Primary Sidebar
Blackhawks Fan Confidence Poll
Last tallied on 09/01.
Presented by
Contact Second City Hockey
Want to advertise here? Want to just yell at us or offer your thoughts?
Email us at HereComeTheHawks@gmail.com
Are you on Twitter? Well then you're a dork - but follow us anyway!
Are you not only voyeuristic, but also narcissistic and are therefore on Facebook? Then become our fan!
Please help with Nashville flood relief!
SBN Mock Expansion Draft - Who Do the Hawks Protect?
by Matthew Dirt on Sep 2, 2010 2:06 AM CDT
85 comments
It's a slow news period around here. Sure there's the Niemi signing, the Kovy contract issues just won't die and Sam came out of hibernation to ask you all for money.. but that's not a hell of a lot to really write about. So SBN decided to see what would happen if the NHL were to add two more teams. Through fan voting - two new cities were picked - one in Winnipeg and the other in Quebec City. The former being named the Jets and the latter being the Nordiques... real fucking original guys...
And of course if the NHL were dumb enough to actually make this league bigger - it would need to conduct an expansion draft. So the powers that be here at SBN decided to see what that would look like. The great Gabe Desjardins of Behind The Net gets to play GM for the Jets while our Godfather, James Mirtle, calls the shots for the Nordiques. The question becomes then - who do those two get to pick from?
Here's where we come in - we decided to use rules that were close, if not identical, to the last expansion draft the NHL conducted in 2000 when the Wild and Blue Jackets were added. The rules are fairly straight forward but I probably managed to screw them up and possibly cheat them... Here they are:
-Teams can protect either "1 goalie, 5 defensemen and 9 forwards" OR "2 goalies, 3 defensemen and 7 forwards."
- If you go the two goalie route, at least one goalie left unprotected must have played in at least 10 games last season OR 25 games in the last two seasons combined. One game = at least 31 minutes.
- Each team must leave unprotected at least one defenseman who appeared in 40 games last season OR 70 games in the last two seasons combined.
- Each team must leave unprotected at least two forwards who appeared in 40 games last season OR 70 games in the last two seasons combined.
- Players who have played in 49 or fewer games are automatically exempt and do not need to be protected.
So with those rules in place here is my protected and unprotected list:
Protected:
Goalie (1) - Marty Turco
Defense (5) - Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Brian Campbell, Jordan Hendry
Forwards (9) - Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Patrick Sharp, Dave Bolland, Troy Brouwer, Jeff Taffe, Tomas Kopecky??
Unprotected:
Goalie - Cristobal Huet (enjoy!), Hannu Toivonen
Defense - Nick Boynton, Jassen Cullimore, John Scott??
Forwards - Fernando Pisani, Tomas Kopecky/John Scott??
Why the question marks? Hit the jump to hear my explanations and see my questions...
Niemi In Teal?
First of all, the fact that Nick Kypreos is a star reporter now, and Matthew Barnaby an analyst, well, we now know how far hockey coverage has to go. Anyway, Niemi appears poised to sign in San Jose for 2 mildo, which is what he could have gotten here about three months ago. Anyway, we'll see how many times he says no when Dan Boyle and Dany Heatley are falling asleep in front of him.
Committed Indian Subscriptions Now Open
by SamFels on Sep 1, 2010 2:44 AM CDT
in 2010-2011 Committed Indian Subscriptions
20 comments
With the calendar hitting September, and training camp now just two weeks away, and my August hiatus over, we thought it was time to open up subscriptions for The Committed Indian. And for the next two weeks, we're offering an Early Bird Special (i.e. Sam's bar tab has come due)! You can get a full season subscription, including playoffs, for $65 (they'll be $75 after the 18th) So dive on in!
Marty Turco Press Conference Live
For those of you at work or if you're just unemployed, watch the Marty Turco press conference via the link above at 2:30, streamed live. All the jersey number rumors should be put to rest finally, though the money's on #30, since Hannu Toivonen has recently switched to 33.
As always, feel free to make crude and snide comments here.
Those Anarcho Punks Are Mysterious...
by McClure on Aug 27, 2010 8:02 AM CDT
371 comments
Yesterday, in the comments of the Huet-to-Switzerland posting, spokeinthebandwagon posed the question to me of if we had ever sought out official media credentials, which came up as a result of some of the developments around the World Hockey summit, specifically the reluctance to credential "new media" types such as us by certain clubs. Here was my response:
We were offered credentials through SBN for the finals, but did not take them.
A lot of thought went into this, but we came to the conclusion that having positioned ourselves how we have as being profane outsiders, that if we were to take the credentials, we would be beholden to the agenda of John McDonough and Jay Blunk. Not only that, but our responsibility is to you, the readers, as you have come to expect a certain type of product on this site. Being that we’re all giant fans first and foremost, at no point would we want to compromise whatever perceived integrity we have with you by in any way giving the appearance of sparing someone from our verbal wrath because they were nice to us in a post-game. On top of that, getting put in the press box means no cheering and having to stay sober during a game, two things I personally cannot abide by.
