Hello, everyone. I don't post here much, but I'm hoping this is okay.

A couple of friends and I are going to Nashville tomorrow (!!! Yeah, I procrastinated a little on this) for the Preds/Hawks game and while we've spent just about the last week salivating at all the good food and music we're likely to encounter while there, we... haven't actually decided yet where to go.

This is where you (hopefully) come in. (I asked the guys at Mile High Hockey roughly the same things, so I'm just taking the questions from that post and modifying them a little. Anyway.) While I'm in your lovely city, I would like to know:

1. What time do doors usually open? It's an hour and a half at the UC but I know other places do it an hour before.
2. What are your recommendations for:
   - Pregame dinner
   - Postgame drinks
   - Hangover breakfasts
   I'm trying to do a series of road trip guides over at a blog I write for, and these three recommendations are, I think, the most important. We're staying at Sheraton Downtown, if that helps any. We're looking for something accessible downtown (we're probably walking most of the time, or taking the bus) and reasonably priced, roughly ~$10 a plate for breakfast and maybe $15-20 for dinner, but if you think there's a place that HAS to be visited or our trip would be for naught, let us know too!
3. What's the cab situation normally like post-game? I've been told the location makes it so that once you exit the arena you're basically within walking distance of tons of stuff, but still, after going to Pittsburgh where the cab situation was a veritable nightmare, I now feel compelled to check the supply/demand ratio of cabs to passengers in every city I visit regardless.
4. Any suggestions for random touristy stuff we can do? We're actually staying most of Sunday and missing the second half of the home-and-home (we'll be on our flight then) to see more of Nashville, and we've got random places like the Country Music Hall of Fame and Hatch Show Print (yay, Southwest Spirit mag features) but we would be grateful for any other non-obvious but equally-or-more-fun places to go.
   
5. Is there anything else that I should know? General tips, reminders, things-I-must-absolutely-know-beforehand? I'll be checking this post throughout most of tomorrow so feel free to comment whenever.
   

Thanks for humoring me; any and all help will be much appreciated, and if any of you are planning to take a trip to Chicago for a game or anything like that, I'll be happy to return the favor!

Stumbled upon this amazing news article this morning:

The National Hockey League and SLG Entertainment LLC, led by Stan Lee, creator of Spider-Man, Iron Man and X-Men among other comics superheroes, announced Thursday their unprecedented partnership to form Guardian Media Entertainment LLC. This partnership creates the platform from which to launch Stan Lee's vision for his latest superhero franchise, The Guardian Project, which will encompass the creation of 30 Guardians (one to represent each NHL team) as a new series of superheroes, with a creative concept that organically and authentically incorporates various NHL elements but is not set in the world of hockey.

It's not set in the world of hockey... but it represents each NHL team. Somehow. Okay.

...each Guardian derives from its corresponding hockey team -- complete with special powers representative of each team and city. These 30 Guardians will be unveiled together in a special presentation during the 2011 NHL All-Star Game on Jan. 30 in Raleigh, N.C.

Ahhh.. I guess that makes sense?

With an initial plan to reach tween boys, GME hopes to bring a new audience to the NHL, while engaging the existing, established hockey fan base through a compelling tale of good vs. evil.

Gee, I wonder who the villain WON'T be. Pfft.

So-- the part that makes this a fanpost instead of a fanshot: The Blackhawks and the 29 other teams on the NHL are about to be re-imagined as superheroes. What would each team's superpowers be, and what would they called, and how can the Red Wings/Canucks/Blues be anybody but the villains here?

And what would their names BE?

Actually, The Winged Wheel is a very superhero-ish name. So is Blackhawk.

Seriously, what should the Blackhawks superhero's powers be? I bet it's got something to do with weather control ala Storm or something.

Anyway, use this space to sound off.

Hey guys, I don't know if the SCH overlords have anything planned for the Hawks' season opener against Colorado this Thursday, but if anybody's interested, my roommate and I were thinking of heading over to Bottom Lounge to watch the game. Only thing is it's a Thursday night and the game doesn't start until 9pm.

