Western Conference Final Game 4 Breakdown

Everybody knew San Jose would be in desperation mode in a must-win elimination game. The Blackhawks did a good job of keeping things under control to start the game, even with Hendry’s holding penalty at 5:02 into the game. The great penalty kill line had a nice shift with contributions from Hossa and Toews, a big save by Niemi, and blocks from Seabrook and Hossa. With 8:50 left in the first the Sharks scored the first goal of the game off the stick of Couture. Setoguchi threw the puck to the net and Couture potted the rebound over the glove of Niemi. The Hawks didn’t get a power play until the middle of the second period, but to no avail. It was the Sharks who would score the short-handed goal. Marleau blasted a one-timer from Vlasic past Niemi. This deflated the UC for some time and it was Ben Eager who smashed Heatley for his second big hit of the game in an attempt to get the crowd back into the game. The Hawks missed another power play opportunity after Heatley was sent to the penalty box for hooking. Toews was sent to his respective box shortly after for a cross-check that took place right in front of the net. The Hawks netted their first goal with 6:42 left in the second. Seakbrook scored with a little help from Hjalmarsson and Versteeg. Dave Bolland tied it up at 2 with 1:22 left in the second. He made a great fundamentally-pack play starting from behind the net. He raced to the puck and lifted Couture’s stick off of the puck. He then got good body position to box Couture out and was able to bring to puck to the front of the net on the other side. He elevated the puck, which was redirected by a Shark and got past the glove-side shoulder of Nabokov. In the third, The Hawks were given three straight power plays. Boyle was called for delay of game, Clowe was guilty of holding, both of which were penalty kills, and Heatley went to the box for slashing. It was on the third and final power play that Byfuglien potted his third game-winning goal in four games. Kane got the primary assist as Toews received the secondary and extended his franchise record for consecutive postseason games with a point to 13. Steeger put the cherry on top with an unassisted empty-netter with :42 left in the game. The boys in the Indian-head sweaters are headed back to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1992 in the hopes to break the 39 year drought!

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Western Conference Game 3 Breakdown

The Blackhawks are headed to the Stanley Cup Finals, and it only cost them seven shattered teeth of Duncan Keith! The Hawks swept the Sharks in four straight games, but it truly was closer than what outcome may insinuate. For instance, Friday’s game three was decided in overtime. It was an interesting game from the beginning. Not even a minute and an half into the game Dave Bolland was called for goalie interference on a B.S. call that came after a great save by Nabokov. Less than a minute later Joe Pavelski scored on the power play. O, but wait, after the replay the goal was taken off the board as it showed that the puck was kicked in and Pavelski never got his stock on the puck before it passed the goal line. It turned into a penalty kill and somewhat deflated the Sharks for the rest of the period. Excellent back checking by the Hawks helped them nearly score on a turnover. They played well through the neutral zone as well as the Sharks could only set up the cycle with a chip and chase. Early in the second Andrew Ladd absolutely lifted Big Joe Thornton off the ice with a sweet hip-check as they raced to the corner. Though, Thornton would get Ladd back late in the third with a nice hit, but not as good since Ladd really didn’t see it coming like Thornton did. With two minutes into the second period Bolland got called for his second penalty of the day for holding. 37 seconds later Hossa was called for hooking and after missing some pretty easy shots, Marleau finally potted one on the 5 on 3 advantage. Niemi was pinned between the pipes and the puck just went off the web of his glove and into the net. The Hawks finally caught a break when Couture went to the box for slashing and Sharpie put the biscuit in the basket after a needle-threading pass from Toews as he centered the puck from the right corner. Toews broke the Blackhawks’ franchise record with his 12th consecutive postseason game with a point. After two periods it was a slight 23-21 SOG advantage for the Sharks, but a commanding 26-11 faceoff advantage for the Hawks. I thought it was interesting that the announcer for NBC said that San Jose was “Hanging in there” with the Hawks. What? I know that the Hawks had the two game series lead over the Sharks, but the game was tied at the time and they were the number one seed of the Western Conference. They shouldn’t be the ones “Hanging in there” with anybody they should be playing the game. The first two-thirds of the third period were ugly. Duncan Keith was sent to the box not even a minute in for hooking after an awful turnover. About five minutes later Big Buff was called for tripping and later Bolland was called for tripping to make it his third penalty of the game. The puck was in San Jose’s zone for way too long and the only bright spots was Ben Eager’s blast that went off the post and the fact that the Hawks penalty kill special team had comes through not once, not twice, but thrice in the third period alone. Bolland’s game was a little sloppy as indicated by his three infractions; however, he did score with 3:55 left to give Chicago a 2-1 lead. Unfortunately, Marleau scored his second game with 4:23 left in the game, which eventually went to sudden death. It was an exciting extension to the game as Niemi made three great saves in a roll around 10:30 into overtime. This created the chance for Bolland to get another point as he got the assist for Big Buff’s game winner from between the circles as he went top cheese over Nabby’s shoulder sending the Gatorade bottle flying in there air! Niemi had 44 saves. 44! Out of 46, almost a 96 in save percentage! Nabby had himself a game as well saving 35 of 38 SOG. The Hawks took game three and were 11-0 all time in series’ leading 3-0. Stay tuned for breakdown of Game 4 from the UC. Game 4 breakdown coming soon...

