Round 1 Analysis, Plus Round 2 Preview

This is why the Stanley Cup Playoffs are better than any other postseason in sports. Every game, every series can simply explode in a flurry of greatness. In the West, all the series started wild before finishing as they were expected to, whereas in the East all the series were just flatout insane throughout. I'm surprised I still ended up getting 6 out of 8 games correctly (although I only got one series right in the number of games played). So let's look back at the first round games, going in order from least exciting to most exciting:

8. Wings over Coyotes in 7 - Strange that a series that went all seven games was the worst one, and yes a lot of it does have to do with the fact that Detroit won. But the other problem was that out of seven games, 5 of them were not even close, including the critical seventh game. Both close games happened early in the series, both won by Phoenix, which really shows just how much Detroit really outclassed them. But hey, this was the lone series I got the winner and number of games correct.

7. Canucks over Kings in 6 - This started off as one of the better series ongoing, the first two games being split in overtime. The Kings started off extremely hot before completely blowing it in Game 4, when even with LOL Luongo Vancouver still stole the game bby netting in four goals in the 3rd period. From that point on the Kings had no chance. Quick lost his edge and the Nucks rolled over him. This is the prime example of the Western Conference series starting off great and then cooling down at the end (well, except for one).

6. Bruins over Sabres in 6 - Right amount of games predicted, wrong team coming out on top. The games did play out as expected, that being it would come down solely to who the hotter goalie was, and in this case Tuukka Rask prevailed over Ryan Miller. I don't like Boston, but I gotta give them props, as it definitely was not an easy task for a team with not much offense (on paper) beating Miller.

5. Flyers over Devils in 5 - Okay, can't comment too much on this because Versus decided not to show ANY of these games on TV, but I have it this high because 1)The Flyers won, 2) The supposed worst goalie in the playoffs ended with one of the best GAAs and Save %, 3) LOL Kovalchuk, and 4)LOL Brodeur. Sports Illustrated had Miller and Brodeur as the top 2 goalies in the playoffs, and they both went down in the 1st round.

4. Pens over Sens in 6 - The only reason this is so high is the triple overtime Game 5 that resulted in a Senators victory. 3OT games are awesome. Other than that, the Crosbys pretty much rolled over them and did nothing to indicate they wouldn't be back in the SC Finals.

3. Sharks over Avs in 6 - Yeah this ended in two blowouts by the Sharks in Games 5 and 6, but the first four games were excellent, all but Game 1 ending in overtime. This also had the funniest individual game in the playoffs with Dan Boyle scoring on his own net to give Colorado the win. Shame they recovered from that.

2. Hawks over Preds in 6 - Of course I'll rate a Chicago series high, but this was actually a really good series. Almost every game was decided solely by third period efforts. Niemi got two no-no's. This series had the best individual game, that being Game 5 when the Hawks scored a short-handed goal with 20 seconds left to force OT, where they would kill a 5 minute major penalty and proceed to win the game. And of course, the Hawks won, so that gets a couple extra points. But it was outclassed by one other series...or should I say one person in particular.

1. Habs over Caps in 7 - First, it's automatically an amazing series because it went seven games and the last game was close. Second, LOL Ovechkin. Fun fact: Every playoff series that Ovechkin has been a part of has gone seven games. The guy is just not a clutch performer, and I hate to say it but Crosby is better, period. He didn't even play badly, but he has yet to step his game up to another level in the postseason. Other fun fact: this is the first time ever that the 8 seed defeated the 1 seed in the 1st round after facing a 3-1 deficit in the series. And there is only one reason Montreal pulled that off, and his name is Jaroslav Halak. In the last three games he faced about 150 shots and stopped all but three, one in each game. Plenty of those saves were "HOW DID HE MAKE THAT SAVE" ones too. Halak was so good down the stretch that the NHL already made a History Will Be Made commerical with him in it. If he keeps playing like this Pittsburgh is in deep trouble, hopefully he does. With all that said, XFD Caps!


