SB Nation - Marian Hossa

Game Preview: Chicago Blackhawks @ Buffalo Sabres

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

8 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?

The Next General Manager of the Edmonton Oilers

Derek Zona — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 05:58:31 -0000

via cdn.picapp.com

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I am Daryl Katz. I'm a whale hunter. Since purchasing the Oilers, my reign has been characterized by hunting down the biggest of the big whales in the NHL. Marian Hossa, Jaromir Jagr, Dany Heatley, Nikolai Khabibulin - all names that light up the marquee, all names that sparkled in my eye. If my OIlers should miss the playoffs again this year, I'll be put in a very precarious position - the fanbase will start to turn on my President and General Manager, and eventually, they'll turn on me. I will have nothing to offer them but the promise of hope, but Kevin Lowe and Steve Tambellini won't be able to deliver for me. I'll need to find someone else to run this team. I don't try to hire anyone without first hiring the most famous name I can find. I'll need a whale of enormous proportions. Someone that the fanbase would consider a hero, a hockey hero. Someone that can once again deliver the promise of hope to the people of Alberta. A whale that can bring the hope of the past glories back to the Oilers. Someone that can guarantee fan interest won't soon decline.

I'm Mark Messier. In the sports world, I'm a whale. In the hockey world, I'm one of the biggest whales, especially since my good friend Wayne went off track in Phoenix. I'm Edmonton-bred, born and raised, and I am Alberta's greatest hockey hero. I won six stanley cups in my time in the NHL and became known as the game's greatest captain. I once called my shot that I would deliver a Stanley Cup and I delivered a Stanley Cup. When I was playing, I was bold and brash and had the game to back it up. I was the biggest thing in hockey on the biggest stage in the world. I'm beloved everywhere in North America, except Vancouver and Calgary. I was a take-no-prisoners masher and I will be again.

My relationship with the Oilers has been good and the fans continue to love me. I'd love to go back there, but given that my old buddy Kevin Lowe is already in charge of the entire franchise, I know that there's not enough room in Rexall Place for the both of us. The only way that I'll ever make it back to Edmonton is if the Oilers were to let Kevin go, but he's got a job for life.

After basking in the glow of my great career that spanned three decades and cup wins in both Edmonton and New York, this year I decided that I wanted to enter hockey management. I needed someone to give me an in so that I could join the closed ranks of NHL management, so I turned to an old friend, Glen Sather. Glen gave me a job as a special assistant to the general manager. I expect that Glen will show me the ropes in the NHL, give me the ins and outs of managing the business, hook me up with the secrets that he uses to run the Rangers and set me on my way. I expect that one year in this role will give me the management resume I need to land a General Manager's job in the NHL..

To make sure that everyone is aware I'm available, I decided to take the job as General Manager of Team Canada's 2010 World Championship team. Raising my profile with this job, combined with my job with the Rangers and my history of winning all but guarantees a job offer in the summer of 2010 I'll show that I'm able to work with talent and evaluate players for the team and I'll do some elbow-rubbing with those involved with Hockey Canada. My name will light up news ledes and shine brightly on the marquee once again. I only hope that it will shine brightly enough to attract the attention of a team or two. I only need one interview to impress an owner, especially an owner that will be impressed by my celebrity. Someone that would love to hire a whale.

Experiencing A Canadiens' Win In Ottawa's (Not So) Rival Rink

Robert L — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 04:52:53 -0000

It's was early Wednesday morning as I began this, a snowstorm between Ottawa and Montreal, a total whiteout, and it has kept me home from my real world job, which today would have seen me venture back up to the capital city, dropping off Oldtimers Hockey Challenge tickets from Orleans to Kanata.

Thank goodness for snow days, eh?

Well not really, as the weather has provided me with more snow to shovel than I want to deal with. Bur ironically, and coincidentally, today's weather has provided me an easy lead-in to story threads from the Habs game last night and my experiences seeing the Canadiens on the road for the first time in my life.

The Canadiens third straight victory, five days into the beginning of their second century, featured a storm of sorts, in that a barrage of shots were fielded by surprise starter Jaroslav Halak, the game's well deserved first star.