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Stolen: Home-Ice Advantage

The home ice advantage for the Sharks has evaporated…for now. We witnessed, very arguably, the best game Annti Niemi has played in an Indian-head sweater. He stopped 44 shots on goal out of 45 all while standing on his head! (As the saying goes, if you will, if I may). The one that got past Neimi was by no means a softy. It came during the second Power Play out of three during the first period alone off the stick of Jason Demers at 11:19 minutes in. Demer’s shot was deflected off of a defending Duncan Keith that was redirected just over the right should of Niemi. From there on out, the “Finnish Fortress” made several exceptional saves including a few with the glove. San Jose played with seven defensemen and the Hawks saw a steady diet of Heatley, Thornton, and Marleau. The Sharks easily controlled the entire first period with three Power Plays, but were only able to capitalize on one. A possible turning point in my mind was a three on two Sharks advantage that came before there was even a goal on the scoreboard. It essentially was a three on one, but Keith skated straight back and used an active stick to break up a play that could have resulted in an open net goal and changed the complexion of the game. Both teams squandered some good opportunities. Toews and Thornton both miss out on good scoring chances simply by not squaring up the puck on the stick on spoiled one-timers that produced weak shots off the heel of their respective sticks. The Blackhawks were able to tame the Sharks from about five minutes into the second period throughout the rest of the game. They were able to out hustle San Jose and recover more loose pucks. Sharpie scored the tying goal with 12:13 left in the second period with assists from Keith and Brouwer. Keith was again a key player here as he recognized the opportunity for a four on three and sped down the ice to create the play and got a point on the assist. The Hawks ran into some trouble after a holding penalty on Seabrook at 14:01 in the second. This is when Niemi made a sick glove-save sliding from post to post in desperation mode. It was a thing of beauty especially from the goal-cam. The Sharks did however have a 31-22 shot-on-goal advantage after the second period. The third period was all Hawks though as the game was being played completely to their tempo and playing a lot of fast-paced cycle-play. Coach Q made an exquisite line change, which resulted in some Shark confusion leaving Big Buff all alone for an open-lane shot from between the circles to score the game-winning goal with 6:45 left in the game. The Hawks faced more adversity as Dave Bolland was called for a tripping penalty with :55.1 seconds left in the game. Although, the Blackhawks did receive a small break as the refs escorted Versteeg to the box instead of Bolland, who is a crucial part of the penalty-kill special team. San Jose played with an empty and had a six on four advantage, but to no avail and the Blackhawks stole a game at the Shark Tank. The keys for game two are tightening up the fore-checking and cutting down on all of the shots on goal. They can’t ask Niemi to play out of his mind for every game here on out, though it would be sweet if he did.

