A Perfect Night At The UC? Far From It!

The stage was set for a memorable evening at the United Center in Chicago on an April Sunday night. 

1.  The Blackhawks honoring Jonathan Toews with an on-ice ceremony alongside his parents, his brother, former and present assistant captains and the silver stick commemorating 1000 games played.
2. Lots of former Blackhawks in the building.
3. Playing one of the worst teams in the league, the Arizona Coyotes.
4. Hawks start fast, scoring their quickest goal of the season from the start of the game.

But, from there it went downhill. The game could have gone the Hawks way, the team was able to tie the game in third after Arizona took a 2-1 lead in the second and in overtime, if not for a Patrick Kane penalty in the last minute and a bad bounce off of Jonathan Toews skate into his own net, it could have gone to a shootout. It very easily could have gone off Toews skate into the Coyotes net, but it didn't...those are the breaks. For me, the lasting memory of this forgettable game was they still lost to that so-called worst team (forget the loser point!), so really, who's the worst team in the league? We could get confirmation if they lose again on Thursday night. 

Quick Thoughts:

• The aforementioned alternative captains on the ice before the game were Patrick Kane, Alex DeBrincat, Andrew Shaw, Brent Seabrook, Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa...Hossa was there?!!!  As well, Adam Burish and Corey Crawford were in attendance.

• Between the first and second periods, Pat and Eddie announced Pat's replacement for next season as Chris Vosters, who will be the new television play-by-play announcer for Blackhawks hockey. He's done a bunch of games already this season and he's done a good job, so congratulations Chris, those are big shoes (or should we say mouth) that you are filling. Pat Foley's last game in the Blackhawks booth will be April 14th against the San Jose Sharks. The evening will feature memories of Pat's through his 39-year career. Must see TV! Get your soft serve ready!
  

• The Hawks are currently on a five game losing streak, and in the last 15 games, the only teams they have beaten are Anaheim (2x), Ottawa and LA Kings. During this time they have also lost to fellow bottom feeders, Arizona, Buffalo and Philadelphia. It's infuriating because on-paper the Blackhawks should be so much better than they've shown. Even against Arizona, they are clearly the better team, but they allowed the Coyotes to stay in the game before giving up two quick goals and not capitalizing on their many first period opportunities. Almost every time the Strome/Cat/Kane line was out there, they continually cycled and carried the play in the Yotes zone. Aaargh!

• Kevin Lankinen's luck in overtime is unbelievably bad. He now has lost 6 games in extra time and his overall record this season is now a putrid 4-10-6 or straight up wins/loses 4-16!! I like Lankinen, I really do, he's a good goalie, but those numbers are insane. Not sure what the Hawks are going to do going forward with their goalies, but the way they have mis-managed the goalies they had (Crawford, Lehner, Subban, Fleury), who knows? This is something we'll discuss thoroughly when the season ends...Aaaagh!!
  

Up next: Hawks don't play until Thursday for another battle for the basement against an equally bad team as the Yoties, Seattle Kraken.