08-09' Blackhawks (46-24-12) 104 PTS - 4th Seed In The West!

[nilodnayr]

I'm a Hawks alumni (but not a former player) and got this nice email yesterday and thought I'd share with everyone....

 

In the middle of a grueling six game road trip where a very young

> > hockey

> > team is away from home, the third game of the trip ends late on a

> > cold

> > Canadian Saturday night. This is the only break on the trip and the

> > three

> > days between games allow them the only break to get back home in

> > their own

> > beds for a couple of days before going back on the road. A scheduled

> > commercial flight waits for them at Toronto 's International Airport

> > for the

> > short flight home; they could be home by midnight. This plane

> > departs on

> > schedule, but without a single member of the hockey team.

> >

> > Back in the locker room a vote is taken after the game was complete,

> > and a

> > unanimous decision is made by this young team to skip this flight and

> > stay

> > one more day. They make arrangements to check back in the hotel and

> > on a

> > frozen Sunday morning charter two buses that have no heat and begin a

> > journey two hours straight north into a sparsely inhabited Canada ,

> > but where

> > hockey is its passion. They arrive at their destination to the

> > surprise of

> > the teams general manager who is there attending his fathers wake.

> >

> > After a few emotional hours, this team boards the buses and head back

> > for a

> > two-hour trip back to Toronto . On the way they ask the drivers to

> > stop in a

> > tiny Canadian town because they are hungry. To the shock of the

> > patrons and

> > workers at this small hockey town McDonald's, a professional team

> > walks out

> > of two rickety buses and into the restaurant, which just happens to

> > have

> > pictures of two members of this team on its wall. The patrons know

> > every

> > single one of these players by sight being fanatic fans of hockey in

> > these

> > parts. One can only imagine their amazement of the locals seeing and

> > entire

> > professional hockey team sit down and have a meal in their tiny

> > little town

> > in the middle of a hockey season. After a while they board the buses

> > and

> > catch their same flight 24 hours later, giving one day to their general

> > manager.

> >

> > Have I made this up, is this an excerpt from some fictional book? No

> > this a

> > true story of the Blackhawks last Saturday night and they decided to

> > attend

> > Dale Tallon's fathers funeral. Its amazing that such a good story

> > can be

> > found nowhere on the internet, and not even mentioned in the Chicago

> > papers.

> > Had one of the Blackhawks got into a fight and punched some drunken

> > loser in

> > a Toronto bar it would be plastered all over papers and the

> > television.

> >

> > This being said, its hard to imagine any professional football,

> > basketball

> > or baseball team doing this, but the members of the Blackhawks claim

> > any

> > "hockey" team would have done this. This is one reason I continue to

> > be a

> > big hockey fan, and another reason I am excited about this Chicago

> > team.

> > I thought I would share as this story appears to have

> > gone

> > unnoticed.

> >

> > GO BLACKHAWKS!!!!

[Cynosure]

Is anything going to happen to Versteeg for instigating a fight under 5 minutes in the 3rd, as in suspension?

 

I doubt it, he wasn't really the instigator and the league will review it.

 

He got double Game Misconducts, Fighting Major, and Instigator (27 PIM), but I think it will be lowered to a "Game Misconduct" and "Fighting Major" only.

 

Turris was the instigator and I'm glad that little prick got his ass kicked for taking out his frustration after his team getting shellacked.

 

EDIT: Here is the fight:

 

Edited December 8, 2008 by Cynosure

[Soul]

...true story of the Blackhawks last Saturday night and they decided to attend Dale Tallon's fathers funeral...

 

I shorted the quote for brevity's sake but that's a great story nilo. Thanks for posting it.

[UMFan83]

That's an awesome story.

[Cynosure]

That's an awesome story.

 

Yea it was, didn't catch it til after I replied about the Versteeg fight.

 

Thanks for posting that!

[Cynosure]

NHL.com

 

Gretzky was fuming on the bench as the game ended, but calm after the contest.

 

"What happened in the last 5 seconds, I don't like to see an 18-year-old kid (Turris) get grabbed out of a pile in a 7-1 hockey game and take a beating like that," Gretzky said. "I don't think there's any room for that.

