Jonathan Toews, Joel Quenneville and the Chicago Blackhawks organization scored high in this year’s NHLPA Player Poll.

318 players submitted answers to the annual questionnaire, written by the staff of Hockey Night in Canada and the National Hockey League Player’s Association.

Joel Quenneville, who some Blackhawks fans were screaming to have fired as little as eight days ago, saw his league-wide player approval rating in the “Coach players would most like to play for” category increase from 6 percent in the 2010-11 player poll to 11% this season.  Quenneville placed second to Pittsburgh’s Dan Bylsma, who again received 21% of votes cast in the category.

In last year’s poll, 11% of players indicated the Chicago Blackhawks as the team they would most-like to play for, putting the Blackhawks in a tie for second with the Vancouver Canucks.  This time around the Blackhawks received the most votes supplanting the Detroit Red Wings who topped the category a year ago.  14% of players responding indicated the Blackhawks were the team they’d most-like to play on.  Detroit slid into second-place with a slight drop at 13% of the votes.  Boston came in 3^rd taking 11% of the votes, also the biggest one-year jump of any NHL team.

The United Center made a huge jump, from 7.4% to 17%, as the second-most favorite rink of NHL players.  Bell Centre in Montreal remained the first, although its favorite ranking dropped from 40% to 33%.  It appeared the increase in votes for the United Center took the biggest chunk out of the Canadiens home rink.

Jonathan Toews placed third behind Nicklas Lidstrom and Sidney Crosby as the league’s Best Role Model.

Toews came in second behind Sidney Crosby when players were asked which player they would want to start a franchise with.  Duncan Keith placed high amongst the best skaters and Toews also appeared in the leaders as “smartest player” as well as “most difficult to play against.”

A majority of players still believe the instigator rule should stay in the game, although that majority is slimming.  Yet 98% of players believe fighting belongs in the game.

Categories left off of this year’s questionnaire included “Which coach would you least like to play for?” and “What team would you least-like to play for?” which caused a lot of commotion in Toronto (Ron Wilson) and for fans of the Islanders and Oilers.

Here are this year’s full results…

SKILLS category

Who has the Hardest Shot?

59% – Zdeno Chara [Boston Bruins]
33% – Shea Weber [Nashville Predators]
02% – Sheldon Souray [Dallas Stars]
01% – Alexander Ovechkin [Washington Capitals]

Who is the Best Skater?

33% – Marian Gaborik [New York Rangers]
09% – Sidney Crosby [Pittsburgh Penguins]
06% – Patrick Marleau  [San Jose Sharks]
05% – Duncan Keith [Chicago Blackhawks]
05% – Darren Helm [Detroit Red Wings]
04% – Phil Kessel [Toronto Maple Leafs]

Who is the Smartest Player?

45% – Pavel Datsyuk
16% – Sidney Crosby
15% – Nicklas Lidstrom
04% – Jonathan Toews
03% – Claude Giroux
02% – Henrik Sedin

-Last year 1-Crosby (29%), 2-Datsyuk (24%), 3-Lidstrom (19%)

Who is the Toughest Player?

20% – Milan Lucic [Boston Bruins]
17% – Zdeno Chara [Boston Bruins]
11% – Shawn Thornton [Boston Bruins]
07% – Brian McGrattan [Nashville Predators]
04% – George Parros [Anaheim Ducks]
04% – Matt Carkner [Ottawa Senators]

Who is the Most Difficult Player to Play Against?

26% – Pavel Datsyuk [Detroit Red Wings]
19% – Zdeno Chara [Boston Bruins]
09% – Sidney Crosby [Pittsburgh Penguins]
07% – Evgeni Malkin [Pittsburgh Penguins]
04% – Jonathan Toews [Chicago Blackhawks]
03% – Shea Weber [Nashville Predators]

Which player is the Hardest to Take the Puck From?

47% – Pavel Datsyuk [Detroit Red Wings]
10% – Evgeni Malkin [Pittsburgh Penguins]
09% – Sidney Crosby [Pittsburgh Penguins]
06% – Jaromir Jagr [Philadelphia Flyers]
03% – Joe Thornton [San Jose Sharks]
02% – Rick Nash [Columbus Blue Jackets]

Skaters only vote – Which goalie is Most Difficult to Score On?

38% – Henrik Lundqvist [New York Rangers]
19% – Pekka Rinne [Nashville Predators]
16% – Tim Thomas [Boston Bruins]
05% – Carey Price [Montreal Canadiens]
03% – Mikka Kiprusoff [Calgary Flames]
03% – Jimmy Howard [Detroit Red Wings]

-Roberto Luongo and Ryan Miller drop off the leaderboard after finishing first and second in last year’s poll at 17 and 16% respectively.

Who is the Fastest Skater?

32% – Marian Gaborik [New York Rangers]
26% – Michael Grabner [New York Islanders]
10% – Darren Helm [Detroit Red Wings]
05% – Erik Cole [Montreal Canadiens]
04% – Phil Kessel [Toronto Maple Leafs]
03% – Patrick Marleau [San Jose Sharks]

Goalies only vote – Which player is Most Difficult to Stop?

24% – Pavel Datsyuk [Detroit Red Wings]
12% – Steven Stamkos [Tampa Bay Lightning]
12% – Sidney Crosby [Pittsburgh Penguins]
12% – Alexander Semin [Washington Capitals]
06% – Nathan Gerbe [Buffalo Sabres]
06% – Evgeni Malkin [Pittsburgh Penguins]

-Alex Ovechkin drops off the leader board in this category after being voted the most difficult to stop last year at 27% of goalie’s votes.

OPINIONS

Who is the Most Underrated Player?

09% – Patrice Bergeron [Boston Bruins]
06% – Jamie Benn [Dallas Stars]
04% – Loui Eriksson [Dallas Stars]
03% – Claude Giroux [Philadelphia Flyers]
03% – David Krejci [Boston Bruins]
03% – David Backes [St. Louis Blues]

Which current player is the Best Role Model?

23% – Nicklas Lidstrom [Detroit Red Wings]
20% – Sidney Crosby [Pittsburgh Penguins]
10% – Jonathan Toews [Chicago Blackhawks]
09% – Jarome Iginla [Calgary Flames]
07% – Shane Doan [Phoenix Coyotes]
05% – Daniel Alfredsson [Ottawa Senators]

Who is the Cleanest Player to Play Against?

21% – Pavel Datsyuk [Detroit Red Wings]
13% – Martin St. Louis [Tampa Bay Lightning]
13% – Nicklas Lidstrom [Detroit Red Wings]
05% – Ray Whitney [Phoenix Coyotes]
04% – Henrik Zetterberg [Detroit Red Wings]
04% – Kyle Wellwood [Winnipeg Jets]

Which current Player Would You Select to Start a Franchise?

41% – Sidney Crosby
18% – Jonathan Toews
06% – Pavel Datsyuk
05% – Claude Giroux
05% – Steven Stamkos
04% – Evgeni Malkin

-Toews jumps from 3% last year to 18%.  Crosby, undoubtedly in part due to his concussion issues, keeps his 1^st place ranking but slides from 69% to 41% of the vote.

Who is the Toughest Defenseman to Play Against?

61% – Zdeno Chara [Boston Bruins]
12% – Shea Weber [Nashville Predators]
06% – Nicklas Lidstrom [Detroit Red Wings]
03% – Chris Pronger [Philadelphia Flyers]
03% – Brooks Orpik [Pittsburgh Penguins]
01% – Douglas Murray [San Jose Sharks]

Who is the Toughest Forward to Play Against?

25% – Pavel Datsyuk [Detroit Red Wings]
15% – Milan Lucic [Boston Bruins]
13% – Evgeni Malkin [Pittsburgh Penguins]
09% – Sidney Crosby [Pittsburgh Penguins]
03% – Alexander Ovechkin [Washington Capitals]
02% – Zach Parise [New Jersey Devils]

Which Team is Overrated?

24% – Vancouver Canucks
18% – Toronto Maple Leafs
15% – Washington Capitals
09% – New York Rangers
04% – Ottawa Senators
04% – Pittsburgh Penguins

Which Team is Underrated?

28% – St Louis Blues
21% – Nashville Predators
11% – Ottawa Senators
11% – Florida Panthers
10% – New York Islanders
05% – Toronto Maple Leafs

Who is the Best Referee?

19% – Paul Devorski [started NHL 1987-88]
15% – Kelly Sutherland [1999-00]
13% – Wes McCauley [2001-02]
09% – Don Van Massenhoven [1992-93]
06% – Stephen Walkom [1990-91]
06% – Kyle Rehman [2007-08]

-Last year this category was led by the option “None” with 15% of players choosing that answer. Devorski placed 5^th last year among referees who received votes.  He jumped from 7% to 19% this year.  Sutherland, who got the most votes last year, received a slight bump from 13% to 15%. Wes McCauley jumped from 9% to 13%.  It should be noted Bill McCreary received 10% of the vote in his final year as an official last year, good enough for 2^nd in 2010-11, again, removing the dolts who voted “none.”

COACHES

Which Coach Would You Most Like to Play For?

21% – Dan Bylsma [Pittsburgh Penguins]
11% – Joel Quenneville [Chicago Blackhawks]
08% – Dave Tippett [Phoenix Coyotes]
08% – Mike Babcock [Detroit Red Wings]
07% – John Tortorella [New York Rangers]
04% – Todd McLellan [San Jose Sharks]

Which Coach Demands the Most of His Players?