Well as you can see, the first round was nuts, and the second round can only get better with some great matchups looming. Let's make some predictions:

Pens over Habs in 6 - I heavily debated whether to push this to 7 games but I'm sticking with this. I don't think Halak can stay in God Mode for much longer, which means Montreal will have to step up other aspects of their game. Luckily for them, they've been doing well on both sides of the ice. Their top scorers are scoring plenty (Cammaleri especially) and the defense is blocking plenty of shots. However, they are dealing with Sidney Crosby who puts in cheat codes in the playoffs, and Marc-Andre Fleury rarely ever goes cold, so it will not be easy. I have Pittsburgh winning, but it can very much go the other way.

Flyers over Bruins in 7 - This will be fun. The Bruins are a physical team, the Sabres were not, and usually in the playoffs the better defense prevails. The Flyers invented physicality, so I expect lots of fights in this one. Now this pick is a stretch considering two of Philly's top 3 players are out for this series, and the other won't be around to take pucks to his face. Boucher will need to keep up his level of play, because I don't see Rask dropping. The key to this is that Philly players who are not primarily scorers have been scoring. Philly knows the best times to play D and play O, so I think they'll get the win here and meet up with the Pens for the third straight postseason.

Wings over Sharks in 7 - In the year that San Jose has REALLY been praying to get out of the 2nd round, they get stuck with Detroit. Now, I think they have the heart this time to really take it to them (well, Thornton and Marleau won't, mainly it will be Pavelski's line doing the damage), but it won't be enough. Detroit and San Jose performed about the same in the 1st round, only difference being that Phoenix was a much much better team, and that's all you need to know when picking who wins this series.

Hawks over Canucks in 6 - A lot of people are predicting this series will be a lot closer and more intense than last year. More intense I agree with, but I don't know about the former. Vancouver's offense is better this year but their D weakened a bit, and certainly it's much weaker than Nashville's was. Also, Luongo was better last year, both in the regular season and playoffs. All this sets up an easy win for the Hawks right? Well, if they feel like playing defense this series. They already started with a great move by putting Byfuglien back as a forward, because he was so bad at D and they also need him antagonizing Luongo. Hawks take this easily if they show up. Against Nashville only five people showed up for the whole series, that being Kaner (scoring), Niemi (barring one bad game which he still won) Seabrook (huge hits), and Hammer/Sopel (Sopel in particular killing himself over and over again with blocked shots). Now, Games 5 and 6 last series had more people producing like Tazer, Madden, and Hossa, so hopefully they're back in their groove for this upcoming matchup. Niemi will hopefully not have any games where he gives up 3 goals in 9 shots (but this kinda goes back to our defense needing to actually block shots). Personally I think we got this. Kaner hat tricks 7uongo again to win the series.


Best part so far? There's not even a break between the 1st and 2nd rounds, as the first game is tonight! It's one we need to watch closely too, as it is Wings/Sharks.

A new rivalry?

I'm pretty stoked to say the least that we get to face the Canucks again in the second round, just like last year. They have a very good team, but I can't help but think that it will be a little easier than the series against the Preds because of the style of game that they play. Plus, I think we (especially Kaner) have Luongo's number, and if what I hear is true about Buff skating as a winger again, he will get in Luongo's head, and in his crease, all day.
As of right now nobody knows when game 1 will be, as we have to await the outcome of what could be a very epic upset in the Habs/Caps game. If Montreal wins, that means the Eastern conference had all upsets except for silly old Sidney Crosby. The only "upset" (and I use that term very loosely) in our conference was unfortunately those pesky Wings. The original Blackhawks rivals. But lately the buzz has been about the Canucks being our new rivals. It kind of got me thinking.
The rivalry we have against the Canucks is pretty new but also pretty intense. I have liked the Hawks for a long time, but due to the lockout and other issues, I kind of fell from them until I saw that we had the first pick back in 2007, and Patrick Kane intrigued me to say the least. Then the death of old man Wirtz kind of brought everyone back into existence, and we were all a big happy hockey family again. But the point is, for loving those early 90's hawks teams, I was taught the very important lesson of hating Detroit. My brother would even throw a stuffed octopus off of the loft at my grandmas house and then we would proceed to beat it with a wiffle bat. To me, it was the first big rivalry (besides the obvious Sox/Cubs) I ever got to know, and I still hate Detroit the most. But this new-age rivalry with the fans that have just jumped on board is pretty awesome to me too. I learned to hate Vancouver mostly because I hate Luongo and because of Mitchell's hit on the Captain a while back to give him his concussion. You can add the Sedin sisters into the mix of why I hate Vancouver too. The games against them are always very intense and this will be alot of fun.
So basically, while fans see this is a big rivalry for the Hawks, let's also not forget the biggest rivalry of them all. But even with that being said, this series is going to be insane. I just want it to start now =(

