SB Nation - Cristobal Huet

If Halak Could Be On The Move, It May Be Due To Cedrick Desjardins Continuing To Defy The Odds In Hamilton

Robert L — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:53:43 -0000

When Canadiens fans consider the top prospects in the organization the first thoughts usually center around pivot Louis Leblanc, who was cut today from the Team Canada junior camp. Other names crop up, such as defensemen P.K. Subban and Yannick weber as well as center Ben Maxwell, but a name often overlooked and seldom caught on the radar is goaltender Cedrick Desjardins, currently burning up the AHL statistically.

Desjardins is the subject of a column today by Mathias Brunet of La Presse, who reports that the Bulldogs stopper is on fire of late, having surrendered but one goal in his last four games.

Call it food for thought, but could this be why Jaroslav Halak trade rumours are heating up at the moment?

Consider the following: Desjardins' record is 8-4-1-4 with a 1.45 GAA. His save percentage is .944, second best in the AHL behind Dallas Stars prospect Brent Krahn. He recently came within minutes of topping a 1957 Johnny Bower AHL record for consecutive shutout minutes.

Those are the kind of numbers that turn heads in a league!

For Canadiens' fans unacquainted with Desjardins, it may be due to the fact that he was a somewhat unheralded free agent signing in 2006. After getting his start with the Rimouski Oceanic of the QMJHL during the Sydney Crosby era, Desjardins moved on the Patrick Roy's Quebec Remparts, winning the Memorial Cup in 2006.

He has come a long way from being drafted 200th overall by the Halifax Mooseheads of the Q in 2002. His first season in junior has hardly a success, winning only one of 23 games he appeared in.

By the 2004-05 season, he had moved on to Rimouski, earning the starters job. It was a season of growth playing alongside Crosby, and the Oceanic made it all the way to the Memorial Cup final, which they lost to the powerhouse London Knights 4-0.

At 20 years of age, and undrafted at the NHL level, Desjardins did not despair in his search for a professional contract. He signed on with Roy's Remparts as an overaged junior, and Quebec rode his hot hand all the way to the league championship, which was lost in six games to the Moncton Wildcats. As Moncton for the host team for the Memorial Cup that season, Desjardins and the Remparts, as finalists, were given a bye into the Canadian junior final round robin.

It was there that Desjardins truly made a lasting impression, as he guided the underdog Remparts to the Memorial Cup title. He was stellar under the gun in the final game as the Wildcats fired 48 shots in his direction, beating him only twice as Quebec cruised to a 6-2 upset.

Later that summer, Desjardins was invited to the Chicago Blackhawks training camp, but eventually signed a contract to play with the Hamilton Bulldogs.

With goalies Carey Price, Jaroslav Halak, Cristobal Huet and Yann Danis all ahead him on the Canadiens depth chart in goal, Desjardins was assigned to the ECHL Cincinnati Cyclones in October of 2006. He was twice called to Hamilton first replacing Halak when he was called up to Montreal and a second time upon the trade of Huet to Washington.

In 2008, following the Bulldogs missing the playoffs, he was returned to the Cyclones just in time to lead them all the way to the Kelly Cup title in 2008.

Like he done in the Quebec league prior, Desjardins was once again named playoff MVP.

Last season, desjardins split time in Hamilton with veteran Marc Denis and has shared the load this season with Curtis Sanford.

A high point in his career in the Canadiens organization came at the Habs' camp in 2008, when he was put in goal for the third period of an exhibition game against the Detroit Red Wings. Desjardins allowed no goals in his 25 minutes of play including overtime, and promptly shut the door on the Wings snipers in the shootout in backstopping the Habs to the win.

The 24 year old from Edmunston, New Brunswick has made a career of defying the odds against him. From Brunet's La Presse article, current Bulldogs coach Guy Boucher had this this to say:

Everywhere Cedrick has played, he was tagged as the goalie who most assumed would not lead. He was the guy in nets by default or circumstance. With the Oceanic, he came into the team plans as a third string goalie but performed well enough to play regularly. In time, he became the starter, but we weren't sure of winning with him, so the team aquired a 20 year old to take the helm. Cedrick soon outperformed him as well. We won the President's Cup and made it to the Memorial Cup final that season. Crosby and Desjardins were incredible in those playoffs.

Boucher goes on to answer in theory why Desjardins had continuously flown under the radar.

As a goalie, he does not have an imposing presence about him, nor is he looked upon as having abundant natural abilities. But, he's a ferocious competitor. He's extraordinarily strong on second and third rebounds. He pulls rabbits out of his hat it seems. At any given time, when he looks beaten, he'll surprise and make the stop. It's not luck. He's extremely quick and very athletic.

Brunet goes on to say that Boucher and his assistants helped in refining Desjardins' technique.

In Rimouski, as an assistant coach, I was in charge of handling Desjardins' psychological approach in games. I've known him well for some time now and we have put in a lot of time together. We've worked on patience together. The biggest difference between junior and pro or the East Coast League is that the initial shot on goal becomes much more important. In junior, that first shot is easier to stop because it is not as hard. At the pro level, shots are fired without warning. Pro levels goalies who are having difficulties adjusting are the ones who have the most trouble with that first shot. What Cedrick had to learn was to concentrate singularly on that first shot instead of worrying abou the consequences of a rebound. He had a tendency to try and predict what he would be doing next rather than focusing on the first task. Now he more concentrated on the first chance and as aggressive on rebounds.