Maybe we could use this thread to discuss other possibilities too. I don't know. Where's everyone gonna be? I'd watch at home but we don't have Versus/NHLN set up, haha.

Any other suggestions/plans/what-have-you for the opener?

Stumbled upon a pretty cool article about the Blackhawks' skating coach:

But Quenneville often assigned Vincent to build up players who, for whatever reason, weren’t playing up to expectations. As their self-described grandfather, Vincent would serve as a trusted ear for the players to balance the more direct approach of Quenneville, Torchetti, and No. 2 assistant Mike Haviland.

“It was little things he did. But things he bought into.’’

“We created all those different scenarios on whoever we were playing. Then in the final against [Philadelphia’s Michael] Leighton, the statistics we had showed he gave up a lot of goals on the blocker side. He didn’t come out of the crease real fast. So a lot of Sharpy’s goals against him [four during the finals] were scored up high.

“Seabrook’s struggling today. He’s yours,’’ Quenneville would say to Vincent.

During the playoffs, Vincent didn’t have time for trips back home. His teaching took place after practices or morning skates, when he’d be one-on-one with the stragglers who needed extra work. Vincent cracked the whip on Dustin Byfuglien to keep Big Buff in good shape. He emphasized quick feet with Seabrook and Sopel.

One of his go-to guys was Sharp. Together, they went through different scenarios and visualized on-ice situations.

“I’d say, ‘OK, tonight we’re playing [Roberto] Luongo. Tell me what you see Luongo doing in the game,’ ’’ Vincent said. “He’d go, ‘He’s big. He doesn’t really catch the puck well. He kind of punches it.’

“So he’s what we’d call a second-chance goaltender. We can beat him on that second-chance opportunity. So he’d shoot the puck where he would put it on Luongo, then I’d feed him one right away, and he’d go back upstairs or something.

Read the full article-- or at least, the first part of it, since the link includes random stuff about Kovalchuk and other NHL news or something. Anyway, I thought those of us who are interested in this sort of thing would appreciate knowing one of the guys behind the Hawks' success last year.

Rarely would I read David Haugh, but he came up with a good tidbit here:

Bowman began preparing for the cap challenge last fall when he started negotiating contract extensions for stars Toews, Kane and Duncan Keith, who were among the lowest-paid Cup winners because their new salaries didn't kick in until July 1. Anticipating the penny-pinching ahead, Bowman haggled with the trio's agents over as little as $50,000.

One night last November, Bowman visited Toews at his downtown condominium. Toews, whom Bowman warned without getting specific that changes were coming, worried that a five-year, $31.5 million contract extension may represent a bigger distraction than it was worth.

"Jonathan told me, 'I don't want my contract to get in the way and, if I sign, everybody says, 'Does that mean I'm going to get traded or what?' about (Keith) and Kane. So unless we can do it together I really don't care about my contract,'" Bowman related.

The three deals announced — as Toews requested — jointly Dec. 3, 2009, locked up for at least the next five years the core to which Bowman has referred often when defending his recent decisions.

This is also actually a pretty good read in relation to how Bowman wanted to deal with the salary cap, so feel free to read the full article. It's interesting to see him open up about it now that it's mostly done.

Dear Armchair GMer:

Congratulations!

Thanks to a clerical error, some backstage political wrangling, and your dear old dad, you have inherited a team of bright, talented, young players eager to win and prove themselves worthy of the sport's most holy grail. It's an exciting time to step into this opportunity, and we know you can't wait to start!

There's only one goal: you must keep this team a contender every year. But that's okay, because this team is just about ripe for winning!

However...

You have three young stars looking at restricted free agency after this year. They're each very talented and very skilled in their own right. You've got your youngest franchise captain, your first overall pick a season ago, and your top defenseman. Numbers-to-the-rafters calibre, if you know what I mean, and they're making peanuts right now.

YOUR FIRST TEST AS AN ARMCHAIR GM: How much do you sign these players for? Two of them are very young and very talented, and they've been advised by their agent to avoid lifetime contracts that your friendly GM up north in the wastelands popularized. The third might be more amenable to cap-friendly terms, however.

What would you do?

(Please take this time to write down your answers.)