The whiteout alludes to Habs' forward Ryan White, called up from Hamilton earlier in the day, only to play four shifts last night, before somehow being declared ineligible for the game, something to do with the Canadiens failing to declare the callup with NHL sources.

With the Habs playing well of late, with back to back wins against the Bruins and Flyers no less, I was real anxious to experience seeing them in Ottawa, where a great multitude of Canadiens fans reside. I've watched Montreal at the ~~Civic Center~~ ~~Palladium~~ ~~Corel Center~~ Scotiabank Place before and seen their fans turn out in droves, but actually being there among them, as I've found out, is a whole other reality.

I won't suggest that the Habs' fans outnumber, or are louder than their Senators fan counterparts, but it is a pretty evenly split room. Together the two sides help bring up the ante and charge up the tempo. From the cheapseats, it's a lively atmosphere, to put it lightly.

Sitting next to a Sens' fan that looked like Ken Hitchcock after dropping 200 pounds, I got on his good side really early by mocking the Senators division title banners just before the drop of the puck. During the game, I further endeared myself to him, all in good fun of course, by pointing out the mass of empty seats in the building and noting everytime a Senators shot was blocked but still registered on the clock count.

His subtle shots directed back to me were almost whispered comments to his friend and they included calling out every Habs player fall as a dive, saying "We're totally dominating" about a dozen times, and suggesting goalie Jaroslav Halak looked nervous while completely stoning Ottawa all game long.

Among the Canadiens fans scattered in Section 323 were a group of Habs Inside Out loyalists along for a mini Habs Fan Summit. Dave Finn (Punkster) was seated next to me. A converted Leafs' fan, Dave is an asute observer of the game, and he spent the evening pointing out all kinds of subtle and interesting game notes to me. It was a pleasure spending time with him.

A few seats away were Chuck Lewis and his girl and Adam Mills (subdoxastic), who's been a commenter at EOTP for a long while now. Other HIOers within reach were Paul Dube (who did a fine job organizing the trip and bringing everyone together), Ian Cobb (who's done the same for two Montreal fan summits now), Dave (DD) Reid, Nate Boisvenue (Natrous) and his brother. Pretty much the entire group had a Sens fans seated next to them.

One good laugh I had was watching Ian, donning his now traditional 1945-46 classic home white jersey, attempting to convince the Senator fans next to him to come over to the Canadiens' side.

The coolest part of being mixed in with the Ottawa fans was leaning over them three times as we'd all high five each other when the Habs scored. We would have had to a fourth time, but by then, all the Sens fans had left to beat the 417 rush home.

One treat of a fan was this guy a couple of rows down from me. Wearing a Marian Hossa jersey, he literally castigated Kovalev at every opportunity. He was in absolute angst each time Kovy hit the ice, yelling "Do something, lazy ass!" and a bunch other obscenities. Kovalev was roundly booed on the evening, a composite hounding from both sides as he floated through the game. I noted to Dave that most of the game, I wasn't even aware he was on the ice.

Overall, the sense I got from Senator supporters is that they are an inhibited bunch among the Habs throng. The "Ole, Ole" chant was omnipresent, from the busride in, to the corridors and throughout the game, and to the tunneling out post game back to the bus.

I was standing in a lineup between the second and third and overheard a snippet of conversation involving a guy with a Carey Price jersey and a man in unidentified colours.

"Who are you going for?" he was asked. "Nevermind," he wilted.

The guy in the Price jersey turned to him friend and they simultaneously nodded "Sens fan!"

One thing I found particularly lame, was when the Canadiens scored, the public address practically mumbled the details as if to neuter the cheering. It caught me off guard, it was so minor league. I was all pumped to scream my head off, and that monotone drone just threw me for a loop.

Late in the contest, when the attendance was announced at eighteen thousand and something, I had to cry "bullshit." The bozos next to me tried to get my ire by mockingly counting the empty seats. My retort was a simple "Wonder how empty this place looks when it's not the Habs playing?"

Scotiabank Place is indeed an old time hockey experience. The musical selections between drops of the puck keep on entertained and amused. For one stoppage we got 30 seconds of the Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop", and for the next we got some cheesy farfisa pump organ playing the "Charge" interlude. You can't help picture a Monty Python skit while listening.

