A Sad Day...

It seems like just yesterday I was standing in the mirror at Hawk Quarters (since renamed) trying on a Large Red #52 Dustin Byfuglien jersey.  I was in love, I was ahead of the pack, I was about to buy a jersey that no one had yet, I found a player who I adored that I envisioned becoming a superstar in the years to come.  Unfortunately my bank account was empty and I was having visions of my Dad’s reaction when I would tell him that I put it on my credit card.  I settled for a jersey t-shirt instead.  I didn’t need the official sweater… as long as I could turn on the TV and see Big Buff flying around as a Hawk I was satisfied.

Here We Go!!!

Well the time has finally come Hawks fans. Tonight our Hawks will have a chance to put their names into hockey immortality. As we all anxiously await the drop of the puck in Game 6 I’d like to leave you with a plethora of reasons why the Hawks will emerge victoriously in tonight’s matchup:

Finally Some Deserved Media Attention...

Well for the first time in the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals I am happy to write about #20 in orange. As a matter of fact I’m so elated I’d rather write to him than about him:

Dear Chris,

Post Bar Post Game

What to say, what to say…  I don’t even know.  Niklas Hjalmarsson, you picked the absolute worst time to have your first ever sub-par game as a Blackhawk.  I can’t honestly think of anything you’ve ever done wrong until tonight when you assisted on 2 Flyers goals.  As for you Duncan Keith, I never thought I’d see you get absolutely burned at a pivotal point in the game.   When Niemi got pulled I was having flashbacks to Vancouver when Zach Parise tied it with 20 or so seconds left to play.  Unfortunately for me and the rest of the Hawks bandwagon Jeff Carter didn’t have any plans for going to overtime. 

Here are my thoughts from Game 4, take them for what they’re worth:

The Manchise Crystal Ball

We’re about 6 hours away from the opening face off of Game 4 and the anticipation is building up like Chicago’s hatred for Chris Pronger. What will we see tonight? Will the Hawks closed door talks with the NHL result in some power plays or will we be forced to start seriously contemplating whether or not the NHL Finals truly are rigged to go more than 5 games? I’m not big on conspiracy but if the officiating carries over from Games 1-3 I will have no choice but to begin wondering. Bill McCreary said Monday night was “A man’s game.” It’s too bad him and his crew weren’t “man” enough to draw the line and raise their arm when it was appropriate to make a call.

When I look into my crystal ball I see 5 possible scenarios that could play out tonight. After assessing each one I will leave you with my prediction for Game 4:

If You're Incapable of Performing Your Job Raise Your Hand!!!

Game 3 has come and gone and so has the chance for a Blackhawks sweep in this series. Actually, this is beginning to look more and more like a 7 game series with every passing day. Not because the Flyers are a worthy opponent to the Hawks, but instead because Gary Bettman and his army of idiots in pinstripes have enabled a team to play outside of the rulebook and win hockey games. I want to take this opportunity to vent a little bit on what is grinding my gears about this series, and I mean really grinding my gears.

Hawk Talk: Game 3

Hello hockey fans! Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals has given all of us extra motivation to make it through this hump day. The series shifts to Philly tonight where hopefully the Hawks can put a stranglehold on the Flyers. As I’ve said recently I find it rather pointless to try to predict what’s in store for the fans tonight. We will let the players do the talking on the ice. I’m just going to babble for about 300 words or so about what’s on my mind as we await tonight’s action.

I’d like to start off by giving some much undeserved attention to Chris Pronger.

Game 2 Tonight!!!

A lot has transpired since I last dropped in so let’s get to it.  Absolutely incredible Game 1 on Saturday.  Buff-Toews-Kane a combined -9, Pronger posting over 32 minutes of ice time, 11 goals, no Flyer penalties, etc.  But no matter how crazy the storyline we are beginning to see one thing remain pretty constant: the Hawks coming out victorious.  Brouwer and Kopecky (two guys who were battling for the same spot in the previous 3 series) got the job done along with added contributions from Versteeg, Sharp, and Bolland.  The pace of the game was so ridiculous that there wasn’t even time for any of the underlying questions to be answered.  Can Pronger stop Buff? I don’t know.  Is Toews better than Richards? I don’t know.  Is Leighton better than NIemi?  I don’t know.  Game 1 was such a roller coaster ride that little analysis can be made of what patterns are beginning to set in as we head towards Game 2 tonight. 

My advice?

Thanks for the wait NHL...

Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals is fast approaching.  As the week wears on and the anticipation builds we are beginning to see some storylines appear in this series.  Can Buff be stopped?  Who has the better defensive core?  Who has the better Captain?  Should Toews have touched the Campbell Trophy?  Should Richards have not touched the Prince of Whales Trophy?  Personally I believe the Finals should have started tonight.  That way the media would have much less time to jam these thoughts into the players’ minds before they step out on the ice.  Game 1 on Wednesday night would have laid the tracks for an unbelievable weekend showcase of the leagues two best teams.  Friday night in Chicago, Sunday night in Philly, the buzz would have been tremendous if we had been given a game to lead into the weekend.  But I’m not Gary Bettman (or affiliated with the NHL at all) so that thought remains solely my opinion.

Since there is nothing but speculation to talk about at this point let’s take a look at some of these lingering questions.

Hawks Headed to the Finals!!!

The waiting begins… Maybe even as early as tonight we will know who our Hawks will face in the Stanley Cup Finals. Being Monday afternoon it seems rather pointless to do a Game 4 recap. Anyone who is taking some time to read this (which is much appreciated by the way) already knows what happened. The Blackhawks busted out the brooms and swept San Jose to earn the first Cup Finals appearance since 1992. The total team effort was amazing in this series. Toews breaking records, Niemi standing on his head, Duncan Keith giving up 7 of his teeth; the Hawks showed their desire to bring a Championship to Chicago in this series.

