Game Ten Brief Recap & Season Check-In

As you can see from my previous post, I was in Rockford for the Blackhawks-Blue Jackets tilt at the UC Saturday night. I wasn't completely in the dark as I was checking scores on my phone and had the in-person perspective from my brother via text. His texts began joyous and upbeat but quickly turned angry and upset. Oh well, at least *I* saw a good hockey game. And got a magnetic schedule to boot.

Here's a lame attempt at a Game Ten Recap: Blue Jackets 3, Blackhawks 2

Box Score
Highlights

- From the reports, it looks like it was a tale of two halves - the Blackhawks dominated the first half and the BJ's the second. Last one up wins I guess.
- Tomas Kopecky was out with the flu - Evan Brophey was brought up from the Hogs in his stead. Because of this, Q had to understandably juggle the lines.
- Sharp-Toews-Kane was the top line and really seemed to click at the beginning, with Sharp and Tazer scoring the Hawks only two goals in the first. I'm not sure what happened after that, but apparently Kane was benched for parts of the third period. Not Good.
- It all went to shit when Nick Boynton gave the puck right to Derick Brassard in front of Crawford. Giving up a goal with 36 seconds left in the period is never good, but Boynton had good form when he broke his stick over the crossbar.
- Even less good - taking a 5 minute boarding major with less than a minute left in the period. Troy Brouwer, you probably have a permanent front row seat in Q's doghouse now. Stupid penalty and probably affected the outcome of the game as the BJs tied the game on the ensuing PP.
- Other than the Brouwer major, there weren't a lot of power plays - just three minors for the BJs, two for the Hawks
- When your D gives up 40 SOG to the BJs, you know they played like shit. I don't even have to have seen the game to know that. They had 20 SOG in the third alone - *20*!!1! Poor Corey Crawford.

That's all I got for ya - except for this of course:

Yeah, that's kinda how I looked when I watched the highlights.

Taking a look at the Blackhawks ten games in - if you had said we'd be 5-4-1 without Soupy, Toftbo suspended for two games, a D that looks god-awful at least half a game, and with Toews and Kane both in slumps, I'd be pretty happy. Still, I can't help but have a bad taste in my mouth, especially after the last two losses. In all of the losses thus far, the Hawks either blew a lead or could have very easily taken the game. I have to think with Soupy healthy and some of our core playing better, we'd have won at least two of those games. You also have to consider the Hawks played an insane 10 games in 16 days to start the season. This will pay dividends in the latter half of the year, but it sucks for now. Hopefully the guys will have gotten a day or two of rest and have a few good practices to work out some of the kinks. 

Let's take a look at some of the notable players at this early stage of the season:

The Rebels (The Good)

Marian Hossa: 7G-4A-11P, +4
Patrick Sharp: 8G-3A-11P, 3 PP Goals, 3 GWG
With Toews, Kane and pretty much everybody else not performing as they are capable of offensively, Hoss and Sharpie have carried the team on their back. I'm not sure if either can keep up the over point-per-game pace (if any of the two can, it's Hossa), but it's good to know we have enough depth up front that can take over when our two stars are struggling

Tomas Kopecky: 1G-7A-8P, +3
I'm hard on TomoKop, but here's a man who has taken his opportunity on the top line and run with it. Sure, most players would bank points on a line with Toews & Hossa, but Tomas would probably have a few more points on top of his total if he'd hit the net a little more accurately.

Marty Turco: 4-2-1, 2.65 GAA, .921 SV%
TK-421's guaranteed to give you one minor heart attack per game with either his crazy puck movement or flopping in the crease, but think about how inconsistent our D's been thus far. That makes his play even more impressive - he has flat out bailed this team out on several occasions. Corey Crawford has also proven thus far to be a very capable backup.

The Ewoks (The Bad)

Sorry, I couldn't resist - this image was *too* funny!

The Defense

I can't single out one player - every single defenseman on this team has had a bad giveaway, an awful pass, or flat out missed an assignment on the ice. The injury/suspension situation hasn't helped, but at some point you have to go out and play your game and not use it as a reason for poor play. The Hawks are allowing 2.8 goals per game (20th), 34.1 shots per game (24th), and as a team is a -2. This needs to be cleaned up toot-suite.

Dave Bolland - 1G-1A-2P, 14 SOG

The man who excelled as "The Rat" in the Cup run is non-existent. Wha Happen? Maybe he hasn't adjusted to his new linemates. Is his back bothering him? He was a slow starter in last year's playoffs too, so here's hoping he finds his game again. Fast.

Fernando Pisani - 0G-0A-0P, -3

Excuse me Fernando, have you really played in all ten games? "Don't call my name, don't call my name...from the pressbox."

The mini-break for the Hawks ends Wednesday with a game at home versus the Kings sans Drew Doughty. Then the Oilers come into town on Friday. I will probably not be able to see that game either as I will be in Minnesota - I'll be at Saturday night's game at the Wild. WOOOO ROADTRIP!