as Peka Rinne stopped 20 of 22 Hawks shot for the win.  Nashville had 23 shots for the game.  The Hawks will look to regroup Tuesday night on home ice in the second of the home and home.  It will be the last game before the all-star break and will be a huge 2 points for Chicago as Nashville is within 4 points in the Central Division with the win tonight.  The Hawks fell to 29-14-6 with the loss and are now just 10-9-2 on the road.  With Detroit and St. Louis winning tonight the Hawks were leapfrogged again in the Central and now sit in 3rd place one point behind Detroit for first.   


Friday, January 20, 2012

Hawks Beat Panthers 3-1


The Chicago Blackhawks took on the Florida Panthers in snowy Chicago on Friday night.  After the game was delayed by weather and a late arriving Panthers bus both teams got off to a bit of a shaky start.  After both teams failed to score on shortened power play chances it was the Captain giving the Hawks a late first period lead.  Patrick Kane found Jonathan Toews on a stretch pass and sent the Captain in alone forehand backhand 1-0 at 17:40.  Two minutes later with Keaton Ellerby off for boarding Andrew Shaw, Duncan Keith unloaded a missile from the left point that beat Jose Theodore clean for a 2-0 lead and a power play goal at 19:43.  The Hawks outshot the Panthers 8-5 in the opening twenty minutes of play.      
                                             
The Kane, Toews, Stalberg line took over in the middle frame and Patrick Kane broke out of his mini goal scoring slump beating Theodore for a 3-0 Hawks lead.  Andrew Brunette had a goal disallowed when the zebra ruled he made contact with a high stick.  Toronto agreed despite the fact it was clear his stick was below the cross bar when he made contact.  It was the second time in two games the Hawks had a disallowed goal that should have counted and Toronto failed to overturn the call.  Shots were 10 apiece in the middle frame.  Jonathan Toews appeared to injure his left hand or wrist in the period but stayed on the bench and was on ice for the Kane goal.


Jonathan Toews went off for tripping right away and it took Florida just 5 seconds to cash in on the power play 43 seconds into the third period.  Jason Garrison scored his 13th of the season on a blast from the point to make the game 3-1.  But that would be all Florida would get as the third period finished scoreless the rest of the way.  Shots were 4 apiece in the third period. 

The Hawks will brave the weather to get to Nashville for a huge Central Division matchup with the Predators on Saturday night.  The Preds are suddenly just 6 behind Chicago in the 4 horse race.  The Hawks improved to 29-13-6 on the year and leapfrogged the Red Wings and Blues for the Central Division lead with the win. 

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Panthers @ Blackhawks 01/20/12 Preview


The Chicago Blackhawks (28-13-6) will take on the Florida Panthers (21-14-10) at United Center on Friday night.  The Hawks will be looking to move back into first place in the Central after Detroit won on Thursday to move 1 point ahead in the dog fight that is the Central and Western Conference.  Chicago comes in winners of two straight and are 4-0-2 in their last six games.  The Hawks are 18-5-4 on home ice and will be looking to take another 2 points against a struggling Panther’s team that is just 3-4-3 in their last ten contests. 

The Hawks won the only United Center meeting with Florida last year 4-0.  This will be the second and final meeting between the teams who met in November in Miami.  The Hawks won that meeting 3-2 in the shoot out.  Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa scored for the Hawks in regulation, and Patrick Kane scored the lone goal in the shoot out for the win.  Florida had goals from Stephen Weiss and Ed Jovanovski in the loss.  Ray Emery will get the start in goal for the Hawks. 

Marian Hossa continues to lead the Hawks with 49 points and Jonathan Toews, fresh off his 2 goal night on Wednesday, leads Chicago with 26 goals.  Former 2010 Stanley Cup Winner Kris Versteeg will be making his first trip back to United Center since Game 5 of the Finals.  Versteeg leads the Panthers with 17 goals and 39 points.  Versteeg was traded to Toronto that summer in a deal that brought Viktor Stalberg to Chicago.  Florida has been decimated by injuries with five players on injured reserve and will likely add Jovanovski after he broke his hand in Colorado Wednesday night. 

