Drunk Sex: Lightning 2 - Hawks 0

your first paragraph pretty much sums it up in a nutshell. I feel your pain (as does all of Hawks nation)

   1. It ain’t as bad as you think. It will look better in the morning.
   2. Get mad, then get over it.
   
   4. It can be done!

   6. Don’t let adverse facts stand in the way of a good decision.
  
  12. Don’t take counsel of your fears or naysayers.
  13. Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.

is screaming, Dump the fucking puck, assholes! you know it’s not rocket science.

That said, I just want to believe. I want to believe that my team, with all its ups and downs, frustrating and exciting moments, is gonna pull it together enough to get in the playoffs. I’m always going to have that little bit of hope left, until the moment they’re mathematically eliminated.

And we’ll get Sharp, and possibly Bolland, back someday. We’re a better team when we have 40% of our top 5 forwards back.

That first paragraph was a great analogy.

Make it in.

Once in, you have to win 4 out of 7, not 4 out of 4 or 5. As schizoid as this team has been, no one on the planet who watches hockey would say 4 games out of 7, even against the best in the league, is impossible for this team.

at the “bad sex is better than no sex” point of the night season yet? Because if so, I have a feeling a Hawks playoff run won’t be near as entertaining. But I’d still like to see them try.

the second powerplay unit. The personnel that were out there was simply frightening. I realize Bolland and Sharp are out, but it seems that our lack of depth is finally showing itself. Obviously, we’ve got to (GOT TO!) make the playoffs. But the playoffs could be a quick and painful affair. Whatever ails this team, it needs to be fixed quickly.

And drunk sex is a pretty good analogy. Except that you remember these games.

drunk sex analogy

but felt the Hawks played into the hands of TB, not dumping and chasing. I also saw a lot of dump-ins never really get in past the circles.

They did have some point blank chances and didn’t bury them. I felt that once they got a goal, it would spark them and all would be well on West Madison St. tonight. Alas, that goal never came.

I know the mantra is just get in, you never know what will happen. But I don’t see a good run in the playoffs from them, honestly. Toews carried them from the outside looking in to the 4th or 5th spot only to have him run out of gas and watch his teammates falter and sputter along.

I realize this isn’t last year’s team that turned it on late to garner a nice spot in the tournament and run with it until the promised land was theirs, but these last two weeks they have played like basically 95% of the season.

I think our best man is stalberg

Why are teams that play trap style so difficult for this team to adjust to? What the fuck is Q doing? I haven’t been this pissed after a game all year, mainly because I devoted some valuable free time to watch a fucking travesty of a game. Tim Peele needs to join McCreary.

Don’t look now, but Ham Sandwich just threw another soft one up and out of play.

I am still sure that they get into the playoffs, but they are looking to get swept in the 1st round playing idiot hockey. Step it please, pull your heads out of your asses and play smart.

Duncan Keith: will he ever get a puck on net?

I don’t do analysis here, but I’m gonna put my two sense in. Hawks and Stars both have 4 games left. I know the Stars have easier opponents. They won’t win 4 in a row. They are not that kind of team. Calgary is out my friends. Math is on our side and its more sound than human emotions.

As anyone thought of what happens if the #Ducks drop their last 3 games aye?

Seriously, 200 level is legit – fucking servers and bigger chairs with more space between them – I could get use to that if I had the money

Anyways -

~ T-Brow was trying the first few minutes of the game and then played Houdini
~ Hjammer’s mental mistakes have defined his season and that’s sad for a guy who showed how damn good he can be last year
~ The 40 was entertaining to say the least – I just wished the Hawks could bury some of those great opportunities
~ Mike Smith was channeling Billy Smith – It feels like we get the goalies on their good days –
~ I want to like Frolik, I really do. Getting to see him live today didn’t help.
~ Had to shout over a SHOOT guy to express my urge for them to MOVE THE PUCK BETTER
~ Heard on the way out, “I miss Buff, he could have helped today” and “Where was big john scott, put his ass out there and let him rough some people up”
      - I just hang my head and hope they don’t come back next year.

