vs

I think the horse is dead and thoroughly whooped on the D2K suspension and lack of one on Derp (you like Donk, I like Derp, fucking deal).

Well it is time for the Men in the Indian Head Crest to return to the field of battle and take on those trapping Bastards from Nashville. Tonight will begin the additional testing of the Hawks, and we will get to see just how big the Brass balls are that they have been showing the past few weeks are with the additional loss of #2 for the next 5 games and Toews still sitting alone in the Dark.

Many have basically dismissed these next 5 as almost sure loses for the Hawks, but I would not go that far. I still the Hawks match up fairly well overall, don't count them out from taking a few of the games with #2 and #19 out.

We get to see the KHL circumventing Rudalov tonight for the first time since his first rookie season which was on this same Entry Level Contract. He is a Pred, he helps them out, Fuck em. He helps out a team that was already a solid playoff team. Fuck em again!

So let's have at it and discuss tonight's game until the ToS put up a more proper PGT, and let's move on and put behind the D2K incident

LET'S GO HAWKS!

In the first post I discussed three metrics I use in quickly gauging a teams over all strength. Here I will apply them to the 30 NHL teams to break teams into different Categories. I added another category between Bubble Teams and You Suck, the Outside looking in teams.

1: Stanley Cup Contenders: These are teams whose cumulative scores are where historical Conference Finals teams usually are.

2. Strong Playoff teams: These are teams whose scores show a solid team that will make the playoffs, but not at the score level of historical Conference Finals teams.

3: Bubble Teams: Teams whose scores are marginal for potential playoff teams, these are the teams that will be clawing and scrapping through March and April to get at least an 8th seed.

4. Outside looking In: Teams who do not show real playoff potential, but may scrape it out and fight a way in.

5: You Suck: Title explains all, scores indicate a level of suckiness that will not get beyond week 1 in April.

Current Conference Standings

Here are the Conference breakdown of the teams by SRS, DRS and GF-GA-L (sorted by DRS)

• Stanley Cup Contenders

Stanley Cup Contenders (Conference finalists) are usually the following

Top 6 in SRS (11 of past 16)

Top 7 in DRS (11 of 16)

GF-GA-L of +13 (13.91 AVG since 2003)

The teams that meet each of these are the current Stanley Cup contenders are in order of strength

Boston Bruins (1st in all)

Detroit Red Wings (2nd in all)

Vancouver Canucks (2-3rd, 1-4th)

New York Rangers (2-4th, 1-3rd)

San Jose Sharks (5th in all)

St. Louis Blues (2-6th, 1-7th)

6 teams meet the SC contenders requirement 2 for the East, 4 from the West.

• Strong Playoff Teams

These are teams who may have scored in the SC contender range in some scores, but not all and/or all scores are above the average 8th seed in all scores (Positive SRS and top 16 in DRS and GF-GA-L >-22)

Eastern Conference

Pittsburgh Penguins

Philadelphia Flyers (in SC range for GF-GA-L, not SRS or DRS)

Western Conference

Chicago Blackhawks (in SC range for GF-GA-L, not SRS or DRS)

• Bubble Teams

Teams who have only 1 or 2 scores above the average for 8th seed

Eastern Conference (4 projected spots available)

Washington Capitals

Toronto Maple Leafs

New Jersey Devils

Western Conference (2 projected spots available)

Nashville Predators

LA Kings

Phoenix Coyotes

Dallas Stars

1 Western team from this group will be left out, however 1 spot is leftover from the Eastern Conference to this point, meaning 1 Eastern team that does not average the 8th seed in any category right now will probably sneak into the 8th spot.

• Outside looking In

Teams who do not average above 8th in ant category, but do score above historical mins of 8th seeds in at least two of the three scorings. They stand an outside chance of making the playoffs.

Eastern Conference

Montreal Canadiens (3)

Ottawa Senators (3)

Florida Panthers (2)

Western Conference

Colorado Avalanche (3)

Minnesota Wild (2)

Edmonton Oilers (2)

At least one from the Eastern Conference should get in since up to this category only 7 seeds have been taken. Don't be surprised if all these Western Teams stay home in April.

