Sunday, December 21, 2008

The Blackhawks Conquer Canada

The Tribe was done hunting Coyotes and decided to make a quick trip north to scalp the Senators. These young warriors survived an Avalanche. The men in Blue Jackets waited with guns ready until they saw the whites of their eyes, but fell just the same. It was time to declare war on a new nation, the land of ice from above. Canada.

Edmonton felt as if Messier and Gretzky reincarnated had just stormed through. One swift move from Johnny Toews and Calgary's flame was extinguished in a blink of an eye. Cristobal Huet put an end to all Canuck attacks and Canada fell to the Mighty Blackhawk. Our boys return with wagons full of maple syrup and errr what else is there to pillage?

The Blackhawks are now 8-0 against the country that produces skaters out of the womb. These kids are absolutely rolling right now and look scary good at all ends of the ice. The defense led by Brian Campbell is playing at its highest level all season. Coach Qville has the defense fueling the offense and why wouldn't he? There is so much speed and athleticism on the back line, teams are starting to take notice. Ottawa head coach Craig Hartsburg said his gameplan for stopping the Hawks started with the defense, “Guys like (Brian) Campbell and (Duncan) Keith can really skate and move the puck and that’s where they really generate a lot of tempo to their game." Craig MacTavish of the Oilers was raving about Duncan Keith being "tailor made" for today's game and this was all before the Wiz returned to the ice. These blueliners are 2nd only to the San Jose Sharks in points.

The last line of defense, the tandem goalies are playing out of their minds right now. Khabby does not want to be known as the "backup wall" and Huet is showing signs of why Dale Tallon handed him all that cash this offseason. Huet came up big again and again tonight with 30 saves as the Hawks won their 7th straight. The last time the Hawks had a streak like this? 1981. I was critical of Dale Tallon not being able to move Khabibulin in the offseason, but this might be the best tag team since Hawk and Animal.

Now to what the chicks dig (some chicks dig hockey right?) The offense. Coming into tonight, Chicago was 5th in the NHL in goals trailing Boston by four. It is a joy to watch Patty Kane and Johhny Toews fly around the ice. The always under the radar Patrick Sharp continues to pile up goals and Kris Versteeg is trying to capture back to back Calder Trophies for the franchise. AND (knock, knock) Marty (knock, knock) Havlat is healthy. (Trust me I am knocking!) My hand is starting to bleed from all the knocking I just did writing that five word sentence. There is something special brewing in the United Center.

I have got to say I was critical of Tallon or Bowman or whoever really pulled the trigger on Savard, but there is no need to find out who ordered the code red now. We want Quennenville on that wall in fact we NEED him on that wall. I didn't like how Savard was basically used to sell tickets and kicked out the door, but the kids have responded to Coach Q and management was right. Business is booming in Qville.

Maybe it is the Vicodin I have been popping from my wisdom teeth surgery talking, but I am starting to believe this team is a Stanley Cup contender. Could they use another center? Probably, but why mess with a good thing in Khabby and Huet. One would think you will have to know who your number one netminder is come playoff time, but lets cross that bridge when we come to it. My expectation this season was grabbing a 4 or a 5 seed and possibly winning in round one, but if the Hawks can just start winning head to head with Detroit, they might just blow that away. The bandwagon is getting full people, better jump on while there is still room.

Are the Hawks going to be holding the cup in June? I'm not sure, but I do know Canada is waiving the white flag.

Yeah, the first post of my blog is about hockey, big whoop wanna fight about it?

3 comments:

  1. I have read your post. I would like to revisit, as I liked your writings.

    If you like short stories and paintings, then a short visit to my blogs would be an interesting one.

    And yes, If you wish to send flowers to your beloved, then do it through my sites.

    Naval Langa
    http://navallanga.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  2. To Mr. Pat Sheehan

    You write the articles of sports in a manner of a novelist. I have reason to believe that you must be popular in the sphere of your job.

    Naval Langa

    ReplyDelete