End of An Era, Blackhawks 6, Sabres 2

In 1997, Lindy Ruff took over the bench for the Buffalo Sabres.  In that same time frame, the Hawks have had 9 head coaches.  It appears the longest coaching tenure in all major professional sports is about to come to an end.  The Sabres are the definition of bad money.  No one is taking the albatross Ville Leino or Christian Ehrhoff contracts off their hands.  Ryan Miller isn’t going anywhere.  There is simply too much money invested in this team to blow up the roster after a couple bad months.

Unfortunately, Lindy Ruff will likely be the first domino to fall in the 2011-2012 Buffalo Sabres.  Buffalo looked interested for about 15 minutes and then disappeared as soon as the Hawks scored their 3rd goal.  Sabres Owner Terry Pegula can’t fire his entire roster; so instead his head coach and his general manager will be the first ones on the chopping block.

For the Hawks, they stepped on the Sabres throat when they needed to.  And that was that.

–Dave Bolland had such a Dave Bolland celebration on his goal that even Dave Bolland would be impressed…if that makes any sense.  When Bolland scored, he nonchalantly avoided all of his on-ice teammates and glided to the bench where he high-fived the bench.  I can’t imagine how he’ll ever top that short of scoring a goal and stripping naked.

–So much has been made of Andrew Shaw and Jimmy Hayes and rightfully so.  They have had as good of a debut as two rookie role players since the ’07-08 season when the Hawks brought up the likes of Dave Bolland, Kris Versteeg, and Jake Dowell (remember that?).  Probably even better.

The important thing to remember is that neither has played more than 10 games so writing any roster spot with their name in ink would be a bit premature.  I will say Shaw is far more likely to stick into April as Quenneville is already playing him in all situations.  His obsession with Shaw is reminiscent of how he felt towards Versteeg when he took over.

Hayes is a good finisher but he still makes too many mistakes in the neutral and defensive zone for Quenneville to trust him in the latter parts of the season.  But I suppose we can only wait and see.

–I wish Patrick Kane would just score a goal already so every moron can stop playing amateur psychiatrist.

–It didn’t really make a difference in the game but the NHL has to change their reviewing policy.  Marcus Kruger had a goal taken away because the referee called a hand pass on Andrew Shaw even though replays showed otherwise.  Kruger banged home the rebound but because hand passes aren’t considered reviewable, there was no call to Toronto.

An easy solution would be to make all scoring plays reviewable no matter what.  And that includes getting rid of the idiotic intent to blow the whistle rule.  It’s only going to take one controversial call in the playoffs that costs the team their season for it to come under greater scrutiny.  By then, it will already be too late.

Hello Again Old Friend: Hawks beat Jackets 5-2

Like any great ointment, the Jackets once again cured the Hawks of their recent ailments.  Sure, it wasn’t pretty and it didn’t feel that great, but during this stretch with Patrick Sharp out for the next few weeks, style points don’t mean all that much; only points.

–It’s the regular season and the Blue Jackets but taking two instigator penalties on Jared Boll was not smart hockey.  Jamal Mayers’ penalty, in particular, was quite aggravating because it seemed to negate a Bryan Bickell semi-breakaway.  Not to mention, the game was still 0-0 and Montador fighting Boll the last time didn’t seem to deter him for being Jared Boll.

The Hawks ended up scoring a short-handed goal so all’s well that ends well I suppose.  And it’s not like the Hawks are going to be looking to even scores in the playoffs.

–Corey Crawford was his own worst enemy once again.  There were maybe one or two perimeter shots that he was able to control.  Otherwise everything was coughed up in the crease where Crawford had to either make a second save or perform his now infamous Hungry, Hungry Hippo act.  (Perhaps you’ve also noticed Crawford being unable to cover pucks laying in his crease, instead just hopelessly flailing his glove hand multiple times only to come up empty.)

The last four goals he’s given up were all off goal mouth scrambles where he had more than one opportunity to cover the puck but didn’t.

