Ice Cold: Hawks 1, Sabres 2
"Why does every goalie seem to play his best game against us?"
This appears to be the question that's popping up in the comments of various Blackhawks blogs lately. Well, I don't have any logical answers, but here's the best I can do: nobody wants to be embarrassed.
And that's what would have happened if Patrick Lalime had brought anything less than his A-game tonight. The Buffalo Sabres would have been blown out of the HSBC Arena were it not for Lalime's heroics in the first and third periods. And that's the reality that the Hawks are going to have to face this year. They can't sneak up on anybody anymore. A team that takes a night off against the Hawks is going to get blown out. And even if a team brings their best game, it'll still be a dogfight. Yeah, it's going to be tough, but it's a good problem to have. The NHL knows that the Blackhawks must be taken seriously.
THE GOOD
Patrick Kane: The Sabres fans REALLY wanted to boo Kaner tonight, and they tried their best, but at the end, I think they were too impressed to keep it up. Kane was clearly a few steps ahead of everyone else on the ice. He was outstanding tonight, and most games he would have had a multi-point night. Kaner still made a great play to set up the Hawks only goal. He grabbed a turnover right near the Buffalo goal, and instead of immediately shooting, he drew two Sabres to him and dished to a wide open Sharp for an easy goal.
Patrick Lalime: The ex-Hawk gave up a single goal on 40 shots, and these weren't all perimeter chances either.
Buffalo's Throwback Uniforms: Of course, it's idiotic that the Sabres ever changed from those unis to begin with. Why the hell would a team change from something so identifiable to a jersey that you can't tell apart from Atlanta's?
THE BAD
Penalties: The Hawks took just enough bad penalties to lose. Buffalo scored on one of their power plays, and Duncan Keith's hook in the last 2 minutes pretty much put an early end to any chance the Hawks had to tie up the game at the end. Oh, and the always popular Too Many Men on the Ice penalty made reared it's ugly head. Just curious, does anyone think that the TMMOTI penalties could be a product of Quenneville's constant line juggling? Just wondering.
Kris Versteeg: No exclamation for Steeger tonight. He found himself in Q's doghouse and was demoted from the 1st to the 4th line in the final period.
THE UGLY
Enjoy this awesome clip of ex-Hawk Matthew Barnaby attempting to murder New York Islander's GM Garth Snow.
This appears to be the question that's popping up in the comments of various Blackhawks blogs lately. Well, I don't have any logical answers, but here's the best I can do: nobody wants to be embarrassed.
And that's what would have happened if Patrick Lalime had brought anything less than his A-game tonight. The Buffalo Sabres would have been blown out of the HSBC Arena were it not for Lalime's heroics in the first and third periods. And that's the reality that the Hawks are going to have to face this year. They can't sneak up on anybody anymore. A team that takes a night off against the Hawks is going to get blown out. And even if a team brings their best game, it'll still be a dogfight. Yeah, it's going to be tough, but it's a good problem to have. The NHL knows that the Blackhawks must be taken seriously.
THE GOOD
Patrick Kane: The Sabres fans REALLY wanted to boo Kaner tonight, and they tried their best, but at the end, I think they were too impressed to keep it up. Kane was clearly a few steps ahead of everyone else on the ice. He was outstanding tonight, and most games he would have had a multi-point night. Kaner still made a great play to set up the Hawks only goal. He grabbed a turnover right near the Buffalo goal, and instead of immediately shooting, he drew two Sabres to him and dished to a wide open Sharp for an easy goal.
Patrick Lalime: The ex-Hawk gave up a single goal on 40 shots, and these weren't all perimeter chances either.
Buffalo's Throwback Uniforms: Of course, it's idiotic that the Sabres ever changed from those unis to begin with. Why the hell would a team change from something so identifiable to a jersey that you can't tell apart from Atlanta's?
THE BAD
Penalties: The Hawks took just enough bad penalties to lose. Buffalo scored on one of their power plays, and Duncan Keith's hook in the last 2 minutes pretty much put an early end to any chance the Hawks had to tie up the game at the end. Oh, and the always popular Too Many Men on the Ice penalty made reared it's ugly head. Just curious, does anyone think that the TMMOTI penalties could be a product of Quenneville's constant line juggling? Just wondering.
Kris Versteeg: No exclamation for Steeger tonight. He found himself in Q's doghouse and was demoted from the 1st to the 4th line in the final period.
THE UGLY
Enjoy this awesome clip of ex-Hawk Matthew Barnaby attempting to murder New York Islander's GM Garth Snow.
Posted by CT at 12/11/2009 10:07 PM 
Categories: Buffalo Sabres, Chicago Blackhawks, Friday Night Fights
Tags: Sabres Blackhawks Friday Night Fights Fights
Categories: Buffalo Sabres, Chicago Blackhawks, Friday Night Fights
Tags: Sabres Blackhawks Friday Night Fights Fights
HSBC Arena is named from someone saying, "Holy shit, Buffalo's cold".
Reply to this
I don't buy the focused goalie theory to explain the Hawks offensive failings. Thank goodness they have a stellar defense, because they lack finishers. Perhaps improvement will eventually arrive, but I personally believe this team should focus on simply making the playoffs. Expectations are getting ridiculous, and the CUP chatter should stop now. Then again, I am a bitter fan after 40 years of following this organization so I tend to expect the worse.
Reply to this
Huh? Did The Hawks all of a sudden become the bulls?
Reply to this
Of course not...nowhere close. These Hawks compete every period of every game. After a night to digest last nights performance my prior comments reflect frustration more than anything. I should follow some advice I heard Doug Buffone utter on the Score some time ago. Don't THINK, just HOPE.
Reply to this
Big fan of Buffalo's throwback jersey's as well. They need to go back to this look permanently. That flying hamster thing they have going on is plain ugly.
Reply to this
How can you hate the banana slug? That's just plain unamerican!
Reply to this
I prefer the original Sabres sweaters as well, but they were not exactly like the originals. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I saw some of that damn white piping.
Reply to this