• You Suck

Teams that score below the 8th seed average in all categories

In the East and West none of the teams should make the silly season.

Eastern Conference

Winnipeg Jets

Tampa Bay Lightning

New York Islanders

Carolina Hurricanes

Buffalo Sabres

Western Conference

Anaheim Ducks

Calgary Flames

Columbus Blue Jackets

• In Summary

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

• Teams Overachieving today

These are teams whose position in the Standings does not truly indicate who well overall they are playing. Expect these teams to fall in the standings.

Eastern Conference

Ottawa Senators. They can certainly be in the Bubble category, given on 7 of the 8 spots are claimed through them, but expect both PIT, NJD and TOR to leapfrog them and drop them to at least 8th.

Western Conference

Chicago Blackhawks. But not by much, they sit atop the West in points, but the scores of 4 other Western teams beat the Hawks in each category. They are close to being in the SC Contender category, but are not there. Do not be surprised to see the Hawks drop to 5th, but it is not a certain fact the scores are close.

• Teams Underachieving today

Expect these teams to make a move up the standings. Their scores indicate they are better then their points total.

Eastern Conference

Pittsburgh Penguins

Toronto Maple Leafs

PIT should move into the 4th seed. If it was not for the NYR outstanding play, they could challenge for the Division. TOR right now is on the outside looking in, expect this to reverse before long.

Western Conference

Phoenix Coyotes. Also on the outside looking in, this should correct itself soon. They have decent at or above average scores in SRS (just below average by 0.01) and an above average DRS that is stronger then 4 of the teams above them.

• FINAL

These tallies are made ONLY off of these scores, and does not consider injuries, recent moves, etc.. I understand those can affect the future as well. I am only using the 45-48 games per team and how they have done during those to make these brackets. They will change somewhat, but I think this should give at least a decent idea of the developing playoff picture, who is toast and the heavy SC favorites.

The ToS is fond at times of using the metric of PP% + PK% to gauge the overall special teams is well known here with a total of 100 indicating a efficient Special Teams corp.

A few other indicators can help separate Real Contending Teams from Pretending Teams, and here are three I like using.

Continue reading this post »

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I am planning on going to the game against Islanders on Dec, 8 and am polling to see if anybody else in the region is also doing the same. Last year some SCH folks here met up before the Hawks shit the night away against the Rangers (who they will be visiting again in Feb 2012). Last time the Hawks visited the Isles, we forgot to try to get together, many of us showed up, but none of us knew others were in fact there!

This is a good chance for folks out east to see Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane,  Marian Hossa, Patrick Sharp, Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook all in action! Oh and maybe even John Scott! Who knows, the last time I saw the Hawks in Long Island some dead guy was playing too! (Kim Johnsson, but that other guy that got with him, Nick Leddy might show up in his stead)

Good tickets are available by multiple outlets.

If you plan on going, post a comment!

For an entire summer that fateful game seven in the quarterfinals versus the Vancouver Canucks as probably replayed in many of our heads. As much as I wanted to see our Chicago Blackhawks win, even then I was never really too upset that they have lost, though who can argue with pure joy it would have been to once again beat those Canucks. I firmly believe it was for this game seven loss we would not see Chicago Blackhawks we do today, for multiple reasons.

First and foremost, I don't think really anybody can disagree with was Hawks were a tired team due to the last month of the season. They had fought battled, scrapped, clawed done everything they could to try to secure that last playoff spot, and it was apparent that the team was tired for the playoffs.

So here is my reasoning of why I'm not disappointed the Blackhawks lost in that round and how it actually benefited them to be the team that they are now.