59% – John Tortorella [New York Rangers]
08% – Darryl Sutter [Los Angeles Kings]
08% – Ken Hitchcock [St. Louis Blues]
07% – Mike Babcock [Detroit Red Wings]
03% – Dan Byslma [Pittsburgh Penguins]
02% – Brent Sutter [Calgary Flames]

-Last year Tortorella got 28% of the vote. Babcock had 2^nd with 24%.

Which current Assistant Coach Should Be The Next Head Coach?

07% – Brad Shaw [St. Louis Blues]
06% – Dave Cameron [Ottawa Senators]
06% – Doug Houda [Boston Bruins]
05% – Dave Lewis [Carolina Hurricanes]
05% – Craig Ramsey [Florida Panthers]
04% – Tony Granato [Pittsburgh Penguins]

-Kirk Muller led this question last year with 9%.  He began this season in Milwaukee (AHL) before Paul Maurice got canned in Carolina.  Granato drops from six to four percent of votes.

ARENAS & TEAMS

Which is your Favorite Rink to Play In?

33% – Bell Centre, Montreal
17% – United Center, Chicago
07% – Madison Square Garden, New York Rangers
06% – Joe Louis Arena, Detroit
05% – Air Canada Centre, Toronto
05% – TD Gardens, Boston

Which Rink Has the Best Ice?

47% – Rexall Place, Edmonton
15% – Bell Centre, Montreal
10% – Joe Louis Arena, Detroit
05% – Rogers Arena, Vancouver
05% – MTS Centre, Winnipeg
03% – Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary

-Rexall remains atop this category, as expected, but is up from 37% last year.

Which Rink Has the Worst Ice?

18% – Bank Atlantic Center, Florida Panthers
11% – Tampa Bay Times Forum, Tampa Bay
11% – Honda Center, Anaheim
08% – Staples Center, Los Angeles
08% – Madison Square Garden, New York Rangers
06% – American Airlines Center, Dallas

Which Team Would You Most Like to Play On?

14% – Chicago Blackhawks
13% – Detroit Red Wings
11% – Boston Bruins
08% – Toronto Maple Leafs
06% – Montreal Canadiens
05% – Tampa Bay Lightning
*7^th place tie: NY Rangers, San Jose Sharks and Vancouver Canucks

Which Canadian City Deserves an NHL Franchise – Quebec City, Hamilton or 2^nd team in Toronto?

74% – Quebec City
18% – 2^nd Team in Toronto
06% – Hamilton

-Last year Quebec City got 53% of the vote while Winnipeg took 25%.  Keep in mind that vote came in before the Thrashers became publically connected to Winnipeg.

ON THE ICE

Should the Instigator Rule Be Abolished?

53% – NO
47% – Yes, Instigator Rule should be abolished

-66% voted “NO” in the 2010-11 poll.

Should Fighting Be Completely Banished?

98% – NO
02% – Yes, Fighting should be banned

-Same exact results as last year

Click here to view full results of the 2010-11 NHLPA Player’s Poll

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

The Chicago Blackhawks managed to keep their win streak alive against the rival Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night at the United Center, despite playing without captain Jonathan Toews. With Detroit entering play riding a six-game winning streak of their own, it was the home team that held onto a 2-1 lead to pick up their fourth consecutive win.

Corey Crawford started his fourth game in a row and allowed just one goal for the third straight game. He faced Jimmy Howard in net for the Wings, making his first start since missing time to a broken index finger. Both goalies loomed large in this one, but Crawford was able to spoil Howard’s comeback and earn his fourth win in as many starts.

Marcus Kruger put the Blackhawks down a man in just 34 seconds into the game with a tripping penalty in the offensive zone. Crawford was able to handle Detroit’s first few opportunities, including a shot from Jiri Hudler through traffic. Dave Bolland picked up the rebound but whiffed on the clear. The puck eventually found Valtteri Filppula at the right circle and he was able to wrist one past Crawford far side to put the Wings up 1-0 just 2:22 into the game.

Tomas Holmstrom returned the favor a few minutes later with a tripping penalty of his own, but the Blackhawks could not convert on their first power play opportunity of the game. Hudler put Chicago back on the man advantage later in the period as well but the the ‘Hawks were again unsuccessful. Howard showed no ill effects from his time off by making some big saves against Patrick Sharp in close during that second power play.

Despite not converting, Chicago was able to even up the shot count with the power plays and get some momentum going in the offensive zone. Crawford was forced to make several big stops in the opening frame, but the second-year netminder answered the bell and kept his team within a goal heading into the first intermission.

The ‘Hawks continued to create chances against Howard in the second period and Jimmy Hayes was able to tie things up at the 7:45 mark for his fifth goal of the season. In his third game since his most recent recall from Rockford, Hayes made a strong move from below the goal line to get the puck in front of the net. A few seconds later, he found a loose puck in the crease and put it in the open net to tie the game.

Both Howard and Crawford came up big to keep the game knotted at 1-1 during the second period. Howard faced a slew of breakaways from the ‘Hawks but was able to deny even the best chances from Michael Frolik skating in all alone and a couple looks from Patrick Kane at the doorstep.

Crawford was strong in his own net as well, helping the club kill off a pair of penalties and doing a good job of controlling the puck. The second penalty kill for the ‘Hawks came after Brent Seabrook appeared to make a great play against a Darren Helm breakaway but was whistled for a hold. The United Center crowd was not pleased with the call, but the replay appears to show Seabrook getting his offhand on Helm’s back and using it to spin him around and down to the ice.

After both teams combined for 47 shots over the first 40 minutes, things tightened up defensively in the third. There were no penalties called during the final 20 minutes and each team managed just seven shots on goal.

Kruger was the one that made his show count in the final frame, pouncing on another loose puck in Howard’s crease to put the Blackhawks ahead 2-1 just about two minutes into the third. Hayes again made a play, carrying the puck behind the net and wrapping it around to the crease. Andrew Brunette and Kruger were both crashing the Detroit net and Howard was unable to cover before the ‘Hawks Swedish rookie notched his fourth goal in his last seven games.

Detroit was unable to launch a big offensive through the rest of the game, though Crawford did come up with one last big save against a Nicklas Lidstrom point shot in the game’s final minute. The defenseman had time and waited for the shooting lane to open up before firing the puck on net, but Crawford was in position and able to cover the resulting rebound to hold on to the 2-1 win.

Game Notes:

- With Toews day-to-day with what is being called an ‘upper-body injury,’ Brendan Morrison started the game on the ‘Hawks first line. He ended up with only 7:51 of ice time for the game as Joel Quenneville juggled his lines early and often. John Scott had the game-low with 3:51 of ice time in his return to defense.

- With Sean O’Donnell scratched and Scott skating on defense, Duncan Keith logged 32:13 of ice time to lead all players. That total was his highest of the season and sixth time he eclipsed the 30-minute mark.

- Detroit played without Pavel Datstyuk, who also missed the game due to injury. The news is much worse for the Wing’s top center, as he is expected to miss two to three weeks following knee surgery.

- Corey Crawford appears to have rediscovered his reliable and steady form in net, having backstopped the ‘Hawks to each of their victories during the four game winning streak. He has allowed just five goals over the course of those four games. Crawford’s positioning has been sharper of late and he hasn’t lost his net nearly as much as he was during the rough patch.

- There was not much variation between the two teams in terms of shots, faceoff wins, or hits in this close contest, but Chicago came out on top in a major way in one category: takeaways. Chicago registered 17 takeaways to just two by Detroit, which explains the number of breakaways Howard faced in the second period and the way that Crawford and the Blackhawks defense was able to limit second chances.

- Jimmy Hayes earned first star of the game honors for contributing to both of Chicago’s goals. Marcus Kruger was named second star with one goal and Jimmy Howard earned third star with 27 saves.

- Detroit re-acquired former draft pick Kyle Quincey earlier in the day Tuesday to bolster their defensive depth, but he did not join the team in time to play in Chicago.

- The Blackhawks will finish their three game home stand on Thursday when they host the Dallas Stars for a 7:30pm central puck drop.

Brad Gardner

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

By Rich Lindbloom 

When I was working as a foreman back in the 70’s a worker named Gus came up to me and said, “Rich, the Stones gone disco.”  I had no idea what he was talking about and had him repeat what he was saying about three times. Finally I said “Gus, there is no way on God’s green earth the Stones would play a disco song. None, zippo.” Sure enough, a few days later the song “Miss You,” had flooded the air waves. Not exactly “Gimme Shelter, but actually the song was pretty catchy. It had a groove that had the potential to make a crackah think he could dance.

Out of all the genre’s of music that have emerged over the decades, Disco had to be my least favorite. It was a time of leisure suits, chest hair, ostentatious medallions, big hair, The Bee Gee’s and John Travolta. I recall talking about disco one day with my boss who would spin records on the side. This guy would scour garage sales for old Jazz albums and I really respected his musical taste. When I began mocking the Village People, in particular the song YMCA, he said something that I’ll never forget.

“Rich, that’s a party song!” said Jim. I think about that moment every time I hear it now and realize he was right. It’s just fun, so easy to dance to. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know the lyrics-just do the two step until the chorus comes and then throw those hands in the air! Although I’ve always struggled with the M, less so with the C, the Y and the A are a piece of cake.

When the Hawks scored 4 goals in the first 11 minutes against the Eastern Conference leading Rangers, it was a Y-M-C-A moment. Although there were evil, lingering doubts, I thought to myself “even we can’t blow this.” It was fun stuff-Partee! What do you say we break down the three game winning streak alphabetically.

Y?

“Because we like you.” Despite breaking our hearts and turning into the laughing stock of the NHL, (hell, even some of our mortal enemies started feeling sorry for us), true Blackhawk fans have a special spot in their heart for the Hawks. When they lose, we die a little. The road trip from hell has certainly increased the defibrillator sales in Chicago. For awhile there, Blackhawk hockey resembled a good loving gone bad.