 

"I've never seen anything like that. In a 7-1 hockey game, to me it doesn't make a lot of sense."

 

 

Also in this morning's Tribune, Crybaby said that he "hopes his team is ready to respond"... gonna make January 6th a must see.

[Soul]

I was doing all kinds of Christmas-stuff last night and missed the game. Did it happen like Gretsky said?

[Cynosure]

I was doing all kinds of Christmas-stuff last night and missed the game. Did it happen like Gretsky said?

 

I posted a link to the fight a few posts back. You have to watch a few times, but Turris initiated the fight... then Versteeg even had Coyotes player at his back about halfway through... looks like Byf pulled one away or that could have gotten really ugly.

[kujay]

I was doing all kinds of Christmas-stuff last night and missed the game. Did it happen like Gretsky said?

 

I posted a link to the fight a few posts back. You have to watch a few times, but Turris initiated the fight... then Versteeg even had Coyotes player at his back about halfway through... looks like Byf pulled one away or that could have gotten really ugly.

 

This is from the Sun-Times' gamer:

 

Versteeg said Turris challenged him to fight and encouraged Gretzky to have a look at the tapes before the teams meet again. The Hawks have won the first three games between the teams.

 

This is what I suspected happened. Turris was running his yap and Versteeg popped him. I'm still concerned that he's gonna get suspended, because he clearly escalated it into a fight.

[Cynosure]

I was doing all kinds of Christmas-stuff last night and missed the game. Did it happen like Gretsky said?

 

I posted a link to the fight a few posts back. You have to watch a few times, but Turris initiated the fight... then Versteeg even had Coyotes player at his back about halfway through... looks like Byf pulled one away or that could have gotten really ugly.

 

This is from the Sun-Times' gamer:

 

Versteeg said Turris challenged him to fight and encouraged Gretzky to have a look at the tapes before the teams meet again. The Hawks have won the first three games between the teams.

 

This is what I suspected happened. Turris was running his yap and Versteeg popped him. I'm still concerned that he's gonna get suspended, because he clearly escalated it into a fight.

 

If either one of them is suspended, it should be both. There is no need for that crap in a blowout.

 

Also, I love how after Versteeg pounded him to the ice he made sure to talk some more Howry :)

[kujay]

If either one of them is suspended, it should be both. There is no need for that crap in a blowout.

 

Honestly, I don't think there is any basis for Turris to get suspended. He may have been running his mouth, but that's all he did until he got a knuckle sandwich. Then it was just a fight.

 

Versteeg clearly escalated it from trash talk to a fight. If that's grounds for a suspension, which I don't think it is, then he might be in trouble.

[Drew Doughty]

If either one of them is suspended, it should be both. There is no need for that crap in a blowout.

 

Honestly, I don't think there is any basis for Turris to get suspended. He may have been running his mouth, but that's all he did until he got a knuckle sandwich. Then it was just a fight.

 

Versteeg clearly escalated it from trash talk to a fight. If that's grounds for a suspension, which I don't think it is, then he might be in trouble.

 

instigators in the last 5 minutes of a game get an automatic 1 game suspension. sometimes it's revoked but this doesn't sound like one of those times.

[kujay]

If either one of them is suspended, it should be both. There is no need for that crap in a blowout.

 

Honestly, I don't think there is any basis for Turris to get suspended. He may have been running his mouth, but that's all he did until he got a knuckle sandwich. Then it was just a fight.

 

Versteeg clearly escalated it from trash talk to a fight. If that's grounds for a suspension, which I don't think it is, then he might be in trouble.

 

instigators in the last 5 minutes of a game get an automatic 1 game suspension. sometimes it's revoked but this doesn't sound like one of those times.

 

Well, then, in that case #32 will probably be watching from the owner's box on Wednesday night. And again, I can't say I disagree. He instigated a fight by punching Turris in the face. If Turris was serious about dancing, he would have dropped his gloves. As it happened, he didn't drop his gloves until Versteeg was pounding on him.

[Soul]

If either one of them is suspended, it should be both. There is no need for that crap in a blowout.

 

Honestly, I don't think there is any basis for Turris to get suspended. He may have been running his mouth, but that's all he did until he got a knuckle sandwich. Then it was just a fight.