First: As I mentioned they were tired physically and emotionally. The team never got it together until the very end, and by that point the physical drain was so much that they could not beat the other team. A long Summer off provided them the opportunity to rest physically and emotionally, and I think we are seeing the dividends of that today. The Blackhawks we see now are full of energy. They're focused and they have the drive to win, something we did not see until nearly February or March of last season, last year they had to deal with the Stanley Cup hangover, this year they don't. They had the extra two months to rest emotionally and physically, too recharge your batteries their mind and body. We can see this on the ice game in and game out today, with the exception of probably Carolina game. Out of the 13 games it played, perhaps only two or three were not the full and best effort compared to the rest. I think this can be chalked up to being able to rest for the summer.

Second: With the fatigue as a factor and the early playoff exit, it did not allow the Blackhawks to sit on their laurels. They could not walk away thinking that they were a better team, that they had to improve on the ice. They went out and made trades, made Cap Space and acquired new personnel, to improve the quality of the team on various aspects. If the Hawks had won the series with Vancouver, there's still a good chance they could beat the next team, and this would've only reinforced the notion that they had the team to win then and now and perhaps not be as aggressive inquiring the new pieces. Would the Hawks have been as focused on adding grit and depth as they were after the first round loss, as they would've been if they had gone to the conference finals again? Perhaps yes, perhaps not, but the first round loss definitely added to the sense of urgency to fix things.

Third: Combining one and two, the fatigue both mentally and physically, and the lack the depth and grit that the Hawks did not have, the Hawks did not have a team ready or capable to go to the Stanley Cup finals, let alone win the holy Grail. Adding another deep playoff run, in addition to the previous two seasons would've only lead to a more drained team by start the season, and perhaps a team that did not self evaluate and reflect on itself after a first-round loss.

Like as I mentioned before I would've loved to have seen Patrick Sharp's goal in overtime to win and beat Roberto Luongo, and not see a Vancouver triumph. But at the end of the day, I do not think the Hawks had what was needed to successfully defend their title come the first round. By beating Vancouver in the first round would've only been delaying the inevitable, and perhaps bloating heads, preventing good moves and NOT resting for the next campaign. I do not believe in playing just for next season if you can win this season, but IMO I do not think the Hawks had enough left to win it again that year

I think the 2011-12 Hawks today are a better team because of their shortcomings in the 2011 playoffs. That by losing to the Vancouver Canucks it required them to look at themselves much more critically then they would have if they had won. I think this loss is directly responsible to both their better physical and mental health today, and the team they put together this season.

As we all know, SCH is full of cutting edge photoshop pictures and editors that other Hockey Blogs could only wish to compete with.

Through time some of these pics have a requirement to be used on multiple occasions, while others are so simply awesome a quick means of getting to them is required. So the purpose of this Fanpost is too deposit for quick access as many SCH photoshop pictures as we can, so we are never trying to search the interwebs to find "that one" while watching our beloved Chicago Blackhawks put the beatdown on somebody.

I'll start with a few of my favorites I have made, you all take it from here!

As a Note, I am not going to post anybody else's work here (I just would not feel right about it), you all please feel free to post whatever you want though.

Continue reading this post »

I developed this spreadsheet toward the end of last season, it is a spreadsheet to compare one team against another and can be downloaded here (the 2010-11 is also here). It compares team stats only, I have not yet been able to get it to also breakout players for each team.

Here is a run down of what it does for you, using the 2010-11 season as an example:

This whole spreadsheet automatically updates itself from www.hockey-reference.com, which tends to update results and stats first thing early in the morning (overnight), so it stays current throughout the season.

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This is to make a list of the top 50 reason Hockey Rules as compiled from SCH Nation input.

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Now that the Canucks have warmed the hearts of all Blackhawk fans in their failure, it is now time to look at what the Hawks can do to make sure those Demons return next post season for them.

Though the season ended somewhat later than it probably should have, but more abruptly than we wanted, there is a Silver Lining for the Hawks. 

For one, the Hawks collective got a stark reminder that EVERYTHING has to be earned, including just playing in the playoffs. Their complacency for the first several months nearly cost them a trip to the silly season. They had to fight for every game over the last month with as much effort as they could muster, and in the end while sitting with 97 points, had to wait and see if the Stars would bump them. 97 points is nothing shabby and by all rights should always get you into the playoffs, maybe even as the 5th-6th seed, but this season it was only good for 8th, and almost 9th!

