Tag Archives: Ray Emery

Blues dominate Blackhawks 5-1 in The Lou

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Brad Vandenberk| Leave a comment

By Brad Vandenberk

The Chicago Blackhawk`s three-game road trip came to an end on Tuesday night in St Louis.  The Hawks had a 3-game winning streak heading into the Scottrade Center.  They took two eastern conference teams out earlier last week with the Leafs and Senators falling by one.  They then travelled to Detroit where they won a tight match against their divisional rivals.  With the Hawks’captain still on the shelf, they have won all three previous games the hard way, grinding out with great defense and even the back checkers making their presence felt.  This game would offer another divisional match up with St Louis holding the edge in toughness and grit.

The line up remained the same with Brandon Bollig making his “home” debut.  Bollig called in a favour and put his whole family in the crowd.  The Hawks knew they would be going to battle against this tough Blues team.  Niklas Hjalmarsson, only days away from returning, remained out with Steve Montador joining him. Morrison, O’Donnell and Frolik also missed out on the action again.  Patrick Kane continued his play at center with Marian Hossa and Andrew Brunette. The rest of the line up remained the same.  Ray Emery started his 3rd consecutive game in net.  Read more »

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Former Sens lead Hawks to victory in Ottawa

Posted on March 2, 2012 by Jon Fromi| 1 Comment

By Jon Fromi

The Chicago Blackhawks got some big games from a pair of former Ottawa Senators Friday night to get a three game road trip off to a promising start. Marian Hossa and Ray Emery figured heavily in the outcome as the Blackhawks bested a hot Senators squad by a 2-1 score.

The Hawks came up short on a golden opportunity four minutes in when Hossa took control of the puck in the Senators zone. He brought the puck behind the net and found Patrick Kane at the face off circle. Kane made a nice pass to Andrew Brunette. Despite there being plenty of open net, Brunette couldn’t get a handle on the pass, which looked like it was deflected.

Kane garnered a breakaway in the ninth minute but an active stick by Matt Gilroy prevented a shot. A Jared Cowen interference penalty at the 10:06 mark gave the Blackhawks a few shots on the power play, but as has been the case of late nothing came of it. Read more »

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Lindbloom: Love keeps no record of wrongs

Posted on March 2, 2012 by Rich Lindbloom| Leave a comment

“I’ll never watch the Hawks again”

By Rich Lindbloom 

“What do you get when you fall in love?
A guy with a pin to burst your bubble
That’s what you get for all your trouble
I’ll never fall in love again” - Burt Bacharach and Hal David

Have you thrown in the towel on the Hawks this season? Had enough of third period meltdowns, awful rebounds and uninspired play from the core? Are Frolik and Bickell driving you up a wall? Have you found yourself asking, “Why did Stalberg do that?” Are you fed up with a defense that couldn’t clean their plate, let alone a crease? Do you lie awake in bed at night wondering, “Why can’t I quit you?” In short, what do we actually get ‘for all our trouble?’ Hell, at least my wife gets flowers on occasion. Read more »

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Hossa, Kane heat up to clip struggling Leafs

Posted on March 1, 2012 by Brad Vandenberk| Leave a comment

By Brad Vandenberk

It was a night of debuts at the United Center on Wednesday.  Newly acquired defenseman Johnny Oduya donned the number 27 and started the game paired with Brent Seabrook.  Brandon Bollig answered the bat phone and was called up for duty.  Bollig is 7th in the AHL in penalty minutes and was hoping to bring energy and grit to a Hawks team that has lost 3 straight games.  The Hawks debuted their white jerseys at home as the Leafs chose this game to where their 3rd jersey’s which are a dark blue.  Corey Crawford got the call for the home team and Jonas Gustavsson tried to right the good ship Maple Leaf.  Jonathan Toews missed his 5th straight game with an upper body injury.  Steve Montador and Niklas Hjalmarsson were still out with injuries as well.  Sean O’Donnell, Michael Frolik and Brendan Morrison sat upstairs as five rookies would sport the Indian head.  The Hawks had lost 12 of their last 16 coming in and the Leafs were not any better, as they had lost 9 of their last 10.  This game would be a test of each goaltender as both teams have had shaky tendy’s.  However, the Leafs haven’t beaten the Hawks in 9 years, 6 straight games.  Read more »

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Toews-less Hawks don’t look much like Hawks at all, Dismal weekend effort ends in 3-1 loss at Anaheim

