one more special message to go, then we’re done, and we...
TRANSCRIPT
It stood to reason that once we spent considerable space panning the Wild, they would probably make us look stupid. One aspect of the Hawks play this season that doesn’t get mentioned enough -- McDonough has ears everywhere -- is their tendency to not put 60 minutes together. Even during the December Streak of Carnage, there were games in there where they were outplayed for stretches. They had been getting away with it then, as when they did show up they were head-and-shoulders above the opposition, but not so much in January. Such was the case on Monday. The WIld certainly sagged back enough after going up three to let the Hawks find their legs, but the West Side Hockey Club wasn’t anywhere to be found in the first half of the game. After the break, when the games get tougher, and more important, the Hawks are going to have to find a way to consistently put a full game out there, or the season could get pear-shaped in a hurry. Memo to the Hawks: Teams have caught on to your cross-ice, backdoor play on the man-advantage. Please, for the love of God, stop being so cute with the puck. Goals that are ugly count the same as those that are pretty. Get the puck to the net, with men in front, make teams adjust to that. Then your beloved pretty passing plays will be open again. Oh, and we’re sounding the Pound-Brian-Campbell Alarm. In the last issue, we mentioned how he was no longer out there when our power plays start, but Monday there was so much more to pick on. Careless play in his own end, sloppy passing, turnovers galore, it was a smorgasbord of idiocy. With Keith out, 51 Phantom is the only defenseman capable of a transition game (Wiz doesn’t have the vision). He can’t do that when he’s play-ing as if on quaaludes. We knew his defensive play would leave us feeling unfulfilled like a woman who just slept with a teenager, but we expect dynamic offensive play almost all of the time. Phantom has two points in his last eight games. This has to stop, because we don’t want to think about his contract and start vomiting blood for the next seven years.This Is A Call To All Our Last Res-ignations Once again, the Hawks were a one line team, as they’ve been too much lately. They got away with it when Bollahavladd was eye socket-fucking the opposition. But when they’re not, the Hawks are getting next to nothing from their other two scoring lines.
Versteeg has hit a wall, meaning Toews has to create all on his own, because God knows Buff isn’t going to with his hit-and-miss more consistency. The Kane-Sharp Axis of Evil is off the rails at the moment. So, again, we’re hitting the Call Kontiola Button. The Hawks need to get scoring from their premier play-ers. To do that, Sharp needs to be on a wing. A trade with another team for a center is go-ing to be a logistical nightmare. The Hawks need to find out if they can solve this problem in-house. A call-up for Kontiola now would give them a month to find out if they need to acquire someone. We’d love to see him take Buff’s ice-time, we’re tired of waiting. But that remains our wish. We know Konti hasn’t blown anyone away of late in Rockford, but we’ll attribute that to hating the place. After all, wouldn’t you?We’re Waking Up, We Can See That There’s Not Much Left Of You So, to tonight’s encounter with what is left of the St. Louis Blues. Any discussion of the Blues has to start with their farcical injury list. We had to shrink the type in that section just to fit it all in. They are second, behind the Islanders, in man-games lost to injury this season. That being said, the Blues come in playing well of late, at least for them. On Monday afternoon, they won an acid-flash-back of a game in a shootout over the equally beat-up Bruins, and as we all saw, they thoroughly outplayed us on Saturday. They’ve
taken 9 of the last 14 points on offer. We’ve all seen how tough of a time the Blues give the Hawks, and tonight should be no different. David Backes has scored in the Blues’ last three games, and the future nightmare-combo of David Perron and Patrik Berglund have point-streaks of the same span. This isn’t quite the scoring-for-shits-and-giggles power play unit it was at the start of the year. However, with the way the Hawks’ penalty kill has looked without Duncan Keith, it would behoove the Hawks to stay out of the box tonight.We’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better When You’re Gone Games with the Blues have been a headache. We know we’re better, and yet we struggle to show it. These games just seem to mean more to St. Louis, probably because there isn’t much else going on down there. The Hawks always see a max-effort from the Bluenotes, full of chippy play and mucho hit-ting. The Hawks have not responded to it well at all. You know how the Blues will play this one. They’re one of the few teams around that is intent on taking it to the Hawks physi-cally and cutting the space. But this team is half-St. Louis/half-Peoria, and the Hawks are better at hockey than them. Simply match their intensity -- the effort we saw for the last 30 on Monday -- and we’ll have the points.
-The Commodore
One More Special Message To Go, Then We’re Done, And We Can Go Home...For 3 Weeks
[email protected] 21st, 2009
The Committed Indian
The REal Fan’s Program
YOU SHALL KNOW THEM BY THE TRAIL OF INJURED
$3
secondcityhockey.com
$3
The Blues Treatment Room
-When we decided to do this, I sort of felt that I might be the dumbest person in the world. The editors of The Blue Line, upon which this is so heavily based on, were smart enough to get out, and (presumably) grow up. Why would I dive right back into it? I hadn’t heard of such a thing anywhere else. Or so I thought.... I then began a tawdry email relationship with one Sean Gallagher, who writes and edits St. Louis Gametime. For those who don’t know, it’s been the unofficial fan’s guide/program to Blues hockey for years now, down there on the other side of the Mississippi. We’ve been able to pass ideas back and forth, suggestions, stories of frozen limbs and blood-stained programs (well, I have on the last one. Sean has managed to not leave his DNA on any of his. Pansy) Mostly, we’ve been able to provide the security to each other that there is someone else out there who’s silly enough, irresponsible enough, and has an absolute refusal to become an adult and do something fun with their lives. If you ever accompany the Hawks down to St. Louis, please pick up a Gametime. It’s far more polished, informative, and entertaining than I could ever make this thing, and their passionate distaste for the Hawks and Hawks fans will make you smile. But do pity them, just a little. After all, they’re Blues fans.-There’s been a lot of talk of how this rivalry is reheating, though I
think that’s probably more on their side than ours. But most of my favorite hockey memories are from games against the Blues, good and bad. The heartache of ‘93, the series win of ‘92 led by JR, Manson-Stevens in ‘91. But there is one that is defining for me, and
cemented my Hawks fandom for the rest of my life. It was Wednesday, December 20th, 1989. I had shocked my family when, at the age of 9, I had in-formed them my preference for the standing room of the Old Stadium. To me, that was the most fun place to watch the game from, also the cheapest (I was racked with liberal guilt any time my family spent money on me), and where the real Hawks fans were, which I thought I was. My older brother Adam was my constant guardian up there, where we stood amongst his lacrosse buddies, which lets you know what type of guys these were. On this night, the Hawks potted four goals in 1:56 in the 3rd period,
to go from a 6-5 deficit to a 9-6 lead (Brett Hull had 5 of the Blues’ 6). As you might imagine, the building was up for grabs at the end of this stretch, and it was at that point that one my brother’s friends picked me up and lifted me over his head. Both Adam and I were sure I was about to get thrown on the ice, but thankfully it was just part of a raucous celebration. No other North American sport could manage the coke-binge passion of this moment, and I’ve since been forever hooked.