When the Hawks went up 4-0 on the Rangers I told my son, “Greg, you know what you do with a four goal lead?” His answer, “Go for ten!” was not exactly what I was looking for. Actually, the correct answer was “You pull up a chair and sit on it.” Which had me wondering “Y” our daring young man on the flying trapeze, Viktor Stalberg, decided to head backwards in the 3^rd period against the Rangers. I would love to hear Viktor’s explanation of that decision. Stals, remember, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Other than  a few dunderhead decisions though, Viktor continues his metamorphosis into one of the Hawks most dangerous weapons. His supersonic speed, setting Bolland up for a wide open shot from the slot against the Rangers, was Hossian in comparison. Y Coach Q is only playing him 10 to twelve minutes a game remains a mystery.

Finally Y stands for, Yes, Yes, Yes! – three in a row including a great comeback in the third period over the much despised Bluenotes. A Bolland ricochet shot going in off the skate of agitator extraordinaire and Tazer wanna be, David Backes, was the icing on the cake.

M

Probably a good place to start here would be Marian, as in I’m Marian Hossa, and you ain’t. Get over it. Two plays against the Rangers led to two goals mere mortals stood no chance against. On his breakaway it appeared he was going to be caught by a scrambling Ranger d-man. He skates so powerfully; even a macho man like Cowboy would be impressed with those long, massive strides. Big Hoss blazed in alone, after a great feed from the player a lot of mental midgets want to get rid of for a real hockey player (?), snapping a shot past the beleaguered Biron. Marian’s pass to Leddy after ragging the puck like he was the king of pond hockey, was a clear cut example of a man among boys. His empty netter after a fine defensive play along the boards had the fans in St. Louis once again singing the blues. Do we really have to play those nozzles three more times?

Murdersuarus continues to log playing time in the absence of Montador and Hjarlmarrson. (Get well fast boys) He actually had a great assist on Leddy’s goal, screening Biron with his lumbering 6’8” frame. Biron should have squatted down a little lower and he might have been able to see through Scott’s five hole, rather than try to peak around him. In a momentary lapse of meatheadedness, Fluffy wasted an unsuspecting Ranger forward, that led many Hawk and Ranger fans to cursing his name. (I believe Scott was trying to send a message-it’s clobbering time)  In the ensuing kerfuffle, Scott was getting attacked by three of the Lilliputians in blue but was still able to grab the guy who had a hold of Andrew Shaw. Scott actually won the Trifecta this past week, dropping the gloves in three consecutive games.

Dorsett on the Blue Jackets, for reasons known only to him, decided to pick a fight with big Bad John. While I truly admire his courage and trying to give his team a lift, he’d be advised to wear some platform skates next time he loses his mind. The toughest part of this bout was the Fluffster trying to shake the glove off his left hand. It was just that sort of day for Columbus, who had won 4 out of their last 6 games. The bout I’ve been waiting for all season was between BBJ and Reaves on the Blues. In hockey this is what’s known as the Heavyweight division. Reaves has taken over the job of Cam Janssen on the Blues, which is to say he’s out there basically to satisfy the bloodlust of the Bluenote’s fans. Reaves wisely decided to turn this altercation into a wrestling match, rather than exchange blows with Scott. I fully expect a few more rounds between these two ruffians before the season’s over. There is no doubt in my mind Coach Q dresses Scott anytime we play those knuckleheads by the muddy Mississippi.

M is also for Ryan Miller who a lot of writers and fans we’re clamoring for to right our sinking ship. “We need Ryan Miller and we need him now!” That they would even consider trading Kaner for Miller leaves me wondering if the 9 game losing streak had many turning to crack cocaine in order to cope.

C

Ah, C for core. Tazer, Hossbollah, Kaner, Sharpie, Bolland, Seabs and Keith. I’d stack these 7 guys against any other 7 players on an NHL roster. Each one of them contributed at both ends of the ice, finally snapping the 9 game losing streak that had many in the NHL hovering over us like a flock of ravenous vultures. The turnaround began when Tazer was tapped on the shoulder to take the penalty shot against Biron in the Ranger game. You could have driven a truck through Biron’s five-hole on that play. It was the beginning of several breakaways and odd man rushes the Hawks had. We actually resembled The Preds, who in my book are the kings of the odd man attack. Tazer had a 100 foot, tape to tape pass that sprung Sharpie for our third tally. Led by the human rocket, Viktor Stalberg, the Hawks scorched the Rangers defense with their blazing speed. And for one reason or another, it seemed like we gave up zero odd man rushes against the Rags and Jackets.

C is for coaches, perhaps the one’s most maligned, during the series of unfortunate events streak. Perhaps the biggest reason, (in more ways than one), Q continues to draw the ire of Hawk’s fans is his man love for Big Bad John. Despite a career 579 wins, 356 losses and 77 ties, many had thought firing Coach Q was the answer to our problems. When you want to know what was the turning point in our second Stanley Cup Championship in three years, look back to a practice and a post game interview surrounding the Predator game. We are all familiar with the Quenneville scowl. He comes over as a no-nonsense, crabby appleton and you don’t want to get in his doghouse. After the Hawks lost to the Coyotes, I was thinking, “Man I’ll bet practice is going to be a burning hell tomorrow.” Instead I was quite pleased to hear Coach Q made the practice fun with a lot of corny drills that seemed to lighten up the somber mood.

Despite a solid effort against the Predators, we once again lost and I awaited Joel’s words of wisdom in the post game interview. Surprisingly, it wasn’t an agitated Q, but one who was shaking his head. He even wore a 4-leaf clover. In the interview, correctly so, Coach Q gave his troops a pat on the back instead of a kick in the fanny. The losing streak had gone beyond the bizarre and into the absurd. Our season had turned into dark Van Gogh painting.

C also stands for two crunching checks that sent Blackhawk warriors dusting off their britches. In the Ranger game, both Bickell and Kruger were hit with crushing checks, but both times the puck exited our zone. Either one of them could have made a pusillanimous play on the puck, but instead played the body, not allowing the Ranger forward access any deeper into our zone. Plays like that are normally left for the playoffs, but it was an indication of the intestinal fortitude and desire to win by these two role players.

One more great big C, actually two of them – Corey Crawford – Mr. Big when he stays glued to his crease. Welcome back to our favorite Mouseketeer. We’ve missed “good Corey.”

A

Angry. Agitated. Assault. Attack. Ambush. Antipathy. More of that please. One thing I noted during the ranger game was “Age.” Specifically the age difference between Father Time, Sean O’Donnell, and rookie Dylan Olsen as they sat next to each other on the bench. It looked like a Father/Son game. Both blue liners have played well during the absence of Hjarlmarrson and Monty, although against the Rangers I noticed Dylan didn’t look quite to smooth out there. This prompted a reply by Krome at secondcityhockey.com that really hit the nail on the head. He said at every level you move up, there’s a tendency to stand around until you can get adjusted to the increased speed and skill at the new level.

As the saying goes, when in doubt, “Hit Someone!” Dylan played almost 20 minutes against the Blues, leading the way with 6 hits and a +2. I remember responding to Krome saying, “Can you imagine this kid three years from now when he’s skating with the confidence of a Brent Seabrook?”  One other thing I noted – Sean O’Donnell is pretty adept at taking out the garbage from in front of our crease. Way to go, ya great big goofy Newfie.

A as in Andrew Brunette, who clearly has one of the most identifiable skating techniques in the NHL. He looks like he’s pulling a U-Haul as he lumbers up the ice to get back on defense. (A little bit of Kate Smith dragging the moon over the mountain.) But boy is he good along the boards and behind the goal line. The only thing I remembered about Bruno when they announced he was acquired by the Hawks was that he was always a thorn in our side. His pass to Freddy in the Columbus game was a surgical strike. Ever notice the composure Bruno has with the puck. The “Odd Trio Line” Bruno/Freddy/and dat Horsa guy, have been surprisingly effective.

Despite a three game winning streak, the Doubting Thomases of Blackhawk hockey still don’t trust this team. However after a 9 game losing streak, it is clearly time to “Partee!” Trust me, with a basic two step and some simple hand motions you’ll be giving John Travolta a run for his money in no time. In fact, thinking about the possibility of the United Center doing the Y-M-C-A after they trounce the Wings, brings back a distant memory.

Back in 8^th grade I attended our graduation dance at St. Anne’s. Wallflower, stiff as a board and the anti-James Brown would be an apt description of my dancing prowess. In my defense, it’s not easy dancing to” Sunshine of Your Love” by Cream. The Casanova’s in our class, Rick Morales and Jerry Lendi among others, grabbed me and forced me into the bathroom. Imagine my surprise when instead of getting a swirly, Rick said, “Lindbloom, I’m going to teach you how to dance.” After going over the basic two step which I struggled with, Rick told me, “Just listen to the drumbeat.” I can still recall observing Rick and trying to follow his moves – hysterical! I’m so glad all these I-phone contraptions weren’t around back then.

It kind of reminds me of all those cowboy and Indian movies I watched as a kid. Remember all the braves dancing around the fire to the pulsating sounds of the war drums? Rick just might have been on to something.

Let’s get our groove on Hawk fans. It’s time to listen to the drum beat Hawks.

“Young man, there’s no need to feel down,
I said young man, pick yourself off the ground..”

Let me hear you now – everybody!

Y-M-C-A

Rich Lindbloom

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.

The Chicago Blackhawk got a big effort from goalie Corey Crawford Sunday to post a huge come from behind victory over the St. Louis Blues before a sell-out matinee crowd in the United Center.

