Observations From Section 321: Texas Toast

Let me start off by quoting yesterday’s game preview:  “And would it kill Dave Bolland to show up on the score sheet?  He does have 2 goals against the Stars this year, so this could be the night.”  It took Dave Bolland all of the 10 seconds to answer the bell and give me a big middle finger, which I will gladly accept.  The Blackhawks have been sluggish out of the gates more times than not this season but that was not the case last night.  Patrick Sharp’s 1st of 2 goals on the night gave the Hawks a 2-0 lead just a 1:45 into the game.

The Blackhawks had a hellish four game stretch where they played the Rangers, Kings, Blues and the Stars.  The Hawks took 7 out of 8 possible points, all without the services of Jonathan Toews.  You have to be encouraged by this.  The Blackhawks welcome the train wreck that is the Washington Capitals tomorrow night to the United Center.  This will be a game the Hawks should win, so hopefully there will be no let down.  I think the best spot for the Hawks is the 6th seed.  I would much rather play Dallas or any team from the Pacific than Nashville or Detroit.  Let the Preds and the Wings duke it out in the first round and get one of those two teams out right away.

• Corey Crawford was solid between the pipes last night.  He didn’t get much action in the 1st period or the 3rd period either.  Half of the Stars 22 shots came in the 2nd period where Crow stopped them all.  He was flailing around a little too much for my liking but I will not complain about the results.  So it looks like it’s Crawford’s turn to ride on the Blackhawks goalie carousel.  It is never a good thing when you don’t know who your number goalie is after 72 games.  Hopefully Crow can cement his spot as the starter but we have seen this act before.  I just want one of our two goalies to step up and say “I got this.”

• The Hawks were finally able to get the minutes for the defensive core down to where they should be.  Having a 4 goal lead in the 3rd period will help the cause.  Johnny Oduya continues to impress and stabilize the back end.  Duncan Keith was not very good last night but hopefully a few more games with less ice time will remedy that.  He took a bad penalty after losing the puck that nullified the back end of a 4 minute double minor.  His turnover in the 3rd period ended Crawford’s bid for the team’s first shutout of the season.

• Niklas Hjalmarrson can still not figure out how to clear his zone.  Hjammer and Dylan Olsen were an adventure to say the least last night.

• It was refreshing to the Hawks come out in the 3rd period and bury a team, especially after what happened the last time the Stars were in town.

• The power play still needs major improvement.  Can we please stop sending Andrew Shaw out there?  If you are going to put one of the kids on the power play used Jimmy Hayes.  Let him plant his giant ass in the goalies face and fire at will from the point.

• Breaking news: Steve Ott is still a penis!  He is this generation’s Dino Ciccarelli.

• It was good see Patrick Kane able to shake off some pain and finish the game after scaring the crap out of everybody.

My Blackhawks Player of the Game

Patrick Sharp lived up to his nickname of  “Shooter” last night.  He scored his 27th and 28th goals of the season.  He was a puck shooting machine taking 8 of the Blackhawks 31 shots.  We all know what a streaky player Sharpie can be so lets hope he getting on one of hot streaks heading into the post season.

My Turd of the Game

The Dallas Stars wore special St. Paddy’s Day jerseys during warmups with fun Irish names on them.  Jake Dowell was McDowell, Tom Wandell was O’Wandy and Ryan Garbutt was O’Garby.  Jaime Benn wore McChubbs on the back of his jersey which I’m sure has a back story that I don’t want to know about.  Mike Ribeiro was McRibs which made all the fat girls in the crowd dream of BBQ sauce.  Adam Burish gets the TOTG for wearing an O’Legend jersey.  What exactly are you an O’Legend of Burish, being a bag o’douche??