Something Good to Take Away From Game 1

I'm an eternal pessimist. Wanna know why? I stopped listening to the game after the second period. Mistake? Maybe. The Blackhawks were down 3-0, and from any accounts I could hear on the radio (yeah, screw Versus), the Blackhawks were getting picked apart. However, the Hawks made it interesting by coming all the way back and tying it 3-3. Now, the Hawks went on to give up their lead with a little over a minute left, and eventually lost 5-3, but there's something good here.

Just about any game, you'd say the team was done when they were down 3-0 heading into the third (heck, I did, and shut the radio off). However, the Hawks have picked up a "never die easy" attitude in the playoffs and I like it. I really like it.

We've watched them come back from one goal down in Game 1, Round 1. Then, we saw them come back from two down in Game 2 Round 1. Then, we saw them come back from THREE down in Game 4, Round 1. And now, we see it again. It's really unbelievable. Now, they lost Game 4 and they lost tonight, but the ability to come back from THAT many goals down is a valuable gem. Let's hope the Hawks don't HAVE to use it too often anymore.

Some sour notes?
Stay out of the penalty box! Are you kidding me? That first period was pathetic with the penalties! You can't continually put yourself down a man and expect nothing bad to happen. Keep your sticks on the ice.

Let's sandwich that with another good point, though.
Yeah, I said sandwich. It's called a compliment sandwich, haven't you ever watched Family Guy? Anyway, Patrick Kane is scoring when it really matters. Through the middle and end of the season, Kane wasn't really scoring that many goals. Sure, he had assists, which is what he really does best, but he wasn't scoring. Now that we're in the playoffs, he's stepped up his game a new level and I really like that. I really like that the Blackhawks have found the switch to turn on the heat for the playoffs. It's amazing how quickly their game can change when they really need it to.

Saturday is the next game, and I stand by my statement. If the Blackhawks don't leave Vancouver with a win, they will lose the series.

What the Blackhawks need to do in Round 2

Win at least one of the games in Vancouver (preferably both). We're the low seed in this one and that means that we do not have home ice advantage. We start the series in Vancouver and end in Vancouver. If this series takes the same course that the last one did (with the exception of the last game of the series), this means the home team will win. We cannot leave Vancouver without a win, or it's over.

The next key point is fairly obvious, but I'll say it anyway. Win at home. We're 3-0 at home in these playoffs; don't let that end. It's the easiest way to get wins, so don't let them slip through your fingers. With HUGE fan support and a great atmosphere, there's no reason not to win.

Park Dustin Byfuglien in front of the net. If you haven't seen Dustin Byfuglien, then you need to know that he's a large man and a force to be reckoned with. We're up against a tough goalie in Roberto Luongo, but there's a way to deal with good goaltenders: Don't let them see the puck. It's an old tactic that the Blackhawks in no way created, but they use pretty often with Big Buff. Battle for a spot in front of the net and block the goalie's sight until the puck gets there. That way, if the goalie even sees the puck, he has about .03 seconds to react to it.

Take the Sedins out of the equation. And I don't mean injure them. I just mean that we need to put bodies on them and make them ineffective. Make it hurt when they touch the puck, make them not want to play hockey. If we don't, the Wonder Twins will make their powers activate and decimate Khabibulin.

Keep scoring on the power-play. We did well to take advantage of a lot of Calgary's mistakes by making them pay while they were in the box. Keep it up! 5-on-4 will make things a little more even for us since Roberto Luongo might as well be two people standing in net.

On to Round 2

The Blackhawks won Monday night, ending the series with Calgary with a 4-2 record. The Blackhawks have figured out how to play in the playoffs. I have a few reasons to be hopeful and some reasons to fear our next opponent, Vancouver.

Reasons to be hopeful

1. The Blackhawks have stepped up to the learning curve. Ever since the first game, the Blackhawks have been picking up the way that playoff games are played. The first period and a half of that game showed the Blackhawks' inexperience. They looked sloppy and were simply dominated and intimidated by the Flames. However, in the second half of the game they turned things around. Once again, after winning the first two games, the Blackhawks lost two in Calgary, and they turned it on once more. Games 5 and 6 proved Chicago's might, winning 5-1 and 4-1, respectively.



