On this show recorded late Monday night, Dieter and I discussed the latest controversy surrounding Patrick Kane and what we think of the reaction it has garnered.  Dieter also gives his take on the state of the Blackhawks as well as what steps need to be taken moving forward to get this team back to the Cup.

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You can follow Dieter on Twitter: @DKurtenbach
And you can read Dieter at Sun-Sentinel Sports online

Well, that did happen on Tuesday as Joel Quenneville announced he had relieved assistant coach Mike Haviland of his duties effective immediately.

The Committed Indian and SecondCityHockey.com ‘s own Sam Fels joined me in this 75-minute edition of PuckChatter~Radio to discuss this and the rest of the (to this point) known fallout from another disappointing Blackhawks season.

Sam and I discuss why it was the popular Mike Haviland and not (now former) fellow assistant Mike Kitchen who got the axe.  Sam dishes his points of discontent with the job Joel Quenneville has been doing behind the Blackhawks bench and also his concerns with the recent Dave Bolland trade rumors.

We also break down the validity of the Ryan Suter speculation, the state of Niklas Hjalmarsson, if the ‘Hawks are truly in dire straights, Corey Crawford, the rest of the news of the week and much, much more.

Oh yeah, and one more thing -  Joel Quenneville’s confidential list of potential candidates he will choose from to replace Haviland….. which he claims he hasn’t started yet…. and once he does it will be a secret list…. However, he did tell us on Tuesday that Barry Smith is not on that list… which, again, is secret and not yet begun.

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I’m sure the rumored discord and power struggles emanating from Blackhawks Nation will be a topic of discussion, as will be today’s news of Joel Quenneville dismissing Mike Haviland from his duties as assistant to Quenneville.

You can listen live starting at 7pm central at this link.

The show will be uploaded as usual later tonight.

[Update: 10:10pm]

Here is the entire audio file from tonight’s show with Sam.

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We’ll put a full show preview/post together later.

Al Cimaglia of MyFoxChicago.com and Sirius/XM Radio joined me tonight for the latest edition of TheThirdManIn’s PuckChatter~Radio.

Al and I dissected the fallout from the Blackhawks second consecutive first round elimination, this time coming to the Phoenix Coyotes.

We analyzed what general manager Stan Bowman spotlighted as the areas his team faltered and also what he didn’t say.   We took a look at the supposed “core”, the Hawks’ inexcusable power play futility, Marian Hossa’s future, Phillip Danault, Dave Bolland, who is gone, Corey Crawford, if the goaltending should be upgraded and potential changes to the roster.

All this and much, much more in this sixty minute show.

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TTMI / PuckChatter~Radio archive feed

Subscribe to TheThirdManIn on ITUNES

Our next live show comes on Tuesday night, May 8^th at 7pm central.  Our guest will be the illustrious Sam Fels of The Committed Indian and SecondCityHockey.com.

PuckChatter~Radio returns on Monday night at 7pm central with my guest Al Cimaglia of MyFoxChicago.com.

Join us Live at 7pm central over at BlogTalkRadio.com/TheThirdManIn.

Al and I will be recapping the Blackhawks-Coyotes series and Chicago’s second-consecutive quick playoff exit and analyze what went wrong.

We’ll take a look at all the issues the Blackhawks will be facing this summer, including if an upgrade is needed at the goaltending position.

Also, we will examine post season comments made by the players, Joel Quenneville and Stan Bowman.

I’ll give my take on whether help is on its way from Rockford, who of the call-ups from this past season will start 2012-13 back in the minors and which 2011 ‘Hawks draft picks (excluding Andrew Shaw) have the best shot to make the Blackhawks straight out of training camp.

–For those who cannot listen live, Monday night’s show will be archived at our BlogTalkRadio page, here on our site as well as on Itunes.

–If you missed our recent, well-received Rockford IceHogs season-in-review interview series, you can listen to our chats with Ted Dent, Jeremy Morin, Joe Lavin and Kyle Beach here…..

–Jeremy Morin

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–Kyle Beach

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–Joe Lavin, Rockford IceHogs’ Rookie of the Year

To listen, click the play button or Right-Click Here to Download

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–25-min chat w/Rockford IceHogs’ head coach Ted Dent

To listen, click the play button or Right-Click Here to Download

Download audio file (Interview_Dent_Ted_2012Apr14_Rockford_SeasonReview.mp3)

If you subscribe to TheThirdManIn / PuckChatter~Radio on Itunes, these interviews will automatically download to your Itunes as well.