Hawks Pound Sabres 6-2 Behind Rookies


The Chicago Blackhawks poured on 4 unanswered goals on Wednesday night to defeat the Buffalo Sabres 6-2 at United Center and hand Buffalo their 10th straight road loss.  The rookie coming out party was at it again as Andrew Shaw and Jimmy Hayes both had a goal and an assist and Hayes had another assist wiped away when a Marcus Kruger goal was disallowed.  Shaw now has 5 goals in 8 NHL games.  Hayes has 4 goals and 3 assists in 10 games.  Corey Crawford stopped 25 of 27 shots to earn the victory.  Chicago outshot Buffalo 35-27 in the game.  The Hawks were 2-4 on the power play and 3-4 on the penalty kill. 

Buffalo’s Jason Pominville got the Sabres off to an early 1-0 lead when the puck was turned over at the Sabre’s Blue line and Pominville was sprung the other way and beat Crawford with a wrister at 9:30 of the first period.  Andrew Shaw would answer cleaning up the garbage on a juicy rebound to tie the game at 1-1.  It was yet another case of the rookie being in the right place at the right time and being rewarded.  At 15:54 of the first Captain Serious Jonathan Toews cashed in on the power play cleaning up a rebound off a Brent Seabrook point blast with Mike Weber off for shooting the puck into the crowd.  The Hawks led 2-1 after one period of play outshooting the Sabres 14-10 in the opening 20 minutes.

In the second period Buffalo would draw even on another Jason Pominville goal this time on the power play with Jimmy Hayes off for roughing.  With the score tied 2-2 the Hawks would take control from there.  Just over 2 minutes after the Pominville goal, Marian Hossa would get a breakaway and made the Sabres pay with his 18th goal of the game off a stretch pass from Duncan Keith.  The Hawks would make it 4-2 in the second when Andrew Brunette found a streaking Jimmy Hayes who tipped it home.  It was another prime example of good things happening when you go to the scoring area on the ice.  Chicago outshot Buffalo 10-8 in the middle frame.


At 4:11 of the third, Dave Bolland gave the Hawks a commanding 5-2 advantage off a feed from Hayes.  Jonathan Toews and the Hawks power play unit would cash in for the second time of the night to give the Hawks a 6-2 lead at 6:48.  It was the 26th goal of the season for the Captain.  Chicago outshot Buffalo 11-9 in the third.

Chicago improved to 28-13-6 overall with the victory and moved back atop the Central Division, Western Conference, and NHL standings with 62 points.  The Hawks will host the Florida Panthers on Friday night.  Chicago beat the Panthers 3-2 in the shootout in November in Miami.  The Hawks are 18-5-4 on home ice.  The Panthers will bring a 10-9-4 road record to United Center and are just 3-4-3 in their last 10 games. 


    

Monday, January 16, 2012

Hawks Back Atop West, Beat Sharks 4-3


The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the San Jose Sharks Sunday night at United Center to improve to 27-13-6 on the year and move back into the Western Conference lead with 60 points.  The win improved the Hawks to 17-5-4 and also tied Chicago for the National Hockey League lead with the New York Rangers.  The Hawks stormed out to a 2-0 first period lead outshooting the Sharks 11-8.  Dave Bolland opened the scoring at 18:01 beating former Hawks net minder Anti Niemi with a tough angle shot from near the goal line.  1:38 later it was Viktor Stalberg scoring his 14th goal of the year after Jonathan Toews hit him with a pretty cross ice pass as Stalberg streaked to the net through the slot. 


The Sharks would fight back in the second notching two goals in the first 2:08 of the period.  Joe Pavelski made it 2-1 after getting a piece of a Marc-Edouard Vlasic point shot and deflecting it by Corey Crawford.  26 seconds later the game was tied when Steve Montador failed to get the puck out and Jamie McGinn stuffed one home on a shot Crawford would most definitely like to have back.  The Hawks would regain the lead in the second on a Jonathan Toews goal off a sweet feed from Patrick Kane to beat Niemi shortly after he turned the puck over to Viktor Stalberg.  Chicago outshot San Jose 14-8 in the middle frame. 

At 2:37 of the third period it was Andrew Shaw banging home a Marcus Kruger rebound scoring his 4th goal in just his 7th NHL game and the Hawks led 4-2.  The Sharks would add a late goal from Evanston native Tommy Wingels to cut the lead to 4-3 but the Hawks would hang on for the victory.  The Hawks outshot the Sharks 15-8 in the third.

