Get Well Soon: Hawks 3, Red Wings 0
But not too soon. This was not a statement game for the Hawks on Sunday. While you always want to take two points from a division foe, and beating the men of the Winged Wheel is extra sweet, this wasn't the Red Wings team that knocked the Hawks out of the playoffs last year. Nor is it the one they'll likely end up clashing with if they meet again in the playoffs this season.
The Red Wings are a MASH unit right now, with Zetterberg, Franzen, Filppula, Cleary, Ericsson, Kronwall and Jason Williams all out with injuries, the Hawks did exactly what they needed to do tonight - they took 2 points from a less talented opponent. What the Wings needed tonight was a great game from Chris Osgood, and while they got some nice saves from him, Osgood also gave up two soft goals, one to Duncan Keith and the other to Dustin Byfuglien. See guys? Not every shot has to be beautiful. Just keep putting the puck on net and good things will happen. And while our buddy The Chief may not think much of Cristobal Huet, the Hawks netminder was good enough to shut out the Pavel Datsyuk and his band of second stringers.
THE GOOD
Brian Campbell: Campbell got a goal tonight, but he did more than that. Brian's playing his best stretch of hockey since coming to Chicago, and watching him transition the puck from defense to offense is awesome indeed.
Dustin Byfuglien: Here's another guy who's been busting his ass lately. I'm not sure if this is the real deal, or if it's just another in a long line of Byfuglien teases, but Buff's been punishing opponents both against the boards and on the scoreboard the last few weeks, so let's just enjoy it as long as it lasts.
Cristobal Huet: The Hawks team defense was so good that Huet didn't need to be great, but he still made some key stops, and earned himself another shutout, the Hawks 3rd in their last 4 games.
Team Defense: See above. Who would have imagined that this team was going to be so terrific defensively this year? Everyone is buying in.
THE BAD
I don't have much to criticize tonight. The Hawks shutout a division rival and even the fourth line of Fraser, Bickell and Kopecky generated offensive pressure. I'm not going to nitpick this one. No sir.
Ben Eager: Not bad play, but potentially bad news. Eager sat out again tonight, probably with concussion issues again. Eager's been plagued by concussions his whole career, and with the recent news regarding the state of Reg Flemming's brain when he died, you have to wonder if we'll ever see Eager on the ice again.
THE UGLY
What happens when Red Wings and Canucks fight? You, the Hockeenight reader, win.
The Red Wings are a MASH unit right now, with Zetterberg, Franzen, Filppula, Cleary, Ericsson, Kronwall and Jason Williams all out with injuries, the Hawks did exactly what they needed to do tonight - they took 2 points from a less talented opponent. What the Wings needed tonight was a great game from Chris Osgood, and while they got some nice saves from him, Osgood also gave up two soft goals, one to Duncan Keith and the other to Dustin Byfuglien. See guys? Not every shot has to be beautiful. Just keep putting the puck on net and good things will happen. And while our buddy The Chief may not think much of Cristobal Huet, the Hawks netminder was good enough to shut out the Pavel Datsyuk and his band of second stringers.
THE GOOD
Brian Campbell: Campbell got a goal tonight, but he did more than that. Brian's playing his best stretch of hockey since coming to Chicago, and watching him transition the puck from defense to offense is awesome indeed.
Dustin Byfuglien: Here's another guy who's been busting his ass lately. I'm not sure if this is the real deal, or if it's just another in a long line of Byfuglien teases, but Buff's been punishing opponents both against the boards and on the scoreboard the last few weeks, so let's just enjoy it as long as it lasts.
Cristobal Huet: The Hawks team defense was so good that Huet didn't need to be great, but he still made some key stops, and earned himself another shutout, the Hawks 3rd in their last 4 games.
Team Defense: See above. Who would have imagined that this team was going to be so terrific defensively this year? Everyone is buying in.
THE BAD
I don't have much to criticize tonight. The Hawks shutout a division rival and even the fourth line of Fraser, Bickell and Kopecky generated offensive pressure. I'm not going to nitpick this one. No sir.
