News and Notes, Game Preview

Blackhawks fans got a nice treat this morning as they got to watch the Blackhawks morning skate for the first time. It aired online on Blackhawks TV and on the Blackhawks mobile app. Beyond this special treat, Hawks fans got another treat. Jonathan Toews skated with the team for the first time in three weeks. From watching the morning skate, I'd say that he looked great. He was skating up and down the ice quickly and during one drill he skated with the puck and let go of a really nice shot. I wouldn't say the captain is ready to come back in the next few days, but the progression seems to be going great. He skated alone yesterday and with the team today. He also talked to the media about his injury and confirmed what everyone knew, that his upper body injury was in fact a concussion.

In other injury related news, it is now also assumed that the injuries to Steve Montador and Niklas Hjalmarsson were concussions. Hjalmarsson will be back in the lineup tonight against the Rangers and is expected to be in the third defensive pairing with Olsen. Montador is said to have experienced a setback today. Sami Lepisto is out indefinitely after injuring his left leg in the game on Tuesday against the St. Louis Blues.

The final injury news is about my favorite player and current Blackhawks prospect in Rockford, Ben Smith. Smith suffered a right hip labral tear and hernia. He will undergo surgery and be out for four months. He played 13 games with the Blackhawks this season recording two goals and. In 38 games with the IceHogs, he had 15 goals and 16 assists for 31 points. Smith is known best for his game 6 goal against the Vancouver Canucks during last year's playoffs. I hope for Ben to have a full recovery and come back even stronger for the 2012-2013 season.



Game Preview
Tonight the Blackhawks play the Eastern Conference leading New York Rangers. It should be a good game as John Scott comes back to Chicago for the first time since the trade right before the deadline. The Rangers are a very good team and the Blackhawks beat them the last time they played. The Blackhawks won't be as lucky this time as they will have to face Lundqvist in net.

The Blackhawks can win this game, but they'll have to play tough. This seems to be a big problem for the Hawks as fans saw on Tuesday against the Blues. The Blackhawks had good games against both the Senators and Red Wings in the past week and will have to play like they did in those games in order to beat this good Rangers team.

Goaltending will be key. Ray Emery will be in net and after giving up a couple weak goals in St. Louis, I'm not sure that I feel safe with him for the game tonight. If he can play like he did prior to the St. Louis game, it should be fine. The Blackhawks will have problem against Lundqvist, because he is one of the best goaltenders in the league but if they get after him early they have a good chance of scoring some goals.

This is going to be a hard fought game and the Blackhawks will have to be ready and play aggressive early. The Hawks can win, and a win would be huge. The Blackhawks are currently 6th in the standings and would love to move higher in the standings to be in a better position come playoff time.

Chicago Blackhawks Year in Review

2011 was a pretty good year for the Blackhawks. There were things they did well and things that they could've done much better.

The first memorable part of 2011 for the Blackhawks was Patrick Sharp, Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, and Patrick Kane making the All-Star game. Patrick Sharp was a write-in and won the MVP trophy for the night by getting four goals.

The next memorable part of the year was the Blackhawks final day of the season. If they beat their bitter rivals, the Red Wings, they would be in the playoffs. They failed to do so, however, and had to wait and see if the Minnesota Wild would be the Dallas Stars. The Wild ended up winning and the Blackhawks made it to the playoffs. They would be playing the Vancouver Canucks, a team they had played the two previous playoff years.

The first three games of the series were lazy, unphysical, and plain bad. In the next three games, the Hawks were much better. Game 5 was probably the best game for the Hawks in the entire series. Game 6 was won by a Ben Smith overtime goal. As Blackhawks fans, including myself, celebrated I secretly thought to myself that the Blackhawks had hit their peak in the series. Game 7 started bad as the Blackhawks gave up an early goal. They stayed behind the whole game until with about a minute and half left, on the penalty kill, Hossa and Toews lead a little breakaway and Toews came up from lying on the ice shot the puck in, fell again, and then got up and celebrated. It was a true showing of what the Blackhawks captain can do. Unfortunately, the Blackhawks would not win the game despite Corey Crawford being fantastic in overtime.

