All You Can Do Is Laugh: Hawks End It Like It Started

 

The Chicago Blackhawks closed out the regular season with appropriately, yet another loss, this time to the Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres are a team that has hit rock bottom and is on the rise with a bright future with 2 number one (overall) draft picks in the lineup on defense. The Hawks are close to hitting rock bottom and a rebuild will be in the works for the next couple of seasons. The Hawks habit of not protecting leads came into play as they had one goal leads twice in the game with the Sabres tying the game both times before scoring the overtime winner. A frustrating season for Hawks fans that has finally come to an end and hopefully their fortunes take an upward turn next season. Fingers crossed!

Takeaways:

• I missed watching the game on Friday, so I had to resort to watching the replay on Saturday afternoon, which is okay because where I live it's solidly rained all day. I don't know what's wrong with NHL Live, but the stream froze with 40 seconds left in the third and when I switched to the Sabres broadcast it stopped with the exact time left in the game. What the hell! If I was watching this live I would have been going crazy! I couldn't access the overtime so I had to resort to the highlights on the NHL website. Disappointing finish!
• For whatever reason, the Hawks wore their home red jerseys and as usual there was a lot of red in the crowd. Despite a losing season, it was a good crowd in Buffalo.
• Speaking of, "for whatever reason", Sabres goalie (and former Blackhawk), Malcolm Subban sang the American anthem. Smiles from both teams, Subban did a commendable job, though he had a little trouble with some of the high notes and some other notes...😄 Well done Malcolm!

• Goals: Dominik Kubalik opened the scored about midway through the second period with his 15th goal of the season from a sneaky feed from Alex Vlasic for his 2nd point of the season. Dom's had rough season, but he's shown good compete level for the past month or so, maybe he can carry that into next year. Dylan Strome broke a 1-1 tie with a nice deflection about midway through the third with his 22nd. A good bounce back second half of the season for Dylan who has been a good fit with Kane and the Cat. Unfortunately, the lead didn't hold up with Owen Power tying it up to force OT about five minutes later.

• Quick notes: The Hawks resigned Sam Lafferty to two more seasons. Good move by the Hawks, it's an affordable deal for a player that has shown what a lot of hard work and hustle can do. He is the polar opposite of Alex Nylander the player they traded to acquire Laffy. Interestingly, the player they traded to get Nylander from the Sabres, Henri Jokiharju, who was a top Hawks prospect a couple of years ago, is now a solid top-4 D for Buffalo. Collin Delia played a good game, though Power's goal was stoppable. The future of Delia is as uncertain as the whole goaltending situation with the Hawks. It will be an interesting off-season.
• Patrick Kane finished the season with 93 points, his third highest total. For such a losing season, this really reflects the importance and reliance of scoring placed on Kane who had 14 more points than Alex DeBrincat. To put in perspective how top heavy the scoring is with the top line, the points drop with the next highest scorer after Kane/Cat/Strome and Seth Jones to Jonathan Toews with 37 points. Hard to imagine if the rebuild includes dealing some or all of these players. I cringe to think about it.

Up next: Well, the regular season is over for the Blackhawks and it'll be a time now to evaluate what went wrong. As a fan of the team I can only hope this "rebuild" will be quick and less painful than this season. We need some optimism and I really hope the team's management and ownership is in the right hands. What do I know, I don't even live in Chicago. The same could be said for my hometown, Winnipeg Jets who also are wrapping up a disappointing season. Unlike the Hawks, they have a solid core of players that just need a fine tune and add a couple key positions. The Hawks may have to tear it down!

Home Is Where The Heart Is: Hawks Win 4-3!

The Chicago Blackhawks played their last home game of the season and rewarded their fans with a shootout win over the Vegas Golden Knights. Tyler Johnson scored the only goal in the seven-round shootout, while Kevin Lankinen blanked all the Golden Knight shooters. The loss by Vegas officially eliminated the Knights from post-season action for the first time in their history. To rub it in further, the Dallas Stars did get the point they needed in their OT loss to Arizona, when they incredibly blew a 3-goal third period lead. The Hawks win sealed Vegas' fate anyways. Hey, the Hawks have won two in a row!

