What we have here is my thought process duirng a Blackhawks game. It's longer than most posts, so if you have a few extra minutes, check it out.
FIRST PERIOD
7:38 p.m., the puck has dropped and the game is under way. I think the red home uni's are the best. They're easily my favorite of the three Blackhawks uni's. They're probably the best in the NHL.
15:37 mark in the first period. Hawks look good offensively, already some good shots. Somebody please put the puck in the net.
12:00 minutes left in the first period. The Blackhawks are on the powerplay. They've sucked on the PP for a couple games now. What gives?
9:10 mark. Hawks just missed a goal, and there was a gathering at the front of the net. The "extracurriclar activites" in front of the net are another reason I love hockey so much. What a mindset, "Nobody gets near the goalie!" Funny stuff.
8:15 mark. YEAH BAYBEE! WHAT A GOAL BY TOEWS! I'll come back later and post a video. Hawks up 1-0. Sweet.
7:04 mark. Kane picked up an assist on the Towes goal. Kane suffered a high ankel sprain on Jan. 1 and has not been the same player since. Granted he's only 20 and in the second year of his NHL career, but what if he never plays at the same, pre-injury level again? That's probably a dumb thought...but what if?
5:42 mark. Commerical break. I like this one.
5:26 mark. Dan Hinote of the Blues has a wicked mustasche. It looks exactly like this.
4:24 mark. BIG HIT! Nothing beats the sound of a Blues player being sandwiched into the boards.
4:08 mark. BLACKHAWK GOOOOOAAAALLLLL! Samuel Pahlsson, acquired March 4th from the Anaheim Ducks, scores his first goal as a Blackhawk. Good times.
3:18 mark. One of the Blues players lost his stick. I wonder what it's like to be stickless and stuck on the ice.
3:01 mark. Players gather, and crazy-man Adam Burrish is at the middle of everything. Down 2-0 so soon and already on the recieving end of some bone-rattling hits, will the Blues resort to fighting to try and get the team motivated? We'll see.
2:23 mark. Crombeen from St.Louis just tried to start a fight, and Ben Eager from Chicago did not oblige. Powerplay time. Good choice. Mature adults use words, not fists, and that's just the kind of character guy that'll help lead a young team to the Stanley Cup Finals...
14.7 second mark. Hawks will be killing a 3:00 minute penalty to open up the second period, due to a high stick which drew blood from a Blues player. It was Hinote to be specific. I didn't know people with mustacshes like his could even bleed. Wow, you learn something new every day.
END OF FIRST PERIOD: An exciting period. I'm glad the Hawks are up 2-0, it's been awhile since they were able to play with a subtantial lead. Time for some NHL 09 while I wait for the second period to start.
SECOND PERIOD
20:00 mark. Puck just dropped. While the Blackhawks came back on the ice, you could hear the goal horn blaring. I've decided that a "goal horn" is one of my favorite sound in sports, tied with "In Heaven There is No Beer" following a Hawkeye victory. Esepcially in person, when the Hawks score and the horn goes off, and you can feel it in your chest...it's hard to beat.
17:00 mark. Hawks just killed off the remaining three minutes of the 4 minute penalty they commited late in the first period. Mark this, as the Blues inability to convert could be huge later in the game.
15:07 mark. Some guy on the Blues has a last name of, "Winchester." Which makes me think, why do people name their kids after a gun? I don't know how often it happens, but I'm looking at you Colt McCoy. I think Uzi Patchett has a nice ring to it. That signautre would probably look cool too, except I've forgotten how to write a cursive "Z."
12:52 mark. Tickets for all rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs are on sale, including the Cup finals. What?
11:21 mark. Hawks on the powerplay...lets put another one in the net. Oh my, a four minute penalty. I had a coach who once said, "A 2-0 lead is the hardest lead to hold in sports." I'm not really sure why that is, or if it's even true, but I'm all for a scoreboard reading, "Blackhawks:3 Blues:0."
9:56 mark. I just grabbed a Coke Zero, because it was the only soda here, and you know, I don't think it tastes that much like actual Coke. More like flat Coke.
7:21 mark. Hawks fail to convert on a four minute powerplay. Mark this. A potentially huge momentum boost for the Blues. And again, the Hawks PP woes continue. Something like this cannot happen in the playoffs.
5:52 mark. CLINK! Hawks shoot but hit the post. Ahhh yes, the fickle mistress that is the goal post. Sometimes your best friend, other times your worst enemy.
3:58 mark. HUUUGE save by the Bulin-Wall, and just after a big save on the other end! I love it when goaltenders answer each other. The physical play is picking up as well and the crowd is booming. I'm getting goosebumps. I heart hockey.
3:46 mark. Too much rough stuff from St.Louis and yet another chance for the Hawk powerplay. DO SOMETHING!
END OF SECOND PERIOD: Great stuff Hawks! They outnumber the Blues in shots 21-7 and still lead 2-0 after a very exciting period. Thanks to that Coke Zero, it's time for a bathroom break. After that, as is customary at Blackhawks game, the second intermission entertainment is a "Shoot the Puck" contest. Three people take turns shooting the puck at the goal, which is blocked off except for one small opening. The shooters are always two men and one attractive, clevegefull (is that word?) woman. The dudes always get booed, and the chicks always get a standing O.
Tonight's male shooter is a mixed martial arts fighter who looks like he suffers from a severe case of SMS (small-man syndrome). Will he start a pull a Ron Artest and punch a fan when he hears all the boos?
He didn't.
THIRD PERIOD
20:00 mark. Puck drop. Twenty minutes to hold off the Blues and pick up a crucial two points in the standings.
18:15 mark. Blues try to instigate another fight and the Blackhakws "show great restraint," according to Eddie O, the Chicago color-guy. Another Chicago powerplay. Maybe we'll get a goal this time? By the way, the Hawk PP is 0-5 tonight. And as I finish that sentence...CLINK! Damn post.
16:15 mark. Another blown PP. 0-6. wtf?
11:03 mark. Eddie O. breaking down a mistake by Patrick Kane. I'd really like to see the Blackhawks make a deep run in the playoffs, but every game they seem to make "young team" mistakes. That stuff is going to kill us come crunch time.
8:52 mark. During a close-up of the Blues goalie, I noticed a puck mark on his jersey. A big, black smear. I was in Chicago over spring break and I stopped by the Blackhawks Store. They sell game-worn jerseys there, with puck marks all over them, for $1500.00.
4:31 mark. SHORTHANDED GOOOOAAAALLL by Chicago! 3-0 with a few minutes left, this game is pretty much in the bag. Now all that's left is for the Bulin-Wall to get his shutout.
END OF THE THIRD PERIOD
Blackhawks win! Blackhawk goalie Khabibulin was two seconds away from picking up the 40th shutout of his career, but gave up a goal after a bogus penalty call. Still, a huge win. The Blackhawks move back into fourth in the Western Conference and end a two-game losing streak. Good things.
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