As for the game itself, the Canadiens, backed by a standout performance from Halak, put in a pretty solid road game. The shot margin was high, especially after losing defenseman Jaroslav Spacek at the end of the first. From high up you could see that the Senators were firing from all angles but rarely piercing the perimeter.

The Canadiens made the most of their chances. Mike Cammalleri's goal was a beaut! On the two on one, Tomas Plekanec put a fake on the Sens defender that was a true marvel. The blueliner's stick was properly placed between Plekanec and his winger until a shot was faked and a slip pass made. As the Ottawa rearguard moved his stick to deflect, the pass went the other way. All the streaking Cammalleri had to do was redirect it into the open cage.

Sitting high offers a view in which you can truly appreciate the hardest working players and spot the floaters with ease. The most notable things I took in were how aware Roman Hamrlik is of his surroundings when not in possesion of the puck. You can really begin to understand why there are so few mistakes made from his corner when he does come in contact with the puck or opposing players.

On the Ottawa side, it's clear that Kovalev's teammates haven't a clue what he's about yet. He spent the night eluding any kind of close check, skating arcs and circles outside the perimeter of play. When oportunity arose, he'd streak towards the net from the far board, but linemates weren't looking for him. It gives the impression that he's floating, but that type of evasiveness has always been part of his game. He'd didn't accomplish very much on the night.

I never had much good to say about Jason Spezza and this game didn't change that. As the Senators fell behind, you'd think the team's most talented center would be leading the charge, but I caught Spezza waiting at the Habs blueline for a pass at least four times - in the third period alone.

Another noticable feature of the rink at Scotiabank Place was that the dasher boards are dead. The puck isn't given much bounce when fired off them, which tends to favor a Senators forecheck. The backs of Canadiens defensemen were constantly offered as targets to onrushing Sens forwards. Curiously, Halak rarely got back quick enough to stop the wraparound shoot ins Ottawa employment to break into the zone.

Much credit for the win went to first star Halak, but the work of the penalty killing unit was without fault on seven occasions. A player who is rapidly changing my opinion of him is Hal Gill, who was a tower of strength with a man down. Gill's long stick is always perfectly placed, and after he had broken up a good half dozen plays, the Senators forwards began working away from him as he had completely neutralized any cross ice passed from his side of the rink.

There was about five minutes to go in the game when fans started for the gate. I couldn't believe my eyes that people were hitting the exit in a one goal game. The moment the Kostitsyn goal was scored, it was as if the finger was removed from the hole in the dam and a deluge ensued. By the time of Scott Gomez' empty netter, the rink was half empty, nothing left but the Habs' faithful.

That final scene - about 9,000 Habs fans cheering in a rival rink - is my lasting image of this game. I'd head back to Ottawa and do this all over again in a nanosecond.

If anyone is thinking of heading to Ottawa for the December 28 game, there were all kinds of seats available. If you have a hunch of going, do so. I was seated at the 300 level near the blueline, and the sightlines for the whole rink are great.

Kudos to Paul Dube for organizing this fun get together. If you should ever take in a game in the capital, do as Paul did and get everyone together at Local Heroes on St. Laurent Blvd. From there, they have nightly round bus trips to Scotiabank and back for only five bucks.

Rangers GameDay: News and Notes, Scouting the Blackhawks

Jim Schmiedeberg — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:28:36 -0000

More photos » by Paul J. Bereswill - AP

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Some news and notes heading into tonight's game with Chicago:

The NY Daily News today talks about Sean Avery going back to the top line:

The initial reason was that a two-game audition on the first line for Artem Anisimov showed the rookie center, while improving, isn't ready to handle that sort of two-way responsibility.

After initiating "a couple of very pointed conversations" with Avery in recent weeks, Tortorella also believes the agitating winger has responded by rediscovering his aggressive and grating style to play his most effective hockey of the season over the last several games.

Granted, the first line has not played up to speed the last two games, but is two games a fair assessment of a rookie's ability to play as a first line center?

For better or worse, looks like Wade Redden will be ready to play tonight against Chicago:

USA Today MVP Poll now has Marian Gaborik at the top, moving up from number 4. Of course this always raises the old question of "can a last place (or close to it) team really have the MVP of the league?"

More after the jump........

