Pat Foley night at the UC.  As a transplant to Chicago, I am not as familiar with Foley as the average Blackhawk fan.  But in just the few games I have watched on TV, the guy is electric.  A bit of the RJ in him, methinks.  And who does not love that?

On to the game…

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I had the advantage of just having seen the Canucks play the Sabres a few days earlier — albeit sans Luongo.  The Sedins are exactly what you would expect year-to-year and it looks like Bernier is fitting in nicely with them…

First Period:

The ‘Hawks did not come out sharp.  Two games in two nights will do that to ya.  Turnovers all over the place — including one that led to Vancouver’s first goal.  They did not look sloppy — they just looked tired.

Until things started to get rough.

Big hits.  Scrums.  Burrish was outmatched in his fight, but you gotta respect a guy getting into it while giving up 6-8 inches of reach.

Seabrook nailed a nice one from the center point right over Luongo’s glove hand.

Toews has moves upon moves upon moves.  He did not score, but he thoroughly undressed almost the entire Canuck team singlehandedly.

Sharp got one late in the period — on the PP no less! — on a bit of luck bounce…  I think he was trying to go cross-crease with a pass, but he whipped it off of a Vancouver D stick and it went straight in!

Second Period:

Sopel’s (literally) flying check was pretty cool to watch!

A bit more of the rough stuff — including yet another fight where the ‘Hawk player has a can of whoop ass opened on him…

On a delayed penalty to Havlat (AFLAC!), he ended up clearing the puck.  Right at Luongo who was steaming toward the Canuck bench.  Luongo, in stride, gloved the clear.  Awesome.

The ‘Hawks did do a good job of making up the shot differential during the second period.  They were down by ~10 after the first and ended up close to even after the second with some extended offensive zone pressure.

Third Period:

Kane literally picked up the garbage stuffing one home after the puck trickled behind Luongo.

Sharp netted another with a hard shot that got behind Luongo and went in.  My notes said it “weaseled” through.  Heh.

Sedin — the Henrik version — took one five-hole on Huet showing that the weakness is still there.  Ugh.

One of the things I really hate at hockey games happened during the third…  There was a Canucks fan (I think he was alone…) a coupla sections over from us.  I was not watching the entire time, but a HUGE chant of “Go Home, Kessler!!” went on for a bit.  (The guy was wearing a Kessler jersey)  I am a fan of some good natured ribbing, but stuff like that really bothers me.  Have some respect.  And while you are at, have some self respect.

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Overall…  Well, it was nice to see the win.  It was not nice to be “right” about Denis Savard.  We’ll see if Q can continue to motivate the troops…

Buffalo Sabres v New York Islanders.

Big melee at center ice.

Check out Kaleta’s body slam — ~25 seconds in.  Even with the slam The Code still exists as Kaleta eases up until Witt starts cracking on the back of his head. RJ, of course, is priceless with the call!

The excitement level last night was pretty dang high.  Unlike the pre-season, the regular season home opener was completely electric from a few blocks away to everywhere in the UC.  The cheering during the anthem was nothing short of LOUD.  It was a great feeling just to be at our first home opener with season tix — I thought a lot about the years my family had seasons for the Buffalo Sabres.

I do have balance.  I know this because I face planted after slipping out my right foot on beer/soda/liquid, but managed to keep both beers I was carrying completely upright and spill free.

On to the game…

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JP Dumont plays for Nashville.  It was good to see him taking the leadership role with them…

First Period:

Toews was seemingly everywhere in the offensive zone.

Havlat (AFLAC!) had a nifty redirect for the first goal — on a 5-on-3.  The PP still looks good, but I fear that with a lot of team playing super aggressive PK this season going to a single point umbrella is not going to be as effective as it was during the pre-season.

The ‘Hawks have to be more physical from the high slot on down.  The Preds first goal was a screener from the blue line that I am pretty sure Huet never even saw.