Next was the long summer, something that the Blackhawks hadn't experienced in two summers. Players like Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith appreciated the rest and stepped up their game. New players were added including Steve Montador, Jamal Mayers, Daniel Carcillo, Sami Lepisto, and Sean O'Donnell. Crawford, Frolik, and Stalberg were all re-signed. It was a good offseason for Stan Bowman and the Hawks were ready for a good 2011-2012 season.

The season started okay, but got much better as the first month passed by. The Blackhawks not sit atop the standings and were the first to 50 points. Crawford and Emery are both playing fantastic. Toews, Sharp, and Hossa are among the top goal scorers in the league. The Blackhawks are doing great and have a ton of room for improvement. 2011 was nice, but 2012 has a chance to be great.

Blackhawks win 5-1

With Sharp's baby girl in attendance, the Blackhawks bounce back from a loss with a big win at home. The first period was good hockey and neither team could pot a goal. The second period started bad as the Hawks had a bad penalty kill and gave up a power play goal. Later in the period Brunette circled around the back of the net and tried to dish to an open Toews, but Toews never touched it and Brunette got the goal. 21 seconds later Sharp led a breakaway, faked the shot, skated forward and shot the puck into the back of the net. This was the turning point of the game. Stalberg would score a third goal in the third period, then Toews scored the empty net goal to win the game. With about 30 seconds left, Stalberg led a breakaway and passed to Bickell who scored. It was a great game for the Hawks all around and a great way to bounce back from a disappointing loss in Pittsburgh. Corey Crawford was great in net today and got the first star of the game. 

Brandon Pirri was recalled from Rockford and centered Sharp and Hossa the entire game. He got penalty kill and power play time and proved that he deserved it. He had no points, but played a very good game. He will probably stay up as long as Kruger is out with a concussion and maybe longer if he continues to play so well. 

Now that Crawford had a fantastic game it will be a tough decision on whether Emery will start or Crawford will start on Monday. Coach Q has a lot of time to decide, but it will be a tough decision. 

Stalberg was good again tonight. This is his second good game in a row. Coach Q said that he moved him from the top line to see if he could help get the third line going. It worked as him and Bickell both had goals and Stalberg had two assists. It's nice seeing him succeed and hopefully he continues to play well on Monday.

Blackhawks win third period, lose game.

The Blackhawks ended their five game win streak with a loss against the Penguins in Pittsburgh. The first two periods were the most frustrating and aggravating periods of hockey that I have ever watched. (This is excluding losses in the playoffs the last three years) The Blackhawks actually came out and were playing hard and well in the first ten minutes, and then something happened. Kruger got destroyed by an illegal hit that was not penalized. John Scott came to his rescue and got in the a fight and made Engelland bleed. He received a minor for instigating and a 10 minute misconduct. This lead to a power play goal for the Penguins and they didn't ever look back. The Hawks continued to take stupid penalties and play terrible defense. Emery was fantastic, but was not helped at all by the defense. The offense wasn't much better either, not capitalizing on power plays. After two periods, I was absolutely done. I wanted to turn the game off, but I couldn't because it was the once a month occurrence that I actually got to watch the Hawks on TV and I couldn't pass that up.

The Hawks came out firing in the third period and scored early. The captain got the goal even though it was meant as a pass to Stalberg. Then Stalberg got a real goal which was set up by some great passing from Kane. So, pretty much, Stalberg was the MVP of the game for the Hawks. That doesn't happen often. After those two goals, the Hawks were still behind one and had so many chances in the second half of the third period, but none of them went in. Fleury was fantastic and even with a power play to end the game, the Hawks couldn't score.

This game was pretty pathetic for the Hawks. The defense was terrible and Keith was forced to play 30 minutes including 7 minutes of penalty kill. The Blackhawks still have a game tomorrow against a struggling Montreal team. They should be able to get the win. Crawford will be back in net and maybe the defense will decide to actually play well in front of him. Despite being the best team in the NHL just a night ago, they have many things that need to be fixed. Kruger is hurt for an indefinite time period and that leaves the second center spot open. Kane can probably go there for awhile because he played well at center, but that's still a hole in the team. The Hawks could also use another defenseman.

