Blues fans are an interesting breed. Their opinions on hockey never ceased to amaze me. I couldn't even begin to count the number of nights I spent at the local campus establishment defending the Hawks honor against all who were willing to engage me. Some arguments were casual, others more aggressive. But regardless, it became fairly obvious to me that never tasting an ice cold beer from Lord Stanley's Cup was beginning to take it's toll on the minds of Blues fans everywhere.
Who in their right mind could say Oshie-Berglund-Perron is as deadly a combo as Kane-Toews-Hossa? Likewise, who could really believe that Cam Janssen offers more to a team than Ben Eager? Some arguments did hold a hint of legitimacy, Duncan Keith vs. Erik Johnson, ehh maybe....but not really.
But when all the chips were down and both parties had their say, there was one thing I shared with every Blues fan I came across; a deep deep hatred for Barret Jackman. A hatred that only a vicious right cross from John Scott could alleviate. Maybe tonight two cities will get their wish!
Blackhawks vs. Blues at the United center tonight, first meeting of the year. It pains me to see that Cam Janssen will be scratched because he is the sole reason I was excited about signing John Scott. I guess we will have to wait for that scrap, settling for a Scott vs. Winchester battle instead.
But let's not focus on 5 minutes of ice time fourth liners. In addition to continued dominance by Hossa and Sharp, I really hope the defense can show signs of hope tonight. Facing an average offensive attack should provide another opportunity for the Hawks to tighten up on the back end. Turco has looked great, but I'm not convinced he can last all year facing 40 shots per night.
I also imagine Captain Serious will give a strong effort tonight. As focused as he is on the total team effort, Toews can only watch Hossa and Sharp steal the spotlight for so long. I wonder if he will get some time alongside Kane like we saw on Saturday.
The Hawks and Blues have had a revived rivalry the past few years, I expect that to continue tonight. This one should be fun! Go Blackhawks! I look forward to hearing from you loyal readers postgame.
Filed under: '10-11 Regular Season
I'm embarrassed that this is my first comment on your blog, but I just want to say that Cam Janssen is super cool. I am curious to hear your thoughts on my over/under for the evening. Over/under 5 punches thrown by Jackman after the whistle or immediately followed by a Jackman turtle? What I do know is that I wish I was wearing a mustache and watching the hawks warm up at Scottrade right about now
Haha welcome Dan, it's a pleasure to have you here. I would have taken the over had I seen this pregame but Jackman was kinda quiet last night. There was one play he cross checked Kopecky about 12 consecutive times while he was down on the ice but that was the most Jackman like thing I noticed. Also, maybe we could make your wishes come true at some point this season?
Jackman also grabbed Toews by the jersey and whipped him to the ground right after Hossa's tying goal leading to a bit of a kerfuffle.
I don't think the Hawks had enough possession in the Blues' zone for Jackman to truly give one of his custom performances.
Niemi isn't melting the ice in San Jose with hot goaltending. So far he's 1-2 with 3.71 GAA.
At a point in the year when a lot of perennial good teams are struggling, it's good that we have the record we do. We are not going to win the same way we did last season with shut down defense and goal that magically appeared by just putting the hottest hands together at any given time. Sharp and Hossa have now stolen two games nearly singlehandedly after getting outplayed for pretty long stretches in both games. If they continue to gel they may eventually be good enough to live off of mistakes like the Wings do, but something needs to change with how they are currently playing the game. Three teams in a row have gummed up center ice and have picked off multiple bad passing decisions. That we are still scoring and winning is good, but Q is going to have to figure out something to deal with the trap without burning so much energy every night.
Hoss is on fire!! Nobody has been close to his play since Hull-mikita and i mean NOBODY Wait till Toews warms up! GO HAWKS!!
Q is now appealing for a supernatural answer to how he can keep both Hossa and Sharp on the ice for an entire game.
HUGE effort from Turco tonight as well.