The season is going along swimmingly, even despite losing a couple of your players to surgery. You're having trouble calling people up, however, because the cap is tight and there's barely any wiggle room, but you're managing. In fact, you barely lift a finger! You can see the salary cap looming in the future so you make a little move here-- dropping a $3m 6th d-man to acquire a rental and a prospect that your team wanted at the start of the year.

Finally you reach the playoffs, at the top of your conference, even! It's a nerve-wracking experience, especially since your boys don't seem to match up well with their first opponent, your supposed starting goalie lost his job to his rookie back-up long ago, but eventually, eventually, at long last, you reach your goal.

Congratulations, Armchair GM! Your team has won the Stanley Cup!

Your city is absolutely ecstatic, your guys couldn't be happier, and one of the guys we talked about earlier? The captain? Well, he's your playoff MVP! Too bad he's on an entry-level contract with a bonus that now counts against your cap for next year...

YOUR SECOND TEST AS AN ARMCHAIR GM: How do you build your team for the coming years?

Your budget, as it turns out, is now much lower than you expected. Instead of $59.4m like the rest of the league, your cap hit must not exceed $55.2m. This is because the bonuses your entry-level players had now count against the cap.

You have to sign at least 12 forwards, 6 defensemen, and 2 goalies. Your goal is to remain a contender, not just for the coming year, but for the seasons after that.

Consider market conditions carefully, Armchair GMer. You have in your payroll a back-up goalie earning $5.25m for two more years, but no one will trade for him, not when a plethora of UFA goalies have just hit the market. You have identified three key RFAs: your rookie back-up 'tender, your 4th defenseman, and your 3rd line checking winger. The rest of the league is not ignorant about your situation.

1. Which players would you keep and why?
2. What trades would you willingly make?
3. Which free agents would you look to sign?

(Please take this time to write down your answers.)

When you are finished with your answers, please post them here for group discussion. We hope you enjoyed this mental exercise, and remember: if Olli Jokinen can get re-signed by the team that traded him, and if a player with 14 points in 255 games can earn $1.5m for 4 years, then there are clearly no wrong answers.

Yours in Armchair Management,

ChiBlackhawks
Director of Hypothetical Wishful Thinking
Bowman, Bowma,n & McDonough

...and this happened. Raise your hand if you've been feeling like the Indian for the last week!

Okay, so. I don't really draw (though I would like to be able to--there's a Hawks-based comic book idea in my head that's just stuck there, SIGH), but I've seen enough comments along the lines of "Ooh, cap crunch coming; hope that one-trick pony was worth the Cup" and "who can we poach from the Blackhawks?" from so many different sources that I just had to vent a little frustration out, and this is what happened during today's slightly extended lunch hour. I posted this on my blog w/ a few more thoughts on the Hawks' future, but I thought SCH would appreciate the image more.

(Click here for a bigger version of the image.)

I don't know if any of you guys have plans yet for tomorrow, but if any of you are free, Ahnfire and I will be at ESPN Zone to watch the game tomorrow. ESPN Zone is organizing through NHL Tweetup and I was asked to host, mainly because I organized one during last year's playoffs, and since hosting doesn't really mean more than being there and watching the game with other people, I said yes, haha.

Anyway, details!

WHERE: ESPN Zone 43 E. Ohio Street (Corner of Ohio & Wabash) Chicago, IL 60611
WHEN: April 26, Monday
TIME: 7:30 onward

It'd be great if any of you are working near the area or can come keep us company. If you're also on Twitter, you can RSVP here. Thanks guys!

This is not a euphemism, you filthy-minded gutter-dwellers. (But I'll admit it was a cheap ploy to get you to click)

So in yesterday's game I got in early enough that I managed to sit beside the Hawks' bench to watch the pre-game skate. Before that happened, the Hawks' Assistant Equipment Manager came out to set up the sticks, so I took the opportunity to take the following photo:

While I've never actually played the sport before I was with someone who did, and my usual Hawks buddy does enjoy looking at how the guys treat their equipment, so I figured someone here would appreciate this. Maybe.

