More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

Well, we owe the fuck out of you now, don't we?

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First off, a deep apology to everyone for not being able to provide an Indian at the UC tonight.  I made a promise to everyone that I would be there every game, and I broke it tonight, pretty much due to my own incompetence.  You all deserve better, and I will provide it in the future.

Anyway, on to the game.  It's strange.  I've seen the Hawks have less control of a game and win by four.  I've seen them muster half as many shots and register twice as many goals.  I've seen them give up twice as many shots and not give up a goal.  I know it's a loss, but I don't know for sure what I'm supposed to complain about here.

I haven't glanced at the gamethread, but I'm sure at least one person will pin this on Huet.  I guess I can't stop you, and Heatley's opener was definitely a case of Cris dropping down to early.  Still, only a few snipers in the class of Crash Bandicoot could make him pay for that.  The second goals was Versteeg going country stupid.  The third was Seabrook(?) getting caught on a pinch by Thornton and Marleau.  That's bad news.  Maybe he could have stopped Joslin's shot from the slot, but it was pretty uncovered.  I'll leave that to all of you to decide.

You want to find blame for this ever-so-weird loss?  Look at the power play.  The Hawks only had seven of them to make something happen.  If there's a silver lining (and there isn't), it's that maybe after seeing a real PK Coach Q will realize what a clusterfuck his PP is at the moment.  Buff on the point?  You might as well have an alligator out there.  Versteeg and Kane together?  That only ended in a shorty against.  And why does no one dump the puck in?  Like ever?  Will they catch H1N1 if they do?  Someone should explain this.  The Hawks have far too much talent to have a man-advantage that looks like old people fucking.

But still, you look at the shots and see 47-14, you must've been doing something right.  In fact, if the Hawks hadn't been so intent on punishing the glass behind Nabokov, it could have been 60.  There are just some nights that are not yours, and tonight looks to be one of them.  Sure wasn't one of mine.

Reminder:  Tomorrow night at The Whirlaway for the Hawks-Scum game.  We'll actually mention who we are.  Killion is the Irish lookin' dude in the Toews jersey, McClure is the tall doofus with the grin like he just got away with something awful, and I'll be the bald dude who's covered in toner.  Please walk up to us and introduce yourselves.  Although the odds are McClure and I are throwing punches at each other by the first TV timeout.

Get it here.

12/22 Committed Indian

From last night's Indian.  Merry Christmas;

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Another holiday, another big road game for the Hawks, which means it must be time for the Three Amigos to host a road watch.  So, we invite you on Dec. 23rd to join Killion, McClure, and myself at Whirlaway (Fullerton at Kedzie) for the Dec. 23rd tilt against Scum.  It's at 6:30, so just head straight from the office and avoid even more time with your family.  Just look for a tall doofus with the shit-eating grin, the Irish-looking motherfucker in the Toews jersey, and the bald, Scott Ian-looking moron with the look of desperation in his eyes.

Few thoughts from last night:

-Brian Campbell had his best game of the season last night, and it wasn't just the goal.  He was flying into the Blues' zone, and was pretty damn fair in his own end.  Andy Murray was quoted after the game as saying the difference between this year's Hawks and last year's in 51 Phantom is playing well.  That's definitely part of it, as the Hawks have a d-man capable of quick transition for at least 40 minutes a game (combined with Keith).  Though his numbers don't look all that impressive (due to inexplicably having his PP time cut), Hjalmarsson has brought the best out of Soupy.  The best play of the night didn't result in a goal, but Campbell's rush up the left boards and blind pass to Hossa, who then faked Conklin out of his gord but contrived to not score, was a treat to watch.  Two sublimely talented players displaying it to the hilt.

-The encouraging thing about Troy Brouwer's goal was the way he drifted into a scoring area by stopping to lose his check.  That displays instincts that we know Troy has always had, something that would be awesome to pass to Buff.

-That said, since Buff has been skating with Madden, he's been a presence, and a very physical one at that.  Whether he scores or not, as long as this continues, I won't complain.

- The Blues are a mess.  They didn't put forth any sort of energy until down three, and I can only imagine a fear of embarrassment was the main factor.  The only two players I noticed all night were David Perron and Erik Johnson.

I think that's it for now.

From last Wednesday's Indian:

More photos » by David Duprey - AP

One of the few times Tim Kennedy wasn't taking a dive.

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Specifically, the Hawks seem to have a fear of the open space between the posts.  It's obviously a phase, as the Hawks can't keep throwing 40 shots at the net per game and keep coming out with one or two goals.  At the same time, you can't ignore that the Hawks haven't put up more than 3 goals in a game since administering Catherine The Great's Death to the Sharks in San Jose.  The last thing anyone expected this team to struggle with was scoring.  It's hardly panic time about it, barely worry time.  You get the feeling some poor team is really going to pay when the Hawks bust out of it.

The 1st period tonight looked a lot like the 1st period Wednesday night.  That would be the Hawks mauling the opponent like McClure hitting on a girl.  They were everywhere, and how they didn't manage to score is anyone's guess.  It's not a matter of not having anyone in front, they did that.  It can't be getting too cute because when you have 17 shots in a period, a lot of them good ones, you must be doing something right.  Turning point was the 4-on-3 power play.  The Hawks power play standing masks the fact that it still isn't very good.  For a team like this, a 4-on-3 should border on an automatic goal.  I question why not one of the Hawks two best PP d-men, Barker or Campbell, weren't on the ice.  Both have better shots than the Marlboro 72, and both are better passers.  Somehow, Coach Q has convinced himself that one quarter season of scoring now means that Keith is a better power play QB than Campbell, which is almost laughable.  But that's not why the Hawks lost.  Just a point to be made.

On the few shots Huet saw in the 1st, that nasty rebound habit became evident again.  You got the feeling that one of them would come home to roost.  And it did with Sharp sitting in the box after getting called for a hold, exacerbated by one of the many Sabres' journeys to their ass.  Get up already.  Vanek was able to outmuscle Hammer, and there you go.  The second goal looked like a bad bounce off someone's chest, and I was a little surprised it didn't warrant the least review as it never hit a stick on the way to the net.  C'est la vie.  The Hawks were punished for getting sloppy in their own end, and turning off the engines once again, an annoying habit of theirs.

When they turned them back on again, they were again turning the HSBC Center into an alligator fuckhouse.  The Sabres couldn't touch the puck.  Sharp was able to pot after Kane benefited from Buff's one cogent shift of the night.  There's always one.

There were some chances after that, but Lalime made the stops.  Winning in Buffalo was always going to be tough, so it's not disaster.  But it was there for the taking, and you can't leave too many points out there when you were the better team.  We'll let it go this time.

Notes:

-If you're not going to use Campbell to run your power play, what is he for, then?  What is Q trying to prove?  I love Keith as much as the next guy, but watch how many passes bounce off his stick at the critical moment.  He's simply not a premier power play QB, yet, and there's one sitting on the bench.  It's kind of baffling.

-Why were Sabres fans booing Campbell?  He was TRADED.  He didn't leave voluntarily, and all he did was play his ass of there for eight years.  I expect idiocy from San Jose fans who don't know any better, but Sabres fans are some of the most knowledgeable around.

-The 3rd period was Kane in "fuck you" mode.  Let's hope more arenas boo him regularly.

-May have been Hossa's best game as a Hawks, and he didn't get on the scoresheet.

-Oh no, the ohmygodohmygodohmygodohfuck Troy Brouwer is back

Player of The Game

It's Patrick Lalime, but I'm too lazy to find a picture.  So imagine one.