Thread: 2011/2012 Chicago Blackhawks thread

incredible game between the Canucks and Blackhawks on Tuesday. One of manhy to make it to the extra frame that night and then those greasy hippies had to end it in OT.

There is nothing worse then a Canuck win... except maybe an Oilers one

Originally Posted by CalgaryBearsFan

There is nothing worse then a Canuck win... except maybe an Oilers one

Spoiler

Can someone explain to me what's wrong with our goalie? Yesterday's game has been the first eight-point game in the NHL since 1988. Wtf?!

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Edmonton Oilers - Recap - February 02, 2012 - ESPN

Sam Gagner has 4 goals, 4 assists in Oilers' rout of Blackhawks

EDMONTON, Alberta -- When your name is being mentioned alongside Hall of Famers Wayne Gretzky and Paul Coffey, you know it's been a special night.
It was a spectacular evening for Sam Gagner, who scored four goals and four assists to tie a club record and lead the Edmonton Oilers over the Chicago Blackhawks 8-4 on Thursday night.
Gagner's eight-point game tied the club record held by Gretzky and Coffey and fell two points shy of matching the league mark of 10, set by Toronto's Darryl Sittler on Feb. 7, 1976.
It was also the first eight-point game in the NHL since Pittsburgh's Mario Lemieux did it on Dec. 31, 1988, against New Jersey.
The 22-year-old Gagner came into the game with five goals on the season.
"I didn't think I would ever be mentioned in the same breath as Gretzky or Coffey," said Gagner, who was named all three stars of the contest. "You never expect to do something like this.
"It's a great lesson to never set limits. The great players who played here never did that. It was just one of those games where everything went in and just a great feeling."
Taylor Hall, Ryan Whitney, Jordan Eberle and Cam Barker had the other goals for the Oilers (20-26-5), who have gone 3-0-1 in their last four games to move into a tie for 28th in the NHL with Anaheim.
Hall, who set a career high of his own with four points in the game, only wanted to talk about Gagner's night.
"I feel like a bit of a pigeon with four points tonight," he said. "It was just a crazy night. Every time we got the puck in the offensive zone, especially in the third period, it ended up on Sam's stick and he made a great play with it. I'm really happy I was able to be on the ice with him. It's a really cool moment."
It was the second time this season that the Blackhawks have given Edmonton fans plenty to cheer about. Chicago lost 9-2 to the Oilers at Rexall Place in November.
"It was really fun for our fans to see something like that tonight, " said Oilers head coach Tom Renney. "Sam was having the time of his life and so were his linemates and the entire team.
"It's been one of those years where you are looking for things to hang your hats on and feel good about and it doesn't get much better than this. It puts a smile on your face in a tough year.
"People will remember this game for a while."
Patrick Sharp had a pair of goals while Jamal Mayers and Dave Bolland also scored for the Blackhawks (29-16-7), who have now lost four straight.
"We really got away from our game plan and opened it up a little and they really made us pay," Sharp said. "We need to be better in a lot of areas and we're obviously not happy at all. We've gotten away from what makes us a good team.
"We got caught up in scoring goals and playing on the wrong side of the puck. It wasn't good enough as a team. We need to play defensece first and we'll get out chances from there."
The Blackhawks started the scoring six minutes into the game as Mayers fluttered a long shot from above the circle that fooled Oilers goalie Devan Dubnyk.
Chicago kept pouring it on but hit a pair of posts -- a long blast from the point by Brent Seabrook and another from in close by Andrew Shaw.
Just 40 seconds into the second period Chicago made it 2-0 when Patrick Kane fed it to Sharp who found a clear lane to beat Dubnyk.
The Oilers responded less than two minutes later as Gagner earned his first point of the night. With a long pass Gagner sprung Hall who chipped in his 18th of the year past Chicago goalie Corey Crawford. Hall has scored in three straight games.
Gagner then tied it just over seven minutes later when he picked up his own rebound, circled behind the net, and scored on the wraparound.
The Oilers took a 3-2 lead with seven minutes remaining in the second as Whitney ripped a shot from the point while on the power play for just his first of the season. Gagner earned the assist.
Chicago tied it two minutes later on a short-handed 2-on-1 as Dubnyk gave up a rebound to Sharp who buried his second of the night.
Gagner made it 4-3 two minutes into the third with his second goal of the night. Whitney's shot sailed over the net but bounced in front for Gagner to put past Crawford.
The Oilers chased the Chicago goalie two minutes later when Barker fluttered a shot from the point that Crawford waved at as it went into the top corner. Gagner earned his third assist and Ray Emery replaced Crawford.
The Blackhawks got a goal back six minutes into the third as Bolland made a no-look backhand swat at a puck that squirted past Dubnyk.
Gagner completed the hat trick 30 seconds later to make it 6-4, as Hall spun around and found Gagner streaking for his sixth point of the game.
But he wasn't done yet.
Eberle and Hall did terrific tic-tac-toe passing to get Gagner the puck, and he slapped his fourth of the game into a wide-open net as Emery slid to keep up with the play.
With their hats already thrown on to the ice earlier in the period, one fan resorted to throwing a shoe after the goal.
"I was hoping that would be the end of it because if he scored another one we might have seen other paraphernalia that we didn't want to see," Renney said with a laugh.
Gagner then added his eighth point of the game by making a prefect feed to Eberle, who scored his 20th of the season with four minutes left.
Dubnyk finished the game with 43 saves on 47 shots.
Crawford let in five goals on 28 shots while Emery allowed three goals on 13 shots.
The Blackhawks are in Calgary on Friday while the Oilers next return to action on Saturday when they host Detroit.