For the full previews……

Our 25-minute season in review with IceHogs head coach Ted Dent

Chat with Rockford IceHogs rookie of the year, Joe Lavin

9-minute chat with Jeremy Morin on his concussion, frustrating season

Kyle Beach on his shoulder recovery, his training & future goals

ChrisBlock@TheThirdManIn.com
PuckChatter@gmail.com
Twitter.com/ChrisBlock

Phoenix closed out their first round series win over the Chicago Blackhawks in front of a 39-save shutout by Coyotes’ goaltender Mike Smith. The ‘Hawks out-shot the visiting Coyotes 39-20 in the game but fell by a final score of 4-0. Rookie defender Oliver Ekman-Larsson opened the scoring in the second and assisted on another goal to help Phoenix pull away with three third period goals.

The Blackhawks dominated play in the opening period but came up empty on the scoreboard. They out-shot Phoenix 16-2 in the opening 20 minutes, winning foot races and board battles with consistency. Andrew Shaw, back in the line-up after serving a three-game suspension, had one of the best chances of the period by driving to the net and redirecting a pinpoint saucer pass from Patrick Kane.

Despite the one-sided opening frame, the teams dropped the puck for the second period scoreless. The ‘Hawks again carried play with prime scoring opportunities by Jonathan Toews on a strong drive to the net, Brendan Morrison with a weak one-time opportunity, and Niklas Hjalmarsson sending a heavy blast that Smith had trouble controlling. The Coyotes’ goaltender managed to snuff out each chance and soak up the rebounds.

The Phoenix power play was able to break the tie 13:14 into the second period. Oliver Ekman-Larsson sent a quick shot on net from the blue line and beat Corey Crawford to the blocker side. Martin Hanzal was positioned in front of the net and Crawford was unable to react in time for the hard shot from the rookie defenseman.

Chicago earned the second power play of the night late in the second period. The man advantage unit was unable to establish anything in the offensive zone as the second period wound down. Nick Leddy was able to get a couple shots on net before the penalty expired about a half minute into the third, but it was ultimately another fruitless power play for Chicago.

Gilbert Brule extended the lead a couple minutes later on a centering pass from Kyle Chipchura behind the net. Daymond Langkow kept the puck in the zone along the boards and crashed the front of the net, clearing room for Brule to hit the corner on Crawford’s glove side. The two-goal deficit took the wind out of the sails of the Blackhawks and the home crowd.

The series took another ugly turn when Jimmy Hayes finished his check into the numbers of Michal Rozsival along the end boards. Rozsival was anticipating contact to his left from Sharp, but did not see Hayes barreling towards him. The Coyotes’ defenseman remained face-down on the ice for a couple minutes but was able to make his way to the locker room under his own power.

Hayes was given a five-minute major and game misconduct for the hit, effectively putting the Coyotes on the power play for almost half of the remaining regulation time. Although the ‘Hawks were able to kill over four minutes of the infraction, Phoenix eventually notched their second power play goal of the game off the stick of Antoine Vermette at 13:04 of the third. Ekman-Larsson sent the puck towards the net, where it was knocked down by Mikkel Boedker. He swept the puck over to Vermette, who had an open side of the net as all of the ‘Hawks searched for the puck.

The final tally was notched by Kyle Chipchura with about five minutes left in regulation. Brule’s centering pass missed Langkow, but Chipchura picked it up in the slot and beat Crawford high to the blocker side.

Game Notes

- Corey Crawford finished with 16 saves on 20 shots, with those four goals being the most he allowed in a game all series. Between the traffic on the power play goals and the quick strikes generated from behind the net, all four were difficult stops to make. He made big stops against Langkow in the second and Vrbata in the third to keep the ‘Hawks within striking distance, but ultimately did not have a great game or series.

- As has been the story throughout the series, special teams played a huge role. Phoenix scored twice on four opportunities, including the five-minute major. Chicago was held scoreless on their two last power play opportunities, stretching their struggles to 1-of-19 in the series.

- Rostislav Klesla missed most of the first period after catching a skate to the face on his way to the ice. He returned in the second with a full cage and his right eye nearly swollen shut.

- Patrick Kane earned a late game misconduct penalty with 2:50 left on the clock. The TV cameras caught him chirping at Kyle Chipchura, but little else.

- Injured winger Marian Hossa met with the team earlier today and attended the game at the United Center. Daily Herald beat writer Tim Sassone was also in attendance and welcomed back by the TV crew.

Brad Gardner

In addition to covering the Blackhawks for TheThirdManIn.com, Brad is also the Blackhawks correspondent at HockeysFuture.com.

All the traditional jerseys were worn and all the superstitions acted upon as the Chicago Blackhawks tried to stave off elimination in the 2012 NHL playoffs.  Captain Jonathan Toews took his team aside after the morning skate on Saturday with no coaches involved.  The message was quite clear, they needed the win from this road game and needed the stars to pick up their game and get a win, preferably in regulation.