Second, the Hawks know with the team they have they can hang with and beat the best, when they show up. They have allot of fight in, regardless of who you are playing for any team to come back from 3-0 down and bring game 7 to overtime shows allot of heart, fight and skill. Then when they were playing the President's Cup winner, it is even more impressive.

Lastly, the early exit is probably the best thing to happen to the Hawks. It was all to apparent in the Vancouver series, the Hawks were running on fumes, all the top dogs were gassed, but even then showed they can still make magic (Toews SHG). This long off season is going to wonders for this team. Significant injuries are already being addressed, they have another 6 weeks to rest and condition, and their minds will be clear of the post Cup fog.

When you put three of these together, a rested clear minded team, with heart, fight and skill, who knows they have to fight for every goal, win, spot and series, this in itself has the makings of a very good team, especially when you look at the cast.

Continue reading this post »

For those who were here and remember, for the last two rounds of the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals I has a countdown gif for the Hawks from 16 to 0. It was fun as we battled our way though the Western Conference Final, and rammed heads and locked horns with the Flyers in the Stanley Cup Finals. It was meant to document the journey to the final goal, which Kaner scored in OT of game 6 and lead to Tazer hoisting the Cup and spirits of the Blackhawks and city of Chicago.

I find it only fitting to do the same to countdown the Journey of the Vancouver Canucks toward reaching the peak of their mountain, a mountain whose peak was within reach but they ended up getting eaten by a Bear just short of the summit.

Continue reading this post »

Most of us have seen numerous ways to display the "odds" or whatever of what it is going to take our Chicago Blackhawks to make the Playoffs. Whether it is SRS or Sport Club Stats or something in between, they are dealing with chance or odds of the future based on the performance of the past.

Here is another way to look at cause and effect, also mixed in with some of the past to help determine a probable future, but no percentage of probability attached to it. Just a presentation of what is, and if a certain club ends up with a given number of points, what it will take the Hawks to finish ahead of them.

The first thing I did was map out the Hawks and 16 points available to them, and cross it to what it will take any of the teams from 4th-10th to end the season with 1 more point than the Hawks. I am not accounting for a tie in the standings directly, since Tie-Breakers can shift too much to accurately account for them, but rather used the simpler goal of at least a +1 in the Standings.

This chart is broken into total points gained from this day forward to the end of the season and what that would equate to in points per game for each team. The 6 teams to the right of the Hawks are lined up to show how many points that team would be required to gain  to finish 1 point ahead of the Hawks at the completion of 82 games (example if the Hawks gain 5 points the rest of the season, the amount of points the other teams would be required to gain with their remaining games would be PHX-2, LAK-4, NSH-4, ANA-5, DAL-10, CGY-N/A), and the chart can also be used to determine how many points the Hawks need to earn to beat another team in the standings working this process backwards.

Keep in mind, not all teams have equal games remaining (as of April 2, 2011 was from 3-6 games per team) that is why Points per game is also included. The area shaded Red indicates a Points per game average which is higher than that teams season average. The Black area denotes point combination which can not be achieved. The black area to the top left indicates teams are already 1 point+ ahead of the Hawks, while in the bottom right, if the Hawks achieve the points in their column, the corresponding team can not end +1 point on the Hawks. In order for the Hawks to qualify for the Playoff, they need to finish above 2 other teams, of the 6 shown here.

So as can be seen by this chart if the season Point per game average holds true for the remainder of the season, the Hawks will finish ahead of 4 of the 6 teams and end up in 8th place.   But as has been pointed out in numerous comments, each schedule and strength is not the same, some teams have an easier schedule than others, and points/game average is the sum of all games, not just an unbalanced easy or difficult stretch. So what I have attempted to do is bracket the most probable point totals for each team based on their schedule.   Here are all seven teams remaining schedule (Note: Home and Away is ONLY indicated in games common among these 6 teams)    

I have broken the Schedule into 5 categories for each team.

