Here’s What You Should Know:

• The Predators played their game tonight, and then some. Not a lot of the trap, but they backchecked aggressively and that smothered the Hawks’ puck possession game, almost putting it out entirely. Hawks couldn’t get anything going long enough in the Preds’ zone, and when they did, either the shooting lanes were clogged or Rinne had an answer.
• The Predators have also seemed to key in on Patrick Kane. He only had 1 shot on goal in tonight’s game and the Preds seemed to collapse on him whenever he entered the zone. He’ll need support to generate chances there.
• The power play converted on 1 chance tonight, but didn’t look all that impressive in the next chances.
• The penalty kill, however, continues to be solid. In fact, I’d estimate (roughly) that 70% of the Hawks’ dominant play tonight came off of shorthanded opportunities. I can’t figure out why.
• Quite honestly, I don’t know what I would have done, but I can’t think of very many good things to say about Quenneville’s line-juggling in the third period. Watching a grainy feed has its disadvantages, and one of them is that I couldn’t tell who was out for certain periods of time–I could almost swear, however, that towards the end of the 3rd Byfuglien was thrown back out as a forward. Um, what? Kopecky also started skating with Sharp and Hossa, and Versteeg was thrown in with Toews and Kane. They got a couple of chances going, but mostly one-and-dones. Nothing too substantive to warrant a second look.

So About those Keys to the Game…

• Score Two Early. Tie It Up and then Fall Back By Three. If there’s any team that knows how to play with a lead, it’s Nashville. They didn’t play as conservatively with the lead as I expected they would, either, and Erat had that penalty shot that converted into goal #4 as well.
• Shoot Low and Crash the Net. One and Done. Rinse. Repeat. Let Rinne Stand on His Head. Still not enough net presence for my liking, and too many missed chances as well. It’ll take a quality player to beat Rinne flat-out, so those breakaway opportunities and odd-man rushes, which the Hawks had quite a few of, won’t be very easy to get past him. Unfortunately.
• Simplify and Stay Safe. Well, We Never Got a Lead, so This Point is Kind of Moot. But the Hawks failed to do the little things, the simple things–they didn’t win board battles, they couldn’t get the puck out of their zone, and it just felt like they forgot the basics. They were at times careless with the puck and slow to react when the Predators pounced on those mistakes. This loss is still, at heart, a case of being outworked, not outskilled. The Blackhawks can’t make any excuses–they need to show up and play, because that’s the only way they can win any more games.

Game Time: 8:00 pm CT
TV/Radio: VERSUS, RIS, TSN / WIND-AM 560
Don’t, It’s a Trap! On the Forecheck

The thing with playoff series is that when you’re facing the same team day in and day out for a best of seven round, there won’t be much more left to say after a while–and we’re just in game 3. But the series is now a best-of-5, with the Predators earning home ice advantage.

Here’s What You Need to Know:

• Hornqvist, the Predators’ leading goal scorer, is a game-time decision. He didn’t play in the second game of the series either though he was hardly a factor in the first. Patrick Kane has factored in all 3 Blackhawks goals so far this series.
• The Blackhawks have converted 1 of 7 (14.28%) power play chances.
• The Predators have converted 0 of 7.
• Antti Niemi has a 1.01 GAA and a SV% of 0.957
• Pekka Rinne isn’t far behind with a 1.53 GAA and a 0.949 SV%

Keys to the Game:

• Score Two Early. With games as tight as this series is turning out to be, the Blackhawks can’t afford to give the Predators room to play their game, and they’re very good at playing tied, up 1, or down 1. In those cases they are more than comfortable in sitting back and allowing the Blackhawks to make mistakes that they can capitalize on. Take those scenarios away from them and they’ll be forced to play the up-tempo game that the Hawks are so skilled at. Plus, scoring early takes the Bridgestone Arena crowd out of the game fast.
• Shoot Low and Crash the Net. Pekka Rinne is the Preds’ MVP in this series. He absorbs rebounds like nobody’s business. Scrums need to happen in front of him. Someone’s ass needs to be blocking his view. Tip-ins, deflections, dirty rebounds are the way to go. Anything fancy won’t go in if he can see it, unless you’re Patrick Kane’s 6th shot on goal.
• Simplify and Stay Safe. Niemi’s rebound control still sometimes borders on the line of juicy, so the Hawks need to be ready to clear the puck out of the zone and collapse in front of the net if need be. They’ve done a great job covering shooting lanes and making it hard for the Preds to do anything against Niemi–more of that, please. But at the same time, when they’re down by a few the Preds can become pretty aggressive on the forecheck and when they’re pressuring in the Hawks’ zone, the safe play (icing the puck or dumping it) could be the right one.