Ugh moment.  Blackhawks are just finishing a PP and Kane sends a pass cross zone that gets deflected to…  the Nashville player coming out of the box.  Breakaway.  Goal.  Ugh.

Second Period:

Sharp got it started really early — about 30 seconds in — taking home a rebound in front of the net after a few tries.

Lotsa chances on both sides, but there was a fair amount of neutral zone play…

I did spend a fair amount of time shaking my head at every turnover.  And there were a lot of them.

Third Period:

Things were definitely a bit manic toward the end of regulation — as to be expected.  There was certainly enough tension in the crowd to go around!

Overtime:

As I have come to expect in regular season OT sessions…  It seemed like both teams were playing it safe to try to get to the shootout.  Tired?  I’m sure.  But I fail to understand how the odds are better in a shoot out versus open ice 4-on-4 play.

Shootout:

Kane misses wide after a long delay.  Peverley goes five-hole.  Havlat has Ellis beat but cannot lift the backhand into the net.  Dumont goes, shockingly, five-hole.  Game over.

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Overall… I fail to understand why Savard spent so much time working new lines in over training camp and has already given up on them in the third friggin’ game.  Why bother?  The lines in pre-season were working — you have to stick with them!  Huet.  Five-Hole.  Ugh.

I am a maniacal supporter of fast starts — in any sport — and with the ‘Hawks only grabbing 1 point out of a possible 6 to start the season…  Let’s just say I’m a bit ticked!

It is tough to get more excitement in a hockey game — and still be a fan of the losing team…  Havlat’s (pronounce it just like AFLAC — it is more fun…) goal to tie the game with — wait for it — 0.4 seconds left in the game was just plain awesome.  Cardiac Kids!

On to the game…

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Darcy Tucker now plays for Colorado.  I cannot get rid of this guy!  ;-)  He was mostly under control as I think he needs to build up his agitation levels in the Western Conference…

First Period:

I said “mostly under control”.  That does not mean that Tucker has lost his touch…  He spent a fair amount of time trying to get under the skin of the ‘Hawks.

The first Chicago PP looked great — again.  They really have something going there…

Havlat looked rusty at best.  Out of sync is maybe more accurate…

I am not convinced on Huet.  Especially with that five-hole.

Soupy is back to non “A” status — Toews had the “C” with Sharp and Keith carrying the “A”.  I am not sure if that is final or if they are going to rotate the “A”…

Second Period:

The Skille line had a lot of jump during the period — as did the fourth line.  The top two lines, however, were trapped in the defensive zone for far longer than I would have expected — or they could handle.

Defensive zone play for the ‘Hawks was just plain sloppy.  Lotsa turnovers on breakout passes.

The fourth line getting a goal was killer.  I love it when fourth line guys score — regardless of how the puck bounces of the end boards…

Third Period:

Even MORE sloppy defensive zone play for Chicago.  It was getting painful to watch…

I am not sure who took the shot for the Blackhawks, but there was a long wrister that Budaj took straight off his noggin with a soccer header type move.  Way to use your head!

Huet had a nifty stop on Tucker in the low slot.  Point blank.  Gotta be a confidence builder…

By far, the best part of the night…  Havlat pokes the tie goal past Budaj with 0.4 seconds remaining!!  That, folks, is why you NEVER leave before the end of the game!

Overtime:

You cannot take penalties in OT.  And the ‘Hawks found that out about half-way through the OT session…

Especially not with guys like Ryan Smyth, Paul Stastny and Joe Sakic playing against you.  Smyth put one home on a feed from Stastny in front of the net.  It was like watching it in slo-mo.  You just knew it was going to happen.