MUSINGS FROM THE EDITOR
Sam Fels
NHL STANDINGS
W L OTL PTS GF GA HOME AWAY 1 Boston 33 8 5 71 164 103 17-3-2 16-5-3 2 Washington 30 15 3 63 153 138 19-3-1 11-12-2 3 NY Rangers 28 16 4 60 127 125 15-8-2 13-8-2 4 Montreal 27 12 6 60 143 122 15-4-4 12-8-2 5 New Jersey 28 15 3 59 140 116 13-8-1 15-7-2 6 Philadelphia 24 12 9 57 146 134 14-5-3 10-7-6 7 Buffalo 24 17 5 53 132 128 13-9-2 11-8-3 8 Carolina 23 20 5 51 121 142 12-10-1 11-10-4 9 Florida 21 16 8 50 128 128 10-5-5 11-11-3 10 Pittsburgh 23 21 4 50 144 146 11-11-2 12-10-2 11 Toronto 17 22 7 41 133 164 8-10-4 9-12-3 12 Tampa Bay 15 21 10 40 116 142 6-8-7 9-13-3 13 Ottawa 16 21 7 39 108 129 11-7-4 5-14-3 14 Atlanta 17 25 5 39 141 167 9-13-2 8-12-3 15 NY Islanders 12 29 5 29 113 163 7-12-3 5-17-2
W L OTL PTS GF GA HOME AWAY 1 San Jose* 33 6 5 71 158 107 21-1-2 12-5-3 2 Asshats 31 9 6 68 173 133 16-3-2 15-6-4 3 Calgary 27 14 4 58 141 134 16-5-3 11-9-1 4 HAWKS 25 11 8 58 152 112 14-3-5 11-8-3 5 Phoenix 24 19 5 53 126 139 16-6-2 8-13-3 6 Edmonton 24 19 3 51 132 138 11-8-3 13-11-0 7 Anaheim 23 20 5 51 135 135 13-10-3 10-10-2 8 Vancouver * 22 19 6 50 136 135 11-10-3 11-9-3 9 Minnesota 23 20 3 49 117 107 13-9-3 10-11-0 10 Columbus 22 20 4 48 125 128 13-7-1 9-13-3 11 Colorado 23 22 1 47 126 134 14-9-0 9-13-1 12 Dallas 19 18 7 45 126 151 11-6-4 8-12-3 13 Los Angeles 18 20 7 43 111 126 12-11-6 6-9-1 14 Nashville 20 23 3 43 111 134 12-9-1 8-14-2 15 St. Louis 18 23 4 40 131 149 11-9-3 7-14-1
PUCK DROP
Eastern Conference Western Conference
TOP 10 LISTTop 10 Reasons St. Louis Will Always Suck
(Note: This is a direct retaliation of St. Louis Gametime’s Top 11 List last Saturday. We’ll play your game, Gallagher!)
10. Paul Kariya’s throbbing vagina9. Living amongst Cardinal fans, even for just hours, makes you inbred8. Blues play-by-play man John Kelly inflicting his son Dan upon us for two insufferable seasons7. Albert Pujols’s future testimony before Congress and conviction for eating children6. And then Tony LaRussa drunkenly running over their remains5. Paul Kariya’s tender labia4. Being held hostage by Keith Tkachuk for nine years now3. T.J. Oshie’s inability to count to 42. Lack of proper golf-cart operation education1. Paul Kariya’s constant requests to cuddle
Keith Tkachuk, Aged Jackass, St. Louis:
Ah, that time again, when Tkachuk’s contract is up and he and St. Louis rig a scheme where they’ll deal him to a team that falsely believes he’s the missing piece, only to resign in St. Louis the following
summer. We can’t wait to laugh at whoever decides to take the plunge on Tkachuk. We’re sure someone will see the 14 goals and think he’s still got it, but that’s more a result of someone having to score for St. Louis. Tka-chuk isn’t the physical presence he once was, as he can’t get there to hit anyone any more. “Walt” would be the very definition of “past it.”
*late game not included
Chicago Blackhawks 25-11-8
# Pos Player Ht WT AGE GP G A P +/- PIM PP SH GW S S% Salary (Cap Hit)
88 R Patrick Kane 5'10" 187 20 42 16 26 42 1 26 8 0 2 127 12.6 $3,725,000
24 R The Perfect Beard 6'2" 217 27 44 15 22 37 17 16 4 0 2 126 11.9 $6,000,000
32 L VerStud 5'10" 180 22 43 13 23 36 16 43 4 2 2 78 16.7 $491,667
19 C Captain Marvel 6'2" 209 20 44 13 23 36 6 29 3 0 3 102 12.7 $2,800,000
10 L The Sharp-Shooter 6'1" 197 27 44 21 14 35 1 37 7 0 4 133 15.8 $3,900,000
51 D 51 Phantom 6'0" 188 29 44 7 23 30 7 10 4 0 1 60 11.7 $7,142,875
16 L Nails 6'2" 198 23 44 8 20 28 19 18 0 0 0 106 7.5 $1,550,000
2 D Duncan Keith 6'1" 194 25 41 5 21 26 23 20 1 1 1 86 5.8 $1,475,000
36 C Dave Bolland 6'0" 188 22 44 8 17 25 14 18 0 1 2 57 14 $845,833
33 R Dustin Byfuglien 6'3" 247 23 41 9 10 19 4 53 3 0 2 107 8.4 $3,000,000
25 D Cam Barker 6'3" 213 22 31 3 16 19 -4 34 3 0 1 37 8.1 $2,768,587
22 R Troy Brouwer 6'2" 213 23 35 6 10 16 7 34 3 0 0 61 9.8 $675,000
7 D Brent Seabrook 6'3" 220 23 44 5 9 14 15 45 2 1 0 75 6.7 $3,500,000
55 L Ben Eager 6'2" 220 24 40 8 3 11 3 89 0 0 0 39 20.5 $568,000
46 C Colin Fraser 6'1" 188 23 44 3 8 11 2 42 0 0 0 33 9.1 $500,000
23 D Aaron Johnson 6'1" 211 25 26 3 5 8 18 24 0 0 1 20 15 $600,000
43 D James Wisniewski 6'0" 207 24 15 1 6 7 2 6 0 0 0 42 2.4 $900,000
28 R Craig Adams 6'0" 197 31 27 2 4 6 -1 16 1 0 0 30 6.7 $600,000
37 R Adam Burish 6'1" 189 26 28 2 2 4 1 49 0 0 1 37 5.4 $712,500
8 D Matt Walker 6'3" 214 28 32 0 3 3 6 39 0 0 0 38 0 $600,000
5 D Brent Sopel * 6'1" 211 32 23 1 1 2 -4 8 0 0 1 15 6.7 $2,333,333
4 D Niklas Hjalmarsson 6'2" 200 21 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 $643,000
Totals/Averages 6'1" 203.75 24.38 150 266 665 43 5 1423 10.54% $44,187,795
# Goalie HT WT AGE GPI Min GAA W L OT SO SA GA Sv% G A PIM Salary
39 Nikolai Khabibulin 6'1" 209 36 24 1393 2.37 13 4 5 1 713 55 0.923 0 2 4 $6,750,000
38 Cristobal Huet 6'1" 205 33 22 1274 2.31 12 7 3 2 600 49 0.918 0 0 0 $5,625,000
Totals/Averages 6'1" 207 34 2667 2.34 25 11 8 3 1313 104 0.920 0 2 4 $12,375,000
TOTAL CAP NUMBER: $57,283,000
CAP SPACE: $274,000**space also affected by buyouts and injured players
16 years ago, David Stern sent me to ruin the NHL. I have done every-thing I can think of to drive the core
fan away, strip hockey of all that’s great about it, and eliminate any at-tention by the mainstream media...
I am so close to completing the task Stern charged me with....
*injured
Injury ListDuncan Keith- Questionable (Concussion)Brent Sopel- Out (Talent)
Probable LinesLeft Wing Center Right Wing
22 Brouwer 10 Sharp 88 Kane32 Versteeg 19 Toews 33 Byfuglien
16 Ladd 36 Bolland 24 Havlat37 Burish 46 Fraser 55 Eager
Probable Pairings25 Barker 7 Seabrook
51 Campbell 8 Walker43 Wisniewski 4 Hjalmarsson
A lot has been made of Kane’s cold-streak, but Versteeg has gone 7 without goal as well. Is this just a rookie hitting a wall, or water seeking its own level? Watch closely after the break.
As we’ve said, we don’t hate or love Burish as much as some other Hawks fans. But since his return to the lineup, he’s been skating his ass off, working incredibly hard, drawing penalties, and not taking any either. He’s also +6, though that’s beefed up by a +4 in one game against PHX.
