you heard it here first, folks. we witnessed a major shift in the power structure in the new norris division with the hawks downing the league's best team to improve to 3-0 this year against detroit. khabi looked fantastic and the rookies keep playing big time hockey.
but seriously, i like the hawks chances. other than detroit, all four other teams are playing pretty close to each other, and with the way the young kids are playing, they have a lot of potential.
and i'll be able to keep up with them on the tube because they'll be broadcasting five home games this year! and the color commentator said of the blackhawks logo: "isn't that pretty?" FUCK YOU for firing pat foley. assholes.
The Wings pretty much own the rest of the West but Hawks have been their Achilles' heel. The Wings are 13-1 against the rest of the league...still have 5 more meetings with the Hawks to hopefully get some games in their favor. I think we're seeing the rebirth of hockey in Chicago and I for one am very excited. A Red Wings-Blackhawks game used to always mean something. I think it's beginning to get back to the old days where this was one of the best rivalries in the NHL. I've said it over and over...the NHL will benefit when the Blackhawks are strong again. Toews and Kane are as good a pair of rookies on one team to come into the league since probably Drury and Hejduk.
blues are still a year or 2 away from winning the central.
oshie, eller, bergland, etc will be ready. Oshie would already be playing a major role, but wanted to win a ncaa championship.
and also, they get rid of weights $$ and others next season, expect a big move for a forward. also, they have plenty of Defensive depth, and expect them to move one of their quality dmen for talent.
jackman, backman, salvy, etc one or 2 could be dealt.
the real kicker for the hawks is getting marty havlat back, healthy and injury free for the rest of the year (likely not). he's the best player on the team and they are having a lot of success now without his services. he could help the team hit another level.
it's a long season and i expect one or both of the rookies to have some injury or fatigue problems later in the season, but i'm not going to complain about current performance.
i think what kane and toews bring to the table is offensive creativity. the hawks were always making the token free agent signings and getting guys who aren't offensive superstars (doug gilmore, zhamnov, etc.). predicable offensively. the rookies are natural goal scorers and that's a nice shot in the arm. the hawks have the grit, it's the conistant scoring they've struggled to achieve.
and a healthy starting goaltender for most of the year.
Unchartered waters for the '07-08 Red Wings...a two-game losing streak. This definitely isn't the pansy Central Division of the past few years. The Blackhawks are making a nice recovery and the city of Chicago is having a hockey renassaince of sorts, the Predators are still hanging in although they pretty much gutted their veteran core, the Blue Jackets are playing well because Nash and Zherdev are finally contributing and they're get tremendous goaltending from Leclaire and although the Blues are in last, I had them being a playoff this year.
Shoalzie wrote:Unchartered waters for the '07-08 Red Wings...a two-game losing streak. This definitely isn't the pansy Central Division of the past few years. The Blackhawks are making a nice recovery and the city of Chicago is having a hockey renassaince of sorts, the Predators are still hanging in although they pretty much gutted their veteran core, the Blue Jackets are playing well because Nash and Zherdev are finally contributing and they're get tremendous goaltending from Leclaire and although the Blues are in last, I had them being a playoff this year.
i think most of chicago's hockey rebirth is due to the bears being absolutely repulsive. i unfortunately watched all of the chi/oak game on sunday and it was probably the worst game i've seen all year. yeah, bears/raiders out front should have told me, but six combined points for 58 minutes is just brutal. but needless to say, i'm skeptical about this. maybe i should give the kids and the team some more credit, but give me at least until the new year.
