SONOFABITCH!: Hawks 5, Wild 6 (SO)
Yeah, the Hawks gotta lose sometimes. Nobody goes undefeated over 82 games. And I guess it could be worse, since they actually got a point out of the deal. But still, after watching this team all season, and especially as of late, I never thought I'd see them blow a 4 goal lead, certainly not in the span of the single period.
Full credit goes to the Wild in this one. Most teams go down 4 goals to the Hawks and fold up the tents. Minnesota instead played a desperate a third period and managed to get the game into shootout and win it. Foley and Olczyk seem to think this will be a good wakeup call for the Blackhawks, and I guess that's possible. At this point, I'm still looking at it as the Hawks playing a bad period. A bad combination of everyone running around in the defensive zone and Huet having a terrible game. Shit like that happens over the course of the season. Let's just hope we don't see much more of it.
THE GOOD
The First Two Periods: The Hawks dominated the first 40 minutes and built a 5-1 lead. They held the puck, they blocked shots, they scored at even strength, on the power play and while short handed. They chased Niklas Backstrom from the nets. It was pretty much what we're used to seeing from this team.
Patrick Kane: Kane was very good again tonight. He had two assists, back checked well and was the only Blackhawk to score in the shootout.
THE BAD
The Third Period: And the wheels came off. The Wild ramped up the offensive pressure in the 3rd period, and the Hawks responded badly. Obviously, with Minnesota's d-men constantly pinching in, the Hawks were able to generate several odd man rushes, but Josh Harding was able to withstand the barage. In fact, if the Wild had started Harding, they probably would have won the game outright. Luckily, they didn't.
Cristobal Huet: While the loss wasn't totally Huet's fault, he was terrible tonight. He was constantly going down too early and not resetting. Also, he was bailed out at least 3 times in the 2nd period when his defensemen were able to block shots on a wide open net after Huet had gotten out of position. I'm sure the messageboards are going to be filled with thoughtful reflections on Huet's performance tonight.
THE UGLY
The Shootout: The Hawks have shown a tendency to get into long shootouts this year. This one went 8 rounds, mostly due to ineptitude. Several Hawks had Harding down and out, but simply couldn't lift the puck on him. For some strange reason, nobody on the Wild other than 650 year old Owen Nolan wants to go high glove side on Huet. Even stranger, the Wild never send Martin Havlat out to shoot. Even Cal Clusterfuck got a chance before Nolan ended it. What the hell was that about?
Up Next: The Hawks have a chance to get right back on the horse as the Anaheim Ducks come to town again tomorrow night. It will be interesting to see if Joel Quenneville decides to treat this game as just a blip, or if he feels it necessary to send a message to his players.
Full credit goes to the Wild in this one. Most teams go down 4 goals to the Hawks and fold up the tents. Minnesota instead played a desperate a third period and managed to get the game into shootout and win it. Foley and Olczyk seem to think this will be a good wakeup call for the Blackhawks, and I guess that's possible. At this point, I'm still looking at it as the Hawks playing a bad period. A bad combination of everyone running around in the defensive zone and Huet having a terrible game. Shit like that happens over the course of the season. Let's just hope we don't see much more of it.
THE GOOD
The First Two Periods: The Hawks dominated the first 40 minutes and built a 5-1 lead. They held the puck, they blocked shots, they scored at even strength, on the power play and while short handed. They chased Niklas Backstrom from the nets. It was pretty much what we're used to seeing from this team.
Patrick Kane: Kane was very good again tonight. He had two assists, back checked well and was the only Blackhawk to score in the shootout.
THE BAD
The Third Period: And the wheels came off. The Wild ramped up the offensive pressure in the 3rd period, and the Hawks responded badly. Obviously, with Minnesota's d-men constantly pinching in, the Hawks were able to generate several odd man rushes, but Josh Harding was able to withstand the barage. In fact, if the Wild had started Harding, they probably would have won the game outright. Luckily, they didn't.
Cristobal Huet: While the loss wasn't totally Huet's fault, he was terrible tonight. He was constantly going down too early and not resetting. Also, he was bailed out at least 3 times in the 2nd period when his defensemen were able to block shots on a wide open net after Huet had gotten out of position. I'm sure the messageboards are going to be filled with thoughtful reflections on Huet's performance tonight.
THE UGLY
The Shootout: The Hawks have shown a tendency to get into long shootouts this year. This one went 8 rounds, mostly due to ineptitude. Several Hawks had Harding down and out, but simply couldn't lift the puck on him. For some strange reason, nobody on the Wild other than 650 year old Owen Nolan wants to go high glove side on Huet. Even stranger, the Wild never send Martin Havlat out to shoot. Even Cal Clusterfuck got a chance before Nolan ended it. What the hell was that about?
Up Next: The Hawks have a chance to get right back on the horse as the Anaheim Ducks come to town again tomorrow night. It will be interesting to see if Joel Quenneville decides to treat this game as just a blip, or if he feels it necessary to send a message to his players.
Posted by CT at 1/9/2010 11:34 PM 
Categories: Chicago Blackhawks, Minnesota Wild
Tags: Wild Huet Blackhawks
Categories: Chicago Blackhawks, Minnesota Wild
Tags: Wild Huet Blackhawks
By next weekend, we'll see what meaning this game had, if any.
There's been a couple games this season where they've taken their foot off the gas, and let in a crap goal or two.
Tonight they did it too early and were unable to stop the bleeding.
Huet was bad, but this meltdown was a team effort. Give it three games and see how they respond.
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This one has been coming for a while.
Q was screaming during the time out at the guys to play defense, but the damage was already done.
The Hawks have a glaring weakness in their own zone...and that, is a combination of turnovers and lapsed coverage.
The Sharks have a similar weakness, by the way, which is how they lost to the Wings last night.
In other news, after their blowout by the Caps, Don Waddell agreed to trade Ilya Kovalchuk, Boris Valabik and Ondrej Pavelec to Chicago for Patrick Sharp, Cam Barker, Cristobal Huet, Kyle Beach and the Hawks' first round draft pick in 2010.
Dustin Byfuglien was also traded to the Minnesota Wild for Derek Boogaard.
This just in...ESPN INsider reports ESPN has hired 'the blogger known as Fork Lift' to replace Scott Burnside.
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Good thing for the Hawks they are playing tonight otherwise Stache would have rode them hard in practice.
One of the good things about Huet is he seems to bounce back from these type of games.
Kovalchuk wouldn't have helped in this one.
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So, gentlemen, would anyone like to explain the 46-12 disparity in hits, advantage Wild?
And how a Hawks team leading 5-1 completely loses its composure against an opponent they have down on the mat?
The Blackhawks have shown a tendency to let up when they have a lead, as well as get sloppy in their own end.
Not a good sign, and a very bad habit to acquire.
Ducks on deck, The Teemunator ready to rock. Gut check time.
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Nice to see Cristobal Huet blow a lead against the Wild. Can anyone imagine what he will do against good teams in the playoffs?
I will once again sound like a meathead but as long as Cristobal Huet is the goalie come playoff time, the chances of being disappointed are very high.
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Feel free to hop off the bandwagon.
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Slaky, I think you meant to say "stand in front of".
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