Ben Smith Sent Down to Rockford

The Hawks assigned Forward Ben Smith to Rockford of the American Hockey League on Monday.  Smith scored 3 goals in 7 playoff games for the Hawks in 2011 including the overtime game winner in Game 6.  Smith was looking to make the Hawks roster but suffered a concussion against the Detroit Red Wings and has been out since.  Smith returned to practice last week but with the Hawks one over at the forward position with Dave Bolland and Viktor Stalberg healthy, Smith appears to be the odd man out for the time being.    

Hawks Fall in the Shootout to the Champs 3-2

With Marian Hossa out of the line up with an upper body injury Viktor Stalberg returned to the lineup for Chicago for his first appearance of the regular season.  The Hawks and Bruins played a chess match early on as the two NHL heavy weights tried to feel each other out early.  The Hawks killed a power power play when Stalberg went off for tripping at 9:17 of the first period.  The kill seemed to spark the home team who had the better of the chances the second half of the period.  Bryan Bickell cashed in on a breakaway for the only goal of the period to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead over the defending Stanley Cup Champions after one period of play.  Corey Crawford returning after taking the game off against Winnipeg and was sharp stopping 13-13 shots in the period. 

The Hawks continued their sluggish early season start on the power play by giving up a shorthanded goal to Chris Kelly on a 2-1 break.  Patrick Kane capped off a 2 minute plus shift with some hard work and his second goal of the year to put the Hawks back on top 2-1 early in the second period.  The Hawks had the better of the play for the rest of the period killing a Bruins power play and just missing on a shorthanded chance of the their own as Patrick Sharp couldn’t connect with Jonathan Toews on a 2-1 shorthanded break.  Corey Crawford was sharp in the second period controlling rebounds and not providing second chance opportunities.  The Hawks are starting to look a lot like the 2009-10 edition early on.

The third period was tight and chippy with the Hawks failing to cash in on a power play after Michael Frolik was boarded by Patrice Bergeron.  Nathan Horton tied it for Boston at 7:56 of the third period.  The Hawks fell asleep in the third and the majority of the period was played in the Bruins offensive zone.  Boston outshot Chicago 10-7 in the third period.  The Hawks got a late power play chance with 3:35 remaining but that was nullified when Sharp went off for holding at 17:33.  The Hawks were able to kill off the ensuing power play time despite Boston hitting the post to force overtime. 

In overtime both teams had a few chances but Corey Crawford made the save of the game stopping Rich Peverley on a breakaway to keep the Hawks in the game.  Tim Thomas made a good save on a Seabrook shot in the last minute of overtime to send the game to a shootout. 

In the shootout Thomas stopped Jonathan Toews when he failed to elevate the puck as it rolled at the last second.  Tyler Seguin tallied for the Bruins as he went five hole on Crawford.  Patrick Kane was denied by Thomas who closed the five hole to make the stop.  Patrice Bergeron mishandled on an attempt to keep the Hawks alive.  Patrick Sharp was denied and the Hawks fell to the Bruins 3-2.

The Hawks fall to 2-0-1 at home and 2-1-1 on the season.  Chicago travels to Phoenix for a date with the Coyotes on Tuesday night.  In the game give the edge to the Hawks for two periods but Boston looked very alive in the third period and caught the Hawks napping.  Coach Q will need to remind Chicago that games are 60 minutes for a reason.    

Hawks Skate With Defending Champs Tonight, Hawks/Bruins Game Day

The Boston Bruins (1-3-0) invade United Center tonight in a battle of the last two Stanley Cup Champions.  The Bruins are off to a sluggish start after hoisting their first Cup since 1972 and the Cup hangover is similar to what the Hawks went through a year ago.  Boston comes in losers of two in a row and will look to make a statement against the Hawks that they are still a team to be feared.  This could very well be a Stanley Cup Finals preview as the Hawks are primed to regain their position as the best team in the Western Conference after adding some much needed grit in the offseason.  Dan “Car Bomb” Carcillo showed why he was signed on Thursday night when he hit and agitated everyone in a Jets sweater and even added an assist.  Carcillo has a history with the Bruins from his Flyers days so it will be entertaining to see his effect on tonight’s game.  Despite the slow start, Boston is a team that should not be taken lightly as their Cup winning roster has remained virtually intact from last season.  Center David Krejci is out for the Bruins and Defenseman Adam McQuaid is likely out with a head injury suffered in Carolina.  For the Hawks, Viktor Stalberg and Ben Smith have returned to practice this week.  Ben Smith will not play Saturday night.  Stalberg could crack the lineup for the first time this season after suffering a knee injury in pre-season.  Corey Crawford will be back in goal for Chicago after backup Ray Emery got the nod against Winnipeg.  The game will be televised nationally on NHL Network.  Nothing beats a good original six matchup in my book.