Crawford outdueled Blues goalie Brian Elliot, stopping 29 of 30 St. Louis shots and keeping Chicago in the game until they put up three third-period goals to claim their third straight win. Elliot allowed just two goals on 27 Blackhawks shots, but at the end of the day, it was Crawford who stood the tallest in net.

Chicago was stifled by the Blues defense in the opening period. The Blackhawks came up empty on a pair of power play opportunities early in the first and went over 15 minutes without a shot on goal.

Crawford and the ‘Hawks defense kept the game scoreless until the final minute of the period. Patrik Berglund got off a shot on goal that Crawford attempted to flop on. However, the puck slid behind him, where Jamie Langenbrunner kicked it toward the goal line. Andy McDonald took a swing at the puck before it crossed the goal line to make it a legal play. The play was reviewed and upheld, and Chicago went to the locker room down 1-0.

The Blackhawks came out with more zip offensively in the second period, but couldn’t convert a delay penalty by Vladimir Sobotka three minutes in. Crawford kept St. Louis out of the net despite some defensive zone turnovers and a Chris Stewart breakaway attempt midway though the period. Chicago outshot the Blues 9-7 for the period, but the score remained 1-0 after forty minutes.

St. Louis was 25-1-1 when leading after two periods, but on this afternoon the Blackhawks were able to rally over their division rival. Five minutes into the final period, Jonathan Toews hauled in a loose puck in his own zone and found Patrick Kane with the outlet pass. Kane brought the puck into the Blues zone and found Patrick Sharp at the left circle.

After winding up for a shot, Sharp slid the puck to Duncan Keith, who fired a slap shot past Elliot’s glove to tie the contest. Crawford then stopped an attempt by McDonald that resulted in the goalie being knocked off his perch along with the net when Keith and Bryan Bickell came crashing into the crease.

Blues captain David Backes had a hand, or rather a skate, in the eventual game winner when Keith found Dave Bolland beside the net with just under seven minutes remaining. Bolland’s centering pass struck Backes’ skate and across the goal line to put the ‘Hawks up for the first time of the day.

Crawford made it stick as time wound down in the contest. St. Louis employed an extra attacker in an attempt to force overtime, but Marian Hossa iced the game with the empty netter with 50 seconds to play.

Thoughts:

-After watching the replay of McDonald’s goal, I’m still not totally convinced that he got a stick on the puck before it crossed the goal line. It looks like John Scott’s blade was what made contact.

-Scott was dragged down from behind by Ryan Reeves in the closing seconds, leading to a short bout that ended when Scott’s momentum took him and Reeves to the ice. Reeves completed the heel sequence by throwing punches to the back of Scott’s head when he was face down on the ice. That should make for an interesting rematch.

-Duncan Keith had a hand in the two key goals and was a plus-three on the afternoon. After allowing 15 St. Louis shots in the first period, the defense limited the Blues to 15 shots in the final two periods.

-Crawford has likely earned the net against Detroit Tuesday night with three straight solid starts. For the first time this year, he stole a game for the ‘Hawks.

-Dylan Olsen played almost 20 minutes and was a plus-two for the game. With Niklas Hjalmarsson potentially back on Tuesday, it will be interesting to see how the pairings will change.

-Tuesday’s game with the red-hot Wings gets underway at 7:00 p.m.

Jon Fromi

The Hawks held their heads high on their way into Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio Saturday afternoon, only days after beating one of the NHL’s best teams in the New York Rangers Thursday night.

This was the last of the Hawks nine consecutive road games and setting a team record for the most consecutive road games in franchise history at nine. The road bout was over 19 days long and they didn’t waste time taking advantage of a Central Division team that is rumored to be moving on without their franchise player in Rick Nash as they try to start their rebuilding process. In their last four meetings, the Hawks have taken all of them!

Coach Q headed into this matchup with only one change to his lineup and with no surprise sending Andrew  Shaw back to Rockford and giving Jimmy Hayes another chance to play with the big boys! Hayes only twenty two years old has four goals and seven points with six penalty minutes in his 13 starts with the Blackhawks this season. Headed into this game knowing the Jackets were a vulnerable bunch, Coach Q made sure his team started off strong and chased all the lose pucks.

Crawford got his second consecutive start with no hesitation from the coaching staff with healthy scratches in Michael Frolik and Brandon Morrison while Hjalmarsson and Montador sat up stairs as he is still on the IR. Sean O’Donnell, Jonathan Toews and Sami Lepisto created one of the first opportunities of the game with a fight along the boards for the puck, moments before Sami Lepisto gave it right to Derick Brassard and he puts his 10^th of the season over Crawford’s glove. The pass came from Grant Clitsome at 5:13 of the first.

Chicago turns to Jamal  Mayers, Jimmy Hayes and Marion Hossa early into the period as they get stuck in their own zone while the Jackets move it around, but Columbus just couldn’t seem to get the puck to the net. Out came the  Toews lines  and they allowed another great opportunity, but Crawfrod comes up big with a blocker save on Umburger. This was followed up with another great chance as Dorsett took a pass, and Crawford  made a diving save and Seabrook saved the day clearing the puck out of the crease.

Halfway through period around at the 10:05 mark, the Jackets kept the pressure on not allowing the Hawks to gain the zone and create any more opportunities. The matchup continued between Toews and his high scoring trio facing the Samuel Pahlsson line once again.

Coach Q moved John Scott from to left defense alongside O’Donnell who replaces Lepisto after the present he gave to Brassard earlier on.

Patty Kane’s line hit the ice again and won a big faceoff in his own zone. Keith then moved  the puck from the corner to Jonathan Toews and he makes his way into the Jackets zone as Kane crosses behind for support. Toews then drives the net and put the puck under Mason then half Bobby Orr’s on his way into the corner. At 7:33 the Hawks then led by two goals with Keith and Sharp getting the helpers. Toews line is back out again with 5:51 left and tried to go to the dressing room with the lead, but minutes later, Victor Stalberg tips in a great pass from Bryan Bickell who benefits from a misplay by goaltender Mason behind the net as the puck bounced over his stick.

As the scoring frenzy was about to start, so was the tempers of some players. At the 10:11 mark of the second, Derek Mackenzie and Jimmy Hayes went toe to toe with this fight lasting a total of 9 seconds!  I think you know who won this one? They had something going all afternoon, it was a matter of time and time came for Mr. MacKenzie to make this stupid decision. This put an end to a penalty free game!

With under eight minutes left in the second, the jackets get in the dirty areas and keep the Hawks penned in their zone once again, eventually the Hawks get it out and Patty Kane lets a one timer go up and over Mason into the glass.  Sharp feed it down low Toews who finds Kane high who finds Sharp low and another puck is behind Mason. This was Sharp’s 24^th goal of the season as both Jackets defense where behind the net. Sharp who was standing all by himself to Masons right, fired a shot off Mason’s right skate that went off the right post that then off masons back left skate and off now the left post and into the back of the net. Everything seemed to have gone Chicago’s way after this goal Saturday afternoon.

The Jackets fight back with some pressure of their own, but can’t seem to get anything going. Out came the Toews line again and yes you guessed it, more insurance with another goal  from a turnover at the blue line allowing Kane to gain the zone and put it  between the legs of Mason who then fell over clutching Toews stick between his legs in frustration. That was it for Mason as Todd Richards had seen enough. Allen York had the duties of shutting down the trio for the rest of the game with 4:30 to go in the second and Toews and Sharp hit the game sheet once again.

After four unanswered goals in the second, the Hawks look to ride out the win and head back home on a two game winning streak, but Columbus was not going to go down easy. Chicago widened their box and cut down the offensive zone for the Jackets,

With 15;27 remaining in the third, Kane starts another routine breakout deep in the Hawks zone allowing Brunette to cross the blue line and set up a little give and go with Hossa, who gives it back to him who then finds Kruger in front who scores his sixth of the year shattering any hopes of a Blue Jackets come back.

With the Brunette line having left the ice just after a little reward from scoring the Hawks last goal, Bolland’s line gets another chance to pad the stats and that’s just what happened.  Bolland benefits from another turnover deep in the Jackets zone and then passed it back to Lepisto who can only hope he can redeem himself and does so with a lucky redirect off of one of York’s own defense.

In a game where Chicago had controlled the results the tension got tighter. Scott and Dorsett have words and Scott gives Dorsett an opportunity to save himself, but decides not to and Scott got the best of him. Dorsett got the extra two minutes for instigating a 10 minute misconduct and a second misconduct.

The Jackets don’t give up and get another 2 scoring opportunities, but Chicago plays some more perimeter hockey and doesn’t allow too much more. Then the Jackets take a penalty for slashing and the Hawks try and take some minutes off the clock.

With under 5 minutes left in the game, the Hawks seemed to have kept the control and move along with as coach Q rewarded his players that made the score sheet, which wasn’t hard because all three lines had something to say this afternoon.

This game ended a very interesting 9 game road swing for the Hawks resulting in only four points out of a possible 18, yes just two wins.

Quick Hits;

• Stalberg has registered the game-winning goal in three of four meetings with Columbus this season, and has scored 7 of his 15 goals in those three outings
• Victor Stalberg first four games facing Columbas has seven goals and eight assists and a hat trick  on January 10^th against Columbas
• Toews, Kane and Sharpe combine for eight points.
• Three stars of the game were Toews, Sharp and Kane!

Brad Vandenberk

It had been nearly a month since Corey Crawford and the Blackhawks were able to put one in the win column, but they did just that against one of the league’s top teams with 4-2 victory over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. A scorched-earth policy from the big guns of the Blackhawks propelled the team to its first win since January 20th and first road victory since December 14th.