The craziest day: part II.

So on Saturday after my freak out about Dan Lefevour, there was another very important thing to be done. As I continued seating for dinner before game 5 of the Blackhawks Preditors series, I had many thoughts running through my head. I felt a little more confident than usual that we would win this game, but as I said in earlier posts, I didn't want to get "too cocky, Starfox..." so i kept my cool. I went out to watch the anthem and it was insane as usual, and I stayed out there to watch the puck drop. The time in between the anthem and the puck drop, i just got this rush of emotion, like I knew that once this puck dropped i would be witnessing yet another amazing Blackhawks game, and it made me very happy.
When the Preds scored first, that feeling went quickly from anticipation to kind of an "oh crap" kind of feeling. with Andrew Ladd's goal helping the situation, and Hjallmerson taking the lead for us before 1st intermission, I felt better, but was still being cautious. And as we still led 3-2 after the second, I started getting much more comfortable. And I think they did too...
10:00 into the third period is the cutoff point where we can't let anyone take alcohol out of the bar, so that's pretty much when my duties are done up front besides trying to stop people from doing so. So I go to the back of the dining room to put the glasses on the table (the dishwashers are really slow so we don't get them until around that point in the night), so I don't have the TV access that I have up front, but I still get the radio. At the point I went back, the Preds had tied it at 3, and I didn't realize till a little bit later that they went ahead 4-3. I was getting really antsy at this point, and rushed to put the glasses on the table, I had no concept of how much time was left, but my heart just kept beating progressively faster knowing that Hossa had gotten a 5 minute penalty (I didn't see the hit till later)...and then all of a sudden, i heard a giant roar in the crowd and ran up front as fast as I can...and I got there just in time to see Kaner do the unthinkable.
He did WHAT???
I could not explain the mood of myself and everyone else in the building when that happened. It was a euphoric explosion, and my already intense love for Patrick Kane became even more intense. That's what we call being clutch, kids. Swabs told me that it was the first time in Stanley Cup history that a team was shorthanded and pulled their goalie and scored a goal. Nice stat!
So for the first time at work, we had an extra intermission. People flooded into the bar so much that they had to stand on the outside where I usually stand, so I got to talk to alot of different (and very drunk) fans. Because of the no alcohol allowed out rule, many people had to stay in the bar to finish their drinks so they wouldn't miss anything, which means i had to too. But I managed to sneak out to watch, and for the rest of that Hossa penalty I was literally shaking. I knew we could kill it, because the Preds are pretty much god-awful on the power play. And when i was still cheering for the kill, Hossa came right out. A fan behind me said, "come on, Hossa, you owe us for that". and then...
The goal horn went off, and the building absolutely exploded. It was so incredibly loud, and i was jumping around and hugging people I didn't even know, and then celebrating with the fans that i did know. People threw their towels on the ice and screamed even more. It was the third loudes thing I have ever experienced, the first two being Konerko's grand slam in game 2 of the 2005 world series, and the second being Scott Podsednik's walk off homer in the same game. It was so loud in there even during the three stars of the game, when poor Sarah Kustok tried to do her postgame interview but failed because of the noise level, and Hossa just gave the fans a friendly wave and headed back into the locker room. I could just imagine the boys in the locker room all pumped up, Kaner especially looked like a big ball of Joakim-esque energy.
So for once the hour I stayed after the game ended went by really fast, because i was celebrating with everyone. I still can't believe it even as i'm writing it now. There was only one more piece of the crazy sports day puzzle left to be put together...
But before i write part III, I will say that after that amazing Hawks victory on Saturday, i just want more Blackhawks, all the time. That's how i know I am in love with this team. And i certainly can't wait till tonight. <3