All in all it was a solid 60 minute performance for the Hawks after only showing up for about one period against the Wings Saturday morning.  Chicago outshot San Jose 40-24 for the game.  The line of Toews, Kane, and Stalberg had a monster game and were a factor every time they were on the ice.  Rookie Andrew Shaw continued to impress notching another goal and getting more key minutes.  The Hawks were 0-1 on the power play for the game but the penalty killers were a perfect 3 for 3.

The Hawks will be back in action Wednesday night against the Buffalo Sabres at United Center in a national broadcast on NBC Sports Network.  Viktor Stalberg was named the NHL's 2nd star of the week on Monday with 5 goals in 4 games.  

    

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Hawks Fall in OT 3-2 to Wings, Look Ahead to Sharks


The Detroit Red Wings defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 on a Todd Bertuzzi goal with 38 seconds remaining in overtime to move within one point of the Hawks for first place in the Central Division.  It is the second time in a week Detroit has got the best of Chicago in overtime. 

The Hawks got off to a horrific start getting outshot 10-0 in the opening minutes of play but Corey Crawford shut the door to keep the Hawks in the game.  But with Marcus Kruger off for hooking it was Tomas Holmstrom tipping an Ian White point shot to beat Crawford and give the Wings a 1-0 advantage.  3:14 later it was Brent Seabrook letting Todd Bertuzzi get behind him on a stretch pass from Pavel Datsyuk for a breakaway goal and a 2-0 Detroit lead.  Crawford would keep the Wings off the board after that in a period that saw the Hawks outshot 21-4 and outplayed badly. 

Things would even out a bit in the second period and at 14:54 Wings goalie Jimmy Howard would misplay the puck behind the net and Andrew Shaw banged it home for the Hawks when it came to him wide open in front of an empty net.  The Wings outshot the Hawks 8-7 in the second period of play.

 The third period was the opposite of the first with the Hawks totally taking it to the Wings outshooting them 16-5.  But it was Jimmy Howard keeping the Wings in the game making save after save.  But at 19:08 off a clean faceoff win by Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa took a shot from up high that Toews got a stick on in front to beat Jimmy Howard to tie the game at 2-2.  After some anxious moments in the Hawks end in the closing seconds the game went to overtime.  The Hawks were dominated in overtime and outshot 9-0.  With 38 seconds to play Todd Bertuzzi found the back of the net for his second of the game and the Wings won 3-2. 

Joel Quenneville can’t be happy with the effort from his team in this one as in the NHL you must play 60 minutes to win a game and the Hawks only showed up for about 25 minutes in this one.  Rookies Jimmy Hayes and Andrew Shaw continued to impress but the Hawks best players need to start being their best players.  Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane only registered 3 shots between them.  Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith were a combined -3.

 
The Hawks fell to 26-13-6 on the year and 10-8-2 on the road with the loss.  The Hawks will return home for a huge Western Conference game against the Pacific Division leading San Jose Sharks on Sunday night.  The Hawks are 1-1-0 against the Sharks this season.  Losing 1-0 at the Tank in November and winning 3-2 in overtime at the UC last month.  In the last meeting Jamie McGinn and Justin Braun scored for the Sharks in regulation, and Marcus Kruger and Andrew Brunette scored for Chicago before Patrick Sharp won the game with just 34 seconds remaining in overtime.  Ray Emery stopped 35 of 37 Sharks shot to earn the victory.  Former Hawks net minder Anti Niemi made 31 saves in the loss.  The Sharks are 10-4-3 on the road and will play in Columbus on Saturday night before heading to Chicago.  The Hawks come in with a 16-5-4 United Center record.  Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau lead the Sharks with 35 points apiece.  Logan Couture has a team high 18 goals.  For the Hawks, Marian Hossa has a team high 47 points and Jonathan Toews leads Chicago with 23 goals.  