2. Defensemen are scoring.

The Blackhawks first goal in these playoffs was from Cam Barker. In fact, Barker scored 3 goals in this series. Brent Seabrook and Brian Campbell each had a tally in this series as well. Scoring defensemen take a lot of pressure off the forwards and may even catch goalies off guard.


3. Nikolai is sick.
And I don't mean physically. I mean he's a monster. He stopped 43 shots on Monday to lead his team to a victory in a game that they easily could have lost had he not been on top of his games. He continues to make saves that he has no business making, and his amazing play not only fuels the rest of the team to try harder, but it also keeps them from having to put huge numbers on the board to win.


Reasons to wet myself


1. Roberto Luongo
He's sick as well. He's actually utterly ridiculous. Words really can't describe his level of play, but maybe some stats can help you understand it a little. He has a 2.34 GAA (goals against average) and a 92 SV% (save percentage). Their first matchup in these playoffs were the Blues. In four games, the Blues were only able to sneak 5 goals past him, and that was out of 131 shots. Want me to do the math? Okay, I will. That's a 96 SV% for the series. Oops, I just crapped my pants, I'll be right back to finish the rest of this post.


2. We split the series with them in the regular season.
You might say, "They split the series, that means the Blackhawks won just as many games." Yes, this is true. However, the Blackhawks won the first two games and the more recent games went to Vancouver. Not to mention, the last game we played against them was an embarrassing 4-0 routing of the Blackhawks. Also, one of the games we beat them was against Curtis Sanford in net, not Luongo. Now that split series doesn't seem too even anymore, does it?



3. They can score.
Mats Sundin was a pretty important addition to their team after they lost Markus Naslund. Also, any significant discussion of the Canucks' strengths has to include the Sedin brothers, Henrik and Daniel. They are simply electric. They are in each others minds and are a sick duo.

TWO THINGS THAT COULD GO EITHER WAY

The Canucks swept their series and were done with the first round earlier than most teams. This means that they've had time to rest up and heal up. This also means that they've had the opportunity to get cold. Think about it. They haven't had this long of a break from competitive hockey since the All-Star break. Hopefully, the latter is true and not the former.

The Blackhawks are the youngest team in the league. Young guys recover faster and are generally healthier (knock on wood). Although it may be irrelevant to the point I'm making--this also means they can keep the guys they have for a while. However, with youth comes inexperience. Many of the guys are in their first playoff appearance. As the playoffs roll on and the teams get tougher, the Blackhawks are going to have to get experience quickly.


We'll see what happens tomorrow

Draft Day Predictions

Ok, I don't have a lot of time to post, but how could I miss on draft day? Here's some predictions:

1. "Trader Ted" Thompson will trade down today.


2. If B.J. Raji is no longer available at #9, and Mark Sanchez is still on the board, he will trade the #9 overall pick to the NY Jets. Mark my words. I'll bet you $5.



3. If B.J. Raji and Mark Sanchez are both already gone at #9, I have literally no idea what the Packers are going to do, because....










4. Nobody really knows what will happen on draft day. If you rounded up all the bloggers, all the big time NFL commentators, all the beat writers and compared their predictions to what actually happened, the best any one individual would do would be to maybe get 15% of his predictions correct. Why? It's like picking an NCAA March Madness bracket. Each prediction builds on each other. So if one guy they predict gets taken out of order, most of their other picks are shot. Plus, it's impossible to count on the literally thousands of factors that each team is taking into consideration about team needs, preferences of GM's and coaches, what their team's scouts see and don't see, what's available at their pick, salary cap, and so on.


5. Finally, Anquan Boldin will be traded today.



OK, that's it for draft predictions. Now a couple of comments.

1. There's no way Matthew Stafford is that good or worth that much money. I throw my vote in with the thousands of other people, including commisioner Goodell, that want a rookie salary cap. It would reward high performers that got drafted low, it would save teams from blowing a lot of money on unproven commodoties, and it would improve the overall quality of play in the NFL.

2. I'm upset with the Packers for not going and getting Tony Gonzalez. He wanted to play for Green Bay a year ago, and from what I understand, the Cheifs blew that trade up, not TT. But still, we should have went and got him. Oh well.