Red = Games vs top 1/3 teams (NHL)

Yellow = Games vs Middle 1/3 teams

Green = Games vs Lower 1/3 teams

Purple = Common Games Home & Common games away.

With these 5 categories, I assigned two methods to calculate how many points a team may be expected to earn with its remaining games (denoted by blue and tan)

Blue Projected Points: For each game vs a certain category each game the team in concern (not opponent) is awarded points in the following manner

This method makes it simple to broadly project a point total. Since each team in general should loose to the better team, no points are awarded against those teams. Against middle 1/3 teams which tend to have similar records 1 point is given per game (this is for a 50% win avg.), and 2 points are given to teams they should beat in the lower 1/3 of the NHL. For games against a common opponent, since 3 points a game is the new Blue, I have awarded 2 points to the Home team and 1 to the visitor. This helps account for worse case scenarios (which seem to happen most of the time) and also helps weigh Home ice slightly in favor overall. All points are added for a final projection.

Tan Projected Points: Similar to Blue, these are fixed numbers, but are based on the current point per game average for each team, and are determined in the following manner.

This method considers each team can beat a better team, loose to a lesser team, and be average against similar teams, and also against common teams will equally win and loose in 3 point games. All points are added, and rounded to the nearest whole number for a projected final points total.

These two methods calculate two separate methods that a team should realistically have a large probability of finishing within these two numbers limits. This creates a realistic (I hope,………….kinda) bracket of how many points a team will gain in its remaining games. When combined with the previous chart we can see the following.

The Blue Bar represents the Blue projected Hawks point total and the Tan bar the Tan projected point total, while the Green (equal to the Tan) is the current Average (Note: Hawks PPG AVG is 1.19). So here we can see what the Hawks need to do, to overcome the brackets of each team, and also what other teams need to do to overcome the Hawks brackets.

As can be seen using the basic blue projection the Hawks beat no teams outright BLAH! Put using the Tan Projections the Hawks outright beat two teams………..maybe since a tie breaker would be needed to decide that, and that would be the 8th seed(remember the points of the corresponding teams is to OUTRIGHT beat the Hawks by at least +1 in the standings). But if the Hawks keep up their season average, and remember they are one of the best teams in the second half, they beat 3 teams and also clinch at least 7th. But keep in mind LAK, ANA and DAL each play at least 3 games vs these common teams, and each was awarded at least 1 point in each. So each of these games that DOES NOT got to OT helps the Hawks incredibly when looking at how close the final standings are when assuming all will be 3 point games.

So I hope this helps out in clearing up what is really needed, and also show that the Hawks are far from being safe. It also shows the importance of winning outright against common teams.

MARCH 27, 2011 ADDITION

So this loss on March 26 to the Mighty Fucks does hurt,  win would have been huge since it would have moved the Hawks effectively 5 points up on DAL with their loss. But that Dallas loss did help the Hawks by a decent amount, since DAL still needs to earn 3 more points than the Hawks right now to get past them (which is 2 played games each). So if the Hawks Manage only 6 points (3-5-0) in their remaining 8 games this will require DAL to 4-3-1 or 4-2-2 in their last 8 with playing SJS, LAK, PHX and ANA in that bunch, which would seem DAL has a decent chance of doing but would not be easy.

With this it seems the Hawks need to win 2 of 4 from the four against DET & BOS, while winning 2 of 4 from the remaining games (CBJ, TBL, MTL, STL), to finish with 96 points as a realistic goal and also force DAL to play at a 11 point pace in their last 8 (5-2-1 or 4-1-3) which seems to be a more difficult proposition for DAL. If the Hawks go 4-3-1 or better over these last 8, they should be enough to play into late April at least, since this would require DAL to gain 12 points in 8 games, and with the teams they are playing, probably not going to happen.

This playoff fight has pretty much turned from 6 teams playing for 4 spots, into 3 teams playing for 2 spots between CHI, DAL, ANA. NSH, LAK, PHX are in if they can go without going on a serious losing streak since each has at least a 4 point lead and currently own the tie breaker over DAL requiring DAL to gain 5 points over them over the course.