In talking of Desjardins and his season, Boucher would not yet term either he or Sanford as the team's number one goalie. Sanford has been equally strong, but his wife has recently given birth and Desjardins' performances have come during the veteran's lightened workload. The goalies had been alternating until recently, but as Desjardins gained the hot hand, Boucher felt it best to ride it out.

The coach was non-committal as per Desjardins short or longer term prospects with the Canadiens. That talk was not up for discussions as Boucher would not want such scenarios hampering his goalie's focus at the present time.

He must continue to focus uniquely on the next game and not about what comes along in two weeks time. Not on whether in six months he'll be the number one. In Hamilton, our goals are to help the players reach the NHL level and Cedrick has always taking things a step at a time. For now, his challenge is to demonstate the consistency required from being a number one AHL goalie.

Game Preview: Chicago Blackhawks @ Buffalo Sabres

Rafal Ladysz — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:03:54 -0000

More photos » by Don Heupel - AP

7 days ago: Washington Captials left winger Alex Ovechkin, of Russia, bottom left, misses an open net as Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller is caught out of position during the first period of the NHL hockey game in Buffalo, N.Y., Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2009. Sabres defenseman Steve Montador, right, watches the play. (AP Photo/Don Heupel)

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You've got to be lucky to be good and good to be lucky. The Buffalo Sabres were a little of both Wednesday becoming the first team in 11 months to shutout the Washington Capitals. While they did an excellent job of keeping Alexander Ovechkin and company outside of the perimeter, Buffalo was fortunate on a few chances that Washington sent wide of an empty net. And Ryan Miller was there to snag the great opportunities that did head on goal.

All in all, it was the type of win that solidifies a squad as a contender with shot blocking, active sticks and back-checking doing the job. Chicago brings their own brand of firepower into HSBC Arena as the schedule hasn't gotten easier. Substitute Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green with Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa and Duncan Keith.

The Blackhawks defeated Buffalo last year by a 4-1 scoreline but the Sabres have won three of the past four get-togethers. Chicago is 5-0-1 against Eastern Conference oppositions thus far and Buffalo is 5-0 facing the West. This should be an interesting match-up, not to mention very exciting.

Five thoughts on each team below.

Patrick Lalime and Cristobal Huet are your starting netminders. It was assumed Miller would be in for this one giving the back-up tomorrow's showdown in New York. I can see why Lalime is eager to get his first win of the year against his former team but the Sabres will have to play similar to their shutdown format against Washington. Motivation for the goaltender means nothing if he's hung out to dry.
Chicago has really taken it to another level since the return of Toews and introduction of Hossa. They are 11-2-1 with their captain back in the line-up and the Slovakian has seven points in as many games. By the way, Toews also has 13 points in 14 matches.
Paul Gaustad has begun skating with the team showing progression but there's no timetable for his return. Regardless, this is a great sign as the Sabres have struggled in the face-off circle without Goose. Mike Grier is expected back possibly Saturday after visiting his mother. In practice yesterday, Tim Connolly felt hip pain and wasn't able to withstand the whole session. Lindy Ruff suspects it's nothing serious and that the center should play. Who knows with Connolly though?
Overpaid defenseman Brian Campbell is back for the first time in a different jersey. Last year's contest between these franchises was in Chicago so it'll be his only visit since abandoning Buffalo. Expect tons of boo-birds for Campbell and I'm sure Blackhawks fans aren't happy either with the dollars-to-points ratio.
A goal and an assist were earned by Nathan Gerbe in his first call-up from the AHL. It was only a matter of time before someone got the go-ahead from Portland. As he was instructed to, Gerbe crashed the net despite his lack of size and threw the puck on it from down low for his first career NHL goal. We'll see what he has up his sleeve this time.
Cristobal Huet owns a 14-6-2 record with a .907 save percentage and 2.18 GAA. Known as somewhat of an enigma, Buffalo would be wise to get pucks at him from various angles and positions. Put the puck on net and good things will happen. The Sabres can't waste time attempting pretty plays and cute ideas.
In response to a third period benching Monday, Derek Roy sprung a pair of assists and tenacious two-way efforts against Washington. Leading the team in points, the 26-year-old needs to bring that intensity and skill routinely.
Buffalo native Patrick Kane has his sights on a career campaign with 28 points already in 29 games. He's played the Sabres twice registering one goal. Kane said he expects to get booed in reference to the cab driver incident from the summer.
Ranked third and sixth in penalty killing, it'll be intriguing to see if either can break through with the man-advantage. Thomas Vanek has four powerplay goals while Toews is up to five. Today would be a good time for Vanek to end his scoring slump. Please?
Yet to win with Miller on the bench, Buffalo is in for a fight with these Blackhawks who can beat a goaltender in bunches. I hope Lalime is ready because it could be a long evening if he's even a little rusty and the Sabres play the first frame laid back.