Finally

Well. It's been awhile. Sorry, I've been busy. Hey, at least I have full time employment for next year. I've been trying to get on Blogger for the last half hour and it wouldn't let me. Annoying. So...I'll go over some old stuff and discuss some new stuff. And I'll post something that'll tick Spencer off.

Jay Cutler's arrival in Chicago makes the Bears the class of the division

Yeah, it hurts me to say it, but it's true. They also signed Orlando Pace. Now all they need is a good receiver. No, not Devin Hester, I said a good receiver. Somebody that's tall enough to ride rides at the fair and doesn't drop passes when he has a step and a half on a guy. I don't care how fast he is, he'll never be a good receiver.

NFC North Predictions

The division will play out as follows:
1. Bears (I already said that)
2. Vikings
3. Packers
4. Lions

Why? The Bears will win the division due to Cutler. Vikings take number 2 not so much because they improved but more because I think the Packers stock dropped. Packers are down to #3 because they changed to a 3-4 defense and have done literally nothing to address the gaping holes in their defense. And the Lions are fourth because, c'mon, they're the Lions. Not even they're new logo can help them.



5 Truths about next Saturday's Draft

1. 3-4 DE/LB's will be overrated. Why? The Steelers, who run a 3-4, won the Superbowl. The rest of the NFL looks at the Superbowl winner and overemphasizes their strong suits.

2. The Packer's won't draft B.J. Raji. Why? If he didn't smoke pot, he won't be available at #9. If he did, TT will pass on him because his big on character and all that. You know who else tested postive for pot? Warren Sapp. Usually I'm not big on sketchy characters, but they literally have to have a nose tackle, and he's the best one this year.

3. RB's will be underrated. I'm telling you, Knowshon Moreno and/or Shonn Greene are gonna be good.

4. The top 10's gonna have more defensive players than offensive players. There's some quality on defense, and not as great of offense as last year.

5. The Lions are gonna take Matthew Stafford. And they really shouldn't. I just don't think he's #1 overrall kind of good. I'm not even convinced that he's first round good. Georgia way underperformed last year, and a QB bears a lot of responsibility for his team's performance. Then again, I wasn't sold on Matt Ryan last year, and we all know how that turned out.

You mean that we can come from behind?

Well, I was surprised. Were you? The Blackhawks started both of the first two playoff games shakily. That part didn't surprise me. What did, was that they were able to shake it off.

Game 1 was in Chicago, and the Blackhawks came out with their eyes glazed over. It was as if the word playoffs had taken away all their abilities. To say that the first period was atrocious is an understatement. The Hawks were unable to keep possession long enough to get any decent attempts. In fact, they only had a paltry four shots on goal in the first period, while managing to give up 10 to Calgary, which included a goal.

The Blackhawks began to pick it up in the second period with a goal by Cam Barker. They started to pull closer in the stats and left the period with a tie game. Barker's goal had definitely re-ignited the crowd and gave the Hawks a chance.

However, it seemed their chances were snuffed out by a goal from Mike Cammalleri early in the third period. But Calgary managed to give up another soft goal as they allowed Martin Havlat to charge the net through three defenders, take a shot, get the rebound, and slide it home. Regulation ended in a tie. They were going to overtime.

Calgary won the faceoff in OT and drifted back into their zone to set up. A cross-ice pass was knocked down by Dave Bolland who charged up the ice with Andrew Ladd coming alongside him, and Havlat a ways behind him. Ladd drove to the net, distracting Calgary goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff as Bolland dropped a pass back to Havlat to sniped it in for the game-winner, 12 seconds into OT.

The goal, however, was highly contested by Calgary, because, as Ladd cut to the net, and Havlat put the puck home, Ladd made contact with Kiprusoff. However, Ladd would have never touched him had Calgary's defenseman not blocked him into Kiprusoff. When I saw the replay the first time, I thought, "That's a cheap goal." But, after watching it a few more times, you see that Ladd wouldn't have made contact had he not been blocked down. Also, Ladd's contact did not restrict Kiprusoff from moving to the side that he needed to in order to make the save.