Ben Eager: Not bad play, but potentially bad news. Eager sat out again tonight, probably with concussion issues again. Eager's been plagued by concussions his whole career, and with the recent news regarding the state of Reg Flemming's brain when he died, you have to wonder if we'll ever see Eager on the ice again.
THE UGLY
What happens when Red Wings and Canucks fight? You, the Hockeenight reader, win.
Posted by CT at 12/20/2009 9:22 PM 
Categories: Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Friday Night Fights
Tags: Blackhawks Friday Night Fights Red Wings
Categories: Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Friday Night Fights
Tags: Blackhawks Friday Night Fights Red Wings
Gentlemen, a very satisfying game for the Blackhawks and their partisans...a disciplined performance against a Wings team that had won four of five coming in to the UC.
And Monsieur Huet's second straight shutout. Bravo!
Blackhawks-Red Wings...the best rivalry in professional sport. Gotta love it.
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Oh, and Mr. Jordan Hendry solid again.
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Congrats to the Hawks on a solid effort. They should have won this game and they did. I was also impressed with Hendry's play, as before last night, I had no clue who the guy was.
The team D was stifling. Not to take anything away from Huet, because he did get the shutout, but Cristobal let up quite a few juicy rebounds. I was disappointed that, save for the last ten minutes in the first, the Wings' forecheckers didn't seem interested in crashing the net to take advantage of that. Still, those rebounds weren't out front for very long.
I hate regular season Chris Osgood with a passion. Maybe he's the karmic vehicle sent to reward Dustin Byfuglien for what you say is consistent good play, but he was garbage. Even if I don't call the Campbell five-hole a soft goal, one per night seems to be his norm before late April and I friggin' hate that.
Patrick Kane dove twice last night. Every time I see him, he does something else that makes me hate him more. On the flip-side, I would kill anybody you ask to get Jonathan Toews in the Winged Wheel, just name the person.
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Steve Yzerman.
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Now you're just fighting dirty, Fork. Well played.
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Mr. JJ, seeing as you are in a conciliatory mood, perhaps you can explain this statement of yours in more detail...
"If Little Bro wants to wear the crown while Big Bro is in a cast, then I guess he gets to wear the crown. Just don’t let Big Bro surprise you with a shot to the jaw with his good arm.
Also… that cast doesn’t stay on forever and Big Bro’s got a long memory.
Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 12/20/09 at 09:27 PM ET"
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There's not a lot more detail needed than that. Are you looking for me to go back on that statement? I have no plans to. I didn't bring up the Wings' injuries in my original post because I thought CT did an excellent job pointing out pretty much what I meant by my original statement in the first paragraph of this article.
If you wanted me to come over here talking shit about how this doesn't change the fact that the Hawks are Detroit's bitch, I could do that; problem is, that's what trolls do. If you've got a problem with something I've said on another site, bring it up on that site, don't come dragging it into your home territory to beat me up over it.
For anybody who doesn't know what he's talking about, the comment he's referencing is here:
http://www.kuklaskorner.com/index.php/a2y/comments/this_is_mean_streetand_its_a_live_blog/P450/
I'll be happy to consider rebuttals to that thought on A2Y.
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Don't Toews me, Bro.
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Yeah, but the Red Wings took advantage of a Blackhawks team sans Brent Sopel last year. Even Steven.
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And now that Sopel is back, he's teaching all our defensemen the Sopel Dance, as well as how to block shots with the unpadded portion of your knee.
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Only 3 of those injured guys above matter.
Buff is a fine tease...they might be able to grab something for him in a trade de luxe.
Great 4th line play.
Btw, is Martin Brodeur the best of our generation...to put it in perspective, Hasek is the only guy in the past 20 years that comes close to him...and he didn't get within TWENTY shutouts of Brodeur.
Roy has postseason dominance..but..so does Brodeur.
Btw, as an American, I'd love to see Luongo play in Vancouver. That guy has been hot garbage. That trash team deserves its struggles.
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