Normally, you'd hope to get a lighter match after taking on the Washington Capitals. However, this is a huge opening for the Buffalo Sabres. What better way to prove themselves as a threat than beating both Washington and Chicago in succession?

To The Five Boroughs - Hawks 2, Rangers 1 (OT)

McClure — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 08:33:32 -0000

More photos » by Paul Beaty - AP

Dustin Ovechkin? Where the balls did THAT come from?

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If you can find anything to complain about from the Hawks from this game...you're wrong. The fact of the matter is, for nearly 64 minutes, the Hawks dominated this game, and the only thing that kept the Rangers in it was Henrik Lundqvist. The one sequence that the Hawks gave Marian Gaborik any room to work with in the first he found an open Chris Higgins who beat Cristobal Huet from the left circle with a perfect water bottle wrister. Other than that, however, the Rangers didn't get a sniff, as evidenced by the 3 shots COMBINED in the third and OT, and totaled 18 for the evening.

In the offensive zone, the Hawks mauled the rangers for a total of 41 shots for the night, and the game would have been out of hand early if not for Lundqvist's heroics. Every line for the Hawks produced offense, and it finally took four Hawks jamming away at King Henrik with 6 minutes left, and on a power play, to finally prod one past him to equal the score, and consequently force the overtime.

Once in OT, the Hawks kept the pressure on, and then came one of the most ridiculous things I've seen at the UC in a long time. Dustin Byfuglien picked up a loose puck at the top of his own rings and led a one-man rush down the ice and slid the puck past Lundqvist for the game winner. Buff has regularly been a whipping boy of this blog, and this play is part of the reason why. Seeing this, we all know he has it in him, and yet he is still quite often a passenger on whatever line he happens to be playing with. It's confounding, but even still, it resulted in my maniacal victorious laughter at the end of the night, so all's well that ends well. Hawks win 2-1.

Observations

The second line of Sharp, Kane, and Brouwer looks quite promising, as Sharp was everywhere tonight, despite not making it onto the score sheet
I TELL YA, DAT HORSA GUY CAN BACKCHECK
Nice to see Troy Brouwer throwing his weight around again
It seemed like the book on Lundqvist was to go high, which the Hawks adhered to, but it led to many, MANY shots over the net and rung off the end board glass. Had they not gotten too cute, the shot total would have dwarfed the 41 that was put up.
The Hawks have only scored 4 even strength goals since the San Jose game.
I cannot believe a game that involved Donald Brashear, Sean Avery, and Ben Eager did not contain a single moment of unbridled numbskullery.

Player of the Game

In spite of Buff's goal, and even though it ended up being a losing effort, there is no denying that King Henrik had the best game of anyone on the ice tonight.

Coming To Chicago This Summer: Cap Reality

The Falconer — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 14:48:43 -0000

More photos » by Larry Macdougal - AP

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For those of you who don't pay much attention to the Western Conference the big news this week was that the Chicago Blackhawks managed to get three of their young stars resigned this week. Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane both signed for 6.3 million per year and Duncan Keith for 5.5 per year. Blackhawk fans were falling all over themselves in self congratulation with the news.

However, the team is going to have to perform "roster reduction surgery" to clear away the foolishness that former GM Tallon committed in the Summer of 2008. This coming summer the Blackhawks are going to have to move a lot of salary just to field a roster of 21 players for the 2010-2011 season. Below is 21 man roster chart of players currently under contract with Chicago and their cap salaries (or Qualifying Offers for RFAs this summer).

A couple of technical notes. RFAs who make under 1 million must be offered a 10% raise in their qualifying offers (which they don't have to sign). Young players on Entry Level Contracts (ELC) will have all bonus money count against the cap next year because it is the final year of the CBA. I have used a 21 man roster instead of the NHL minimum 20 man roster because it is virtually impossible to go with just 20 players. If a guy is out a few days, he doesn't quality for Long Term Injury Replacement, but someone has to to dress--so I budgeted for 21 roster spots. The minimum NHL salary is half a million dollars currently.

OK and now for the really ugly part. If we assume that all of the current Blackhawks RFAs were to simply accept their qualifying offers and no trades were made, then I have Chicago sitting at $66 million in cap hits with a salary cap expected to remain largely unchanged (currently $56.7 million). The team is projected to be over by $8-10 million depending on where the cap is set next season.

SALARY	FORWARDS
6.300	Toews
6.300	Kane
5.275	Hossa
3.900	Sharp
3.375	Bolland
3.083	Versteeg
3.000	Byfuglien
1.550	Ladd	RFA Qualifying Offer
1.200	Kopecky	ELC
1.070	Eager	RFA Qualifying Offer
1.025	Brouwer
0.770	Fraser	RFA Qualifying Offer
	DEFENSE
7.142	Campbell
5.500	Keith
3.500	Seakbook
3.083	Barker
2.333	Sopel
0.700	Hjalmarsson	RFA Qualifying Offer
	GOAL
5.625	Huet
0.800	Crawford
0.500	Bench Player
66.031	2010 TOTAL
56.700	Current Cap Max
9.331	Difference

Ch-ch-changes

The good news for Blackhawk fans is that their young core players were signed last week. The bad news is that several current members of a Cup-contending squad will have to be traded this summer. Let's play amateur GM and see how this works out.

