Observations From Section 321: 8 Is Enough

If Rexall Place were to burn to the ground today I will not miss for a second!  That building has become a house of horrors for the Blackhawks.  In two games there this year they have been out scored 17-6.  The Hawks have given up 17 goals to the 29th place team in all of hockey.  That isn’t good folks, in fact it’s down right awful.  The Oilers have exposed the Blackhawks on more than one occasion this season.  I am thankful they are off our schedule for the rest of the year.  Boy that’s a sad statement right there!

The first period started off just fine.  The Blackhawks looked like the superior team as they should.  The Hawks increased there lead just seconds into the second period and everything was looking up.  Then it looked like the 1987 Oilers showed up.  For a team that is supposed to have superior speed, the Hawks got their doors blown off in the final 40 minutes.  They got out hustled to almost every puck and looked like they were standing still.  There is no excuse for that.  If you want to win a Stanley Cup you can not allow yourself to get beat down by the Edmonton Oilers!  As Cody stated in his great write up, the Blackhawks have a lot of problems now and they start at the top.

• It is time for Q to split up the 2nd D pairing.  Niklas Hjalmarrson and Nick Leddy are not working together, and they haven’t all season!  Q has no problem changing his forward lines 409 times a game, but he is being very stubborn about his defense.  I like Nick Leddy, I have a Leddy jersey, but he can not handle being on the second pairing right now.  I think he should be playing with Steve Montador instead of Hjalmarsson.  Stan Bowman needs to make his move to get a top 4 defenseman sooner rather than later before the division is out of reach.

• Good to see Jamal Mayer’s hard work starting to pay off in goals.  He already has 5 this season, which is two more than he had all of last year with San Jose.

• Sam Gagner ladies and gentlemen.  Future Hall of Famer Sam Gagner!  8 points from a guy who had 22 points in 43 games coming into last night.  Wow!

• John Scott played 2:42 on the penalty kill.  That should scare the living bejesus out of you!  He got his ice time up to 9:51 but only because the game was over with 12 minutes to go.  What does Sami Lepisto have to do to get some ice time?  I know he isn’t the answer to all our problems but he can’t be any worse, can he?

• Can we please leave Bryan Bickell in a snow drift on the side of the road somewhere in Alberta?  What a giant bag of suck this guy is!!  9 points and a -7 in 42 games.  ENOUGH ALREADY!!!  Waive him, trade him, send to Rockford, or give him a job with Pulford and Wirtz Beverage Group, I don’t care just get him off of this hockey team!  You can’t tell me, with a straight face, that Bickell is a better option that Jimmy Hayes.

• Good thing we scratched Michael Frolik, one of our better penalty killers on a night the Hawks decided to take 7 penalties.

My Blackhawks Player Of The Game

Good to see Patrick Sharp shake off the rust from his injury and light the lamp twice!  I thought for a minute that his game tying, short handed goal would turn the game around, but we all know how that ended up.  Yeah, not so much! It was encouraging to see Sharpie score in just his second game back.  There is no doubt he will be a big factor in any success the Blackhawks will have from here on out.

My Turd Of The Game

No doubt Corey Crawford stunk out the joint last night! I am going  on the record and say that the Blackhawks will not will a Stanley Cup with Corey Crawford in the net, unless he can turn things around.  He is far too inconsistent to trust in the playoffs.  Just look at the last two games, great in Vancouver and terrible in Edmonton.  Is Ray Emery the answer?  He has been a surprise this year but I don’t want to go into the playoffs with him as my goalie either.  I hope Crow can turn it around but I just don’t see it right now.  Stan Bowman may have to add a goaltender to his trade deadline wishlist now.  At the very least, he should give Doug Wilson a nut tap, at the next GM meeting, for causing this mess!