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!

Hawks win! Hawks Win! Hawks Win!: Tribute To Pat Foley

 

It was a long time coming and it was appropriate during Pat Foley night that he was able to shout Hawks win! Hawks win!...one more time! It was an emotional night as we said farewell to the voice of the Blackhawks for the past 39 years with a pre-game on-ice ceremony, that included family and people closest to Pat. He will be sadly missed by Blackhawks fans from Chicago and beyond, since the broadcast can be accessed by all, via streaming services and network TV. I'm not even from Chicago and I've had the joy of watching Hawks broadcasts since I've been able to get them and it just won't be the same without him.

On the ice (after the ceremony), there was ahockey game and the Blackhawks played an inspired game and had much more jump and enthusiasm than the previous weeks. It was entertaining and the Hawks were competitive, something that's been missing since they were officially eliminated from the playoffs.

Highlights:

• Hey, the Hawks won! It was their first win in nine games and it took extra-extra time to settle the game with a 5-4 shootout win. Though the Hawks blew a two goal lead in the third period, they hung on and the Cat was the only scorer in the shootout.

• Goals: It was the start the Hawks were hoping for, Patrick Kane scored 1:18 into the first period. It was back and forth on the scoreboard, as the teams traded goals, twice with it tied 2-2, until late in the second when the Hawks took a lead 3-2. The Hawks scored again early in third to give them a two-goal lead, before the Sharks scored a pair to force overtime. Other goals were from Taylor Raddysh, who scored in back-to-back games giving him 9, on a tip-in from Seth Jones. Calvin deHaan from a great feed from Kane and a beautiful 3-way passing play between Kane, DeBrincat, Jones and Strome. It was Strome's 21st of the season, a career high. The Strome line which was reunited for this game, played especially well and were a threat every time they were on the ice. There is such a drop in offensive production behind these guys and breaking them apart made no sense. Patrick Kane finished the night with 1 goal and 2 assists, Dylan Strome with 1 goal and 1 assist and Alex DeBrincat with 3 assists, plus the shootout goal.
  

• Goal? The Blackhawks appeared to expand their lead in the second period with the puck fluttering around the goal line before James Reimer swatted it away. Depending on the angle, it was very close, but the call on the ice took, no goal.

• Foley: Very cool to hear past players, fellow broadcasters, family and even Gary Bettman offer their congratulations to Pat on his retirement. The common theme seemed to be he'll be doing a lot of golfing during his retirement. Visiting Pat and Eddie in the booth were Troy Murray, who works on the radio broadcast and Hawks legends, Denis Savard and Chris Chelios who wanted to thank Pat in person. Much of the telecast game was filled with reminisce and hilarious stories, that I'm sure Eddie was in tears of laughter, joy and sadness. A wonderful moment was following the game when the players saluted Pat up in booth, while Pat and Eddie gave a toast and chugged some brew from their Pat Foley pint glasses (it was giveaway night!). The night ended with Pat addressing the crowd and players one more time and thanked everyone for these great years!

Up next: It's an early matinee in Nashville, Saturday at 11:30 am Wow, that's early! 

"Blackhawks fans enjoyed the broadcast, and we know they enjoyed the outcome."

It's Not Funny Anymore: Eight Straight

 ...Make that eight straight losses in a row! The Blackhawks can't stop the bleeding and with a hungry desperate team trying to make the playoffs, it doesn't get any easier. Getting more painful to watch and I feel sorry for the fans in attendance at the United Center that have to pay good money to watch it.

First period: 

• Delia starts. C. Jones and Regula in, Gus and deHaan out. Borgstrom, Kubalik and T. Johnson scratched again.
• Kings first goal, Trevor Moore has an open net. A couple minutes later, former-Hawk Danault banks a shot off Caleb Jones skate to make it 2-0.
• Hawks barely have any zone time, as the kings dominate the period. I am getting very sleepy...definitely nodding off.

Second period:

• Halfway through the period the Hawks have only 8 shots and 4 of them are from defensemen. Absolutely no intensity or urgency. Still very sleepy, can this game get any more boring?
• I am awoken with tree-tirty-tree left in the period because the Hawks score! Taylor Raddysh scores his 8th of the season and third as a Hawk. Maybe the Hawks can come back? We have the momentum, right?
  