Any team that loses a top 4 scorer and an A-class defensive center will suffer, but last year if Sharp went out, a guy like Versteeg would have a chance to pick up the extra minutes and opportunities. If Bolland went out there was still a Ladd to provide ballast. So it comes back to the whole “depth” problem.

Without knowing the specifics of the cap realities last off-season, I’m not sure what the GM could have done to change the situation much. You’ve needed your kids to develop faster than they have and for your #6-12 veteran forwards to step up more than they have. But that was a hope, not a realistic expectation.

The Penguins lose Crosby and Malkin and guys like Staal and Tyler Kennedy pick it up and play like Top 6 forwards. Letang develops into a #1 defenseman. It seems like every time I’ve watched the Red Wings in the last 15 years there’s another winger I’ve never heard of who’s playing on the second line and doesn’t look out of place. Maybe that’s what they make now instead of cars.

As for the complaints against your key players this season, every player on the team looked better last season because the collective was so good. The four-line attack kept other teams beaten down. Keith hasn’t gone from Norris winner to average defenseman. I just don’t think he was quite as good as he looked last year and he’s better than he looks now. You can point to his strong games and say that he should therefore play that way all the time but in a league, and particularly a conference, with so many good teams that play the game fast, and tough along the boards, it’s difficult for individual players to excel nightly when the rest of the team can’t keep up.

The big story in the league this year is the head shots but I wonder if the increased speed and size aren’t also breaking players down more often in less obvious ways. Richards and Leino and Timonen look hurt, Briere and Betts are banged up and out. O’Donnell suddenly looks 40, maybe he’s hurt too. Perhaps today’s NHL is more attritive than ever.

I consulted the Old Testament a few weeks ago and was told to expect at least a seventh-place finish. The prophets didn’t say anything about losing Sharp but you have to buck up anyway.

Mega millions is getting up there again.

so poignant.

I was at Wrigley yesterday. Botched DPs, bad baserunning, failure to produce with 2nd and 3rd no outs (Soto, Soriano), leadoff walk in 9th, and an inflield nubber scores 2 FTW Pirates.

funny what a little perspective does for ya.

I know how this team is frustrating you, and I also know how much you cream your pants thinking about naming your first born son Mr. Corey Perry Gtetzlaf Fels, so I’ve done the honorable thing and traded you to the Anaheim Ducks blog. You’re a great writer, and we all hate to lose you, but this is like Fisher to Nashville deal — it just makes sense considering the circumstances.

What I’m trying to say is I’m not sure why the Ducks 2-1 win over the Hawks the other week gave birth to this “the Ducks’ top line is what we constantly compare everything the Blackhaws do” meme, but I’d like to address it with a few bullet points:

1. The fact that they are producing regular right now while Kane and Toews are not is not particularly relevant to the Hawks. All your basically saying is different players on different teams at different times during different seasons may play differently — and sometimes different is better! Even though some teams may have, and indeed do have, a better top line than ours, I’m not so sure it deserves a paragraph in a postgame wrap for a game they weren’t even involved in!

2. If they are so fucking great and we have nothing bunch of shiftless assholes on our team, why are they one single point ahead of us in the standings? Can we not pass them in the standings if we win the game at hand we have on them?doesn’t the fact their fighting for the last spot right with us at least cast some doubt on their overwhelming effectiveness?

3. Why them now? I realize they are close to us in the standings, but so are 8 other god damn teams.

4. What kind of noise did that line make in the playoffs last year? I don’t remember you comparing our Stanely Cup winning squad to their miss the playoffs team after we finished playing Tampa Bay last season.

5. How about we compromise: you can compare the Toews/Kane line to the Ducks’ top line over and over again and I’ll stop complaining, but for every three times you do compare them to Corey Geztlaf Pertty, you have to balance it out by comparing them to the shittiest, most over-paid players in the league.

