2010/2011 Chicago Blackhawks thread

[Dagan81]

Just like some of the great Yankees teams Dags that Oiler team was one of the all time greatest teams to ever take the ice. Now with a salary cap you couldn't ever keep cast like that on your team very long. The Hawks finally put it all together and if they could have kept some of the guys who they had to part company with they'd probably been the favorites to repeat.

Different eras and also why it takes a real effort to build and then keep a cup team together.

That's why I'm in favor of NO SALARY CAP. Allow teams to go to any and all extremes to build a franchise from ground up, and to purchase the services of key players in order to maintain a competitive atmosphere. Baseball has done this and the level of parity is great in that league, with there having been no repeat champions since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees. Teams like the Florida Marlins, the Angels, the Oakland A's, the Minnesota Twins, the Texas Rangers, the San Francisco Giants, the Cleveland Indians, the Atlanta Braves, the Cincinnati Reds, the Houston Astros, etc., have managed to win big and make the playoffs over the course of the past 10 or so years and didn't have the purchasing power that the Yankees have. Just because you have the ability to purchase a lot of talent does not mean that you will win a championship every year - since 2001, the Yankees have only won one World Championship (2009).

[soulman]

That's why I'm in favor of NO SALARY CAP. Allow teams to go to any and all extremes to build a franchise from ground up, and to purchase the services of key players in order to maintain a competitive atmosphere. Baseball has done this and the level of parity is great in that league, with there having been no repeat champions since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees. Teams like the Florida Marlins, the Angels, the Oakland A's, the Minnesota Twins, the Texas Rangers, the San Francisco Giants, the Cleveland Indians, the Atlanta Braves, the Cincinnati Reds, the Houston Astros, etc., have managed to win big and make the playoffs over the course of the past 10 or so years and didn't have the purchasing power that the Yankees have. Just because you have the ability to purchase a lot of talent does not mean that you will win a championship every year - since 2001, the Yankees have only won one World Championship (2009).

With no salary cap you put the league championship in the hands of those owners who have very deep pockets and can afford to buy one. Even if it doesn't work (see NFL/Washington Redskins/Snyder) those guys still drive up the salary scale for everyone. Guys like Snyder will always survive because their sports franchise is not their principal business but for some the team is their main business.

You say that under a no salary cap rule a team could build itself up and keep it's players together for many years. As long as there's FA that won't work. With no salary cap there will always be others who will outbid you for your own players. That's the way it used to work before when owners could hold players salaries down because in affect they owned them. If you go back to that system with no FA (actually you couldn't) you wouldn't even need a salary cap. It was FA that created the need for one.

[4th and 26]