UPDATE: Looks like Horqvist is out tonight. Good news for the Hawks.

Exxxxxcellennttttt

It was actually a little funny to sit here and watch as everyone freaked out about having a one goal lead like it signaled our impending doom.  But instead of getting dominated like they did on Friday, the Hawks came out like bats out of hell.  Kane summoned his mullet powers and beat Rinne with a wicked wrister.

I honestly can’t even decide who I want to call player of the game.  Let’s look at the candidates:

• Niemi – Nothing to complain about here. Niemi was perfect.  He benefited from some tight defensive play, but was key in bailing out the D a few times.  Nemo looked strong and was challenging shots including some big saves that put the kibosh on any comeback hopes the Preds were mounting late in the 3rd.
• Kane – 3 words: Fear The Mullet.  Kane picked up a goal and an assist last night as he continues to pile up playoff points.  If there’s one thing we’ve learned in the last two years, its that Kane steps up his game in the big situations (see: Canucks, Vancouver).
• Bolland – Bolly has had a down season mostly thanks to back surgery which hasn’t had a chance to rest enough.  Yesterday he picked up the GWG by going to the front of the net on the PP.  It’ll be great to see if he can keep up the play throughout the rest of the postseason. His play can make or break this postseason.
• Sopel – I LOVE SOPEL. There. I said it.  The man is a warrior. Sacrifices the body and does everything that we can expect from our 6th Dman and he’s stepped it up since the loss of Soupy and Johnsson.

So let’s hear what you think. Who was the Player of the Game?

Edit: Ahh I can’t believe I forgot to mention Hossa.  That man is on a mission to prove that curses don’t exist.  He’s getting tons of scoring chances and its only a matter of time before he converts.  Watch for him to leave a trail of bodies behind him because he is intent on carrying this team far.

I have no idea why I can't just put these next to each other. Damnit wordpress.

In game one, we saw a team that stopped playing in the third period.  It was a complete lack of effort.  Maybe it was rust from the layoff, maybe they had some tired legs at the end.  Whatever it was should be fixed by now.

If you really think about it though, the Hawks were one flukey bounce of a goal away from a tie game with 10 minutes to play.  Would the game have played out the same if not for the one lucky bounce? Its hard to say.  But at least there would have been a better shot at winning.

Tonight is the night it has to be turned around.  A lot of people have been calling this a must-win.  I hesitate to say that.  Its very important that they win, but I wouldn’t count this team out if they were down 2-0.

Regardless, I don’t see that happening.  Take away the two empty nets and the bad hop, and you have a team that’s even with the Preds despite a complete lack of focus.  Once that focus kicks in and everyone starts playing with the heart that Hossa was showing, look out because the offensive explosion is coming.  And we saw glimpses of that when the Hawks were dominating the puck possession for most of the 2nd period.

So get ready for game 2.  Let’s move one win closer.

Well, let’s clean the slate for yesterday’s game and throw it out the window, because the Hawks are still in the same place they were before the puck dropped yesterday, only now they have to win 4 games and the Preds have to win 3. Perspective.

The Blackhawks didn’t come out with much jump at the beginning of the game, and there were some instances when it was noticeable that they were a little shaky, maybe nervous, but for the first 40 minutes it is safe to say that they dominated the Predators. They weren’t able to convert on as many chances as they should have, considering how very rarely a Blackhawks player positioned himself in front of the net, and Pekka Rinne did whatever he could to foil their shots from the point and absorb the puck the rest of the time.

But sometime in the 3rd period the Predators found themselves on the receiving end of a fortuitous, fluky bounce that got the puck in the back of Niemi’s net, and somehow that deflated the Hawks, even if it only evened the score. Not long after, a scrum in front of the net–the result of a Troy Brouwer turnover–put the Preds up by 2. The game may very well have been over then. The Hawks only managed 4 measly shots on goal in the 3rd while the Predators put up thrice more, adding salt to the wound with 2 empty net goals to put the final score to 4-1. Predators take the series lead 1-0.

