biittner77

Why wouldn't you want to be on the team that breaks the streak? If nothing else, it's a chance to be on sportscenter for 90 seconds. All of hockey is watching and, for a team like the Avalanche, they really have nothing to lose. From a competitve standpoint, I want the other team with all their players so that there are no excuses when or if they lose.

Why do you think Jackson's IsoD would drop so much? Just a guess but more weak contact to avoid striking out.

If Frolik is out they should put Saad on the PK with Kruger. Kruger goes back to the 4th line where he'll need Carcillo to protect him, thus making it necessary to move Saad back to the first line.

It depends on more on how the season ends and where they go from there. Potentially, they could have to choose which role players to keep.

awesome

As bad as he is on baseball he was even worse writing about hockey.

Eastern Conference games are boring. Compared to the WC, they look like they're in slow motion, with the exception of Pens and Flyers. Either of those teams might be able to beat the Hawks on a given night. Boston is a good team. Everyone else is a rich man's or poor man's version of the Predators.

That game was not as close as the score would indicate. Even when it was 1-0 for two periods it never felt like the Blues had a chance. If Bollig was in the lineup to fight somebody, why wasn't he trying to fight Backes? Is there anything more pointless than our goon fighting their goon the first chance they get? I hate Carcillo on the first line. Frolik centering the 4th line between Bollig and Saad was an idea worth forgetting. Shaw is not the playmaker the Hawks need on the 2nd line. He's been very good where he is and has great chemistry with Bickell and Stahlberg. I understand the NHL's belicheckian policy regarding injuries when it comes to skaters but goalies don't usually get hit. Why can't they just say that Crawford has a concussion, separated shoulder or severed head? Anyone else struck by the irony of Foley making fun of Harry Caray being drunk during telecasts?

Has anyone heard anything about Bolland's injury?

Valid point. I wish Leddy would join the attack more and Roszival less. That may be the one aspect of Brookbank's game that is better. He'll pretty much stay at home- though he won't always look good doing it. If you do that, I'd also swap Sharp and Saad on their respective lines. That balances out the offense- defense of the top lines better. Saad becomes the net presence guy for the second line while Kruger and Kane make plays. In fact, I'd like to see that move even if Bolland does go back to the 2nd line.

The second pairing being this good shouldn't really be that much of a surprise. From a statistical standpoint, last season Hjammer was a lot better than the eye test would suggest. Oduya has been nothing but solid during the regular season. The big difference is that they are getting a lot more help from the forwards in their own zone than they did last year. Are you talking about the 3rd pairing making you nervous Leddy- Roszival/Brookbank or the 3rd line of Shaw Bickell and Stahlberg? The 3rd line has been good to very good all year. As far as the 3rd pairing goes, they're probably among the league's best. I'm not sure how or where to verify but the Hawks might be the only team where Leddy is a 3rd pairing guy.

:lol: If Eager or Yakupov could hit an open net from 10 feet away they would have won. That's what they do: use their talent to almost win. Interesting fact: if they were in the NASCAR, the Oil would be in 2nd place and have a pretty decent shot at winning that division. and if they had won, it would have been lucky and undeserved. the puck was in edmonton's zone the entire game. the blackhawks put on a clinic. they should be thanking the hawks for mmissing the net enough times to give them a point. I'm not sure what the point of this discussion is. A hockey player for a team that lost a game in OT thinks his team could have won the game. No kidding. They caught the Hawks on a night when they didn't finish their chances. From their perspective, they should feel that they have to take advantage of that. Even the Hawks win games that they shouldn't (Calgary).