Rangers and Blackhawks head-to-head

	STATS
29	GP	28
14	W	18
14	L	7
1	OT	3
29	P	39
0.500	P%	0.696
2.79	G/G	2.93
3.03	GA/G	2.18
20.2	PP%	21.4
83.9	PK%	84.5
29.1	S/G	32.0
29.9	SA/G	24.4
47.5	FO%	53.5

As you can see, the Rangers have their work cut out for them tonight.

Blackhawks Notes:(courtesy of NHL.com)

After fashioning an eight-game winning streak last month, the Hawks have struggled to regain their groove. Chicago has lost three of its last five games, and much like the Rangers, the Blackhawks' offense, too, is struggling. The Hawks have yet to win in regulation since that eight-game stretch, while scoring only seven goals in the process. An obvious source of concern might be Patrick Kane. While the winger has been setting up teammates, Kane is nearly three weeks removed from his last goal, a game-winner against the Oilers on Nov. 21.

With the exception of longterm injuries to Adam Burish and Dave Bolland, the Hawks will have a full lineup Wednesday.

Patrick Kane's seven-game goal-less streak is his third of five games or more this year. While they are not the longest stretches of Kane's career -- he endured a 12-game drought last December and January -- and Kane does have five assists over his current dryspell it is still a worrisome trend for the Hawks. Kane only had three goal-less streaks of five or more games all last season.

NFL Ruins historic ad campaign for Blackhawks and Bears (Puck Daddy, Yahoo Sports)

Marian Hossa "slowly getting there" (Chicago Trib)

Gaborik the focus of Blackhawks attention (Chicago Breaking News)

For more on the Blackhawks, check out Second City Hockey, the SBNation home of the Chicago Blackhawks

Something new I am going to throw into these previews, just for fun:

SweaterRating: A

Original Six teams always lead the pack when it comes to hockey sweaters, and the Hawks home reds have always been among the best in the league. They also get props for a great Winter Classic sweater.

Wednesday Links: Pretending the game tonight is in Sweden edition

averagejoe — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:00:21 -0000

by Tom Gannam - AP

Listen Polak, the puck goes in the net, not the player. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)

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All games are exciting, but games against the Red Wings carry that little something extra. That something? Pure, unfiltered hate. I won't be wearing anything red tomorrow. Let's go Blues.

Blues news

For your viewing pleasure: Blues vs. Wings. Tonight. Hopefully, there will be blood. [CBS Sports]
Unreal: "You get a chance and you start thinking about it and trying to pick a spot. That's when you get into trouble." -- Brad Boyes about the Blues struggling offense. Shockingly, the team is going to try putting the puck ON net tonight. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
Columbus and the Blues made a trade yesterday. In case you missed it, the Blues have acquired the new Trent Whitfield. Odds Pascal Pelletier even sniffs this NHL this year? [Belleville News-Democrat]
Kick-ass read on Wendy Pleau and her battle with cancer. Only downside to this argument, I kind of think less of Larry Pleau. How do you not know how to use the microwave or washing machine? Come on, man. [ESPN]

Scouting the Enemy

Detroit forward Valtteri Filppula got his wrist cast off, but is still a few weeks away from coming back. [Freep]
Even though he's a Wing, I gotta admit Justin Abdelkader has a cool name. He's playing a bigger role for the Wings. Oh and Ville Leino will be scratched tonight. [MLive]
To find more about the Wings, feel free to check out Winging it in Motown. If you want to fit in, just say things like "Steve Yzerman is a god." or "Our goaltending sucks." Or, you could just say nothing at all since that seems to be the norm over there. [Winging It In Motown]

Hockey news

Results from Tuesday. [Yahoo! Sports]
Oh, Wednesday is another full slate of games. [Yahoo! Sports]
In an investigation that won't change shit, Marc Savard' contract is being looked at by the NHL. Just like Chris Pronger and Marian Hossa before him. What happened to those guys? [Stanley Cup of Chowder]
The Hurricanes Cam Ward is back. [ESPN]
Montreal forward Ryan White was called up from the AHL, but the Canadiens didn't report it properly forcing his removal from the game. [ESPN]
Team Canada (hockey) will be announced on Dec. 30. [CTV Olympics]
Brendan Witt is a bad, bad man. [Puck Daddy]

Other links

I have a good friend whose facebook updates 80 percent of the time about how awesome he is. He is, a facebrager. [facebraggers]
MTV has a new show called "Jersey Shore" that has some of the most incredible (and not in a good way) people. Anyway, apparently (I don't watch the show) the characters all have some stupid nickname. If I were on this site, my name would be DJ Douchebag. What's yours? [Unlikely Words]

Video

This video is simply amazing. This is sexism at its finest, and by the I mean holy shit is this sexist.