Takeaways:

• The Hawks got two goals from Taylor Raddysh, the second one with 2 seconds left in the first period, to take a 2-1 lead. It was Raddysh's 10th and 11th goals of the season and his first multiple goal game in his career. After the Knights tied it, Caleb Jones moved in from the point and fired a top corner shot from the slot to take the lead 3-2. It was the younger Jones's fifth goal of the season to equal brother, Seth. Vegas tied it again on a re-direction from Max Pacioretty. There was no scoring in the third or overtime periods.

• Kevin Lankinen played well, shutting the door in the shootout and OT, but he'll want back the second Vegas goal when he was beaten by a wrist shot from the point by Alec Martinez with no traffic in front of the net. It was a clean faceoff win directly to Martinez whose shot Lankinen should have had. The third goal was similar, a faceoff win, point shot, but it was deflected, so Lankinen little chance.
• Disappointing season for the Blackhawks, but it wasn't unexpected. We pretty much suspected they would miss the playoffs as early as November after their terrible start, so we had half the season to face the reality that this team will be going through a re-build. There was high expectations for the Vegas Golden Knights who many thought could challenge for the top of the Pacific or even the Western Conference, but a series of mis-steps, mis-calculations and key injuries did the Knights in. After making up ground on the Stars with a string of wins and an opportunity to close the gap, they lost some key games against the Oilers and Devils and lost valuable points in three shootout loses in a row this week. Wow, what a mess! (and this is coming from a Hawks fan!)

• Once again, the underrated, Sam Laffery had a strong game. He has been a bright spot since the Hawks acquired him from Pittsburgh for the underachieving, Alex Nylander. He set up both of Raddysh's goals and he's shown he can contribute with some offensive. It's his relentless fore-checking, using his speed and dogged determination that makes him stand out. The combination of Laffery and Raddysh are a good replacement for the skills of Brandon Hagel. Potentially another good trade by Kyle Davidson. You have to feel good for Tyler Johnson for scoring the shootout goal. His season has been mainly a write-off with his multiple injuries and inconsistent play, but the last month or so, he has played much more to his potential. He's playing with more confidence and it's positive that he's finishing the season strong. If he can stay healthy, he could be a valuable contributor next season.

Sam Laffery's "hockey smile" is attributed to those 3 teeth he lost inside the red circle, in a previous against the B's.

 

Up next: the final regular season game of the year for the Hawks on Friday night at 6:00 pm in Buffalo. Unfortunately, I have another engagement that night, so for the first time in a while I won't be watching the game live (in real time). I know it's no be deal, but I will watch it later that night or the next day, then we can discuss the playoffs, which sadly won't include the Blackhawks or the Winnipeg Jets...😞

It Still Feels Nice To Win, Once In A While!

The Chicago Blackhawks began the final week of their season with a win against another non-playoff team, the Philadelphia Flyers. Coming into the game the Flyers were feeling pretty good riding a two game winning streak and hoped to extend it to tie a season high of three in a row. They left the United Center probably feeling pretty crappy after losing to a team that has only won twice in the last 15 games, to Arizona and San Jose, both in extra time. Most of the scoring occurred in the first eight minutes of the game with the Hawks leading 2-1, finally the Cat extended the lead to 3-1 about halfway through the third period. Nothing very eventful happened during the scoreless second period, despite the Hawks continued inability to clear their zone. Fortunately, the Flyers were inept at taking advantage. Yes, the Hawks hung on and won their first game in regulation time in over a month. Yay!

Quick Notes:

• Goals: Another fast start for the Hawks with Erik Gustafsson scoring 1:44 into the game from a feed from Jonathan Toews, then the captain added one of his own less than 5 minutes later. Alex DeBrincat's goal in the third was from the all-too-familiar Kane to Cat one-timer. Timely for sure, because the Flyers were hanging around and this very easily could have gone the other way. 

