It's too bad. place was going crazy during that first period. That was shaping up to be a HUGE turning point. Team bonded together, fought for each other, and looked to be in control...Just couldn't burry the Coyotes, and mental lapses just killed them.

Thursday could get UGLY really fast. I bet we see 1 of the top pair of officials in that one, to get control of it.
BTW, WTF is Bowman at? This is perfect time to come down, and rip the NHL for the Shaw incident and then that. Instead he relys on his captain and Coach to do it, where he should make a stand go crazy on the NHL. You know damn well that Tallon would have to be restrained from going into that official dressing room post game..even with Bettman in the building.
- SteveRain

I don't think there are any to be found!

What puzzles me the most about these hits is that Torres for example could have easily hit Hossa in a manner that didn't require a hospital run, even if it was still considered late. That to me is what makes it easy to discern whether or not there was intent to injure IMO. And even if Torres is looking to send a message because of Smith getting hit then just fight someone. As a Bruins fan I've seen two players get hit like this, one of which was a 90pt guy who now has memory loss and will never play again....and I feel terrible for any team that has a player go down like that.

Calm down and re-read the post. All I said is it wasn't late.
- BleedBlueSTL

I never said he shouldn't have hit him? I said he can make a decision not to railroad someone in that split second. There are plenty of "late" hits every game, he could have eased up and finished his check at the same time.

Who cares, they need to quit punishing based on the outcome and the offending players salary.
- moondawg

Yep. Weber should have been suspended for that crap. The flying elbow that had BAD intentions that he missed with was as bad as the head smash.

Great post
- John Jaeckel

First time I've ever agreed with a Canuck poster

Agreed, I know my buddy Savvyone loves Leddy, but he has horrible last night. Way too noticeable. Saw was Kruger.

Bolland is definetly hurting (back), skating very gingerly, and not very noticeable. This is supposed to be his time of year.

I'd pair with Hammer with Oduya...Oduya is similar to Campbell, and Hammer was very good with 51....Leddy needs to be hidden until he can step up and make an impact.
- SteveRain

The biggest issue is after Keith and Seabrook the dropoff is like falling off a cliff...

The Coyotes have the better balance on defense and it shows.

Not to be missed with all the other stuff is the Hawks have been outplayed for the majority of the series.

On Twitter@AlCimaglia

The way to get this kind of crap to stop. Suspend Torres the rest of the playoffs and the entire 2012-2013 season and playoffs. Take away a year of guys career. As well make Phoenix play with 1 less guy on the bench the rest of the playoffs. Meaning they can only dress 19 guys instead of 20. Extremely harsh but you do this, teams and Goons will think twice about hurting themselves and their teams by running other teams players.
- MrSmitty

Eddie O made this same comment, a couple of years ago. If you get suspended player, your team is down that guy for the time he is out.. ie, you can't bring someone up to replace him. This would do wonders IMO, to help clean up the game.

Thursday could get UGLY really fast. I bet we see 1 of the top pair of officials in that one, to get control of it.


- SteveRain

yes, and i am sure they will be ready to overcompensate for missing that major penalty by really sticking it to the Hawks if they retaliate in the slightest

Agreed, I know my buddy Savvyone loves Leddy, but he has horrible last night. Way too noticeable. Saw was Kruger.

Bolland is definetly hurting (back), skating very gingerly, and not very noticeable. This is supposed to be his time of year.

I'd pair with Hammer with Oduya...Oduya is similar to Campbell, and Hammer was very good with 51....Leddy needs to be hidden until he can step up and make an impact.
- SteveRain

I like the way you think. I'm pretty much thinkng the same thing.

The biggest problem with the hit is that it was unnecessary. Torres had Hoss dead to rights and could have just drilled him, shoulder to chest, and destroyed him. There was no reason to explode up into the face, whether you want to argue that was the point of contact or not. What ever happened to just a hard bodycheck with the shoulder to the chest? He could have killed Hossa without hitting him high. Just skate right through him, don't launch yourself upwards. Points to the element of a lack of respect amongst peers and that is the root of these problems. The refs suck and Shanny is a puppet, but if players would just play the body instead of trying to maim the other guy (Torres, Keith, Neal, whoever), a lot of the crap would be avoided. Modano said it best on Twitter last night, "Way to show off our game, no wonder why out TV deals suck."

Also mostly unmentioned was the coward Torres going down to his knees and hiding when Bollig came to collect. You want to run around and run people and play on the edge, so be it...but at least answer the bell when you choose to play that way. Just cowardice from a big bad a$$ running aound like an idiot.
- PhatJoeSki

Well said

I agree. They saw it. Had to. How they missed him leaving the ice—whether Hossa had his head down or not (which is irrelevant) is mystifying.
- John Jaeckel

Watch it at gamespeed with an open mind (impossible now) and even though you know the hit it is coming, it is still a hard call to say he left his feet.

question... i was at the game and did not see everything that unfolded over the ice after the second period scrum. i was watching kane getting roughed up against the boards and then the goalies, who skated to center ice before heading to the exits....

how the hell from all that did just toews get a roughing call? we went from starting the 3rd period on the PP to 4-on-4 and having to kill a penalty. again, i admittedly wasn't watching the captain so was wondering how we got the only penalty once again from a scrum after the whistle.
- Sconnie

come on, anyone? i realize nobody is talking about it with everything else going on but i really would like to know what toews did to get thrown in the box.