  

Friday, January 13, 2012

Hawks @ Wings 01/14/12 Preview


The Chicago Blackhawks will take on the hated Detroit Red Wings on Saturday morning for the third time this season and first time at Joe Louis Arena.  The Hawks are 1-0-1 against the Wings this season and won all three meeting in Detroit last year.  The Hawks currently sit in first place atop the Central Division standings one point ahead of the St. Louis Blues and two points ahead of the Red Wings.  The Hawks are 10-8-1 away from United Center and the Wings have won 13 straight games at the Joe where they are 16-2-1 this season.  The game will be a 1230 Eastern start on NBC and be nationally televised.  The teams last met last Sunday night at United Center and it was Valtterri Filppula and Dan Cleary scoring for the Wings in regulation.  Dave Bolland and Patrick Sharp scored for the Hawks before Sharp exited in the first period with a hand injury.   Pavel Datsyuk won it for Detroit in overtime banking a shot off a Hawks defenseman and in from the goal line with Corey Crawford down.  Ty Conklin stopped 29 of 31 Hawks shots to earn the win.  Corey Crawford stopped 24 of 27 Wings shots in the loss.  The teams will battle it out three more times after Saturday in games that could decide the division race.  Marcus Kruger was activated from the injured list on Friday and Ben Smith was sent to Rockford.  The Hawks also announced that Dan Carcillo will have surgery for an ACL and will miss the remainder of the season.  Patrick Sharp continues to be out with a left hand injury.  Viktor Stalberg will look to stay hot for the Hawks with 4 goals in his last 2 games. 

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Hawks Dominate Wild 5-2



The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night in a dominate performance at United Center to move into first place in the Central Division one point ahead of the St. Louis Blues.  Chicago improved to 26-13-5 on the year.  After falling behind early on a Devin Setoguchi goal, the Hawks stormed back with 4 unanswered goals of their own.  Rookie Andrew Shaw would open the scoring for the Hawks flying up the left side boards used a Bryan Bickell pick and put a wicked wrister by Minnesota goalie Josh Harding to tie the game at 1-1.  Chicago outshot the Wild 13-8 in the opening 20 minutes before blowing the game open in the second period.  With Justin Falk off for hooking, Rookie Jimmy Hayes found the back of the net on the power play off a feed from Dave Bolland to give the Hawks the lead 2-1.  Just 23 seconds later Jonathan Toews took a hit along the right side boards and fed Viktor Stalberg who beat Harding for his 4th goal in two games and gave the Hawks a 3-1 advantage.  Dave Bolland off a steal and shot gave the Hawks another power play goal and Chicago led 4-1.  That would be it for Josh Harding who was replaced by Matt Hackett, the nephew of former Hawk’s net minder Jeff Hackett.  Minnesota’s Kyle Brodziak would pull the Wild within 2 goals with 11:04 to play putting home a juicy rebound off the pad of Ray Emery.  With the Wild goalie pulled, Dave Bolland would add an empty netter to notch his second goal of the game and give the Hawks a 5-2 advantage.  That would be the final as the Hawks won for the second straight night and second time against the Wild this season.  The Hawks outshot the Wild 30-23 for the game.  Chicago will skate next in Detroit on Saturday morning in another key Central Division match up.  The Hawks are now 16-5-4 on home ice. 



Wild @ Blackhawks 01/12/12 Preview


The Chicago Blackhawks (25-13-5) will host the Minnesota Wild (22-15-6) in the second meeting of the year between the Western Conference opponents.  Chicago won the first meeting 4-3 in a shootout up in St. Paul.  The Minnesota Wild, once the league’s best team back in December, have struggled recently going just 2-7-1 in their last ten games.  Chicago has not been much better winning just 4 of 10.  Chicago comes in 15-5-4 on United Center ice and the Wild are 10-9-3 on the road.  The teams split a pair of games last season in Chicago.  In the first meeting Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, and Michael Frolik scored for the Hawks in regulation, and Kyle Brodziak, Matt Cullen, and Mikko Koivu tallied for the Wild.  In the shootout Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane scored for the Hawks, and Ray Emery stopped Matt Cullen and Danny Heatley to preserve the win.  For the Hawks it will be Ray Emery in goal again against the Wild.  Marian Hossa has a team high 45 points and Jonathan Toews continues to lead the way with 22 goals.  No Marcus Kruger again who is skating but not ready to return to the lineup.  Ben Smith who scored against Columbus on Tuesday night will be in the lineup.  For Minnesota, Mikko Koivu leads the way with 33 points and Danny Heatley has a team high 13 goals.  Tonight’s game begins a stretch of three games in four nights against Minnesota, Detroit, and San Jose.  Three tough games with the Hawks in need of every point they can get after a tough stretch. 