It's a little hard to tell from the photo but that's Niemi's stick beside Kane's, at the far right of the photo. Eager's are between Kane's and Fraser's, and from Fraz to the left are, I wanna say Burish, then Bolland, then Byfuglien, Versteeg, Bickell. That yellow and black one is unidentified but I think it's Toews', followed by Ladd, Madden--and this is where it gets harder to figure out. Don't know who owns the pair after Madden's (Sharp's sticks are elsewhere--they're yellow and black and I failed to take a photo) but the three after that are Seabrook's, then Hendry. There's a lone green and black stick that I can only imagine belongs to Sopel, and the last two, which are electric blue, belong to everyone's favorite Swedish import.

To the untrained eye (which is, luckily enough, exactly the kind of eye I have), it seems to be common practice to thicken the tape at the very end of the stick.

So what's up with Seabrook's? Why would he tape his up so the thicker part's at the bottom? I'm just curious.

(And okay, if you clicked on this fanshot thinking there'd be something else, here's a video to make it worth your time.)

Hello, everyone.

Normally I try to avoid a fan post when I join a community for the first time, but I didn't think about this until recently and I'm fairly certain that my usual haunt (SecondCityHockey, if it isn't obvious from my username) wouldn't be as informative, so I do apologize for just sort of popping up here with this.

That said, I'll be going to Denver for the Avs/Hawks game this Friday with a couple of friends, and to say I'm excited for the trip is kind of an understatement. Unfortunately, excitement =/= planning. We've got the hotel/flight/tickets booked, but really haven't researched more beyond that.

This is where I turn to you, MHH denizens, for your help. While I'm in your lovely city, I would like to know:

1. What time do doors usually open? Is there anything I should know about Pepsi Center that I should check out? The area around it seems like it's in the heart of downtown, so walking there should be fine, right?
2. Where would you recommend my friends and I go to grab a little pre-game dinner that's close, if not within walking distance, to the Pepsi Center?
   
3. What's the cab situation like post-game? I suspect we'll be trying to get back to the hotel or out somewhere else after the game, and after going to Pittsburgh where the cab situation is a veritable nightmare, I now feel compelled to check the supply/demand ratio of cabs to passengers in every city I visit.
4. Any good places to go out for post-game shenanigans? The closer to the arena the better, really.
5. Any good breakfast/brunch places in the downtown area? I'm staying at Hotel Teatro, if that helps.
6. Any suggestions for what I can do Saturday afternoon? I guess I'm looking for something interesting to do between lunch and leaving to catch my flight at 7pm, so somewhere downtown, probably. Any cool places that we should check out? 
7. Is there anything else that I should know? General tips, reminders, what-have-you?

Thanks for the time, guys. Any and all help is much appreciated.

It's only been a day or so since the Olympic break kicked in, and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who's browsed the hallowed comments of Second City Hockey without thinking to myself, "God, I am not drunk enough for this."

Now I don't know about prolapsed assholes, but I think we can all agree livers are highly overrated anyway, so here's a little something I thought could help get us all past the next two weeks. (Also, I was bored.)

You know the rules. Everything else (a mix of Olympic-, hockey-, and SCH-centric items) after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

Note: Found this in, of all places, St Louis Game. Did a quick Google search, but I can't figure out the origin of this story. It looks like it's been around a while-- July 2008, at least, which is why I'm a little surprised the Blackhawks are the opponents mentioned. In any case, I thought you guys would like it.

Iraqi Hockey Player

The Detroit Red Wings foreign scout flies to Baghdad to watch a young Iraqi play hockey in the new American sponsored league and is suitably impressed and arranges for him to come over to the U.S.

Ken Holland signs him to a one-year contract and the kid joins the team for the preseason.

Two weeks later the Wings are down 4-0 to the Blackhawks with only 10 minutes left. Mike Babcock gives the young Iraqi the nod and he goes in. The kid is a sensation - scores 5 goals in 10 minutes and wins the game for Wings! The fans are delighted, the players and coaches are delighted and the media love the new star.

When the player comes off the ice he phones his mom to tell her about his first day of NHL hockey. "Hello Mom, guess what?" he says in an Iraqi accent. "I played for 10 minutes today, we were 4-0 down, but I scored 5 goals and we won. Everybody loves me, the fans, the media, they all love me."