At least for making the playoffs and a respectable showing. Getting Sharp back this week will be a good move in the right direction. The lack of productive depth and the playing top guys is bad, but this team matches up much better against most teams in the league when it can run those 2 fast and skilled lines, not just one like they are now. The D has not been terrible the past few games, and broken play like Seabs on the PP should not be the only thing that kills the game, if the Hawks forwards had done their job better, Seabs on Vinny would have been more of “oh and Biscuit puked for like 5 seconds on the PK”.

Maybe it is blind optimism, but I think this team when it can roll two highly skilled lines, is more than most NHL teams can handle. One highly skilled line, most NHL teams can neutralize.

Back in the day my GranDad was diagnosed with terminal cancer. It dragged on for almost a year and everyone involved, including him, needed it to end. I feel the same way about this season. This shit needs to end. We don’t have a chance against any team currently above us in the standings, assuming we even make the dance. I almost wish we would have just mailed it in in February and then play Russian roulette in the draft lotto.

always have & always will be, but now the glass is starting to look a little more empty than full. Sure they still have a 1 point lead on the Flamers and 3 on the Stars, but the Hawks play a much more difficult schedule this last week than either of those teams.

They will need at least 5 out of the last 8 points available, and I’m having a hard time seeing it happen after their recent performances. While I don’t think they played poorly last night, there did not seem to be that sense of urgency that is so critical to these games.

Nobody can sit there and say that the team on the ice last night remotely resembled the team that left everything on the ice against Scum or the Sharks. They knew they had to perform in those games and they did what had to be done (win or die trying).

Last night and against the BJ’s seemed kind of “we have 5 left, if we don’t get this one, we’ll get the next one” kind of mentality. As I stated in an earlier post, I think it’s time I just finally accepted that this team is just not as good as I hoped they were.

I didn’t expect a repeat this year, but I did expect more than this. Yes I know, all you have to do is get in to the playoffs and anything can happen. I have been hearing people say “look at Philly last year” I think the way they played in the regular season was a fluke, and the team in the playoffs was the real Flyers as evidenced by their performance thus far.

Anyway, I will still hold on to that glimmer of hope no matter how quickly it seems to be fading at the moment until it is completely gone. Without question, the boys had better figure out how bad they want to play by Tuesday against the Habs or the home and home against the Scum may not really matter.

As always, GO HAWKS!!!

I would love at least to see them show not hunger, but more like hungrier effort! I hope they can bounce back. Time is very slim now.

……..as if we have quit already.

They made one of the top Eastern conference teams look pretty sad.

I’m not very optimistic but I think the fact the only seem to care when playing certain teams leads me to believe if we get in the first round Vancouver may have a lot on their hands.

One last thing, Hjammer hasn’t lived up to his contract one bit this year and I won’t be shocked if he is shipped off in the offseason seeing Seabs got a raise.

First off, I have to tip my hat to Flyersfaninchicago – that was a well written, impartial view of this tortuous season.

Secondly, am I the only one out there that thought we were the dominant team out there last night? We deserved a W for our efforts, clearly outplaying a fortunate Lightning squad. Outside of holding my breath when St. Louis had the puck on his stick, the only concern I had was if we’d finally catch a break or a good bounce.

I thought we emerged from the board warfare with flying colors last night. as I drove home listening to the post game show I thought to myself; who had a bad game for the hawks last night? I really couldn’t find fault in any particular Hawk, what I saw was a determined effort that went unrewarded. It happens, all you can do is ratchet it up another notch against the Candiens on Tuesday. we’d better come out flying. As far as the Utes go, as Joe Pesci would put it, I even thought Leddy played quite well and Kruger showed sparks of possibilities.

Let me ask you something – i realize TB beat us twice this past month, but who do you think is the better team?

Again, my hats off to section 321 and 322 who always seem to lead the charge with the “Lets go Hawks” cheer. The hawks owe fans like you a few more wins this season.

