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We Can’t Fight Them All Off: Hawks 2 – Ducks & Refs 4

This won’t be the usual game wrap, as there’s too much to discuss and all the things that went on.

First off, I hope at least some people in their Wiz Wear finally realize that the namesake is an overrated deutsch bank who quite frankly costs his team more than he will ever help one. His hit was gutless and dirty and he should get a minimum five games (which is probably what we’ll be without Seabrook for). Why Wiz feels the need to retaliate to what was a clean hit on Corey Perry (and why would anyone defend a cockhole like Corey Perry, even if he is your teammate?) is beyond me. So he charges, leaves his feet, and elbows someone in the head who isn’t even near the puck. You could have called three minors and a major there. Instead, in a play that sees our #2 d-man probably knocked out for at least a week, we don’t even get a power play.

In fact, the Ducks benefit, because we lost Keith in this mess too for seven minutes. I know some people were baying for blood (I was one) but in reality the refs are supposed to take care of that for us. Wiz should have been ejected, given a major, and we could have gone about scoring on the power play (which we probably wouldn’t have anyway). I’m sure I’m going to read enough columns and comments alluding to “Hawks need a tough guy” or ” The Hawks aren’t tough enough” that I’m probably going to gag. By the time Wiz emerged from the box, the Hawks were down 2-1 and needed to go chasing points that are just a little too important right now to sacrifice in order to settle a score. Again, the refs should have taken care of this. (Sidenote: Though the Ducks broadcasters at first alluded to Seabrook “selling it”, they did apologize for that later. So let’s give them a pass on this one)

Oh but they weren’t done, were they?  Whether Sopel dived or not (and he did) that’s still interference.  If the refs deemed it a dive, then they should have gone to their usual chicken-shit tactic of calling the penalty and the dive.  But how are the Ducks allowed to benefit from the blatant interference of someone who didn’t have or just have the puck?  Idiocy, that’s how.

Anyway, observation time:

-I know it was against a team essentially with like 3 forwards, but Buff didn’t look awful as a d-man.  He’d better get comfortable.  As badly as the Hawks need Seabrook right now, I don’t want to see his brain turned to mush to do so.

Corey Crawford was fine, except for that one hiccup. That one hiccup occurred with no actual defensemen on the ice, as Bolland and Buff were manning points on a power play. Isn’t this fun?

-Bolland was again anonymous for the first two periods, if not straight-up bad, but answered the bell in the 3rd.  Baby steps to the elevator I guess.

-The Hawks very well may rollout a defensive corps of Keith, Sopel, Hjalmarsson, Boynton, Hendry, Cullimore tomorrow.  Duck.

-In the four games he’s been back, the 4th line with Adam Burish has gotten rolled over in two of them at least. Tonight was no exception. Maybe Buff off of it will help, but it’s something that needs to be fixed, and Burish heading back to the pressbox should be in play. He’s also getting drilled on every faceoff he takes.

-Swiss people hate us.

-Once again, Ladd-Madden-Versteeg was the Hawks best line.

With the injuries piling up, and the losses coming more frequently, I know there’s some worry creeping into all of us.  However, the it’s not like the Hawks have to correct all that much to have won all of these games.  It’s been a bad bounce here, a bad call there, one slip-up here, one great play against there.  The Hawks don’t have a lot of players off their game, just a couple.  They don’t have a raft of injuries, just one serious one and one that looks like it’ll be a little while.  They’re still putting up 40 shots a game.  It’s only going to take a slight shift of fortune and play to set this ship right again.  As McClure would say, “They’re coming.”

Talking Points