The last four games have gone to overtime with Mikkel Boedker winning the last 2 in Chicago with two weak goals getting by Corey Crawford.  Whispers were in the air of veteran Ray Emery possibly getting the start for game five.  Coach Q made the announcement that they were sticking with Crawford.  Mike Smith was automatically in for the Coyotes.

Earlier in the afternoon it was decided that Raffi Torres would sit in a suit for 25 games.  He was suspended for his hit on Marian Hossa during the first period in Game 3.  Both teams had their say in regards to the suspension, but the Hawks were just happy the league was able to send a message and the Coyotes just wanted to continue to concentrate on getting through their first playoff round since being in Phoenix. 

Brendan Morrison remained in the line up for Jamal Mayers and Jimmy Hayes saw his name on the final roster as well.  Sami Lepisto came in on defense with both Sean O’Donnell and Dylan Olsen out.  Andrew Shaw was serving his last of his 3-game suspension for hitting Mike Smith in game 2.

Coach Q tried to play the role of magician not revealing his trickery early during warm-ups.  His opening line to start the period saw Toews centering Viktor Stalberg and Bryan Bickell.  Patrick Kane was back at center with Patrick Sharp and 19 year old Brandon Saad.  Dave Bolland still played with Michael Frolik but Morrison found his way on the third line after scoring a timely goal last game.  Finally Marcus Kruger centered the fourth line with Andrew Brunette and Hayes.

The first period opened with Michael Frolik showing the Hawks he needs to be playing more.  He was hustling all over the ice, chasing icings and controlling the puck well.  Duncan Keith also had a great opportunity to open the scoring; however Smith was there with a big save.  Viktor Stalberg gets a great chance as he tries to slap it past Smith.  Sharp was physical hitting everyone that was in his path.  Hayes became noticeable with his puck control and time holding the puck in the offensive zone.  It didn’t take long for the first penalty to be called.  Just 13:39 into the first, Stalberg retaliates after a scrum in front of the net.  He takes that last hit on Adrian Aucoin and is shown the penalty box for two minutes.  The Hawks were able to stifle the Coyotes power play opportunity and kept the score at goose eggs.   Crawford was up for the pressure filled game as he stops Ray Whitney in close.  Finally the Hawks get a chance at the power play.  Although most of the fans are aware that the Hawks power play has been atrocious, this game would be a good time to get it in order.  Aucoin heads to the box for tripping Morrison as he was heading up the boards.  Brunette gets a great chance as he walks in but Smith is there to shut the door.   During the power play Derek Morris gets his stick up on Brunette giving the Hawks a two man advantage for 15 seconds.  Keith and Bolland both have a few chances to get the Hawks on the board, but are uneventful.  Phoenix did a great job blocking shots and allowing Smith to see everything else.  Toews tries to wrap the puck around the net, but Smith uses his post to post speed and denies him.  Coach Q starts to load up and change his line up reuniting Kane and Toews.  The period ends with the Hawks and Coyotes scoreless and the Hawks outshooting the Yotes 12-4.

Keith opened the second on his back sliding across the ice allowing Lauri Korpikoski to break in on a 2 on 1.  The Coyotes forward returned after missing both game 3 and 4 due to injury.  Crawford came up with a big save on Phoenix’s fifth shot on net.  At the 17:14 mark of the middle frame, Gilbert Brule and company, break in on a 4 on 1.  He elects to keep the puck and wires it over Crawford electrifying the crowd and giving the Yotes a 1-0 lead.  The line juggling act continued Saad found his way onto Bolland’s line with Frolik.  The Hawks D men must have been instructed to play a little more offensively tonight because both Keith and Brent Seabrook weren’t shy to jump up in the play.  Keith walked right through the middle getting a hot shot on Smith.  Hawks continued to pour it on.  Stalberg continues to turn up his pace.  He breaks in hard to the net trying to solve Smith.  Sharp continues his physical play.  He finishes a perfect check on Boyd Gordon sending him crashing awkwardly into the boards.  Crawford continues to keep the Hawks close making another good save on Marc-Antoine Pouliot.  Coach Q throws out his best card hand of the game.  He puts the straight flush line out with Marcus Kruger centering Andrew Brunette and Morrison.  This line caused the Hawks to scramble in their zone.  Michal Rozsival gets a wide open puck and fires hard on net.  Crawford comes out and flashes the leather robbing the Coyotes D man.  Stalberg gets himself in penalty trouble once again.  He is called for slashing a Yotes forward.  The Hawks killed a big penalty.  Just as the period is about to end Stalberg again gets called for a two minute minor.  This time it was a trip.  Coach Q was burning a hole in Stalberg’s jersey as he sat in the box once again.  The Hawks end the period down 1-0 with Phoenix tying the shots on net with 10 a piece.