The Blackhawks are a long way from the Stanley Cup. They were on a five game win streak, but Pittsburgh kindly exposed that the same problems from the beginning of the season are still there.

1st Quarter Grades for the Blackhawks

We're one quarter of the way through the season and it's report card team. Which players have gone above and beyond and which ones have disappointed? I'm going to tell you.

Brian Bickell C+
Bickell gets a C+ because he did well earlier this season, but has played terrible hockey lately. He has some great linemates and prove that he could score early in the season. Lately, he looks awful and will likely be replaced by Ben Smith on the third line as soon as Frolik comes back.

Dave Bolland B
Bolland was also very good in the beginning of the season, but has had a few injuries and hasn't produced as much since he's been back. His line was the best one on the team for the first two weeks of the season, but hasn't scored as much since. Bolland is still trolling and being awesome, but doesn't quite get an A because of the injuries and fall off of his line.

Andrew Brunette B-
Brunette was signed to improve the Blackhawks power play, and technically has done that. The Blackhawks power play has struggled, but with 4 power play goals this season, Brunette has improved the power play by getting his butt in front of the goalie and getting some ugly goals.

Daniel Carcillo B+
When Carcillo was brought to the Hawks, many people, including myself, was not on board and thought that he would be a punk that would be suspended most of the time and not really contribute to the team. He has surprised, though, he is now on the second line that is centered by Kane and has been a solid contributor in the top 6. This is much more than people expected, but he doesn't get an A because he has had some bad games including the first game against the Canucks.

Michael Frolik B-
Frolik has played better this year, but still isn't getting the puck in the net. Along with his other linemates, he played well in the beginning of the season. Now he's injured, but should be back soon. With the possibility of a new linemate when he comes back, maybe he will start to produce again.

Marian Hossa B+
Hossa was great with Kane at the beginning of the season, but has been moved up to the first line. He's now with Toews and gets his chances, but hasn't been producing as much. Hossa always plays well and plays hard. I'm really happy that he hasn't had any injuries yet this year.

Patrick Kane A
Kane has adjusted to his new position very well. I was one of the doubters of putting him at center, but he has proved that he plays the position very well. He wins faceoffs, plays defense pretty decently, and dishes out the puck very well. Kane matured and improved his game a lot over the summer and is now a true leader on the Blackhawks. He is probably the player that I'm most impressed with this season.

Marcus Kruger B+
Kruger stepped into the role he was given on the Hawks very well. When Bolland was out, he played well and tried to produce. His efforts kind of killed the momentum of that line, but he still played good hockey. I think he has a lot of potential and the more experience he gets, the better he will be.

Jamal Mayers B+
He's been basically exactly what I expected. He has done well on the fourth line and has gotten in some fights. Him and Carcillo are doing a good job at enforcing and also contributing on offense and playing defense. He's been a nice addition to the Hawks and I'm glad he's here.

Patrick Sharp C+
Sharp got off to a bad start this season, but improved a little bit. I'm still not impressed with what he has done so far this season. Last season he went above the expectations and scored the most goals on the Blackhawks and maybe that's why this season looks so bad, but I just think he is underachieving this year. He can do a lot better than he is doing right now.

Ben Smith A-
With only a few games in the NHL this year, it's hard to say whether he has been good or not. He could have a good chance to produce with good linemates. There will be more to say about Smith after he has some more games under his belt.

Viktor Stalberg A
Stalberg has played much better than I expected this season. He has been playing on the first line and has actually been playing well. He is scoring goals and is accenting Jonathan Toews very well. Toews is being a good captain and center by using Stalbergs strengths, speed, very well. Thanks to Toews, Stalberg has become the player that most Blackhawks fans hoped he could be, but never thought that he would actually become. I am happily surprised by Stalberg this season.

Jonathan Toews A
Toews has played like the Blackhawks captain should. He has played very well both dishing out the puck and scoring. He has 19 points already this season and is 24th in the league in that area. He's been very good helping Stalberg become a much better player as I just mentioned. He's been playing good two-way play, as always and has flat out helped the Hawks win games.