The non-Campbell, non-Huet Scenario

Let's assume that both the Campbell and Huet contracts are too costly to move. In this situation the Hawks need to deal away 4 guys making some serious coin. If they moved Cam Barker ($3.08 million), Dave Bolland ($3.375) and Dustin Byfuglien ($3.0) and replaced them with three players averaging just $0.700 a piece that still leaves the team $2 million over the current cap. Assuming the cap doesn't rise, they would need to a) move either Versteeg or Sharp; or b) exchange their entire checking group (Kopecky, Eager, Brouwer and Fraser) for 4 guys making the NHL minimum. This scenario involves the most carnage for the existing lineup of skaters, as it would essentially gut the team's depth.

The Campbell Traded Scenario

The two most egregious contracts are those given to Brian Campbell (7.142 million) and Christobal Huet (5.625 million). To move either of this contracts Chicago would probably have to include either a 1st round pick or a top prospect to make another team swallow either of them. Let's suppose that Chicago was able to swing Campbell + 1st round pick to Dallas for a pick or prospect. If Cam Barker moves into the top 4 D for Chicago, and a journeyman making .6 million fills Campbell's roster spot, that still leaves them $2.8 over the cap. To clear that much more salary they would have to swap a player making $3.3 million for a guy making the league minimum or basically Dave Bolland or Patrick Sharp.

The Huet Traded Scenario

Most teams only have one starting goalie--there are only so many starting jobs around the NHL. Few teams can afford afford to lavish All-Star money on a non-All Star talent, which means that the Cristobal Huet contract is probably tougher to move than the Campbell contract. But let's suppose for a moment that Chicago can find a taker. Who would take Huet's place? That's a key question and one that is hard to predict. Almost any starter of any quality is going to have a cap hit of $3 million or more. The team might find a cheaper option such as Theodore, Biron or Emery on the UFA market, but those cheaper options come with a serious downside risk. Let's assume that the Blackhawks go very cheap at the goal position and only spend $2.5 on Huet's replacement. That still leaves them $6 million over the cap. Trading away Barker ($3.08), Sopel ($2.3) and one medium priced forward (perhaps Bolland $3.0) and replacing them with players making just $700,000 gets them under the cap with some money for a Hjalmarsson raise.

The Dream Scenario: Campbell and Huet Traded

The least disruptive solution to the Blackhawks depth would be to move both fat contracts next summer. The biggest question is whether they can find any suckers (call Bob Gainey?) or whether they are willing to part with high draft picks or top prospect Kyle Beach to purchase cap space. Assuming that they can make these two ugly contracts vanish and replace the D slot with a cheap defenseman, that would leave about $2-3 million for a starting goalie. This is easily the least disruptive scenario for the current roster--but presumably would come at the cost of future talent (picks and prospects).

Concluding Thoughts

Trying to game plan the future is always challenging. At this point, we have no idea what the final cap number will be (but attendance is flat and tickets are being discounted in many cities). We also have no way of knowing if RFAs like Ladd and Hjalmarsson will demand more money than their qualifying offers. Despite these "known unknowns" I've tried to get a sense of how things might play out this summer in the Windy City.

Nashville Predators pull away in the 3rd, beat Chicago 4-1

Dirk Hoag — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 04:33:01 -0000

More photos » by Charles Cherney - AP

12 days ago: Nashville Predators' Jordin Tootoo, center, celebrates after he scores the Predators' third goal late in the game as the Nashville Predators beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 in an NHL hockey game, on Friday, Dec. 4, 2009. (AP Photo/Charles Cherney)

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Late goals by Jordin Tootoo and Joel Ward sealed the victory tonight for the Nashville Predators as they won in Chicago tonight, 4-1. Dan Ellis made 34 saves for his second strong effort in a row, on a night when 9 different Preds hit the scoresheet.

You can click above for the photo gallery, and after the jump we've got video highlights, the recap, and advanced even-strength statistics...

Early on, it appeared that the Preds would be doing well just to hang around in this game. Jonathan Toews put on a clinic giving the Blackhawks the 1-0 lead, deking through Dan Hamhuis for the score. Hamhuis earned his redemption just minutes later, however, firing a puck that came up the boards past Cristobal Huet to even the game at 1-1 heading into the first intermission. Chicago carried most of the play, however, with a Shots on Goal advantage of 15-6 after the first period.

In the second, the Preds established good pressure early on, despite losing Kevin Klein for a time after he took an awkward tumble into the endboards. As part of several strong shifts by the line of Martin Erat, Marcel Goc and Jordin Tootoo, Toots gathered in a loose puck and fired it towards the front of the net, where it deflected off Erat's skate for the goal (which stood after a brief video review). The Blackhawks poured it on from there, constantly backing the Nashville defense in and getting several good chances which Dan Ellis turned aside.

In the third, that momentum was still largely in Chicago's favor as the Preds kept backing in and defending the core of their zone, trying to keep the Blackhawks to the outside. Ellis made several excellent stops while not allowing any rebound opportunities, something he's been prone to in the past.