The Hawks opened the third with Toews and Kruger on the penalty kill.  They had a great chance early to tie the game shorthanded, but Smith was there to keep the desert dogs up one.  The Hawks kill the penalty once again.  Kane and Sharp begin to heat up as they both get a scoring chance.  In order for this Hawks team to advance, these two players need to catch fire.  Keith again knows what it takes to win a Stanley Cup as he again, as a great chance to tie the game.  Just 3:10 into the final frame, the ref’s arms flies up and calls another Hawks penalty.  Could it be?  Stalberg gets called for his fourth penalty of the game.  That’s right odd makers, not only was it his fourth penalty, he now had all of the Hawks penalties for the game and continued to get shifts.  The Coyotes were literally, licking their chops, to put the final nail in the Hawks coffin.  Crawford stood tall and the Hawks killed another man advantage keeping hope alive.  Now it was the Hawks turn to enjoy some power play time.  Antoine Vermette could not keep up with Nick Leddy and was called for slashing.  The dreaded PP, continued to make the fans cringe as they had trouble keeping it in the zone.  As the penalty expires, the Hawks get some great board work from youngster Saad.  He battles for the puck fighting off two Coyotes.  He finally gets the puck over to Frolik who finds a streaking Leddy.  He rips a shot that tips over Smith putting the Hawks on the board with 10:45 left in the game.  Saad gets his first NHL point with the assist and hard work.  Vermette was trying to catch Stalberg in penalty minutes as he gets called again for a huge cross check on Bickell.  Leddy had Smith down and gloveless and he snaps it high over the net.  The Hawks were all over Smith on this opportunity.  Shane Doan had a shorthanded chance at the other end.  He had Crawford beat but ran out of real estate and couldn’t tuck it home. Sharp is wide open in front of the net and Smith robs him point blank.  Coyotes captain Doan, again has a chance to bring the Coyotes to the second round.  Crawford is there to keep the score tied.  For the fifth time in this series and for the seventh time in a row for the Hawks, the game heads into overtime.

With dreams of the two letters O and T haunting Crawford for the last 2 weeks, the pressure was on the Hawks number one to be better and get his team the win.  The Coyotes got the first shot on net right off the faceoff.  Stalberg continued to be on the ice.  He gets a great chance to end it early.  Sharp also wants to be a playoff hero, but both stars are denied by Smith.  At the 17:16 mark of the extra period, Toews wins and offence faceoff.  Stalberg battles hard on the boards getting the puck to the captain.  Toews has nothing but a bowling alley in front of him.  He walks in toward Smith a puts a laser over Smith’s blocker winning the game and forcing a game 6 at the UC on Monday night.  The Hawks live to see another game!  The home crowd will be pumping on Monday night, momentum Hawks!

Quick Hits

-Hawks outshot the Coyotes 38-19.

-Both teams went 0 for 4 on the power play.

-Duncan Keith led all Hawks with 29:32 of TOI.

-Nick Leddy led the team with 5 shots on net.

-Toews was an absolute monster in the faceoff circle winning 14 of 18.

-Coach Q juggling the lines all game trying to find some chemistry.

-Andrew Shaw returns Monday night at the UC.  With Shaw returning, the coaching staff will have to make some important line changes.  Who will get to fill Hossa’s shoes?

-Game 6 is scheduled for Monday 8 pm

Follow me on Twitter

@CMM_Brad

The Nature of Love

Well, now, he was really stupid with love; there wasn’t a bit of fun left in him. He was good for nothing on earth but sitting under bushes, smoking tobacco and sighing till you’d wonder where he got the wind for it all. Now you may as well be persuading the birds against flying, or striving to coax the stars out of the sky into your hat, as to be talking commonsense to them that’s fairly bothered and bursting with love. There’s nothing like it. The toothache and colic together would compose you better for an argument; it leaves you fitted for nothing but nonsense. It’s stronger than whiskey, for one good drop of it will leave you drunk for a year, and sick, begorra, for ten; it’s stronger than the sea, for it will carry you around the world, and never let you sink in sunshine or in storm; and, begorra, it’s stronger than Death himself, for it is not afeared of him, but dares him in every shape. But lovers do have their quarrels sometimes; and, begorra, when they do, you’d almost think they hated one another like man and wife.

By Rich Lindbloom

The passage on love I’ve recorded for your enlightenment can be found in an excellent book entitled “A Treasury of Irish Folklore,” by Padraic Colum. Obviously the passage is a reflection on love; what better time to share this than in the amorous high tides of spring. However, one can substitute in place of the word love just about anything we become passionate about in life. For the sake of clarity in this article though, substitute the word hockey for love-as in “he was really stupid with hockey.”