• No, we don't. The Kings score 33 seconds later and maintain their two goal lead, Ugh!

Third period:

• Hawks have a power-play early in the period and have numerous opportunities including a grade A chance from rookie, Lukas Reichel, instead the Kings score seconds after the penalty expires. 4-1 Kings.
• For the first half of the period, the Hawks have plenty of offensive zone time and some good chances, but it's all an illusion because the Kings take three penalties in a row. The Hawks finish 0/5 on the power-play.
  
• With just over three minutes left, Patrick Kane scores to make it 4-2. Maybe the Hawks have a chance? We have the momentum, right?
• More false hope dashed as the customary empty net goal is scored by the Kings. Does anyone keep track of how many empty net goals a team gives up in a season? The Hawks seem to give up a lot and since they've lost so many games this season by more than a goal, we should look this up. At least, they can lead the league in something!

Takeaways:

• From a Hawks fan standpoint, this was such a uneventful boring game, especially playing at home, this has to be yet another major letdown. The past few weeks, the organization has been relying on nostalgic, past glory celebrations/milestones (Hossa, Hjalmasson, Toews etc.) gimmicky nights to keep the interest of their fan base. There better be some major changes next season or else interest in the team will tank and continue to slide to early 2000 levels.
• Reichel had a number of opportunities to score, which is a positive sign since at least now he's getting the chances. Philipp Kurachev made a couple of nifty passes to set up both goals and he's proving he has the skills to be more than a part-time player. Eddie said, Jake McCabe was the best Blackhawk on the ice, who can argue with that.
  
• Make sure to tune in to the Blackhawks TV broadcast on Thursday, as it will be Pat Foley's last call. He and Eddie are sure to share stories o'plenty on Pat Foley night! Should be a fun/sad time and hopefully the team can put in a little more effort on this special evening.

•  Where I live we're hunkering down for a huge blizzard. The airport is closed, schools are closed, highways are closed and everyone is urged to stay home. They've even postponed the Jets game tonight against the Kraken until May 1st. Instead, the Jet players will "vacation" in hot, sunny Florida for a pair of matches in the sunshine state later this week. A well earned holiday, right? Their playoff hopes continue to slip away as the Dallas Stars won last night, widening the gap to 7 points, which should mean that May 1 game will be meaningless, much like recent Blackhawks games.
  

Up next: (see above) Can the Hawks make it 9 in a row, oh god, no! Thursday night at 7 pm against the Sharks.

There Is Something To Play For...Really

With the Blackhawks playing out the string of games they have left in the regular season schedule, is there really anything to play for? Though it won't improve their chances of the post-season, the final couple weeks of the season is important for many in the organization. Starting with the coaching staff, Derek King is the interim coach of this team he inherited from Jeremy Colliton after he was fired earlier in the season. Since the Hawks made it known they wouldn't make a decision on a permanent head coach until the off-season, the rest of this regular season is King's audition of "real" life/game situations. He has to prove to the management he can guide this team away from it's losing ways to build and teach the present and future roster. Same goes with Marc Crawford who has been the co-coach with both King and Colliton. If Crawford is in charge of the defense (and penalty kill?), he's not doing a good job. Even though the Hawks made some personnel changes on the back-end (Jones, Jones, McCabe...), the defense and their defensive system is still a very weak spot. When King took over, the Hawks seemed slightly better, at first, but since the trade deadline they have sunk to the level of their play of the opening weeks of the season. The win-less streak is now at seven games and with only ten more games left, they might be lucky to win one or two of those. 

For the players, there are a lot of players on the current roster, which means each night there have been a number of healthy scratches. Last night, Dominik Kubalik, Henrik Borgstrom, Caleb Jones and Tyler Johnson took their turn in the press box and I can't help but think we won't be seeing a number of these players next season. Not sure why Gus still plays in the lineup with so many young defense prospects in the minors, considering he definitely won't be back. This team has too many third and fourth line players, so it's their opportunity to show management they want to be back. Lafferty, Entwistle, R. Johnson, Katchouk, as well as the previously mentioned players will be competing for a limited amount of positions, not to mention free agent signings, trades and prospects that could replace them. I'll go more in depth after the regular season is done.

