Hawks BEAT Canucks 3-1
by
Brian Teagly(Blackhawks home Admin)
Well it appears that the Hawks are still unbeaten in the last 10 games. They hold right now a 7-0-3 mark in the last 10. The latest victim at the UC was Vancouver. Bell started the scoring in the first with a deflection off a slap shot by McAlpine. Housley blasted the next one past Cloutier after playing a game of keep away with Zhamnov. Alex Zhamnov set in motion the scoring sequence by winning a face-off. After sending the puck to Eric Daze, Zhamnov got it back. He and Phil Housley passed it back and fourth for a few seconds before Housley drove a shot from the right point past goaltender Dan Cloutier. Druken scored early in 3rd for Vancouver on a breakaway to bring the Canucks within 1. Amonte then hit the empty net goal to assure the win for the Blackhawks.
The hawks are playing better for a couple reasons. 1. They are playing as a team. 2. They are very unselfish. This team has truly taken on a personality of their coach Brian Sutter. They play hard-nosed hockey and continuously hustle for loose pucks. They have become very fun to watch. If you don’t believe me just ask the 15,000 plus that attended. Those that were there witnessed a record being set that night. That’s right this band of Hawks set a record for the United Center with a 10 game unbeaten streak. Now only if we can get the ownership to lower the cost of seats and make it a total gas to go to games there.
The hawks have been playing so well we may see them on TV soon enough. Hopefully Wirtz will unbridle this stallion of a team to the TV so us Hawks fans in the outer areas can watch them again on TV. WGN should be the station that carries them, so all of us can watch them. My hope is that this win streak does not balloon some of these kids heads. But with the leadership on this team I doubt that will happen.
Hawks BEAT Flyers 2-1
by
Brian Teagly(Blackhawks home Admin)
Well the Hawks have remained unbeaten in at home for the year. It seems regardless of the fact that there is no home ice advantage the Hawks keep winning. The only game that was packed this year was the Detroit game and it was a large number of fans for the Wings that showed and filled the United Center. The play against the Flyers was beautiful. Thibault had his best game yet turning away 27 shots and was especially sharp in the first period turning away 14 shots. Premieu of the Flyers opened the scoring in the first with 4:52 of the clock with a 2 on none that Thibault could not stop. Recchi assisted. Then the Hawks got rolling. Amonte scored on a goal with 4:18 remaining in the first. It was a beautiful deflection from a Kyle Calder feed from the wing, Zhamnov assisted. With the scored tied, Zhamnov took the hawks to the lead on a power play goal at 9:20 in the second period. His shot from the point was low and fast as it sailed by the glove hand of goaltender Cechmanek. Then Thibault took over. He made an absolutely fantastic save against Chris Therien with his blocker. The Hawks were holding on desperately in final minute and everyone held their breath when Kim Johnsson let a slap shot go from 20 feet out, Thibault threw his shoulder into it and deflected it upward.
With Hawks remaining unbeaten at Home it sets them apart from Hawks teams in the past. This is the best start of any Hawks team since the 71-72 seasons. But the one difference is attendance. In my opinion I think the Hawks have priced themselves right out of sellouts. Plus the fact that there are no home games televised regardless of attendance. Wirtz is a self-defeating, nickel crunching owner that hopes he will sell 10,000 seats at 45 bucks rather then sell 20,000 at 25 bucks. He is the absolute worst owner in the NHL. Here I go again, on my soapbox. But I can’t help it. Wi9th the Hawks playing beautifully of late, I think it is time to bring out the Band kick out some tunes. Let the Water Tower shine Black, Red, and white. Right now the hawks and Bears are having amazing starts to their storied franchises. But only one is selling out and only one is front-page news. Guess which one Mr. Wirtz.