The second game started a little better. The Blackhawks played like they had all season, unfortunately that wasn't good enough to keep the Flames at bay. They scored two goals in the first frame; one of them a powerplay goal by Jerome Iginla. Down 2-0 after one period, I had already written off my Blackhawks.

That night, the Blackhawks taught me that writing them off wasn't fair. The Blackhawks put the game within manageable reach when Jonathan Toews scored a one-timer early in the second. Later in the period, the Hawks got on an odd-man rush, with Patrick Kane bringing the puck down the right side. He made a quick pass to Patrick Sharp who was gliding in right up the middle. Kiprusoff slid across the paint to the his right, but Sharp knocked the puck the other way before putting it home. The game tied at 2 and the fans going crazy, the Hawks weren't done yet in the second period as Jonathan Toews scored his second goal of the night on an in-tight goal. The Hawks had turned around their fate as they headed into the third period, up 3-2.

The third period was a defensive struggle. Both teams had a few opportunities, but no one was able to score. The Blackhawks had pulled it off, a come-from-behind win; a rare feat for this team. However, the Blackhawks have come from behind in several of their most recent games. We've already talked about the two playoff games, but let's also mention the game in Detroit during the home-and-home at the end of the seaon and their win over the Predators not long before that.

This new talent that the Blackhawks have picked up is going to be highly useful during the playoffs. It seemed that for most of the season, if the Blackhawks didn't score first, they didn't win. Now, it seems like that's the only way they win. It's especially helpful since they haven't been the first to score in a lot of their more recent games.

The Blackhawks traveled to Calgary yesterday and play tomorrow at 9. I'm interested to see how the Calgary crowd will affect the Blackhawks game. Sure, I think the home crowd had a lot to do with both of their playoff wins, but they also came from behind in Detroit, who hates Chicago (and vice versa). I think they have what it takes to take them down at home, but tomorrow will tell.

We've figured a few things out

1. Believe it or not, we CAN win without Patrick Sharp (although, I don't prefer it). After being out for a month during February and March, Sharpie came back to play a few games before colliding with Predators' goalie, Pekka Rinne, and slamming his knee into the goalpost. Last time Sharpie was out, the Hawks suffered. However, Khabibulin was out at the same time. So who's the real critical link? The Blackhawks haven't lost in regulation this April. I'm glad to see the Blackhawks doing well, but I would like to have him back for the playoffs (which we should).

2. We have home-ice advantage for the first round. The Blackhawks clinched the fourth spot in the West. They have more points than third place Vancouver, but since the top three spots are taken by the division leaders, the Hawks are pushed down to fourth. However, fourth is still good enough to have home-ice advantage for round one. This is important as the Blackhawks have been 25-9-7 at home this season. And why not? Chicago has supported it's team so well at home that they broke the record for season attendance. The Hawks have sold out almost all (if not all) of their home games this season. Having home-ice advantage is huge.

3. We're playing Calgary.

This is probably the best news that Chicago got. There was a tight race between Vancouver and Calgary for the Northwest Division title, and thankfully, Calgary lost that race. The Blackhawks swept Calgary this year, and almost swept Vancouver as well. The differences are these: the game we did lose to Vancouver was recent....and terrible (4-0) AND the Canucks have Roberto Luongo (possibly the best goalie in the league). Against the Flames, the Blackhawks have a more favorable matchup with Miikka Kipprusoff, who used to be really good and is now just kind of good. I also like the fact that we didn't falter against them this year.

4. We can beat the Red Wings.

Or maybe I should say, "We can beat top-tier teams." The Blackhawks finished the season with a home-and-home with Detroit. Up until this weekend, the Blackhawks were unable to beat the Red Wings this year (although they held decent leads in at least two of their previous confrontations, only to give them up and lose). Chicago would be the team coming from behind this time. They came from a 2-1 deficit to tie and then took the lead in the last minute of a 4-2 victory. Sunday's game was a showcase of Nikolai Khabibulin's talent as he deflected 37 shots, many of which came from the Red Wings dangerous power play team. Khabibulin deserved a shutout with the way he played. And you know what? He got one. The Blackhawks sent the Red Wings away with a 3-0 defeat. This is a huge pick-me-up for Chicago. This April, they proved to us that they could beat marginal teams, like Nashville and Columbus, that they lost to previously this season. But back-to-back victories over the Red Wings does so much more to boost the confidence of the Blackhawks.

