brinoch

Can he even name all the teams in the B1G? He knows Michigan. And Michigan.

Can he even name all the teams in the B1G?

Two of the slower tempo teams in B1G, and crappy refs make for an awful, awful game to watch.

Pretty dominant period of hockey, there.

Hayes looked like he was walking out there instead of skating. So slow. Yeah, I thought the same thing. He's a big, big boy.

I had heard they were going to do that to get him some injury rehab time. Can't wait to see who they bring up. Probably Beach because he's the last thing the Hawks need. Morin or Pirri, plz. Kthx.

Indeed. Indeed.

Could have been worse. Obviously, it's not good, but it is sustainable.

Time to bring up Ben Smith or Jeremy Morin.

Great game -- heck of a comeback by Portland. And the Timbers Army represents. I've seen a lot of games -- and was a DC United fan -- but damn if the Army didn't convert me almost immediately with their enthusiasm and tifo. The soccer culture here in Portland is pretty fantastic.

My goodness am I glad the Hawks aren't in the playoff scrum. There are 5 teams with 24 points. The fact that the Hawks are 17 points clear of St. Louis and Detroit (St. Louis does have a game in hand) is amazing.

Yeah, there should probably be more judgment on the delay of game calls, but I remember the bad old days when pucks were regularly hoisted out of the defensive zone and into the stands with no calls.

Red Wings forums are full of fans crying about how that should be illegal. Meh. It had more forward motion than a spin-o-rama shootout goal -- or Bertuzzi's from last year.

And go Big Blue. And the Hoosiers clinch a share of the Big Ten title -- first since 2002. They can win it outright with a win on Tuesday.

Several bad-to-questionable calls there at the end against Michigan. The really bad one was the missed travel -- that was so obvious -- and it cost Michigan 3 points at a critical time.

This is the Blackhawks thread. There is an NHL thread. He also talks about the Blackhawks, and Detroit plays the Hawks Sunday. NewUserName is awesome and provides great Hawks related commentary. His comments are always welcome here as far as I'm concerned. Yes. This.

Or, in other words, 12 more wins out of 29 games. Double wow.

Equivalent to 100 points last year is about 59 points this year. Hawks need to average .79 points per game for the rest of the season to hit that mark. Wow.

Sure. Although for guys like Toews and Kane, the development curve is much quicker.

Miami (FL) loses at Wake Forest. Oops.

Unsung hero nominee: Marcus Kruger. 26.9% of his zone starts in the defensive zone, finishing with 53.2% in the offensive zone.

It's similar but first-rounders are more likely to start right away in the league. So looking at the Hawks first rounders over the years, have they been unlucky or what? Only the very top picks are likely to make an immediate impact, and most picks take some seasoning -- particularly defensemen. Of late, the Hawks have drafted very well. Home grown players include: Duncan Keith (2nd -- 2002) Brent Seabrook (1st -- 2003) Corey Crawford (2nd -- 2003) Brian Bickell (2nd -- 2004) Dave Bolland (2nd -- 2004) Niklas Hjalmarsson (4th --2005) Jonathan Toews (1st -- 2006) Patrick Kane (1st -- 2007) Marcus Kruger (5th -- 2009) Brandon Bollig (signed to an amateur try-out -- 2010) Andrew Shaw (5th -- 2011) Brandon Saad (2nd -- 2011) 12 of 24 players were drafted/signed by the Hawks. 4 were acquired via trade (Frolik, Stalberg, Leddy, Oduya). 8 were signed as free agents (Carcillo, Hossa, Mayers, Brookbank, Montador, Rozsival, Emery). #1 Picks 2012 -- Teuvo Teravainen. Widely regarded as a steal for the Hawks, he's currently playing center at Jokerit in Finland. Did well in the Worlds, and has a high ceiling. 2011 -- Mark McNeill. Playing at Prince Albert in the WHL, where he is the #1 center. Regarded as a potential #2 center/power forward. He played in Rockford last year after his junior season. He'll go back to Rockford and could be rewarded with a Black Ace role in the playoffs. 2011 -- Phillip Danault. Another center, Danault is in his final year of juniors, where he is Victoriaville's Captain and a leading scorer. Could crack the roster next year, but likely Rockford -- and he'll go there after his junior season ends, as well. 2010 -- Kevin Hayes. A junior at BC, it remains to be seen whether he can use his size to advantage and if his skating improves enough to translate. 2009 -- Dylan Olsen. Cracked the roster last year when injuries were a problem; played tolerably well 3rd pairing minutes. He could be on several NHL rosters today, and is part of the great depth on D for this season. 2008 -- Kyle Beach. Likely a bust. A headcase who's been in Rockford for some time and has been passed on the depth chart by players like Brandon Saad and probably Jeremy Morin. I think he's gone after this year. 2007 -- Patrick Kane. Umm... 2006 -- Jonathan Toews. Yeah... 2005 -- Jack Skille. NHL regular for Florida. Traded to Florida for Michael Frolik and Alexander Salak. 2004 -- Cam Barker. Depth for Vancouer. Was traded in 2010 for Nick Leddy and Kim Johnsson. 2003 -- Brent Seabrook. Balls. 2002 -- Anton Babchuk. 7 year NHLer. Depth for Calgary. 2001 -- Tuomu Ruuttu. 10 year NHL career. Traded for Andrew Ladd.

Well played.

Looks like Hossa's going to be in the shootout lineup: http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/7349

Leave Saad on the top line -- if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I've never been sold on Carcillo on the top line with Toews and Hossa. Saad's speed is deadly -- he's drawing an average of two penalties a game, second only to Sharp. Slight nitpick, but just to make sure no one gets confused....Saad isn't drawing 2 penalties per game, he's drawing 2 penalties per 60 minutes of ice time. Given his roughly 15 minutes of ice game per game, it's one every two games. Still really good, as you can tell by the fact that he's second on the team (and would be second on the Ducks too), but 2 per game would be other-worldly. As for Carcillo....basically a combination of what was said above. Put him in Mayers slot, send Bollig down and try to teach him how to play hockey, and use the depth to give the stars a break if we start running away with this thing. Plus, this is hockey....I'm sure someone else is going to end up getting hurt sooner rather than later. You are right, squally -- thanks for clarifying.