All four goals for Chicago came during the first 10 minutes of the game. The visitors were out to a 3-0 lead just four minutes into the game and then able to extend it about five minutes later. The penalty kill and a solid defensive effort at the other end of the ice was enough to stave off the relentless Rangers.

Jonathan Toews got the scoring started just over a minute into the first period. The chance originated in the defensive zone when Patrick Sharp forced a turnover and pushed the puck the other way. Toews out-skated two Rangers and was able to control a bounce pass from Sharp to get a shot in on goalie Martin Biron. The Blackhawks were awarded a penalty shot when Dan Girardi covered the puck in the crease, resulting in the captain tucking the puck through Biron’s five hole to get the ‘Hawks on the board first.

Marian Hossa had a dominant shift to follow the goal, eventually feeding Nick Leddy in the slot for the game’s second goal. Hossa carried the puck around the entire perimeter the offensive zone before setting up Leddy’s one-timer. John Scott was parked in front of the net and prevented Biron from getting a look at the goal that put the visitors up 2-0.

About two minutes later, Patrick Sharp extended the lead to 3-0 on a breakaway tally. Toews sent the long stretch pass right up the middle of the ice and onto the stick of Sharp, who skated in and put his snap shot through Biron’s glove side. The goalie got a chunk of the shot, but not enough to keep the puck out of the net. The goal was Sharp’s 23rd of the season and ended a five-game goal drought for the winger.

Even after jumping out to a big lead in the first four minutes, the Blackhawks’ grasp on the game was tenuous in the early-going. Andrew Shaw drew a holding penalty in the offensive zone and, just after the whistle blew, Scott put his weight into Rangers’ forward John Mitchell and knocked him against the boards. That drew the attention of the referees, as well as the home squad, and the scrum resulted in a pair of minors for Scott, boarding and roughing, and two minutes to Mike Rupp.

The Blackhawks were given the choice between facing two minutes of 5-on-3 or four minutes of 5-on-4 hockey and opted for the latter. The penalty kill was excellent, giving up just one shot over the course of the four minutes and keeping the Rangers from ever setting up with continued pressure.

Seconds after the four minutes were killed off, Patrick Kane sprung Marian Hossa for another breakaway goal on Biron. Ryan McDonagh pinched and made an attempt at the puck as Kane got it on his stick near the faceoff dot. That gave Hossa room up the ice and he was too quick for Girardi to cover, putting his 22nd goal of the season between the legs of the Ranger’s goalie.

Chicago held the 4-0 lead into the first intermission, but Marc Staal got the Rangers on the board 3:04 into the second period with his first goal of the season. The presence of Stu Bickell in front of the net prevented Crawford from getting a clean look of the open shot from the defenseman Staal and the puck slid underneath Crawford as he dropped down to the ice.

The special teams units for both teams got plenty of work through the middle of the second. An interference penalty called on Toews was nullified when Jamal Mayers drew a call against Brad Richards. Brandon Dubinsky increased the Chicago advantage with a pair of minors on separate hits to Marcus Kruger and Sharp in the same shift. The Rangers had another opportunity with the advantage on a too-many men call against the ‘Hawks later in the second, but neither unit could convert on a power play chance.

Crawford was the recipient of a couple fortunate bounces in the middle period as well that helped keep the lead at three goals. Marian Gaborik had a great opportunity on a loose puck in the crease, but it hit the post and bounced along the red line until it was pinned beneath Crawford’s skate. The referee blew the play dead before Ryan Callahan was able to get it in the net. The Chicago netminder also lucked out after he kicked a rebound right to Mike Rupp, but the Rangers winger sent the shot wide of the open net.

Chicago managed just three shots in the third period as they tried to hold off the Rangers comeback attempt. Crawford was steady through much of the frame and did a better job of soaking up shots. He had some big saves, including a stop against what turned into a breakaway from Brian Boyle against Sami Lepisto. The goalie got another break in the third as well when Mitchell’s redirect drew iron.

Carl Hagelin was credited with the Rangers second goal with less than five minutes remaining in the game. McDonagh carried the puck towards the net and made a nice move around Dave Bolland to get open. He banked the puck off of Hagelin and between the legs of Crawford to draw the home team within two.

The Rangers sent out the extra attacker with about 2:20 left but were unable to get another past Crawford, leading to the 4-2 final score in New York.

Game Notes:

- Chicago’s four goals in the game’s first 10 minutes was marked departure from previous efforts. Coming into the game, they had just 13 goals in over 540 minutes of hockey during the nine-game losing streak.

- Crawford was shaky at times but seemed to settle in with the lead as the game wore on. He controlled his rebounds fairly well and never found himself too far from his crease, which made the difference on several occasions against pressure from the Rangers around the blue paint. The breaks have not been going Crawford’s way of late, so even if the win included a few close calls, it ought to boost his confidence.

- The ‘Hawks penalty kill was a perfect 7-for-7 on the night, providing just as big a momentum push at times as the quick-strike offense. They won loose pucks and filled the shooting lanes well, limiting the Rangers to just five shots in almost 10 minutes of power play time.

- The Chicago offense made it look easy early on, finding two breakaways in addition to the penalty shot from Toews. Martin Biron got a piece of all three of those tallies but not enough. He did not have a lot of help from his defense, which gave up odd-man rushes throughout the game, but no one wants to see the likes Toews, Hossa, or Sharp skating over the blue line uncontested.

- New York out-hit Chicago 32 to 14 on the score sheet, but you wouldn’t have known it by any other measure. The ‘Hawks won plenty of board battles and the defensemen by and large made the right plays against the aggressive Rangers’ forecheck.

- Joel Quenneville rolled with the same lines as he did in Nashville, meaning Brendan Morrison and Michael Frolik were the scratches. Before anyone starts worrying, know that John Scott was on the ice for Leddy’s goal because Brunette changed as Hossa and the ‘Hawks held the puck in the offensive zone.

- Scott skated 2:19 of total ice time and earned 4 PIMs in the first period. He did not take another shift after he was on the ice for the Staal goal, even though the booth was quick to point out that Andrew Shaw left Staal open in pressuring the wrong point man.

- 3 stars of the game…. 3. Patrick Sharp, 2. Marian Hossa, 1. Jonathan Toews

- The Blackhawks take the ice early Saturday in Columbus with a noon central start.

Brad Gardner

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

“When you’re drowning, you don’t clutch no straw,
When you’re drowning, you don’t clutch no straw.
You don’t want to live,
Don’t want to cry no more.” – Deep Purple

Back in 1972, my late friend Jack Carlson and I went to a concert at the International Amphitheatre in South Chicago. It was right after Deep Purple had released a great album called “Machine Head.” Deep Purple, at the time, had the reputation of being the loudest rock band in the business. Paradoxically, John Sebastian opened up for British rockers. Let’s just say the type of crowds the two bands might draw were divergent. This memory seems to come to the forefront of my thoughts every time we play the Mustard Men from Nashville.

One of Sebastian’s hits was a song entitled “Nashville Cats”. He has several other top twenties to his credit, but let’s just say they’re on the mellow side of the ledger. The longer he played, the more impatient the machine heads in the crowd became. After one song, one high flying monster started hollering “Deep Purple!” He was quickly joined by the rest of the anxious crowd. Realizing he was in a no win situation, Sebastian and his band picked up their instruments and headed for the exit in the middle of a song. So much for peace, love and understanding,” eh. We then sat about an hour and a half waiting for the boys who named a song about Viktor Stalberg, “Smoke on the (frozen) Water”

This will probably be brought up in a presidential debate if I decide to run in 2016, but we actually did some bad stuff when we took our seats. (I can only pray that the warning in Ex 36: 6-7 skips a generation, or two.) We were flying pretty high by the time Deep Purple ran onto the stage and tore into “Highway Star.” I recall Ian Gillan running up to the mike saying, “Sorry, we just got off the plane!” in that quaint English accent. Boy was it ever worth the wait.  Jon Lord, who literally rocked his Hammond organ so much I thought it was going to tip it over, played at a volume that you could feel. He threw his hair and head to and fro with reckless abandon, much like a Yanni on steroids. Oh what I’d give to go back to that moment and hear “Space Trucking,” again.

I’m afraid right now Black Hawk fans, we’re being subjected to watching John Sebastian when we really came to see Deep Purple. With the “results” of the Hawks efforts lately, we might as well just stay in bed sobbing beneath our pillow. This isn’t to say the Hawks have been lazy, far from it. They say hard work gets rewarded or the harder you work, the luckier you get – if the hawks are a barometer of the wisdom in those adages,  you can toss them smack dab into the middle of the deep blue sea. But am I the only one that feels were starting to turn the corner-that there’s a little light at the end of the tunnel. (Forget the fact that it’s probably an out of control freight train heading our way.)  While I realize moral victories are the equivalent of being called a “nice guy,” (and I think Leo Durocher pretty much summed up the end result of that scenario), there’s a lot more to be positive about lately.

The good news is they say it takes 30 days to break a habit and were closing in on that milestone. The last time the Hawks won was on Jan 20^th, against the Panthers. That was the night it took 3 hours instead of half an hour to get to the United Center. (When it snows it pours.) It seems like Hawk fans have been cast into the role of James Caan in the movie “Misery,” ever since.  ‘Don’t worry you’re going to be just fine. I’m your number one fan,” said Annie. Maybe John Scott busting a type writer over someone’s head is the solution.