Thoughts:

• Goals: The Hawks got a pair of goals from Esa Lindell in the first period. Actually, he deflected the puck into his own net for both goals, but the scoresheet credited, Philipp Kurashev and Jonathan Toews with the goals. Boris Katchouk got the "monkey off his back", literally (he even mimed it after the goal) when he scored his first goal/point with the Hawks since the trade. Kirby Dach scored a nice goal on the rush late in the game moments after Sam Laffery skated the same route around the Stars zone.

• Noticeable: Three of the goal scorers (Kurashev, Katchouk, Dach), caught my attention, at least through some of the game. Kurashev, who has been a healthy scratch often, got a chance to play with Kane and Toews and he carried the puck more than I've seen him all season. I guess it helps to play with skilled players instead of fourth lineers. Katchouk stood out, because it's sad to say, the fourth line seemed to be the only line that was engaged. they did what they have to do...hit, hit and hit. Effective! Dach's giveaway earlier in the game led to a goal for the Stars, but offensively Dach was carrying the puck with confidence and playing alongside Lafferty helps, because Lafferty digs out the puck and drives a lot of the play for the line.
• Not so good: Surprisingly, I barely noticed Patrick Kane for much of the game. Of course, during the power-play he's out there, but maybe his drive and intensity are waning due to so much losing. Not playing with the Cat and Strome definitely didn't help. Kevin Lankinen didn't help his cause for a job next season with the Hawks with an uneven performance in goal. He was replaced to start the third for Collin Delia, after giving up five goals.
  
• Erie Line: King reunited the Eric Otters junior line of Alex DeBrincat, Dylan Strome and Taylor Raddysh for the whole game. Though they didn't do much, it would be worth it to keep them together for more games, this could be exciting. Also it would give management a better idea of Strome's value, seeing if he can still be effective not playing with Kane. I know the Cat can do it, but what about Dylan?
• Foley/Tallon: It was a treat to hear Pat Foley reunited with his former partner from Hawks broadcast from an evening of nostalgia and remembrance. I never had a chance to see/hear the Hawks TV broadcasts before the 2020's, so it was a joy to watch and listen to their stories of the old days. Dale Tallon has an unique perspective of the game, as a former player and as a NHL GM who built the Hawks championship team that won the cups and he also built the present day Florida Panthers, who are now a serious cup contender.

• The Blackhawks didn't do the Winnipeg Jets any favours. The Stars who led the Jets by 7 points before the night, maintained the lead as both the Stars and Jets won their games. Sorry Jets!
  

Up next: Hawks play again on Tuesday against the Kings.

A Very Special Night: But, Not On The Ice!

Yes, it was very special indeed as the Chicago Blackhawks and their fans welcomed back Hockey Hall of Famer and ex-Blackhawk, Marian Hossa to the United Center. Before the game in the atrium, Hossa signed a one day contract with the Blackhawks, so he can officially retire as a member of the organization. The Hawks had traded Hossa and his contract to the Arizona Coyotes in 2018 to clear cap space, so technically he was with the Coyotes until his contract expired at the end of the 2020-21 season. Classy move by Hossa and the organization. Yes, Marian Hossa was a free agent and the Hawks sure could have have used him on the ice.

Highlights:

• The only highlight during the game was the announcement during a TV timeout break during the first period that Marian Hossa's number 81 would be retired and hung from the rafters. There will be a banner raising ceremony next season, another excuse to bring Hossa back to Chicago. The timing was perfect since Hossa flew in for Toews 1000 game ceremony on Sunday, so I guess Hoss spent the week in the windy city. During a TV interview between periods, Hossa indicated he would be interested in being involved in the organization in some way. Here's hoping they can work something out. Enjoy the Marian Hossa highlight video that was played last night at the UC!
  

