Feb. 7, 2013; Glendale, AZ, USA; The Chicago Blackhawks celebrate a goal by center left wing Bryan Bickell (29) during the second period against the Phoenix Coyotes at Jobing.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

The Chicago Blackhawks demolished the Phoenix Coyotes by a score of 6-2, on Thursday night.  The Blackhawks improved to 3-0-2(good for 8 points) on their almost completed 6-game road trip, as they still remain the only team in the NHL without a loss in regulation.

The Hawks got off to a spirited start to the game, when many fans’ questions on how the Hawks will react to their first sighting of Raffi Torres were answered, as Jamal Mayers went right after him as the two dropped the gloves, just a little over two minutes into the first period.  The Blackhawks appeared to be fired up, and Viktor Stalberg scored when he and his entire line of  Andrew Shaw, Bryan Bickell, and himself contributed to breaking the scoreless tie.

That was just the tip of the iceberg in the first period, as Patrick Kane added a Power Play goal at 14:52 into the first, to make 2-0 Hawks.  Less than 3 minutes later, Dave Bolland put a slapper past Coyotes goalie, Mike Smith, to make it 3-0 Hawks.  The train kept’ a rollin’ when a minute after the Bolland goal, Patrick Kane added his second Power Play goal, to make it 4-0 Hawks, and the end of the first period!

The second period started off a little slower for the Blackhawks, when Martin Hanzal got Phoenix on the board with a Power Play goal.  Jonathan Toews provided the answer to Hanzal’s goal later in the period to make it 5-1 Hawks.  Toews goal seemed to take any remaining wind out of the Coyotes’ sails as Bryan Bickell made it 6-1, Blackhawks just minutes later.  That goal marked the end of the night for Mike Smith, as Phoenix head coach, Dave Tippet replaced him with backup goaltender, Jason Labarbera.  The Hawks took the 6-1 lead into the locker room, to end only the second period!

The third period just kind of acted as a victory lap for the Blackhawks, although the Coyotes began to show some frustration with the embarassing game on their home-ice as Shane Doan added an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.  The Coyotes however, did add one more goal before the buzzer, as Raffi Torres added a goal with less than 2 minutes to play, to make the final score 6-2 Hawks.

This game was a microcosm of the Blackhawks season thus far.  Overall pure dominance, great team play, great team chemistry, and great special teams.

Notes-

Patrick Kane continues his phenomenal season as he added 2 goals and an assist.  He now has 8 goals and 10 assists (18 points) in 11 games this season.

Brandon Saad got back to his bad luck ways, as he had an excellent game, just no points to show for it.

8 different Blackhawks were credited with at least a point in the first period.

Patrick Sharp quietly added 3 assists, which were his 199th, 200th, and 201st assists in his career.

It’s easy to forget about goaltending in a blowout like tonight’s game, but Ray Emery played a very solid game with 22 saves on the night.

The Hawks really seem to be playing as a real team, as in the last two games, players have started fights as a way of sticking up for teammates.  The road trip seems to be building a well-bonded team.

The Hawks are now an NHL best 9-0-2 on the season, and are an outstanding 3-0-2, through 5 games of the 6 game road trip.

The Blackhawks head to Nashville to finish up their longest road trip of the season, with a match-up against the division-rival Predators.  Puck drop is set for 7:00 PM Central Time.

Jan. 20, 2013; Glendale, AZ, USA; NHL referee Marc Joannette (25) drops the puck for a face off between Phoenix Coyotes center Boyd Gordon (15) and Chicago Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews (19) to start the game at Jobing.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Game #11- Chicago Blackhawks(8-0-2, 18 points) Vs. Phoenix Coyotes(4-4-2, 10 points) 

Game time- 8:00 PM Central Time

TV- CSN-CH

Radio- WGN 720 AM

Season Series- 1/20/13,  CHI 6 PHX 4

Preview- The Chicago Blackhawks look to continue their succesful road trip, as well as their obnoxiously succesful early season, as they head to the desert to take on the Phoenix Coyotes.  This is the second meeting of the season between the two teams, the Blackhawks won the first meeting on January 20th, which as also in Phoenix, by a score of 6-4.  Tonight however, adds another wrinkle of interest as it will be the first time the Blackhawks are facing Raffi Torres since his well-documented hit that ended with Marian Hossa leaving the game on a stretcher, during the first round of last year’s Western Conference playoffs.