Notes:

• So at the end of the day, the 5 of 8 series ended in upsets after game 1. That number would be 6 of 8 if you consider the 4th-seeded Coyotes an underdog against the 5th-seeded Red Wings, which you should. But game 1 isn’t nearly as important as game 2, so don’t jump off the ledge just yet (though if you do decide to, can you please bequeath your season tickets to me?). All four teams that were down 0-1 after game 1 evened their series last night, and now it’s a best-of-5 game. A Hawks win on Sunday will do the same thing.
• The Hawks clearly took the 3rd period off, but if they match Nashville in work ethic they should be fine. I’ve always been of the “if you don’t earn it then you don’t deserve it” school of thought, and personally I think it’s easier to adjust attitude than it is to adjust skill.
• The Hawks are also due a long video review session–there were many glaring errors in the third period alone, and they would do well to note those mistakes and learn from them. Brouwer should have just iced that puck instead of allowing for that turnover to convert to a goal, for instance; his line had been on the ice for a very long time and they were clearly tired by that point. Versteeg shouldn’t have overplayed on that chance that he had. Keith made a couple of silly mistakes that found the puck on the Predators’ stick. No one parked themselves in front of the net, despite their first goal being off a crashing-the-net play. But these mistakes, brought on maybe by nerves, some rustiness, or even overthinking, should be easily remedied.

Welcome to the first day of your life.  Today is the first day of the playoffs for the Blackhawks.  There’s no stat pack for this game.  None of the stuff that happened in the regular season matters anymore.  Clean slate.  The Blackhawks have earned nothing.

But tonight, we go out there and earn every inch of the ice.  Every loose puck, every battle along the boards, its ours.  Why? Because we want it.  We have the skill, the heart, the desire.  Expectations are high for a reason.  This is a great team, one that’s capable of going far in the playoffs, and it all starts here.  This has been what the whole season has led up to.  From training camp in August all the way up to this point 8 months later.  This is why we are fans.  This is what we live for.

There will be over 22,000 people in the United Center tonight.  That’s 22,000 perfectly good voice boxes going in.  Your goal is to leave it all behind and support the team.  Blow the roof off during the anthem and don’t stop till the final horn sounds.

A journey starts today. Let’s Go Hawks.

Pekka Rinne first made waves last year when he came, seemingly out of nowhere to take over as the Predators’ starting goalie. He hasn’t really disappointed, either, doing a stellar job although the Preds failed to make postseason last year.

This year, Pekka Rinne has continued to perform admirably, and though his career stats have dipped slightly, a 2.36 GAA and 0.911 SV% on the season isn’t bad. In three games against the Blackhawks he has posted a a 1-2 W-L record, a 2.33 GAA and a 0.923 SV%. Of course, 3 games is hardly a suitable sample size, and all of those games occured in the first half of the season–a long, long time ago in a place far, far away or something, so let’s look at his more recent record.

In the 17 games that he started since the Olympic break, Rinne has a 1.94 GAA and a 0.932 SV%. He also posted 4 of 7 shutouts in this stretch, and with a 12-4-1 record it definitely seems as though he’s benefited from the 2-week break.

Then again, separating his records against playoff teams versus non-playoff teams and it appears that he (and the team) struggles against tougher competition. Against non-playoff teams Rinne has 3 shutouts and a 7-1-0 record, but against teams destined for a postseason run, his record falls to 5-3-1 and a 2.44 GAA.

That doesn’t make Rinne any less dangerous a goalie in the playoffs, of course. The Finn plays to his size and can take out a lot of space for attackers. He can play out of his mind and steal a game, as well, and starting out strong may be enough to frustrate the Blackhawks and force them to play more desperately instead of more smartly.

Should Rinne falter in between the pipes, the Predators have Dan Ellis to turn to. He puts up decent numbers for a back-up, but has only played 4 games since the Olympic break. That isn’t very rare, considering most teams try to buckle down with one starting goalie towards the end of the season.

Against Chicago, Ellis also holds a 1-2 W-L record, with a 2.67 GAA and a 0.918 SV%. As with Rinne, the SV% is a little bit inflated given how much Chicago tends to shoot towards the net. And as with Rinne, these games came early in the year–it’s hard to predict how either will play against the Hawks this time around.

What is evident in his last 10 games, however, is that Ellis’ record against playoff (1-4) and non-playoff (4-1) teams isn’t that much different from Rinne’s.

It’s never fun to lose to the Red Wings.  I have an extreme dislike for that team, to put it mildly.  The loss on Sunday stings for a different reason though.  You see, the Hawks were only playing for playoff position, but losing sends the team somewhere very, very terrible: Nashville.