Lowlights:

• Pretty much everything that took place on the ice for the Hawks, there were so many, where to start? 
• They were soundly outplayed and out-shot in the first period 17-3 and the Hawks were very fortunate to be tied after the first. Seattle was on the second game of a back-to-back (last night in St. Louis) and for some reason they had way more energy and were engaged early. I'm starting to believe back-to-backs are overrated. Last night, I was at the Jets game in yet another "must-win" game against the Detroit Red Wings who won the night before against the Bruins (and lost their previous 6 games). The Wings out-shot the Jets 13-5 in the first period and scored a shorthanded goal. Tired and jet-lagged in the second game of a back-to-back, myth!
• The power-play was brutal! Towards the end of the second period the Hawks had a 5 on 3 man advantage for two full minutes as well as an additional two minutes from a four minute double minor for high-sticking. The Hawks had zero shots on the 5 on 3, while the Kraken almost scored if not for a great save by Kevin Lankinen. The Hawks had a power-play with less than eight minutes in the third with an opportunity to tie it, but again the power-play failed to produce. This was against one of the worst penalty kill teams in the league. The Blackhawks finished the game 0/4 on the PP.

• The Blackhawks called up top prospect, Lukas Reichel to play in his 6th game of the season. Apparently, the Hawks say they aren't concerned about burning the first year of his entry level contract if he plays 4 more games. So far, he looks like he can play at this level, but he hasn't shown he can contribute offensively and has yet to get a point. He's quick, skilled, but a little slight in size and I'm not sure if he can physically keep up the pace for a whole season. His time in Rockford is a good experience and has allowed him to play in all situations and play the pro game. These small sample sizes are good to see his progress and since the season is a lost cause, why not?
  
• On Seattle's first goal from Alex Wennberg, he blew by Jake McCabe then pulled a beautiful deke on Lankinen. It was if McCabe was standing still (yes, he was flat footed) and it was shades of ex-Hawks defenseman, Michal Rozsival, who by coincidence was in attendance seated with Marian Hossa in the private box. Hey Rozy!
• And lastly, I guess you might have heard, the Blackhawks are officially eliminated from the playoffs. It was obvious early on when they won only one of their first 12 games, so it was only a matter of time because it was a too steep a hill to climb to stay in the hunt. With that in mind, since there's nothing at stake anymore (kind of how they've been playing), I will restrain myself from ranting too heavily about how frustrating it is when they lose games against awfully bad teams, such as the Kraken and the Coyotes. They are now win-less in the last 7 games...yay.
  

Up next: Sunday at 6:00 pm, against a team that still has a chance to make the playoffs, the Dallas Stars. This begins the stretch drive of at least a game every second day for the next three weeks. Buckle up, there's still a lot of hockey before the Hawks hit the links or the beaches.

 

Apathetic Is Pathetic

One step forward, two steps back. that's how the Winnipeg Jets season has gone thus far. A couple weeks back, the Jets actually strung together a three game winning streak as they are desperately trying to find a way to make it to the post season. Granted, they beat three lousy teams (Ottawa, Arizona, Buffalo) and they needed extra time in all three games, but at this time a year, a win is a win, right? They followed up this winning streak with a another setback, losses to the Leafs and Kings. They haven't played since Saturday night and since then, Vegas and the Stars have started winning again to give them some distance between themselves and the Jets. Winnipeg was within two points of the Knights, but now the Jets sit 6 points behind Vegas and 7 behind Dallas,a tough task considering the Jets only have 12 games left. You don't have to be a math wiz to figure out the Jets can ill afford to lose many more games and they have to hope both Vegas and Dallas lose more games than they win during the stretch drive.

 

 