Ham
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# Pos Player Ht WT AGE GP G A P +/- PIM PP SH GW S S% Salary (Cap Hit)
22 R Brad Boyes 6' 0" 195 26 45 20 16 36 -23 16 12 0 6 119 16.8 $4,000,000
57 L David Perron 6' 0" 180 20 44 5 25 30 4 28 1 0 0 99 5.1 $918,333
21 C Patrik Berglund 6' 4" 187 20 40 14 16 30 14 12 4 0 0 77 18.2 $1,246,667
7 L Keith Tkachuk 6' 2" 232 36 43 14 16 30 -13 37 10 0 1 109 12.8 $4,000,000
42 R David Backes 6' 3" 216 24 45 16 9 25 -4 121 3 1 0 104 15.4 $2,500,000
20 C Alexander Steen 6' 1" 204 24 45 6 11 17 -5 16 3 0 0 79 7.6 $1,280,000
26 R B.J. Crombeen 6' 2" 212 23 44 9 7 16 -5 91 0 1 2 65 13.8 $432,000
18 C Jay McClement 6' 1" 201 25 45 4 9 13 -10 23 0 1 0 68 5.9 $950,000
5 D Barret Jackman 6' 0" 203 27 45 2 11 13 -11 56 0 0 0 53 3.8 $3,625,000
28 D Carlo Colaiacovo 6' 1" 200 25 36 1 11 12 -3 23 0 0 0 40 2.5 $966,000
74 R T.J. Oshie 5' 11" 170 21 21 5 6 11 6 2 3 0 0 35 14.3 $1,275,000
29 D Jeff Woywitka 6' 2" 217 25 29 0 9 9 -4 34 0 0 0 28 0 $643,000
15 L Brad Winchester 6' 5" 228 27 27 7 2 9 -4 47 4 0 0 39 17.9 $465,000
25 C Yan Stastny 5' 10" 191 26 34 3 4 7 -14 20 0 0 0 30 10 $500,000
4 D Eric Brewer 6' 3" 222 29 28 1 5 6 -14 24 1 0 0 49 2 $4,250,000
55 R Cam Janssen 6' 0" 210 24 36 1 3 4 -4 82 0 0 0 16 6.3 $550,000
43 D Mike Weaver 5' 9" 182 30 26 0 4 4 -2 4 0 0 0 15 0 $700,000
77 D Jay McKee 6' 4" 203 31 34 1 1 2 -3 19 0 0 1 20 5 $4,000,000
49 D Steve Wagner 6' 2" 200 24 16 1 1 2 -5 18 0 0 0 11 9.1 $872,500
32 C Chris Porter 6'1" 210 24 6 1 1 2 -1 0 0 0 0 7 14.3 $875,000
13 R Dan Hinote 6' 0" 187 31 26 1 1 2 -5 30 0 0 0 12 8.3 $1,000,000
62 D Tyler Strachan 6’ 3” 205 24 15 0 2 2 2 24 0 0 0 9 0 381,000
23 C Trent Whitfield 5' 11" 209 31 2 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 4 0 $231,000
Totals/Averages 6'1" 204.21 26.03 126 210 -126 789 45 4 1254 10.05% $48,499,499
...IS THIS THE YEAR?
# Goalie HT WT AGE GPI Min GAA W L OT SO SA GA Sv% G A PIM Salary
34 Manny Legace 5'10" 200 35 28 1421 3.12 13 9 2 0 661 74 0.888 0 0 0 $2,150,000
50 Chris Mason 6'0" 195 32 20 1045 3.16 4 13 1 1 552 55 0.900 0 0 0 $3,000,000
30 Ben Bishop 6'7" 205 21 5 226 3.19 1 1 1 0 109 12 0.890 0 0 0 $893,333
Totals/Averages 6' 1" 193 27 2650 2.22 22 19 3 5 1319 97 0.926 0 0 4 $6,043,333
TOTAL CAP NUMBER: $55,485,000
CAP SPACE: $1,215,000*
*space also affected by buyouts and injured players
Tavares-Derby Entrant 18-23-4
** injured
Injury ListPaul Kariya-Out (Ovaries)Andy McDonald-Out (Ankle)D.J. King-Out (Shoulder)Yan Stastny-Out (Thumb)Roman Polak-Out (Foot)Eric Brewer-Out (Back)Manny Legace-Questionable (Lower Body)
Probable LinesLeft Wing Center Right Wing
57 Perron 21 Berglund 74 Oshie42 Backes 22 Boyes 15 Winchester7 Tkachuk 20 Steen 26 Crombeen55 Janssen 18 McClement 13 Hinote
Probable Pairings5 Jackman 43 Weaver
28 Colaiacovo 62 Strachan77 McKee 29 Woywitka
The only big numbers com
ing off the books for the Blues are Tkachuk and M
cDonald, and you’d have to
believe that they want to resign M
cD, and Perron is up for an extention. So they’re bad and inflexible.
The Blues are on pace to lose 485 man-games to injury this season. They’ve al-ready lost 260.
Crombeen has scored 8 times since being claimed from Dallas. A young, promising, tough winger has no place in Dallas.
What To Watch For: Lots. It’s clear these teams don’t like each other, and the Blues are intent on pounding the Hawks. Fireworks aplenty tonight.
Team Opp PPG PP%PHI 167 45 27DET 193 52 26.9BOS 176 43 24.4SJS 208 49 23.6
WSH 203 46 23.2STL 198 44 22.2ANA 188 41 21.8CHI 201 43 21.4MIN 194 41 21.1ATL 191 39 20.4TOR 198 40 20.2BUF 199 39 19.6CGY 207 40 19.3NJD 161 31 19.2OTT 185 32 17.9
Team OPP PPG PP%EDM 204 36 17.6LAK 196 34 17.4NYI 191 33 17.3VAN 206 35 17PIT 216 35 16.7COL 192 32 16.7FLA 177 29 16.4MTL 212 34 16TBL 194 31 16CAR 221 34 15.7NYR 210 32 15.2DAL 194 29 15NSH 190 26 13.7PHX 197 26 13.2CBJ 195 22 11.3
Power PlayTeam TS PPGA PK%MIN 155 19 87.7NYR 194 24 87.6BUF 185 24 87CGY 198 28 85.9SJS 169 25 85.2NSH 212 34 84LAK 196 33 83.2BOS 171 29 83CHI 188 32 83PHI 228 39 82.9MTL 202 35 82.7FLA 190 33 82.6OTT 187 33 82.4NJD 178 32 82PHX 179 33 81.6
Team TS PPGA PK%NYI 204 38 81.4ANA 246 46 81.3VAN 219 42 80.8CBJ 199 39 80.4TBL 231 46 80.1DET 190 38 80STL 201 41 79.6PIT 205 42 79.5
WSH 228 48 79CAR 178 39 78.1COL 181 40 77.9DAL 178 40 77.5EDM 196 47 76TOR 175 46 73.7ATL 201 53 73.6
Penalty Kill
GAME FIGHT TIME Bloody Nose
Black Eye
Bruised Ego
Just Dancing
Analysis
1-17-09 Eager v.Janssen II
1st.8:10 √ Sequel doesn’t live up to the first, as is
usually the case. Janssen takes it in a decision.
1-17-09 Sharp v. McKee
1st.1:42 √ √ Sharp goes after McKee for hitting
Kane, lands a few nice shots, but takes a few more in his pretty pretty face. Matt
McClure weeps uncontrollably.
11-14-08 Eager v.Janssen
1st.14:36 √ The last bout of a period that looked like
a Saturday night on a payday weekend in Muskogee, to quote the great Jim
Ross. Eager lands a couple nice lefts.
11-14-08 Byfuglien v.Tkachuk
1st.11:18 √ √ Buff takes down geriatric, lands a few
big shots. Takes it in a KO
11-14-08 Barker v.Backes
1st.11:07 √ Barker’s bi-monthly kerfluffle. Doesn’t
do it terribly well or badly. Like the rest of his game.