When I visit the various websites throughout the league, perusing the plethora of columns and the concomitant responses, I’m somewhat startled by the sheer volume of information/scathing diatribes that the game of hockey evokes from its ardent followers. As we all know, hell hath no fury like a Canuck fan scorned. Fans ratchet up their hatred for the fire breathing, three headed monsters on the opposition to dizzying heights. The line in the above passage, “He was good for nothing on earth but sitting under bushes, smoking tobacco and sighing to till you’d wonder when he got the wind for it all,” is so prevalent among the various team’s blog sites. Just as lovers seem to become intensely focused on each other, hockey fans become obsessed to varying degrees of dysfunction as they ardently support their heroes.

Just in case you’re unclear on the word hatred, try visiting a website like “Winging it in Motown” and asking them if they think Niklas Kronwall is a headhunter. (I’ll never make that mistake again!) Reason is not a word closely associated with diehard hockey fans. It’s a “Us, us, us, us, us, and Them, them, them, them, them…” mindset for certain. Personally, I like to visit the enemy’s web sites, it’s always enlightening to get another perspective. (You may not believe this, but most sites think Kaner is a light weight panty waist. Some have accused The Rat of storing frozen body parts in his freezer.)

There’s a writer at the Edmonton Journal’s “The Cult of Hockey” that I like to check in on occasionally named Bruce McCurdy. What is it about the words “Cult” and “Hockey” cause me to pause and reflect on diehard hockey fans? (Truly, up until the Raffi Torres assassination attempt of Big Hoss, I hadn’t screamed “Kill him!” in a long time.)   McCurdy wrote a knowledgeable piece on “Public Enemy Number One,” recently. In a calm and professional manner, he just stated the facts pertaining to Torres’ truculent career.

Before I go any further, let me make it perfectly clear that hard hitting is an integral part of hockey. Take the hitting out, and you get soccer- not trying to diminish that great sport, just stating a fact. And there are obvious exceptions like Zidane of France;

However, McCurdy used two words that I think separate hard hitting from the type of thuggery that is increasingly sending the NHL stars to the mysterious dark room. He stated Torres hits are often against “unsuspecting and vulnerable opponents.” In other words, “Torres runs at opponents who don’t see him coming.” He also went over Torres two recent suspensions, involving Jordan Eberle in 2011, (four games) and Nate Prosser in 2012 (two games). In addition to those incidents, his questionable “hit” list includes Brent Seabrook, Milan Michalek, Jason Williams, Jan Hejda and Andrew Ferrence. My guess is this list would be larger if a few players hadn’t seen this human bowling ball barreling down on them at the last second.

To summarize; Targeting head – check. Leaving feet – check. Hitting a player without the puck – check. Prior convictions – check. A long history of vicious high hits – check. Predatory hockey – check. As he assembles his defense team spearheaded by Don Cherry for Friday’s chit-chat with NHL Disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan, the deck appears to be stacked against him. Inside sources say “Grapes” intends to use The Golden Calf defense.

Some of you may recall the story of Moses confronting Aaron after the construction of a false idol, the golden calf. In Exodus 32:34 Aaron gives one of the weakest defenses ever muttered by a man; “I told them ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.” They gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!” Do you really think “I thought it was a hockey play” is any better? With the record of Shanahan’s decisions this year, there is a good possibility he just might make Raffi write the Sixth Commandment 1,000 times.

Another possibility is to make him listen to the children’s troubadour, Raffi for 72 straight hours. I used to drop Taylor off at the babysitter’s in the morning when she was young and we’d have one of those, “Everything grows and grows” or “Down by the Bay” type songs on every morning. One day after dropping her off, as I pulled into my works parking lot I realized I had just listened to, and even sung, Raffi songs for over 15 minutes, without any kids in the car. I feel better now, I’ve wanted to confess that for 14 years! A few days with the real Raffi, could prove to be just what the doctor ordered for Torres.

To say the air was taken out of the building after Torres blatant cheap shot would be an understatement. There seemed to be such a gaping hole in our lineup the rest of the night. I know some fans, perhaps justifiably so; have bemoaned the lack of offensive production from Hossa thus far in the playoffs. I’m pretty sure they’ve stopped complaining. Some of you have probably seen that commercial where “The Hound” hits on another guys girlfriend and is saved by “The Fixer.” I can’t get that song out of my head at the end of the commercial; “How you like me now,” I even bob my head and move my shoulders while I sing it. A different perspective has a way of changing how we view things, no? Hossa is a game changer, plain and simple. I’m not sure how we plug that hole?