On a rare rush the other way in the final minutes, Tootoo scored just his second goal of the season, blasting a shot by Huet, who looked shaky when the Preds did get their chances. Preds fans didn't even have much time to breathe a sigh of relief, however, as Joel Ward banged home a pass from David Legwand just 35 seconds later to push the lead to 4-1, and a surprising runaway victory for Nashville.

Team discipline once again played a critical role; despite playing a division rival and having to deal with speedy, skilled players buzzing around the offensive zone, the Predators only had to kill off one penalty all night, which they did successfully.

Hamhuis, Erat and Tootoo all ended the night with a goal and an assist each, with six other players nabbing a point including Cal O'Reilly getting his first assist of the season on the Hamhuis goal.

Looking at the even-strength stats, it's no surprise to see lots of negative numbers; Chicago is an excellent skating team that tips the shot totals heavily in their favor on a consistent basis (tonight the shots were 35-23 for the Hawks). What jumps out to me is the performance of that Tootoo-Goc-Erat line, which clearly had a great night.

Even Strength		Individual Totals					Team Totals While Player Is On Ice
Player	Pos	EV TOI	Shots	Shts Blkd	Missed Shts	Blocks	SOG For	SOG Ag	SOG +/-	Tot SF	Tot SA	Corsi
Jason Arnott	C	14:52	2	0	0	0	5	8	-3	9	14	-5
Steve Sullivan	L	14:22	0	0	0	0	4	8	-4	7	13	-6
J P Dumont	R	13:26	0	0	0	1	1	7	-6	3	12	-9
David Legwand	C	16:21	1	0	0	0	4	11	-7	7	14	-7
Jerred Smithson	R	16:34	1	1	0	0	4	9	-5	7	14	-7
Joel Ward	R	16:40	1	0	1	0	5	10	-5	8	14	-6
Marcel Goc	C	14:11	2	1	0	2	10	8	2	12	15	-3
Martin Erat	R	14:06	1	2	0	0	13	10	3	17	16	1
Jordin Tootoo	R	14:01	4	0	1	0	11	8	3	13	15	-2
Cal O'Reilly	C	8:49	0	0	0	0	2	4	-2	4	7	-3
Patric Hornqvist	R	8:24	2	0	0	0	4	2	2	6	5	1
Ryan Jones	L	7:42	0	0	0	1	2	4	-2	4	7	-3
Shea Weber	D	19:37	0	1	0	2	10	11	-1	14	20	-6
Ryan Suter	D	23:02	2	0	1	1	11	12	-1	15	22	-7
Kevin Klein	D	17:19	0	0	1	2	4	12	-8	9	18	-9
Francis Bouillon	D	18:22	0	1	0	0	1	12	-11	6	18	-12
Dan Hamhuis	D	17:46	1	0	0	1	10	11	-1	12	16	-4
Cody Franson	D	12:26	0	0	1	0	6	6	0	8	8	0

Poll

Who is your Predator of the Game?

Dan Ellis, 34 saves

44 votes

Martin Erat, GWG goal, 1 assist

7 votes

Jordin Tootoo, 1 goal, 1 assist, 5 Shots on Goal

18 votes

69 votes | Poll has closed

Hawks 3, Blow-Jays 3 (Hawks win staring contest after 11 arduous rounds)

McClure — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:45:18 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

Was it ever in doubt?

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I apologize for not getting this up sooner, but I was out enjoying myself before, during, and after the game last night because a very prolonged period of unpleasantness finally came to a close at work.

Last night's game was a little bit more wide-open than we've come to expect out of Columbus, which one would think would play into the Hawks' favor. And for the most part it did (from my perspective), with the Hawks dictating the play, despite being severely outshot in the first period. The first period also contained a slick shorthanded goal from VERSTEEG!, who performed the same toe drag move twice and managed to fake out three Blue Jackets, including goaltender Steve Mason.

Columbus took the lead on two unanswered goals in the second, neither of which was as pretty as VERSTEEG!'s, but they certainly got the job done. The second goal is one Cristobal Huet would undoubtedly like to have back, as a weak shot from a fading-away Sammy Pahlsson eluded him. Patrick Sharp would even the score on the man advantage, however, off of a feed so sweet from Patrick Kane that he actually had time to flub the pass, shank the shot, and still bury it.

I didn't get back to my seat in time to see Kris Russel's goal, so if you need a description of it, I'm sure you can find it elsewhere on the intertubes. However, the power play once again equalized things about four minutes later when Jonathan Toews redirected a Duncan Keith shot from the point. There were never any real threats going either way for the remainder of the game, both in regulation and OT.

Once again, the Hawks found themselves involved in a marathon shootout, mostly due to their own ineptitude. With Coach Q electing to defend first, Huet rose to each challenge, giving the Hawks a chance to end the spank-fest with the puck on their stick. However, the Hawks, for all the skill they possess, look like a dachshund dry-humping a throw pillow in the shootout. Only Marian Hossa dented the twine before Brent Seabrook, who is starting to have a knack for OT theatrics, mercifully ended things with a backhand that got past Mason.