XFD SHARKS

Yes, this is a Chicago sports blog, but I just have to mention what could very well be the funniest thing to happen in the history of all sports. Game 3 of the San Jose Sharks vs. Colorado Avalanche ends in regulation with a score of 0-0, with the Sharks outshooting the Avs 56-17 (yes I did say 56 shots, and Craig Anderson saved them all). Then, less than a minute into overtime, Dan Boyle tries to pass the puck...and puts it in his own net, giving the Avs a 2-1 series lead. That proves once and for all that the Sharks are the biggest failure of a sports team and if they lose this series they deserved XFDs and LOLs and LMAOs for years to come. I hope it happens, because then...

History will be made.

The power of the mullet!!

It's been quite the busy weekend, so I haven't gotten a chance to talk about these first two playoff games yet. After all of my hype for Friday's game, the result was pretty much a buzz kill, But I knew my Hawks could come through in game 2. But so far, the biggest story has been Kaner, who is playing like a stud, and looks like one too.

The theme for Friday for me was anticipation. Driving to the UC I just had so much excitement, and all the fans did too. I felt like we were all confident for a victory, but as Wolf once told me, "don't get too cocky, Starfox..." and I should have remembered these wise words from one of the best N64 games because the Preds seemed like they wanted to be known as a force to be reckoned with instead of "that team that's gonna get pwned by the Blackhawks". I thought Niemi played well on Friday, and Captain had a couple of chances to score, but "Heeeey Pekka Rinne" was also very good in that game. Not good enough to stop the mullet though! As Kaner was the only one to score. The Hawks overall just looked flat, and couldn't keep up with the Preds' defensive strategies. I knew that by the time game 2 started they would figure out a way to get past them, and they certainly did.

The theme for Sunday was anxiety. I was just as pumped for the game, and so were the fans, but almost all of them I talked to also expressed that they were still somewhat nervous. The main point I wanted to stress to everyone was that Niemi is too good, and as long as we limit their shots on goal while not letting them limit ours, we can take this game and maybe more. And i'm glad I was right so far. Bolland scored a nice one, and Kaner used the mullet magic once again. And Niemi. Oh, my goodness Antti Niemi. Although I was right in that he didn't have to face alot of shots, I was extremely happy bout the way he played, and it was only fitting that his first playoff victory ever was a shutout. That's more than that other goalie we have would have done...what was his name again...?

So now I look foreward to watching tomorrow night's game at Nashville. I anticipate that crowd being very loud, maybe getting the Preds players a little too amped up. Maybe being so pumped up for the crowd, they will focus more on scoring themselves than playing their usual defensive game, and since Niemi is such a stud, they won't score themselves anyway. I like our chances of winning, but i'm still keeping Wolf's advice in the back of my mind. a 2-0 lead would just be very helpful.

And Kaner's mullet will continue to propel the Hawks to victory too... ^_~

continuing the countown...

