Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks Thread!!!!!!

[brinoch]

for the people who actually got to watch the game-

 

- how did campbell look?

 

- how did the hawks play in general? i see that the shots were about even. did niemi stand on his head? did we outplay them? by how much?

 

need details plz

 

Campbell didn't play all that much. He was out there maybe 15 minutes, but he was very steady and solid. Very few mistakes, if any, and even a little slow and rusty he was a huge upgrade over Hendry. It was clear that Nashville respected his speed and puck-carrying ability. He had space and was able to clear the zone effectively. Q-stache rotated the defense pairings to keep Buff off the ice, too. Where's Johnnson? I hope he gets better or is at least not dead.

 

The Hawks played very, very well and dominated the game. Excellent hustle, won the board battles, and had bodies on net. They had several very, very good opportunities that Rinne denied, but he wasn't spectacular (a couple of breaks and this game was 5-0 with goals by Burish and Sopel). Niemi was great and picked the defense up when mistake or lapse was made (including a breakaway by Sullivan). Nashville outshot the Hawks, but they didn't really have too many scoring chances. The defense forced most shots from the perimeter and kept the sightlines open. Our forecheck was solid. Hossa was a beast on the backcheck, and our play in clogging the neutral zone was more than solid. Plus, the Hawks PK was, again, incredible -- including killing off a 5-3 for 1:30. Keith made a boner play from behind the net, turning it over right in front of Niemi, but somehow blocked the shot and won the puck back. Sharp on the PP scored a scrum goal. Toews scored on a rebound from Hossa (hello playing in front of the net). Sharp scored a beauty.

 

The Preds played their best for about 7 or 8 minutes at the start of the 2nd period and made some noise then. Otherwise, the Hawks owned the game. The 3rd period was total shut-down hockey by the Hawks. They out-trapped the trapping team. It was boringly fun.

[Flames24Rulz]

The Cubs ruined a perfect day. Oh well.

 

Oh, the Cubs played today?

 

I'm strongly considering a trip to Nashville for Game 6.

[kujay]

I don't think there is any doubt Bickell and Burish both earned another go tomorrow. Bickell drew that first penalty that Sharp cashed in and Burish was all over the place on the forecheck. I really like Bickell being on the ice with Toews and Kane.

 

It's amazing how much one win turned the tables of everything in this series. The Hawks clearly now have the advantage and Nashville has to know if the Hawks play with full intensity, they will lose.

[RedFlash]

Here you go, Nashville. You want boring-ass hockey so [expletive] bad? Well here you go. Enjoy.

 

Yeah, it was fun watching the Hawks dominate the Preds in the final period using Nashville's own strategy against them. That final period last night should tell Nashville that the Hawks can play Nashville's style of hockey, but the Preds cannot play the Blackhawks style of Hawkey. (Hawkey done on purpose.)

[UMFan83]

Really? I thought you thought hockey was spelled Hawky. :)

[kujay]

Here you go, Nashville. You want boring-ass hockey so [expletive] bad? Well here you go. Enjoy.

 

Yeah, it was fun watching the Hawks dominate the Preds in the final period using Nashville's own strategy against them. That final period last night should tell Nashville that the Hawks can play Nashville's style of hockey, but the Preds cannot play the Blackhawks style of Hawkey. (Hawkey done on purpose.)

 

Exactly. If the Hawks commit to no more [expletive], full effort every night, this series is over on Monday night. If not, I guess it could also be over on Monday night.

[kujay]

There are still pairs of upper bowl tickets available for tomorrow's game.

[Soul]

The shots may have been even, but I saw better play from the Hawks in the zone last night. There appeared to be much more action in front of the net (in my limited knowledge).

 

Rinne may have had an off night, but Niemi looked very solid to me. There were a couple times he made good saves to keep the Preds from getting anything going.

 

To be honest I didn't focus much on Campbell, but it was nice to see him back in the lineup.