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Overall…  Fraser was two-thirds of the way to a Gordie Howe Hat Trick after a fight in the first (where he got pummeled) and an assist on Versteeg’s goal in the second.  Sloppy defensive zone play is not going to cut it.  We are really looking forward to the home opener on 13 October!

yesterday was opening day (or premiere weekend, if you like…) for the NHL.  i was really glad to get the CBC feed for both games!  some random thoughts…

• you never know how much you missed ron maclean until you see the first hockey night in canada every season
• wade redden did not look as comfortable/good as i expected on the rangers D
• barry melrose is not capable of making the facial contortions of john tortorella
• i think you are going to hear a lot of “gomez to naslund” all season long
• marty st. louis smoking dmitri khalinin on his way in to score.  as a buffalo sabres fan, i am glad that it is happening to another team this season… 
• even though i miss him in buffalo, it was cool to see chris drury with a “C” on his jersey
• a LOT of ranger shots.  or should i say tampa bay saves.  smith looked pretty good…
• tyler kennedy looked really small out there.  clearly small enough to not be handled well enough and score twice.
• martin gerber needs to have serious sit-down with his preparedness.  either that or rust.  it didn’t look like nerves…
• the penguins coulda/shoulda/woulda powerplay…
• heatley and spezza score.  but not alfie?  in stockholm?  when i have him on my fantasy teams?  c’mon!!! 
• the woman that sang the canadian and swedish national anthems was awesome.
• it was absolutely cool to see a friend of mine, on camera, jawing with a linesman during a commercial break.  whip those ice shovelers into shape! 

We missed out on Friday’s comeback win against the Minnesota Wild, sadly, because I was ill.  Ugh.  And those of you that know me, know that I have to be pretty ill to miss anything hockey related…

We took the Western bus to and from the game this time around.  Unfortunately, the bus schedule for Sunday nights sorta sucks, but we did make it home in time to catch the second half of the Eagles/Bears game.

On to the game…

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As a Sabres fan — as well as a Blackhawks fan — I generally despise Dallas.  It’s even more fun to despise them this season with Sean Avery on their team!  ;-)  I am not sure what I expected in terms of tempo for the game as there were a lot of starters playing, but no “starting” goaltenders…

First Period:

I was not even on my second sip of beer before the ‘Hawks were on the powerplay.  And not three sips in before they scored their first goal!  Dallas followed up about 5 minutes later on a shot that Chicago should have never let them take from the point.  Sharp lit the lamp with a nice screener — again on the powerplay — about halfway through…

Avery did not disappoint from an agitation point of view.  He was chirping as soon as hit the ice and mixed it up heavily about halfway in.  That brought Ott into the scrap.  Coming out…?  4 minute PP for the ‘Hawks with Ott being tossed, Avery sitting on 2 and 2 for roughing and an unsportsmanlike and Chicago with no one in the box!

Second Period:

The ‘Hawks started early again with yet another PP goal — a sweet deflection from the low slot by Toews from a Soupy point shot.  Dallas put up another marker before Soupy made a sick pass angled perfectly off the boards to a rushing Skille.  Skille beat his man and buried the shot.

The Stars came out strong in the first half of the period by playing a “full low” offensive zone set up — all three forwards down below the hashes with one of them usually behind the net and no one on a screen.  It was effective for a while, but the ‘Hawks eventually caught on.  I would say that Chicago needs to recognize and adjust a bit faster to things like this..

We saw the patented Soupy Spin-o-rama for the first time this season.  Love it!

Ladd — the player, not my wife — took a sucker swing at Avery landing square on his face.  It was almost worth the extra two minutes. 

Third Period:

Dallas did get one in the third, but Chicago spent a LOT of time in the offensive zone to mitigate any comeback attempt.  The did get some good PK as well — especially in the last few minutes!!

The ‘Hawks were able to overcome a huge shot deficit in the third — marking 13 shots in the period.

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Overall…  Soupy had an assist on every ‘Hawks goal.  The PP looks fantastic.  Dig it.

It all starts with this game…

For us - as new season ticketholders.  And for them - as a young, exciting team with a lot of expectations.

We are going to try a coupla different ways to get back and forth from the United Center for games.  Last night we took the Western bus to Madison and walked it.  I was pleased to know that I was recognized as we walked passed the Walgreens — “Hey!  White Man!!” — but I decided not to hang out…   We took the Damen bus home — which was convenient, but only runs through ~1030, so if when we hit OT another mode of transport will be needed.