 

Versteeg clearly escalated it from trash talk to a fight. If that's grounds for a suspension, which I don't think it is, then he might be in trouble.

 

instigators in the last 5 minutes of a game get an automatic 1 game suspension. sometimes it's revoked but this doesn't sound like one of those times.

 

Well, then, in that case #32 will probably be watching from the owner's box on Wednesday night. And again, I can't say I disagree. He instigated a fight by punching Turris in the face. If Turris was serious about dancing, he would have dropped his gloves. As it happened, he didn't drop his gloves until Versteeg was pounding on him.

 

That kinda sucks but the reality is Versteeg's working with a 6 goal lead and probably shouldn't let the guy get him so upset. All you really need to say is "scoreboard." End of story, have a nice flight back to Phoenix. Again though, I didn't see it so I'm just popping off without any real knowledge.

[kujay]

That kinda sucks but the reality is Versteeg's working with a 6 goal lead and probably shouldn't let the guy get him so upset. All you really need to say is "scoreboard." End of story, have a nice flight back to Phoenix. Again though, I didn't see it so I'm just popping off without any real knowledge.

 

No, I think you have it right. Versteeg made a mistake. It wasn't the right time to do what he did and he may end up hurting his team.

[nilodnayr]

BTW, tonight, me and the alumni get a tour of the UC, locker rooms, etc. and get to sit down and talk with Quenneville. I'll post highlights...

[Cynosure]

If anyone is interested:

 

***3 STAR SELECTIONS***

 

--------------------------------------------

 

BLACKHAWKS LEADERS -- NUMBER IN () IS #1 STAR

Sharp: 6 (1)

Toews: 5 (3)

Havlat: 5 (0)

Kane: 4 (2)

Khabibulin: 4 (3)

Ladd: 3 (2)

Bolland: 3 (1)

Brouwer: 2 (0)

Barker: 2 (0)

Fraser: 1 (0)

Huet: 1 (0)

Johsnon: 1 (0)

Sopel: 1 (0)

Keith: 1 (0)

Campbell: 1 (0)

Versteeg: 1 (0)

Eager: 1 (0)

 

--------------------------------------------

 

10/10/08 - Game 1 (@ NY Rangers)

1. Aaron Voros (NYR)

2. Lauri Korpikoski (NYR)

3. Brandon Dubinsky (NYR)

 

10/11/08 - Game 2 (@ Washington Capitals)

1. Alexander Ovechkin (WAS)

2. Brooks Laich (WAS)

3. David Steckel (WAS)

 

10/13/08 - Game 3 (vs. Nashville Predators)

1. J.P. Dumont (NSH)

2. MARTIN HAVLAT

3. PATRICK SHARP

 

10/15/08 - Game 4 (vs. Phoenix Coyotes)

1. NIKOLAI KHABIBULIN

2. MARTIN HAVLAT

3. COLIN FRASER

 

10/18/08 - Game 5 (@ St. Louis Blues)

1. T.J. Oshie (STL)

2. PATRICK KANE

3. Andy McDonald (STL)

 

10/19/08 - Game 6 (vs. Vancouver Canucks)

1. PATRICK SHARP

2. PATRICK KANE

3. CRISTOBAL HUET

 

10/22/08 - Game 7 (vs. Edmonton Oilers)

1. NIKOLAI KHABIBULIN

2. PATRICK SHARP

3. AARON JOHNSON

 

 

10/25/08 - Game 8 (vs. Detroit Red Wings)

1. Marian Hossa (DET)

2. MARTIN HAVLAT

3. TROY BROUWER

 

10/27/08 - Game 9 (@ Minnesota Wild)

1. Niklas Backstrom (FINN)

2. Mikko Koivu (FINN)

3. Antti Miettinen (FINN)

 

10/31/08 - Game 10 (vs. Dallas Stars)

1. PATRICK KANE

2. CAM BARKER

3. BRENT SOPEL

 

11/01/08 - Game 11 (@ Columbus Blue Jackets)

1. JONATHAN TOEWS

2. Derick Brassard (CBJ)

3. DUNCAN KEITH

 

11/03/08 - Game 12 (vs. Colorado Avalanche)

