I loved the 4th line last night. After the 12-minute fuck-a-thon that was the beginning of the game, they just decided that they were gonna kick some nuts in, regardless of the score. It was their shift just prior to Madden’s that got things going. I really think that Skille is going to be a solid 2-way player one day, and his time now on the grinder line is only going to help that.

Also, Ladd played like a man on fire last night (the Denzel Washington kind). I loved every second. For the people who went to the game, it looked like when the glass shattered that Robyn Regher went over and gave the kid sitting there something. Anyone see what it was? Classy move, either way.

Finally, I know Toews has a tendency to be a slow starter, but I really think that he needs to shoot more. Last year it was kind of an average goal he scored for his first, but after that the floodgates opened. Versteeg can get him the puck in the slot…make it happen.

Thank god I don’t have congenital heart disease (yet), because this team would kill me by April if I did.

His skating is so much stronger, particularly noticeable along the boards. There was a moment in the third when Kane was bringing it up ice. He dumped it towards the corner, flew around his man at the blue line, straight up muscled past the next defensemen to get to the puck, and circled in the corner to create some space before dishing it off. Voila, the Hawks were set for the possession.

It was a simple play that didn’t result in a goal, although I believe they got a nice shot off the possession. But it was the way he was skating without the puck all night that was just slap-you-in-the-face noticeable. It will now be one of my Freidman-esque analogies when we look back on this year, reflecting on Kane’s 95 point breakout.

I know that the team did nothing to help him, but Huet needs to stop starting games. He is not our guy, there are so many things that are just fundamentally wrong with his game. as of now he is letting 1 goal in for ever 5.6 shots on net. Ridiculous! Niemi needs to gain some confidence in the net and the powers that be need to figure out how to deal with Huet’s salary. Seriously, he is like the laughing stock on the NHL right now.
Totally agree about Madden, he’s a stud. That whole line was pretty damn crucial to that comeback. Brouwer was my player of the game.
Kane is just going to get better.
Kudos to Hjammer for some brilliant plays ( Made a few stupid mistakes too )
What a crazy game to have had the pleasure of attending.
Hostile Hawk@PuckPowWow.com

before we can pass judgment on Huet’s performance? I’m with you on him— he’s not the best, and while he needs to try and do his job sometimes, he’s also being hung out to dry by the defense. We don’t really have any other options so I’m hoping whatever he’s doing between the pipes (ie, nothing) doesn’t last very long, because really, we’re kind of stuck.

we should just send out 6 skaters to start the game and forgo the goaltender position entirely. I know there is not much to do with a 6 million dollar waste of space but how long can we sit back here and play the wait-and-see game? I know the season is still in its infant stage but unless Huet has a major turnaround in the next couple of days, the only choice we have to let Niemi have a go. He may fare no better, but something has to be done if Huet cant figure this out.

It doesn’t look like Huet is doing anything to improve. Seems to be the same issues game in and game out.

Granted it is very early in the season to start asking for heads to roll I would be all for platooning the position if Huet keeps up the suckfest and give Niemi a chance to win the job(which I think he will).

How’s Brouwer doing? Last I heard they’re still trying to fish chunks of Iginla’s fist from his skull.

80 point season with maybe 40 goals if he stays healthy. He looks elite.

And I’m done with Barker…ship him to the farthest corner of the earth. That’s two terrible giveaways that have directly lead to goals now (Draper’s goal in Detroit) and he’s got virtually no upside. His PP unit can’t control the puck and doesn’t sustain pressure, he’s slow, positionally bad and his slapshot is average at best. Bleh.

And I too have a man crush on John Madden. Sami who?

…am falling for Madden. hard. I cant wait to see him live in the flesh on wednesday. he didnt play the preseason game i was at but i have a feeling that sparks will fly as i watch that man play hockey tomorrow night.
Huet gets more time from me. body of work is better than this. i liked niemi once the sky stopped falling but i like niemi and the thought of niemi as a #2 and a #2 alone…at least for this year.

Kane-Weapon-Buff. this is the start of something beautiful.
insane game. i still feel like the guys in boondock saints when roc shoots the cat on accident…“i cant believe that just fucking happened!”

I don’t recall him playing this poorly in a stretch of games last year but maybe my memory is fading? I don’t think it would be possible to trade him with his bad performance and the lack of depth we have at defense.

I’m really bummed out… he’s honestly one of the nicest guys on the team. He talked to the little boys that sit in front of me for 10 minutes when I took them to get autographs. He listened to all their stories and was completely sweet to them.