–Ben Smith scored a pillow soft goal.  I’m sure now there will be more calls for him to play on the first line.  Andrew Shaw is like the idea of Ben Smith only in reality.

–Speaking of, it’s too bad Shaw isn’t four inches taller.  Then the Hawks would really have something.  Of course he probably wouldn’t have lasted until the 5th round if that were the case.  Nevertheless, Shaw has impressed in his short stay.  That’s not to say he’s perfect.  I’d like to see him improve his overall speed while he’s here and certainly in the off-season going into next.

–Speaking of speed (look at the continuity), Viktor Stalberg looked like Swedish freedom was on the line when he chased down the loose puck for his hat trick empty net goal.

–While I’m here allow me to vent about the past week.  I don’t know whether it’s all the social media outlets or the fact that the Hawks set the bar so high in ’08-09 and ’09-10, but it’s becoming increasingly exhausting to be a Hawks fan.

Last I checked, the regular season is 82 games.  There are highs, there are lows, and not every game is the defining clue as to whether the Hawks are going to win the Cup.  It seems like anytime the Hawks have a losing streak of more than one game or don’t win while thoroughly dominating their opponent in the process, people can’t wait to tell you how bad they are.

Every season will have bad losses and frustrating losses.  It just so happened the Hawks had three of them in the last week.  (I’d have to say the Flyers and Wings losses were two of the more frustrating in recent memory.  And they happened within four days of each other.)  Unlike what the person you share season-tickets says, the secrets of what lays ahead aren’t going to be revealed during the first two weeks of January.

–While Patrick Kane is in the second worst goal scoring drought of his career (first being his rookie year), it’s best to remember the old hockey cliche: “Don’t be worried when you’re not scoring, be worried when you’re not getting chances.”  Kane has had terrific scoring opportunities during this drought but just hasn’t been able to find twine.  Whether it’s Ty Conklin’s shoulder getting in the way or Curtis Sanford kicking his leg out or the puck just hitting Ilya Bryzgalov, with a little luck Kane could easily be creeping up on 20 goals.

Headshots and Us

This ran in Friday’s “Committed Indian”:

On December 20^th, Marcus Kruger suffered a concussion thanks to the high hands of Derek Engelland of the Pittsburgh Penguins.  The check occurred about halfway through the first period.  Kruger finished the period and even came to the Hawks bench for the start of the second.  It was widely reported that Kruger was taken out of the game after he failed to respond to Joel Quenneville calling his name multiple times.

Just six days later – even though if you suffered a similar type of concussion, any doctor worth his salt would recommend you avoid all types of physical activity for at least thirty days – he was deemed healthy enough to participate in a NHL game.  Obviously, the medical advice given to professional athletes – as opposed to the general populous – is going to be vastly different when millions of dollars are at stake, but the point remains the same: no longer are concussions to be taken lightly.

When the NHL re-wrote Rule 48 at the end of last season, it was done with the sole purpose of reducing the amount of hits targeted at a player’s chrome dome.  The rule states very plainly: “A hit resulting in contact with an opponent’s head where the head is targeted and the principal point of contact is not permitted. However, in determining whether such a hit should have been permitted, the circumstances of the hit, including whether the opponent put himself in a vulnerable position immediately prior to or simultaneously with the hit or the head contact on an otherwise legal body check was avoidable, can be considered.”

Just like Rome wasn’t built in one day, changing how players play isn’t something that’s going to change over one off-season.  Players are still getting concussed at an alarming rate, teams are losing important pieces to their puzzle, and owners are paying players who aren’t playing.

For the league, the banning of headshots is a fuzzy mix of logic.  On one hand, it is bad to check someone in the head, as Rule 48 clearly states.  On the other, the same player is within his rights to punch someone else in the head.

So headshots are bad, except when they are good.  Got that?  Good.

