You know, I was just going to skip the whole damn recap.

That would have been the easiest thing, you know?  I was just going to post 3 lines about how the Hawks sucked and that would be that I would go to bed.  But that wouldn't be fair to you, the readers.  Plus, as I watched the third period, one thing kept running through my mind: as ragged as the Hawks looked in this game, they could have won it.  The opportunities were there, they probably had at least 3 chances that featured a Hawk forward 1 on 1 with Varlamov, but they couldn't cash in.

That's not to say they deserved to win.  Nearly every part of the Chicago team was mediocre to bad tonight.  The Hawks lost and they deserved to lose.  Let's hope they actually show up motivated on Sunday for the Red Wings.

THE GOOD

I'm loathe to hand out a good to anybody, but I will credit Michael Frolik.  Fro is one of the guys whose spot is threatened by the recent call ups and he did respond.  Frolik was one of the few guys I would say busted his ass all night out there. 

You know who else was probably good?  Slaky.  I bet he was sitting home on the couch, watching the game and throwing off brilliant one-liners and pausing only to groom his magnificent beard with a garden rake.  I salute you, Slak.

THE BAD

Joel Quenneville: Look, we've been over the John Scott thing many times.  We're beyond the point where we can blame Scott.  We know what he is.  He knows what he is.  EVERYBODY knows what he is.  So, with the Hawks in the second game of back to backs, Q elects to dress John Scott and play him for 3 minutes and 25 seconds.  That's right, Old Donald and Sammi LePisto sat in the press box so that John Scott could play less than 4 minutes.  Fucking ridiculous. 

Corey Crawford: Once upon a time,  I called myself a goalie.  I know it's a tough position to play, and can't imagine the pressures that come with playing it at the highest level.  What I'm saying is I'm sympathetic to netminders, and while Corey didn't give up anything terrible, sometimes you need some great saves from the goalie, and there were none to speak of tonight.

Niklas Hjalmarsson and Nick Leddy - Christ on a bike these two guys were horrible.  Granted their troubles were intensified by Q's insistence on dressing only 5 d-men but neither of these guys had any clue what to do against the Avs forecheck.  Quenneville mercifully broke them up for a bit during the 2nd period but eventually put them back together so they could give up the Avs 4th goal.


THE UGLY

Shane O'Brien - I hate Shane O'Brien.  Seriously, SOB is a total and complete fuck up and I hope he gets trapped in a burning barn.

That's right, I'm invoking FIREBARN.

Up Next: Hawks are off on Saturday and play the Red Wings on Sunday.  There may be a Hockeenight Postgame Puckcast.

Or not.  We like to keep you guessing.