The Coyotes should be well-rested, having been off since Monday, and finally starting to carry some momentum with them as they have won two games in a row, after having an up and down start to the season.  Phoenix is lead by long-time veteran and captain, Shane Doan, who is off to a bit a slow start this season, but always makes his presence known.  The Coyotes’ leading scorer thus far this season is former Hawk, Radim Vrbata, who is coming off of his best offensive season of his career last season.  Young defenseman, Oliver Ekman-Larsson continues to impress and put up good offensive numbers from the blueline.

The Coyotes’ success is largely dependent on goaltender Mike Smith, who the Hawks got the best of in their 6-4 victory in the second game of the season.  Smith was off to a rough start to the season, and even missed a bit of time due to injury.  Since coming back from injury, Smith has started to play like the Mike Smith of old.

The Blackhawks continue their 6-game road trip, and will look to continue their wildly successful start to the season tonight.  This will be the 5th game of the 6-game road trip, in which the Hawks are 2-0-2, good for 6 points.  Brandon Saad has played extremely well for the Hawks on the top line along with Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa.  Saad scored his first career NHL goal in the last game against San Jose, let’s see if he can get in an offensive groove and start putting up points on a regular-basis.  Patrick Kane continues to pile up points this season, after a 2 goal night in San Jose on Tuesday.

Ray Emery will be getting the start in net tonight in relief of Corey Crawford, for the Blackhawks.  Emery faced the Coyotes in the only other meeting between the two teams this season.  In that game Emery looked shaky, but still ended up securing the win.  In Emery’s most recent start, against the Calgary Flames, he showed no shakiness at all, instead turning in a career-best 45 save performance against the Flames.

The Blackhawks would be wise not to get caught up in the hoopla over the return of Raffi Torres.  If the Hawks play smart, and stick to their game(a little help from the powerplay wouldn’t hurt either) they should be able to get two points.

Rob Grabowski-US PRESSWIRE

As we keep making our way down my list of Blackhawks players who make me swear in front of children, we come to a player who didn’t take very long to make this list.  In fact, Dan Carcillo made my most hated list before the ink on his contract was even dry! There are players that I can’t stand throughout the NHL that I would love on the Blackhawks, like Ryan Kesler, Scott Hartnell and even Steve Ott.  Dan Carcillo is not one of these guys.  I hated him when he was an idiot on the Phoenix Coyotes.  I hated him when he was an idiot on the Philadelphia Flyers.  I can’t stand the fact that he is idiot for my beloved Blackhawks.

The signing of Carcillo pissed me off from day one, and the fact he got a two year extension really boils my blood.  I know the Hawks needed more “toughness” when they signed Carcillo, but he isn’t a tough guy he is a meat head.  Jamal Mayers is a tough guy, someone who can play within himself and be physical when the time calls for it.  Carcillo plays a reckless style of hockey, with no regard to himself or his fellow players.  All you have to do it watch the play from January 2, 2012 to see what Carcillo is all about.

Not only did the Blackhawks lose that game because of two goals scored against them on Carcillo’s five minute major, but it ended Carcillo’s season as well.  During the first few weeks of the season, when Carcillo was contributed to the team I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, and boy did it ever! “CarBomb” is a selfish player and a distraction on a team that can be a Stanley Cup contender.  He will never get the benefit of the doubt on a call from an on ice official or on one from the league office either.  He is a liability that will spend more time in the press box than on the ice over the next two seasons.  If I revisit this list in a couple of years, I am willing to bet the Carcillo moves up the list to a spot much higher than #9.

Thank you for reading, be sure to follow me on Twitter @SAMotherPucker

Rob Grabowski-US PRESSWIRE

Yesterday the Blackhawks announced that single game tickets will go on sale August 20th to the general public.  With that in mind, I took another look at the schedule and picked out the five games at the United Center I am looking forward to the most.  All of this is subject to change and are at the mercy of the CBA negoiations so these games might not actually happen.

November 5, 2012 vs Pittsburgh Penguins

The Pens games are always fun because legions of Dbags in Sidney Crosby jerseys make the trek to Chicago every year.  The Penguins are one most explosive teams in the league and are always a treat to see in person.  One player that we haven’t seen in quite some time is the aforementioned Sidney Crosby.  Crosby has only played two games against the Blackhawks in his entire career.  The only game he has ever played at the United Center was back in his rookie season of 2006, long before many people in Chicago remembered there is a professional hockey team in town.  It will be interesting the see if Sid the Kid plays in this game or ducks the Blackhawks again.