Niklas Hjalmarsson B
Hjalmarsson's normal defensive buddy was not signed for this season and is now playing in Florida. It has shown on the ice, because Hjalmarsson hasn't been playing as well without Campbell there. He struggled with Leddy as his partner and still hasn't found his niche. He is still a good player and will probably get into a groove soon.

Duncan Keith A-
Keith has played some very good games, but has also had some very bad games. He will be back with Seabrook when Seabrook comes back and that might spark Keith's game and get him back to playing his best hockey. Keith is back to playing Norris trophy defense in most of his games. He leads the league in TOI and that sometimes affects his game, but will still be a Norris trophy candidate.

Nick Leddy A
Leddy has been very impressive this season and on certain days, is the best defensive player on the ice. He has improved a lot since last year and is ready to be a top defensemen. Hopefully he can spark Hjalmarsson's game when they start playing together again.

Sami Lepisto B
I can't really give Lepisto an honest grade because I haven't seen him play much. He played a little in the beginning of the season and looked fine. Nothing extremely impressive, but nothing bad. He's been just what the Blackhawks signed him to be. He plays in the third defensive pairing every few games and does his job.

Steve Montador A
Montador has been a pleasant surprise for the Blackhawks. He's a little slow, but has played good defense and has scored some very important goals. He's one of the reasons that the Blackhawks power play is starting to get better than it was before. He might start coming back down to earth soon, but I'm still impressed with the last few games he has played.

Sean O'Donnell C+
I haven't seen much of O'Donnell this season, but what I have seen of him has been bad. One of the biggest showings of his bad play was the first game of the season. It might have been because he was a little rusty, but I wasn't impressed. I haven't seen anything from him this season that should make me happy to have him on the Blackhawks.

John Scott B-
John Scott has been, well, let's just say that he didn't get a C because he has shown flashes of getting better. But he also doesn't deserve anything above a B+. It would take me too much time to explain all my feelings about Scott.

Brent Seabrook B
Seabrook has been playing well this season despite being away from his buddy, Duncan Keith. I think that he'll play better hockey when they are reunited later this week. I'd like to see a little better hockey from Seabrook, but he's basically done a fantastic job this season.

Corey Crawford A
Crawford has been playing amazing this season. He has had to play a lot more than he expected because Emery hasn't been a very reliable backup. There are no signs that he is going through a sophomore slump and he looks like a premier goalie right now. He has had bad nights, but has been a solid goaltender all year.

Ray Emery C-
Emery hasn't played very much this season, but hasn't looked very impressive when he has played. Granted, Emery hasn't had much defensive help when he's between the pipes. I'd like to see how well Emery plays when the defense actually decides to show up, but so far this season I haven't been impressed by Emery's play.

Blackhawks win 5-1 in Vancouver

The Blackhawks played much better in this game against the Canucks. In the beginning, they had troubled getting the puck past Schneider because he was playing so well. The Canucks were actually the first to score, but would not score again for the rest of the night. Andrew Brunette's power play goal tied the game and Kane's power play goal put the Hawks up and they didn't look back from there.

The key in this game was that the power play was working. The efficiency of the power play has been a concern lately, but with the help of Montador and Brunette, the power play has been much better. They showed it last night against the Canucks and hopefully carry that success throughout the whole "circus trip".

The Blackhawks and Canucks rivalry

Over the past few years, the rivalry between the Blackhawks and the Canucks has grown. Last year, the rivalry rose to new heights. You all know the story, the Hawks were down 0-3 and made a great comeback to force game 7. In game 7, Toews had that great goal and then the OT didn't really go as planned. The Canucks "slayed their dragon" and thought that they would win the Stanley Cup as soon as they beat the Blackhawks. Some of the comments after the series against the Canucks made Blackhawks players angry. Stan Bowman went out and signed Dan Carcillo and one of the immediate things that Carcillo addressed in his press conference was that he was going to be going after certain Canucks players.

The Blackhawks essentially accomplished this goal of going after the Canucks players in their first meeting this year. The one thing they forget was that they were playing hockey and had to score goals and play defense. They played terrible in that game and didn't seem like they had the motivation to win. They made it seem like their number one goal was to beat up on the Canucks and just hit them as many times as possible.