Hawks 6-3-3
by
Brian Teagly(Blackhawks home Admin)
Well beat me, Hit me, and tell me I have been bitching for all the wrong reasons. The Hawks are 6-3-3 and looking like they are a playoff contention team. And doing it besides ownerships disregard to put people in the stands. 12,000 people showed up at the United Center and 11,000 were scouts. I know that is a exaggeration but it seems the NHL has more interest in Hawks then the fan base. Anyway let me get off my soap box and praise the person that really deserves praise, Coach Sutter. He has taken and old ancient team (oldest in the league) and made them a team that responds to challenges. They have beaten or tied the mainstays of this league for the last 5 years and beat teams that they should have. They actually could be in the playoffs this year. Mirnov has been playing well but the surprise to everyone is the play of Eric Daze and Kyle Calder. They have sparked the Hawks scoring and the defense has responded to protecting a well playing Thibault. As a matter of fact Daze is so hot that teams are starting to Shadow the tall forward. This may free up a struggling Amonte who has been trying to hard and I feel his contract negotiation is weighing heavily on him. But it seems that the players we don’t expect to do much have responded. McAlpine brought up last week for added defense has been solid. Most likely he will be sent back down after Housley is healthy again but we lost nothing as far defensive help with his addition.
Now we can talk about the Big left winger that was demanding to be traded last year after the coach Alpo benched him as a healthy scratch. We have been told that Eric Daze would be the next Mario Lemiux. All the time we thought we had an albatross in a hockey player’s body. Well his time may have come. This kid has scored in 7 straight games and the Hawks coincidently are unbeaten in the last 7 games. So maybe this kid is the real deal. But I think the most tell tale sign of this team is the way that they play team offense and defense. They have finally melded into the pot of Hockey and are playing together. So lets give kudos to the man who has so far guided Chicago back to respectability, Coach Sutter needs to be hoisted on Chicago’s Broad Shoulders for the start of this season. Ill eat my crow on Wirtz for now, but I will ever be lurking in the shadows to claim I was right all along.
Hawks Loose to Wild
by
Brian Teagly(Blackhawks home Admin)
Well the Hawks blew it BIG TIME. They had a Chance to go 3-2, but now they are 2-3. How did they Blow it?? Well try Penalties. A team that went last year such goody two shoes have now gone to stupid penalties. It infuriated Coach Sutter so much he actually stated, “That is why the Blackhawks haven’t won for 5 years.” Housley did the biggest booboo when the Hawks were at the man advantage; he took a selfish penalty to even the sides to 4 on 4. It is the Small things that Sutter is trying to instill in his players. But being smart about it is another thing. Granted Housley has been around for quite awhile and really should know better.
Amonte racked up his second goal of the season with a score late in the first period. Daze ended up with score as well in the second period for his second of the season. That the sent the Hawks into the second intermission down 5-2. Then Zhamnov came to life in the 3rd period. He scored 2 goals to bring the Hawks within striking distance. Down 5-4 with a couple minutes left, Sutter pulled Passmore to get the man advantage. Passmore replaced a peppered Thibault in the second period. Goaltender "Jocelyn Thibault wasn't pulled because of the way he was playing," said Sutter. "He was as sharp as he could be. He was a victim of the dumb penalties we took.” The Hawks with a man up took flight and had slight breakdown giving the puck to the Wild to score an empty net goal.
It is the small things that make championship squads. Not getting penalties or back-checking or for that fact even fore-checking. It seems that the Hawks are getting part of it, but not all of it. I think with time the Hawks will respond with better attention to detail. But it will be rough on them, because Sutter will not put up with sloppy play. "We gave the game away,'' right wing Tony Amonte said. "Hopefully, we learned a lesson early in the season.'' Lets hope so.
