2007-2008 NHL Catch All Thread

[CWSGuy406]

Life is better after a Hawks win. Did anyone besides me actually see the game last night? I'd venture to say that's the best they played all year. They 'brought it' for a good 55 minutes, only having a short lull to start the third.

 

St Louis is going to be tough on Friday, and after that is the much-anticipated game vs Detroit. I doubt they come away with the four possible points (for both games), but getting two (a win or two OTs) would be nice.

[Steve9347]

Lalime getting the start on Friday. Sammy is also going to get back on the ice, but apparently on the 4th line with Burrish and Lapointe. I don't like Samsonov on the 4th line like that. Either keep him in the press box, or put him with other skill players, where he can really excel.

I bet ol' Dale's been blowing up phones trying to give Khabby away. Lalime is a stud and right now is the better tender, and that 6 mill contract of bulin's needs to go.

 

You know who I was just thinking would be fun to stick on the third line and is looking for a job? ONE CAPTAIN HAIRDO HIMSELF

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/players/55

Oh, if only I were in charge!

 

Warning: Shirtless pictures of Tony Amonte and Doug Weight may cause you to become aroused.

[CWSGuy406]

If anyone wants to try and embed those videos again, they're all up on YouTube now. Here's one and the rest are listed on the right side:

 

 

"Like -- we look really young..."

[IlliniKrush]

I bet ol' Dale's been blowing up phones trying to give Khabby away. Lalime is a stud and right now is the better tender, and that 6 mill contract of bulin's needs to go.

First off, good luck moving that contract. And if you do, you are taking some overpaid POS in return.

 

Habby is a better goalie than Lalime. Habby gives up 3 goals sunday where he was pretty much helpless and all the sudden Lalime is a God? This team goes nowhere with Lalime starting 60+. Habby has just been a scapegoat for the past 2 seasons even though he was far from the problem...it's just easier for the average 'fan' to throw everything on him. The problem the last two years is that the roster sucked, not that the tending was holding them back. He's not up to his cup form but he's still a pretty decent goalie and is better than Lalime.

[The Critic]

First off, good luck moving that contract. And if you do, you are taking some overpaid POS in return.

 

Habby is a better goalie than Lalime. Habby gives up 3 goals sunday where he was pretty much helpless and all the sudden Lalime is a God? This team goes nowhere with Lalime starting 60+. Habby has just been a scapegoat for the past 2 seasons even though he was far from the problem...it's just easier for the average 'fan' to throw everything on him. The problem the last two years is that the roster sucked, not that the tending was holding them back. He's not up to his cup form but he's still a pretty decent goalie and is better than Lalime.

 

I like Lalime as a backup just fine, but if the Hawks are going to even sniff the playoff race this year they're going to need a steady Khabibulin.

I do wonder how much Khabi benefited from the Tampa style of play (how much was the system and how much was him), but I think he can still play much better than he has.

Also, Krush speaketh the truth about that contract - any team will demand that someone they overpaid be included in any deal involving Khabi's deal.

[CWSGuy406]

I don't know how good Khabibulin can be at this point, but I do know that there's absolutely ZERO evidence for me to believe Lalime can be between the pipes if the Hawks want to sniff the playoffs this year.

 

I'm not quite sure how to evaluate goalies. Obviously it's better to be quick than be slow -- duh -- but I tend to think the defense in front of the goalies has as much to do with how the goalie plays as the goalie himself. And while our defense this year is improved over last year's bunch -- it's tough not to be better than a group that included Cullimore and Aucoin -- I don't know that it's a whole lot better than average (which is fine, BTW -- they're young and two of our bigger pieces are still in the A in Barker and Hjalmarsson. I just want to see improvement out of the four youngsters back there in Byfuglian, Keith, Wiz and Seabrook).

 

That's something I forgot to mention about last night and why (I thought) it was the best game the Hawks played all season -- the defense looked really good. Seabrook had his best game of the year -- he was physical on defense and looked like the steadily-improving #7 that we all hoped for coming into the year. Byfuglian was very good and Savard said as much in his press conference. Byfuglian played extremely physical, something he doesn't do every night (which he needs to if he wants to stay away from the A) -- he had a great check on Rick Nash that send him into a daze. Those two stuck out. Wizniewski, Sopel and Keith also played solid hockey. It's going to take time, but I like what we're building back there.

Edited November 9, 2007 by CWSGuy406

[CWSGuy406]

Havlat practiced with the team either yesterday or today, in full-contact drills and such. There are links out in the daily's today but I'm too lazy to get them.

 

Gosh damn is this team going to be tough tough tough to play against if Havlat can stay healthy. Either the RTK line or the Havlat/Lang/Williams line won't be going up against the other team's top defensive pairing -- that will be very nice to see.

[Mr. Showtime]

I knew I should have went tonight.

 

Sounds like a pretty good sized crowd, and the Hawks are all over St. Louis. Hawks up 3-1 in the 2nd.

[CWSGuy406]

Woohoo! Great effort tonight. They played very nicely with the lead. Big big game Sunday -- I'm not the guy who usually says this, but lots of eyes will be on the Hawks in two nights. Two wins in a row, an outside shot of Havlat coming back, Detroit...