The Hawks are not yet on life support, but they are in the ER now. They have the most difficult schedule ahead now, and need to play in the next gear to advance to the Happy Season. Anything less than Playoff mode will leave the Hawks watching SCUM, unless DAL or ANA completely shit the Bed.

MARCH 30, 2011 ADDITION

The Hawks tae 2 of 4 points in their last 2 while DAL only gains 1 point in its game, so the overall pace stays equal. The Hawks still are more in control, still requiring the Stars to have 2 more wins than the Hawks over their last 7 to beat the Hawks. A combination of a Hawks win and DAL loss, though it does not clinch, makes it very improbable the Stars can recover. Keep it going 1 game at a time, and if all goes well come Sunday the Hawks can rest Crawford for a couple (2 Hawks wins and at least 1-2 DAL loss for a 5-7 point lead), or they can be in 9th (2 DAL wins and 2 Hawks losses 1 point out), and the sweating can be done.

Hawks magic number is now at 11 with 6 to go (as long a GR is at least half the Magic number this is good, the team controls its fate). [Subtract 1 point for each point the Hawks earn, and 1 point for each the Stars fail to earn].

APRIL 2, 2011 ADDITION

The Hawks magic number now sits at 7, so any combination of 7 Hawks points AND 7 points DAL fails to gain will clinch 8th (example a Hawks win and DAL Reg. Loss would subtract 4 points). The Hawks have not clinched anything, but a firmly in the drivers seat, and has forced DAL to win 3 games of its 7 remaining to beat out the Hawks at a minimum, and that is assuming the Hawks go 0-5-0 the rest of the way. Each Hawks win only makes it increasingly more difficult on DAL.

The Hawks are also capable to catch any team ahead of them, by trailing 1-2 points in equal played games, or 4 vs PHX but the Hawks still having 2 games in Hand. The flip side is these teams would also probably need to loose to DAL to catch them, so while it is reachable, DAL losing is preferable.

This is what it will take DAL to catch the Hawks based on a Hawks finishing record over their last 5 (edited post DAL Loss at LAK)

One DAL loss this weekend would be great, Two would be awesome, and 2 DAL losses and a Hawks win Sunday, will clinch at least a tie, with 4 games remaining  each.

So our men of Four Feather have basically farted away the First 18 games of the season to a sub .500 start, but all is not lost. Even in this dismal start, there actually is a Silver lining, even with our Chicago Blackhawks playing their worst Hockey in probably the past two seasons, the margin from this start to a decent start is very small.

So far the Hawks have taken 47.2% (17 of 36) of the points possible through 18 games. 164 points are available to each team at the beginning of the Season, and over the past three season, the 8th seed averaged 92.3 points for 56.3% of the points available. I know I am talking ONLY about the 8th seed, but two teams proved last year that getting in is enough to run deep, so that should be the minimum goal, GET IN. Through 18 games, 56.3% of 36 points is  20.27 points, a mark of less than 4 points from where the Hawks are now. Four points, two more wins, or 1 more win and two OTL/SOL, 1 additional point every four-five games, sounds like a lot, but how close are the Hawks to this?

So, lets back away from the cliffs, and look at how the Hawks are doing. But I will admit, this Silver lining is covered in tarnish. First lets look at the Hawks trend in Goals For and Against, Shots For and Against, and the Goal Differential per game.

Continue reading this post »

Well so several of us met up for some pre-game shenanigans and a watering hole near he stadium now infested with asbestos, for a Chicago Blackhawks vs New York Rangers game.

To commemorate this gathering of fine individuals a photographic record of the pre-game meeting and some of the game itself is now introduced for your perusal, including the flat pop and all.

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For all of the SCH persuasion who happen to live in the corridor (aka armpit of America, no I'm not talking about Detroit), you may have heard the Men of Four Feathers will be gracing us with their presence as they take on one of two Fucking New Yorks very own NHL (if you count NYI),the New York Rangers.

