IlliniKrush

Hey, the good news just continues... Williams skated twice last week, felt fine, skated a third time...and it felt bad again, just like that. Now apparently he's staying off it entirely in hopes of healing it up, and no clue on a timetable to get him back. Sigh

Thank you Tulsa

Assault is the greatest event ever.

This season is slowly slipping away, the injuries are far too much to overcome.

QUOTE(SnB @ Jan 6, 2008 -> 08:26 PM) the teams i care about (hawks/illini) have gone a collective 0-9 in the past week Welcome to my wonderful world.

Score at the end of the 2nd, and zero urgency in the 3rd. One shot in 11 minutes.

QUOTE(SnB @ Jan 6, 2008 -> 06:47 PM) down 3-0 after the first. Wings just hit every pass they needed and are looking like they are in a different league than the hawks right now. QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jan 6, 2008 -> 06:52 PM) fixed Yeah, you beat me to it. They literally are in a different league right now, as they are in the NHL. Detroit's a machine once they have the puck, everything is tape to tape or to the open space where a guy is already headed. And f*** savvy for sitting skille over someone like bourque or lapointe.

Out of nowhere, Havlat is playing tonight.

I'm thinking like 4-0 Wings tonight. Should be ugly.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jan 6, 2008 -> 02:58 PM) So I'm finally going skydiving over the summer. Anyone ever done it? I can't wait. That parachute isn't optional based on how SIU or the White Sox are playing, OK?

I'd like to thank BTN for not making me watch this s***. Seriously.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Jan 5, 2008 -> 07:02 PM) ISU plays a D2 team tonight. Yay. Intrasquad game?

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jan 4, 2008 -> 01:04 PM) or the last 4..... JK. I actually was surprised that Thad had taken 4 in a row from Bruce, as I remember the first one where Syl hit that game winning shot. No, I meant the style of game, crowd, location, etc. It was the exact same. And i was there for that Syl shot, still have nightmares about it.

Canada vs USA right now in the world junior semifinal.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Jan 4, 2008 -> 01:49 AM) I'm interested to see if you thought the 'Yotes player also deserved a penalty. That looked far from a 'hip-check', as he get no 'hip' at all. He went for a clean hip check, he had proper form...didn't lead with his knee or stick his leg out, and it appeared he got him skate on skate (though not sticking it out) as Skille(t) tried to avoid the hit. Honestly, I don't think it was dirty. However, if i'm Burish and I see that in live speed from whatever angle he had, I probly think it's a knee and I go looking for a fight just as he did.

QUOTE(SnB @ Jan 4, 2008 -> 12:12 PM) generic hockey question for you guys. So in last night's game, after the crazy check on skille, Burish and lapointe both get penalties. Now they both got like 2 minutes for this, 5 for this, 10 for this. Which one of those actually puts a man in the box and which one of those are like fighting penalties where it doesn't really affect the game in a powerplay way? A 10 minute misconduct never puts someone else in the box or makes the team short. That player just has to 'sit out' an 10 extra minutes once his other time is served (so if he gets 2 for roughing and 5 for fighting, he'll be out 17 minutes, and someone else will serve his 2 minute penalty, because someone will need to come out of the box when it's over). A 5 for fighting won't leave you shorthanded unless you somehow get a 5 without your opponent getting a 5 for fighting. So, those guys are out 5 minutes, they'll still play 5 on 5, and they'll be out at the first whistle after their 5 minutes are up. 2 minutes will always effect the game in a "power play way", as it will go up on the board. 10's don't go up on the board and 5 for fighting won't either. However, a 5 minute major for high sticking, etc, will go up on the board. And a 5 minute major never expires - you can score as many goals as you can on it and it will never get taken off the board. So yesterday's penalties: 06:13 Ballard, K. : Fighting (maj) - 5 min 06:13 Burish, A. : Instigator - 2 min 06:13 Burish, A. : Fighting (maj) - 5 min 06:13 Burish, A. : Misconduct (10 min) 06:13 Lapointe, M : Unsportsmanlike conduct - 2 min 06:13 Lapointe, M. : Misconduct (10 min) Ballard and Burish fighting majors don't go up, and cancel each other out. No effect on ice. Burish's 2 minute instigator goes up on the board and takes the Hawks down a man (5/4). Burish's 10 doesn't go up, doesn't effect the ice, but this means another Hawk player has to go serve his 2 minute instigator, since he can't come out when that expires. So Kontiola went into the box. Lapointe's 2 minute unsportsmanlike goes up on the board and the Hawks down a man (so now 5/3). Lapointe's 10 doesn't go up, doesn't effect the ice, but this means, like above, another Hawk player has to go serve his 2 minute instigator, since he can't come out when that experies. So Ruutu served that one. As puck drops, Hawks have 2 2:00 minors that effect the play on the ice, so it's a 5 on 3 for 2 minutes. The 5's and 10's have no effect on the number of guys on the ice or power play time. Hope some of that helps.