>Yep, we are in total agreement of the need to go back to the one-ref system
>And, as you say, what's lost in all the furor over the Torres hit and "no-call" is the fact that the Blackhawks were DENIED A FIVE MINUTE POWERPLAY and actually HAD TO KILL A 2 MINUTE PENALTY!
>Having that 5 minute powerplay might have made a huge difference in the game
>Hawks for the most part are a very young team and it's showing in their D-zone coverage
>Brent Seabrook = a true Blackhawk
>Maybe if Toews gets his legs back soon, good things can still happen
>Wondering if Sharp is playing through a groin injury
- SnapitUpstairs

Yes... But that would require a step back...The NHL doesn't recognize mistakes easily...Instead they keep stumbling.

:http://bit.ly/HSgggs

For the record,

Soft goal by Crawford, killer.

Leddy was horrible in his end.

Toews looked very tired and not 100%. Frolik was the Hawks' best forward.

Sharp, Kane and Kruger were OK.

Hawks lack of size up and down the ice remains a big problem.

Sources say league is requesting an in-person hearing. Looks like possibly 5+, but who knows

The biggest issue is after Keith and Seabrook the dropoff is like falling off a cliff...

The Coyotes have the better balance on defense and it shows.

Not to be missed with all the other stuff is the Hawks have been outplayed for the majority of the series.

On Twitter@AlCimaglia
- Al

Agreed...but that just shows if the Hawks can get their crap together, they are a better team. 3 OT games, and have we seen a complete or even remotely solid outing from this team yet?

Not to mention, you have all of 2 goals from Bolland, Toews, Sharp, Kane, Hossa, Keith.....That's the other issue. The stars have to be stars. Can't keep on relying on Bolig and Bickell to win games.....Especially at home when you can dictate matchups....

The biggest issue is after Keith and Seabrook the dropoff is like falling off a cliff...

The Coyotes have the better balance on defense and it shows.

Not to be missed with all the other stuff is the Hawks have been outplayed for the majority of the series.

On Twitter@AlCimaglia
- Al

>Yep, the Hawk D, 3 through 6 spots not very good so far
>Very tentative in their own zone and constantly "slowing the game down"
>SBow's being exposed right now for last summer's work

come on, anyone? i realize nobody is talking about it with everything else going on but i really would like to know what toews did to get thrown in the box.
- Sconnie

If I remember correctly, he facewashed someone along the boards before Kane stepped in the middle of it.

Sources say league is requesting an in-person hearing. Looks like possibly 5+, but who knows
- HajdukChicago

If that's true, it's a step in the right direction.

Well said
- John Jaeckel

Agree and that is up to the players to pull back on the advantageous hits.

Watch it at gamespeed with an open mind (impossible now) and even though you know the hit it is coming, it is still a hard call to say he left his feet.
- 12,9 and 22

I watched it last night. Also wouldn't change the fact that the puck was not in the vicinity of the player and the shoulder went to the chin (arm came up slightly at the end too)— and all that, even if he didn't leave the ice, along with his prior record, points to intent.

Now...can we chat about HOW they lost?

Really quick:

Worst goal I have ever seen scored against a Hawk goalie live in my lifetime. Right in front of me, and the guy was maybe 1-2" from the red line. Almost mathetmatically impossible to score from there given the parrallel, etc.

Goal 1 is on Leddy. He looked HORRID last night. Scared, adn timid, and his inability to take a hit, led to the turnover, led to the goal.

Goal 2 is on Crawford and Keith. i get shooting at the far pad for the rebound, but don't kick it to the slot, and WTF is Keith ever going to learn to cover his backside man? Ever?

I thougth Froik was a beast. Toews looks out of whack, but was throwing checks, and doing other things to help the team. Seabrook is by FAR, and I mean a country mile, their best D man.

Keith...how the hell did he miss 2 POINT blank chances? that's the game. Up 2, and the Coyotes are done. Hawks can't seem to get that next goal.

lastly, that BS stickhandling by Kane in OT can't go unnoticed. Why? This was a flash back to old, selfish Kane, and that's just stupid, stupid hockey and those turnovers high in the offensive end always come back and bite....hard.

Don't see how they win 3 of 4 without Hossa, Smith playing amazing, Crawford letting in crap goals, and relyinig on guys like Kruger, Leddy, Hayes/Saad/etc to play a lot of minutes.

They may give the old college try hard on Thursday, come out firing but if Smith holds fort, then it's all back on Crawford to match that...and guess what...he hasn't shown he can do that..and until he wins a playoff round I refuse to buy into this guy. Goalie is the most mentally challenging position in sports outside of NFL QB and Crawford doesn't look to have the stones to handle it....
- SteveRain

Did you miss the one Huet let in that was a high dump-in and no one was in the zone, and he even stared down the puck as it bounced in the corner, yet let it bounce off him and into the net?

Frolik was good, and Toews and Leddy were bad... Toews was winded and Leddy kept getting outmuscled. They tried too many cute plays and holding on to the puck too much and not shooting. Kane had so many opportunities squandered because he held onto the puck too long.

Keith... man that guy had the season on his stick with an open net and hit the post from 10 feet away.

But really, the chances of winning the round are even at worst. You talk about Crawford, but what the heck has Smith done? How many rounds has he won? Heck he'll probably win an Emmy first...

If I remember correctly, he facewashed someone along the boards before Kane stepped in the middle of it.
- EKolb13

figured it was unjustified, thanks

yes, and i am sure they will be ready to overcompensate for missing that major penalty by really sticking it to the Hawks if they retaliate in the slightest
- Sconnie

Probably but if you are a facing a 3-1 hole, think they care? Ask the Penguins who went slapshot on the Flyers in game 3.

it wont' matter....desperate hawks, pissed off crowd over Shaw/Hossa, pissed off Hawks, lots of frustration...

I'm not discouraging it either.....You get up by 2, you run their star players with a Hayes or Olsen. Board them. If the league isn't going to police this crap, you do it yourself.

[img][/img]