The Niemi Train Has Left the Station

Sound the horn, a decision has been made! With nine games left in the season it’s safe to say that Antti Niemi is the starter between the pipes for the Blackhawks. Coach Quenneville named Huet the starter for the 8-3 calamity against the Columbus Blue Jackets Thursday night, but also said that he’s yet to decide a starter for the Stanley Cup playoffs. That is, until now. It’s not quite official, but after wetting his pants in his first game back since five games ago, the smart money says Huet will not be in net at the start of the postseason. The Niemi train has left the station, I told you to board months ago! The Blackhawks may not have won, but they still clinched a playoff birth after Calgary lost to the Islanders. Speculation right now is that Niemi will play about seven of the last nine games. I want him to stay hot, but I also want him to stay healthy and have his legs for the entire playoffs. It’s a shame the lack of confidence Hawks fans have when they have that very expensive, roster-binding goalie in net. I’d like to see “Huey” eat up more tick to keep Niemi fresh, but the Hawks are still pining for points in their quest for home ice throughout the playoffs. A concern for some of those who’ve committed to The Indian is that if they do take first in the conference and become the best in the West that they may have to take on current eight seed Detroit Red Wings. I’m not sure why that’s such a growing concern….Just because they knocked the Blackhawks out of the playoffs last year doesn’t mean that they will this year. The Hawks are flat out better than the Red Wings this year. The Blackhawks just have to play to their utmost ability. The Wings don’t pose any mismatches or any other reason to strike fear in this Hawks fan nor does any other team for that matter.

Tape & Pine Tar: (Similar to segments such as quick hits or odds and ends)

The Bulls, well, better luck next year. It’s like I said, I count this year as a victory as it is since they set themselves up to acquire a top-tier free agent over the summer. Now it’s all up to team Pax-Gar to sign one to a max contract. But would someone please make Vinny shut down Noah for the short remainder of the year. There’s NO point to him playing 12 minutes a game, you’re just begging for him to tear an ACL or something.

Ozzie you were given the team you asked for, but please don’t bat Kotsay third. That would just add to your bad over-management resume.

Lou. O sweet Lou, you better hope Lilly is on the track he says he is because if you have Silva in your rotation for as long as you think you may then the Cubs are in trouble. I personally think Marshall is ready for a spot and that Silva shouldn’t even be considered for a rotation spot, I don’t care what he’s done this spring. Pitch Marshall.

As always tune in every Monday evening to Cover 3 from 7 to 9 pm streaming live from sportstownchicago.com

Stick, Gloves, Suspension

For the second game in a roll The Blackhawks have lost a top four defenseman by a reckless and a vicious, skate-leaving hit. Campbell is out for at least the remainder of the regular season after suffering a broken collar bone as well as a few broken ribs when he was boarded by an irresponsible Ovechkin push from behind. The 3-time All-Star was more than arm’s length away from the boards as he chased the puck behind his net when Ovechkin caught up to him from behind and gave him an arm-extending push sending Campbell right-shoulder-first into the boards. It was reckless because he has to know where his opponent is relative to the boards and he has to know he’s an extremely strong individual. Campbell aka “Soupy” admits he had his head down, he was also in an awkward position and the toe pick got caught in the ice, but that in no way warrants anybody, especial someone who in my opinion is the best hockey player in the world, to board another player with his back to him. It was a unique situation and it was essentially a perfect storm to inherit the result that came from the play, but Ovechkin must be more conscience of where players are on the ice. Campbell was lucky to come away with only a few broken bones because he could have been paralyzed. Just think of the girth and magnitude of that word and you'll understand.
The Seabrook situation was slightly different. Seabrook finished his check on Perry just as he got rid of the puck behind the Blackhawk net. It sent Perry into the glass who was also caught in an awkward position and did a sort of twist and tumble before he hit the ice and slid all the way to the corner. The puck effectively made a circle in the Hawks’ zone and Seabrook found himself with it and quickly passed it behind the net as he stood behind the end line. Wisniewski came from about fifty feet out and just before he met Seabrook he left his feet, raised his forearms and bashed Seabrook’s head into the glass. Seabrook was unconscious on his feet before crumbling to the ice. Seabrook awoke a short time thereafter and skated off the ice under his own power. Meanwhile, there was scrapping in the corner in a Blackhawk attempt to protect their defenseman. Wisniewski was obviously trying to protect his teammate in letting the opponent know that if you layout his player he’s going to do the same to you. BUT, he took it too far. Players don’t have enough respect for each other on the ice. Yes this is a game and hard hitting has been a part of it probably since its conception, but we’re also talking about guys’ livelihood here. They’re earning paychecks at a job to support themselves and their families! There’s no room for hits like Wisniewski’s on Seabrook in hockey. Players have been “allowed” to police themselves on the ice, but there needs to be a line drawn somewhere. And skate-leaving, forearm raised headshots are a pretty good place to start. The refs are often afraid to pull the trigger on a certain call in a certain situation because they want to get the call right, yet there isn’t a defined rule given by the NHL on exactly what call to make in such a circumstance. The league needs to step in and define the call on such illegal hits and define the consequences. Wisniewski has been given an eight game suspension. Fine. For now. There should be some sort of suspension tier for illegal hits or other similar infractions. Example: The purposely vicious hit on Seabrook should be a ten game suspension. If Wisniewski commits the same hit on another player ever again in the NHL, he should be suspended for 25 games, once more for a third time and a possible expulsion from the league is in order. Also, the team in which the suspended player is on should not be allowed to pick up another player to fill that roster spot. So the punishment should be on both the player and team. Maybe then players will think twice or maybe even thrice before making a hit like that on another human wearing skates.
Some fans have been saying the Hawks have been soft in not protecting their players, but you can pick your battles without it being detrimental to your team. They’ve also been calling for an enforcer. No, just no. Play the game and score more goals than the other team to win the game.

Playing Catch Up

Da Bears have signed three free agents: Julius Peppers, Chester Taylor, and Brandon Manumaleuna. All of which excite me and essentially make Da Bears closer to a Super Bowl, Unfortunately, it only makes them about 8-8 or so and they'll still miss the playoffs. While Peppers' pass rush will draw some attention away from Tommy Harris, it's still up to him to show up and actually perform and Da Bears still need a competent safety. Manumaleuna is a de facto tackle that will put his hand on the line of scrimmage and block. Chester Taylor will be a good blocking back and catch passes out of the backfield. They may seem like nice additions to join the Martz Madness, but this won't stop Cutler from consistently pulling himself off the turf and checking to make sure that all of his body parts are still in place. It won't stop Martz from filling the air with footballs that will be picked because the low I.Q. receivers won't know where to line up in due to the one hundred different formations in the playbook, let alone which route to run and how to run it well.

The Bulls are in a free fall. Noah is shut down for weeks due to a foot injury and the rest of the team has forgotten what a rebound is. D-Rose is also banged up and those two are pretty much the Bulls' entire roster since they're basically forfeiting this year in the hopes to sign a top-tier free agent to a max contract. (It's wishful thinking because he's probably going to stay in Cleveland, but the Bulls may have an outside shot at signing LeBron James).

The Blackhawks are still on a tear, but Coach Q has been juggling the net-minders. I told everybody to jump on the Niemi-train and I'll be surprised if he doesn't start at least 75% of the remaining games on the schdule. Huet is so frustrating. The Hawks are tied for first with San Jose with 93 points. Home ice is VITAL. Commit to The Indian.

The Sox and Cubs are in the Cactus League.....