Last night seemed to epitomize this excruciating season. But let me dream build for a second – can you imagine the euphoria we’ll experience if we finished 8th and opened up against the Canucks and their great italian goal tender. Then imagine us beating them in 7 games. If we were to somehow get ot the Conference Finals this year, this team would generate as much excitement as Toews and Kanes rookie year.

I know, "dreamer, your nothing but a dreamer.’ but it beats throwing in the towel while we still have breath.

I could point out a positive. But I’ve got none.

That DOG from Hjammer — as noted — was (like so many of his others) completely inexcusable. I would argue that ANY DOG from an NHL player is inexcusable, despite a buddy’s insistence that "sometimes the puck’s on edge and . . . " Fuck that. Crawford’s I understand — don’t like — but understand; a position player? Fuck no, again.

I saw little in the way of heart last night. For the bazillionth time this season, it looked like it was the Hawks, and not their opponent, playing the second of a back-to-back. The posture of 88 as he got beat back for the empty-netter said it all: utter surrender.

And screw the Hawks’ shot total. Maybe 5 of them were realistic chances. The rest were all nothing but idiotic attempts to go 6-hole, which — lemme check here; yep — has never resulted in a goal.

I still think they’ll probably make the playoffs, but I now fully expect them to get the new-fish-in-prison treatment from Vancouver, which will at least save me the indignity of seeing my credit card get charged for rounds 3 & 4 so Rocky can earn an extra couple months interest on my 2011-12 ticket money.

The book out there on the Blackhawks over that last 3 years seems to be to just try and beat the living shit out of them. Vancouver plays a faster game and hopefully that plays into the hands of the Blackhawks. Id rather try and go end to end with Vancouver then try and slug it out in the corners with Detroit or San Jose.

Either way, I have a terrible feeling. Also, Im not sure if Im in this camp or not, but that wasn’t pessimism for the sake of being pessimistic. That shit is real.

I should be worried about this week’s back-to-back right?

Since Jeff Bartl could not find the inner strength to channel Toews mind, I gave it a go. Let me tell you something, there’s a lot of weird stuff going on in that psychotic brain. I have a new found appreciation for what Bartl has gone through this season.

Anyway, this was what was revealed to me;

“Chill out you weak spirited quitters, you make me sick. Boo-Hoo, so we lost a game we should have won – that’s the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. You all quit on us last year when we lost the first playoff game against Vancouver, remember?? You all disgust me. What, are we supposed to go 82-0?

I know what you feckless bag of worry warts are thinking – we never play well against the flaming Frenchmen, the Blues whole season revolves on kicking our ass and there’s no way we can beat the Wings, ooohhh I’m afraid. Take some Viagra you flaccid lot of limp wristed acquiescer’s.

Did you see my picture on the back of the Suntimes today? Does that look like a quitter to you, does that look like someone who’s given up on this season? Does that look like Maria singing “the Hills are alive with the sound of music to you?” i’ve got Halls stick precariuously close to my testicles and Smith’s stick is real close to my anus. Does that look like someone who says “We just aren’t good enough?” Go bake a cake Suzy Homemaker. It’s a good thing Katherine defended Hjammer or I’d be kicking her ass too. Any of you ever make a mistake – you sicken me.

I’m sure if I shook your hand it would feel like a piece of overcooked spaghetti. You might as well take the next two games off, you slackers. But i’ll be expecting you to be on board when we seal the deal in Detroit this Saturday.

Truthfully I want to vomit you luke warm fans out of my mouth, you panty waists – Man Up, would you? I told you this shit wasn’t going to be easy and tell Bartl he better be back after the Canadien game, the slackard.

I will get it done. Your either with me or against me. It’s a good thing I have a short memory.

You all can’t handle the truth."

Hawks score 0 goals, but let’s call out the D man for making a mistake. jhat about the shit that didn’t win the draw? What about the goalie that let the puck in? Nope, it’s all Seabrook’s fault. Come on, If you don’t score, you most likely will not win. Blame it on the scoreboard Sam.

No one should throw the towel in yet. Hawks is still breathing, they can do it!