In my view, the referee’s had started losing control of the game before the Hossa incident. When the fans derisively cheer the linesmen for getting an icing call right, you know they’re having issues. I don’t think I’ve ever heard Coach Q come right out and say, “The officiating was a disgrace tonight,” before?  He’s usually very diplomatic in his criticism of the zebra’s. Not only did they blow the call on Torres, the Hawks were assessed a penalty when Brandon Bollig tried to pound some sense into Torres. In typical fashion, Torre’s quickly turtled, not like the warrior he normally is, but like a yellowbellied sap sucker.

The fans were understandably livid, and swear words, middle fingers and banging on the plexi-glass were a bit out of control. I thought a few panels of the plexi-glass were going to shatter, they were being struck that hard. It reminded me of a story a co-worker told me about when he got to sit along the glass as a child. The Hawks were playing Montreal and Eric was watching the warm ups. As Yvan “The Roadrunner” Cournoyer skated by, Eric banged on the glass to intimidate the fleet footed Canadian. The next time around, Cournoyer skated up and punched the glass as hard as he could, scaring the living daylights out of the 9 year old. Cournoyer immediately started laughing, along with several other of the Habs, when they saw Eric’s startled reaction. I think the story ended with Yvan giving him a puck. Eric says to this day, Cournoyer remains his favorite player.

If you watched the game on television, you probably didn’t see or feel the wrath of the fans. You also might to have noticed how well Michael Frolik played in the disappointing loss. So often in hockey, unless we win, we leave with heads down and our tails between our legs. Don’t get me wrong, I like to win as much as the next guy, but there is so much to appreciate even in a loss, if you have eyes to see. Watching Frolik literally fly around the ice was an absolute joy. He constantly chased down loose pucks, back checked and eventually tallied the Hawks second goal, banging home a juicy rebound.

He came very close to blowing the roof off the United Center in the second period when he put some Kaner like moves on Smith, getting him to drop down into butterfly. That exposed the area above Smith’s left shoulder which Frobo missed with a high backhand. I know, I know-typical Frolik. However, no one on the Hawks skated harder or played with more determination than # 67. Keep plugging away-we need you now more than ever. One could easily make the case that 67/36/29 has been our most effective line in the playoffs.

In contrast to Frolik’s throwing all caution to the wind, I felt one of our shortcomings on Tuesday was our defensemen playing overly conservative. As ChicagoNativeSon mentioned “The Hawks are not built to play defense in their zone for long periods of time.” There were a few instances where I thought we should have pinched, sealing the Coyotes in their end. Instead it seemed like our d-men were in constant foot races with the Coyote forwards, chasing down loose pucks behind Crow’s nest all night. Say what you will about the Yotes, but they don’t give you a lot of time to think when you have the puck.  I realize, no one wants to make a crucial mistake that could lead to an odd man rush, but it just seemed we were playing not to lose. Based on our successes in Game One and Two, and to offset the damn Bear prevent defense mindset, I would like to suggest he following. Pull the goalie in the final minute of every period. Think General George Patton hockey; let’s go into Russia, now!

Taylor Pyatt has been a particularly annoying force for the Dark Side. Looks like Gordon and Brule will fill out the Yotes third line. Nothing flashy, but players who apparently have not, or are incapable of, reading our Core’s press clippings. All three players are former first round draft choices. In a strange but true revelation, I noticed the Yotes have 14 first round draft choices on their roster. Is it any wonder they aren’t going away easy? Their highest paid forward is Langkow at $4.5 mildo/year. Yandle is the highest paid Coyote at $5.2. A quick glance at our roster shows 7 former first round picks. We definitely win the salary contest though, hands down.

Without Dan Carcillo or Scott, Phoenix definitely has an edge in the nozzle category. (Where did all our sandpaper go?) Although the Hossa/Torres tradeoff is a definite loss as far as the Hawks are concerned, losing a player of Torre’s “hockey” ability is no small thing. And Phoenix might still be without Hanzal and dat surprisingly effective Korpedo guy. In order to fill those vacant spots on the wings, perhaps Coach Q and Coach Tippet should pay a visit to Alice’s Restaurant. Let me explain…

I worked as a janitor at Oak Forest H.S. in the 70’s. I was stripping the cafeteria floor one Saturday morning, listening to WXRT DJ Leslie Witt spin records. Leslie had impeccable taste, (i.e. she liked what I liked), and I had the Ghetto Blaster cranked up. Oddly, a song that you’ll probably never hear again on the radio because it’s way too long, (over 18 minutes), came through the speakers. Alice’s Restaurant by Arlo Guthrie was a peculiar choice, but given Leslie’s track record, I decided to give her a pass and not toss in a Deep Purple 8-track. If you’ve never heard this song you might want to Google the lyrics, just to get a flavor for it. I think it’s almost comparable to War and Peace in length.