The buff-bolland-kane line is ridiculous, and was great last night.

It seems to me that when Hossa comes back, this line will be the first to be disbanded moving buff to the checking line with Madden and Ladd. After that, some combination of toews, versteeg, sharp, hossa, bolland, and kane will make up the first two lines. I know it is early in the season, but the thought of breaking up the buff-bolland-kane line is not a good one to me. Goals such as Kane’s with Buff screening will be less likely if buff gets moved. Who knows, maybe sharp or versteeg can fit into that third line, but that’s a stretch. Thoughts?

Second – another potential madden nickname – “Devil Eleven”

…that is all…

54yrs old,thought Mulveys 5 goals where the shit.This surpasses

I think Sam summed it up pretty well. A lot of the goals going in aren’t necessarily his fault, but you need him to pull one out of his ass a couple times a game and make a stop he has no business doing. All of the elite goalies do that and everyone has memories of Khabby doing that several times last season also.
That said, maybe it’s just my imagination so far, but the D seems to protect Niemi better than they do Huet. Lots of hockey left. My biggest concern is that no matter who’s in net, we’ll be going into the playoffs with a goalie with little to no playoff experience. That usually doesn’t bode well.

We’ve gone through a few threads now where nobody is calling for Byfuglien to be traded for a bag of pucks. Where are all the Buff haters?

They’re offering 50% off 100 level and 200 level tickets to Wednesday night’s game. Just have to put in TWITTER in the promo box.

There’s no way I’m going to be able to sell my tickets to the game now. But you’re welcome!

sitting in sec 313 row 3 watching the Flamers score 5 goals, I looked at my brother in law that accompanied me to the game and asked him. do you think the guy I paid 16 dollars to park will give a refund if we leave know. Forgive me God for saying that. he laughed and said one goal is all is needed for a comeback. I agreed and started doing the math giving the time on the clock and knowing that the flamers over paid old aged players would prob. not last the Hawks in Skating. Then Madden scored and that was the end of that. I tell ya Im going over to the flamers blog and boy are they pissed. lololol. I had to drop a message. I just had too.

He’s going to have to be offered a Hossa-like 12 year contract for us to have any shot at keeping him. I still think Toews is their number one priority.

…what the fuck was phaneuf doing? the goal cam shows his stick on the ice…a foot away from the puck which was behind kipper…. Bolland just went out and got it. the more i watch the replay i wonder what was going through his fo-hawk on that play.
illllll take it!

1. How impressive was Brouwer last night? I mean, he didn’t dent the scoresheet or anything, but That Hit, plus those other hits, plus stepping up to take on Iginla, who was out for blood … in a crazy, unpredictable game, he managed to stick out positively.

2. It’s sort of wrong how good Madden is. And by “wrong,” I mean “utterly soul-satisfying.”

3. I’m not off the Huet bandwagon; he didn’t play well last night, but the entire defensive scheme and execution was terrible for the first 12 minutes. Cam Barker’s giveaway leading up to the first goal was as ugly as anything we’d seen this season, at least until the second goal Niemi let in. It’s a group effort, and they need to focus for the full 60 minutes, not just when the boos start raining down. First 12 minutes aside, our guys made the Flames look pretty bad for the rest of the game.

As for who should be the starter Wednesday night against the Oilers? Niemi, for the reason being that it might be better to have the rookie start at home and have the veteran start on the road as opposed to vice-versa. Niemi right now is the feel good goaltender right now and as the back-up is feeling all the love for as we all know the back-up ‘can do no wrong’, not to mention that the Oilers are red-hot offensively right now and it might be better to put in the goaltender that has the more confidence in his game. Add to it that the last thing Huet needs is more pressure and a one-on-one battle against Khabibulin might just be that, as Huet has been struggling with his game and another poor performance in front of the boisterous UC crowd against Khabibulin may have his confidence steep even lower and that’s the last thing the Hawks need right now. In fact for Wednesday night’s game I wouldn’t be opposed to having Crawford called up from Rockford and having him back-up Niemi in case he fails for Huet could use the mental break and concentrate solely on his start in Nashville.
Huet is our starter until a deal is made for his replacement. Do I believe Huet will be the guy when the playoffs come calling? No, I think a deal will be put in place before the playoffs roll around with Huet unfortunately placed on waivers, and if cleared, sent directly to Rockford due to salary-cap concerns.