Some have expressed in their typing abilities their interest in attending this matchup of two Original Six teams. So this is a formal survey of who intend to partake in the exhibition the Chicago Blackhawks defending their Stanley Cup, and also serve as warning to save the pennies, because MSG is not cheap.

Who from the NYC area plans on attending?

Lets get it started! Since I have to have 75 words, I will do my best to ensure it is met, in the spirit of what SCH is, and what the Hawks mean to us, so let the Porn, Beer and SCHisms commence.

I know it is only preseason, but hell it the Fucking Hawks right, am I at 75 yet, nope. Fuck Well here you go, have at it, have fun, and oh yeah, of course FUCK SCUM!

EDIT:  Sorry about not having a game thread up - it's obviously the pre-season for all of us here at SCH too.  We'll get ones up for the other games... at least the ones on TV that is.  Also, I deleted that chat from TMFF because it was all kinds of fucked up and I couldn't figure it out/couldn't be bothered to try.  So have at it for the next two periods
-Killion

Lets Go Hawks

As those of us prepare to break out our gear, and verify our cliff is still there in case it is needed. I am really needing to get some 2010-11 Blackhawks fixes. MY Cubs suck ass (not as bad a Pittsburgh, which is saying nothing really)
 and can not wait for camp to break, and the season to start.

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Every year we hear of ideas to help improve the NHL in competition, on ice play, and drawing in more fans. So I have a few ideas of my own. A couple may not be so hard to see, while others, yeah they are out there!

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If you cannot tell by my screen name, I'm kinda a Tazer fan.

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Now that a few days have passed, I think enough time has passed to say The Philadelphia Flyers played one hell of a series, even though the final objective was not met, their play and want was nothing short of admirable. The adversity you overcame to get Game 6 in the Stanley Cup finals was remarkable to say the least.

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Here we are at the Stanley Cup Finals! Wow this is going to be a fun Series!

I have done this for the past two rounds vs. the Vancouver Canucks and the San Jose Sharks, so in keeping with good luck here they are again with the Philadelphia Flyers. The Final result……………….the Hawks win 61.7% of the time, the breakdown to follow.

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I know this has been discussed, but Willie Mitchell recently blasted our dear friend Gary Bettman and Colin Campbell for headshots in the NHL Yahoo Article. But this is not whats bugging me. So here is a little Blackhawks History with Willie Mitchell for those who may not be familiar with this guy.

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So, I did this before the Chicago Blackhawks vs.Vancouver Canucks Western Conference Semi-Final Series. Now the Men of Four Feathers have moved on to bigger and better things, actually playing for something shiny which shall not be touched or named in the Western Conference Finals vs the San Jose Sharks.

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54.8% The statistical odds (mine) of the Chicago Blackhawks beating the Vancouver Canucks in their Western Conference Semi-Final Series.

So I was really bored one day or two, I can't remember, and decided to see how on paper this series looks.

I was not quite sure what it would be when I started this little project. I was thinking the Hawks have Home Ice advantage, that they have a better Home vs Canuck Road Record and the reverse for when the Hawks are on the road, the Hawks finished higher in the Conference, and let in fewer goals. But even given this number, not all is great or  bleak. Some key numbers jump out, and I will get to those shortly.

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Their has been comparisons drawn between the hit of Alexander Ovechkin on Brian Campbell, of Marian Hossa on Dan Hamhuis. They do have similarities, but you can draw similarities between many things. Example: both of these a round, both grow on trees, both have seeds, both are fruit, and both contain citric acid, however an apple and orange or not the same, it is the differences that separate the two, not the similarities, the same with Hossa's and Ovechkin's hits.

I'm not looking get into the argument of was just a 5 minute major sufficient, or if Hossa should be suspended, that is a separate argument, though I believe several of the factors discussed here are relevant to that discussion. Nor am I trying to defend Hoss's hit, because I do think it was dangerous. This is simply a compare and contrast of the two hits to show the differences between them.

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