It’s interesting to see what some of the Blackhawks and Red Wings blogs/news media sites from around the internet are saying about last night’s 3-2 victory for the Blackhawks over the Red Wings.
First of all, we have Matt Johnson from over at The Blackhawk Experience:
Tonight was a night to remember for sure. Who knows how many fans were watching at home in Chicago but those who did and aren’t familiar with this team got to see a little of everything. If they don’t want to come down to the United Center after seeing a game like that, they don’t know good hockey when they see it because my heart was racing all game long.
And then for some perspective from some of the Red Wings blogs:
Matt Saler from the On The Wings blog:
The Wings lost to the Blackhawks for the third time this season and deservedly so. With the exception of brief periods of play in the beginning and toward the end, they were outclassed by Chicago and looked completely out of sync. The Hawks, on the other hand, earned the win with hard work and hustle, pretty much from the first puck drop to the final horn.
HockeyTownTodd, from the blog of the same name:
Robert Lang (17 pts in 17 games), a rejected Wing due to no ‘Dazzle and Wasted Motion’, continues to be a thorn in Mikey’s side. Just quietly doing his job like he did in Detroit before his ice time was cut,
along with Perreault, seem to be the settling vets on the New Blackhawks.
Then we have some of the Chicago newspapers with a Blackhawks perspective:
Tim Sassone of the Daily Herald:
The dynamic play of the 18-year-old Kane and the 19-year-old Toews is one of the reasons why Wirtz and general manager Dale Tallon were so eager to expose their team to more games on TV.
“I think we all knew we wanted to (win) for the fans, the city, the whole Blackhawks tradition, but the most important thing is we wanted to go out and win it for ourselves in this locker room,” Toews said. “Everyone held up their end of the bargain, and we played a great game overall.”
Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune:
The attendance Sunday night was 19,045, the biggest crowd of the season. The players said it gave them a lift.
“It’s a lot more fun to play in front of a big crowd, for sure,” said Kane, who scored his seventh goal of the season in the first period. “I know I get more excited coming out. Even warmups was full [Sunday night]. It’s fun to see, and hopefully there will be more of it. It just makes you feel excited for what’s to come and the future of this team.”
The crowd surpassed the 18,768 who attended the Hawks’ season opener against the Red Wings.
“It’s a motivator,” Toews said. “It gets you excited and ready to go. We fed off that energy.”
Len Ziehm gives us some interesting news that I did not hear about last night:
Frank Pellico, whose organ music was a feature of the Hawks’ pregame entertainment, has a reduced role now. As part of their modernization effort, the Hawks have opted for more contemporary sounds to greet the early-arriving fans. Pellico still will play the national anthem and provide postgame entertainment.
Not sure if I agree with that move, but I’ll let that one pass…
Overall, I have to again give credit to Rocky Wirtz, who did a fantastic thing by putting home games on TV, especially this one, and as I mentioned last night, the team did not disappoint, as they had energy all night long and didn’t let the top dogs of the West intimidate them.
I’m excited to see how this team plays on the upcoming six game road trip, and I think it’s also going to be interesting to see what kind of crowd this team draws when they get back to the United Center.
Regardless, this is truly a team we can be proud of right now, and I think there are even more exciting things on the horizon this season.
Just always remember…