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Hawks Hammer Jackets Behind Viktor Stalberg Show


The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the NHL bottom feeding Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 on Tuesday night to break the 4 game losing streak and improve to 25-13-5 on the year.  The Hawks came in struggling but have dominated Columbus this year improving to 4-0-0 against the Jackets.  The Hawks had a sluggish first period being outshot 11-5 in the opening 20 minutes of play.  Columbus couldn’t dent the net and it remained scoreless after one.  Chicago opened the scoring shorthanded after Jamal Mayers drew an instigator penalty on a fight.  Dave Bolland took a pass from Marian Hossa on a 2-1 rush and beat Curtis Sanford for a 1-0 Hawks lead.  It was Bolland’s 3rd shorthanded goal of the season.  The Jackets would tie the game just over three and a half minutes later on a goal by R.J. Umberger.  But the Viktor Stalberg show would take over from there.  Stalberg struck twice to give Chicago a 3-1 advantage 6:32 into the third period.  Just 27 seconds later it was Ben Smith flipping a backhand shot over Sanford’s shoulder to give the Hawks a 4-1 advantage.  Columbus would add an Antoine Vermette goal less than two minutes later to cut the lead to 4-2.  The Jackets would pull Sanford late for the extra attacker.  Stalberg would cap the night off chasing down a loose puck for the empty netter and the hat trick causing it to rain hats at United Center.  Corey Crawford stopped 32 of 34 shots to earn the victory.  The Hawks were outshot 34-25 for the game.  The Hawks penalty killers were a perfect 5 for 5 with a shorthanded goal, but the power play was 0 for 4 on the evening.  The Hawks improved to 15-5-4 on home ice for the season.  The Hawks will host the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night in a big Western Conference match up.  



  



Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Blue Jackets @ Blackhawks 01/10/12 Preview


The Chicago Blackhawks (24-13-5) will take on the league worst Columbus Blue Jackets (11-25-5) at United Center tonight.  The Hawks come in losers of 4 in a row and in desperate need of two points.  Columbus fired their coach this week after a dismal start to the season.  The Jackets are just 5-14-2 on the road and will go up against the Hawks 14-5-4 home record.  This will be the fourth of six meetings this year and the Hawks are 3-0-0 on the year against Columbus posting victories of 6-3, 4-1, and 5-2.  Marian Hossa continues to lead the Hawks in scoring with 44 points.  Jonathan Toews has a team high 22 goals.  The Hawks will be without the services of their third leading scorer (20G, 20A, 40pts) for 3-4 weeks with a left hand injury suffered Sunday night against Detroit.  Ben Smith was recalled from Rockford on Monday.  Corey Crawford will be in net for Chicago.  For the Jackets, Vinny Prospal has a team high 30 points.  Possible trade deadline mover Rick Nash leads Columbus with 14 goals.  Curtis Sanford will get the start in goal for the Jackets.  Sanford is 6-8-4 with a 2.49 GAA, and .914 save percentage on the year.    

Monday, January 9, 2012

Hawks Lose in Overtime to Wings 3-2, Sharp Injured


The Chicago Blackhawks fell to the Detroit Red Wings in overtime on Sunday night 3-2.  Chicago got off to an early 2-0 lead on goals from Dave Bolland and Patrick Sharp in the first 4:19 of the first period.  Sharp would leave the game later in the period and Detroit would storm back.  Valttteri Filppula scored a power play goal at 13:29 to cut the lead to 2-1 with Brent Seabrook off for slashing.  The Hawks would fail on 3 power plays in the second and third period to extend the lead and Jimmy Hayes was stopped by Ty Conklin a penalty shot at 7:53 of the third when Tomas Holmstrom was whistled for covering his hand on the puck in the crease.  Danny Cleary tied the game 2-2 at 15:15 of the third.  Just over 3 minutes gone by in overtime it was Pavel Datsyuk banking a shot of Nick Leddy and in for the game winner.  The Hawks would get a much needed point but fell to Detroit 3-2.  The Hawks fell to 24-13-5 on the year and 14-5-4 on home ice.  Chicago is just 1-4-1 in their last 6 games.  The loss was costly in more ways than won as the Hawks fell to third place in the Central Division and it was revealed on Monday that Patrick Sharp will be out 3-4 weeks with a left hand injury that possibly happened on a Jiri Hudler slash during his first period goal.  Sharp’s presence in the lineup will be missed as he is second on the team in goals with 20 and third in points with 40.  Ben Smith has been recalled from Rockford of the AHL to a Hawks roster that is starting to resemble the Rockford Blackhawks.  Coach Quenneville has been impressed with rookie Jimmy Hayes and speculated Monday that Hayes will now see more important minutes with the injury to Sharp.   