December 28,2012 vs Carolina Hurricanes

The Carolina Hurricanes have been very active this summer and has added a lot of star power to their roster.  This will be the only time the Hawks will play the Canes in the regular season.  It will be the first time Chicago fans get to see Jeff Skinner play in person.  We will also get a look at the revamped Carolina offense that now includes Jordan Staal and Alex Semin.  I always enjoy the Eastern Conference games to see players that don’t make a yearly trip to Chicago.  This game will be full of familiar names and will be a treat to see them play live.

January 2, 2013 vs New York Rangers

I have a huge soft spot for original six matchups.  Any time the Rangers come to town it has a “big game” feel to it.  The Rangers have a ton of star power which peeks the interest in this game.  This will be the only chance to get a peek at Vezina winner Henrik Lundqvist in person, so the puck bunnies will be out in full force.  This night will mark the Chicago debut of Chris Krieder and the only time we’ll get to see Rick Nash in 2012-13.  Can’t say I am not going to miss Nash’s nearly a point per game average versus the Blackhawks.  Plus it will be fun to shout at Rangers coach John Tortorella all night too!

February 12, 2013 vs Phoenix Coyotes

This will be the second trip to the United Center for the Yotes but it will be the first time Raffi Torres will play in Chicago since his attempted murder of Marian Hossa.  That is of course unless he is suspended again or someone has thankfully taken out this skid mark on the underwear of life.  The Coyotes come to the UC on October 30th, but Torres will still be serving his 21 game suspension.  I will make sure to drink plenty of hot tea during the day on 2/12 to make sure I have enough voice to scream at Torres and remind Mike Smith what a joke he is too!

March 1, 2013 vs Minnesota Wild

This will be the first look at the reloaded Wild with their big free agent acquisitions of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter.  Seeing Suter play in person is not that big of deal anymore considering how many times he has been in town with the Nashville Predators.  Parise has only played five career games in the United Center due to horrible unbalanced schedule the NHL has crammed down our throats.  The Hawks and Wild have started to develop a bit a rivalry and played a couple of pretty chippy games at the end of last season.  This should be a fun night and being a Friday I am sure there will be plenty of fans making the trek south from the Twin Cities.

Thank you for reading, be sure to follow me on Twitter @SAMotherPucker

Rob Grabowski-US PRESSWIRE

Now that Zach Parise and Ryan Suter are sleeping on their piles of money in the Twin Cities, the next best free agent still available is Shane Doan.  It is reported that the Blackhawks and Doan have a mutual interest in each other.  The problem is Doan’s agent Terry Bross has pretty much named every team in the NHL as teams that are interested in his client.  Everyone from the Kings, Canucks, Red Wings and Penguins are all in on Doan.  It was so ridiculous I was waiting for Bross to say Doan was interested in signing with the Mighty Ducks because he loved Emilio Estevez’s coaching style.  I feel Doan is just pulling a “Brodeur”  and using these teams as leverage to get more money to stay in Phoenix.

I would have no problem with signing Shane Doan if it was a one year deal for under $4 million.  That is not going to happen with all these teams in play.  It will most likely take 3 years at over $4 million per season to sign Doan.  Doan is a big physical forward that you can pencil in for 20 goals but he will turn 36 on October 10th.  I am not a fan of giving out 3 year contracts to players on the wrong side of 35.  He could be a nice fit with the Hawks but I don’t want a 39 year old Shane Doan taking up a roster spot after 2 seasons.  If signing Doan means that Detroit or Vancouver doesn’t get him than so be it.  In the end I feel Doan will stay loyal to the Coyotes and resign with the only franchise he has ever played for.

Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE

Everyone should have known that the New Jersey Devils were going to win Game 4.  Not only would it be fitting for the Los Angeles Kings to win the Stanley Cup on the road, but the road team has been dominating the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs.  The road domination starts with the Kings who are a perfect 10-0 away from the Staples Center during the playoffs.  The road team has won three of the four games of the Stanley Cup Final so far, but this is a trend that started early in the first round.

The road teams went a ridiculous 30-18 in the opening round of the playoffs.  That is a  .625 winning percentage, which is unheard of!  We were witnesses to road team domination in the Blackhawks series with the Phoenix Coyotes.  Game 1 was the only game in which the home team won.  The Blackhawks lost all 3 games played at the United Center, with both of their series wins coming in Arizona.  Three series went to seven games, and two of those games were won by the road team.  The Devils won game seven versus the Florida Panthers in Sunrise and the Washington Capitals ended the reign of the Boston Bruins with a victory in Bean Town.  The second round was the only round of this year’s playoffs where home ice advantage actually worked.  The home team went 14-7 in the second round.  The road team regained it’s advantage in the Conference Finals by going 7-4.