This is why I would have done everything I could have to keep Antii Niemi two years ago. Even if I had to kill off some of our depth in other places, that guy was a golden player. Now we're stuck with a shitty pair of goaltenders and no answer as to when this losing streak will end because our goal scorers can't keep up with what our goaltenders are giving up.

Jeremy Roenick - Chicago Blackhawks can afford to trade Patrick Kane - ESPN Chicago

Roenick: A Patrick Kane trade 'doable'

The free-falling Chicago Blackhawks need a goaltender, and they can afford to trade All-Star Patrick Kane to get one, former Blackhawk and current NBC analyst Jeremy Roenick said Wednesday.
Chicago dropped its ninth straight game Tuesday, a 3-2 defeat to the Nashville Predators, and has sunk to sixth in the Western Conference after sitting atop the standings when the skid started Jan. 21. They are just two points ahead of eight-seed Phoenix's 63 points.

At the heart of the struggles has been the play of goalies Corey Crawford and Ray Emery. With no answer on the roster, Roenick believes the biggest need before the Feb. 27 trade deadline is to acquire a goaltender. And the price for a good one will be steep.
"Everybody knows I am a huge Patrick Kane fan, but when you're talking something of this nature, is Patrick Kane dealable? As much as I don't want to say it, they can afford to get rid of Patrick Kane," Roenick said Wednesday on "The Waddle & Silvy Show" on ESPN 1000. "They can afford to -- with the season he's having -- maybe with his off-ice reputation, maybe with the skill they have on their team -- it's doable.
"Do I like it? No, because I love Patrick Kane. He is one of the most talented and one of the best players in the NHL. But if you really want a top-end goaltender you're going to have to give up somebody."
Kane has 45 points in 57 games, including 33 assists, which is tied for 14th in the NHL. The 2012 calendar year has not been kind to the 23-year-old Kane, who has 10 points in 20 games since Jan. 2. He has just two points during the current nine-game slide.

Whatever move the Blackhawks make, Roenick hopes it doesn't include a coaching change. Joel Quenneville delivered them their first Stanley Cup in 49 years in 2010, but has had to answer questions about his job security this week. General manager Stan Bowman gave Quenneville a vote of confidence before Tuesday's loss.
"If you let Coach Q go, it would be the biggest mistake that that franchise has made since they traded me in 1996," said Roenick, who was dealt to the Phoenix Coyotes after eight seasons in Chicago. "I truly believe that Coach Quenneville is one of the best coaches in the NHL. Right now they are snakebit. They can't put the puck in the net on a consistent basis."
The Blackhawks are just three games away from the franchise record of 12 straight losses set in 1951.
For all of the frustration within the locker room, Roenick believes they will snap out of it.
"There is still plenty of time for them to turn this around, start going in the right direction," said Roenick, whose 267 goals as a Blackhawk rank seventh in franchise history. "They can solidify that playoff position and once that playoff position is solidified anything can happen. When you have a captain like Jonathan Toews on your team you're never going to be in truly bad shape. I truly believe he is, in my opinion, the best captain in all of sports. This team is struggling right now to find the breaks."
The Blackhawks' next chance to end their losing streak comes Thursday in New York when they play the Rangers.

If that happened, it would be as big as when Colorado let Forsberg go after the lockout. If I were a GM (which I am not, obviously) I would never, ever, ever trade Kane.

I would be surprised if that happened. The key at this point is to weather the storm, not jump ship. A lot of hockey to be played yet. If we don't make the playoffs, then I think all bets are off.

Chicago Blackhawks vs. New York Rangers - Recap - February 16, 2012 - ESPN

Hawks score 4 goals in 1st period to snap 9-game skid

NEW YORK -- Finally! The Chicago Blackhawks waited four weeks and 10 games for a night like this.