Bonus video

Anyone know the weather forecast for tonight in Detroit?

Gametimelinks(at)gmail.com. I'll be working tonight so I won't be at the GDT, but you guys should still kick ass without me.

Did you find the hidden message in today's links?

Blackhawks defeat Pens 2-1 in OT

Hooks Orpik — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 04:14:06 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

Niemi was in the zone and saw the puck all night long.

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Blackhawks vs Penguins coverage - SB Nation blog Second City Hockey

Sans Sidney Crosby, the Penguins had to dig deep when they faced a Chicago Blackhawks team that used much of the skill and style that Pittsburgh's gameplan.

Much of the night featured a lot of skating, a lot of fast-paced hockey going in both directions and stellar goaltending play by Marc-Andre Fleury (29 saves on 31 shots) and Blackhawks' backup Antti Niemi (32 saves on 33 shots). Old "friend" Marian Hossa opened the scoring when he went hard to the net, collected the puck and put it past Fleury.

The score would remain 1-0 Chicago for most of the game, neither team could solve the defenses of their opponent. Until Dan Bylsma called a timeout with about 1:40 left and let assistant coach Mike Yeo draw a play up. They pulled the goalie and stationed Jordan Staal all the way out against the far boards on the blueline, in an ominous lurking position. Recent call-up Mark Letestu won the faceoff, Evgeni Malkin wheeled the puck around and threw it to the net. Staal swooped in and beat Niemi on the second chance.

It wasn't to be for Pittsburgh on this night. In OT, Kris Versteeg got to a loose puck in the crease before Tyler Kennedy could neutralize him and ended it.

Without their leading scorer, Pittsburgh struggled to generate points, but it wasn't for a lack of effort or shots. 33 shots on goal were fired at Niemi, led by Bill Guerin's 6 and Kennedy's 5. While taking nothing away from Niemi, who was solid, a bunch of the Penguins shots were coming from low percentage angles and distances.
Minus Crosby (one of the top faceoff men in the league), the Penguins used nine different forwards for at least one faceoff. Out of all of them, only one had a better than 50% night.
And that was Crosby's lineup replacement of Mark Letestu. Letestu had a solid night, in addition to his clutch offensive zone faceoff win, he did win 56% of his 16 draws, he had 4 shot attempts (1 getting through, 1 hit a post) and a hit in 13:52 of ice-time. Acquitted himself very well on this night.
Speaking of, it showed some stones and intuition by the coaching staff to use a guy in his 3rd career NHL game in an important faceoff against old veteran John Madden, who's made a career out of doing things like winning defensive draws. Mike Yeo is an easy (and reasonable) punching bag for Penguins fans....But the unusual and creative play he drew up for the last moment worked exactly to perfection. So you have to tip your cap to him tonight.
Chicago also earned a cap tip for their hard fought win. They're a good young team with a lot of skill up front, but some of their defensemen shined tonight: Brent Seabrook has 9 hits and 2 blocked shots, Duncan Keith frustrated Pens all night and skated a game high 31:24. Brian Campbell had the primary assists on both goals.
For teams that don't see too much of one another, unpleasantries were exchanged early and often; highlighted by Keith getting a shot on Matt Cooke that upset Cooke. The hit was to the head, away from the play, and from behind; similiar to what just got Cooke suspended for two games. If the league is truly serious about policing shots to the head, they need to review this tape.

So in a somewhat disappointing fashion that the Penguins claw back into the contest with time running out, just to have Versteeg unleash the dagger in OT. First OT/shootout lose of the year as well. Against a goalie in a little bit of a groove -- Niemi was working on 150+ minute scoreless streak -- it's a night where you have to get out taking what you can get. It's only one point against a similiar team.