HAWKS vs. BLUESFight Stats provided by Hockeyfights.com
The Fight Card
Spotlight
Patrik Berglund
The only one standing amongst the wounded and those ducking for cover. It’s hard to believe, but Patrik Berglund, on the woebegone St. Louis Blues, leads the league in Behind The Net Ratings. Basically, no team benefits more from a player being on the ice, and is hurt worse when he isn’t, than Berglund and the Blues. The Blues are almost four goals better with Berglund on the ice, per 60 minutes. This guy is going to be a thorn in our ass for a decade, especially if Oshie follows in his footsteps. Berglund hasn’t been getting any Rookie of The Year consideration, but he should be. Versteeg has benifitted from playing with a talented supporting cast. Who does Berglund have? Because of the injury to Andy McDonald, Berglund has been vaulted into the #1 center slot way before the Blues had in-tended, but he hasn’t looked out of place. He’s collected 20 points in the 26 games since McDonald went down. At some point, Berglund will fill out his 6’ 4” frame, and then we’ll have a real problem on our hands. But he’s a Blue, so we have to find something to tear down about him. He’s woeful at face-offs, he’s at 37%. That’s almost bad enough to be taking them for the Hawks. So far, Berglund hasn’t done too much damage to The Men of Four Feathers. However, we can’t help fearing that this guy will join the list currently populated by such names as Peter Zezel, Nelson Emerson, Brendan Shanahan, Adam Oates, Darin Kimble, Chris Pronger, Pavol Demitra of Blues players we loathe (that list could have gone on for a good 54 pages).
The Committed Indian is printed by Royal Omega Graphics- Elk Grove, IL847-952-8000
KNOW THY ENEMY
Hawks-blues: the Last 4
Jan. 17th, 2009: Hawks 2, Blues 1 (OT)The Perfect Beard steals the Blues second point,
which they had done more than enough to warrant. Hawks are outplayed all night, Huet stands on a
variety of extremities.
Nov. 14th, 2008: Blues 4, Hawks 3 (OT)Hawks skip the first period, except to fight, and fall
behind 3-1. Bolland brings them back with two goals. McDonald scores on PP in OT, then ankle
falls off. An old Norris-style conflict.
Oct. 18th, 2008: Hawks 3, Blues 4 (SO)Hawks blow 2-goal lead with 10 minutes left, including McDonald scoring in last minute to tie the game. Kane scores twice for Hawks, but not in shoot-out in Coach
Q’s first game.
Mar. 29th, 2008: Hawks 4, Blues 3Hawks storm out to 4-0 lead (even Craig Adams scores for fuck’s sake) and then decide to make the Blues feel better about themselves by letting them have 3 to make
them think they were close. Game ends with Keith punching lots of people in the face.
Once again, it is our distinct misfortune to grant some space to Sean Gallagher of St. Louis Gametime to tell us what you need to know about the Blues, and to get in a customary shot about the Cubs. It’s his way.
So you must’ve done something to ruin your karma to deserve all these inju-ries. Did you spike a toddler? Poison the water supply? Vote for McCain? What?On opening day we printed a headline that said, “God himself can’t keep the Blues out of the playoffs this year!” Then we burned effigies of every other deity in front of the DrinkScotch Center. In retrospect, that was misguided. And then Sarah Palin dropped the puck before a game here. Record pre-Palin: 4-2-0. Record post-Palin: 14-21-4. So it’s probably her fault more than ours.
Going forward, you obviously need to solve the goalie question, as neither Legace or Mason are long-term answers. Is the hilariously-tall Ben Bishop the future? Or is this something that needs solving?Goaltending is clearly an issue. Short of adopting a Chicago-style goalie tandem of two guys making $12 million a year, something big is going to have to happen. Legace will not be re-signed and Mason isn’t consistent enough to be a starter. Drafting a guy won’t help soon enough, so the Blues will be looking to sign or trade for a guy between now and next fall. The Blues have drafted well at forward and at defense, but goal has been a quantity-not-quality situation. Marek Schwarz is about to wash out of profession-al hockey. Ben Bishop, while a favorite due to the local angle (he went to high school in St. Louis) hasn’t convinced anyone that he’s an NHL starter yet. The other guys in Peoria, the ECHL and Europe are all at various stages of develop-ment and none are considered blue-chippers.
Ok, is Brad Boyes really that clueless in his own end? We don’t like to put too much stock in +/-, but fucking Christ, -23?Now that you mention it, maybe fucking Christ was how we screwed up the Blues’ karma. Shoulda known, I guess. As for Boyes, I find it hard to get worked up about plus/minus. He does a lot of his offensive damage on the power play (20 of his 36 points and 12 of his 20 goals), so none of those count as pluses. With all of the injuries and less-than-skilled players getting icetime in St. Louis, scoring on the man-add is a huge factor as to whether the team wins or loses. I’ll trade the shitacular plus/minus for a clicking power play.
We know you guys weren’t exactly thrilled with the Stempniak-for-Steen and Colaiacovo deal. Why weren’t you, and how has it worked out?Stempniak had become a bit of a fan favorite, so it wasn’t great news that he was traded, but it wasn’t devastating, either. He thrived in the offensive vacuum that has been the Blues’ forward lines the last couple years, but that was more of a success-by-default situation. After all, someone has to score goals, right? Now that there’s some actual talent in the lineup, Stempniak was being exposed for
what he really is: a streaky scorer who will get you about 20 goals a year. The Blues sold high on Stempniak and bought low on Colaiacovo and Steen. In the end, I think the Blues will win this trade as Colaiacovo is an offensive guy they’ve needed on the blueline and Steen will probably mirror Stempniak’s performance going forward.
Obviously, the one shining light of this season has been Patrick Berglund. How good is this kid going to be?We still wish he had the Flock of Seagulls haircut he busted out on draft day, but this kid is going to be a good player for years to come. He seems to be getting better every day and is already seeing quality time at full strength and on the pow-er play. A couple years down the road he’ll be one of those players you guys hate.
Are you guys going to cheat the system again and trade Tkachuk and then just bring him back for his 75th season in the summer?Yes. Absolutely. Someone is going to hear the siren song of a big power forward with experience, decide he’s the missing piece to their playoff puzzle, overpay for his services and then be stunned when he signs a two-year sweetheart deal to come back to St. Louis this summer. Do us a favor; don’t tip off Boston or the Rangers that he’s not that good anymore.
We know this season hasn’t been tons of fun, but the impression we get from you guys is that Blues fans are quite excited at what the near future may hold. Is that the truth for all of Blues fans? Or a lot of them pissed off about another lost season?No one likes to lose. Well, aside from you Cub fans, anyway. Most of us have the perspective enough to take the silver lining with the giant shitty cloud that has been Blues hockey for the last couple years. Starting to see the first signs of the rebuild working allows us to believe that it’s all worth it. But you guys know how it goes: rebuilding plans are not easy and they’re not very fun. You just hope it’s worth it and that some maniac GM doesn’t fuck it up along the way.
With the rivalry back to almost full-boil again, what Hawk gets Blues fans’ bile rising the most?That one might take a few more games to figure out. There’s no one on the level of Chelios, Belfour, Roenick, Graham or Probert to really get the fans going. Yet. I’m sure someone will get it fired up, but for now all we really do is laugh at little Patty Kane and his baby tears. Watching that kid cry about Savard getting fired is one of the great moments of 2008.