• Almost a Goal: With just over a minute left in the third, the goalie pulled and on a Flyers power-play, they came dangerously close to making it 3-2. A shot went past Lankinen, hit the post, the puck bounced in the crease behind Lankinen, Riley Stillman saved a goal by clearing it from going into the net, then a pile of players landed in the crease with the puck loose. The puck eventually went between Stillman's legs who was sprawled on his back, and rested underneath him. It needed a video review to determine it did not in fact cross the line. Yay!

• Power-play? Once again the power-play didn't yield a goal. During one stretch, late in the second to mid-third, the Hawks had four consecutive man advantages. They moved the puck around really well and had some quality chances, but the Flyers 3rd or 4th string goalie, Felix Sandstrom made some great stops. On the fourth PP, they gave up more shorthanded shots than the PP. They finished 0/5 on the PP. Interesting fact (they mentioned during the ESPN+ broadcast), the Blackhawks are the only team in the league without a goal from a defensemen on the power-play. Yikes!
• A good game from Toews who was named first star of the game, which would be even better news if the Hawks were entering the playoffs, as he's beginning to regain his form. A tough year for Tazor and hopefully he'll return next season. Overall, the D was fine with both rookies, Vlasic and Regula playing strong games. As far as forwards, Sam Laffery continues to impress, as he set up the breakaway goal for Toews when he got out of the penalty box (heads up play!) and he got into a wrestling match late in the game after getting cross checked into the end boards, then cross checked in the back of the head from Joel Farabee. Tyler Johnson and Philip Kurachev played well and the Strome line had most of the scoring chances thanks to the PPs.

Apparently, the captain was in a giving mood tonight.

While Sam Lafferty was in more of a receiving, then giving mood!

 

Up next: Last Chicago home game on Wednesday at 7:30 against Vegas. If The Golden Knights can beat the Dallas Stars tonight, the Hawks game will be a meaningful for the Knights. If they lose, they miss the playoffs and might not bother flying to Chicago.

Wake Me Up When It's Over: Zzzzzzz....Looooose!

Despite out-shooting the San Jose Sharks 28-19, the Blackhawks mainly shot blanks, while the Sharks capitalized on their chances. It took both teams six minutes into the opening period to register the first shot and it was the Sharks that took the first, then scored on the rebound. It got worse from there as the Sharks scored two more before the Hawks scored late in the second period. The Sharks added another in the third on the PP, but for the most part the period was filled with pointless penalties and boring "action". Yes, there were periods of time in the second and third I felt drowsy and it wasn't from the half beer I was nursing. Another uneventful and uninspired effort from the Hawks that generated some harmless chances and when it was 3-1 early in the third, I was thinking, "if they can get the next goal, we have a hockey game (I love hockey cliches!)", but on cue the Sharks scored the fourth...oh well, one week left.

Highlights?

• To be honest, from a Hawks standpoint there wasn't much highlights. Let's see...Tyler Johnson scored his 3rd of the season and you know this team has trouble scoring goals when the "2nd" line has scored a majority of goals recently. The Strome/Cat/Kane line had the most opportunities and definitely were the biggest threat, but there are times you can feel that Kane just wants this season to end soon.

• Lankinen was so-so in the game with his rebound control still an issue. The first goal was a perfect example. He did make a couple highlight reel-type saves, as he has his last couple starts, but his defense didn't help with giveaways-a-plenty.

• If it wasn't obvious already, Henrik Borgstrom doesn't get much love from his coach, Derek King. Going from a frequent healthy-scratch to playing barely over 5 minutes (5:39), you have to wonder if he'll be back next season. Believe it or not he has more than twice as many penalty minutes (20) than points (7) this season and for a supposedly young skilled player that isn't physical, this won't help his playing time. I truly think he has some untapped potential, but his confidence level couldn't be very high right now.
  