 

Whatever, that can be discussed later. Great win tonight, two in a row. The Hawks dominated the first 30 minutes of this game and played about even for the second half.

 

The Bourque - Bolland - Sharp line has been fantastic, they've been cycling extremely well and have given us a second scoring line.

 

I'm so happy. Great effort tonight, cannot WAIT until Sunday.

[The Critic]

Just got home - VERY fun night at the UC!

Nice giveaway hat, and a pretty large crowd with a fair share of Blues fans.

A couple things I noticed tonight:

Wisniewski had a pretty sloppy game, but didn't hurt the team much.

Toews played well but seemed to have a hard time receiving passes. A lot of pucks bouncing off his stick.

Lalime was sharp except for the 2nd goal. Legace let in one he should've had, too, so those cancel each other out.

Even when the play doesn't amount to much, Kane is a f***ing magician with the puck. Watching him get a head fo steam down the center of the ice is a thing of beauty.

 

All in all it was a hard-fought game on both sides (although no actual fighting took place, which I appreciated very much), and the Hawks definitely deserved the win tonight.

 

Here's the recap on my daughter's night:

Ate two ice creams - one before the game, one at the start of the 2nd period

Cheered like crazy at the beginning of the game

Read her Junie B. Jones book for most of the 1st and half of the 2nd period.

Fell asleep halfway through the 2nd period, never to awaken until I brought her in the house and placed her in her bed. She woke up, told me "I got sleepy, Dad", said "Yay" when I told her the Hawks won and went to sleep again in her Hawks jersey.

 

I can't wait to go back to the UC to see this team.

[IlliniKrush]

Not a ton to add to the above comments. Crowd kept growing until seemingly the end of the first period. Turned out to be a nice crowd.

 

Good God was that first period a show. That was the polar opposite of the usual hawks home start. Bejeezus.

 

Lalime was OK....he wasn't tested hardly at all, very few big saves (not that he could have made more, obviously, they just weren't there). However, at times, he was definitely fighting the puck - if you guys understand what I mean by that? It was kind of an awkward game for him. I still think Habby starts Sunday, and yes it's a big game. If you can somehow go 3-0 against Detroit, accounting for I think 3 of their 4 losses on the year...with the whole television deal going on...wow. We'll see.

 

I agree with Keith, the 'BBS' line was good. If you can have 3 lines that can possibly score each night (last year the hawks had .5 lines that could MAYBE score) then they are in good shape. Finally Bourque played like he wants to be here.

 

One thing I would have liked to see was the Hawks be a little more physical tonight. I think the Blues outhit us big time, just going by what I remember seeing throughout. Bolland probly had the best hit I can remember.

 

 

 

BTW, Critic, how does your daughter not wake up to the horn during the Hawks EN goal or at the end of the game when the horn sounded 4 times? LOL.

[The Critic]

Bolland probly had the best hit I can remember.

 

BTW, Critic, how does your daughter not wake up to the horn during the Hawks EN goal or at the end of the game when the horn sounded 4 times? LOL.

 

Bolland CRUSHED that guy - beautiful open-ice hit!

 

I have NO IDEA how she stayed asleep!!!! LOL

Between the horns and the drunken f***s arguing behind us, it was a miracle she didn't wake up!

I'm kind of glad, because I didn't want to have to try to explain what "f***er", "s***head" and "a**hole" mean.

 

Oh, and Krush, this should be nice for you to hear - my kid NEVER falls asleep during Wolves games. She is completely into the whole deal at the Allstate!

Edited November 10, 2007 by The Critic

[DBAHO]

Seems like Bolland has come up and had an impact, which is really good. Sharp keeps on improving, and has become quite a valuable role player, and Burrish has obviously done well making the team out of training camp, so that's a good line to have right now.

 

The West is very tight right now, it's going to be a close race all season long. Even a team like Phoenix is starting to win a bit.

[EvilJester99]

By the sounds of it Sammy played a fairly decent game in his first since sitting 5.

[MurcieOne]

Bolland CRUSHED that guy - beautiful open-ice hit!

 

I have NO IDEA how she stayed asleep!!!! LOL

Between the horns and the drunken f***s arguing behind us, it was a miracle she didn't wake up!

I'm kind of glad, because I didn't want to have to try to explain what "f***er", "s***head" and "a**hole" mean.

 

Oh, and Krush, this should be nice for you to hear - my kid NEVER falls asleep during Wolves games. She is completely into the whole deal at the Allstate!

 

 

I was at the game last night, and Bolland hit Kariya... knocked him off his feet but it wasn't that bad of a hit, Bolland is too skinny to make any hit bad.

 

They definitely sat on the lead later in the game.... and Rudy turned the puck over way too many times.

 

Overall they outplayed a good veteran Blues team... a team I think that can make the playoffs if they get better goaltending out of Legace.

 

Finally, I got to the game at 7:20 and didnt get inside until close to 8, why? Because of the ticket office people who were pathetic, they couldnt handle even a small rush of walk-up crowd.