Hossa nets a pair as Blackhawks beat Sharks 6-3

CHICAGO (AP)—The Blackhawks’ big-name scorers continue to spark Chicago’s climb in the Western Conference standings.
Marian Hossa(notes) scored two power-play goals less than 3 minutes apart to ignite a five-goal outburst in the second period, and the Blackhawks rolled to a 6-3 win over the San Jose Sharks on Monday night.
Jonathan Toews(notes) and Patrick Kane(notes) each had a goal and an assist in the second as defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago snapped an 0-1-2 streak and moved into fourth place in the West with 84 points.
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Kane’s goal was the 100th of his career and capped Chicago’s second-period scoring blitz that erased an early 2-1 deficit.
“The first period wasn’t our best,” Hossa said. “We settled down, tried to play our game. We started working as a team, and were closer to pucks, outbattling them.
“We’re slowly climbing up, getting a cushion now (in the standings),” Hossa said. “Obviously, it’s going to be tough to the end.”
Hossa’s goals were his 20th and 21st, giving him 20 or more in 11 straight seasons. He has points in 10 of his last 11 games, with nine goals and six assists in that span.
Toews now has 71 points, a career high for the fourth-year forward. He has recorded points in 12 of his last 13 games, with 11 goals and 10 assists during the run.
All of Chicago’s marquee forwards clicked on Monday, including Patrick Sharp(notes), who had a career-high four assists. Viktor Stalberg(notes) and Niklas Hjalmarsson(notes) also scored for the Blackhawks, who improved to 11-2-4 in their last 17 games.
“The five goals really put us in front,” Kane said. “There were a lot of really nice plays. I thought we bounced back pretty good.”
Joe Pavelski(notes), Joe Thornton(notes) and Logan Couture(notes) scored for the Sharks, who lost in regulation for just the fourth time in their last 25 games.
“If I was going to sum up the game: They skated and we glided,” San Jose coach Todd McLellan said. “They were hard on the boards, we were soft. They were determined at the net. We played ‘I hope’ around the net.
“We were looking for a win the easy way. I don’t know why we chose that route tonight, but it’s not the recipe we’ve followed for success.”
Chicago rookie Corey Crawford(notes) made 33 saves in his 15th straight start.
San Jose’s Antti Niemi(notes) made his 25th consecutive start, but was replaced by Antero Niittymaki(notes) at 7:25 of the second after allowing four goals on 18 shots, and three goals on the last five he faced. Niittymaki stopped 14 of 16 shots.
Pavelski opened the scoring 2:20 in with a 5-on-3 power-play goal from the right circle, but Stalberg evened it midway through the first when he batted in a rebound of Chris Campoli’s(notes) shot from mid-air.
Thornton put the Sharks ahead 2-1 with 1:24 left in the first. Campoli and Troy Brouwer(notes) both converged on San Jose’s Patrick Marleau(notes), and Marleau dished to Thornton, who broke in alone down the slot.
The Blackhawks then reeled off four straight goals, and five overall in the second, to take a 6-3 lead after 40 minutes.
Chicago launched its onslaught when Hossa scored back-to-back power-play goals and Toews added an even-strength score in a 4:11 span early in the second.
Hossa tied it 2-all 3:14 into the period when he cut to the edge of the crease and converted Sharp’s feed. Just under 3 minutes later, Hossa put the Blackhawks ahead 3-2 on a low shot from the slot.
Toews finished a 2-on-1 with Kane by shooting himself, beating Niemi through the five-hole at 7:25 to make it 4-2. That prompted San Jose coach Todd McLellan to send in Niittymaki.
Chicago kept up the pressure and took a 5-2 lead with 5:31 left in the period when Hjalmarsson fired in a shot through traffic from the slot.
Couture popped in a rebound off Crawford’s pad with 2:36 left in the second to cut it to 5-3, but Kane replied just 22 seconds later when he was left open in the slot.
“(The second period) dictated the outcome of the game, so it was good for us,” Toews said. “Especially when they made it 5-3, we came right back and got the sixth goal.”
Notes: Chicago’s five goals in the second were the most in a period for the Blackhawks this season, and the most against San Jose in a period this year…. Sharp tied a team record with four assists in one period. The last Blackhawks player to do it was Jim Pappin in 1973. .. Chicago D Brian Campbell(notes) missed his second game in the last three with a lower body injury. … Blackhawks C Dave Bolland(notes) sat out his second contest with a concussion. … San Jose D Kent Huskins(notes) and C Scott Nichol(notes) each missed their 10th game with upper-body injuries.


http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/recap?gid=2011031404

[soulman]

Good to see them back on the winning side again. For a couple of games it looked like they might start falling back.

[little bear]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports...,7846705.story