 

Now we'll see if the Preds have any adjustments for us for game #5. This is a tough series, but if we can get past it then I think it ultimately helps us because there won't be a single player on this team who goes into the next series with the idea that they can let up on the gas pedal.

[kujay]

The shots may have been even, but I saw better play from the Hawks in the zone last night. There appeared to be much more action in front of the net (in my limited knowledge).

 

Rinne may have had an off night, but Niemi looked very solid to me. There were a couple times he made good saves to keep the Preds from getting anything going.

 

To be honest I didn't focus much on Campbell, but it was nice to see him back in the lineup.

 

Now we'll see if the Preds have any adjustments for us for game #5. This is a tough series, but if we can get past it then I think it ultimately helps us because there won't be a single player on this team who goes into the next series with the idea that they can let up on the gas pedal.

 

Rinne gave a bad angle on the third goal, the wrister by Sharp, but the other two are just things that will happen. I don't blame him for those -- nobody is going to stop everything.

 

As for Campbell, he was obviously being limited in his minutes, but he did what he does well. He moved the puck, and as we talked about before he came back, that's exactly what the Hawks needed against this team. I expect Q will take training wheels off him a little more tomorrow.

[UMFan83]

This series has set up just like the Vancouver series, with the obvious difference that the Hawks have home ice advantage. In the Vancouver series, it's safe to say we surprised many by taking a critical game 5 in Vancouver. In this series, we only need to take one in Chicago.

 

I just hope the Hawks are fully engaged after being slapped in the face twice, and they don't start getting the impression that because they found a way to dominate Nashville and they are coming home to play this game that they have taken control of the series. I don't think they will, and I'm not sure 100% if I buy into the overconfidence, less than 100% effort thing, but mentally feeling confident might take a slight mental edge that they need.

 

Since Pred fans had fun saying this after game 2, this is now a 3 game series with Chicago having home ice advantage again.

[kujay]

No surprise, but Keith is a finalist for the Norris along with Doughty and Green.

 

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=375642

 

I can't give an unbiased opinion on this, both because I know how good Keith is and I know how many bonehead plays he makes. I assume the same is true for the other guys, I just don't watch them enough.

[NewUserName]

No surprise, but Keith is a finalist for the Norris along with Doughty and Green.

 

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=375642

 

I can't give an unbiased opinion on this, both because I know how good Keith is and I know how many bonehead plays he makes. I assume the same is true for the other guys, I just don't watch them enough.

 

I would vote for Doughty....but honestly only seen about 6 Kings games all year. I think it is a close race though, none of the 3 are clear cut favorites, which may lead to Green winning.

[WindyCity]

They must have just released some tickets for game 5 - just got 100 level seats! :D

[kujay]

Over on the Hawks boards I've seen some reference to the organization pulling some funny business with secondary market brokers, then re-releasing unsold tickets for sale through Ticketmaster.

 

Or it could just be visiting team's allotments not being used or who the hell knows.

[UMFan83]

If anyone is interested, I just pulled up 2 tickets in Section 302 ($75 face, 2nd cheapest seats you can get) for tomorrow. I was going to be an [expletive] and buy them and flip them for a profit, but it looks like the market has leveled out quite a bit and a lot of people on craigslist are offering for face value.

[Drew Doughty]

congrats to keith on (eventually) winning the norris this year. he deserves it i think.

[E.J.]

Let's Go Hawks!

[UMFan83]

1-0 Preds....

[E.J.]

Are there any fans there today? It sounds like they're playing into an empty arena.

[UMFan83]

Well we didn't get a shutout so I guess we're going to lose.

 

[expletive] sharp how can you not handle that pass, that would have tied it back up

[UMFan83]

We're getting completely dominated again.

[E.J.]

The Hawks looked good to start the game, but have looked like complete [expletive] since.

[CubInOK]

\:D/ \:D/ \:D/

[E.J.]

That was beautiful.

[UMFan83]

Nice...Hawks looked stunned after giving up the goal like they got punched in the face. Maybe this will loosen them up because yes they were outplaying Nashville to start.