NAME QUALCOMP QUALTEAM TOI/60 GFON/60 GAON/60 +-ON/60 GFOFF/60 GAOFF/60 +-OFF/60 RATING
Aaron Johnson -0.02 -0.15 11.8 4.3 1.37 2.93 2.35 1.92 0.43 2.5
Andrew Ladd 0.09 0.2 12.45 3.72 1.86 1.86 2.58 2.17 0.42 1.45
Duncan Keith 0.07 0.14 18.39 3.5 1.99 1.51 2.73 2.24 0.49 1.02
Martin Havlat 0.03 0.11 13.27 3.5 2.06 1.44 2.65 2.09 0.56 0.88
Dave Bolland 0.1 0.36 12.09 3.5 2.14 1.35 2.68 2.06 0.62 0.74
Kris Versteeg 0.06 -0.2 12.55 3.22 2 1.22 2.81 2.17 0.64 0.58
Troy Brouwer -0.01 -0.22 11.39 2.56 1.35 1.2 3.01 2.16 0.85 0.35
Brent Seabrook 0.08 0.32 16.61 2.87 1.97 0.9 2.91 2.15 0.76 0.14
Matt Walker -0.02 -0.14 13.29 2.68 1.69 0.99 2.84 1.97 0.87 0.12
James Wisniewski 0.04 0.03 15.39 2.34 1.56 0.78 2.85 1.9 0.95 -0.17
Dustin Byfuglien -0.01 0.12 12.01 2.19 1.58 0.61 3.13 2.23 0.89 -0.28
Ben Eager -0.09 -0.23 8.08 2.23 1.48 0.74 3.15 2.1 1.05 -0.31
Colin Fraser -0.09 -0.24 7.8 2.45 1.92 0.52 2.99 2.12 0.88 -0.35
Patrick Kane 0.06 -0.16 13.82 3 2.69 0.31 2.63 1.9 0.72 -0.41
Adam Burish -0.03 -0.1 6.91 2.48 1.86 0.62 3.11 2.07 1.04 -0.42
Brian Campbell 0 -0.16 17.68 2.93 2.39 0.54 2.88 1.88 0.99 -0.45
Jonathan Toews 0.05 0 13.05 3.03 2.61 0.42 2.84 1.87 0.98 -0.56
Patrick Sharp -0.01 0 13.34 2.76 2.66 0.1 2.96 1.84 1.11 -1.01
Craig Adams -0.16 -0.22 7.66 1.74 1.74 0 3.31 2.27 1.05 -1.05
Brent Sopel -0.09 -0.02 10.89 2.16 3.11 -0.96 3.22 2.25 0.97 -1.93
Cam Barker -0.02 -0.1 13.99 1.94 2.63 -0.69 3.31 1.71 1.59 -2.28
Hockey SabermetricsCHICAGO
Every game, we provide you with the Behind The Net numbers. These are at even strength, 5-on-5. Key: QUALCOMP- A measure of the quality of competition each player faces on the ice. Calculated by averaging +/-/60 for opponents on the ice against player. QUALTEAM- A measure of the quality of teammates each player plays with. Calcu-lated by averaging +/-/60 for teammates on ice with player. TOI/60- Time on ice, per 60 minutes, that player spends on ice at full-strength. GFON/60, GAON/60- Goals for and against team per 60 min. player is on ice +/-ON/60- Team’s Plus/minus, per 60 minutes, while player is on ice. +/-OFF/60- Plus/minus of team while player is off ice, per 60 minutes. RATING- +/-ON/60 subtracted by +/-OFF/60.
Player GFON/60
Cam Barker 11.21
Patrick Sharp 8.45
Patrick Kane 7.88
Dustin Byfuglien 7.77
Brian Campbell 7.73
Jonathan Toews 7.73
Brent Seabrook 7.07
Duncan Keith 6.81
Martin Havlat 6.45
James Wisniewski 6.26
Kris Versteeg 6.16
Player GA/60Matt Walker 4.89
Dave Bolland 4.9
Adam Burish 5.49
Brent Seabrook 5.53
Aaron Johnson 5.73
James Wisniewski 5.89
Duncan Keith 5.99
Brent Sopel 6.43
Colin Fraser 8.12
Kris Versteeg 8.14
Power Play RatingsThis is a measure of a team’s
goals-for per 60 minutes of player being on the ice on the power play.
Penalty Kill RatingsThis measures how many goals a team gives up per 60 minutes the
player is on the ice on the PK.
Corsi RatingShots attempted for a team vs. how many are attempted against while a given player is on
the ice, per 60 min.
NAME CORSIJames Wisniewski 26
Martin Havlat 14.5
Dustin Byfuglien 12.1
Andrew Ladd 11.6
Aaron Johnson 10.9
Dave Bolland 10.9
Duncan Keith 10.5
Brent Seabrook 10.3
Kris Versteeg 10.2
Brian Campbell 9.9
Jonathan Toews 9.3
Adam Burish 8.4
Cam Barker 8.4
Troy Brouwer 8.1
Patrick Kane 8
Ben Eager 6.9
Patrick Sharp 6.7
Craig Adams 4.4
Colin Fraser 3
Penalties Drawn vs. Taken
Pretty self-explanatory. A measure of penalties drawn vs. taken, per 60 min.
NAME PDRAW/60 PTAKE/60
Adam Burish 1.9 0.6
Kris Versteeg 1.7 0.9
Colin Fraser 1.6 0.7
Patrick Kane 1.6 1
Dave Bolland 1.5 0.6
Craig Adams 1.5 0.9
Troy Brouwer 1.4 0.9
Patrick Sharp 1.4 1
Ben Eager 1.3 2.6
Andrew Ladd 1.1 0.8
James Wisniewski 1 0.5
Dustin Byfuglien 0.9 1.3
Jonathan Toews 0.9 0.7
Martin Havlat 0.8 0.6
Brian Campbell 0.7 0.3
Brent Sopel 0.5 1
Aaron Johnson 0.4 2.2
Matt Walker 0.4 0.6
Duncan Keith 0.2 0.4
Face-offsPlayer Face-Offs Taken FO%
Jonathan Toews 687 52.2
Colin Fraser 460 47.8
Patrick Sharp 527 46.7
Kris Versteeg 75 46.7
Dave Bolland 610 44.9
Total Rank: 27th 47.5
Hockey Sabermetrics
Player GAON/60
T.J. Oshie 4.11
Mike Weaver 5.23
Dan Hinote 6.56
Roman Polak 6.77
David Backes 7.54
Barrett Jackman 7.54
Tyson Strachan 8.38
Jay McClement 8.8
Jay McKee 10.06
Alex Steen 12.25
Power Play RatingsThis is a measure of a team’s goals for per 60 minutes of player being
on the ice on the power play.
Penalty Kill RatingsThis measures how many goals a team gives up per 60 minutes the player is on the ice on the
Corsi RatingThis measures how many shots are attempted
for a team vs. how many are attempted against while a given player is on the ice, per 60 min.
NAME CORSIKeith Tkachuk 7.2
David Backes 6.6
David Perron 3.4
Brad Boyes 2.5
T.J. Oshie 2.4
Carlo Colaiacovo 1.9
Alex Steen 1.8
Patrick Berglund 1.3
Tyson Strachan 0.4
Barrett Jackman -0.1
B.J. Crombeen -0.6
Mike Weaver -0.9
Roman Polak -2.3
Jeff Woywitka -2.7
Jay McClement -7.3
Brad Winchester -7.9
Steve Wagner -12.5
Dan Hinote -16.3
Cam Janssen -18.4
Jay McKee -19
Penalties Drawn vs. Taken
Pretty self-explanatory. A measure of penalties drawn vs. taken, per 60 min.