I have a plan for the Blackhawks in this game. They need to keep playing hard hitting hockey, but they need to actually play defense and try to score some goals. They shouldn't stop playing tough hockey, because that's one of the reasons they didn't win in the playoff series. Carcillo and Mayers can still get in fights and hit hard into the boards, but they need to play smart hockey. I would love to see Carcillo score. That would honestly mean more to me than Carcillo getting in a fight with Bieksa. I want a Blackhawks win tonight, not a Blackhawks beat-down.

Blackhawks after 10 games

Through the first ten games the Blackhawks look impressive during some games and sloppy during others. Some old problems and some new problems are haunting the Hawks. They still don’t play in the third period when they have a lead, Toews has had another slow start, and they can’t seem to get the power play working. Granted, through the most recent games they have been better on the power play and third period play, they are still lacking in some areas. It’s a good thing that the good outshines the bad to this point. Kane at center has been very successful, Hossa looks to be back in it, until the recent suspension Carcillo has looked very good, the checking line is probably one of the best and yet unnoticed in the NHL. Corey Crawford is solid in net and there is no sign of a sophomore slump. All these good things and yet, the Blackhawks are under the radar. With the surprising success of the Leafs, the dominance of the Capitals, the failures of the Bruins, and the great play as always by the Red Wings, the Blackhawks have gone unnoticed and yet in those ten games they are 6-2-2. A pretty good record considering that fact that last year they were 5-4-1 in their first 10 games.

There is obviously more the Blackhawks could be doing and they probably will improve in the future. Toews is starting to heat up and Keith isn’t in as big of a slump as the beginning of the season. The Blackhawks only have two true losses. One of those losses was the very first game of the season, which was a preseason game for the Hawks and regular season game for the Stars. They were outplayed all over the ice. After watching that game, I was worried. Absolutely none of the players looked ready to lay and the big season I expected looked like it would be a disappointing one just like last season. The next few games were a little more convincing, but the game against the Bruins was a realization. The Blackhawks still had some of the same problems. They didn’t play in the third period. The Blackhawks have a good team that can go far in the playoffs. They have great players and great teamwork. This team can win the Stanley Cup if they fix some of their problems. If the Hawks continue to play the way they have, they will be very successful this season.

Hawks lose first game 2-1, play home opener tonight

I didn't get to catch the game last night, but what I heard from other fans, it wasn't very good. Q decided to change the lines as much as he possibly could. Even Montador got a chance to play wing last night. The team was crazy and everywhere. Confusion and Lehtonen are what killed the Hawks last night.

There were some positives, though. The Sharp, Toews, and Kane line was reunited and looked like the only line that wasn't completely lost. This means that Kane probably won't be playing center as expected. Q might use him there every once and awhile, but he can't deny the chemistry between those three elite players. Nick Leddy scored with 14 seconds left in the third period to prevent the shutout.

Hopefully the Hawks can get a win tonight at the United Center. They are playing the Stars again and maybe this time Q has his lines figured out. Kruger was recently recalled from Rockford and will probably be used at center on one of the lines. With Bolland and Smith out, the team looks a lot worse. When they come back, the Hawks should start clicking. But, as Patrick Sharp said, "2 points in October is just as important as 2 points in April."

Crawford didn't play extremely well and hopefully improves tonight. The Kane, Toews, and Sharp line should be together for most of the game and I predict that they'll get at least one goal. I'm predicting a Hawks win tonight.

Crawford Locked in for 3 Years, thats Crawesome

Turco was supposed to be the guy this year. When he couldn't get that done, Corey Crawford came in and showed the Blackhawks that they had a gem they didn't even know about.

I have to admit that I wasn't sure if Crawford would be a good goalie. I was afraid that using two goalies would kill both of them, because they wouldn't have confidence in themselves. Luckily, Turco handled this whole situation like a veteran should and became Corey's best friend on the team. The pictures of Turco mentoring and talking to Crawford after wins and losses were amazing. The leadership shown by Turco this year will be missed.

