THE BIG ONE: Blackhawks 4, Canucks 2
I don't know how much more of this shit I can take.The Chicago Blackhawks didn't bother coming out of the dressing room until over 7 minutes had passed in the game. By then, they were down 2-0 (one goal scored on the oh-so-pivotal 5-on-3), and were being outshot 9-1. Everyone in a red sweater looked absolutely pathetic, and we were on the threshold of yet another epic bedshitting.
Then it all turned around. Brent Seabrook scored 7:40 into the first, cutting Vancouver's lead in half, and at that point it was clear to everyone in
Let's get to this:
THE GOOD:
Seabrook. The man was an absolute hockey machine tonight. After being one of the main culprits behind the meltdown in Game 1, he had the opening goal, added 2 assists, was +4 on the night, and had eight hits. Before the series got under way, there was much ado about how the Canucks would respond to Dustin Byfuglien. For tonight at least, they had no answer for Seabrook.
Patrick Sharp. He tied the game with a shorthanded goal 6:49 into the third. He then had another shorthanded breakaway that would have probably made the UC's roof collapse had he converted. He also blocked a couple shots, and was a force the entire night. Needless to say, he is also a handsome man.
A very handsome man.
Brent Sopel. I guess his game got lost in Nashville, and they got it back to him in time for tonight. He blocked 5 shots, and played over 19 minutes tonight. This man is an absolute fucking maniac.
THE BAD:
VERSTEEG! The guy took a boneheaded penalty (in fact, boneheaded penalties could be their own "bad", but I digress) and was just dogshit the entire night, right up to the game winner. A big goal is a great redeemer, but I'm not sure I've ever seen a guy stink up the ice so spectacularly and somehow still be named First Star.
Ben Eager. Sweet weeping Jesus on a bicycle, I thought we were done with this fucking guy. He sure as hell didn't look like a guy who wants to keep dressing for playoff hockey, playing uninspired all night. Oh, and on his way back to the bench after a long shift, he decides to play the puck as it goes by, leading to a too many men penalty. Ben, I'm not sure exactly what your role is on this team, but it sure as hell ain't idea man.
THE UGLY:
The first seven minutes. Antti Niemi gave up two absolutely brutal goals (which I was fortunate enough to be sitting directly over, great seats Block), the Hawks looked like 18 Joe Thorntons in the last minute of a tie game, not wanting to take any initiative. Joel Quenneville seemingly forgot he was the home coach, and never had the right guys on the ice (no secret why he wasn't a Jack Adams finalist, but that's for another day). They can't keep spotting teams leads and expecting the disparity in overall talent to pull their fat out of the fire. They need to start controlling these games from the opening faceoff.
The series is now a best-of-five, with the next two games in Vancouver. Hopefully the Hawks stop with the damn penalties so the Green Men will be bored.
Posted by Forklift at 5/3/2010 11:47 PM 
Categories: Vancouver Canucks, Chicago Blackhawks, 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs
Tags: Chicago Blackhawks Brent Seabrook 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs BONERTIME! Patrick Sharp Is A Very Handsome Man
Categories: Vancouver Canucks, Chicago Blackhawks, 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs
Tags: Chicago Blackhawks Brent Seabrook 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs BONERTIME! Patrick Sharp Is A Very Handsome Man
Fork: Thank you for being perceptive and ballsy enough to point out that Versteeg had a shitty game (and actually, playoffs) up until the point that he actually shot a puck on net. When the puck first rolled away from him prior to the winning goal, I'll have to admit I played a semi-meathead and yelled "Goddamit, Versteeg! Shoot the puck!". Bang. In the net.
And the second delay-of-game penalty on Seabrook to put them down 5-on-3 was a horseshit call.
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Monsieur Fork, FYI Monsieur Quenneville (of Windsor, Ontario, once the home of the Canadian auto industry where fine vehicles were built) won the Jack Adams Trophy in 1999-2000.
But that's another time and place.
Ah, hockey. The sport of redemption.
Gotta love those Blackhawks.
Gotta hate those Nucks.
Let's see if the fellas can upset BobbyLu again in VanCity. Roberto was almost reaching for the Kleenex last night, his bailing out of his teammates having strained his nerves to near-meltdown.
And a kind word for the Nieminator, who refused to get flustered when the Hawks continued their pre-game nap five minutes into the game. He was perfect for the next fifty five minutes.
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Niemi made the stops he needed to make, but the bigger factor was the fact that the Hawks tilted the rink.
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Tilting rinks are always a factor.
So give Antti his props already.
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It was good to see Keith and Seabrook make up for a horseshit Game 1. Keith's 3rd period reminded us why he's a Norris Finalist.
What a game.
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I actually saw one of Keith's passes connect with a Hawk stick in the third. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me.
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Also, Fork, I'm not sure how you can get on Niemi for that second goal. Sopel got caught out of position and one of those Sedin freaks exploited it with a nice pass. I thought the kid stood tall today.
Of course if Huet was in net for those two goals, the pitchfork-and-torch crowd would have ridden him out of the stadium.