Coach Q’s countenance in the post-game interview after the Predator defeat seemed to say it all. Normally Q has a stern look on his face after a loss – Tuesday it appeared more melancholic, almost as if he finally was thinking “Uncle, uncle already.” The odd thing in this death march to Bataan is that we’ve played well enough to win several of the games. Every little mistake seems to get magnified under an electron microscope type resolution. Following are some of the quotes following the game in Music City;

Ryan Ellis – “it was a series of unfortunate bounces,” that led to the game winner.

Ryan Suter – “They held on to the puck quite a bit, but we got some fortunate bounces.”

Pekka (picked a peck of pickled peppers) Rinne – “it is hard to believe Chicago has lost that many games in a row. They played a strong game and as the game went along they got stronger.”

Marian Hossa – “Maybe it’s going to sound like an old story, but we battled tonight. We did a lot of good things.”

“Battled;” I love that word when describing a hockey game. While the 9 game losing streak has predictably led to frustrated fans calling for draconian changes, I think at least 90% of them would say they have seen no signs of quit in this team. The Hawks appear determined to win another game before this season is over. Clearly, fortunate has not been a word associated with the Blackhawks. The most common change the Hawk fans have been bellowing for is the player between the pipes.

There is little doubt we’ve been struggling in that area of the ice. Despite playing more than well enough to emerge victorious against the Preds, Emery appeared to let in a soft goal off a blast from about 10 feet in from the blueline by Ryan Ellis. There was some debate on the various Hawk websites as to the “softness” of the goal. Most fans thought he should have stopped it, ballyhooing the fact that it was deflected by Duncan Keith. The truth of the matter is, it was a seeing eye single. Actually, this painful Predator tally overshadowed a pretty solid performance by Sugar Ray. Jon Fromi’s was the only post game wrap that noted how well he staved off the Pred’s attack in the waning moments of the second period when things got, shall we say, rather dicey. Unfortunately for the Hawks, every roll of the bones is coming up craps at the moment. All in all, Razor did a pretty good job of keeping his front porch clean.

Funny, everyone was singing Rinne’s praises after the game. Rinne this and Rinne that-y’all make me sick. If Crow of Razor had given up either of the goals to Bicks or Hoss, Hawk fans would have been screaming bloody murder. Is Rinne’s play acceptable?  Of course, but if you don’t shoot it into his midsection he is fallible. Tall don’t scare me! 19 total shots on goal, I’d take my chances against the NASCAR team in the playoffs. Bickell’s goal was a beauty – the man has a heavy shot. Makes me wonder; as spring approaches, with the scent of love and flowers in the air, who do you think would win a long drive contest on the Hawks. Whenever I really connected on a drive, I’ve always said “Man, that one felt heavy.” I’m guessing Bickell could send a golf ball pretty deep into the woods.

On the blueline, it appeared Sammy Lepisto played well enough to warrant more than 7 minutes of ice time. He made a tremendous play to set up the struggling, and possibly still injured, Jonathan Toews. Tazer’s weak shot was in sharp contrast to Ryan Suter’s goal. Both players had enough time to throw some grass up in the air to check for wind conditions, however Tazer’s shot was into the middle of the net and Suter’s was upper left hand corner.  Ironically, it was a Toews miscue at center ice that led to Suter’s goal. I’m sure I’m not the only Hawk fan in Chicago thinking it might be time to see what we can get for Tazer! Of course I’m talking crazy, but not as crazy as a friend of mine who said Keith and Hossa need to take a seat in the press box next to each other. (9 game losing streaks tend to do that sort of thing to you – and no we definitely do not want 10.)

The solid play of 21 year old Dylan Olsen continues to be a bright spot in the dark shadows of Blackhawk hockey. He logged over 21 minutes on Tuesday. Talk about being tossed from the pan and into the fire.  He sort of got blamed for the turnover that sent many to the ledge after Ellis scored. However, a blind pass along the boards by Keith sort of set the stage for that gaffe. As was pointed out by the one astute blogger at secondcityhockey.com, Bickell should have been hollering for Keith to pass it to him. As Robert Plant sang so many moons ago, “Communication breakdown, driving me insane….oooooh suffer.” It’s rather odd, and possibly revealing, but it seemed our d-corps didn’t really miss Hjalmarsson and Monty. I’m not saying I don’t want those two defensive pillars back – but the reinforcements acquitted themselves quite well.

While it is more than apparent the players have not even come close to quitting on Coach Q, and neither am I for the record, some of his decisions still leave me befuddled. Why is it that Viktor Stalberg played only 11 minutes. Nick Leddy made a great rush up the left side and dropped a pass to Viktor that he blasted towards Rinne. Pekka obviously struggled to fight that blast off. A couple more slappers like that and they might bring #9 out of retirement. (nobody can out hyperbole me.) I’m kind of out of the mainstream concerning the playing of John Scott. I sort of like his presence in the lineup. It adds an element of danger that Hawk fans quickly dismiss. He’s a force when it comes to behavior modification and you can bet your bottom dollar opposing players know when he’s on the ice. C’mon now you old timers, a little Hanson Brother’s mindset never hurt any hockey team.

In closing, I’m reminded of a play that “the good” Duncan Keith made, I think in the third period. He furiously fought off two tenacious Pred’s, preventing them from gaining control of the puck and establishing a beach head deep within our zone. Keith never corralled the puck but he managed to hold fort until reinforcements arrived. I love plays like that. The one’s that never show up on the scoreboard, but are every bit as exciting as a Kaner snapshot. This play epitomized what CT at hockeenight.com pointed out about the Hawks assiduous effort; “They played with Jump, Energy, Chutzpah and Zazz.” (What the hell is zazz-the granddaddy of all scrabble words?) Another wrap up said we won almost every loose puck battle, like the one I described above by Keith.

Well, as my mom used to say, “There’s no use crying over spilt mill.” (Actually, with nine mouths to feed she probably cracked us upside the head!) The effort has been there. As the apostle Paul wrote to the Romans; “And not only this, but we also exalt in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; character, hope.” I hope I can write a happy synopsis after we face another goaltending freak tonight in New York tonight, Lundqvist. (I’ve been waiting just for the right time to tie the Village People’s party song YMCA into a piece.) Regardless of the outcome of tonight’s struggle, I’m sure we’ll be causing some adversary sleepless nights when the playoffs begin in April. Which reminds me of the word “certainty” and one case where a brilliant DJ predicted U2’s success many moons ago.

Lin Brehmer, the DJ extraordinaire at WXRT (even though he doesn’t play enough Hot Tuna), has a highly entertaining feature called “Lin’s Bin” which is featured every Friday and Monday. While discussing some of the more pressing issues in our day, he never fails to emit a muffled chuckle as I drive to the coal mines. Lin did a segment on DJ’s and their importance in answering one’s questions about the meaning of life a few weeks back. He told about his first encounter with U2. It was 1991 and Bono and the boys were relative unknowns in America. In Lin’s own words;

“2^nd interview in the U.S. ever. March 1991. Two hours before a $3 budget show that’s only 60% full. They’ve only released an import single. No one has ever heard anyone pronounce his (Bono’s) name. There is no internet. I call him Bone-o because Sonny is the only Bono the world has ever known. Thirty years later I tell him that story.”

Part of that 1991 interview can be heard if you go to the Lin’s Bin archives. It will make you laugh when Bono politely corrects him and Lin begins to do the old soft shoe. I sent a note back to Lin after I received this and asked if he sensed U2 were going to make it back then. Without hesitation he replied, “Was never so sure of anything in my life. I told Bono I’d see him in the Civic Center in a couple of years.” So just what does this story have to do with Blackhawk hockey?

For those of you “who don’t want to cry no more,” I’m absolutely certain the Blackhawks will weather this storm. It’s not a question of “if” we’ll make the playoffs, but how far we will advance. Before I wrap this up I want to make one more thing clear; I have nothing against John Sebastian and his Nashville Cats. He actually has, among others, a great song called “Younger Generation.” It’s just that we need the Hawks to more resemble Deep Purple at the moment. It’s time to “stick our finger in the fan”-(see, even Sebastian has a truculent side.) Time to do a little Space Truckin Blackhawks,

“Da da, da da da, daaaa, daaaa, da da, well we had a lot of luck on Venus…”

One last thing, totally unrelated to all the other unrelated things in this piece. How, in the name of the Lord, did Cousin It win the Westminster dog show? You’ve got to be kidding me! As Fred Willard noted in his “color” commentary in the classic movie, “Best in Show” is it possible some of the judges are on the take?

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.

It took us a lot longer than we had envisioned, but tonight we finally reached our official milestone 100th show.  Listen to us put TheThirdManIn~Radio to bed and hear what’s in store moving forward.

We also discuss the Blackhawks now 9-game losing streak; how much longer it will go on, what and who’s to blame, who could get fired, how bad things really are and what can be done to fix them and ask the question ‘If Jonathan Toews is hurt then why is he playing?’  We reveal a few players who could soon be Blackhawks, what position Stan Bowman is least likely to improve and which prospect potential trading partners are highest on.

We’ll also dish some dirt on our recent trip to Vegas for Super Bowl weekend, history of our show sponsors and why they got their business licenses revoked, puppies and their balls and separation anxiety…. and I think I remember discussing the Rockford IceHogs in there somewhere as well.

And finally, my sincerest gratitude and apologies to all our listeners tonight, this season and throughout since this show began on July 14, 2009…..

Click the player below to listen or Right-Click Here to Download

Download audio file (2012_Feb15_e100_Number100.mp3)

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The Chicago Blackhawks turned in an improved effort as they continued their road trip in Nashville Tuesday night. However, the result was the same as their previous eight games.

The Blackhawks fought back to tie the score twice in the Music City, but another late goal lifted the Predators past their Central Division rivals. Chicago came up on the short end of a 3-2 final score to lose their ninth consecutive game.