1. ANDREW LADD

2. PATRICK SHARP

3. TROY BROUWER

 

11/09/08 - Game 13 (vs. Calgary Flames)

1. PATRICK KANE

2. MARTIN HAVLAT

3. JONATHAN TOEWS

 

11/12/08 - Game 14 (vs. Boston Bruins)

1. P.J. Axelsson (BOS)

2. NIKOLAI KHABIBULIN

3. Tim Thomas (BOS)

 

11/14/08 - Game 15 (vs. St. Louis Blues)

1. Andy McDonald (STL)

2. DAVID BOLLAND

3. ANDREW LADD

 

11/16/08 - Game 16 (vs. San Jose Sharks)

1. Devin Setoguchi (SJS)

2. BRIAN CAMPBELL

3. CAM BARKER

 

11/18/08 - Game 17 (@ Phoenix Coyotes)

1. Zbynek Michalek (PHX)

2. Shane Doan (PHX)

3. PATRICK SHARP

 

11/20/08 - Game 18 (@ Dallas Stars)

1. NIKOLAI KHABIBULIN

2. Mike Modano (DAL)

3. KRIS VERSTEEG

 

11/22/08 - Game 19 (@ Toronto Maple Leafs)

1. DAVID BOLLAND

2. PATRICK SHARP

3. Matthew Stajan (TOR)

 

11/26/08 - Game 20 (@ San Jose Sharks)

1. Patrick Marleau (SJS)

2. JONATHAN TOEWS

3. Joe Thornton (SJS)

 

11/28/08 - Game 21 (@ Anaheim Ducks)

1. Jonas Hiller (ANA)

2. Samuel Pahlsson (ANA)

3. Bobby Ryan (ANA)

 

11/29/08 - Game 22 (@ Los Angeles Kings)

1. Alexander Frovlov (LA)

2. Derek Armstrong (LA)

3. Erik Ersberg (LA)

 

 

12/3/08 - Game 23 (vs. Anaheim Ducks)

1. JONATHAN TOEWS

2. MARTIN HAVLAT

3. Scott Niedermayer (ANA)

 

12/6/08 - Game 24 (@ Detroit Red Wings)

1. JONATHAN TOEWS

2. Pavel Datsyuk (DET)

3. Marian Hossa (DET)

 

12/7/08 - Game 25 (vs. Phoenix Coyotes)

1. ANDREW LADD

2. BEN EAGER

3. DAVID BOLLAND

[Cynosure]

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=258967&lid=sublink05&lpos=headlines_main

 

Versteeg suspended, Quenneville fined.

 

After watching the altercation 1000000+ times, can't say I disagree.

[nilodnayr]

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=258967&lid=sublink05&lpos=headlines_main

 

Versteeg suspended, Quenneville fined.

 

After watching the altercation 1000000+ times, can't say I disagree.

 

Ha, yeah lastnight Troy Murray was making fun of Quenneville for the $10K he'll have to cough up.

[nilodnayr]

BTW, tonight, me and the alumni get a tour of the UC, locker rooms, etc. and get to sit down and talk with Quenneville. I'll post highlights...

 

Lastnight was pretty cool. We met for drinks and some food in the Govenors room, then Troy Murray started off an interactive interview with Quenneville and we asked a bunch of questions. After that we got a tour of the coaches room, locker room, training room and Quenneville talked about how they prepare, what the guys do, etc. On the way back we walked out onto the floor and walked around the basketball court (and watched the luvabulls practice). It was pretty cool.

 

I was talking with Murray during drinks and he said that they are going to bring Wisniewski back this week and someone, or possible two guys are going to get screwed because the Hawks have no cap room.

 

Quenneville is really high on Bolland. He thinks he can be a Sharp/Toews level of player.

 

When asked about Kyle Beach, Quenneville said he was promising, but probably wouldn't get much time on the Hawks this year.

 

The crowd was pretty critical of the PP and shootouts and Quenneville said that he likes the PP the way it is with the defensive shooters at the point and spreading out the PK for open cross ice passes and that they work on shootouts every day and keep track of whos scoring and whos not and that its definitely a sore subject since they've lost so many points with lost shootouts.

