Bitchslapped!: Hawks 6, Canucks 3
This was one of the most enjoyable wins in recent memory. With the Hawks apparently having lost the Stanley Cup this week when they failed to make a trade at the deadline, all that we needed was for the hated Canucks to come in and embarrass our reeling heroes. Instead, Chicago exploded for 5 goals in a wild first period that included plenty of rough stuff, each team killing off a long 5 on 3 penalty and Roberto Luongo probably weeping in the dressing room again. Then nervous Hawks fans bitched and moaned about how Cristobal Huet was going to blow the game for the last 40 minutes before going home mildly satisfied.
THE GOOD
Kris Versteeg: Good to see Steeger showing some life again. He had several good shifts and finally broke his scoreless streak with a big goal in the first period that came less than a minute after the Canucks had put a soft one past Cristobal Huet.
Andrew Ladd: The Canucks bring out the best in Ladd. He upped his physical game tonight, mixing it up with his old pal Ryan Kesler, scored the Hawks first goal and set a pick that took out two Canucks and sprung Kris Versteeg in alone to score his goal.
Jordan Hendry: Normally a 6th defenseman wants to stay out of the highlight reels, as they usually involve said d-man getting beat. But Hendry scored his 1st goal of the season on a nifty forehand backhand move after taking a sweet feed from Jonathan Toews.
THE BAD
Ben Eager: Eager just looked terrible out there. His play wasn't especially physical, and he got into one lackluster fight. Ben doesn't look like the guy who was the motor for the best 4th line in the league last year. If he doesn't step it up, he's going to be fighting Tomas Kopecky for the best seat in the press box when Adam Burish comes back.
Roberto Luongo: Turns out it's a lot easier to be a winning goalie when Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith are on your side. LOU was chased after giving up 5 goals in the first period.
Soft Goals: After making some excellent saves while the Hawks killed a 5 on 3, Cristobal Huet later surrendered a terrible goal to Ryan Kesler. Gotta shore that up, Cris.
THE UGLY
THE GOOD
Kris Versteeg: Good to see Steeger showing some life again. He had several good shifts and finally broke his scoreless streak with a big goal in the first period that came less than a minute after the Canucks had put a soft one past Cristobal Huet.
Andrew Ladd: The Canucks bring out the best in Ladd. He upped his physical game tonight, mixing it up with his old pal Ryan Kesler, scored the Hawks first goal and set a pick that took out two Canucks and sprung Kris Versteeg in alone to score his goal.
Jordan Hendry: Normally a 6th defenseman wants to stay out of the highlight reels, as they usually involve said d-man getting beat. But Hendry scored his 1st goal of the season on a nifty forehand backhand move after taking a sweet feed from Jonathan Toews.
THE BAD
Ben Eager: Eager just looked terrible out there. His play wasn't especially physical, and he got into one lackluster fight. Ben doesn't look like the guy who was the motor for the best 4th line in the league last year. If he doesn't step it up, he's going to be fighting Tomas Kopecky for the best seat in the press box when Adam Burish comes back.
Roberto Luongo: Turns out it's a lot easier to be a winning goalie when Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith are on your side. LOU was chased after giving up 5 goals in the first period.
Soft Goals: After making some excellent saves while the Hawks killed a 5 on 3, Cristobal Huet later surrendered a terrible goal to Ryan Kesler. Gotta shore that up, Cris.
THE UGLY
Posted by CT at 3/5/2010 11:00 PM 
Categories: Vancouver Canucks,Chicago Blackhawks,Friday Night Fights
Tags: Canucks Blackhawks Friday Night Fights
Categories: Vancouver Canucks,Chicago Blackhawks,Friday Night Fights
Tags: Canucks Blackhawks Friday Night Fights
Here's the funny thing about goalies...while everyone is in full meltdown over the Hawks' goalies, they once again drop a 5 spot on another "elite" goalie.
The Hawks goaltending, as part of an outstanding team defense, is going to be fine.
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Monsieur Forque, let's not confuse the word 'fine' with 'adequate'.
Cristobal Camembert, on the strength and weakness of last night's performance, is showing his usual consistency, that is to say, soft enough.
As for Roberto 'I've Got An Olympic Gold Medal and No One Can Take That Away From Me nyah nyah' Luongo , the term 'elite' in conjunction with his name is used only by hacks pretending to be hockey writers.
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Rank your own Top 10 goalies in the NHL, then look at how the Hawks treat them.
I think you'll be impressed.
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Fork, ranking 'Top 10 Goalies' is like ranking 'Top 10 Movies'...an ephemeral exercise at best, highly subjective at worst.
If the Hawks' goaltending was as impressive as the rest of the team, there would be no cause for concern.
Acknowledging that, provides a healthy dose of realism as we watch the Hawkey boys chase the vulcanized wafer across the frozen pond.
Hey, a Glenn Hall and a Tony Esposito only come along once, maybe twice in a lifetime.
Until then, we can hope to that Camembert and FinnCrisp will fill the bill.
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If the Hawks' goaltending was as good as the rest of the team, they'd have 120 points by now.
These are the realities of the salary cap era. There's no team that can go 1-20 completely stacked.
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I like stacked. Especially slim and stacked. But that's another conversation.
Seriously, the Hawks' best hope is that their playoff opponents have weaknesses similar to the Nucks.
Let's see what the boys do tomorrow at lunchtime. Should be a good indication of where they are. Nothing like Wings with Hawk sauce.
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That's the Hawks "best hope" Dave? Are we that fargone now? Fuck that. The Hawks "best hope" is that the group that tore up the NHL from Nov. thru January shows up for the playoffs. If the Blackhawks play like that in April and May, they don't need to worry about picking and choosing opponents.
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Geez guys, didn't mean to get you all riled up.
The Blackhawks don't have strong goaltending. They have a terrific team otherwise.
If they manhandle the Wings tomorrow, great. If not, you have a clear picture of what could happen in a playoff series vs. DET.
I don't want to sound like a pessimist, but I stopped waving pom-poms long ago.
If the Hawks want to get back to the WCF and possibly beyond, Huet has earn his paycheck and/or Niemi has accelerate his development curve.
And believe me, I'm as tired of waiting for another shot at Stanley as you are.
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There's no team in the West, possibly the NHL, that can beat the Hawks 4 out of 7.
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The Phoenix Coyotes beat the Hawks in their first two meetings. Depending on the result of the back to back in March, you may or may not want to revise that statement.
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I also submit for your consideration, Exhibit B: Colorado Avalanche.
In three meetings, all have been decided by a single goal, all in the shootout.
The Hawks 2-1 margin in the W department couldn't be slimmer at this point.
Mr. Craig Anderson currently sports a .923 SV% and has recorded 6 shutouts, while playing (and winning) more games and facing more shots per game that either Hawk netminder.
In a seven-game series, Anderson--former Hawk that he is--could tip the balance in the Avs' favor.
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I submit the games you mention all involved a lack of Marian Hossa and/or Dave Bolland.
That's 2/3 of their 2nd line.
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