The opening period saw both teams committing infractions, starting with Dave Bolland’s hooking penalty in the third minute. Mike Fisher was called for tripping 90 seconds later. In the fifth minute, Jonathan Toews ran into Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne, ending Chicago’s shot at the man advantage.

Fisher missed a wide open net late in the resulting power play, but for the most part the Blackhawks were successful in filling the shooting lanes.  Nashville killed a Martin Erat holding penalty at the 9:03 mark. This was followed by the two teams taking turns at Rinne and Ray Emery.

With less than two minutes to play in the first, Toews turned over the puck to Sergei Kostitsyn in the neutral zone.  Fisher found Ryan Suter trailing the play after getting a pass from Kostitsyn, and at the 18:20 mark, Suter gave the Predators a 1-0 lead.

The Blackhawks responded less than a minute later as the first shift after the goal was winding down. Jamal Mayers brought the puck into the Nashville zone and found himself without any help. Mayers was able to keep possession until Bryan Bickell came over the boards and roared up the middle. Bickell took the pass over the blue line and snapped a shot stick side on Rinne, tying the game at a goal apiece headed into the first intermission.

The Blackhawks traded strong offensive shifts with the Predators to open the second frame, then killed a Marcus Kruger hooking penalty. Chicago kept the action in the Nashville zone with Emery turning away the occasional Nashville shot.

With 6:10 to go in the period, a good piece of work by Patrick Kane behind the Predator net drew a tripping penalty by Roman Josi.  For the nineteenth time on the road trip, Chicago was turned away on the power play.

Nashville tallied another late goal off a face off in the Chicago zone in the eighteenth minute. After gaining possession, Ryan Ellis executed a give and go with Jordan Tootoo, then fired a shot from 55 feet out. Nick Spaling got a stick on the shot in front of the net, which was enough to beat Emery and make the score 2-1 in favor of the Predators.

Emery held off two Nashville rushes in the final minute, but the Blackhawks still trailed by a goal heading into the third period.

Again, Chicago came out strong in the final period, dominating the first five minutes but failing to make a dent on the scoreboard. It took a bit longer, but the levee that is Pekka Rinne finally gave way in the seventh minute.

The Blackhawks won a board battle for possession in the Nashville zone. Andrew Brunette and Kruger got the puck to Duncan Keith, who flipped it along the blue line to Marian Hossa. Hossa avoided a turnover, then skated to his right and beat Rinne stickside with 13:55 to play to even the score at two.

Chicago had several prime chances to take the lead, but it was the home team that notched the game winner with less than six minutes to go after a Dylan Olsen turnover. David Legwand gained possession and swung the puck around to Ellis.

Ellis unleashed another slap shot from the blue line. This time, the deflection came off of Keith’s stick. The puck veered just enough to get by Emery and into the net with 5:42 left.

Thoughts:

-No one is in any mood for moral victories, but Chicago played their best game since the opening game of this disastrous road trip. If this game comes in December, we come away praising the effort and chalking the loss up to a tough night in Nashville and Rinne. Instead, its nine losses in a row and the Blackhawks find another way to lose.

-Bickell scored his second goal in six games on a nice play; you could feel the weight of a dismal season as he was interviewed between periods. We’re looking for anything, obviously, but maybe Bickell is starting to come out of an extremely deep funk in the last two weeks or so.

-Despite failing to clear the puck late, Olsen played pretty well in a tough spot with two starters back in Chicago with injuries. Olsen was on the ice for nearly 22 minutes and played a big share of the penalty kill minutes.

-This would have been a great game for a healthy Jonathan Toews to exert his will on the outcome. Toews had the spirit but lacked the ability to shake off defenders.

-Tell me you didn’t see that ad with the kid that trades his bike for a popsicle and think it was too bad he wasn’t Nashville general manager David Poile. Ryan Suter would look good in a Blackhawks sweater. Hey, I’ll chip in for the popsicle.

-Chicago outshot the Predators 32-19. Emery probably earned the right to start against the Rangers, but Rinne was the superior goalie Tuesday. Next up on Thursday: Henrik Lundqvist and the league-best New York Rangers in Madison Square Garden. Not exactly a break, but that’s been the way this trip has gone for the Blackhawks.

Jon Fromi

After an all-around strong performance in a 2-1 win over the Chicago Wolves on Friday night, the Rockford IceHogs couldn’t overcome mistakes against the same team, in the same setting twenty-four hours later.

A juicy rebound goal by Rostislav Olesz and a Shawn Lalonde shot that went off Jimmy Hayes’ pant leg and in was all the IceHogs could muster against Matt Climie on Saturday night before the second-biggest crowd of the season in Rockford’s BMO Harris Bank Center.

That wouldn’t be enough as the Wolves scored goals in bunches to defeat Rockford by a final score of 6-2 in front of a sell-out crowd of 6,164.

Carter Hutton was mercifully pulled from his net by IceHogs coach Ted Dent after the Wolves scored three goals in 2:34 midway through the second period.   Hutton was able to stop 15 of the 20 shots he saw in 28:23 of action but he didn’t have much chance on a few of those goals.

“I apologized to Hutts because our team wasn’t there in front of him,” Dent noted of speaking to Hutton and explaining the switch between the second and third periods.

Alexander Salak came in to relieve Hutton, one night after his victorious 2-1, 27-save return to action after being sidelined ten weeks with an ankle injury.  Salak stopped all 15 shots he faced over 31 minutes in relief of Hutton on Saturday.  Salak was pulled for an extra attacker with three and a half minutes to go when Chicago notched its sixth and final goal of the evening into the vacated Rockford net.

“It was a really tough loss,” said IceHogs captain Brandon Segal after his team’s 24^th regulation loss in 50 games.  “We came out hard.  We got the first goal.  We did what we wanted to do.  It just seemed when they got their first (goal) we kind of sat back.  We can’t do that especially against those guys.  They have a lot of guys who can put the puck in the net.  We kind of had the life sucked out of us tonight.”

“It was one of those games, our execution wasn’t that good,” Dent explained.  “And I thought our work ethic wasn’t where it needed to be either.

“Every day is a new day,” Dent said when asked to compare Friday night to Saturday’s game.  “You never know what you’re going to get.  It’s attitude.  It’s mental approach.

“Chicago is a good hockey team.  I thought their defense really controlled the game and we couldn’t establish that much pressure after the first period.”

Now fifty games into the season, the IceHogs (21-24-1-4, .470) are in a spot they’ve earned with inconsistent effort and play.  Two weeks ago, Rockford finished a month of January that saw them go 9-3-0-1 overall and 4-0-0-0 on home ice in the month.  Since, the IceHogs have gone 1-3-0-0.  Those four games have come against Lake Erie (1 – a .500 team) and three against the Wolves.

Rockford struck first on Saturday.  Darren Haydar gave the IceHogs their first power play of the night when he turned a puck over to Brandon Segal leading to Haydar tripping up Jeremy Morin at the visitor’s blue line.  On the ensuing power play, Ben Youds’ right point shot was blocked down by Wolves’ goaltender Matt Climie, but right to Rostislav Olesz who had an open net to shoot at since Climie had drifted out to shut off the angles on Youds’ attempt.  Rockford struck first against the Wolves for the fifth game in a row.  The IceHogs had also won three of the four previous meetings.

Chicago tied the game eight minutes later when Michael Davies chopped at a puck in a scrum of players in front of Rockford’s net.  The puck jumped into the air and came down over the back of Carter Hutton’s shoulder and into the net at 14:32 of the period.

A 1:32 later, Mark Mancari accepted a short pass along the goal line from Steven Reinprecht and Mancari roofed a shot far side over Hutton’s left shoulder as the goaltender was hugging the near post to give the Wolves a 2-1 advantage.

Rockford responded with a ferocious first few minutes in the second.  Shawn Lalonde was originally given credit for the goal at the 1:02 mark but it was later changed to Hayes for the puck redirecting off his pant leg.  Hayes had been circling with the puck in the neutral zone before dishing it off to Leblanc.  As Leblanc gained the blue line, Hayes went to the net and Leblanc sent the puck across to the right point where Lalonde set up his shot.

Soon the Wolves caught up to the IceHogs’ pace and fired back with two quick tallies, the first by center Nathan  Longpre, his 8^th of the season. Ten seconds later the IceHogs were victimized by Chicago’s fourth line and center Stefan Schneider despite Dent having the last change on home ice and choosing to put more skilled players in Byron Froese, Morin and Segal creating a presumed mismatch favoring the home team.

Mark Mancari scored his second of the night at 8:23, a minute and twenty-four seconds after Schneider’s goal to give his team a 5-2 lead and chase Hutton from the contest.

“It was a pretty even game and then we just had those two minutes there where it kind of fell apart,” said center Pete Leblanc, who assisted on both Rockford goals Saturday.   “Then you kind of have to play desperate hockey.”

Mancari has put up six goals against the IceHogs this season.  Two in a 6-3 IceHogs win on Dec 9^th at the BMO; two in a 4-2 Wolves victory at Allstate on January 11 and two on Saturday night.

Antoine Roussel of Roubaix, France put the exclamation point on the Wolves victory scoring the short-handed empty-netter with 3:09 left in regulation.  The goal was Roussel’s 3^rd in 35 games this season.

Celebrating his 29^th birthday, Matt Climie picked up his team-leading 15th win stopping 39 shots for the Wolves.

Rockford is now 4-6-0-0 on the season against Chicago.

The loss drops the IceHogs home record down to 11-13-0-1.