As happy as I am with the end result of last night’s game, there was one lingering thing sticking around in my head. Postgame, the Hawks said all the right things except for one. Kane thanked the fans for not giving up on the team. Seabrook admitted in his radio interview that the team “played like crap” in the first period.

The Hawks talk about how great their team chemistry is, how they all spend time together and look out for each other and all that wonderful stuff, but I am more than a tiny bit disappointed that nobody came out in defense of Huet (as far as I’ve read; if you’ve seen evidence to the contrary please let me know, I’d like to see it). A simple “we came back to win that game because we all felt bad about leaving Cris out to dry like that.” Nothing too complicated.

Huet hasn’t been great, and maybe you could even say he was bad. We like to talk around here about how Chris Osgood is overrated because he’s a product of the type of team defense that the Wings play. So if that’s the case, couldn’t you reasonably say that Huet’s effort last night will be underrated because he can’t be expected to both tend the net and defend the guy in the white jersey camping out in front?

Bottom line- if an opponent takes a cheap shot on your teammate, you go after him and let him know that kind of nonsense isn’t tolerated. Why should it be any different when you leave your own teammate open to cheap shots because you didn’t do your job?

As I said earlier, Huet has given this dedicated longtime hockey player absolutely no reason to believe that he can play between the pipes well. He will not be able to go far in the playoffs and never has, so why should we keep trying with him. With the exception of the last game of last year he has been poor or below average. Just because he became hot for a few weeks with the Capitals doesn’t mean he can make saves consistently. Like I said, he is averaging 1 goal let in for every 5.6 shots on him. He has made one stop that I would actually call a save. Thats why they call it a save, because you back your team up when they cant stop the puck from getting to you. I agree the Hawks didn’t help him out last night, but when will he help the team out?

I really like the waiver idea and sending him to Rockford for a while. Teach him a lesson. The guy has no skills in net. Ask any goalie. Positioning, stance, post to post, glove, drops to his knees to early, butterfly sucks, nothing. Niemi looks much more fundamentally strong in net. If Huet gets better it will be due to luck.
Versteeg rocks.

In reply to Deep thoughts from BLou.
Keith is the best skater on the Hawks team and I think the best Premier Defenseman in the league. To loose him would be a travesty, a damn travesty. Can’t happen.
Madden is amazing, totally a tremendous addition to the team.
Hjammer is great. My brother likes to say the same thing about him. 3rd best defensive player on the team.
It will be sad to see Versteeg leave, but I agree he might not be around next year.
Toews is already playing well, just no points, but contributing all the same.

…and I’m pretty sure everyone will agree that Buffalo 6-Detroit 2 is a beautiful final score. Now 5 points up on the Wings, let’s beat the Oilers and make it 7.

Savard only got 4 last year

I havn’t posted for a while, but I have read the posts and most of you need to enjoy the games more and stoop waiting to get hit in the head by the sky.

Aaaaaaaaaanyway, here you go.

Huet needs either needs to play all the time or never. He will should get on a roll, but if he doesn’t, he needs a good tweezer for the bench. Anti-Huet is not a kid, neither is Crawford. The Hawks are hosed in the net, so keep the puck away from the goalies with defensive play. Isn’t that what Q has a reputation for?

Jack Skille is not a 4th line player? Datsyuk and Zetterberg came to the NHL and played 3rd and 4th line. He nees to play where the coach puts him. If he can’t, he needs to go away.

The anwser to Cam Barker is Jordan Hendry. He is solid, has some experience, and will play D. Sit Barker for 5 games, see how he playes after that.

Toews is an absolute monster. Madden as well. Give Toews some candy once in a while and let him play with Kane.

The behind the back drop pass is the worst play you can make in your own zone. 51, if you are reading this please stop doing that.

Buff – blink

Sharp is in the top 20 in the league in scoring. If he goes down before Hossa comes back, Hawks are in big trouble.

If the only problem we have is that our goalie gives up goals when we play poor D, then I’ll see you in Grant Park come June.

…it’s funny, particulalry the doom mongering.

A few level heads kept the faith throughout. Kudos to Mike Martin in particular.

Hello Hawks fans, after leaving the game monday i realized i was so pissed off on how Huet played, but then realized it wasn’t all his fault. As a team they played awfull and boy we let them hear it at the end of the first. I really think that was a fluke start because watching it, it just didn’t look like they were ready. Any way I wonder if Happy will start today for the Oilers….GO hawks.. One indian under God in the visable with liberty to win and a stanley cup for all.