Stars blank Hawks 5-0

DALLAS — The bad news started before the Blackhawks took the ice and just got worse from there.
Forced to play a man short after winger Bryan Bickell was a late scratch with an illness, the Hawks then looked even more out-manned as they wilted under the Stars' pressure in a a dud of a 5-0 losing performance Thursday night at American Airlines Center.
In the first of a crucial two-game trip against Western Conference opponents, the Hawks were manhandled every which way as they fell for the fourth time in their last five contests.
"It looks like we all picked the same night to crap the bed," Hawks captain Jonathan Toews said. "It could have been the worst night of the year to do that. We can all be pretty disappointed in ourselves, for sure.
"Those are two points we pretty much gave away. We knew going into this one it could be one of the toughest games of the year and we had one of our worst performances. It's pretty unacceptable."
The Stars dominated play at both ends of the ice and eventually chased goaltender Corey Crawford after opening a three-goal lead midway through the second period. Only a decent effort from former Stars netminder and current Hawks backup Marty Turco over the final half of the game saved the Hawks from a worse drubbing.
Jamie Benn and Brenden Morrow each had a goal and an assist and Steve Ott, Jason Williams and Brandon Segal added scores for the Stars, who leapfrogged the Hawks for sixth place in the Western standings. Kari Lehtonen earned his second shutout of the season and 16th of his career to pick up the victory in goal and help the Stars claim the season series 3-1.
"I'm not a psychologist," Toews said. "I don't know why we decide to pack it in like that. I'm not pointing the finger at anyone else, it's myself included.
"A game like this our best players have to be our best players and they weren't (Thursday night) and everyone kind of followed suit. As leaders — and a couple of guys that consider themselves leaders of this team whether they wear a letter or not — we weren't good enough."
The loss of Bickell was difficult for the Hawks to overcome as they were already without the services of defenseman Brian Campbell and Dave Bolland, who didn't make the trip because of a leg injury and concussion, respectively. The Stars also entered the game hurting with forwards Loui Eriksson and Adam Burish out with injuries.
"It was a tough one to explain," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "We're disappointed with how we played, how we competed and the result. There's nothing good about that game.
"We didn't see it coming. We knew this was a dangerous game and they are a dangerous team and we didn't respect the urgency that was needed."

D'oh!

[Dagan81]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports...,7846705.story



D'oh!

I hope that they can get their shit together in enough time to salvage their position in the Western Conference standings.

[little bear]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports...,1139077.story

Hawks earn huge win, but may have suffered big loss

GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Blackhawks got exactly what they did and didn't need over the course of 60 minutes in the desert.
The Hawks put together a stifling defensive effort to rebound from their worst loss of the season with an important 2-1 victory over the Coyotes on Sunday night at Jobing.com Arena, but they might have lost a top player in the process.
Chris Campoli scored the winning goal with 6 minutes, 34 seconds remaining, and goaltender Corey Crawford was on top of his game to lift the Hawks to the key Western Conference victory. Duncan Keith also scored as the Hawks got both goals on the power play to win for just the second time in six games. They moved into fifth place and pulled within three points of fourth-place Phoenix.
"As of late we've kind of stumbled and teams have caught us and are breathing down our necks," Campoli said. "To get those two points in regulation was crucial coming down the stretch. We knew how big of a game it was."
The win might have been a costly one as the Hawks lost leading goal scorer Patrick Sharp to an apparent left knee injury late in the first period. The extent of Sharp's injury will be assessed Monday in Chicago, coach Joel Quenneville said.
"Losing a guy like that, it's not easy," said Campoli, who took a cross-crease pass from Jonathan Toews and flipped it past goalie Ilya Bryzgalov for the winner. "Good teams find ways to win, and we did that. Guys stepped up and did a pretty good job."
Eric Belanger scored the Coyotes' goal, while Bryzgalov (26 saves) was a tough-luck loser as his team had a five-game winning streak snapped.
Looking more like the Stanley Cup champions than the team that sloshed its way through a 5-0 shellacking Thursday in Dallas, the Hawks came out flying and the pace finally paid off with 30 seconds remaining in the first. Keith blasted a slap shot from the left dot that sailed past Bryzgalov.
The goal came a minute after Sharp (34 goals) was helped off the ice favoring his left knee following a collision with the Coyotes' Rostislav Klesla. Sharp went to the dressing room and did not return.
After Belanger tied it up early in the second, Campoli won it with his first goal in a Hawks sweater.
Crawford, who finished with 22 saves, sealed the victory by robbing Ray Whitney on two excellent scoring opportunities in the final two minutes.
"(Crawford) made his two biggest saves of the year when the game was in critical moments," Quenneville said. "He looked big in the net (and) I liked the way he was challenging."