Observations

I like beer

Player of the Game

While he did let in a softie against Pahlsson, stopping 10 of 11 in the shootout is quite fucking impressive.

Game 27 Preview: Jackets head to the Windy City to face the Hawks

Mike MacLean — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:03:19 -0000

by Jay LaPrete - AP

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After snapping a five game losing streak, the Jackets are in Chicago to take on the 'Hawks. On paper, this doesn't look good for the Jackets. It's the second game of a back-to-back, Rusty is out of the lineup with a groin tear (Mathieu Roy will play tonight, he's up from Syracuse on emergency recall), and tonight is the home debut of Hossa.

That said, the boys should still have some momentum from last night. It was a gutsy performance, and maybe the victory against the Blues was the tonic needed to get the Jackets back on track. Chicago is a great team from top to bottom. Their one question mark heading into the season-goaltending-seems to no longer be an issue with the strong play of Huet.

In my opinion, and likely many other share this opinion, the Hawks have the best defense in the NHL. It will be tough to score tonight, but the Jackets do have the weapons needed. Umby is playing his best hockey of the season, and Brass is looking better and better each game. If Voracek can build off of the strong game he had last night, look for that line to produce tonight. That would allow Nash and Juice to do their thing offensively-Huselius has been putting up serious points lately as well.

This is an imprtant game for the checking unit. I haven't seen much from Chimmer all season, and he needs to bring a physical element tonight. Mike Blunden hits everything that moves, and he'll need to continue doing that tonight against the 'Hawks potent forwards. Sammy was a Blackhawk for a brief period last season, and I look for him to have a strong game matching up against either Toews or Versteeg.

Fearless Prediction: Goal from a CBJ defenseman.

Game Time: 8:00pm ET

Opponent's Blog: Second City Hockey

Game Page: Blue Jackets vs Blackhawks Coverage

TSN Preview: Blue Jackets vs Blackhawks Preview

TV: FSN Ohio

Radio: WBNS-AM (1460); WWCD-FM (101.1)

More after the jump...

From the Columbus Dispatch:

The Blue Jackets snapped a five-game losing streak last night with a 5-2 win over the Blues. It should be a loud crowd tonight in United Center. The Blackhawks are back off a six-game trip, Marian Hossa makes his Chicago debut and coach Joel Quenneville goes for his 500th victory.

Jackets Links:

Columbus Blue Jackets / Columbus Blue Jackets Schedule

Columbus Blue Jackets Roster / Columbus Blue Jackets Stats

Here are the lineups for tonight's tilt:

Columbus Blue Jackets

Kristian Huselius	Antoine Vermette	Rick Nash
R.J. Umberger	Derick Brassard	Jakub Voracek
Jason Chimera	Samuel Pahlsson	Michael Blunden
Raffi Torres	Derek MacKenzie	Jared Boll

Fedor Tyutin	Anton Stralman
Mike Commodore	Jan Hejda
Kris Russell	Mathieu Roy

Steve Mason

Mathieu Garon

EXTRA: Alexandre Picard

INJURED: Fredrik Modin, Andrew Murray, Derek Dorsett, Rostislav Klesla, Marc Methot

Chicago Blackhawks

Patrik Sharp	Jonathan Toews	Marian Hossa
Dustin Byfuglien	Kris Versteeg	Patrick Kane
Andrew Ladd	John Madden	Troy Brouwer
Ben Eager	Colin Fraser	Tomas Kopecky

Duncan Keith	Brent Seabrook
Brian Campbell	Cam Barker
Niklas Hjalmarsson	Brent Sopel

Cristobal Huet

Antti Niemi

Mark It Eight, Dude: Blackhawks Crush Sharks 7-2 for Their Eighth Win in a Row

Matthew Dirt — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 07:09:50 -0000

More photos » by Marcio Jose Sanchez - AP

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In the history of Second City Hockey, we've probably had some pretty terrible game recaps - this might be one of them. McClure and Fels are obviously still over at the Whirlaway plowing down drinks and eating whatever delicious food Maria has made for the horde that made it out to the bar.

Meanwhile, I got back to my parent's home just in time for the second period to watch the Sharks game go absolutely down the toilet. Of course, I had to watch the game on a shitty internet connection and Yahoo's feed kept fucking up so I don't have any great insight as to how the game actually went - as if I ever do anyway though, eh? I've had several Yuengling's though - so I'm good to go.

Since the feeds out here sucked, all I've really got to go on are the stats and the game thread... and by the way the game thread had over 700 comments - I'm very fucking proud.

There are two things that obviously stand out - the Hawks scoring 3 short handed goals and Hossa netting two goals in his return to the ice... Honestly - I'm not sure which is more impressive. Short handed goals are always a mix of great play and a bit of luck. Due to the poor feed, I can't remember who but I remember seeing Sharks D-men falling down allowing at least one of the shorties. It was almost the bizzaro version of the game against the Flames where the Hawks scored their goals on the power play. This time they got them with a man feeling shame in the box - word is Brouwer, Sharp and Hossa all grew goatees too... Regardless - awesome. Hossa immediately making his presence felt, that could be even sweeter. This team is scary good at the moment, hopefully it's this fun for a lot longer.