Would I believe it if...

• Someone told me that the Rangers might not make the playoffs?
  No, and here's why. Let's flash back to Week 1 in the NHL. There were two teams that seemed to stand well above the rest as soon as the gate opened: the Sharks in the West and the Rangers in the East. ESPN's power rankings for Week 1 put the Rangers at the top. They started the season 5-1. In fact, in the month of October, they only lost 3 games! However, in each of the next three months, they failed to go .500! February was rock bottom, when they went 3-6-4, including one loss to Dallas 10-2! March has been a rebound period in which they've gone 8-4-1, but the damage had already been done. If the playoffs were today, they would barely make it into the playoffs by a tie-breaker with a playoff-hungry Florida team. The Rangers definitely do not have an assured spot in the playoffs.
  
  
• Someone told me that Dallas would be statistically eliminated by early April?

No way. They made the playoffs last year! What could have possibly changed that much? How about a career-high GAA (goals against average-the average number of goals a goalie allows per game) of 2.82. I don't know a whole lot about the Stars' problems this year (other than Avery), but I know that Turco wasn't the same shutdown goaltender he was last year. He dropped from a .909 SV% (save percentage) last year to a .898 SV% this year. Differences like that can make differences in a team's season.

• Someone told me that the Devils would be among the tops in the East?

This one isn't so much from the start of the seaon, but from Nov. 1 on. Very early in the season, the Devils' all-star goalie, Martin Brodeur was told he would be out for 3-4 months (yes, I said months) with a torn bicep. Worse yet, no one has ever heard of their back-ups. At first, Kevin Weekes took most of the starts. But the Devils found they had a much better weapon in Scott Clemmensen (I told you that you never heard of these guys). Clemmensen was, for all intents and purposes, a nobody. Drafted in the 8th round, 215th overall in 1997 by the Devils and only played 3 games last year in Toronto. This year, Clemmensen went 25-13-1 with a .917 SV% and a 2.39 GAA. Clemmensen gave his team a chance when they should have had none.

I would be remiss if I did not mention another great up-and-comer, Zach Parise. Drafted in 2003 and in his 4th year in the NHL, Parise bested his previous best point total of 65 on February 11th this year. Currently he has 93 points and the season's not over.

• That the Blackhawks would be in the playoffs?
  

Yes and no. Yes, at the beginning of the season, before any games were played, I fully expected the Blackhawks to make the playoffs. They were bringing back the only good things about last year: Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, and Patrick Sharp. Dale Tallon was also not afraid to spend some money to bring in some players in areas in which we needed a lot of help. Brian Campbell, one of the fastest defensemen in the NHL would help out the Blackhawks on the back end. And Cristobal Huet (G) was picked up, for what most people expected to be a replacement for the injury-prone Khabibulin. Khabi would later prove he wasn't done yet and Huet would later explain why the Canadiens liked Carey Price better. Either way, things were looking pretty bright.

However, the Blackhawks opened the season by losing three in a row. I was devastated. I thought, "If they don't go somewhere this year, they never will." The Blackhawks finally pulled out a win in their fourth game, right before their coach, Denis Savard, was fired and replaced by Joel Quenneville. I was puzzled at first. "Why did you wait til he won a game to fire him? And why so early in the season?" Because the Blackhawks didn't have time to waste. If they were going to do something this year, they needed to root out the problem quickly. If Savard couldn't win with the team he had, he wasn't fit to coach them.

One of the biggest drawing points of Quenneville was that 9 out of the 11 seasons he had coached, he had taken his team to the playoffs. Quenneville managed to take the team on a franchise record 10-game winning streak and, until March, kept all losing skids to 3 or less. Q has not been afraid to change up lines when things aren't working. Then again, sometimes he mixes up lines that shouldn't be touched. Anyway, he isn't afraid to try new things, which is something I think they need to be able to stay on track. And, whaddya know, on Friday, the Blackhawks clinched their first playoff berth in 7 years against Nashville.

Now, the only question is, who will the Blackhawks face in the first round?