[The Critic]

I was at the game last night, and Bolland hit Kariya... knocked him off his feet but it wasn't that bad of a hit, Bolland is too skinny to make any hit bad.

 

They definitely sat on the lead later in the game.... and Rudy turned the puck over way too many times.

 

Overall they outplayed a good veteran Blues team... a team I think that can make the playoffs if they get better goaltending out of Legace.

 

Finally, I got to the game at 7:20 and didnt get inside until close to 8, why? Because of the ticket office people who were pathetic, they couldnt handle even a small rush of walk-up crowd.

The UC ticket people obviously have gotten used to very small crowds, they're incapable of handling any volume of customers.

 

I still say the Boland hit was a real nice pop - sure, it was small-on-small crime, but Kariya flew backwards when Bolland hit him. Kariya had his head down for a second and paid for it.

[MurcieOne]

The UC ticket people obviously have gotten used to very small crowds, they're incapable of handling any volume of customers.

 

I still say the Boland hit was a real nice pop - sure, it was small-on-small crime, but Kariya flew backwards when Bolland hit him. Kariya had his head down for a second and paid for it.

 

Any time you knock a guy off his skates in open ice, its a pretty solid knock. So your right about that.

 

I was thinking the same thing about the ticket people, but I'm pretty sure the same people who do the bulls games also do the hawks games. I saw Doug Ryan, Director of Ticket Sales, enter the backroom of the ticket office and he started chewing bubble gum and kicking asses... and he was all out of bubble gum. It was honestly annoying that the hawks still cant get everything right, but there in the right direction.

 

On another note... Kane's goal last night was interesting. He had a Thomas Jones like cut back, drawing the defense off the puck and then threw a weakish wrister off Legace's glove. Im not sure if he stickhandled Legace out of position or what, but Kane got it past him.

[The Critic]

Any time you knock a guy off his skates in open ice, its a pretty solid knock. So your right about that.

 

I was thinking the same thing about the ticket people, but I'm pretty sure the same people who do the bulls games also do the hawks games. I saw Doug Ryan, Director of Ticket Sales, enter the backroom of the ticket office and he started chewing bubble gum and kicking asses... and he was all out of bubble gum. It was honestly annoying that the hawks still cant get everything right, but there in the right direction.

 

On another note... Kane's goal last night was interesting. He had a Thomas Jones like cut back, drawing the defense off the puck and then threw a weakish wrister off Legace's glove. Im not sure if he stickhandled Legace out of position or what, but Kane got it past him.

Seemed to me like maybe Legace was partially screened and got a late look at it. He did get a piece of it, so I believe he got less than a great look at it. Kane did a lot of nice skating to maneuver himself into a good shooting position, so credit goes to him regardless.

 

The ticket people were horrible last year when no one was going, so it appears to me that they may need some more competent people in the booths. Their problems with walkup customers always leads me to buy in advance, even if it's the day before.

[MurcieOne]

"At Your Service" is the company who works all that stuff in the United Center... I'm not sure who owns that company, I know that Bismarck (catering) is Peter Wirtz, so maybe At Your Service is a Reinsdorf company?

 

I made the mistake last night thinking I could get some better seats by going to the box office, I wont make that mistake again.

 

 

[CWSGuy406]

Anyone going to the game tomorrow night? It's arguably the biggest game of this decade for the Hawks -- I really hope people tune in to watch them along with a packed UC. I can't wait -- the Bears game is an afterthought compared to the 6:00 puck-drop.

[MurcieOne]

I can't wait -- the Bears game is an afterthought compared to the 6:00 puck-drop.

 

I completely agree.... whod-a-thunk-it?

 

Things have really turned around for the blackhawks quickly and they have a great opportunity to win back fans with the Bulls and Bears playing well below expectations.

 

Rocky and the kids have done their part... now its time to perform on the biggest stage this team has seen in quite some time.

 

 

[The Critic]

Jeremy Roenick scored career goal #500 last night.

CONGRATS JR!!!!

Always one of my favorite Hawks - talented scorer, would hit anything that moved, and wasn't afraid to speak his mind in a very entertaining way.

 

[Harry Chappas]

Anyone going to the game tomorrow night? It's arguably the biggest game of this decade for the Hawks -- I really hope people tune in to watch them along with a packed UC. I can't wait -- the Bears game is an afterthought compared to the 6:00 puck-drop.

 

I'll be there wearing my JR jersey in honor of goal number 500. Hockeytown......my ass

 

Go Hawks!

[YASNY]

Jeremy Roenick scored career goal #500 last night.

CONGRATS JR!!!!

Always one of my favorite Hawks - talented scorer, would hit anything that moved, and wasn't afraid to speak his mind in a very entertaining way.

 

 

It wasn't the prettiest goal he ever scored, but it still counts.

 

to JR

[IlliniKrush]

As far as the box office goes, there were thousands of people that showed up after 7:00 and as a result there were lines everywhere. I don't know how stupid the box office people are, but I'd blame the customers just as much. Show up earlier, and know how to place an order, not take 5 minutes at the counter.