Saturday, January 7, 2012

Red Wings @ Blackhawks 01/08/12 Preview


The Chicago Blackhawks (24-13-4) will face off with the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday night at United Center with first place in the Central Division on the line.  The Wings are currently one point behind Chicago in the standings and will play in Toronto Saturday before traveling to Chicago.  This will mark the second of six meeting with Detroit and the Hawks won the first game 3-2 at home December 30th behind goals from Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, and Brent Seabrook.  Justin Abdelkader and Todd Bertuzzi scored for Detroit.  Corey Crawford stopped 26 of 28 shots to earn the victory.  Jimmy Howard stopped 25 of 28 Hawks shots in the loss.  Detroit won 2 of 3 meetings at United Center last season.  Marian Hossa leads the Hawks with 42 points and Jonathan Toews leads the way with 22 goals.  Pavel Datsyuk leads the way for Detroit with 40 points and Johan Franzen has a team high 16 goals.  The Blackhawks, who have been horrible defensively in the last few games, are expecting defenseman Steve Montador back for the game. 


Hawks Hit With Embarassing Avalanche, Fall 4-0 at Home


The Chicago Blackhawks took on the Colorado Avalanche at United Center on Friday night.  The Avalanche came in red hot winners of 8 of 10 and 3 in a row.  The Blackhawks came in angry losers of two straight including with 32 seconds to go last night in Philadelphia.  John Scott got the start in place of Sean O’Donnell who was a healthy scratch.  Corey Crawford got the nod in goal for the Hawks.  Semyon Varlamov got the start for the Avalanche.  The Avalanche got on the board first with a David Jones goal and it all went downhill for the Hawks from there.  Chicago had a complete lack of effort and looked like they were not even in the building for most of the remaining 47 minutes.  The Avalanche would add goals from T.J. Galiardi, David Van Der Gulik, and Chuck Kobasew for a 4-0 victory.  Kobasew was left wide open by himself in front of Crawford in an inexcusable defensive breakdown.  Defensive breakdowns were the story of the night led by Nick Leddy and his atrocious -4 rating for the night.  Leddy played a horrible game, was out of position often, and was on the ice for all 4 Avalanche goals.  The Hawks managed just 27 shots but could not get anything by Varlamov as they repeatedly failed to convert any scoring chances.  The lack of effort was evident and a chorus of boos came down from the United Center faithful on more than one occasion.  The Hawks dropped their third straight game falling to 24-13-4 on the year and 14-5-3 on home ice.  It was the second straight loss on home ice.  The Hawks will host the Red Wings on Sunday night in a battle for the Central Division lead.  Detroit currently sits one point back in the standings but play in Toronto on Saturday night.  The Hawks are 1-0-0 against Detroit on the year posting a 3-2 victory on December 30th.        

Friday, January 6, 2012

Avalanche @ Blackhawks 01/06/12 Preview



The Chicago Blackhawks (24-12-4) return home to face the red hot Colorado Avalanche (22-18-1) on Friday night.  The Avalanche have won three in a row and have won 8 of their last 10 games.  The Hawks come in riding a two game losing streak and will look to right the ship on Friday night following a loss to Edmonton in a game they should have won and a loss in the last minute to the Flyers on Thursday night.  This will be the third of four meetings with the Avalanche this season.  Chicago is 1-0-1 on the year against Colorado.  The Hawks won in Denver 3-1 in October and lost 5-4 at home in the shootout two days later.  Chicago will be without Marcus Kruger, Steve Montador, and Dan Carcillo.  The red hot Jimmy Hayes 2 goals in 3 games and Andrew Shaw will be in the lineup again.  Shaw scored his first career NHL goal in his first career game on Thursday night in Philadelphia, and also notched his first NHL fight in just his second shift.  Shaw might want to stick to the goal scoring as the fight landed him 10 stitches to the left eye.  Defenseman Dylan Olsen is also expected in the lineup.  Marian Hossa continues to lead the way with 42 points for the Hawks and Jonathan Toews has a team high 22 goals heading into Friday night’s matchup with the Avalanche.  The Hawks are 14-4-3 on home ice.  Colorado comes in 9-8-1 on the road.  Ryan O’Reilly leads the Avalanche with 29 points.  Matt Duchene has a team high 12 goals but is out with a knee injury.          