NAME PDRAW/60 PTAKE/60
David Perron 2.7 1.1
Dan Hinote 2.2 1.4
Cam Janssen 1.6 2.2
Patrick Berglund 1.3 0.8
Brad Winchester 1.3 1.5
B.J. Crombeen 1.3 1
Yan Stastny 1.1 0.2
Keith Tkachuk 1 1.4
Jay McClement 1 0.8
T.J. Oshie 0.9 0.2
David Backes 0.9 2
Brad Boyes 0.8 0.3
Alex Steen 0.7 0.8
Tyson Strachan 0.4 0.7
Carlo Colaiacovo 0.4 0.8
Jay McKee 0.4 0.9
Steve Wagner 0.3 2.2
Roman Polak 0.2 0.9
Barrett Jackman 0.2 1
Face-offsPlayer Face-Offs Taken FO%
Keith Tkachuk 439 54.0
Jay McClement 787 53.1
Brad Boyes 209 51.2
Alex Steen 192 46.2
Patrik Berglund 351 37.9
Total: Rank: 18th 49.9
Player GFON/60Brad Boyes 9.44
Keith Tkachuk 9.1
Carlo Colaiacovo 8.66
Brad Winchester 8.22
Patrik Berglund 8.21
David Backes 6.2
David Perron 6.19
Roman Polak 6.03
Jeff Woywitka 6
Eric Brewer 4.08
NAME QUALCOMP QUALTEAM TOI/60 GFON/60 GAON/60 +-ON/60 GFOFF/60 GAOFF/60 +-OFF/60 RATING
Patrick Berglund -0.04 0.3 12.15 3.64 1.56 2.08 1.98 3.52 -1.55 3.62
T.J. Oshie 0 0.4 12.11 2.83 1.65 1.18 2.15 3.01 -0.86 2.04
David Perron -0.06 0.66 11.75 2.55 1.82 0.73 2.29 3.11 -0.82 1.55
Roman Polak 0.02 -0.18 15.49 2.77 2.58 0.18 2 2.98 -0.98 1.16
Tyson Strachan -0.1 0.18 11.09 2.16 1.8 0.36 2.34 2.81 -0.47 0.83
David Backes 0.01 0.01 12.31 2.83 2.95 -0.11 2.1 2.79 -0.69 0.57
Jeff Woywitka -0.07 -0.05 14.76 1.96 2.26 -0.3 2.46 2.91 -0.45 0.15
Carlo Colaiacovo -0.02 0.14 13.59 2.52 2.9 -0.38 2.44 2.76 -0.33 -0.05
Alex Steen 0.07 -0.03 12.06 2.15 2.6 -0.45 2.67 2.91 -0.24 -0.21
Jay McKee -0.09 0.1 13.23 1.7 2.41 -0.71 2.49 2.96 -0.47 -0.24
Brad Winchester -0.04 0.03 10.47 1.54 2.2 -0.66 2.41 2.81 -0.4 -0.26
Keith Tkachuk 0.01 -0.08 12.74 2.64 3.45 -0.8 2.24 2.7 -0.46 -0.35
B.J. Crombeen 0.05 -0.18 10.83 2.19 2.96 -0.77 2.47 2.84 -0.38 -0.4
Barrett Jackman 0.04 0.03 17.34 2.41 3.22 -0.8 2.23 2.59 -0.36 -0.45
Mike Weaver -0.02 0.08 13.03 1.47 2.4 -0.92 2.57 3.03 -0.45 -0.47
Dan Hinote -0.13 -0.28 8.47 2.18 3.54 -1.36 2.35 2.98 -0.63 -0.73
Steve Wagner -0.02 -0.02 13.55 1.94 3.04 -1.11 2.55 2.79 -0.24 -0.86
Jay McClement 0.01 -0.16 12.07 1.62 2.77 -1.16 2.55 2.85 -0.3 -0.86
Cam Janssen -0.11 -0.13 5.56 2.22 3.81 -1.59 2.42 2.74 -0.31 -1.27
Brad Boyes -0.02 0.08 14.05 2.18 3.97 -1.79 2.36 2.31 0.05 -1.83
St. LouisEvery game, we provide you with the Behind The Net numbers. These are at even strength, 5-on-5. Key: QUALCOMP- A measure of the quality of competition each player faces on the ice. Calculated by averaging +/-/60 for opponents on the ice against player. QUALTEAM- A measure of the quality of teammates each player plays with. Calcu-lated by averaging +/-/60 for teammates on ice with player. TOI/60- Time on ice, per 60 minutes, that player spends on ice at full-strength. GFON/60, GAON/60- Goals for and against team per 60 min. player is on ice +/-ON/60- Team’s Plus/minus, per 60 minutes, while player is on ice. +/-OFF/60- Plus/minus of team while player is off ice, per 60 minutes. RATING- +/-ON/60 subtracted by +/-OFF/60.
Referee Stats For The HawksReferees 1st NHL
GameHawks Games Hawks PP’s Hawks
PK’s Pens/Game Hawks PP/Game Hawks PK/
GameW L OTL
2 Fraser, Kerry 1980 3 14 17 10.3 4.7 5.7 3 0 0
3 Leggo, Mike 1997 3 10 15 8.3 3.3 5.0 2 0 1
4 McCauley, Wes 2003 5 11 14 5.0 2.2 2.8 2 2 0
5 Rooney, Chris 2000 - - - - - - - - -
6 Marouelli, Dan 1984 3 14 11 8.3 4.7 3.7 1 2 0
7 McCreary, Bill 1984 4 17 15 8.0 4.3 3.8 2 3 0
8 Jackson, Dave 1990 3 14 13 9.0 4.7 4.3 2 1 0
10 Devorski, Paul 1989 2 9 13 11.0 4.5 6.5 1 1 0
11 Sutherland, Kelly 2000 - - - - - - - - -
12 Koharski, Don 1981 1 6 7 13.0 6.0 7.0 1 0 0
13 O’Halloran, Dan 1995 2 12 10 11.0 6.0 5.0 1 0 1
14 LaRue, Dennis 1991 4 17 16 8.3 4.3 4.0 3 0 1
15 Auger, Stephane 2000 4 17 13 7.5 4.3 3.3 3 0 1
16 Shick, Rob 1986 1 2 2 4.0 2.0 2.0 0 0 1
18 Kimmerly, Greg 1996 5 26 25 10.2 5.2 5.0 3 2 0
20 Peel, Tim 1999 2 13 13 13.0 6.5 6.5 1 1 0
21 VanMassenhoven, Don 1993 2 6 4 5.0 3.0 2.0 1 0 1
23 Watson, Brad 1996 2 7 4 5.5 3.5 2.0 1 0 1
25 Joannette, Marc 1999 2 13 5 9.0 6.5 2.5 1 0 1
26 Martell, Rob 1996 1 3 1 4.0 3.0 1.0 1 0 0
27 Furlatt, Eric 2001 3 14 10 8.0 4.7 3.3 1 1 1
28 Lee, Chris 2001 1 5 4 9.0 5.0 4.0 1 0 0
29 Walsh, Ian 2000 1 1 3 4.0 1.0 3.0 0 1 0
30 Hasenfratz, Mike 2000 3 22 13 11.7 7.3 4.3 0 1 2
32 Kowal, Tom 2000 3 11 7 6.0 3.7 2.3 3 0 0
33 Pollock, Kevin 2000 3 10 12 7.3 3.3 4.0 1 1 1
34 Meier, Brad 1999 3 12 14 8.7 4.0 4.7 3 0 0
35 Warren, Dean 1999 - - - - - - - - -
36 Morton, Dean 2000 2 16 10 13.0 8.0 5.0 0 1 1
38 St Laurent, Francois 2006 2 14 15 14.5 7.0 7.5 1 0 1
39 Dwyer, Gord 2003 3 16 15 10.3 5.3 5.0 2 0 1
40 Kozari, Steve 2006 3 18 12 10.0 6.0 4.0 2 1 0
42 O’Rourke, Dan 1999 2 11 13 12.0 5.5 6.5 1 0 1
43 Pochmara, Brian 2006 1 4 7 11.0 4.0 7.0 1 0 0
45 St. Pierre, Justin 2003 4 19 15 8.5 4.8 3.8 2 0 2
NHL LEADERSPoints
Player Team P
1 Evgeni Malkin PIT 692 Sidney Crosby PIT 593 A. Ovechkin WAS 594 Ryan Getzlaf ANA 565 Marc Savard BOS 5530 Patrick Kane CHI 42
Goals
Player Team G
1 A. Ovechkin WAS 312 Jeff Carter PHI 303 Tomas Vanek BUF 284 Zach Parise NJ 275 P. Marleau SJ 2411 Patrick Sharp CHI 21
GAA
Player Team GAA
1 Steve Mason CBJ 1.912 Tim Thomas BOS 2.063 M. Fernandez BOS 2.074 Jonas Hiller ANA 2.145 N. Backstrom MIN 2.159 Cristobal Huet CHI 2.31
SV%
Player Team SV%
1 Tim Thomas BOS .9342 Steve Mason BOS .9323 Craig Anderson FLA .9304 Jonas Hiller ANA .9295 N. Backstrom MIN .9287 N. Khabibulin CHI .923
Once again, Chris Block joins us to give us the lowdown on what’s up with the Rockford Icehogs.