Hawks Shoot Down Jets in Chicago

The Hawks (2-1-0) defeated the Winnipeg Jets (0-2-0) in front of a capacity United Center crowd.  Chicago got off to an awful start with sloppy play in their own defensive zone that led to two Jim Slater goals.  The home crowd let Chicago know what they thought of the less than blue collar effort with a chorus of boos.  Hawks Coach Joel Quenneville had enough, called timeout, and came unglued at one point motioning with his thumb to the locker room tunnel in a work hard or get the bleep out of here type of gesture.  The tirade sparked the home team as Andrew Brunette cashed in on the power play from Kane and Toews a short time later to cut the lead to 2-1.  Patrick Kane scored his first goal of the year off a steal and sweet pass from Marian Hossa to tie the game 2-2.  Dan Carcillo making his first appearance of the year for the Hawks made it clear early and often why Stan Bowman signed the agitator.  He hit everything in a white sweater early and was in the heads and under the skin of several Jets.  Carcillo fit in nicely opening up some ice for Kane and Hossa and even made some skilled passes.  He added an assist on the Kane goal.  Hossa gave the Hawks the lead for the first time 33 seconds into the second period from Leddy and Kane.  Dave Bolland added a fourth Chicago goal off a feed from Brian Bickell.  The Hawks appeared to be cruising to a 4-2 victory but extremely sloppy play in the defensive zone and an apparent inability to get the puck out of their own end on numerous occasions resulted in a Kyle Wellwood goal with just under six minutes remaining.  The Hawks survived more sloppy defensive play to hold on for a 4-3 win.  The win and the play of the Kane centered second line was the bright spot.  The play in the defensive  zone has to improve in a hurry.  I counted at least 15 times in the third period that the Hawks failed to make outlet passes out of the zone giving the Jets numerous extra chances that they failed to make the Hawks pay for.  Nothing against the Jets but let’s face it they are not the Canucks, Sharks, or Red Wings and one would have to think that one of those teams might have punished Chicago for their poor defensive play.  Chicago will have to be sharper when they face off against the defending Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins on Saturday night.  The Bruins are off to a sluggish 1-3-0 start and will be out to make a statement against the Hawks in a potential Stanley Cup Finals preview.  

Hawks Game Day Jets @ Hawks, Saad sent to Juniors

The Winnipeg Jets (0-1-0) fly into United Center tonight after a stinker in the home opener in which the emotion of the moment took its toll in a sloppy 5-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.  The game will mark the return of former Blackhawks and Stanley Cup Champions Andrew Ladd and Dustin Byfuglien aka Big Buff.  It will be a homecoming for Ladd and Buff marking their first return trip to United Center since game 5 of the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals where Buff scored 2 goals and added 2 assists in the game that propelled the Hawks to a game 6 win and a Stanley Cup Championship.  This will be the only meeting of the year between the Hawks and Jets.  The Hawks beat the then Atlanta Thrashers 5-4 in a shootout in the only meeting last season.  Jonathan Toews lit the lamp twice, added two assists and also scored in the shootout to lead the way for the Hawks who also had two goals from Patrick Kane.  Nik Antropov led the scoring for the Thrashers with a two point night. 

The Jets will be playing in only their second game of the year but did not do much right against Montreal.  The Jets come in 0-7 on the man advantage and 3-4 (25%) on the Penalty Kill.  18 year old Mark Scheifele the 7^th overall pick in the 2011 draft is one to watch for the Jets.  After an impressive exhibition season, Scheifele signed with the big club and is looking to stick for the season.  Scheifele logged one shot in 13:44 of ice time against the Canadiens.  He is hockey smart and has defensive awareness.

The Hawks (1-1-0) come into the game fresh off a 5-2 win against the Dallas Stars Saturday night.  Dan “Car Bomb” Carcillo will be making his Blackhawks regular season debut after being suspended for the first two games of the season for an incident involving on ice officials in last year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs while a member of the Flyers.  Carcillo was brought in to add some toughness to a team that got pushed around at times last year.  Carcillo will help in that department if he can keep his emotions in check and stay out of the penalty box.  Carcillo has practiced this week on the second line with Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa.  The Hawks will look for some power play improvement after going 1-11 through two games.  The Hawks know the importance of points in October after a slow start last year left them battling until the last game of the season and then having to depend on Minnesota to send them to the playoffs.  Look for a solid effort for the Hawks tonight.  Ray Emery will get his first start of the year.  Emery went 7-2-0 with a .926 save percentage and a 2.28 goals against average in 10 games with the Ducks last season. 