We got there pretty early and took the opportunity to walk the whole arena on the 300 level (our level) — finding Labatt’s just outside 309.  The only Labatt’s we found, sadly.  Alison bought a new hat and a hoodie at “Fandemonium” and then we headed to our seats.

Wow.

The view is better than I expected.  Corner section on the side the ‘Hawks shoot twice.  Fourth row of section 330.  Aisle seats.

We talked to the guys behind us — also season tix holders — who were pretty dang cool.  I think I may have an “in” for a few hockey teams to play on both in the city and in the ‘burbs.  Nice!

On to the game…

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I expected the game to be “rough”.  CBJ are pretty big to start with and that’s the way Hitchcock plays them.  Add in half rosters of rookies and guys that are trying to make squads and you have a recipe for some bruisin’.

First Period:

No scoring.  A few chances and some great saves on both ends.

A lot of scraps and several fights.  A lot of jawing from bench to bench.  I wish I had a mic down there!

Second Period:

Pelletier went high glove for the first goal for the ‘Hawks and Versteeg scored about minute later.  Two to zip early…  CBJ came back though with one from Jiri Novotny — and it was nice to see him doing so well after the time he spent in Buffalo and one from Chimera who was attoning for earlier sins… 

I don’t remember who the Blackhawk was that dealt it, but Chimera got squeeze slammed just across the ‘Hawk’s blue line so hard his helmet went flying.  You could just see what was going to happen next and Chimera ended up in the box for a checking for behind penalty less than a minute later…

Third Period:

CBJ scored almost half through the third which started a bunch of hand wringing around us.  It was one of those goals, though, that does not seem like the “end” of scoring.  The Blackhawks just looked confident — especially with the Kane/Sharp line out there and when Keith/Seabrook were bringing it on the back end.  We were not disappointed.

On the powerplay…  Kane threads a pass through the slot to a wide open Sharp who swept it home before the CBJ goaltender even had his head pivoted…

Brouwer knocked one home from very close to put the ‘Hawks ahead with a few minutes to go.

More fights punctuated the period and CBJ spent the last ~5 minutes in the box after Brouwer’s goal effectively taking them out it.

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We are definitely looking forward to the Minnesota game on Friday!!

really?

amazing.

sky rink @ chelsea piers might be falling into the hudson.

seriously.  are the blackhawks intent on locking up even the best front office talent?

scotty bowman — yes, scotty friggin’ bowman! — is going to be advisor with the ‘hawks this season.

they are on a roll.  clearly.

when scotty bowman leaves the reigning stanley cup champions to hang with ‘hawks…  well, that says something to me.  (beyond him getting to spend more time with his son…)

I’m a nerd.

I am publishing — if you want to call it that — an import file for Outlook with the entire 2008-9 regular season for the Chicago Blackhawks.

I know that you can get the schedule from a zillion locations. What’s different about mine? I added the location for each game in the format “Arena Name (City, State/Province - Country)”. I also set the “Private” flag and added a category of “blackhawks hockey”.

Chicago Blackhawks / 2008-9 Regular Season / Outlook Import File / Central timezone

  2008-9 Chicago Blackhawks Schedule - Outlook - Central (12.3 KiB, 119 hits)

– Destructions for Importing into Outlook –

1. Click on the link for the schedule you wish to download and “Save target as”/”Save file” to your computer. Remember where you saved the file to!
2. In Outlook, click on “File -> Import and Export” from the toolbar
3. Select “Import from another program or file” and click “Next”
4. Select “Comma Separated Values (Windows)” and click “Next”
5. Browse to where you saved the download file, highlight it and click “OK”. Make sure the path to that file is correct in the “File to import:” area
6. Do not change anything under “Options”
7. Highlight “Calendar” under “Select destination folder:” and click “Next”
8. Make sure there is a check in the box in “The following actions will be performed:” to the left of “Import…”
9. Click on “Finish”
10. Do a happy dance.