There have been 84 games played in the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs so far and the road team has a record of 47-37.  I can never remember a year where so many teams struggled to win at home.  What is the reason for this?  Doesn’t home ice advantage mean anything any more?  I am sure we could spent days looking at different theories on why there is home ice disadvantage in this year’s playoffs.  The salary cap could be doing its job and creating a level playing field across the league.  Parity does make the teams more evenly matched from top to bottom.  Could some teams feel more pressure playing in front of their own fans?  I’m no sports psychologist but that could be a reason.  My guess is, it is just one of those freak occurrences that just happens from time to time.  Hockey is a very unpredictable game, full of weird bounces and goofy plays that can swing the momentum of a single game or an entire series.  That is why hockey is the greatest game on the planet and why the Stanley Cup Playoffs is must see television.  If you look at the trends and the numbers you can bet the farm that the Kings will take home the Cup on Saturday night, on the road!

Ed Mulholland-US PRESSWIRE

#8 Los Angeles Kings   vs  #6  New Jersey Devils

Regular Season meetings:

10/13/11 LA 1 @ NJ 2 (SO)

10/25/11 NJ 3 @ LA 0

Stanley Cup Final Schedule:

Game 1 Wed 5/30 LA @ NJ 7pm NBC

Game 2 Sat 6/2 LA @ NJ  7pm NBC

Game 3 Mon 6/4 NJ @ LA 7pm NBCSN

Game 4 Wed 6/6 NJ @ LA 7pm NBCSN

Game 5* Sat 6/9 LA @ NJ 7pm NBC

Game 6* Mon 6/11 NJ @ LA 7pm NBC

Game 7* Wed 6/13 LA @ NJ 7pm NBC

* if necessary

Los Angeles Kings

Regular season record: 40-27-15   95 Pts.

How the Kings got to the SCF: 

1st round: defeated the #1 Vancouver Canucks in 5 games

2nd round: defeated the #2 St. Louis Blues in 4 games

Western Conference Finals: defeated the #3 Phoenix Coyotes in 5 games

Ex-Blackhawks Factor:Colin Fraser and Head Coach Darryl Sutter

The Kings have steamed rolled their way through the top 3 seeds of the Western Conference, on their way to their first SCF since 1993.  They are only the 2nd 8th seed to make the Final, and the first one since the 2006 Edmonton Oilers, who lost to the Carolina Hurricanes.  The Kings are not your typical 8th seed.  They are a team that was picked to contend for the Cup at the beginning of season but underachieved.  It took a coaching change in December, that brought in former Blackhawks player and head coach Darryl Sutter to right the ship.  The Kings lost both regular season meetings versus the Devils, but this is not the same team it was in October.  The Kings have been the best team in the Stanley Cup playoffs and enter the Final an astonishing 8-0 on the road.  They have everything clicking and are going to be very tough to knockout at this point.

(more…)

Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

The biggest ex-Blackhawks factor going into the Stanley Cup Final is Los Angeles Kings head coach Darryl Sutter.  Sutter not only played 406 games for the Blackhawks, from 1979-1987, but he also was the Hawks’ head coach for two and a half seasons from 1992-1995.

When Sutter took over the reigns of the Kings on Dec 22nd, LA was in 10th place of the Western Conference with just 34 points.  The Kings went  25-13-11 under Sutter and now his team is resting and waiting to see who they will be playing for Lord Stanley’s Cup.  It took just 14 games to knock out the top 3 seeds in the West; Vancouver, St. Louis and Phoenix.  The Kings have gone an astonishing 8-0, in road games, on their path to the Stanley Cup Final.  The Kings are playing a tough, no nonsense, defensive minded game which has got Darryl Sutter written all over it.  They have adopted the personality of their head coach and it is paying off big time.

Darry Sutter has always been an outstanding head coach.  This will be his second appearance in the Stanley Cup Final.  He guided the Calgary Flames to a Western Conference title in 2004 but lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning.  His teams have never missed the playoffs in years where he has coached a full season.  The Flames missed the playoffs in 2003, but he took over in midseason that year.  He took the San Jose Sharks to 5 straight post seasons between 1998-2002.

He has won everywhere he has been, including here in Chicago.  He won the last ever Norris Division title in 1991-1992, his first year behind the bench, replacing Mike Keenan.  Sutter parallels Keenan in many ways.  Not only did he replace him in Chicago, but as GM in Calgary, he hired Keenan as head coach before firing him in 2009.  Both coaches have had success where ever they have coached but always seem to eventually wear out their welcome.  Both guys have a “my way, or the highway” attitude which leads to winning, but will lead to friction down the road.  The Kings are enjoying a tremendous run and are not worried about when Sutter’s style will wear thin on them.  I am hoping the Kings bring home the Cup.  Not only because they beat the hated Canucks, Blues and Coyotes, but also to get one of the greatest family names in hockey back on the Stanley Cup.