In the playoffs, Corey played even better than he did in the regular season. The first three games were a little shaky, but most of the goals were not his fault. He got into his rhythm starting in game 4 and in game 5 got a shutout in Vancouver. What happened in game 6 to force OT was not his fault and we got the win. His best game was game 7. He stopped so many great shots. The Blackhawks needed to win that game for him, because he played so well. He stopped everything. The OT goal was a breakaway and a great shot. There was nothing Corey could do. If he had made that stop, I would have married him.

Going into the off season the most important thing to do was to sign Crawford. They took care of this right away and now we have him for 3 more years. I predict at least one Stanley Cup team led by Crawford and Toews in those three years.

Crawford, Leddy, Smith, and Kruger were all super-rookies this year. Crawford is locked in for 3 years now. Leddy is here for awhile. Smith will be her for a long time, because there is no way Bowman gets rid of him. Kruger is not certain, but I think he will stay. I like the way the Blackhawks are going in the next three years. Smith has the same qualities as Toews and Kane on the ice and I wouldn't be surprised to see him on the second line with Hossa all year.

Crawford is a very important part of this team and will get better in the future. He did have flaws this season and even in the post-season, but he is young and will get better. He will get used to playing in the NHL and will become our franchise goalie. I don't think his play with the Blackhawks will end in 3 years either. If he plays well, which I expect him to, Bowman will be sure to keep him. I love Crawford and I feel so bad for doubting him in the beginning. It is obvious now that he is a great goalie and will help the Blackhawks win a lot more games than they did this year. 

Hawkey brings tears, smiles, and memories. The tears dry, the smiles fade, but the memories last forever.

Yes, I stole that quote. I felt it was extremely fitting for Game 7 and for Blackhawks hockey in general.

This is going to be half looking back and half looking forward, so be prepared for whiplash.

The Future
There are two major players that have contracts expiring this year, or next year that need to be signed. The first is Corey Crawford. In my opinion, not signing Niemi was not good last year but did lead us to Crawford who is a much better goalie. We can't let Crawford pass by and go to some other team. Bowman himself said that signing Corey Crawford as soon as possible is a must.

The exact quote was this:  "He's a top priority for us," Bowman said Thursday in his end-of-season address to media. "He's earned the right to be a No. 1 goalie for us and our team loves playing in front of him. He has the right demeanor and right approach. He loves to be in Chicago. He's clearly a priority for us. It's nice to know going into next year we are going to have some stability in goal."
(taken from Jesse Rodgers (@ESPNChiHawks) on ESPNChicago.com)

I totally agree with what he said, Crawford is a must. We don't have the same cap problems as we did last year and choosing to keep him should be easy. He doesn't seem like a guy who will ask for much, and whatever he asks for he honestly probably deserves. Last year, Niemi was good in the playoffs but not that great in the regular season. Crawford was good in the regular season, and great in the playoffs. Keeping Crawford is number one on the list of things to do for the Hawks.

The second thing is that they need to keep Sharp. His contract expires next year, but signing him now will just make it an easier and smoother transition. Sharp has already expressed that he would be willing to sign now, but he can't because he can't be offered anything until July 1st. He is a leader and part of the core group of guys on this team. Losing him would deeply hurt our team, who looks like they have a good chance at the cup next year. I love how much he wants to be on this team and help them win the cup again sometime in the near future. He is a big part of our team's core of players/leaders.

The Sharp and Crawford situations are really the only things that we have to deal with. It will be a calm summer with very little heartbreak over losing certain players. The Blackhawks could actually end up signing a few players over the summer. The thought of having a bigger player who can lay on hits who isn't terrible at everything else like John Scott is, sounds like a good idea. I like the thought; if we can get a big guy who can actually play hockey without too many dumb penalties and turnovers I think we should sign him. Not only to play the Canucks, but because we need an enforcer on our team.

The Past
I waited as long as I could to let my heart fix itself before I wrote about what happened in that game. The way it ended was so heartbreaking that I didn't have any words when it first happened. I immediately put my head in my unwashed "lucky" cup winning shirt and shed a tear and just sat there speechless.