Up next: The Blackhawks final week of the regular season begins on Monday back at home against the Philadelphia Flyers at 7:00 pm. A nice little three game winning streak to end the season would be a nice way to close out a horrible season. Unlikely, but not impossible...😏

Playing Out The String: Winning Streak Ends

I guess we shouldn't be surprised, not that the Blackhawks lost again, but the fact it'll get increasingly painful to watch this team for the rest of the season. It's a team that has absolutely nothing to play for the season so why bother trying, tight?. It's one thing if they wanted to play spoilers and want to end the season on a high note, but judging by the lack of intensity or pushing to gain zone time is reflected in their lack of actual chances to score. There have been moments when the team is playing the right way and there are some players that have something to prove (perhaps to get re-signed?) and it is an opportunity for players such as Vlasic and Regula to gain more pro-level experience. On the positive side there is only one more week to the regular season, so hang in there Hawks fans.

Quick takeaways:

• Need shots! The Hawks finished the game out-shot by LA 36-16, which is flattering considering at the halfway point of the game it was 23-6. The score was flattering as well as, Collin Delia kept the Hawks in the game especially in the first period when it seemed like the puck was in the Hawks end most of the period (which it was). Despite the lack of chances, the Hawks hung in there and were within a goal until around the 12 minute mark of the third. The Kings scored two goals in 15 seconds to take a 4-1 lead and it was game over. How many times this season have they given up goals in quick succession?

• Goal?: The Hawks only goal almost didn't happen. Patrick Kane's goal was challenged by the Kings for offside, as Kane was trying to tag up to the blue line before DeBrincat entered the zone (Kane had to get his skate to the blue line from inside the zone, before the Cat could fully cross the blue line into the zone). The replay angles revealed it was too close to call and fortunately the call on the ice was a good goal. This made it 2-1, plus the Hawks went on the PP, which went nowhere and they were lucky to get out of the period down by one. Jonathan Toews and Dominik Kubalik were stuck on the ice for the final 3 1/3 minutes of the second period. Toews was a little...well, a lot frustrated after the period (see photo above).
  

• After the the Kings 4th goal, Collin Delia left the game after laying on the ice in pain following the goal. He stretched across side to side and I suspect he must of pulled something. It's too bad because he played well and if not for the two quick goals, he almost stole one from the Kings.

Up next: The road trip concludes in San Jose on Saturday at 7:00 pm. Another meaningless match between two non-playoff teams. I'll watch anyways, of course.

It Shouldn't Have To Be This Hard: Hawks Win!

Playing the worst team in the league - check!

Score a goal in the first minute- check!

Take a 3-1 lead into the third period- check!

Did I mention they are playing the WORST team in the league...sounds like an easy win right?

Nothing has come easy this season for the Blackhawks and when they had a chance to expand the lead, instead they almost blew it and took the long way to the win. Fear not, the Hawks did win the game and did settle it with 37 seconds left in overtime, but not before blowing a two goal lead in the third period to allow the Coyotes to tie it at 3-3.

 

Quick notes:

• Horrible team: The Coyotes came into the game losing 7 in a row (8 now) and were outscored 43-10 during those games. Statistically they are the worst team in pretty much any category, yet they had beaten the Hawks already this season, which is sad because Arizona has only won 22 games all season. On paper, the Hawks have at least a half a dozen players that would be Arizona's best player.
  
• Goals: Jake McCabe scored 42 seconds into the first period, which is the fastest Hawks goal this season at the start of a game. Dominik Kubalik scored his 13th of the season and second in three games after being a healthy scratch for a few games. He's playing with a lot more urgency since returning. The third Hawks goal was from Alex Vlasic for his first career goal. It was eerily similar to Alec Regula's goal the other night, a long shot from the point, except Vlasic's went off of Nick Schmaltz's skate. The OT winner was from (who else!) Alex DeBrincat notching his 40th of the year. It was a sweet set up from Patrick Kane on a tap-in.
  

Kaner retrieving the souvenir puck for Vlasic's first goal.