Two Pickets to Tittsburgh - Hawks 2, Pens 1 (OT)

McClure — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 03:38:38 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

It is written. I have spoken. So put this in your pipe And smoke it.

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This will be brief, as again, I have professional-grade drinking to do. Tonight's matchup lived up to the hype, and it definitely had a playoff type atmosphere. There was certainly a LOT of animosity between the two teams for only playing once a year, as exhibited by the exchange of pleasantries early on between Duncan Keith and Matt Cooke. Keith was lucky to only receive two minutes for his 200-foot charge, and Marian Hossa buried one of the few rebounds Marc-Andre Fleury (in top form) allowed all night on the ensuing four on four. Patrick Kane led the rush, and fought off two defenders along the boards to feed a late Brian Campbell, whose shot Hossa put home. That Kane, I tell ya- too soft, and lazy.

In the second, it once again became the Antti Niemi show, who had an answer for everything Pitt threw at him. There were no penalties after the early going, and the teams traded chances throughout. Last night's game appeared to be catching up with the Hawks. Pittsburgh finally drew even with the extra attacker when a puck kicked free to Jordan Staal who as all alone and had 6x4 to shoot at.

Into overtime, VERSTEEG! ended it by poking his own rebound past Fleury after a Brian Campbell-led rush. Hawks go home happy, 2-1.

Observations

Niemi was once again stellar. Let the goalie controversy begin anew.
While the Penguins did have a lot of quality chances, the Hawks did a nice job of clearing pucks from the middle of the ice
The ice seemed to be in even shittier condition than it usually is at the Igloo, as many pucks rolled off sticks for both teams
On the flipside, however, the Igloo does play some kickass jams during stoppages- note "3's and 7's" from Queens of the Stone Age during the second
Matt Cooke is a turd burglar. He burgles ALL the turds.

Player of the Game

Once again, Antti Niemi played an excellent game, stopping 31 shots, many of them in spectacular fashion.

Up next: Marian Hossa, Patrick Kane and the Chicago Blackhawks

FrankD — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 11:00:22 -0000

[SBN Chicago Blackhawks blog - Second City Hockey]

If you thought the Blackhawks went crazy this offseason when the front office signed Marian Hossa to a 12-year deal worth $62.8 million then I don't know what to tell ya about the recent extension dished out to defenseman Duncan Keith. In a deal that will go down as the biggest in Blackhawks history, Keith signed a 13-year contract worth $72 million. And interestingly enough, the Hawks didn't stop there.

Earlier this week Chicago also announced extensions to both Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, each five-year deals worth $31.5 million. While the offseason will likely find the Chicago front office dumping salaries left and right, it's not a focal point at the moment. With Toews, Kane, Keith, Hossa and Brian Campbell playing together for the next five years, Chicago will look to make the first serious Cup run since losing to the Pens in 1992.

November was a pretty solid run for the Hawks. Although the month kicked off with two-straight losses (one was in OT), Chicago put together an impressive eight-game streak to close out the month at 8-2-2. Getting a healthy Hossa back didn't exactly hurt either. The team's 37 points is good enough to put them at the top of the Central division, tying them with Calgary for second in the conference behind only San Jose.

But last night wasn't the sort of performance a team would expect in the wake of all these extensions. Nashville came to town and smacked Chicago around 4-1. Christobal Huet stopped 19 of 23 shots, while Brent Seabrook and Hossa connected with Toews for the only Chicago goal on the night.

Many have already been mentioned, but here are the guys you want to keep your eye on: Patrick Kane (9g, 17a), Duncan Keith (5g, 18a), Patrick Sharp (8g, 14a) and Jonathan Toews (7g, 10a). Also worth mentioning is Marian Hossa, who in five games back has five points (2g, 3a).

Hard to say right now if Huet will get the start in the second half of the back to back, or if instead we'll see the likes of Antti Niemi, who's 4-1-1 on the season with two shutouts.

Last season in the only game between Pittsburgh and Chicago, the Pens held on to force OT and win 5-4 thanks to an Evgeni Malkin PP goal. Toews had a hat trick, with each goal coming on the power play. You may remember the collection of red Blackhawks helmets that came raining down on the ice. (Twice if I remember correctly, since I believe the first goal suspected of being his third was disallowed).

Puck and thread drop at 7:30. Come on by and chat it up.

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