:lol: If Eager or Yakupov could hit an open net from 10 feet away they would have won. That's what they do: use their talent to almost win. Interesting fact: if they were in the NASCAR, the Oil would be in 2nd place and have a pretty decent shot at winning that division. That game felt like I was watching it in fast forward. That pace would have to work against the team playing their 3rd in 4 days. You can play that game both ways though. Hossa biffed on a goal crease pass that should have been an easy goal. All the advanced statistics show that this was a pretty dominant effort from the Hawks. They played the way they needed to play. Edmonton can skate with them on a normal night, and probably had a little more gas last night with the Hawks recent schedule. So the Hawks chipped it in deep, and cycled them to death. A few questionable offensive zone penalties and a blow out from our #1 D-man is the only reason they got on the board. Here's a good link on the advanced stats from last night, if you're into that sort of thing: http://www.boysonthebus.com/2013/02/25/game-notes-oilershawks-feb-25/ I was commenting more on Eberle's comment. I don't blame him for being frustrated for losing. They did everything they could and still lost. That sucks for them. If they ever figure it out, they will be a force to reckoned with whatever they wind up calling that division. This was a good win for the Hawks. Though they dominated play statistically that doesn't always translate to actually winning the game. The Oil aren't a terrible team. Carcillo looked a lot faster than he did the other night. I still would rather have Saad on the top line but it's Q and that's what he does. I think the reason people might think Roszival was bad last night was because he was easily the slowest player on the ice and that would make anyone look bad. As stated above, for being the 6th defenseman he did fine. If Montador ever returns, do they trade him or Roszival? If Montador proved he was healthy I'd have to believe there would be a decent market for him.

:lol: If Eager or Yakupov could hit an open net from 10 feet away they would have won. That's what they do: use their talent to almost win. Interesting fact: if they were in the NASCAR, the Oil would be in 2nd place and have a pretty decent shot at winning that division. That game felt like I was watching it in fast forward. That pace would have to work against the team playing their 3rd in 4 days.

Not gonna lie, I read the article to see if that story was in there.

This time of year you almost never see a team overpay for a guy like Soriano. The Yankees - or any team, really-would have to overpay to make it worth it for the Cubs.

My grandfather, who was probably about 90 at the time, was at a Cubs game and Bill Murray is sitting behind him. He didn't know who Bill Murray was and the two of them talked baseball the whole game. At one point Bill Murray says to him "Do I know you from somewhere?" and my grandfather said "Yeah, you look familiar to me too."

Wouldn't Dejesus be a better fit?

The problem with Edmonton is that you never know what you're going to get: The team with a lot of young stars in the making or the hopelessly clueless team that doesn't know how to win. They play craptacular D much of the time. Their forwards might be the worst defensive crew in the league. That said, they are awafully fun to watch in the other team's zone. Good point. All of their rising stars are forwards

The problem with Edmonton is that you never know what you're going to get: The team with a lot of young stars in the making or the hopelessly clueless team that doesn't know how to win.

Though one of the worst openings ever: Sounds like Hat Guy

Malkin's injury could be their undoing. Or it could make them a better team in the long run. The Pens fans here seem to think that they aren't getting enough secondary scoring. Now someone will have to step up to fill that void. If no one does then they're not a deep enough team.

It's strange but I was almost half hoping that the streak would end against the BJs last night. Not that I would ever hope for a Hawks loss but since the streak has to end sooner or later, losing to the BJs would have the least impact on the standings since the Hawks would only be losing 2 points and they'd be losing them to a team that won't be in the playoff picture. Losing to St. Louis, on the other hand, would be a 4 point swing. In other news, a Caps fan fired the first shot of the "They wouldn't have that record if they had to play the East" nonsense. I responded by saying that the 9th best team in the West (The Wild) could still probably win the NASCAR division.

Move Phoenix to Seattle. Give the expansion franchises to Quebec and Toronto. Put Detroit and the new Toronto team in the west, Quebec in the East. That makes 16 in each. I know they want Detroit in the East but there really aren't any better alternatives. If I can stay up for 10 pm starts for HAwks games then so can the Wings fans when they go out West.

Sure. Although for guys like Toews and Kane, the development curve is much quicker. Or Brandon Saad. But for Crawford it was much slower. It depends a lot on position and what the big team needs.