QUOTE(SnB @ Jan 4, 2008 -> 12:13 PM) Assembly hall is a brutal place to play when the team blows. I was at the game last night and you could hear a pin drop. There were maybe 2-3 opportunites where the crowd tried to get into it, only to have OSU come back and make a big shot. It's bad. Exact same as last year's OSU game

QUOTE(Rex Hudler @ Jan 3, 2008 -> 10:12 PM) Because it is played in the same city/stadium as one of the games the week before. Need time for all the fans, media, etc. of the first game to vacate all the hotels so the ones for the Championship can come in. Basically makes it two separate events for the host city. They need to change this. Having it so long after Jan 1 is dumb. The BCS bowls should be jan 1 (2), jan 2, jan 3, championship the 4th, at the latest. And if it ever conflicts with the NFL, figure something out with them to have this the night game and the NFL games during the day or something. Last year the champ game was almost an afterthought because everyone had already dissected the Boise game for many days, and the momentum of the bowl season had come to a stop. I hate how it is right now.

I'm still trying to figure out how we were a favorite in Vegas going into this game. Rock, we're putrid at free throws, and it's actually ouright cost us games the past few years. It's horrific to watch. And yes, we are sorely lacking, oh, a shooting guard that can make some shots and 3s...I don't know who that could have been this year... Tisdale is a bit awkward but he's supposed to have some decent talent so we'll see what happens with him. He's supposed to be an ok player away from the paint, as well. Also, Butler just hit another shot.

That was a tough angle. He actually could have passed that, which looked like the better play. However, you can't miss the net at that angle, as it was game over from there. For having a roster full of IceHogs, they battled decently tonight. It took them a while to get going, however. But they came back and fought hard. I think a positive tonight was that Kontiola, Versteeg, and Skille had nice games. All three played hard and were good with the puck. Going to be a tough stretch of games here. Looks like we may not get Williams nor Havlat back Sunday. Tomorrow is going to be another really tough game, and the 2nd of a back to back. Could be bad news. An AHL roster is going to have a very hard time winning games in this league, and that's about all you need to know. Also, special asshole of the award tonight to Lapointe. Goes and puts his team down 2 men after the Burish penalty. That's leadership at its finest. They score to make it 3-0, and that's game over. Way to go Marty.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Jan 3, 2008 -> 02:02 PM) Well that wasn't a factor, Noel Devine is the TRUTH and already better than Slaton. I know Devine is good, but they were still without the guy they start at RB.

I was guessing 4 weeks, looks like it will be 4 weeks. In the meantime...holy f*** let's just try to keep our head above water in the next few games and hopefully get some other guys back. At Phx tonight at 8:00

QUOTE(Brian @ Jan 3, 2008 -> 10:50 AM) I'd be nice if Randal would stay out of foul trouble. Plain and simple, we lost Young and Tatum and nobody is replacing their scoring. Not only their scoring, but we can't close out games. See SLU and Butler game. We may just have to take our lumps this year, and that sucks because Falker maybe my favorite Saluki ever and to waste his senior year kills me. You spelled Randle incorrectly

QUOTE(Brian @ Jan 3, 2008 -> 10:54 AM) The call to kick it and the kick itself were a joke. did it go 7 yards? I think Stoops is still a good coach. They will have a top tier team next year. Good coach? Sure. I said one of the best in the game...and I can't think that anymore. Like 101 said, look at his recent history in bowl games...sheesh. I still can't believe how bad they got waxed yesterday (and slaton didn't even play!)

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Jan 3, 2008 -> 08:09 AM) I think quite a few better options have already been named in this thread. I'm advocating a salary dump. If we have to take on a crappy d-man making 3.5-4 mill per then obviously we just wait for Khabby's contract to end... but if someone would take him off our hands and absorb 75% of his salary, I would move him first and worry about 08-09 afterwards. I think the argument that Lalime can't start 65 games and be a #1 is off considering how good he was in Ottawa just before the strike. If you gave him the reigns I think he could easily match Khabibulin's production this season. Of course, I could be wrong, but we're all calling Bulin a #1 because of what he did with Tampa before the strike, so using the same reasoning for Lalime only makes sense. It's hard to have a salary dump when you can't eat any salary in this CBA. I don't see them being able to move him without taking on some sort of unwanted contract. I don't think you can worry about 08-09 after you dump Habby (if you even find a way to), because then you'll either end up with Lalime or you'll spend money that could be allocated elsewhere (we are finally in a position to nab some big FAs) on a goaltender that may or may not be an upgrade over Habby. The names mentioned are Kolzig, Theodore, Huet, Aebischer, Bryzgalov. Are all of those significant upgrades over Habby (and so much so that it's worth using any FA money on them instead of elsewhere on the team)? No. Huet would be real nice, but who knows how much he'll garner. If you don't want Habby after next year let him go, but Habby is not this team's biggest problem, hasn't been this team's biggest problem the past 2 years, and if you are going to make any noise next year in the 'big year' or whatever, you don't go into the summer hoping to find a #1, an upgrade, or have Lalime in net.