 

Interestingly he said they have a nutritionist and have the guys come in and have breakfast at the stadium and pre-game meals and the such. Sounds like the guys eat most of their meals at the stadium.

 

Said that on the first day he walked on the crest in the floor of the locker room and all the players gave him a hard time but let him have a mulligan. 2 days ago he walked on it again and they caught him and he had to pay $100.

 

He thinks they have plenty of scoring and really need to focus on defense. Everything comes from good defense.

 

Thinks it will take 92-94 points to make the playoffs in the West. He said it seems as though there are a lot of ties and whenever the West plays the East the West wins. Obviously, the Wings and the Sharks are the top teams, but he thinks the Hawks should separate themselves from the big pack fo 10-13 teams behind them and become a solid #3 team in the West. He noted, they'd already be there in points if it weren't for all the OT loses.

 

Thats about it...Quennevile said he grew up a Hawks fan and that he LOVED playing in the old Stadium.

[bukie]

Warning: math geek stuff ahead...

 

I was curious how the average NHL team was doing so far in terms of points (W-L-OTL) per game, since games award 2 points overall for a regulation game and 3 for an overtime game. Through calculations, I found the NHL averaging 1.13 points per game per team. So, any team above that rate is doing better than average, and any team below that rate is doing below average.

 

So, how are the NHL teams doing? Here's the rewritten conference standings, in order of points per game:

 

Eastern Conference
Teams              P-Rate
------------------------------
Boston             1.556
Montreal           1.346
NY Rangers         1.267
Pittsburgh         1.259
New Jersey         1.250
Philadelphia       1.231
Washington         1.178
Buffalo            1.074
Carolina           1.036
Ottawa             1.000
Florida            1.000
Toronto            0.929
NY Islanders       0.815
Atlanta            0.808
Tampa Bay          0.741

Western Conference
Teams              P-Rate
------------------------------
San Jose           1.704
Detroit            1.538
Chicago            1.240
Calgary            1.222
Minnesota          1.192
Vancouver          1.179
Anaheim            1.179
Nashville          1.111
Edmonton           1.077
St. Louis          1.038
Colorado           1.000
Los Angeles        1.000
Phoenix            0.963
Columbus           0.926
Dallas             0.923

 

Some notes based on the data:

- There are currently 14 teams playing above average, 7 in each league. Obviously, since just over half the league makes the playoffs, a team is going to have to be darn near close to average to make the playoffs.

- San Jose is a clear step above everyone else. There's more difference between them and the second tier of teams (Detroit and Boston) than there is between the 3 seed in the West and missing the playoffs entirely.

- There's actually a pretty clear "top 7" in the East right now, all teams fairly safe bets right now to make the playoffs even if they fall off slightly (Washington mostly because someone has to win that division, and they're pretty clear favorites).

- After the top 2, the West is pretty up in the air, in general. Even the last place team, Dallas, isn't that far out of playoff contention.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Wonderful stuff. Thank you.

 

The next step would be to see how each team is translating goal differential into points. I suspect the Hawks are getting the hockey equivalent of a pythagorean screwjob.

 

If only they'd go ahead and do Hockey Prospectus like I keep hoping.

[Derwood]

serious Hockey question (because I don't know the answer):

 

Since they eliminated ties, why do they continue with the points system in arranging the standings? Why not go to a traditional win % system like every other sport? I understand that they're giving a point for a SOL, but how different would the standings really be if you scrapped that and went to win %?

[bukie]

Addendum:

 

NHL average (1.125 points per team per game) roughly translates to earning 9 points every 8 games, or going 4-3-1/3-2-3/2-1-5/1-0-7 in every 8 game stretch.

 

EDIT: I do believe that only the Blackhawks have the ability to go 1-0-7 in an 8 game stretch.

Edited December 9, 2008 by bukie

[bukie]

serious Hockey question (because I don't know the answer):

 

Since they eliminated ties, why do they continue with the points system in arranging the standings? Why not go to a traditional win % system like every other sport? I understand that they're giving a point for a SOL, but how different would the standings really be if you scrapped that and went to win %?

SOLs screw with the winning % system, since it's technically a loss for one team and a win for the other, and yet an extra point is awarded.