An interesting read in today's, Winnipeg Free Press in Mike McIntyre's column titled, "Apathy becoming Jets' toughest foe". He discusses how fans are losing interest in the team thanks to their "lacklustre" performance and he raises many good and accurate points. As a season ticket since the return of the Jets, I thought I should weigh in on this topic. It is true the building hasn't been full this season in the games I've gone to, but the pandemic has definitely been a factor, but there were signs of this apathy even before the stoppage of play back in 2020. Me and my ticket partners have had a difficult time re-selling our seats if we can't go and as recently as yesterday one of the partners was offering his seats to us for no cost. He said there is no interest in the seats at the seat exchange and if he was going to give them away it may as well be to someone he knows. This has been a common comment from many season ticket holders, as well as the feeling there is no incentive anymore to be a locked in season ticket holder. Having season tickets was a guarantee you wouldn't miss a game because demand for tickets was high and first dibs on playoff seats. The team recently lifted the contract, holders have to sign to show their commitment and are locked in for multiple years. They have also offered to refund the deposit from the first season they've been collecting interest on, to put towards next year's tickets. This seems like a desperate attempt to appease fans and this is something that should have happened years ago and this was probably prompted by angry anti-vax season ticket holders that caused a stink to cancel their tickets for the season due to the COVID restrictions. The casual fan can buy a ticket on secondary markets for less than what season ticket holders are paying on their "discount" rate, so really this means the tickets are over-priced in this current market (yes, prices have skyrocketed continually). There used to be other perks or at least an acknowledgement to the season ticket base. I remember when the team would courier over (or pick up) a fancy box that contained all the physical tickets for all the games and a puck or pin or key-chain, something unique that made you feel special as a supporter. Before the season, there would be a season ticket holder appreciation event with food and drinks, something that carried over from when I was a Moose ticket pack holder, as well as draft parties with some players in attendance. Now, there is nothing that connects the community with the team, no player appearances or any special events (besides the super-overpriced "Winnipeg elite" gala) to their most dedicated fans that invest good money to support an overpriced product. Sure, you can blame the pandemic for some of this, but the perks and events disappeared before 2020 and the team has coasted on the momentum generated when the team first came back. This is no longer the "hot" ticket in town and whatever happened to the "wait list" from the first few seasons, there was over 7500 fans that paid money to be on that list...boy, times have changed, eh? 

Let's think back to the Winnipeg Jets 1.0 and how devastated fans in this city were when the team left for the hotbed of hockey, Phoenix, Arizona. What a slap in the face, moving a team from a supposed hockey city to the desert and to this day it should still haunt people that team is still playing games in front of less people than a Manitoba Moose game. Apathy is part of the reason the team left (yes, there were other factors), not enough people going to games consistently and losing interest in the team when they aren't winning, we took the team for granted. This city was given a second chance by True North by bringing an NHL team back to Winnipeg and it's quite clear the honeymoon is over. This is further proof that Winnipeg is full of far weathered fans that will only support the team in good times. This is pathetic! I love hockey and I consider it a privilege to attend games. I'm not necessarily a huge Jets fan, but I go because I enjoy watching the other teams in the league and I love watching hockey, regardless if the Jets are winning or not. That being said, if the team doesn't make the playoffs this season, the team will be forced to address some of these issues over the off-season, otherwise the team will lose a large part of their season ticket base and you'll be seeing Jets tickets in coupon books or worse yet, to another desert city!

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.

Burned In the Sunshine State: Hagel's Revenge?

Despite being out-shot 43-23, the effort looked better than the night before on the back end of the back-to-back against the Stanley Cup champion, Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning struck twice in the first half of the first period, but the Hawks fought back to even the game, scoring two goals before the end of the period. Tampa Bay's, Ross Colton scored a pair of goals in the second for a 4-2 lead and former Hawk, Brandon Hagel put the game out of reach with an empty net goal in the final minute to make it a 5-2 Tampa Bay win.

Random Thoughts:

• Hawks goals: I was ragging on him last game, but Calvin de Haan is on a bit of a hot streak. He scored to give him 2 goals in the last three games. His "seeing eye" shot made it's way through traffic on the Hawks first goal. The Cat now has 5 goals in his last six games after scoring a PP goal tonight. He now has 39 goals and with only 13 games left on the schedule, he should set a personal high (41) and has a crack at 50. What a season for the Cat, despite playing for a bad team and he just might be the Blackhawk's MVP this season!

• Lanky: Kevin Lankinen had a strong game to follow-up his not-so-good outing in his last two games. You can't complain about the Hawks goaltending during this Florida trip, both he and Delia faced over 40 shots in each game and played well against two of the best teams in the league. The Hawks are relying way too much on their goalies as they haven't out-shot an opponent in the last six games.

