Hits just keep on comin’: Blues take it to ‘Hawks as Toews gets hurt

NOTE: Sorry, but there won’t be any Boxing this morning. My usual box score I use through my big-boy job wasn’t accessible because of a system error and I didn’t want to use another one. Boxing will return Thursday.

Welcome back, Patrick Kane. Goodbye,  Jonathan Toews.

There hasn’t been an official word as of 8:33 a.m. regarding the status of the Captain, but it’s hard to imagine having Tazer suit up Thursday after watching him go down clutching his shoulder.  It pains me to say it, but I’ll stick by my stance when I mentioned last night on the Facebook fan page that  Matt D’Agostini’s hit wasn’t dirty.

Unfortunately, the Toews injury has to be the story after that shitshow that was a 3-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues that dropped the ‘Hawks to eighth in the conference. When the whole squad is finally healthy and then Toews goes down, it’s starting to look like Lady Luck wants to be a fucking bitch this season.

Marty Turco’s performance in net is the only goddamn reason the Blackhawks didn’t lose 10-1. I don’t know what it is about the ‘Hawks, but when No. 30 gets between the pipes they forget how to play hockey. At one point, the Blues were out-shooting the ‘Hawks 25-8 and were dominating in a fashion I haven’t seen in quite some time.

Oh, and this was on a night when the Blackhawks got what we thought was a belated Christmas gift when  Ty Conklin got the nod instead of  Jaroslav Halak. Unreal.

» Rarely do I wish ill-will on anyone, as I feel long-term injury is a very painful thing I’d never want to experience. However, if  Nick Boynton gets hit by the No. 50 Damen bus outside the United Center in the very near future, I’ll celebrate like the ‘Hawks had just won their 10th straight Stanley Cup. If there’s a more useless piece of shit this side of the Mississippi River, point him out. There is not a single thing I can say Boynton brings to this team that the homeless man who begs me for change outside 7-Eleven every day couldn’t bring. The fact that Boynton can even skate boggles my mind, seeing as he’s too goddamn motherfucking stupid to even take a short look before blindly “passing” the puck to open space in his own zone. It’s happened 785942 times this season, and I’m going to blow a fucking gasket if it happens again.

» Maybe it’s just me, but I didn’t have a good feeling about Kaner’s breakaway from the time the puck hit his stick. He looked rusty, which should be expected. It would have been a huge turning point if Kane potted that one, but there has to be some level of expectation here, and just returning from extended time off leads me to side with the fact that he just needs a couple more games under his belt.

» Jake Dowell’s goal was set up by a great patience from  Viktor Stalberg, but Conklin should have it. It goes to show that Conklin’s ability – or lack-there-of – net could have been taken advantage of if the ‘Hawks got more quality chances and put more pucks on him. Alas, the Blues peppered Turco while the ‘Hawks farted passes away and didn’t have much of a sustained attack all night. Dowell’s goal was one of the only “threats” Conklin faced all night.

Keep checking here, Facebook and Twitter for updates on Toews. Myself or Tim will give you the news as soon as we get it.

Follow BlackhawkUp.com @blackhawksup and on Facebook
Download Blackhawk Up’s FREE iPhone and Droid apps
Visit FanSided’s NHL page, Too Many Men on the Site