"Wonderful," says his mom, "Let me tell you about my day. Your father got shot in the street and robbed, your sister and I were ambushed, raped and beaten and your brother has joined a gang of looters and all while you were having such great time."

The young Iraqi is very upset. "What can I say mom, but I’m so sorry."

"Sorry? You’re sorry?" says his mom, "It’s your fault we moved to Detroit in the first place!"

Because our alcoholics have failed us, and I guess we need to think of the masses with internet connections that slow down after posts have hit 600 comments or so.

And because Fan Posts must be at least 75 words long, here's a mock preview for the game:

Howard and Niemi will be in goal, so it's a battle between a rookie goaltender who has wrestled the starting position from a Cup-winning netminder and a rookie goaltender who could potentially do the same to a non-playoff-winning goaltender, GAA and 4 shutouts be damned.

So have at it.

You can blame this all on hackerar. who in this post said:

I’d like to see Seabs get more shots [through], he probably gets his shot blocked at a higher % than any blueliner on this team.

So out of purely academic curiosity, I went right ahead and checked. Naturally, what started as a question about Seabrook turned into something more than that. (All after the jump, to spare those who aren't interested in the stats of the game.)

Continue reading this post »

I understand the excitement promised by having Kovalchuk don the Indianhead, even if it's only for six months, but before any collective wetting of pants happens, allow me to remind everyone the facts of the case:

Continue reading this post »

To the surprise of no one, Bolland's back IS bad enough that he may need to be shelved after all.

From Tim Sassone of the Daily Herald:

Dave Bolland's back problem apparently is getting worse instead of better, which has the Blackhawks concerned and discussing what action to take.

Bolland missed Friday's 4-3 shootout loss to Avalanche, sitting out his second game of the season after being idle for most of training camp.

Bolland has had at least two cortisone shots in order to keep him playing and, according to a source, the club has discussed surgery as an option.

Should Bolland have an operation and miss possibly eight weeks, at least the Hawks could count on him being available for the stretch drive and playoffs.

Hawks coach Joel Quenneville was asked Friday if Bolland could continue to play with the pain throughout the season.

"We'll see," Quenneville said. "It's something that we'll visit and see how he's feeling on a day-to-day basis. Some days he has some good days, so we'll see."

and from Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune:

Bolland missed much of training camp and one regular season game, Oct. 8 against the Red Wings, with a bad back that requires him to get to the rink early each day for stretching and strengthening exercises.

I don't like that he's injured this way, but I'll take two months over the status quo. Thoughts?

Just playing devil's advocate here, but:

Here's a question I wasn't sure I wanted answered, but when is Dale's contract with the Blackhawks up? Reason I ask is I vaguely remember something in the message boards about how this is his last contract year with us, and since rumblings in the front office are that he's not going to get renewed, he's more likely to act for short-term interests (like big free agent signings) than long-term (uh, cap management 101?) because he'll be "playing for a contract year" too.

I do have to wonder if this affects the way the Blackhawks acted yesterday. Plus, if he's not coming back, he'll be leaving the next GM (Stan Bowman?) a real shitty job of managing the cap hits for the next season.

According to this report.

Other players are:

Goaltenders: Ryan Miller, Jonathan Quick, Tim Thomas

 

Defencemen: Tom Gilbert, Tim Gleason, Ron Hainsey, Erik Johnson, Jack Johnson, Mike Komisarek, Paul Martin, Brooks Orpik, Brian Rafalski, Rob Scuderi, Ryan Suter, Ryan Whitney

 

Forwards: David Backes, David Booth, Dustin Brown, Dustin Byfuglien, Ryan Callahan, Chris Drury, Scott Gomez, Patrick Kane, Ryan Kesler, Phil Kessel, Jamie Langenbrunner, Ryan Malone, Mike Modano, Kyle Okposo, T.J. Oshie, Zach Parise, Joe Pavelski, Bobby Ryan, Paul Stastny.

Also says the camp will be in Woodridge, IL. Anyone know if this will be open to the public?

And Buff? Really?