As the song progressed, (it’s quite hysterical), I became a bit mesmerized by Arlo’s preposterous story. There is one segment I need to share, because I think it’s how teams in the NHL get a Torres or Carcillo or Burrows or Carkner or Shaw in their lineup.

“Kid, see the psychiatrist, Room 604.” (from here on substitute coach for the shrink) “And I went up there, I said, Shrink, I want to kill. I mean I wanna, I wanna kill. Kill. I wanna, I wanna see blood and gore and guts and veins in my teeth. Eat dead burnt bodies. I mean Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill. And I started jumping up and down yelling ‘Kill, Kill,’ and he started jumping up and down with me yelling “Kill, Kill,” and the sergeant came over, pinned a medallion on me, sent me down the hall, said, you’re our boy.”

The song goes on and on, finally ending with the catchy chorus,

“You can get anything you want at Alice’s Restaurant
You can get anything you want, at Alice’s Restaurant
Walk right in, it’s around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track
You can get anything you want at Alice’s Restaurant.”

When the song finished, Leslie said “I could hear you singing out there.” I had to laugh. Indeed I had sung it with gusto. Unfortunately, not many Hawk fans are smiling right now. The other team’s blog sites are smiling and aren’t they having a time of it at our expense. Most of us feel intense shame. There doesn’t appear to be “a bit of fun left in us.” However, other than Academy Award nominee Mike Smith, can you think of any reason we can’t crawl out of the hole we find ourselves in? This is no time to be “afeared of death.” The important thing is to remember “we win as a team and we lose as a team.”

Alice’s Restaurant; you don’t think we could find a Blackhawk victory there, do you? Anyone got any friends living in Massachusetts?

Rich Lindbloom is the author of the book War Drums in the Distance, a collection of articles Rich authored on the Blackhawks in their path to the 2010 Stanley Cup.

Last Saturday in Rockford, we had a chance to catch up with IceHogs forward Kyle Beach for a season-in-review discussion.

The Blackhawks 2008 first-round (#11 overall) draft pick missed 57 games this season due to a dislocated right shoulder that needed surgery.  Beach suffered the injury on October 28 in Peoria during a fight with Rivermen forward Stefan Della Rovere.

After extensive rehabbing and four and a half months sitting in the stands, Beach returned to the IceHogs lineup on March 23 against the Houston Aeros.

Prior to the injury, Beach had posted 3 goals, 3 assists in the IceHogs initial 8 regular season games.  Beach registered an assist in his first game back and scored in his third game, which was the back end of a 3-in-3 at Milwaukee on March 25.

Although he appeared in just 19 games this season, there were some encouraging steps Beach took during his second pro season, as we discuss in this audio and the interview with Beach.

To listen, click play below or Right-Click Here to Download

Download audio file (Interview_Beach_Kyle_2012Apr14_am_YearEnd.mp3)

In this interview with the 11^th overall pick of the summer of 2008, we discuss….

-Positives Beach takes out of another disappointing season

-His thoughts after being left out of “Black Aces” group after ’10-11 season

-Coming back from right shoulder surgery after missing 4 months

-His conditioning

-The backbreaking playoff-hopes ending weekend (Apr 6-7) at Lake Erie

-Bench brawl in Milwaukee

-Fighting  and the type of player he is

-Beach’s agreement with head coach Ted Dent

-If he plans on changing his style of play moving forward?

-Beach’s plans for the off season

-Goals heading into the fall and his hopes for training camp

———-

If you missed our previous interviews…..

Our 25-minute season in review with IceHogs head coach Ted Dent

Chat with Rockford IceHogs rookie of the year, Joe Lavin

9-minute chat with Jeremy Morin

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It was the same story for the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center in Game 4 of their Western Conference quarterfinal with the visiting Phoenix Coyotes. The Hawks rallied back late, this time from a late two-goal deficit to send a fourth consecutive game into overtime. However, it was the Coyotes who once again found a way to pull out the game, prevailing 3-2. Phoenix now holds a commanding 3-1 lead in the series with a home game coming up Saturday.

As has been the case in this series, the Hawks were active early. Dave Bolland’s line had a nice shift in the second minute. Bolland got a puck on the doorstep thanks to a failed shot attempt by Bryan Bickell, but Mike Smith came up with a save. Shane Doan interfered with Patrick Kane at the 2:12 mark of the first, but couldn’t take advantage.

Five minutes in, some unfinished business was handled when Paul Bissonette and Brandon Bollig dropped the gloves off of a center ice draw. Bissonette seemed to get the better of the fight, though Bollig drew blood from the corner of the Coyote forward’s eye. The Hawks came out ahead, though, as Bissonette was given a game misconduct for not having his fight strap fastened.