Naturally, the headshot likely to sideline Kruger indefinitely came on one of those grey-area (no pun intended) plays.  During the Monday night tilt against Columbus, Rick Nash dumped the puck into the Hawks zone.  After he released the puck, Kruger checked Nash into the Hawks bench.  Nash turned around, gave Kruger a shove and for good measure followed it with a punch to the back of the head.  Nash was penalized two minutes for roughing.  However, since punching to the head is not protected under Rule 48, Nash will never have to face Brendan Shanahan.  Just like David Krejci didn’t have to face him after he gave Sidney Crosby a jab to the face that knocked him out indefinitely.  Just like Daniel Carcillo was knocked out indefinitely with an elbow to the mouth courtesy of Kyle Brodziak.

While Nash should certainly face some kind of discipline for knocking a player out with a punch where the head was targeted and was the principal point of contact, he won’t because of some kind of ancient hockey code that permits headshots so long as the other guy deserved it.  And so it continues.

But while the concussion problem persists, does anyone really care?

Joel Quenneville was more perturbed that Engelland didn’t get a two minute minor than he was about Kruger missing any length of time.  It’s fun to be outraged by the lack of respect among the players, but the same ex-coaches on television screaming about it are the same guys who were benching every player who didn’t finish their check (Mike Keenan, who are you crapping?).  Then, there are stories of guys like Colby Armstrong who deliberately lied to the training staff so he could continue playing.  Only after the game, when he started throwing up and couldn’t answer the most basic of questions, did they realize something was wrong.

And to keep it even closer to home, we still continue to search for a good reason why not only was Marcus Kruger allowed to play on Monday against Columbus, but was allowed to play the entire game even after taking three huge hits in the opening period.  Even if Kruger was misleading the medical staff before the game, how did anyone on that medical team think he should be allowed to play after Nash punched him in the back of the head?  After the first check where Aaron Johnson got a good piece of his head along the boards, he should have been questioned.  After Nash’s punch in the back of the head, he should have been off the bench, in the dark room, and been made to pass every single test before they let come back out.  Instead, he played the rest of the game and is now out (seemingly) indefinitely.

So if the players don’t care, the coaches don’t care, and the teams don’t care, should we?  This is a slippery part of the equation.  Do any of us really care what Marcus Kruger’s quality of life is thirty years down the road?  Probably not.  We’re only concerned with how he matches up with Detroit’s top line or how long the Hawks can play with him out of the lineup.

In order to deal with the concussion problem, the league first needs to decide if they even care about the problem.  In the NFL, a player who throws a punch is automatically kicked out of the game.  In the NHL, a player who throws a punch gets away with it, is given a two minute or a five minute penalty and is beloved by the faithful home crowd.  Meanwhile, the recipients of punches to the head are suffering the same kind of injuries the league is trying to eliminate.  So, concussions are bad when they come courtesy of body checks, but a concussion courtesy of a punch just means the player had it coming.

If they truly care about the problem’s effects, then they need to fix the problem.  Educate the players; educate the coaches; and make sure any unsolicited punches to the head are punished by more than a mere two-minute minor.  And for heaven’s sakes, let the fans get back to worrying about what’s really important: figuring out who the Hawks should acquire to replace Marcus Kruger.

Match-up Problems: Oilers 4, Blackhawks 3

The easy out for the latest Hawks loss is that Dan Carcillo took a bad penalty which changed the complexion of the game.  And that would be true.

But it was more than one guy’s fault for a singular regular season loss.  The Hawks special teams didn’t help the cause.  Their power play went for 0-5, including an 0-for-3 in the third period when the pressure was highest on the Oilers.  Their penalty kill let them down at the most inopportune time, during Carcillo’s 5-minute major.  Corey Crawford surely should have stopped Taylor Hall’s goal even if Niklas Hjalmarsson was high-sticked just moments before.

Then after the Hawks tied the game at 2, Viktor Stalberg completely forgot about any defensive back-check and let blue whale Andy Sutton float down the slot wide open for the Oilers third goal.