• Jonesy: Another guy you can't complain about is the play of Seth Jones. I know there are fans that are grumbling about what the Hawks gave up and the size of his contract, but he's been a monster this season and has been everything I expected and more. As the season has rolled on, he has gotten better, more confident and joins the rushes constantly. His offensive contributions will continue to improve especially if they can surround him with more skilled players, he is to Chicago, what Hedman is to TB. He played a game high 31:58 in regulation time!

• Undefeated: Not to rub it in any further, but Andrei Vasilevskiy undefeated streak against the Blackhawks continues. He is now 13-0 in regular season games against Chicago. Blah!
  

 

• Bagel: Nice to see Brandon Hagel fitting in on Tampa's third line. On a deep team like Tampa, Hagel played just over 12 minutes, but he'll find his role on the team and they're hoping it'll payoff in the playoffs. We'll see...

Up next: Hawks home to the Coyotes on Sunday, then a break until Thursday when the Seattle Kraken make their first visit to Chicago. I'll also be checking in on the Winnipeg Jets this week and see how their fight for the playoffs is working out.

This Went Pretty Much As Planned: Toews Plays 1000 Games!

On paper, a game between one of the top teams in the league versus one of the weakest, this is a clear mismatch. On ice, it turned out to be pretty accurate because you it became obvious who the better team was. The score flattered the Blackhawks and could have been worse because the Panthers appeared to score in the first minute of the game...another long night, right. Fortunately, the goal was disallowed because of a kicking motion from Barkov and it wasn't until the final two minutes of the period that Barkov scored for real. From there the Panthers got better and cruised to a 4-0 shutout win. All in all, a fairly uneventful game for Blackhawks fans with very little to cheer about.

Some good, some not so good:

• Shots? A positive was that the Hawks directed 37 shots at Bobrovsky, unfortunately none of them went in. He made some big saves, especially against the Strome line and when the Hawks were on the power-play, but otherwise he wasn't tested enough and I'm surprised they actually had 37 shots.
• Delia!! Another positive was the play of Hawks goalie, Collin Delia. He faced 44 shots and it felt like more than that. I was cringing when the Panthers scored that disallowed goal in the first minute, then he settled in and was steady, though he still has problems controlling his rebounds. He made a spectacular save early in the game (not long after the no-goal) on ex-Hawk, Anthony Duclair that was probably the highlight of the game for the Hawks. He had no chance on Forsling's goal as he definitely got bumped and Barkov's second goal in the third period was on a 5 on 3 PP. They may want to consider starting Delia for more games, though Lankinen will probably get the second game against Tampa on this back to back.

• Tazer! Congratulations to Jonathan Toews for reaching the milestone of 1,000 games. He has played all of them in a Blackhawks jersey and as captain for the majority of them. I know this is a discussion for another day, but you have to wonder how much longer he'll be a Hawk. That being said, I hope he retires a Blackhawk. The other highlight of the night was watching the video tributes from ex-teammates, family and some freshly retired Hawks (Seabrook, Crawford, Hjalmarsson, Shaw) Here's a video with some of the tributes from ex-teammates.

• Heads up Kirby!: Notice how many times Kirby Dach has been lit up with big hits? Last night, they didn't result in any penalties, so they weren't necessarily dirty and at least they stopped taking instigating (Ryan Carpenter) penalties. He's young and skilled, so he'll be tested and treated roughly by defensemen on opposing teams, so the Hawks need to play lot more aggressively to protect their young stars. He's fortunate he didn't get injured on that second hit from Gudas.
  

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• Bye bye? I get the feeling we won't be seeing many of these players that are rotating in and out of the lineup as healthy scratches. I'll be analyzing who should be on the team next season in a future post, but it doesn't look promising for Henrik Borgstrom, Philipp Kurashev, Dominik Kubalik and Tyler Johnson. I don't understand why Reese Johnson stays in the lineup, he's kind of a poor man's Ryan Carpenter. Calvin de Haan had a rough night, he gave the puck away several times in the Hawks end and he got burned badly on Ryan Lomberg's goal. Kinda makes you wish Connor Murphy could return sooner.
  

Up next: More of the sunshine state, second part of a back to back in Tampa Bay on Friday at 6:00 pm CST. Yikes!