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Hawks Lose Thriller in Philly 5-4 in Final Minute


The Chicago Blackhawks took on the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night in a battle of NHL heavyweights and the game lived up to the hype.  The Hawks were making their first trip back to Philadelphia since they left with the Stanley Cup on Patrick Kane’s overtime winner in Game 6 of the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals.  The Hawks got on the board first with a Jimmy Hayes tip goal at 3:01 of the first.  It was the 2nd goal in 3 career games for Hayes.  Off the next face off Andrew Shaw making his National Hockey League debut dropped the mittons with Zac Rinaldo.  Rinaldo got the better of that scrap and both got 5 for fighting.  Jakub Voracek tied it for the Flyers at 19:09 of the first and the teams went to the room tied at 1-1.  The Flyers outshot the Blackhawks 13-7 in the first period of play. 


In the second period, it was rookie Andrew Shaw with a power backhand move to score his first career National Hockey League goal to give the Hawks a 2-1 lead.  But the wheels would come off for the Hawks in the second period.  Just 17 seconds after the Shaw goal Scott Hartnell would tie the game on his 18th goal of the season tipping a puck out of midair from the slot that beat Ray Emery.  Harry Zolnierczyk gave the Flyers their first lead of the night when he beat Emery with a backhand shot at 11:51.  Just 23 seconds later James van Riemsdyk beat Emery again to give the Flyers a 4-2 lead which they took to the dressing room.  The Flyers dominated the second period outshooting the Hawks 21-15 in the middle frame. 

In the third period the Flyers controlled much of the first half of the period and looked to have the game well in hand when Patrick Sharp went off for a 4 minute double minor for high sticking at 10:15 of the third.  The Hawks would kill the penalty with help from the left post and as Sharp’s penalty expired Brent Seabrook put a rising wrist shot by Ilya Bryzgalov to cut the lead to 4-3.  Just 25 seconds later, Jonathan Toews stole a puck, fed Patrick Sharp who found a wide open Patrick Kane in the slot, and Kane buried it to tie the game at 4-4.  The Kane goal came at 14:40 of the third. 


The Hawks dominated the next 4 minutes putting puck after puck on Bryzgalov.  But Patrick Kane would be whistled for a high stick at 18:22 of the period.  With just 32.8 seconds remaining, it was James van Riemsdyk beating Emery for the game winner on the power play.  The Flyers would hold on to defeat Chicago 5-4 in a thriller in the only meeting this season between the Hawks and Flyers.  Shots were even at 12 apiece in the third.

Philadelphia outshot Chicago 46-34 for the game.  Power plays were 4-0 in favor of the Flyers. Chicago falls to 24-12-4 on the year and 10-8-1 on the road.  The Hawks return home to face the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night in the third of four meetings with the Avalanche.  Chicago is 1-0-1 on the year against Colorado.  The Hawks won in Denver 3-1 in October and lost 5-4 at home in the shootout two days later.        

Hawks Return to Philadelphia Tonight, Hawks @ Flyers Preview


Tonight the Chicago Blackhawks (24-11-4) will skate into Philadelphia to play the Flyers (22-11-4) in a battle of NHL heavyweights.  It will be the Hawks first trip to the Wells Fargo Center since Patrick Kane’s Game 6 overtime winner sent the Hawks to the Stanley Cup 2 seasons ago.  For many Hawks this will bring back memories of the best night of their lives.  Let’s hope the trip down memory lane ends when the puck drops and the Hawks are ready to play as Philadelphia is once again a Stanley Cup contender.    

For Chicago, it will be Ray Emery in goal who had a hot December in place of Corey Crawford for most of the month going 5-1-1.  The Hawks placed center Marcus Kruger and defenseman Steve Montador on injured reserve in addition to a 7 game suspension handed down by the NHL to Dan Carcillo for a boarding incident against the Oilers that drew a 5 minute major and game misconduct.  Carcillo is possibly out for the season with a knee injury suffered on the play.  The Hawks recalled center Andrew Shaw to the active roster on a two way deal and recalled defenseman Dylan Olsen from Rockford.  Both are expected to play and make their National Hockey League debuts tonight against Philadelphia.  Marian Hossa leads the Hawks with a team high 41 points and Jonathan Toews leads the team with 22 goals.  This is a big game for Chicago as the Vancouver Canucks moved a point ahead in the Western Conference standings last night, and the Detroit Red Wings lurk just one point behind in the Central Division. The Hawks dropped a 4-3 decision to the Edmonton Oilers Monday night in a game that many Hawks afterwards admitted is a team they just cannot lose to.