• Rookie D: A positive from a future standpoint is the play of rookie defensemen, Alex Vlasic and Alec Regula. Both have shown confidence in the past few games and led several offensive rushes. Both are big and quite mobile, which is great news going forward.
• Father/son: Riley Stillman's dad is an assistant coach on the Coyotes. No doubt there will be some home cooking for Riley!

• Power-play?? It was one of those games where the Hawks could have expanded their lead, but were failed by their powerplay. In the third period when the Hawks were up 3-1, they had a power-play that should have made 4-1 (did I mention the Coyotes are the worse penalty killers in the league?), but instead the Yotes made it 3-2 right after. Tied 3-3, the Hawks had a man advantage with 3:45 left in the third and once again failed to capitalize. How often do you get that opportunity in a tie game that late in the game? Chicago finished the game 0/5 on the power-play! Terrible!
• Silver Stick: On a happier note, Arizona's Andrew Ladd played in his 1,000th game of his career! The two-time Stanley Cup champion has had a wonderful career and I know him well from his time as the first ever captain of the Winnipeg Jets (2.0) and of course, the cup win in Chicago in 2010. It's been a tough couple years for Laddy, so it's good to see him reach that milestone and it's cool it was against the Hawks. Not sure if they presented Ladd with the silver stick, the Hawks broadcast omitted any pre-game ceremony, if there was one.
  
• New arena, you say?: So, I hear the Coyotes are moving to a new arena next season at the Arizona State University with a capacity of 5,000 fans and the Coyotes owner, Xavier Gutierrez says, "It's going to be packed!"...hahahaha, you sure about that? Currently, the team is lucky to have that many actual fans in the building and last night's numbers were inflated by the huge amount of Hawks fans in the building. There seemed to be a lot of red, Hawks jerseys and empty seats.

Up next: another late one in L.A. tonight. Win streak perhaps?

Closer Than They Appear: Hawks Still Lose

It wasn't the start the Blackhawks wanted, as they game up a goal 22 seconds into the game and that was followed by another goal six minutes later to give the Calgary Flames the early lead. The Hawks responded less than a minute later, but the Flames added one more before the end of the first period. Mid-way through the game, the Hawks were being out-shot by the Flames 24-8, if it wasn't for a solid effort from Kevin Lankinen, this game could have got out of hand quickly. The Hawks scored the only goal in the second period to make it 3-2. The Hawks hung in with the Flames and carried much of the play in the third, but couldn't tie, with Calgary adding two empty net goals to end the threat. All in all, despite a slow start, the Blackhawks kept up with one of the league's elite teams and it was actually closer than the score indicated.

Takeaways:

• Goals: Tyler Johnson scored only his second goal of the season after a hard fore-checking shift with linemates, Jonathan Toews and Dominik Kubalik. They were the Hawks most effective line. The other goal was scored by Alec Regula who scored his first career NHL goal on a wrist shot from the point. Clearly, the weakest goal of the game given up by Jacob Markstrom, a candidate this season for the Vezina.

• Injuries: It didn't look good for MacKenzie Entwistle when he left in the first period with a suspected shoulder injury. He took a solid check and immediately left the ice holding his shoulder and didn't return. I would guess he's done for the season. Jonathan Toews left the game momentarily when he took a high stick above his mouth, no penalty on the play, but he did return.
• (Lack of) Communication: Johnny Gaudreau is having a career season and he played a great game, but one of his two could have been prevented. As Gaudreau was "circling the wagons" in the Hawks zone, Hawks forward, Taylor Raddysh skated away from Johnny to allow him a clear path to the goal.. On the replay, it was clear there was a lack of communication on the ice from the defenders, but it looked bad. Gaudreau's second goal was a garbage empty netter.

"You got him, no, you got him", Raddysh (#11) loses his man.