Additionally, I remarked further down in the discussion that should we choose to take advantage of being credentialed, it would be almost assured that many of the old media types would do everything in their power to make things as difficult as possible for us; a) because many of them don't necessarily respect what we do due to lack of training and think we're completely without accountability, and b) due to that lack of accountability, we've pretty much roasted every member of the mainstream media who covers the Hawks at one time or another. While we have admittedly done the latter, it's not that we do it because we don't have to answer for our actions, nor is it to do it simply to be controversial. I think I can speak for the four of us when I say one of the primary reasons that we started contributing to this outlet was due to the disappointment in local and in-depth media coverage of our beloved Blackhawks- something that hasn't really changed even with the spike in popularity and a Stanley Cup championship.
Now, were any of the four of us actually put into a credentialed situation, I am 103.7% confident that we'd be able to comport ourselves in a professional manner, as well as ask difficult questions when necessary. But, as I stated yesterday, the important thing is preception, particularly after after we've positioned ourselves with the voice that we have already. I'm sure that many of you would feel that us being credentialed would be tantamount to Against Me! signing to Sire. Whether we want it to or not, being credentialed and having that access would change the voice of this blog, something none of us are entirely comfortable with. The important distinction to make is here between a reporter and a columnist. Right now, we're positioned more in a columnist role wherein we can give opinions on the subject (however skewed and wrong they may be), rather than simply reporting unadulterated facts. While that's something that some blogs, both in the SBN family and elsewhere, aspire to, that's not really what we do here. And aside from getting a free seat at the event (again, where cheering and drinking are verboten) and just getting the credential to say we got the credential, we saw it as having very little advantage for us. And though it is better to get an in-person account of a sporting even in certain aspects, we have the advantage of Sam being at every game and me being at the vast majority of them for when that's necessary.
So, while a lot of the hockey blogging community has been all butthurt about the perceived injustice of the regulations for credentialing bloggers apparently coming down the pike, it's important to know where a given blogger is coming from when reading his or her stance on the subject. Whatever is agreed upon for granting us pantsless internet trolls access really isn't going to change what we do one scintilla, because it never really mattered to us to begin with.
371 comments | 5 recs |
Turco's new masks. Link here
Ed Note - Great find from ahnfire. -- McClure
Top 16 Goals of the 2009-10 Year
by hackerar on Aug 26, 2010 3:06 PM CDT
184 comments
Ed note: - This was put together by Hackrar and CNS, and their efforts deserve some front page recognition. Enjoy the clips and vote! - McClure
Goals. The 2009-2010 Chicago Blackhawks scored a lot of them, here's a quick look at the numbers:
REGULAR SEASON
- 179 - 5 on 5 goals (2nd in the NHL)
- 50 - 5 on 4 goals (T-12th in the NHL)
- 2 - 5 on 3 goals (T-22nd in the NHL)
- 16 - 4 on 4 goals (1st in the NHL)
- 13 shorthanded goals (1st in the NHL)
- 2 empty net goals (T-29th in the NHL)
- 91 first period goals (2nd in the NHL)
- 84 second period goals (7th in the NHL)
- 81 third period goals (7th in the NHL)
- 6 overtime goals (2nd in the NHL)
- 262 goals in total (2nd in the NHL. NOTE: 271 'goals for' shown on ESPN's standings because they include 1 for each shootout win, 9 in total)
STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONSHIP POSTSEASON
- 49 - 5 on 5 goals (1st of 16)
- 15 - 5 on 4 goals (2nd)
- 3 - 5 on 3 goals (2nd)
- 2 - 4 on 4 goals (1st)
- 4 shorthanded goals (1st)
- 5 empty net goals (1st)
- 21 first period goals (1st)
- 29 second period goals (2nd)
- 25 third period goals (1st)
- 3 overtime goals (T-1st)
- 78 playoff goals in total (1st)
Our Hawks scored 340 goals in 2009-2010, and I went back and reviewed every single one of them. I selected what I believe to be the top 16 goals (including playoffs), basing my choices purely on the skill of the goal scored with little to no regard given to the game situation in which the goal was scored. I thought it'd be fun for SCH to do something similar to NHL.com and have a seeded tournament in which we pit the goals against each other and vote on the match-ups until 1 goal, the Goal of the Year, is left standing. Unfortunately, Fanposts only allow 1 poll per post, which makes my original intent nearly impossible. Instead, I've included a poll with all 16 choices, and only 1 vote will occur to determine the Goal of the Year.