Every morning I have been waking up with my first thought being "is it Friday yet???" As my 2 blogger counterparts have already stated, this is the craziest time of the year, and I have been going pretty crazy about it. I hate that I have to still wait 2 more days to see my beloved Blackhawks start some playoff hockey, but at least there will be some good games on tonight. I'm pullin for the Flyers, and i'm obviously gonna root for the Coyotes. It's not that Detroit scares me, it's just that i really don't like them. But i'll save the trash talking of the Wings for when it's neccessary.
So tonight's matchups: Flyers at Devils, Sens at Pens (that just sounds cool, doesn't it?), Avs at Sharks, and Wings at Coyotes. I'll be watching as much as i can, while also making sure the Sox are actually hitting the ball...AND monitoring what is going on in Charlotte for the Bulls' playoff sake. What an awesome sports night it will be. ^_^
But Alas, i am still wanting it to be Friday night. I'm glad there will be alot of sports to keep me occupied like I said, but it's nothing compared to what awaits me that night. It's just 2 more days...just 2 more days...

Only Two More Months

We are now on the edge of our couches and chairs waiting for the playoffs to begin. We have known who is playing who since Sunday evening. The up-to date match-ups including who's currently in the lead can be seen here. Most of the matchups are not exciting story lines to some, but guess what people, it's HISTORY TIME! This is the time of the year where hockey fans across the world put down their razors for 2 months, pick up a beer, sit on their couches, or recliners and watch any playoff hockey game that is currently showing. It doesn't matter to which team you would get into a brawl over, all that matters is that there are two teams right now that are laying it all out on the ice so that in what seems like a very short time, they will be able to take their victory lap around the rink with the Cup held high over their head. Then maybe afterwards when all the fans are out in the street rioting, the players will be able to just chill on the ice with their brothers and enjoy a cigar and a drink. I know I would.


So far, in the few days since the end of the regular season I have heard all kinds of playoff predictions. Except a few, such as the Colorado Av's or the Montreal Canadians making it to the Stanley Cup. But otherwise, there have been talks about the Penguins being back to back champs, Ovi redeeming himself by leading the Capitals to the History Books, and the Red Wings continuing their amazing post-Olympic streak to erase memories from last year. EA Sports' NHL 10 predicts that Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane will bring back the silver cup to Chicago to where they will hold on to it for a long time. Only God knows how often Sports Illustrated is correct, but I am praying that they are correct this time around as they side with the video game's thoughts and predict that the Blackhawks will beat the Washington Capitals in 6 to end their season.

My thoughts are probably slanted, but who's thoughts are not? In the first round, I'm thinking that the winners in the West will be Sharks, Blackhawks, Kings, and Redwings. For the East I'm selecting Capitals, Penguins, Bruins, and the Devils.

In the Conference Semi's, it will be the Blackhawks taking revenge over the Redwings, and the Sharks will decide to choke to allow the Kings to the Conference Finals. The Capitals will breeze by the Bruins and the Devils will shutdown Crosby and Co.

We will see the Blackhawks take the ice against the Capitals. The Capitals will only be there because the NJ Devils will have been to beat up from playing against the physical Flyers and Penguins to last this marathon. The reason why the Chicago Blackhawks will persevere against the Monster that is the Washington Capitals is that even though the Caps have amazing players, the Blackhawks have serious depth to their team, so much so, that there are healthy players scratched from games just because we have too many great players. Depth will be the key in this stretch of games that can vary between 16 and 28 total games, but will most likely lie above 24 games.

Then after it is all said and done, the winners will be able to take a very long limo ride and just enjoy themselves without cameras being present. After all the players have done, they do not need pictures of their amazing adventures being shared with the world.

A Look At The NHL Playoffs

Ah yes, my favorite time of the year, the road to the Stanley Cup, where every game is a nailbiter, every team ups their play to a whole new level, and in general there is just more intensity. For us Chicago fans, it will be filled with even more anxiety than usual, since we absolutely expect the Blackhawks to win the Cup this year. We have the offense and we have the depth this year to win it all, depth that we will not have next year due to the need to clear cap space. The time is now, and the Hawks know it.