I was asked a few weeks ago by your estimable editor to provide some in-sight in regards to the Chicago Blackhawks minor league affiliate Rockford IceHogs, its season thus far, and the prospects who toil there. Being that we’ve just past the halfway point of the AHL season and the league’s own All-Star game is a mere five days in front of us (Monday in Worcester, Mass.), I thought now would be a good time to tackle the subject. Instead of boring you with the plot that in the Rockford IceHogs’ second AHL season, I thought we’d simply address the top prospects one-by-one. Petri Kontiola [C] (2004 – 7th round, 196th overall)Not nearly as impressive as his numbers or AHL All-Star status may indicate. Kontiola has just 3 goals in his last 24 games and 2 assists in the last 12. He skates void of inspiration some nights and all-out others. Was cut from September’s camp after one in-game look reportedly due to a poor work ethic. Dropped to the second line with Mike Radja and Peter MacArthur for much of the last two months in an at-tempt to spread the Hogs’ scoring amongst a few lines. It hasn’t worked. He hates it in Rockford and his recent production shows it. Jack Skille [RW] (2005 – 1st round, 7th overall)He’s fast; he’s throwing his body around more than ever and actually putting his body into harm’s way for the sake of scoring chances. What Skille hasn’t done is vary his offense. He’s still has his patented skate over the blue line, dip the right shoulder and throw a sixty-foot shot on net. That being said, I don’t know that keeping him in Rockford will make him any better. It may be time to give him another chance. Currently out with an ‘upper-body’ injury. Pascal Pelletier [LW] (trade w/Boston for Martin St. Pierre July 24, 2008)A great AHL player. Evan Brophey [C] (2005 – 3rd round, 67th overall)A breakthrough season. Moved up to the top line with Jack Skille and Pascal Pelletier in December, Brophey has thrived in the role. He’s not great at anything, and his numbers won’t wow you (9g,13a,43gp), but he is a solid all-around forward. Maybe he gets a good look in next year’s training camp. Jake Dowell [C] (2004 – 5th round, 140th overall)Head coach Bill Peters loves to use Dowell as his checking center and Dowell has done much better since moving back there from the wing, where he played a lot early this season. He’s not any different from watch we saw in Chicago last year. Bryan Bickell [G] (2004 – 2nd round, 41st overall)Currently sidelined through the rest of the month with a broken thumb. His condition-ing appears to have improved and he’s brought the skating up a notch as well. But he was outplayed early on and passed on the depth chart by veteran Rob Klinkham-mer, and has been stuck underneath him since. He’s a better prospect than Michael Blunden was at this point. Bickell will drop the mitts, but it’s not an area he excels in. He was a scorer in junior with Ottawa and had a fantastic playoff with Windsor before turning pro but he’s found the net just 4 times in 30 games this season. He’s a third-line winger at best if he’s given the chance to improve. Antti Niemi [G] (free agent May 5, 2008)Scotty Bowman’s favorite Blackhawk netminder through November hit a bad streak which really began with a shaky start at AllState Arena on December 6th. He’s never recovered from that one. There’s been the occasional good start, but he hasn’t been able to put a string together. Niemi, 25, was pulled for the second time this month (4 starts) last night in Des Moines after giving up four goals on ten shots in the second period. Perhaps he’s homesick? This is the first time he’s played away from his homeland Finland. He speaks English amazingly well though. Corey Crawford [G] (2003 – 2nd round, 52nd overall)Much like Cristobal Huet, Crawford is a positional goalie who thrives at making the initial save. Rebounds have been a nemesis throughout his pro career and he’s improved in that area. While there numbers were similar through the first two months, Niemi was decidedly the better goalie. However, Crawford has since completely turned the tables in that respect. Niklas Hjalmarsson [D] (2005 – 4th round, 108th overall)
In cased you missed it, Hjalmarsson was recalled yesterday after that pitiful perfor-mance from Johnson, Barker, Campbell, and Wisniewski the other night. I can’t tell you he’ll be much better, but he certainly can’t do any worse. Made the Blackhawks out of camp in part because he was more reliable defensively than Barker in exhibi-tion play, and because Dale Tallon couldn’t find a calculator on July 1st. Colton Orr ended his experience early after a hard check into the boards along the Hawks’ bench at Madison Square Garden. I can tell you the Hawks love Hjalmarsson and see him contributing in the near future. The depth in the system though should prevent them from making the mistake they did with Barker. Hjalmarsson needs a year at the lower-level to log a ton of minutes and get to the point where he’s dominating games before he’s asked to step into the Hawks’ lineup permanently. Jordan Hendry [D] (collegiate free agent March 18, 2006)His season ended last spring after one playoff game with Rockford in a freak accident that saw Hendry fall backwards onto the ice and crack his skull open. Didn’t show the confidence with the puck or in the corners and was returned here in late October after eight games with the Hawks. There’s really nothing good or bad to say about Hendry’s thirty-one games in Rockford this year. He’s decent but not much better
than Rockford contracted defenseman Andrew Archer. Hendry is a reliable penalty-killer however. Unless a rash of injuries hit the blue line on Madison, I don’t think we’ll be seeing Hendry again. Jimmy Sharrow [D] (trade w/Vancouver for conditional draft pick December 10, 2008)One of the ‘Hogs best blue liners since coming over last month. He’s a big guy (6-2) who skates well forward and is confident, sometimes too confident, with the puck. I guess he’s biggest drawback is that he sometimes doesn’t skate within his own limitations. Adam Pineault [RW] (trade w/Columbus for Michael Blunden January 10, 2009)We’re five games and one period into the Pineault experience and so far it’s not looking good. Pineault picked up his first point last night against the Iowa Chops. Body-type and skating-wise he reminds me of Troy Brouwer two years ago. In case that reference doesn’t strike you, that’s not good. Pineault’s a year younger than Brouwer and two years behind skill-wise. Finesse is his biggest adversary. He’s slow and lumbering and can’t play
with anyone but the top two lines. Rockford needed scoring and ultimately these deals aren’t made with the affiliate in mind, but for what makes the IceHogs better right now; maybe they can re-trade. Tim Brent [C] (trade w/Pittsburgh for Danny Richmond July 17, 2008)Rockford’s captain has missed the last ten games with a concussion. He’s a nice minor-leaguer. Enough said. Nathan Davis [C/W] (2005 – 4th round, 113th overall)Penciled in as a two-year project, Davis has dressed in 40 of the team’s 44 games as a fourth-liner. Most of which he’s served as the centerman. He’s quick but not shifty. Davis is easily checked because he skates in a straight-line with the puck and waits too long to dish it. Still, there’s talent there and next season he’ll be asked to do much more. With a strong off season, I could see him starting next season as Igor Makarov’s center, should Makarov decide to leave home. Dan Bertram [RW] (2005 – 2nd round, 54th overall)Rockford lists him at 5’11”. He’s not a hair above 5’10” and that’s what you immedi-ately notice about him. Tough kid who’s always got the legs moving. He’s dropped the gloves with much bigger players as well. If this has you thinking Adam Burish you’re not too far off.
