Observations From Section 321 : BS In BC

Meh. That pretty much wraps up how I feel about last night’s game. Just meh. Sure it always sucks to lose to the Canucks, but in the grand scheme of things last night’s defeat means zilch. The Hawks completely phoned it in last night. Beside Corey Crawford and Brandon Saad, nobody looked interested in playing hockey. Considering it took 45 games before you had to use a second hand to count regulation loses, I think they are allowed to lay an egg. I don’t approve of the effort but I am not going to lose any sleep over it either. Outside of an injury, nobody should be concerned with what happens over the next 3 games. The real season starts on April 30th, if you see the same effort as last night on that date, then you can panic. Until then, just sit back and enjoy coasting into playoffs as the number seed in the West. Sure beats having to rely on the Wild to help us on the last day of year, doesn’t it?

* Corey Crawford was very good last night. He got no help in front of him all night long. If it wasn’t for his solid play the Canucks could have easily won 10-1. I did enjoy his blatant interference penalty on Thing 2 in the 3rd period. You could tell he was frustrated and pretty much told his team if they weren’t going to hit anybody then he would! I fully expect Ray Emery to start tomorrow in Edmonton to give Crow a breather. Starting 3 games in 4 nights right before the playoffs is not an ideal situation.

* Hey guess what guys? Dave Bolland is hurt again! I hope he comes back for the playoffs and has a great run, not only for the team’s success, but also so his trade value is as high as ever come the summer. It’s time to move on. He’s either hurt or bad, neither is good for business.

* So can we put to rest the crap about how we need Daniel Carcillo and Brandon Bollig on the ice so teams will be afraid to be physical against us now? They both played and the Hawks were bullied all night long.

* The most impressive thing the Hawks did all night was not give up a goal, for the final 2:30 minutes they played with an empty net.

* Marcus Kruger had 5 blocked shots. I really think he is going to have a coming out party of sorts this postseason. Guys like Frogger and Michal Frolik are going to cause major headaches for opposing teams.

* I get the Vancouver hate for Duncan Keith, but at least he manned up about his dirty hit. That’s more than we can say about Jannik Hansen and his “hockey play.” And if you ask a dumb question after a frustrating loss, Duncs is going to snap at you. It’s happened before, it will happen again. I don’t see how his remarks were sexist, and if they were I would call him out it. Maybe I’m missing something, but it’s a non issue as far as I’m concerned.

* Damn Derek Roy looked good last night. He’s a solid addition and makes the Canucks a much better team. I still don’t think they are good enough to take 4 out of 7 from the Hawks, but I’d love to see them try.

* Whoever bet the over for caveman goals was a happy camper with both Gorilla Salad and Zack Kassian lighting the lamp.

Blackhawks Corsi Numbers

Player	Pos	ES TOI	Total Shots For	Total Shots Against	Corsi	Net Zone Starts	Adjusted Corsi
Duncan Keith	D	20:58	14	22	-8	+2	-9
Niklas Hjalmarsson	D	15:43	11	18	-7	+1	-7
Brent Seabrook	D	14:00	14	16	-2	+3	-3
Nick Leddy	D	14:46	13	14	-1	+3	-2
Daniel Carcillo	L	9:02	8	7	+1	+3	-0
Marcus Kruger	C	8:35	10	11	-1	0	-1
Sheldon Brookbank	D	12:26	14	10	+4	0	+4
Jonathan Toews	C	15:53	12	14	-2	+3	-3
Brandon Saad	L	14:50	17	19	-2	+4	-4
Viktor Stalberg	L	11:37	9	13	-4	+1	-4
Johnny Oduya	D	15:38	16	14	+2	+3	+1
Bryan Bickell	L	11:43	12	9	+3	0	+3
Dave Bolland	C	2:43	0	5	-5	0	-5
Brandon Bollig	L	10:43	7	15	-8	0	-8
Andrew Shaw	C	12:45	13	12	+1	0	+1
Michael Frolik	R	8:28	2	9	-7	+1	-7
Marian Hossa	R	15:15	14	12	+2	+3	+1
Patrick Kane	R	18:23	19	13	+6	+3	+5

Canucks Corsi Numbers

Player	Pos	ES TOI	Total Shots For	Total Shots Against	Corsi	Net Zone Starts	Adjusted Corsi
Dan Hamhuis	D	18:14	30	11	+19	-3	+20
Jason Garrison	D	18:40	24	11	+13	-5	+15
Zack Kassian	R	8:44	8	6	+2	-1	+2
Alexandre Burrows	L	12:50	11	6	+5	-2	+6
Derek Roy	C	10:37	17	7	+10	-1	+10
Ryan Kesler	C	12:41	16	10	+6	-3	+7
Cam Barker	D	10:44	6	13	-7	-1	-7
Chris Higgins	L	13:39	13	13	0	-1	+0
Mason Raymond	L	12:39	14	12	+2	-1	+2
Daniel Sedin	L	11:57	17	5	+12	-2	+13
Alexander Edler	D	17:12	15	15	0	-2	+1
Andrew Ebbett	C	7:32	3	8	-5	-1	-5
Frank Corrado	D	16:25	13	16	-3	0	-3
Tom Sestito	L	6:51	2	10	-8	-1	-8
Henrik Sedin	C	13:53	21	5	+16	-2	+17
Jannik Hansen	R	12:31	13	18	-5	-1	-5
Maxim Lapierre	C	14:57	9	21	-12	-2	-11
Andrew Alberts	D	11:46	5	16	-11	-1	-11

Talking Points