Now with 26 games remaining on the season, the IceHogs don’t have much room for error.  With the same number of games remaining last season, the IceHogs finished the 2010-11 season with a 17-7-1-1 record.  That may be too much to ask of a team that is expecting to shed at least a couple of its best prospects over the next two weeks leading up to the NHL trade deadline.  If they could somehow pull off a similar run, that would put them in line to be on the cusp of the eighth and final playoff spot in the West.

The road to that goal may become more arduous depending on the severity of the injury Ryan Stanton suffered midway through the third period of Saturday night’s loss.  Stanton left the ice in a lot of pain and with IceHogs trainers in tow.  He did not return and we did not get an update after the game.

Together, Stanton and Brian Fahey have been the IceHogs best pairing since December.  They get the bulk of the top defensive assignments and Stanton is a huge piece to the IceHogs much-improved penalty kill.

Rockford is off until Wednesday when Peoria visits the BMO.  The IceHogs are 3-5-0-1 vs Peoria this season and just 1-3-0-0 against the Rivermen at the BMO.  That home record includes a 3-0 Rivermen shutout on Nov 12.

After Wednesday, the IceHogs go on the road to Toronto on Friday and Hamilton on Saturday.  They’ll then have five days off before a set of three games in three days beginning at Allstate Arena on Friday February 24.  The latter two in that set are both at home (Milwaukee Feb 25 and Chicago Feb 26).

–Rockford IceHogs lines, pairing & scratches Saturday vs Wolves

Forwards

Brandon Svendsen – Brandon Pirri – Ben Smith

Rostislav Olesz – Pete Leblanc – Jimmy Hayes

Brandon Segal – Byron Froese – Jeremy Morin

Philippe Paradis – Rob Flick – Brandon Bollig

Defense

Ryan Stanton – Brian Fahey

Ben Youds – Shawn Lalonde

Joe Lavin – Simon Danis-Pepin

In Goal

Carter Hutton (backup: Alexander Salak)

Scratches: Kyle Beach (right shoulder-Late March)…. Chris DiDomenico (healthy)… Wade Brookbank (healthy)….

Notes:

-Only change to the IceHogs lineup from the 2-1 win over Chicago on Friday was Philippe Paradis suiting up in place of Chris DiDomenico.  It would stand to figure as soon as I compliment DiDomenico’s play that he’d immediately be scratched.  Asked after the game about the move, Dent said the since the Wolves are a bigger team he was looking to add some additional size, in Paradis, to his lineup on Saturday night.  Paradis is a stick of dynamite.  In that vein, he reminds you a lot of Jocelyn Lemieux.  Bigger, but his percentage of hitting the target is very similar.

With DiDomenico coming out, Byron Froese bumped up from the fourth line to center Segal and Morin on the third.  That was the only change to the lines from Friday.

More on the game:

–The second period was just a disaster after the initial four minutes, which Rockford dominated.  The IceHogs outshot Chicago 6-0 in the first 2:25 of the second.  Then all hell broke loose and the Hogs unraveled.  Ted Dent dismissed the idea that the game got too wide open at that point for his team, but the pace certainly picked up a notch and the IceHogs started running around in their own zone when Chicago had possession.  The Wolves are too good an offensive team to overcommit and make mistakes against.  After the IceHogs tied the game at 2-2, only to see the Wolves score twice in 10 seconds, then again 2:24 after that, the game was effectively over before it had reached the halfway point.

When the IceHogs were given a chance to get back into the game, they shot themselves in the foot.  Kevin Connauton (who is going to be another Kevin Bieksa for the Canucks beginning next year.  He’s practically a left-handed shooting clone) cross-checked Jeremy Morin down from behind and into the boards and was sent to the box for a boarding minor.  11 seconds into the power play, team captain Brandon Segal took a needless offensive zone slashing penalty.  That was at 10:17 of the second period.

A minute and a half later Shawn Lalonde took a tripping minor.  That forced the Hogs to kill off twenty-two seconds of a 4 on 3, then eleven seconds of a 5 on 3, then 1:27 of a 5 on 4.  So, instead of a currently hot-IceHogs power play capitalizing on a dumb Connauton boarding penalty and getting themselves back into the game, they spent the next three minutes scrambling to stay alive in the game.  Segal, other than putting the puck in the net, has been playing some great hockey these past two months, but that penalty, in that situation, just cannot happen.

Then, after killing off the bit of Segal and Lalonde’s penalty, Brandon Pirri took another dumb penalty.  Pirri went low and clipped Matt Clackson right in front of the Wolves bench.  He went for tripping at 14:38, only a minute after the PK got done killing off the previous penalties.

Pirri had a terrible second period.  Two rushes on one shift in particular he came up the ice with his wingers on the shift prior to his penalty.  Pirri held the puck long enough to skate into the defenseman’s range and instead of getting the puck to the net and working for rebounds, Pirri instead chose to force low percentage passes against the coverage.  Neither rush resulted in a scoring chance.

With 5:54 to go in the second, after settling down a bit after the goaltending change (and just before the Pirri minor) Ben Youds tried to make something happen himself.  Trouble was he didn’t have any help.  Youds made a strong rush all the way up the right side eluding a back checker most of the way.  He had Rob Flick with him skating down the middle of the ice.  At least he thought he did.  Youds was forced out wide so the only play he had was to throw the puck into the low slot hoping for a tip.  For some reason though Flick pulled up fifteen feet short and drifted to the right circle.  Paradis was skating up the left side but he couldn’t get there and possession shifted to Chicago.  Youds, a defenseman, outskated two forwards to the opposite end of the rink.

Chicago committed a few unnecessary icings late in the period, one after another, which forced coach Craig MacTavish to call a time out with a minute left in the second.  Rockford couldn’t take advantage of any of those to give themselves some hope heading into the second intermission.

Aside from some good work from the penalty kill, simply a disaster of a second period costing Rockford an essential two points on home ice against a divisional opponent.

–Jimmy Hayes on the loss and the Hogs giving up goals quickly back-to-back : “It’s just something we have to learn from.  We have to make sure we’re ready.  Shifts after a goal are big and we have to make sure we’re ready for that next time.”

–Brandon Bollig and Chicago’s Matt Clackson dropped the gloves 3:22 into the game.  It was a long fight that saw Bollig looking for the big punch and Clackson mostly peppering Bollig with short punches and uppercuts Bollig left available.  It was the second time this season Clackson and Bollig fought, the other being in the Wednesday matinee on January 11^th at Allstate Arena.

–Ben Youds fought former Michigan Wolverine Tim Miller in the third period.  If Youds were three inches taller he’d have an NHL contract.  Youds had enough of Wolves players crashing the Wolves crease, and Salak specifically, and grabbed Miller out of a pile to throwdown.  It was Youds’ third fight of the season.

–This season there have been 12 fights in the 10 games between Rockford and Chicago.  Two games remain (Feb 24 @ CHI; Feb 26 in RFD) in the season series.

–It was amazing to watch how many times this weekend Rockford put a hit on Wolves’ veteran ace Darren Haydar and not to see any real direct response from the Wolves, even Saturday in the third period when Chicago was up 3 goals.  There was one shift late when it seemed Haydar was targeted.  Bollig crushed Haydar, who didn’t see him coming, right in front of Matt Climie with about five minutes to go.  It wasn’t until Bollig’s next, and last, shift that Matt Clackson came looking for Bollig again.  Ben Youds crushed Haydar at center ice on Friday and nothing came of that either.

–Since reassignment, Jimmy Hayes has 2g-3a in four games.  He’s also a minus-4.

–Jeremy Morin’s current 10-game goal drought is his longest of the season (AHL games included only).  His previous longest was 9 games (Nov 12-Dec 3).  His season was short last year, but Morin didn’t go more than 4 games in the AHL without a goal last season.

–Ben Smith’s minus-3 on Saturday was his worst as a pro.  He had never gone more than minus-2 in his previous 117 professional games (AHL/NHL regular season or playoffs).

–Brandon Pirri has no points in the last 4 games but is still hanging in the top 10 AHL scorers at number 9.  Pirri has 19 goals, 26 assists in 48 games for Rockford.

–Scouts this weekend were from Winnipeg, Edmonton, Phoenix, Anaheim and St. Louis.

IceHogs individual games without a goal:  Ryan Stanton (60), Wade Brookbank (28), Chris DiDomenico (25), Simon Danis-Pepin (24), David Gilbert (18), Brandon Bollig (16), Brandon Segal (14), Shawn Lalonde (12), Jeremy Morin (10), Brandon Svendsen (10), Philippe Paradis (9), Byron Froese (8), Rob Flick (6), Brandon Pirri (6), Kyle Beach (5), Paul Zanette (5*), Joe Lavin (4), Pete Leblanc (3), Ben Youds (3), David Toews (2*), Brian Fahey (1), Andrew Shaw (1), Ben Smith (1), Jimmy Hayes (-), Rostislav Olesz (-), Dylan Olsen (-)….

*No career AHL goals

IceHogs individual games without an assist:  Wade Brookbank (73), Brandon Svendsen (18), Dylan Olsen (13), Rob Flick (11), Philippe Paradis (11), Brandon Bollig (9), Ryan Stanton (6), Paul Zanette (5**), Simon Danis-Pepin (4), Byron Froese (4), Joe Lavin (4), Jeremy Morin (4), Brandon Pirri (4), Brian Fahey (3), David Gilbert (3), Chris DiDomenico (2), Rostislav Olesz (2), Ben Smith (2), David Toews (2**), Kyle Beach (1), Jimmy Hayes (1), Brandon Segal (1), Shawn Lalonde (-), Pete Leblanc (-), Andrew Shaw (-), Ben Youds (-)….

**No career AHL assist

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