But what about the goaltending? Niemi has not started a single playoff game! There's no way he can hang with the veterans of the NHL! Well...not exactly. First off, in spite of the Hawks giving up the fewest shots on goal against them throughout the season, Niemi still has a great GAA and has proven in the past that he can hang in there. Secondly, let's take a look at the starting goaltenders this postseason:

Jose Theodore
Evgeni Nabokov
Martin Brodeur
Antti Niemi
Ryan Miller
Roberto Luongo
Marc-Andre Fleury
Ilya Bryzgalov
Brian Elliott
Jimmy Howard
Tuukka Rask
Jonathan Quick
Brian Boucher
Pekka Rinne
Jaroslav Halak
Craig Anderson

Out of 16 goalies, 7 of them have never started a playoff game, including Nashville's goalie Rinne. Out of the nine that have started a game, you have perennial chokers in Theodore, Luongo, and Nabokov (the Peyton Manning of the NHL), a 3rd string backup in Boucher, and a player who has not won a playoff series (Halak). This year, more emphasis will be placed on defense, because no team wants to know if their goaltender can handle the playoff pressure (not even Brodeur...I'd say the Pens and Sabres can feel a little bit safer with Fleury and Miller but that's it). For the Hawks, their D will need to be at its best, because we already know how potent the offense can be. I think they will pull it off without much worry.

With that said, here are my predictions for the first round:

Caps over Habs in 4: Halak will need to play like he did in the Olympics for Montreal to even stand a chance to win one, and even then they'll need Theodore to choke. I think the Capital's offense is too much for the Canadiens to handle.

Flyers over Devils in 7: The Flyers won 5 of 6 against New Jersey in the regular season, and I believe that will bowl over into the postseason. Carcillo should antagonize Brodeur like Byfuglien did last year to Luongo, and we know how frustrated Marty can get. Parise and Kovalchuk will lead the Devils to seven games but Philly is looking to prove they are better than their seed indicates.

Sabres over Bruins in 6: Rask will keep Boston alive for a bit but the total lack of offense combined with having to score on Ryan Miller is going to bury them.

Penguins over Senators in 5: The Pens are not the Stanley Cup winning team they were last year, but Ottawa is facing some key injuries, and they have been terribly streaking all season (win 10 in a row, then lose 8 straight, and so on). Also, there's Crosby, and he likes ruining things, so this won't be a competitive series.

Sharks over Avs in 5: As much as I want to make the upset pick because lol Sharks, but they got the one matchup they needed to get to the 2nd round at least. Colorado backed into the postseason, not winning many games in the final stretch. They'll still win a game because it's the Sharks, and they might even win two, but I think they're finally burned out.

Hawks over Preds in 5: Rinne will singlehandedly win a game for Nashville, and then the Hawks will own them the rest of the way. Nashville's goal differential is a big fat zero going up against the Hawks' +62. Hawks need to make a statement with this series.

Canucks over Kings in 7: LOL Luongo will force Vancouver to play seven games, but I don't think Quick will be exceptional enough to help a Kings team that likes to stagnate from time to time, on both offense and defense.

Red Wings over Phoenix in 7: I hope I'm wrong on this one, but it's Detroit in the playoffs, and it's very difficult to go against them. Phoenix is a great team, and given the circumstances surrounding their ownership throughout the season, it's amazing they are here at all. Bryzgalov will have to play out of his mind to stop the Wings' offense, and he is certainly good enough to step up his game tremendously, but I don't think they can survive here.


Wow, that was a long post, I could talk about the playoffs forever but I really should take a break. Let's go Hawks!