• Young Eddie: During the broadcast, Eddie Olczyk shared a photo from 1984, three weeks before he was a member of the U.S. Olympic hockey team, dropping a ceremonial puck. Facing off was Philadelphia Flyer, Bobby Clarke (who Eddie said was his favorite player) and Hawks captain (and Calgary head coach), Darryl Sutter. That summer, Olczyk was drafted by the Hawks and became teammates with Sutter. Eddie said he showed Sutter the photo before the game and got him to sign it. Oh, those fond memories!

Up next: Hawks are on the road for one more trip to the desert to play the Coyotes on Wednesday at 9:00 pm. Come on, they can't lose to them again!!

It's Not The Team I Hate, It's Their Fans

Patrick Kane scores the Hawks first goal, but who the hell is this guy?

 

It was an early game in Nashville, a rare 11:30 am Saturday start time. There are few teams that annoy me in the NHL, there is of course, the Leafs, who for most fans in Canada, outside of Ontario despise and wish the worse for. Most of other teams are rivals of the Blackhawks, the Blues have always had an intense relationship and the Nashville Predators for the past several seasons have been a thorn in the side of the Hawks. Since that first round series loss to the the Preds in 2017, when the Hawks were the top seed in the West and Nashville 15 points behind in the standings, Nashville easily sweep the Hawks 4-0 and outscored them 13-3 in the series. since then the Hawks were on a downward spiral, while the Preds got better. The Hawks did beat Nashville earlier in the season, but Nashville is desperate to keep pace with Dallas (tied with before the game), Vegas and Vancouver. I would love nothing more than if the Preds missed the playoffs. Sometimes it's not necessarily the team I hate, it's their fans, Nashville is the perfect example. With their fake country music, loving-hockey "fans" and the Trashville fans chanting that stupid goalie shaming, "you suck, you suck..." after every Nashville goal, it's enough to forever hate those idiots!

Takeaways:

• Patrick Kane hit another milestone this game as he played his 1,100th game. Even Patrick Sr. was in the crowd. Kaner scored the Hawks first goal and added an assist, but what's the deal with the guy in the front row along the glass, that Kane stared down after he scored the 1-1- goal in the first period? Anyone?
  
• Domink Kubalik who was a healthy scratch last game, scored the Hawks second goal with an assist from rookie Lukas Reichel. It was Reichel's first point in his NHL career. It was in his 10th game this season which means he has burned the first year of his entry level contract. Looking forward to see what type of role he plays next season and I expect he will be given the opportunity to succeed offensively, something the Hawks desperately need.

• Riley Stillman scored the third Hawks goal from a beautiful pass from Kane with just over 5 minutes left in the third, to close the gap to 4-3. the Hawks would pull, but wouldn't get any closer and for once they didn't give up an empty netter. So much for the Hawks one game winning streak!
  
• Nashville appeared to score a goal in the second that would have made it 3-2 (they did later), but it was disallowed after a coaches challenge from Chicago. It was one of the most obvious off-sides I've seen in while. I've been noticing more and more there are a lot of missed off-side calls this season. Even in this game there were several times it was missed and the only time the officials get called on it is when a goal is scored. I think a team should be able to challenge an off-side (or goalie interference) even when a goal isn't scored. I know it'll disrupt the game flow and the game will take forever if we do that, but I'm getting sick of the apathy of the officiating and if you're going to use instant replay for everything else, use it. The end result would be re-setting the clock back to when the infraction happened, that could benefit a team late in the game.
  

• Does it seem like Roman Josi has the puck a lot? The puck is like a magnet on his stick and it's amazing how many scoring chances he gets in a game. He's always up on the play and he's not only Nashville's best defenseman (and the league's?), but he's also their best forward. I haven't seen a season like this from a defenseman in many years. He now has 20 goals, 68 assists and 88 points, he has 6 more points than Makar and I wouldn't be surprised if he tops the 100 mark this season with 7 games left. Norris winner , for sure! Amazing!

Up next:  Hawks back home Monday against the Calgary Flames 7:00 pm. Meanwhile, the Winnipeg Jets are sinking fast!