Block Party
Chris Block
The Making of The Chicago Blackhawks
YEAR DRAFT TRADE FREE AGENT2008-2009 Brian Campbell (BUF 6th round 1997
Cristobal Huet (LA 7th round 2001)Matt Walker (STL 3rd round 1998)Aaron Johnson (CLB 3rd round 2001)
2007-2008 Patrick Kane (1st round) Ben Eager (PHO 1st round 2002) from PHI for Jim Vandermeer (FA PHI 2000)Craig Adams (HAR 9th round 1996) from CAR for future considerations.Andrew Ladd (CAR 1st round 2004) from CAR for Tuomo Ruutu (CHI 1st round 2001)
Brent Sopel (VAN 6th round 1995)
2006-2007 Jonathan Toews (1st round) Martin Havlat (OTT 1st round 1999) from OTT and Bryan Smolinski (BOS 1st round 1990) for Tom Preissing (FA SJ 2003), Josh Hennessy (SJ 2nd round 2003) and Michael Barinka (CHI 2nd round 2003)Kris Versteeg (BOS 5th round 2004) from BOS for Brandon Bochenski (OTT 7th round 2001)
2005-2006 Niklas Hjalmarsson (4th round) Patrick Sharp (PHI 3rd round 2001) from PHI for Matt Ellison (CHI 4th round 2002) and CHI 3rd round pick 2006
Nikolai Khabibulin (WIN 9th round 1992)
2004-2005 Cam Barker (1st round)Dave Bolland (2nd round)Troy Brouwer (7th round)
2003-2004 Brent Seabrook (1st round)Dustin Byfuglien (8th round)
Colin Fraser (PHI 3rd round 2003), Jim Vandermeer (PHI FA 2000) and 2004 2nd round pick from PHI for Alex Zhamnov and 2004 4th round pick (WIN 4th round 1990)
2002-2003 Duncan Keith (2nd round)James Wisniewski (5th round)Adam Burish (9th round)
COACHESHead Coach-Joel QuennevilleAssistant Coach-John TorchettiAssistant Coach-Mike HavilandAssistant Coach- Marc BergevinGoaltending Coach-Stephane Waite
GM HISTORYDale Tallon (2005-Present)Bob Pulford (Too Fucking Long, Too Many Fuck-ing Times)Mike Smith (2001-2004)Bob Murray (1999-2000)
info in part provided by hockeyreference.com
The Making of The St. Louis Blues
YEAR DRAFT TRADE FREE AGENT2008-2009 Alex Steen (TOR 1st round 2002) and
Carlo Colaiacovo (TOR 1st round 2001) from TOR for Lee Stempniak (STL 5th round 2003)
Chris Mason (NJ 5th round 1995)BJ Crombeen (DAL 2nd round 2003)Brad Winchester (EDM 2nd round 2000)Tyson Strachan (CAR 5th round 2003)
2007-2008 David Perron (1st round) Andy McDonald (ANA Undrafted FA 2000) from ANA for Doug Weight (NYR 2nd round 1990) and Michal BirnerKeith Tkachuk (WIN 1st round 1990) from ATL for 2008 1st round pickCam Janssen (NJ 4th round 2002) from NJ for Bryce Salvador (TB 6th round 1994)
Paul Kariya (fag) (ANA 1st round 1993)Mike Weaver (Waivers)
2006-2007 Patrick Berglund (1st round) Brad Boyes (TOR 1st round 2000) from BOS for Dennis Wideman (BUF 8th round 2002) Yan Stastny from BOS for 2007 5th round pick
Dan Hinote (COL 7th round 1996)Jay McKee (BUF 1st round 1994)Manny Legace (HAR 8th round 1993)Steve Wagner (Undrafted FA)
2005-2006 T.J. Oshie (1st round) Eric Brewer (NYI 1st 1997), Jeff Woywitka (PHI 1st round 2001), and Doug Lynch (EDM 2nd round 2001) from EDM for Chris Pronger (HAR 1st round 1993)
Trent Whitfield (BOS 4th round 1996)
2004-2005 Roman Polak (6th round)2003-2004 David Backes (2nd round)
2002-2003 D.J. King (6th round)2001-2002 Jay McClement (2nd round)1999-2000 Barret Jackman (1st round
COACHESHead Coach: Andy MurrayAsst. Coach: Ray BennettAsst. Coach: Brad ShawGoaltending Coach: Rick Wamsley
GM HISTORY2006-Present: John Davidson1998-2006: Larry Pleau
info in part provided by hockeyreference.com
Playing at home............ 14-3-5Playing on road........... 11-8-3Scoring first.......... 15-3-3Opponent scores first........ 10-8-5Shoot the puck bimbo scores...... 4-1-1Shoot the puck bimbo doesn’t score...... 10-1-4Shoot the puck bimbo blows editors of Commited Indian..... 0-0-0ANYONE blows editors of Committed Indian ................. 0-1-0Playing on a Monday.............. 1-2-1 Playing on a Tuesday................ 4-1-0Playing on a Wednesday........... 5-0-2Playing on a Thursday.............. 0-2-0Playing on a Friday................ 4-2-2Playing on a Saturday............. 4-3-3Playing on a Sunday................ 7-1-0Savard changes lines during game... 1-2-1Coach Q keeps lines as they are..... 24-9-7Are out-muscled by opponent.... 8-8-4Outshoot opponent....... 17-6-3Are outshot by opponenet.... 8-5-5Havlat shies from contact......... 16-6-6Patrick Kane scores............... 8-3-2Jonathan Toews scores.......... 5-0-4Martin Havlat scores............. 9-2-1Patrick Sharp scores............ 14-2-2Dustin Byfuglien scores......... 6-0-1Dustin Byfuglien turns down a hit...... 21-9-6Andrew Ladd scores............. 7-0-1Dave Bolland scores......... 6-0-1Adam Burish scores....... 1-1-0, and totally ruins that joke51 Phantom scores....... 3-2-1Duncan Keith scores........ 2-3-0Brent Seabrook scores...... 4-0-1VerStud scores.... 8-3-1Troy Brouwer scores.... 5-0-0Scoring a Power Play goal....... 19-4-7Not scoring a Power Play goal... 6-7-1Allowing a Power Play goal...... 9-8-8Not Allowing a Power Play goal....... 16-3-0Scoring a short-handed goal........... 3-1-0
Allowing a short-handed goal......... 1-1-1Taking 30 or more shots......... 19-8-5Taking less than 30 shots..... 6-3-1Allowing 30 shots or more...... 11-6-5Allowing 30 shots or less......... 14-5-3100 Level doesn’t cheer for anthem. 14-2-51st of a back-to-back...... 2-3-32nd of a back-to-back..... 6-2-0Opponent played night before.... 6-1-1Seabrook gets a flat-footed penalty.... 8-2-4Burish takes a penalty....... 4-3-2Keith takes a penalty......... 5-1-2Sharp takes a penalty....... 9-2-2Toews takes a penalty..... 6-2-2Havlat takes a penalty.... 5-1-0Sopel takes a penalty...... 3-2-1Sopel looks 6 steps slow...... 7-5-551 Phantom blows a coverage...... 16-9-7Toews is trying too hard...... 3-7-2At least 1 fight in 300 Level... 2-1-3No fights in 300 Level..... 12-2-2Playing Eastern Conference..... 4-2-2Playing Western Conference..... 21-9-6Playing Central Division...... 4-3-5Playing Northwest Division.... 10-3-0Playing Pacific Division 7-3-1Playing Atlantic Division 1-1-1Playing NASCAR Division 0-1-0Playing Northeast Division 3-0-1Playing in October.... 4-3-3Playing in November.... 6-3-3Playing in December...... 10-1-1Playing in January..... 5-4-1Playing in February..... 0-0-0Playing in March...... 0-0-0Playing in April...... 0-0-0UC plays really stupid goal song..... 14-1-5Huet’s five-hole open like Lindsay Lohan’s..... 2-5-2Getting obliterated on face-offs....... 9-8-4Are even close on face-offs..... 16-3-4
Eddie O tells crew to “stop it right here!”.... 22-11-8Eddie O tells us D have the forwards and forwards have the D during 4-on-4........ 22-11-8We fantasize about shooting Eddie O.... 22-11-8We’re ecstatic Pat Foley is back...... 23-8-8Ice-girls wear skirts....... 6-1-3Ice-girls wear pants....... 3-1-0ice-girls wear shorts.... 5-1-2Ice-girls wear hideous pink outfit....... 1-0-0Leading after 2 periods...... 20-1-3Losing after 2 periods...... 1-7-2Tied after 2 periods......... 4-3-3In overtime.......... 3-3In shootout....... 2-5Cam Barker plays....... 18-7-5Cam Barker is in Rockford due to GM incompetence..... 3-2-3Lacking a #2 center........ 25-11-8In 1-goal games..... 6-4-8In 2-goal games...... 6-3-0In 3-goal games....... 6-3-0In 4+ goal games...... 6-1-0Scoring 3+ goals..... 23-2-4Scoring less than 3 goals...... 2-9-4PA plays Ministry....... 0-0-0PA plays Modern Cock-Rock..... 13-3-5PA plays Classic Cock-Rock....... 9-2-5PA plays P.J. Harvey........ 0-0-0Fraser fights...... 7-2-1Burish fights....... 4-1-0Seabrook fights..... 0-0-0Barker fights......... 0-0-2Buff fights......... 0-0-2Sharp fights........ 1-0-0Eager fights.......... 9-0-1On Comcast...... 19-5-5On WGN....... 6-3-3On Vs........ 0-2-0On NBC.... 0-1-0Judd Sirott swears a lot off-air 25-11-8Editor of Committed Indian bleeds on programs........ 1-0-0
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