Hawks Pregame with a side of Apology

I’d like to begin today with a very sincere apology to a good friend of mine.  While in college I had the opportunity to become acquainted with a Dallas Stars fan.  We would sit back, pound a couple brews, play NHL 2006 on Playstation 2, and talk hockey.  No matter what the topic of conversation was I would always take a minute to point out the fact the Jeremy Roenick was the greatest American born player to ever take the ice.  There was nothing I enjoyed more than watching his cheeks redden with anger as he made his case for Mike Modano.  He was right and I knew it, I just loved seeing the fire in his eyes when I tried to remove Mike Modano from that little pedestal in his heart.  This is my apology Kevin, I hope you are smiling somewhere.  I am truly sorry for ever attempting to put “JR” in the same sentence as Mike Modano.

Why my sudden detachment from Roenick you ask?

Fear The Flyers

A lot of hockey media has made it a point to say that the Western Conference Finals matchup between the Hawks and Sharks might as well be the Stanley Cup Finals.  Well I’m here today to disagree with that notion.  Love ‘em or hate ‘em, Philadelphia is no joke, and to think that the winner of the West is going to breeze to the cup is a serious lapse in judgment.

I just hope that the Flyers and Hawks win their respective series’ so that I will not have wasted my time writing this article.

The Draft: NBA vs. NHL

(Picture from rushthecourt.com)

I opened up my beloved website this afternoon to see a delightful post by our NHL writer, Paul Czerwein, who wrote about different sports leagues drafts. He argued that the NHL has the best evaluators of young talent, especially in the past 10 years. His list, which included the top three picks of the past decade was intriguing, star studded, and extremely hard to beat. With names like John Taveres, Steven Stamkos, Patrick Kane, Erik Johnson, Sidney Crosby, and Alexander Ovechkin, how could he not argue this point?

Being the NBA fan I am, I started running through the past 10 years of my life and the leagues drafts. Just going by his question, "Is there any other sport where so much star power is consolidated in the top 3 draft picks from the past 10 years?", I realized I had an answer. YES!

The Draft

All the recent talk in the sports world (including here at The Manchise) about John Wall being the upcoming #1 pick in this year’s NBA draft made me do some serious thinking about all of the drafts that I can remember. I have to give the NBA scouts credit because the only #1 pick I can question from my lifetime is Kwame Brown. Baseball is hard to question as well because it takes a considerable amount of time for draft picks to mature into Major League caliber players. But look at the NFL: Tim Couch, David Carr, Alex Smith, and JaMarcus Russell. That’s 5 of the 10 or so drafts I can remember that have resulted in absolute busts.

Then I turn to my so called field of expertise, the NHL.

Road Warriors

Big win for the Hawks tonight (tying an NHL record for 7 straight postseason road wins) to take a 2-0 series lead over the San Jose Sharks. Captain Serious added to his Conn Smythe resume while the Leviathan did his business ruling the seas. Antti Niemi also turned in another above average performance stopping 20 of 22 shots.

Hawks Pregame!

Game 2 tonight at the Shark Tank.  Let’s take a look at my keys to another Hawks victory:

1.       The defense must limit San Jose’s scoring chances.  The Hawks cannot rely on Antti Niemi to repeat his Game 1 performance.  I believe he will be good again tonight, but I’d still rather not see him face 45 shots.  The imbalance of power plays played a big role in the shot totals for San Jose, but the Hawks still need to block some shots and tighten up their D.

Niemi Shines in Hawks Win!

First of all, I would like to apologize to all of our readers for never putting out a Hawks vs. Sharks preview as promised.  I was busy this past week becoming unemployed; also known to some as graduating college.  When I look back, I wish I would have taken a moment to type up that preview because a lot of what I wanted to say would have been apparent in the Hawks big Game 1 victory this afternoon. 

This series is going to be a blast.  40 shots apiece in a regulation game?  You can’t ask for better TV.

Hawks Move On, Dismantle Luongo

That red Ferrari (see last article) popped the clutch last night and never looked back. Exactly 365 days after eliminating Vancouver from last year’s playoffs, this year’s Hawks didn’t disappoint. Controlling the tempo from the get go, Brouwer and the boys cruised fairly easily to a 5-1 victory and their second consecutive Western Conference Finals appearance.

Fast Start = Victory

Back to the West Coast tonight.  Hopefully when this one is over the Hawks will be heading south to San Jose for a date with the Sharks.  The game starts at 8:30 Chicago time, don’t be late.  The big thing to look for in this one is a fast start from our boys.  The Hawks have made it fairly obvious over the duration of the year that no team in the NHL can go shot for shot with them on a regular basis and come out victorious.  With that being said, the Hawks need to put themselves in a position to dictate the pace tonight.  I don’t care if it’s a deflection from center ice off of Kane’s skate or a triple deke from Patrick Sharp on the breakaway; the Hawks need to score first if they want to be victorious.  

Not So Sweet Home Chicago

I’d like to begin today in the world of baseball. Big shout out to A’s pitcher Dallas Braden for making Alex Rodriguez eat some crow. Braden pitched the nineteenth perfect game in MLB history this afternoon against the Rays. A few weeks back Braden was infuriated by A-Rod when he cut across the pitcher’s mound on his way back to the dugout. The ensuing war of words led A-Rod to tell one reporter, “Can we stop talking about this, it’s time for this guy’s 15 minutes of fame to be over.” Well guess what A-Rod, that ‘guy’ just did something more impressive than anything you’ve done in your career to date. You’re still one of the greatest to ever lace ‘em up but today is Braden’s day to shine.

With that digression out of my mind, let’s get back to why I’m really here, the Blackhawks.