Viktor Stalberg has returned to practice (knee injury) as has Ben Smith (concussion).  With those two just about healthy, and Carcillo back from suspension, camp sensation and 2011 2^nd round pick Brandon Saad is the odd man out.  A long shot to stick with the team, the Hawks had 9 games to send Saad back to Juniors or keep him for the year.  Saad had 3 shots in two games to start the year.  He will play another season with the Saginaw Spirit of the OHL.  Saad should be one to watch in camp next year for a spot on the roster.  He has a tremendous upside and is defensively aware.  Even with Saad sent to his Junior team, the Hawks appear to be one over at forward.  Marcus Kruger, Ben Smith, and Rostislav Olesz appear to be the likely candidates to go to Rockford.  One would think Smith deserves a chance given his play in last year’s playoffs and his nose for the net.  Kruger did not have a stellar camp and was already sent packing once this year but his play on Saturday night appeared to stabilize the center position and was to Coach Q’s liking.  That leaves Olesz.  The problem with him is he would have to clear waivers.  If he is taken though, it would free up some cap space for later in the year for a player I don’t think the Hawks wanted to begin with but was necessary to shed Brian Campbell’s lofty salary cap hit.  Stay tuned.         

Hawks Dominate in United Center Opener

Less than 24 hours after dropping the season opener to the Dallas Stars in Big D the Blackhawks looked to open the season at United Center with a bang in the second game of a home and home with the Stars.  The capacity crowd would not be disappointed.  The Hawks came out feisty and with a purpose hitting everything that moved on the first couple shifts.  The Hawks poured on the defensive pressure holding Dallas to a meager 9 shots through the opening two periods.  Andrew Brunette opened the scoring with his first goal as a Blackhawk tipping home a rebound with Sharpie and Kaner adding helpers on the play.  The goal was the first power play goal of the year for the Hawks who went 0-4 with the man advantage in Dallas on Friday night.  Dave Bolland playing in his first game of the season made it 2-0 in the second on a shot that Raycroft did not appear to see.  Jonathan Toews made it 3-0 on a breakaway out of the sin bin notching his first strike of the young season.  Vernon Fiddler of the Stars cut the lead to 3-1 with a nifty roof shot at the last second as Crawford was going down.  Patrick Sharp extended the Hawks lead in the third period with a rocket over Raycroft’s shoulder.  Dallas pest Steve Ott tipped home a power play tally half way through the third to cut the Chicago lead to 4-2.  The Hawks continued their strong play against a Dallas team that appeared more tired despite the fact both teams got into Chicago in the early morning hours.  The Hawks outshot the Stars 31-21 for the game.  Dave Bolland added an empty netter for a 5-2 Hawks winner.  Cue Chelsea Dagger!  The Hawks went 1-7 on the power play and are now just 1-11 on the season.  One would think Coach Joel Quenneville will devote some practice time this week to the man advantage.  Getting pucks through traffic and on net should be a focus.  The penalty kill has been a bright spot through the first two games as the Hawks have now killed 6 out of 7 chances.  The Hawks will have the next 4 days off before the Winnipeg Jets come to town Thursday night.  It will be a homecoming for Andrew Ladd and Dustin Byfuglien who won the Cup in 2010 before becoming salary cap casualties.  It will mark the only appearance by the Jets at the UC before they possibly become division rivals in the 2012-13 season.       

Hawks Drop Opener in Dallas

The Hawks opened the 2011-12 season in Big D and Dallas goalie Kari Lehtonen was the story.  Lehtonen stopped 37 of 38 shots en route to a 2-1 victory to open the season.  Nick Leddy scored the only goal for the Hawks with Corey Crawford off for an extra attacker but it was too little too late.  Rockford call up Brandon Pirri tallied his first career NHL point on the play in his second career game.  Rising star Jamie Benn and Alex Goligoski tallied for the Stars.  Lehtonen was the story of the night stopping 21 shots off the sticks of Hawks snipers Toews, Sharp, Hossa, and Kane.  Chicago out shot Dallas 22-12 in the second period but failed to put one past Lehtonen.  The Hawks went 0-4 on the power play which isn’t going to get the job done.  The Hawks and Stars will head to Chicago for the Hawks home opener Saturday at the UC.  One would have to think if the Hawks get another 38 shots tomorrow the result might be a better one.  With injuries to Kane and Sharp, Hossa arriving late to camp, and the regulars not seeing much action in the pre-season, this was the closest to a full line up the Hawks have iced to date.  The Hawks should have C Dave Bolland back in the lineup Saturday night.  The Hawks will have 5 days off after the home opener to build some chemistry and get in sync before taking on the Winnipeg Jets October 13^th at home.