Hawks Slam Coyotes
by
Brian Teagly(Blackhawks home Admin)
Well it was not a sell out but the sound generated after the National Anthem was played made some of us old timers remember the days at the Stadium. Then the Hawks went out and did exactly what they used to do, Win! With great goaltending from Thibault (22nd shutout of his career) and Amonte getting out of his slump, the Hawks went out beat the Coyotes. Aaron Downey continued his upbeat attitude with sticking up for himself and other Hawk teammates by getting a 7-minute major for fighting and instigating. Thibault was the star turning away 33 shots on goal. Steve Sullivan added, “It's hard to describe in words how good Jocelyn was". He was on it seems, with low scores happening against the Hawks that maybe Thibault with some defensive help can be an excellent goalie. Brian Sutter gets his first home win as BlackHawk head coach. "It wasn't a Rembrandt, but I'll put it up on my wall," said coach Brian Sutter. "They don't ask 'How?' at the end of the year; they ask 'How many?' We did what we had to do. We had to gut it out. Good defense is dirty, ugly, hard work." Steve Thomas put a empty Net goal with 39 seconds left in the third followed by Alexander Karpovtsev with 15 seconds. So it seems that Sutters brand of Hockey is paying dividends right now but the fact that other players notice the decline in Chicago Hockey puts the Wirtz family itself in the spotlight. "It's just not the same anymore and it's sad to see,'' Phoenix's Claude Lemieux told the Arizona Republic. "It's sad that a team that used to be so popular and definitely was my favorite place to play as a visitor isn't even close to what it used to be. It was a great building, packed with fans, and they always had some great, competitive teams. But now ... maybe ownership has lost the passion of giving a product everyone wants to come out and see". Owner Bill Wirtz recently wrote a letter to Chicago Sun-Times columnist Irv Kupcinet saying he was glad to see Americans were getting back to normal because he still was selling out the United Center for concerts.
Its too bad Wirtz hasn't spent more of that money to provide the same sense of comfort to his players. Despite a call by players for more charter flights in light of the Sept. 11 attacks, the Hawks are scheduled to fly commercial on 34 of their 58 segments this season. Well at least if we could establish a better home record the Sellouts will happen. But then again maybe Wirtz will want to raise the Price.
Wirtz must go
by
Brian Teagly(Blackhawks home Admin)
Well it is time start the Bashing. I have sat by for better then 40 years a BlackHawk fan. Back in the day, not so long ago I would see the Sweater of the Hawks worn all around the world. I have seen it go from MTV to the trash, and this did not happen overnight. It began Way back with the non-signing of Bobby Hull, and then continued with the loss of Hasek to Belfour to Chelios to Roenick. How many stars can be lost before a franchise suffers. Loosing stars to attrition is not uncommon, they get old or severely injured and never return the same, but letting quality players go the way Wirtz has is a absolute tragedy. The Wirtz family has ruined this club and have the most expensive seating charges in the NHL, He also will not allow Home games to be televised by any local or national TV station. This accounts for the lack of fans in the stands and non – fan growth around the Hockey world. Wirtz has run this Hockey team in the ground and it will be a miracle to see it come up to any respectability what so ever. After the debacle with Edmonton, it is clear that the damage done was deeper then anyone including Coach Sutter could ever imagine. Its said around the league that Players of any caliber do NOT want to play Chicago. And it all relates back to the ownership of the Hawks. The Players feel that loyalty is not returned or compensated, but the trust thing is huge. Chris Chelios a stalwart defensive player for the Hawks for many years recently said “ Player just don’t want to go to Chicago”. That being said has a huge play on the Blackhawks on ownership. Wirtz has continuously taken upon himself to be the Scrooge of the NHL. He back doors Amonte and then tries to blame it on the Agent. He told Belfour to reconsider his asking price, this after 4 consecutive All-star appearances. He has no clue of what it takes to make a club successful. But he sure knows how take a storied club, one of the original 6 and turn it to the trash.
This brings me to signing of coach like Sutter. It does not make sense. Why bring a guy that has consistently showing a winning attitude to a franchise that clearly wants failure. Wirtz wants to build a team with non-money players and hope he finds a couple of diamonds in the ruff through the draft. It is an absolute formula for failure and at best mediocrity. Wirtz has been the brunt of a lot of jokes as well as websites that show absolute hatred toward the owner. He has become the cheap landlord of the slum that continually raises the rent with no upgrades. It is time for a change .
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