[Dagan81]

I heard about this the other day. I have not read anything else about the injury since then. Joel Quenneville and the team's physicians(s) are being very hush-hush about this whole thing. At least it is not a season ending injury as some speculated it could have been (ex. - Jordan Hendry).

[little bear]

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nh...meId=310323004

Corey Crawford shuts out Panthers; Brent Seabrook, Patrick Kane light up Tomas Vokoun

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks stuck to a tidy defensive game plan and worked it to perfection.
Corey Crawford made 23 saves for his fourth shutout of the season, and Brent SeabrookPatrick Kane had a goal and assist each to lead Chicago to a 4-0 win over the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night. and
Viktor Stalberg and Tomas Kopecky also scored for Chicago, which got two assists each from Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith. Crawford, who made his 18th straight start, had to block only a few tough chances to post his fifth NHL shutout.
The Blackhawks led 1-0 after two periods, then blew the game open with three goals in the third.
"We didn't try to force anything against a team looking for that," Crawford said. "We played a tight game, waiting for them to push the offense. We capitalized on that."
The Blackhawks buckled down in their first game without leading goal-scorer Patrick Sharp, who is expected to be sidelined at least two weeks with an injured left knee. Sharp, injured in a collision at Phoenix on Sunday, has 34 goals and 34 assists in 71 games.
"I thought the D did a good job of limiting their shots, and the forwards had great back-pressure," Seabrook said. "It was a great team effort."
Chicago kept pace in the congested Western Conference playoff race.
Tomas Vokoun stopped 27 shots, but the Panthers were shut out for the second straight night. Florida opened a season-high, five-game road trip with a 1-0 loss in New York to the Rangers on Tuesday.
"I know people look at the end result, but I thought we had a much better effort tonight than we did against the Rangers," Panthers coach Peter DeBoer said. "We played hard tonight.
"You're not going to win any games unless you score a goal, and that's been our problem here for a few games now."
Stephen Weiss, who leads the Panthers with 49 points, sat out his second game with an injured leg. He could return at Buffalo on Friday, DeBoer said.
Weiss scored Florida's most recent goal, at 13:26 of the third period in a 4-3 shootout loss at home to the New York Islanders on Saturday.
Chicago outshot Florida 12-8 in the scoreless first period.
Troy Brouwer had the Blackhawks' best chance when he jumped on a rebound of Seabrook's shot, but lofted the puck on top of the net.
Aided by three power plays, the Blackhawks picked up the pressure in the second and outshot Florida 12-5. Early in the period, Vokoun made several close-in saves, including two against former Panthers forward Michael Frolik and one on Marian Hossa.
Seabrook opened the scoring with 5:19 left in the second during Chicago's third advantage of the period. He fired a low, one-timed shot past Vokoun from the left circle after taking a feed from Keith.
"We were killing too many penalties and I think that was the difference," Florida forward David Booth said. "That led to their momentum and getting on a roll.
"When Toews and Kane and those guys play as much as they did [on power plays], it's even harder to stop them."
Stalberg made it 2-0 just 46 seconds into the period. Left open at the right edge of the crease, he took Toews' cross-crease feed and fired a shot that struck Vokoun and continued past him.
Kane extended Chicago's lead to 3-0 with 7:56 remaining. He partially fanned on a shot from the right circle, but the attempt fooled Vokoun and slipped between his pads. Kopecky completed the scoring from the slot with 2:55 left.
Game notes
Blackhawks D Brian Campbell returned to the lineup. He had skated just a few shifts of one game after injuring his foot on March 8. Blackhawks C Dave Bolland missed his fifth game because of a concussion and is out indefinitely. ... With Sharp out, Stalberg joined Toews and Patrick Kane on Chicago's top line. ... Chicago C Marcus Kruger, 20, made his NHL debut. Kruger, the Hawks' fifth-round draft pick (149th overall) in 2009, joined the Blackhawks from Djurgardens of the Swedish League. ... The Panthers made their first visit to Chicago since Dec. 16, 2007.

[LASSAFIED]

Hawks need to drop back down to 7th so the Wings can knock em out in the first round.