I performed my selection earlier this summer, but then, I procrastinated on the fanpost. Luckily, Katherine unintentionally gave me a swift kick in the ass with her recent (and quite successful I might add) year in review fanposts. (Hawks Best/Worst of the season) (SCH Best/Worst of the season)
In order to make this fanpost a one stop shop, I asked ChicagoNativeSon to help me put together a video of the top goals. I asked merely for help and what I got was a video that doesn't simply make the fanpost, it is the fanpost. As usual, CNS went above and beyond in order to keep his fellow SCH'ers as entertained as possible. Thanks again to CNS, not just for this video, but for all of his outstanding videos and photoshops.
After about as much meaningful fluff as I could muster.......here are the top 16 goals of the year (broken up into 2 parts):
These videos can be found on YouTube, here: PART 1 - PART 2
Keep in mind that based on your votes and your comments, CNS and I might revise the videos with 2 possible edits:
- Swap out goals - if the consensus is that a worthy goal has not been included and should replace 1 of the current 16
- Reorder the goals - if the consensus is that a goal is ranked too high or too low
Thanks,
Hack and CNS
"You must choose, but choose wisely. But as the true Grail will bring you life, the false Grail will take it from you."
184 comments | 13 recs |
Huet To Play In Switzerland Next Year?
by Matthew Dirt on Aug 23, 2010 4:46 PM CDT
579 comments
If you haven't noticed - it's a bit of a slow news time around here. So when you see this random story posted on Twitter - I guess you have to talk about it. Just as a disclaimer - I don't know anything about 20 Minuten Online... they could be the Swiss version of Eklund for all I know. Speaking of Eklund - watch this.
Back to the story though - I took a year of German in college but was pretty damn horrible at it. So since we're not PPP - I simply had to use the old stand-by of google translator. The article is still pretty hard to understand but it seems to say Huet has been loaned to the Swiss team Fribourg-Gotteron for next year. Fribourg-Gotteron plays in the Nationalliga A... so at least it'll be the top tier of the Swiss league.
The Hawks need to get rid of Huet's contract somehow - playing in Europe is definitely one option and perhaps the most appealing for Huet.
UPDATE - Kuc just weighed in on Twitter now too - he reports that Huet's agent says the deal is not yet done... meaning I guess that there's at least a little bit of truth to this.
ANOTHER UPDATE! - Quotes from Huet's agent, Stephen Bartlett. Seems as though there are "a lot of hoops to go through and approvals that have to happen here". So for right now this is anything but final, as the Twitterverse gets its collective panties in a wad with screams of circumvention.
UPDATE (ALBUM VERSION) - James Mirtle realized he had been vanquished by me on Twitter and penned this piece regarding the Huet story with reaction from Bartlett as well as deputy commissioner Bill Daly.
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
FanShots
Quick hits of video, photos, quotes, chats, links and lists that you find around the web.
Recommended FanShots
Recent FanShots
Central Standings
Blackhawks Schedule
Next 5 Games
@
Tampa Bay
|
Wed 09/22 | 7:00 PM CDT |
|
@
Detroit
|
Fri 09/24 | 6:00 PM CDT |
|
Detroit
|
Sat 09/25 | 7:00 PM CDT |
|
@
Pittsburgh
|
Tue 09/28 | 6:00 PM CDT |
|
@
St. Louis
|
Thu 09/30 | 7:00 PM CDT |
Last 5 Games
|
@
Philadelphia
|
Wed 06/09 | OT - W 4 - 3 |
|
Philadelphia
|
Sun 06/06 | W 7 - 4 |
|
@
Philadelphia
|
Fri 06/04 | L 3 - 5 |
|
@
Philadelphia
|
Wed 06/02 | OT - L 3 - 4 |
|
Philadelphia
|
Mon 05/31 | W 2 - 1 |
Featured Stories
SBNation.com Recent Stories
In Association With
Latest Puck Daddy - NHL from Yahoo! Sports
- Hilary Duff to attend Pittsburgh games; also, Comrie signs with Pens
- Kittens: The key ingredient to any intimidating KHL goalie mask
- Puck Daddy chats with Paul Bissonnette about his triumphant return to Twitter, plans for a bum tattoo
- In which former NHL coach Ken Hitchcock foils a shoplifter
- Montreal's Price talks new 2-year contract, expectations post-Halak
Certain photos copyright © 2010 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
Most Commented
Niemi In Teal?
by SamFels 1 day ago
386 comments
Something else to talk about
by laaarmer 5 days ago
312 comments | 4 recs
Marty Turco Press Conference Live
by McClure 2 days ago
108 comments
SBN Mock Expansion Draft - Who Do the Hawks Protect?
by Matthew Dirt 1 day ago
85 comments
Extreme Ideas for the NHL, from an Extreme (so I am told) person.
by Toews-makes-funny-faces 6 days ago
30 comments