Chicago outshot their opponents 11-5 and had most of the early opportunities. Chances were few for Phoenix, but the Coyotes had a huge chance turned away in the fourteenth minute. Michal Rozsival sent a shot on goal that rebounded off of Corey Crawford. Daymond Langkow was looking at an open net but Niklas Hjalmarsson’s active stick saved the goal.

The closest anyone came to drawing twine was with 3:12 to play in the first, when Keith Yandle’s slap shot off of a faceoff win was redirected past Crawford. The puck slammed into the inside of the right post and ricocheted across the goal mouth.

Crawford turned away a streaking Ray Whitney early in the middle frame after Radim Vrbata got control of a loose puck at the Chicago blue line. Six minutes later, Michael Frolik blocked a Yandle shot and won a race to the puck.

Frolik came across the crease to backhanded an attempt that was stopped by Smith. A rebound found its way across the line, but the officials had lost sight of the puck and the play was whistled dead.

Phoenix killed off a hooking penalty by Adrian Aucoin near the midway point. The Hawks continued to outshoot the Coyotes throughout the period but could not solve the Phoenix goalie despite terrific chances by Bickell and Marcus Kruger.

The Coyotes gained a man advantage when Hjalmarsson tripped Mikkel Boedker as he stole the puck and bore down on goal. The Hawks spent the last two minutes of the period on a successful penalty kill. Through forty minutes, there was still no score.

Phoenix started the third period with a strong shift and a couple of shots that Crawford kept out of the net. The teams then settled into a staring contest, with each team waiting for an opening. At the 7:03 mark, the Hawks defense blinked.

Johnny Oduya was bringing the puck out of his own zone but never made it. Doan stripped him of the puck and doubled back toward the net. Whitney took the resulting feed and fired away. Crawford stopped the initial shot, but Doan was right there to bang home his first goal of the series to give Phoenix a 1-0 lead.

Less than a minute later, three Hawks failed to clear the puck, which Vrbata sent to Antoine Vermette behind the goal line. Vermette found Taylor Pyatt for a 2-0 Phoenix advantage that put them firmly in the driver’s seat with just over 12 minutes remaining.

The Hawks got back in the game off of a shift change midway through the third. Jonathan Toews hit Brendan Morrison, playing in his first game of the series, with a pass across the blue line. The midseason addition fired away from the right faceoff circle, hitting Rostislav Kleskla’s stick and going into the net over Smith’s glove, cutting the lead in half with 9:35 left to play.

The Hawks pulled out the stops, putting Patrick Sharp with Kane and Toews. An opportunity presented itself when Pyatt was called for interfering with Nick Leddy with 7:23 to go. Once again, Chicago came away empty.

Chicago killed a trip by Sharp and faced yet another desperate bid to tie the game in the final three minutes. The Bolland line made a furious charge in the 19^th minute with Smith making several spectacular saves.

Frolik was turned away. The puck skidded across the paint but Bickell couldn’t get a stick on it. Chicago regained control and Bolland got the puck on goal. Smith stopped the shot but Frolik was there to poke the puck into the open net with 1:26 remaining. For the fourth time in as many games, the action would not be limited to 60 minutes.

The Hawks had a mass of red in front of the Phoenix net two minutes into the overtime, but Smith refused to allow the game-winner. The Coyotes cleared their zone, then ended the contest seconds later. Nick Leddy lunged for a loose puck and came up empty, allowing Boedker to enter the Hawks zone with a step on the defense.

Leddy back checked, but the puck slid lazily through Crawford’s five hole to give Boedker his second straight winning goal on Chicago ice.

Thoughts

-Boo all you want, Hawks fans. Mike Smith is winning this series for the Coyotes right now. All Phoenix has had to do is sit back and wait for the inevitable defensive slip up (provided tonight by Oduya and Leddy). Crawford has been good, which would be enough if Smith wasn’t outplaying him every night.

-Brendan Morrison was inserted in a surprise late-lineup change, taking the place of Jamal Mayers who was a healthy scratch.  Sean O’Donnell took Dylan Olsen’s spot from Game 3.

-You have to question how much the Hawks have left from an emotional standpoint after dropping three games in overtime, the last two at home. The momentum was all on Chicago’s side heading into extra time. Phoenix was the team skating down a forward. The Coyotes were outshot 32-19, yet won for the third time in four games.

-Toews did have the assist on Morrison’s goal. However, Toews, Kane and Sharp managed just six shots combined. Those are three of the players who were supposed to be the difference in this series.

-Frolik had another good game in his second game back in action from being a healthy scratch for most of the last month. The secondary scoring has more than been there. Bolland’s line accounted for 11 shots on goal.

-Once again, the power play had a chance to be the difference tonight and posted a doughnut hole in three attempts.

-The Hawks will attempt to bring the action back to the United Center Saturday night when they travel to Phoenix for Game 5.

Jon Fromi