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Niemi had poor positioning. Sopel was trying to take away the passing lane, and only a balls-on accurate pass could have gotten through, and it did.
One of Niemi's strengths is his speed post-to-post, and he didn't have it there.
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Still questionable to fault a goalie for a 5 on 3 conversion. Maybe he could have been over in time but a pass across the goalmouth from a Sedin has been let in by better goalies than Niemi.
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Brent Sopel is the Aunt Esther of hockee.
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I'd like to see Fraser get a shot on the 4th line and replace Eager. Brouwer isn't the same right now, either.
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Were you guys at the game?
I understand that Seabs had 1 goal and 1 assist...but...yeo.
I must've been watching a different game.
Brent Seabrook was horrible last night. Horrible. Wonderful way to pinch in and pound the goal home...but
But Keith and Seabs were mediocre in the first two periods from a defensive standpoint.
Keith really picked it up in the 3rd.
But the first two periods, Brent Seabrook was god awful in the defensive end.
I'm not on crack. All of us in our section (and that's not the crackpots who just started showing up at games) were baffled at how bad he was in the first two periods.
Just weird. Maybe you couldn't see it on TV. I don't know. Seabs was slow, and wasn't confident with the puck.
Dave B,
The Seabrook call was the correct call and needs to be made more often in hockey. Pushing the goal off its moorings is just ridiculous...I can't stand it. After watching the replay when I got home, it was the right call.
Congrats to Seabs on the 2 point game.
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Sorry, 3 point game.
A +4, as well.
Yikes. I don't think I've ever felt that way about a guy getting 3 points and finishing with a flipping plus 4!!
hahaha.
Well, none of his turnovers led to goals...his passes weren't crisp and he looked slow in the first two periods.
I must be hallucinating....along with the other people in my section.
Maybe it was because I'm in 325, and Seabs is right in front of me in the 2nd.
Seabs isn't skating how he was earlier in the year. The man is tired. I'm glad he was able to suck it up and get the job done.
He was slow getting to loose pucks...he wasn't connecting early. I don't know.
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I have to disagree by alot. I thought Seabrook was the best player on the ice for the Hawks. I also know folks who went to the game that agreed. Seabrook was the most physical player on the ice and had a 3 point, +4 game. Can't argue with that.
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I was not that the game but Fork was, as were a handful of people I've talked to. Nonetheless, I don't think being at the game makes your opinion any more valid than that of those who didn't attend in person but instead watched it on television, and operating under the belief that it does makes you come off as some sort of douche.
Regardless, not that this should factor in to your thinking, but I should point out that you may well be the only person on the entire planet who feels that Seabs was "horrible" last night. Be proud of being a contrarian, I guess--but you're still wrong.
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From where I was sitting (Sec. 309), Seabrook was hitting the crap out of everyone. After the game I estimated he had 10 hits, and he had 8.
He was a beast, and not that it matters, but I generally give Seabrook a pretty short leash.
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Versteeg was an enigma last night.
First half of the game he was crap.
When he finagled his way to the Vancouver net with a brilliant move, his game changed.
He played really well in the last period. It'd be nice to see that guy the rest of the series....not the doofus we've seen before that period.
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Being at the game you see far more than we see on TV. The director wants us to watch the puck. We don;t get to see what happens on the rest of the ice during play. We don't even get to see the dust ups after the whistle most of the time.
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I wasn't saying that being at the game gave me some GODLY view of the game.
I was actually saying quite the opposite.
Being in the end zone, I couldn't see a lot of Seabs' stickwork in the 1st and 3rd periods.
I JUST got to see the extended highlights of the game. Seabs saved a goal with his stick work. And yes, he knocked the crap out of everybody.
He still looked slow (but he has since the break), and he wasn't connecting cross-ice a lot.
His plus 4 is the biproduct of an empty netter, plus he should be counted against his DOG call in the 1st that led to a 5 on 3 and a goal. But...dems not how dem hockey stats work.
He redeemed his early first period performance with a goal, and was easily the best blueliner on the ice in the third.
I apologize, but after being able to watch the game recorded...he wasn't as bad as I remembered at the game.
Did anybody think the best player on the ice last night was Marian Hossa?
Sometimes, the best players don't show up on the score sheet.
But wins don't come from grit. They come from goals...goals that were provided by a Mr. Seabrook.
Guess my point is that the statsheet wasn't the whole story last night.
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Boys, boys...don't squabble.
BTW Hawks 4-0 in these playoffs so far with Burish in. 1-3 without.
PS apparently Gentle Ben has his usefulness. His endless string of profane needling at Alexandra Burrows was effective.
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Dave-
As you called him "Gentle Ben", there's the problem right there. He's not supposed to be gentle out there.
As for his yapping, leave that to Burish. You want a 195 lb. instigator, not a 240 lb. one.
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Maybe Q wanted 435 pounds of instigating man-meat out there, hence the pairing of Affable Adam and Gentle Ben.
But what do I know?
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The Canucks are one of the few teams in the NHL the Hawks can body up on. The fact that Seabrook was pulverizing guys while every Canuck just bounced off Byfuglien illustrates that.
No need to annoy what you can just squash.
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