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Brad Vandenberk| 2 Comments

By Brad Vandenberk

The Chicago Blackhawks finished their California weekend road swing in Anaheim versus the Ducks Sunday evening.  The night earlier saw Los Angeles King, Dustin Brown bury three goals and a helper, as the Hawks were shutout 4-0.  The Ducks are looking to make a strong run to fight for a tight Western Conference playoff spot.  Hawk’s Captain Jonathan Toews remained in Chicago for this trip and missed his 3rd consecutive game with an upper body injury.  Niklas Hjalmarsson was also held back.  With two leaders off the ice, the road team needed to fight hard to beat a talented Ducks squad.

Ray Emery got the coach Q nod for the start with Jonas Hiller getting his 21st straight start for the Ducks.  Marcus Kruger played on the top line with Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp.  Brendan Morrison centered Marian Hossa and Viktor Stalberg.  Dave Bolland was with Andrew Brunette and Bryan Bickell.  Finally, Jamal Mayers had Michael Frolik and Jimmy Hayes on either side. Read more »

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Blackhawks miss their call time in LA, Dustin Brown’s hat-trick powers Kings to 4-0 victory

Posted on February 25, 2012 by Brad Gardner| Leave a comment

By Brad Gardner

The Blackhawks were shellacked by the reinvigorated Los Angeles Kings, but it had little to do with the newly-acquired sniper Jeff Carter. Instead, it was the more recent subject of trade rumors surrounding the Kings, Dustin Brown, who scored a natural hat trick in the game’s first 25 minutes that proved to be an insurmountable lead for the home team.

While the Blackhawks had nary a shot to show for their first power play opportunity of the game, the Kings were able to capitalize on their first man advantage after John Scott got his elbow up finishing a check. Jarrett Stoll gained the offensive zone and dropped the puck to Dustin Brown along the sideboards. Stoll kept skating and drew Dylan Olsen out of position, giving Brown enough room to skate inside the dot and wrist the game’s first goal over Corey Crawford’s shoulder at 10:48. Read more »

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Lindbloom: Smoke on the frozen water

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Rich Lindbloom| 1 Comment

You’re Lazy, You Just Stay in Bed

“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. Read more »

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9 in a row: Hawks come up short in Nashville

Posted on February 14, 2012 by Jon Fromi| 2 Comments

By Jon Fromi

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. Read more »

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8 in a row

Posted on February 12, 2012 by Brad Gardner| Leave a comment

By Brad Gardner

Another serviceable effort from the Blackhawks resulted in no points as they dropped their eighth straight game, falling to the Coyotes by a score of 3-0. The ‘Hawks found themselves in an early hole and did not have any comebacks in them tonight against a 38-save shutout from red-hot goalie Mike Smith in the Phoenix net.

The Blackhawks faced an uphill battle early with Phoenix scoring two goals in the first six  minutes of the opening period. Radim Vrbata continued to light up the ‘Hawks, registering his 26th goal of the season and third against Chicago when his pass from behind the net deflected into the net off defenseman Sami Lepisto. Viktor Stalberg was unable to clear the puck from the defensive zone and Ray Whitney and Vrbata attacked with a give-and-go the other way. Vrbata used his speed to skate in behind and Lepisto was in an unfortunate position as Vrbata tried to get the puck back to the front of the net, deflecting in the opening goal at 3:14 of the first period. Read more »

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Blackhawks Drop Sixth Straight, 5-2 to Avalanche

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Jon Fromi| Leave a comment

By Jon Fromi

The Chicago Blackhawks game in Colorado Tuesday night was a matchup of two teams looking to break out of five-game winless streaks. Someone was going to taste their first win in a while in the Pepsi Center. The ‘Hawks will have to look to break out of their growing slump further West after three third period goals sunk Chicago. Paul Stastny and David Jones led the way as the Avalanche beat the Blackhawks 5-2.

Both teams took nine shots in the first period, none of which found their way past Emery or Jean-Sebastien Giguere. The Avalanche had a couple of odd man rushes that were turned away, most notably by Duncan Keith when Colorado threatened to put of a short-handed goal on a ‘Hawks power play in the fifteenth minute.

Late in the period a bouncing puck got away from Niklas Hjalmarsson, leading to a 2-on-1 led by Stansty. Chuck Kobasew was set up with an open goal, but hit the side of the net with his one-timer. Read more »

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