The longest week

I'm not sure why the schedule doesn't have us starting Wednesday. I know why we can't start Thursday (The Harlem Globetrotters are invading the UC). So now I have to wait all the way till Friday. I'm really really excited for these playoffs to start, I dunno how i'm gonna make it through the week.
Today's game was a really good hockey game with a bad outcome. The crowd was insane, and it can only get more insane for Friday. That anthem is going to be EPIC. Also, the tribute to Eddie Olczyk was really really cool. what an awesome guy ^_^
Dispite losing to one of my two least favorite teams ever around sports (the other being the Twins, see my MLB post later), i do like matching up with Nashville. I think the fact that it's so close will be really helpful, and I know that we have matched up well against them in the past. Also, even though i'll be tweaking out all week waiting for the playoffs to begin, i like the extra rest it will give us, which might help in the long run (the Preds are obviously resting the same amount but i'm saying for the coming rounds). I am very hopeful for this series and i know that the UC will be rockin this weekend. I just don't know what i'm going to do with myself to pass the time this week...
maybe i'll just watch this...^_~

It's almost time..

All signs point to the fact that the playoffs for our beloved Blackhawks will start Wednesday at the UC. I'm glad this week has gone by so fast so far, with the plethora of sports in this town that have been going on. Wednesday is so close and yet so far, and i'm trying very hard not to get ahead of myself. Tonight's game against the Avalanche can be a possible playoff matchup, and i think we can pull off a series win against them if we do in fact have to play them. If we can score early and take control and show them who's boss, It could set the tone for later on. The same could go for Sunday against the Wings depending on how all of these matchups pan out in the next couple nights.
It was nice seeing the offense explode in Wednesday night's game against the Blues, but it seemed like they got a bit too relaxed after that. It's hard to keep up intensity like that when you have such a comfortable lead, but at a time like this, with playoffs just around the corner, the intensity should be a constant. I could tell the Captain was not happy with the team giving up 5 goals like that, so i'm sure he said something after the fact. I was glad to get the win though, those Blues play like a bunch of goons.
So we have tonght and Sunday and then playoff time. Like i said, i've been trying to do the whole "one game at a time" cliche thing, but I mean...come on...after how much fun I had last year with these boys in the playoffs, it is pretty hard not to think about it all the time. Tonight should be a great game, and hopefully it will put us in that number 1 seed and make Sunday's game that much crazier. ^_^

Preview of Hawks Vs Stars

The preview for the Hawks game tells us what we pretty much know. Patrick Kane is awesome, so is Anti Niemi. I just hope that we continue playing Niemi because he certainly deserves it, as well as a run for the shutout record. He is currently only one behind Byrzgalov despite playing only half as many games. Patrick Kane has had a dry spell recently, but broke that in the past game to continue being the leader in goals and points on the Hawks. The game starts at 7:30 pm and will be on CSN. Tune in to watch the Blackhawks make a run to grab back the 1st seed in the Conference.


I'm glad that at least they play hockey a hell of a lot better than they throw a baseball.

Central champs!!!

I haven't had alot of time to post anything over the weekend, but these past two hawks games have been very wonderful.
Let's start with the game on Friday against the Devils. It wasn't very eventful aside from the awesome goaltending on both ends, until the end of the game of course. I was watching the game with a friend who doesn't know much about Hockey (or sports in general, that's why he has me to teach him ^_^) and I was explaining how the Hawks pulled Niemi and put in the extra attacker. No sooner did my friend ask "Are the Hawks known for scoring with the extra attacker?" than they did just that. It was very exciting, especially with only 26 seconds left. Then, of course, the Captain was clutch in the shootout, which was very nice to see.
Today, the crowd was really awesome, and so were the Hawks. It was really good to see the offensive power that was going on, and of course Niemi was a stud once again. Now, the Hawks have their first Central Division title since Kaner and Tazer were only 4 years old, and can't drop lower than 3rd seed in the standings. Now we just have to catch up with the Sharks, who as we speak are about to go into overtime with the Avalanche. Hopefully they come out of that with 1 point and not 2. I would like to win the conference, as long as the Wings don't have the 8th seed. It's not that they scare me, per se, but I just really don't have the emotional capacity to go through playing them in the first round. If we play them, i'd really just want a rematch in the conference finals. But we shall see if they even make it that far. heh heh.
All I know is, with the regular season winding down, these next couple weeks for hockey and sports in general are going to be absolutely insane, and i'm gonna enjoy the ride.