I think I have gotten over the hurt enough to comment on what happened throughout the game. The biggest thing that I noticed was that Alex Burrows single-handily beat us. He scored the first goal, he got the penalty shot which Crawford had a huge save on, he scored that final goal. I know that the other players contributed, obviously, but it seemed like every time the Blackhawks turned around he was doing something to help the Canucks win.

My favorite part of that game was the Toews goal. Not only because he is one of my favorite players and I had been waiting for him to score the whole series, but also because I called it. The Canucks went on the power play and there was only about five minutes left. I tweeted that with Toews and Hossa out there a shorthanded goal should be coming and we will silence the stupid Vancouver fans. Then, Toews had the puck Hossa set up. Hossa shoots it and the puck flies back and Toews jumps off the ice and smacks the puck in the net. I was so elated with joy that I was jumping up and down and screaming.

That goal forced overtime, and the sad part that I am not even ready to talk about came next. Bad turnover that lead to an easy shot to make. There is nothing Crawford could have done. If he would have saved that, I would have gone to Vancouver and hugged him that night.

Switching gears, the real part of the past that I want to talk about it way back. In the beginning of the season, the Blackhawks did not play well and seemed to be slower than the year before. They could have blamed it on the trades that needed to be made, but they were just playing bad. They needed to snap out of the funk they were in from winning the cup and play good hockey. I'm one of those people that is thoroughly convinced that if the Hawks would have played better in the early part of the season, we would not be in this situation and should still be in the playoffs. I know that you can't go back now, but the Hawks need to learn that the beginning of the season is just as important as the rest of the season.

The beginning of the playoffs was also not good for the Hawks. They needed to win at least one of the first three games. Being in a win or go home situation every night can be taxing on a player. I'm not saying that it got to them, because I don't think it did, but that is not a situation you want to be in. In the last four games, the Blackhawks showed that they could play with the Canucks. They needed to play with that same intensity from the start. I feel like I'm repeating myself now, because the Hawks have a problem with getting off to a good start. I would like to see them realize this and learn from that.

The best way they can send a good message to me as a fan is to start the season with a lot of wins and good hockey when they lose. I will know that they realized that starts are killing them, and that they have a chance to go deep in the playoffs if that happens.

Game 6 Preview

The Blackhawks put themselves in a terrible situation. They played terrible the first three games and had no heart in their game. Being down 3-0, they realized that this is their last chance to try to move on. They realized that they are good enough to beat the Canucks. The next two games they dominated. The problem is, one mistake could send them home now because they put themselves into that nasty situation. Now they have to play each minute like it's their last, because it could be. That is a tough way to play for four straight games. If any team can do it, this team can but the road to the next round is not going to be easy. The biggest thing they can do is take it day by day and just figure out a way to win this game in front of some of the best fans in hockey.

Prediction
I don't think Vancouver is too happy about being shutout and blown out by the Blackhawks on their home ice, and will look to do the same to us on our home ice to end the series. The Blackhawks still have the momentum and are looking good, but that can change in an instant. The last two games the Hawks have been doing almost everything right. They have passed well, skated well, shot well, killed penalties well, scored on penalties well and played good defense. There isn't much more you could ask from them. On Thursday, they played fantastic hockey. The problem is, they can't stop now. That game cannot be their climax, because after the climax there is the fall and no Hawks fan wants that to happen. They still have to be rising and hit the climax in game 7. Vancouver will not make it as easy as they did on Thursday, so expect a few goals from them, but I still like the Hawks to force game 7.

Other Game Info
Seabrook is back in the lineup today. He might be taking shorter shifts than normal, but will still play. The fans that say this is a bad thing really make me mad. They think that just because we won two games without Seabrook that we should keep him out. He is a great player and is going to help not hurt our team's chances of winning this game. Yes, he gave the Hawks something to fight for on Tuesday, but the win on Thursday probably did not have much to do with Brent. The Blackhawks are winning games because they care about the playoffs and realize that they are a good team that can go far in the playoffs if they actually play hockey. Brent is only going to add to this want for a win, so if you think the Hawks are going to lose for one reason and that reason is Seabrook you should reconsider.

In other news, Dave Bolland is a badass mother fucker.