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Blackhawks Looking to Clinch, Again

Game 6 is upon us and the Blackhawks are headed in with a three games to two advantage over the Canucks. I’m not one to believe in game-to-game momentum, but the boys in the Indian-head sweaters may be feeling some pressure before they take the ice tonight in British Columbia. And, well, that’s just fine with me. Oddly enough, the Hawks flat out do not play well when there isn’t any sort of pressure or urgency. They’ve also been road-warriors in these playoffs. This is contrary to most other clubs. Other clubs tend to play well when there is no pressure and can play a loose type of game. But NOOOOOOO, the Hawks had to go and come out sluggish, at home mind you, in Game 5 and make things a little more interesting as far as this series goes. They didn’t seem to be themselves right of the stick. They were a step slower than the Canucks no matter who was on the ice at any given time. They took far too many dumb penalties and were given a taste of their own acetaminophen. It didn’t help that Erhoff deposited the biscuit in the basket with the help from a Burrows screen within the first minute so that they could revert to a neutral-zone trap for the rest of the game and stymie the Hawks’ offensive attack. Bieksa potted the next two goals taking a 3-0 lead into the third period. Luongo standing on his head and not coughing up any succulent rebounds was the cherry on the top for Vancouver. This coming after he was called out by his coach to perform better between the pipes and shaving his playoff beard to switch things up. Still, the Blackhawks expect to win this series in six as indicated by their heavy packing with extra tighty-whiteys. They plan on jumping on a jet to fly south down to San Jose after their victory to begin that series. My keys to a Game 6 victory are as follows: no dumb penalties and Big Buff’s big butt in Luongo’s grill. That is all.

Tape & Pine Tar:

The Cubs have brought up their number one prospect in Starlin Castro at what I believe is an odd time. If they had just waited three more weeks the Cubs could have locked him up for an extra year with arbitration. If they didn’t start him down in Double A to begin the season to wait until June to bring him up, then why didn’t he just break camp with them and start the season in The Show? Albeit, he had an historic debut when he went oppo on a 3-run bomb and also had a base-clearing triple to be the first player ever to rack up 6 RBI’s in their first game in the Bigs. It’s also untimely because “L-L-Lil Fontenot” (in a stuttering, mouth-breathing Sweet Lou voice) has been hitting above .300 and he’s been the odd man out, even though it was Chad Tracy who was designated for assignment, as Theriot has shifted over to the 4 position as Castro has taken over the 6.

To say the Sox are underachieving would be an understatement. They’re bad right now with a few bright spots. Danks & Santos have been lights-out on the bump. Konerko leads the majors with 13 dingers, Rios is playing well and working out even though Kenny truly didn’t want him, and Jones has been producing gravy for a plate with no mashed potatoes. Other than that, bad. Pierre leads the majors with 15 swipes, but his OBP is below .300. BAD. Beckham is batting below the Mendoza-line at .193 and is on the brink of getting at-bats in the minors, ‘nough said…BAD. The list goes on and that’s just for the starting lineup…go to whitesox.com, scroll over stats and click on sortable player stats and try to keep from losing your lunch. The big question facing Ozzie this week is what to do with big Bobby Jenks. 6.75 ERA in 12 IP with an average of 20.4 pitches per IP. BAD. Well Putz has 103 career saves…Oh but he has an ERA dangerously close to 5, so that may not be the best idea. Thornton has been pretty reliable collecting 25 K’s in 15.1 IP….but Ozzie has all ready been riding him hard this season. I’d say use him late, especially in their upcoming series versus the Twins and their left-handed-heavy lineup and play the match-ups. Otherwise, Sergio Santos has been stellar finally giving up his first ER of the season this past Saturday. He’s got great stuff, particularly his slider, to compliment his high-90’s fastball. He’s got confidence right now and I’m sure Ozzie has it in him as well so let’s get what we can out of him now in those late-inning situations. Maybe Jenks can work his way back into the roll with a good stint as a middle-reliever, which will be tough as he doesn’t pitch well without the lead…then again he hasn’t pitched well WITH the lead this year either. I’m fairly indifferent when it comes to Jenks. Should he start doing well and have his stock rise by mid-season to be trade bait, fine. If he stays in the roll and slams the door shut with every save opportunity, fine. Right now, he’s just a guy.

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