Can we play Columbus every game? (Russell LaBounty-USPRESSWIRE)

Season Stats

Games-79

Goals-22

Assists-21

Points-43

+/- +6

Penalty Minutes-34

Stats vs Columbus- 8 goals 2 assists in 6 games

Season Review-

To say that the 2011-2012 season was a career year for Viktor Stalberg would be an understatment. He nearly doubled all his offensive categories compared to last seasons totals.  Stalberg has incredible explosion and speed which prompted him to the top 2 lines for the Chicago Blackhawks this past season, but two things seem to be missing in his game. First unless the other team is wearing a Columbus Blue Jackets jersey, he seems to have a difficulty in finishing and getting pucks in the net.  He would be a 50 goal scorer against an 80 game Blue Jackets schedule.  Secondly, he seems to make a stupid play at the wrong time.  He took 4 minor penalties in the same playoff game against the Phoenix Coyotes, and if the Hawks had been healthy you could have made a case for Joel Quenneville to put him up in the sky box to watch the rest of the series. He was almost unheard from during the playoffs only collecting 2 assists which was a major dissapointment after the season he had.

The biggest debate is whether Stalberg is truly a top 6 or bottom 6 guy.  The speed and ablity suggest he should be playing with the Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa’s but his intangibles suggest playing with Michael Frolik’s of the team.  Stalberg also didn’t contribute on special teams not recording one goal.  He must clean up these areas if he wants to make next season his next career year. He will be entering the last season of his contract so maybe we will continue to see more progression in his game.

Contract-

Signed through next season for a cap hit of $875,000

Future-

Stalberg will be asked to continue to score most likely on the top two lines.  He will need to deliver and then some for the team to have another successful campaign, and his future with the team and next contract will hing on next season’s performance

Grade-

B- Career season but must be more accountable and show up for big games in the playoffs

How to make a first impression! (Eric Hartline-USPRESSWIRE)

Season Stats-

Games-37

Goals-12

Assists-11

Points-23

+/- -1

Penalty Minutes-509

Hits-82

Fights-4

Season Review

When the 2011-2012 Chicago Blackhawks season began, to say that a 5th round 139th pick in the past off season draft would have any type of impact on the season would give many a good chuckle especially with all the veteran guys that Stan Bowman had brought in during the off season.  While people were starting to already quit on their New Year’s resolution, Andrew Shaw got the call to the big leagues along with Jimmy Hayes.  In his first game against the Philadelphia Flyers, Shaw got into an early fight and scored a goal.  Although his experience in the OHL wasn’t very extensive, Shaw was never a big scorer, but as soon as he hit NHL ice he seemed to have the Magic Scoring Touch. Not only did he score but  even though he was a little guy, he threw his body around with reckless abandon. Sometimes he had too much Daniel Carcillo  in him and Shaw would be well, just reckless!!

Shaw became an instant Chicago celebrity, and along with Jeremy Lin became Twitter Superstars.  But just like Linsanity, the Shaw excitement died along with most everything positive in the Blackhawks 9 game losing streak. Shaw started playing like well a fifth round pick and got sent back to Rockford.  But two weeks later Shaw was back to stay, and his scoring touch returned.  By the end of the season, announcers were all saying the same thing.. What a steal by GM Stan Bowman getting Shaw in the 5th round!

The recklessness reared its ugly Carbomb Jr head in Game 2 of the playoffs against the Phoenix Coyotes when Shaw ran goalie Mike Smith behind the net.  Pretty sure an Oscar nomination went out to Smith but Brendan Shanahan still handed out a 3 game suspension to Shaw, and he got to see the Hawks lose two home games  from the sky box.  What’s really amazing though is that a fifth round pick was really missed come playoff time!

Contract-

Shaw is signed through 2013-2014 for a cap hit of $565,000

Future-

The future is a mystery to me for Shaw. I believe he will get a shot at a full season because he has the tools to be a good 3rd or 4th line guy, but he will always have to keep a chip on his shoulder to continue being successful.  If he ever gets complacent he will become a very small Bryan Bickell and will never reach the heights of the phenomenon he became in his rookie season.  He has flaws in his game and trouble not playing out of control but can be a piece of the puzzle for a long time if the chip never leaves his shoulder.

Grade- B+ Very successful rookie season