Hossa ended the night with 2 goals on 4 shots in 16:35 minutes of ice time - Quenneville obviously didn't have any problems pushing Panda (alliteration!) tonight, only Patrick Sharp and Jonathan Toews had more ice time among the forwards.

On the Sharks side of things - it didn't look too good. Danny Boyle, Dany Heatley, and Joe Thornton were all -4 tonight. Patrick Marleau had a team leading 4 shots (one less than John Madden and a few other Hawks) on goal but was still -3. Speaking of shots on goal - The Sharks only managed 11 through the first period, though they did more than double that total in the third once the Hawks foot was clearly off the gas and settled into cruise control.

Scoring a touchdown (the extra point is good!) on the road is good - doing it against a team that hadn't lost in regulation at home, that's better. If you read the Power Rankings post I had yesterday, you saw that this was had the potential to be a statement game. These are two of the best teams in the NHL - and the Blackhawks absolutely dominated the Sharks. Happy Fucking Holidays.

Don't know how the other two are going to be feeling tomorrow but if they're not too annihilated they may have a few more thoughts before settling into a traditional American food coma. If not, let this be the Second City Hockey message to all of you saying we're very thankful to have all of you as readers and we hope you have a great day. Enjoy.

Player Of The Game:

Once again, this could have gone to a lot of players. Troy Brouwer had a goal, an assist and two hits. Duncan Keith had another 3 assist game. Both Patrick Sharp and Brent Seabrook had goal and assist games - Biscuit also had 5 hits. Cristobal Huet had another great game - he came out with only a .917 SV% but deserved better since the Hawks got sloppy in the waning moments. I think we've got to go with the new guy though. 2 goals on 4 shots in just over 16:30 minutes TOI.

Thanks again to GMH for the image - which is slightly terrifying but awesome at the same time.

Keep Your Heads Up! Canucks-Blackhawks Preview

Sean Zandberg — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 09:12:26 -0000

Willie Mitchell doesn't like Blackhawks. Especially not baby-faced Hawk captains. (H/T to Mike for the image)

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GAME TIME: 7:00 PST

TV: Sportsnet Pacific

The Mortal Enemy: Second City Hockey

UPDATE (1:28 PM): Joel Quenneville said this about any potential retribution from Chicago:

"Our priority will be to win the hockey game and nothing else," Quenneville said. "Getting even on the scoreboard is the best way to get even."

-Chicago Tribune.

***************

I'm going to focus quite a bit on Jonathan Toews to start this preview. A lot of this game and even the Hawks' recent success has revolved around him. On October 21, Toews had just played over 13:00 of hockey in a home game against the Canucks. He took a pass as he came out of his own zone and BANGO! Willie Mitchell, who had just stepped out of the penalty box, rang his damned bell, causing the Chicago's captain to miss 6 games with a concussion. Prior to that game against the Canucks, the Hawks had lost to the Stars, but had won 4 straight before that. The Canucks beat Chicago 3-2 that night and we all felt pretty good about it. In the 6 games that Toews missed at the hands of Big Willie, Chicago went 3-3. When Toews returned to the lineup on November 9th, his team went on a 6-game winning streak leading up to tonight. To say Toews is valuable to the Blackhawks team is an understatement.

He scored 2 goals and 1 assist against the Oilers Saturday night in a 5-2 victory.

Many wonder if the Hawks are going to seek some kind of retribution against Vancouver tonight for the Mitchell hit on Toews. It is quite possible. So they had better prepare themselves for a potential war tonight. There is no love between the 2 teams that's for sure. The animosity continues to grow.

Vancouver has the "luxury" of playing a Hawks team that is playing in a back-to-back situation. However, from what I saw in the Hawks-Oilers game Saturday night, Chicago disposed of Edmonton with relative ease. The Canucks have to come out hard and play them consistently aggressive in order to win. They have to wear them down as the game goes on without taking too many penalties in the process. Chicago is 2-0-1 in back-to-back scenarios this season.

Marian Hossa will not play against the Canucks. He's due to return sometime next week. But the return of Daniel Sedin has to boost the Canucks, especially Henrik Sedin. Now we'll finally see the cycle again! Woo! Hat tip to Hank for putting up an admirable effort in his brother's absence. He, although the points came sporadically, scored 10 goals and 8 assists in 18 games without his twin. Not bad at all, Hank. Now we shall see how the Canucks perform with the rejuvenated Sedin-Burrows top line and the Kesler-Samuelsson-Raymond second line. The team cannot take Daniel's return for granted. They all have to work hard and contribute in order to be successful. Dank may be a little rusty after missing so much time.

Speaking of hat tips: A big cheers to Tanner Glass for stealing the 4th line spot from Darcy Hordichuk...for now. He's not going to put up a shitload of points, but he's getting the job done and it's being noticed. In 18 games played this season, he may only have 2 goals and 3 points, but he has only been a minus once. Of course, he's matched up against the other teams' 4th line, but still, he's a tough, reliable guy.

