Hard Hawk Hockey

Hawks Put Out Flames!

Sunday night the Chicago Blackhawks displayed one of their better games (again) in beating the flu bugged Calgary Flames, defeating Calgary 6-1. While the game was never really in question, the Hawks coming off a six day layoff answered any questions there might have been about being off for so many days.

There were alot of bright spots last night. Jonathan Toews finally got his first goal of the season! Hopefully this gives him the confidence that he needs and that he can go on a bit of a scoring streak.
Patrick Kane looking more and more like a veteran had a three point night with one goal and two helpers. Scoring also came from Martin Havlat, Kris Versteeg, Aaron Johnson and Troy Bouwer. Cristobal Huet was sharp in goal, and probably never realy tested, proving that so far the two goalie system is working. The penalty killing units were exceptional. The Flames who at times struggle with the power play were 0 for 8! That right there could have made the difference early on in the game.

While it was apparent that the Flames were a bit off their game, many of their players were hit with the old flu bug, and you could see that towards the end of the game Iginla, and Bertuzzi among others looked pretty drained. The Flames were finishing up a four game road trip, and I am sure they will be happy to get home.

Coach Joel Quenneville had to be happy with the teams performance last night and was quoted as saying “We were strong. I like how we looked”. Since coach Q has taken over the Hawks look more confident, and are playing with a look that Hawks fans have not seen in quite some time. For those that were worried that Quenneville’s style might be boring, I don’t think that’s become an issue. The Hawks are too talented and Quenneville’s too smart to handcuff the likes of Kane, Toews and Havlat.

Next up for the Hawks will be the Boston Bruins Wednesday evening at the UC. That will be a special night as the Hawks will be honoring former defensemen Pierre Pilote and Keith Magnuson with a special pregame ceremony.

That will be another special night for the Hawks and thier fans before what promises to be another sold out crowd. I am hoping that the Hawks can continue the pace that they are on. Confident, in control and never in doubt is how they are looking, especially at home where they have yet to lose in regulation.

After the 3 upcoming home games including Boston, the Hawks then go on a six game road trip, with stops in Phoenix, Dallas, up to Toronto, back out to San Jose, Anaheim and finally Los Angeles before finally coming home on December 3rd against Anaheim. Kind of a silly trip with the Leafs game tossed in, however, the Hawks will need to stay focused on the task at hand. Getting 8 out of 12 points will be a goal to shoot for. December will ber a tough month as the Hawks have only 4 home games. I ams ure that coach Q will have them ready though. Based on how they’ve played so far under him, things are looking really good!

Thanks for reading.