Oh, how I loathe everything about the city of Nashville! Let me count the ways:  First, I hate country music.  I know that has nothing to do with hockey, but the place is the home of country music.  After every Predators goal, the first thing you hear is “I like it, I love it, I want some more of it.” If it wasn’t enough to see the Blackhawks get scored on, my ears are now screaming in pain from listening to that shrieking.

Next up on the list is the power play.  I’m not talking about the players on the ice during the power play.  I can’t hate on those guys because I feel sorry for them. They’re 24th in power play goals, scoring on just 16.4 percent of their chances. The real menace is the Predators PA announcer.  Just listen after the first Blackhawks penalty in Nashville and you’ll hear him lead the crowd in yelling, “The Predators are ON … THE … POWERRRRPLAAYYYYYY.”  How about we get back to watching the game instead of yelling about what’s happening, OK cowboy?

Make sure to keep your eye on number 22, Jordin Tootoo.  I don’t say keep your eye on him because he’s a great player.  It’s a warning. If you don’t, he’ll probably take a cheap shot at you while you aren’t paying attention because that’s what Jordin Tootoo does.  This guy is up there along with guys like Matt Cooke and Sean Avery in the “Guys who I really don’t like because they’re dirty players” category.  If you have time, find his fight against James Wisniewski from two years ago, and watch him get punched in the head repeatedly.

The Predators are one of those teams that are pretty tough to watch play.  Head Coach Barry Trotz has his players committed to playing a strict defensive system.  Unfortunately, it’s extremely boring to watch.  Get ready for a series full of dump and chase (except for Versteeg, who will inevitably try to skate through three defenders all day).
And last on my list of loathing, I’d like to draw your attention to the worst tradition in all of sports.  Instead of creating their own traditions, Nashville decided to modify the stupid tradition of throwing an octopus onto the ice like Red Wings fans love to do.

Preds fans put their little Nashville spin on it so now you’ll probably see a catfish or two hit the ice this series.  That’s right. They carry a big, dead, stinky catfish into the arena.  When I was at a Hawks game a few years back, some guy threw one on the ice toward the end of a Hawks win over the Preds. That guy had to sit there with that smelly fish all game.  Good job man, you certainly got us that time.

Thankfully the playoffs are finally here.  I may not be happy about the matchup, but I sure am happy to see playoff hockey return.  Buckle up. Hopefully it will be a long ride toward the Stanley Cup Finals.

Look how intelligent this guy looks with a beard

First up is the trio of alcoholic Hawks fans at SecondCityHockey.com bring you the guide to growing a beard.  It has their 4 rules on growing what will almost certainly be an ugly pile of face scruff.

1. Become completely clean shaven before the first game. Give yourself a nice baselilne to work with, tabula rasa, if you want to get all academic. This is metaphorical for the team as well, as everything from the regular season is wiped away with the start of the “real” season. Personally, I will be shaving this evening for what will hopefully be the the last time until June.

For the rest of the rules, check out the full article.  And don’t forget to go back daily to see the beard of the day.

So now you might be whining about the stupid reasons that you can’t/won’t grow a playoff beard.  Well, suck it up Nancy.  Rock The Red has a rebuttal for every weak ass excuse that you can possibly come up with.

My job doesn’t allow beards.
If it’s not in the handbook as an officially written rule, and you get grief for this, have your boss call me so I can give him a talking to like the whiner that he is. Then proceed as normal. If it is in the handbook, then that’s a pretty messed up place to work. You might be able to win a lawsuit if they terminate you. Then, you’ll have corporate sponsorship and can grow all the beard you want while you sit home spending those free paychecks on ebay.

Finally, if you’re having trouble growing a beard, learn how from The Art of Manliness.

If you are ready to step up to the challenge of growing a beard, it is time to start growing. The key to a successful beard-growing effort is commitment. Just make a decision to grow a beard and stick with it. Do not be swayed by naysayers or lapses in your own confidence.

So unless your name is Patrick Kane and you’re growing what is going to turn into the best mullet that hockey has ever seen (you’re on notice, Melrose), go out and get some miracle grow.  My beard will be a hideous Kyle Orton style neck beard by next week.  Its awful and patchy, but its no excuse for not growing one.  If anything, it shows people your commitment and passion for a great cause, which will definitely help you pick up all the chicks you can imagine.