After enduring their worst losing streak in five years, the Blackhawks busted out in a big way and broke their nine-game skid with a 4-2 victory over the Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers on Thursday night.
The win wasn't that surprising, it was the stunning swiftness that it unfolded that caught everyone off guard. Chicago scored all its goals in the first 9:38 against backup goalie Martin Biron.

Jonathan Toews scored on a penalty shot to start the outburst, and the Blackhawks emphatically got back to the winning ways they hadn't experienced since Jan. 20 against Florida.
"You're up 4-0 in the first few minutes, it can't get any better than that," said Patrick Kane, who had an assist. "Everyone got a little confidence out of it, and I think everyone got pretty excited.
"Everyone was pumped up for this game to kind of prove ourselves, not that we can win a game but we can also beat one of the best teams in the league, too. It shows that this team has potential."
Defenseman Nick Leddy doubled the lead 1:03 after Toews scored, and Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa added goals to make it 4-0. Corey Crawford kept things mostly intact the rest of the way, stopping 22 shots.
Toews and Hossa both added assists in the first period, and defenseman Brent Seabrook set up two goals for the Blackhawks, who scored over three goals in a game only once during their streak (0-8-1). Chicago, which had 22 shots, was 0-6-1 during the first seven games of a nine-game trip that ends Saturday at Columbus.
"The next game is even bigger than this one," Toews said. "We've got to keep going. We're in a tough situation after this cold streak we've been on. We need to keep digging our way out of the hole, and we can't be comfortable with this win for one second."

The Rangers went 0 for 7 on the power play and missed a chance to jump over Detroit to the top of the NHL standings as their four-game winning streak was broken. New York had won eight of 10 (8-1-1) to open a seven-point lead in the East over defending Stanley Cup champion Boston.
New York came out much better in the second period, pressuring Crawford and drawing penalties, but the early deficit was too much to overcome. Defenseman Marc Staal wrecked Crawford's hopes of a shutout when he brought the Rangers to 4-1 at 3:04 of the second period with his first of the season.
Carl Hagelin made it 4-2 with 4:45 left.
"We had a great second half of the second," Rangers captain Ryan Callahan said. "In the third we continued to pressure, but four goals is a tough lead to come back from. Our second and third were good, but the first killed us."
Crawford bounced back from a loss to San Jose on Friday, in which he gave up five goals on 27 shots, and won for the first time since Jan. 18. Ray Emery was the starter in the Blackhawks' previous two games.
Even with their long skid, the Blackhawks are still in a playoff position in the West, sitting in sixth place.
The Rangers thought Marian Gaborik shoved a shot in during the second period, but the puck sat on the goal line and wasn't pushed all the way into the net by Callahan until after the whistle blew.
Biron was blitzed for four goals on Chicago's first seven shots, although the onslaught wasn't all his fault. The frustrated Blackhawks connected on a penalty shot and two breakaways -- finding space between Biron's old-school brown pads consistently.
"It's not on him at all," Callahan said.
Toews struck just 1:04 in after Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi was caught covering the puck in the crease when Biron couldn't control a rebound. Leddy made it 2-0 when his shot from inside the blue line made its way in through traffic.
After a Rangers turnover, Toews found Sharp with a long pass to send him in on a breakaway. Sharp split Biron's pads with a shot to make it 3-0 just 4 minutes in, prompting annoyed Rangers fans to break into chants of "Hen-rik! Hen-rik!" while helpless No. 1 goalie Henrik Lundqvist sat on the bench.
When Biron stopped a shot from Seabrook from the other end of the ice -- measured at 132 feet -- he received a mock cheer from the annoyed crowd that has grown accustomed to good defense and winning hockey.
"There were a couple of chances for me to make saves to get momentum on our side or to stop their momentum. I wasn't able to do it," Biron said. "That was the game right there."
Hossa stretched the lead to 4-0 at 9:38 on the Blackhawks' seventh shot of the period. Patrick Kane sent the high-scoring forward in on another breakaway for his 22nd goal of the season. Rangers coach John Tortorella then used his lone timeout, but there was little he could say to his team at that point.
Tortorella said he never considered removing Biron.
"He didn't need to be pulled. He needed to work through it, and he did," Tortorella said. "Don't blame Marty at the beginning. There were a couple of breakaways and we had a few other things go on there.
"I really respect how he hung in there."
The most goals the Rangers have allowed in a game this season is five to Ottawa on Oct. 29. They had given up a season-worst three goals in a period three times this season.
In comparison, Lundqvist has yielded only seven goals in six outings in February.

Originally Posted by vmx12

I love how John calmly takes off his gloves and then pummels the guy.

I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out.