The Flyers come in after losing 3-2 in the Winter Classic to their bitter rivals the New York Rangers.  Philadelphia is just 4 points behind the Rangers for the Eastern Conference lead.  Offseason acquisition Ilya Bryzgalov will be in net for the Flyers after being benched for the Winter Classic and voicing his frustrations to the media.  Bryzgalov is 14-8-4 with a 3.01 GAA and a .890 save percentage on the year.  Numbers that need to be better for a high dollar goaltender.  Claude Giroux is mister everything for the Flyers leading the team in points with 46, goals with 18, and assists with 28.  Philly is just 2-3-1 in their last 6 games.  The Flyers will be looking for revenge for the Hawks winning the 2010 Stanley Cup in their building the last time the teams met in Philadelphia.  

   

Monday, January 2, 2012

Hawks Fall at Home 4-3 to Edmonton



The National Hockey League leading Chicago Blackhawks took on the Edmonton Oilers at United Center on Monday night in the first game of 2012.  The Hawks came in looking to avenge their worst loss of the season, a 9-2 beat down in Edmonton in November.  Corey Crawford got the start for the Hawks his fifth in a row.  Devan Dubnyk got the nod for the Oil. 

Both teams got a power play in the opening twenty minutes of play and failed to convert.  The Hawks got the lead on a Captain Serious goal after Dan Carcillo stole the puck at the blue line and fed Jonathan Toews who beat Dubnyk on a shot that the Oilers net minder would like to have back.  It was the 22nd goal of the year for the Hawks goal scoring leader.  Shots were even at 10 apiece in the first period.  Hawks D Man Duncan Keith played over 10 minutes in the first period of play.

Early in the second Dan Carcillo drilled Dan Gilbert and got a 5 minute major and a game misconduct.  Ryan Smyth opened up the major with a goal 15 seconds in to tie the game at 1-1.  Jonathan Toews just missed shorthanded on a pretty spin-o-rama move.  Edmonton got another power play goal when Niklas Hjalmarsson got rocked in the face with a high stick 4 feet in front of the zebra who of course failed to make the call. With Hjalms down on the ice the Oilers scored.  Goal credited to Taylor Hall.  Niklas Hjalmarsson got redemption against the ref a short time later and tied the game at 2-2 with a rocket from the point.  The goal was changed to Andrew Brunette who tipped it in front.  Edmonton made it 3-2 when Andy Sutton was left wide open in the slot and he buried it.  The Hawks were short again at the end of the second on a cross checking minor to Patrick Sharp.  The Hawks killed the second period time but carryover time remained.  Shots were 13-9 for the Oilers in the second period.

The Hawks had 46 seconds of carryover penalty time to start the third period.  Chicago killed the penalty to keep it a 3-2 game.  Former Hawk Ben Eager got a really soft goal backhand by Crawford’s blocker 9 minutes into the third.  The Hawks got a must score power play when Eric Belanger clipped Jonathan Toews with a vicious high stick and went for 4 minutes.  The Hawks were awful on the power play and did not convert.  But Jimmy Hayes following his own shot cut the Edmonton lead to 4-3 for his first career NHL goal in just his 2nd career game.  The Hawks got a late power play seconds later and a golden chance to tie the game.  The Hawks got a couple chances but couldn’t score.  It was too little too late as the Hawks fell in regulation 4-3.  Chicago outshot Edmonton 23-6 in the third period but could only beat Dubnyk once.

The story of the game was the Hawks inability to put the puck in the net on the power play going  a despicable 0-5.  The Hawks also allowed 2 power play goals against on Carcillo’s stupid boarding penalty.  Expect Brendan Shanahan to punish Carcillo severely in the repeat offender category.  The Hawks will skate in Philadelphia on Thursday night in a battle with one of the East’s best teams.  The Hawks will be making their first trip to the site of Patrick Kane’s overtime Stanley Cup winning goal since that great night.