Comparative Stats:

Goals Per Game: Chicago 5th, Canucks 12th in the NHL

Goals Against Per Game: Chicago 2nd, Canucks 10th

Who's better 5 on 5? Chicago 3rd, Canucks 10th

Powerplay: Canucks 6th, Chicago 9th

Penalty Kill: Chicago 1st, Canucks 24th.

Shots Per Game: Chicago 4th, Canucks 13th

Shots Against Per Game: Chicago 1st, Canucks 9th

Faceoff Percentage: Chicago 2nd, Canucks 7th

Cristobal Huet played very well against the Oilers. If the Hawks play Antii Niemi against the Canucks...well he's not so bad either. He has started 4 games this season, holds a 3-1 record, a 2.22 GAA and a .900 save percentage.

The Canucks are monsters at GM Place this season, with an 8-2-0 record. Chicago knows damned well that they need to work on their 4-3-1 road record. Kicking the Albertan teams' asses in their last 2 games is a great start. The Canucks still sit in 1th spot in the West, with a 12-10-0 record, now 4 points behind the Flames, who have played 1 less game, and 5 points behind the Northwest Division-leading Avalanche, who have played 1 more game than us. There isn't much room for error right now.

Let's go Canucks! Bury these bastards once again!

Bomb.Repeat.Bomb. - Blackhawks 7 - Flames 1

Matthew Dirt — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:15:03 -0000

Its become something of a tradition around these parts - but every time the Blackhawks absolutely dismantle the Flames we get an appearance of a vastly under-appreciated Simpsons character

That my friends, was a paddlin' indeed.

During the first period it seemed like the Hawks were having a bit of trouble getting things going. They grabbed the lead when Troy Brouwer was left alone in front of the net on the Hawks first power play but it didn't seem like somthing you'd want to rest on. It was obvious the winning team would need more than just one goal that resulted after an even first. The shots on goal were tied and if not for a few great saves by Huet, it could have been tied. Then the Flames started the second on a power play and wasted only 14 seconds before Olli Jokinen snuck the puck past Cristobal Huet. With the game tied we started to settle in for nail-biting close game.

And then Hammer absolutely ruined Rene Bourque.

We'll set aside the fact that Niklas Hjalmarsson may have left his feet to make the hit (haven't seen a good enough replay of it yet) because this was the breaking point in this game. Nigel Dawes came to defend Bourque (who didn't really skate again after the hit) and was given 2 minutes for roughing. Shockingly, the Blackhawks scored on that power play too and didn't look back. Even Dustin Byfuglien decided it was just about time for him to do something again to keep himself from getting benched and had a nice takeaway and goal. Don't expect to see him again for at least 6 more weeks. After Hammer's hit the Flames wilted and died - We didn't see anything close to the game we were expecting.

How good were the Hawks in the second period? They finally fucking scored on a 5 on 3... that's how good. They were something like 0 for 5 with the two extra men but had continually been shut down until tonight. The Hawks exploded for the most goals of any period this year, got their first player with a multi-goal game (VERSTEEG!), were 80% on the power play, and finished with 13 players getting at least a single point... There's just about nothing poor to say about the men of four feathers in this game. Everything went as well as you could hope.

Well - I guess Seabrook could have made Dion Phaneuf bleed. That would have completed the night. In case you needed any more evidence that this frankenstein is one of the biggest shitbirds in the league, look no further than picking a fight with someone while wearing a visor. Even the zebras called bullshit on that move and gave him a phantom 2 minutes for roughing. So VERSTEEG! followed it up by scoring his second of the night.

Oh, and as is being pointed out - Hossa is almost ready to make the Blackhawks even more dangerous.

Other Thoughts:

The Flames ought to be ashamed for leaving Brouwer alone on the crease for so long. It's one thing to ignore a player while the puck is being cycled around the zone but I think Troy got three shots off before netting the final one without so much as being breathed on by a Flames player.
Seabrook was a force all over the ice tonight.
Has Colin Fraser ever won a fight? Dude, you're a center and I think we've seen the end of the Ebbett experiment - I think your spot is safe at least until Dave Bolland comes back.
This was the first game of the year where the Hawks were outshot but still won. They also lost the face off battle (EDIT: Just kidding - they actually won 53% of the faceoffs, I misread)

Player Of The Game:

Fuck.. how do you choose? Duncan Keith had three assists and was the usual monster in the Hawks end. Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist on his 21st birthday (first carbomb is on me, kid). Kris Versteeg had 2 goals on the power play. Patrick Sharp added two points. Hammer changed the tempo of the game with a huge hit on a player I'm quickly growing to hate (and added an assist). And of course Cristobal Huet had a brilliant game making big stops to keep the Hawks in it when it was close and stayed focused when it got out of control - this was also his best SV% (.964) in a non-shutout game.

So we're going to let you pick. Time for the first poll in a while.

Poll

Who should the Player of The Game be?

Cristobal Huet - .964SV %

214 votes

Patrick Kane - 1G, 1A

60 votes

Kris Versteeg - 2G

97 votes

Duncan Keith - 3A

136 votes

Niklas Hjalmarsson - 1A, 2 Hits (both on Bourque)

196 votes

Someone else

5 votes

708 votes | Poll has closed