Oh, That Dirty Water: Hawks 3, B's 5

Couch Q likes to bench second-tiers for subpar play (How you doin’ Buff?); let’s see him do what he should have done with Campbell ten games ago and give him a dunce cap and a corner for tomorrow’s game.

That guy is a phenominal artist.

Just kidding. But he definitely deserves a healthy scratch. Shit, coaches at all levels should bench their gingers just as a precaution.

What a game!!! Just when I thought Huet and Campbell completely screwed up the game totally the Hawks make a comeback!!! Nice goal by Versteeg and then by Kane (what a SHOT) but in the end another Campbell mistake- giving Kane a hand gernade of a pass instead of shooting it in- ultimately led to the Hawks demise!!! 4 losses in 6 games now is not very ELITE of the Hawks, hopefully a W tomorrow could propel the Hawks to a winning streak similar to the 9-gamer in December!!!

After another BOMB of a game by Huet one has to wonder if Niemi will get his 2nd career start tomorrow vs. the Avalanche? And if Niemi plays confident and well (both go hand-in-hand) one has to wonder if Niemi would get back-to-back starts in Wednesday’s game vs. the Hurricanes? After Huet’s performance lately it’s obvious that Khabibulin is the starter for the rest of the way when he FINALLY returns which should be next weekend!!!

If you read the AP or Trib recaps of the game, you’d have no idea that Campbell was stinking up the joint, or that Huet let in a soft goal.

I don’t think that Huet is the issue; the problem is his style. He is not a goalie that the defense can abandon in favor of an early rush, or picking up his rebounds from all the shots you allow. Go into the wayback machine and look at his successes in Montreal: he had Markov, Streit, Komisarek, Hamrlik, Ryder, and more defensive support in his forwards. When your top two are your only two every night (as they have been the last three games), then a goalie like Huet will let a softie go by. I like him,personally. His problem is much larger than he can control.

I thought the whole reason we grabbed Couch Q was so that the team would get tighter defensively and develop the chemistry of Kane and Toews. Let’s review; he had Kane and Tazer on separate lines for the first two months of the season (seriously, what the fuck?) and the defensive play of everyone but Dunc ‘n Seabs, and the surprising Walker and Big Johnson. Campbell, Barker, Wiz (not our problem anymore!) has been phoned in for stretches during the season. With a goalie who is weak on rebounds and has vision issues (remember the Sundin goal in VAN? What goalie doesn’t check his six when he’s hugging a post?), the defense has to sheperd the puck handler better than these guys do, and looking out for Huet’s blind spots.

The funniest thing about everyone ripping on Campbell is that no one has mentioned that when he had the blowout (which led to the fourth goal), he was trying to pull off his wacky “coasting spin-a-rama in my defensive zone” play. When I watched this replay over 5 times I almost threw something at my television. He was also taken off the puck to the right of Niemi earlier in the game which led to scoring chance. We all know that Campbell is one of the most skilled players in the league, the sad part is that he does not have to be be that flashy. How many times have we seen him ahead of the forwards in the attacking zone when we have a 1-goal lead in the 3rd period? There is a reason why people have said that he comes up short in the D.Boyle-Cambell comparison. Campbell feels the need to contribute on offense. Defense comes first. I hope that Brian can rise above the boo-birds and re-establish himself as a solid d-man. And don’t kid yourselves, this does reflect back on Q, he did have the power to scratch Campbell for the Sunday game vs. Colorado. If Soups does focus on Defense, then Q does not have to be stuck with such a difficult decision. Hey! Wednesday night it’s Ruutu…in da houwwse!!!