A tricky Ben Eager back-hander in the third gave the Oilers the cushion they would need to hold on to the win.

–When Dan Carcillo boarded Tom Gilbert for the 5 minute major, both players did not return to the game afterwards.  Gilbert was banged up on the play and even if Carcillo did not get a game misconduct, I highly doubt he would have returned.  Carcillo’s knee buckled after the hit and he needed half the team to carry him off the ice and into the locker room.  It didn’t look good and going by Carcillo’s reaction, it would be a minor miracle if Carcillo is seen in a Hawks jersey ever again.

–The Oilers have a terrific power play and a solid penalty kill.  The Hawks are inconsistent in both facets.  That is a huge advantage for the Oilers and it’s probably the main reason why they’ve given the Hawks such fits this season.

–I’m sure Sami Lepisto is ecstatic he took less money to come play every three weeks for the Hawks.

–For as good as Andrew Brunette is with the puck around the goal line, he’s equally horrible with the puck around the attacking blue line.  His fumble of the puck in the Edmonton zone helped trigger Ben Eager’s rush in the third.  That’s the second time this season his giveaway led to a back-breaking goal against.  The first came against Minnesota.  There may have been more but those are the two that stick out to me.

–This has really nothing to do with the game but on Friday’s Boers and Bernstein show, Barry Rozner filling in for Terry Boers was in a discussion with Bernstein about Dave Bolland.  Rozner, for all his faults, does have some solid sources within the Hawks.  He mentioned in passing about how some people within the Hawks felt like Bolland sort of milked his concussion last year and has become a bit gun shy since.

That was all they really discussed about it.  And I think that’s all pretty much anyone needs to know with how the Hawks handle their concussed players.  It seems like some within the Hawks would prefer their players simply learn to lie about how to pass concussion tests than worry about the health of their brains.

Meanwhile, Marcus Kruger is out for the foreseeable future because he rushed back from a concussion.  Spare me the next time Pat Foley goes on an extended rant about how forward thinking the Hawks are for letting the team surgeon and head doctor travel with the team on the road.  It’s obvious that the Hawks aren’t really too concerned with their medical opinion.  Or they’re quacks.  Either way, a lack of respect to concussed players is about 15 years behind the times.

Must We? Blackhawks beat Blue Jackets 4-1

Only three games left with the Blue Jackets left this season.  Thank Shiva for that.

–The Hawks, once again, were led by their secondary scorers.  Viktor Stalberg scored two goals; Dave Bolland had a couple of assists.  While Stalberg was excellent in the offensive end, he still had a couple of really bad giveaways at his own blue line which probably helps to explain his 11 minutes of ice time.

–I can’t imagine Marcus Kruger taking three huge hits in the first period is going to help the swelling in his brain subside.  Kruger was hit directly in the cranium in his first two shifts.  Aaron Johnson got him with a check along the boards and then Rick Nash gave him a punch to the back of the head.

–All in all, it didn’t seem like the Hawks were very intent on sacrificing their bodies in a game that ultimately meant very little.  They only blocked 8 shots and Joel Quenneville distributed the minutes among his top 4 defensemen almost to the second.  Anyone who follows the Hawks knows Keith and Seabrook generally play 27-30 minutes every game while Hjalmarsson and Leddy trail at around 20 to 23.

Even when the Jackets slightly threatened in the third, Quenneville didn’t ride Keith’s minutes any harder.  So it seemed like once the Hawks grabbed a comfortable lead, they were going to try to coast to the finish line.  Nothing wrong with that.

–Not sure when Steve Mason changed his pads but I’ll give him an A for the effort and a C- on the execution.  While it seems like just about every goalie has white pads, it’s always nice to see someone go to the colorful scheme.  Unfortunately for Mason, I couldn’t tell what color scheme he was using nor the pattern he was going for.  Was it black, navy blue, silver and red or was there no black?  Was he styling his pads after the old Potvin scheme? I still have no idea even after the cameras showed multiple close-ups.