The Committed Indian
Transcription
The Committed Indian
$3 We See It Right, We See It Well, And We’ll Save You From Your Hell The Committed Indian The REal Fan’s Program secondcityhockey.com March 1st, 2009 $3 [email protected] DOWN WITH THE KINGS (FOR ONCE) Ugh, sunlight! We’re surprised you still bought this after getting a clear look at how hideous we truly are. Thanks for your charity. For all those who have been clamoring for the Hawks to trade Khabibulin (we’re not mentioning names, but it rhymes with “Fairy Pozner”) Friday night against the Pens would be Exhibit A as to why not. We mentioned this on the stats page on Friday, and now it graduates to the front page today. Cristobal Huet, for the most part, has been good to very good. It should also be mentioned that during the 2nd period against Pittsburgh he came up with some big saves to keep the Hawks in it. But the Hawks would not have needed keeping in it if Huet had not let in two --arguably three -- baby-ass soft goals. We understood Q putting in Antti Niemi in the 3rd period, but it was at least five periods too late. Huet has never shown he can handle a major workload. It bears repeating: Huet has never played more than 50 games in a year. He’s always split time, and thrived while doing so. Niemi should have gotten a start against Minnesota -- where he barely would have had anything to do -- or in Nashville, if for no other reason than to give the Hawks a spark in a game where they were clearly road weary. The Amazing Cristobal just can’t perform after two or three starts in a row, which makes us awfully urpy about turning over a playoff run to him (Granted, a playoff schedule is different -- far less travel, no back-to-back games, and each team is on the same travel schedule). Good thing the Hawks are paying him so much, then. season, Toews would be staring his first 40goal season in the face. We are truly blessed to have him. When Dogs Get Wings To this afternoon, and the visit from the Los Angeles Kings, who can only be described as a royal (cheeky) pain in the ass for the Hawks. A couple weeks ago, when the Kings threw up seven wins out of eight, there was a real buzz about a playoff spot. That’s been tempered a bit by losing the last four of five. The Kings find themselves four points out of the 8th seed, with five teams to leap over. In Gary Bettman’s everybody-gets-atrophy world, that’s an awfully big task (Seriously, who the fuck likes this system? Where does he get his numbers? Deerfield?) However, this team is hardly the disaster that some had predicted. Part of the reason for those predictions was a goalie situation that was crap-tacular. Fittingly, the reason for the small renaissance in the new year is newfound steady play in that area from one Jonathan Quick (God knows we got enough of it in January), and improved play from Erik Ersberg Lettuce. Quick has been pretty stellar in the last four games since a full body dryheave against Atlanta, where he was pulled after giving up three goals on seven shots. He stopped 39 of 41 Scum shots on Friday night, so expect to see him today. The Kings have some impressive, young talent up front --Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar most notably. But it’s along the blue line that the Kings have really started to grow something. Kyle Quincey, Drew Doughty, and Jack Johnson for a burgeoning triumverate (what?) that one day soon may rival Keith, Seabrook, and...um....Keith again. Quincey’s been the real surprise; plucked from Scum on waivers when they ran out of space for him (yes, they’d rather have 78-year old Judas Chelios than this kid), he’s put up 30 assists, and looks to be a real player. Shut Him Down, The Ones With The Crown The Hawks have struggled with the Kings for a couple seasons now. Last year, they split, though one of the Hawks’ wins shouldn’t count as they blew a four-goal third period lead and escaped in OT. There was also the 9-2 shellacking last New Year’s Day, and two 5-2 losses this season. Partly, the Hawks have just not shown up against a team they must think is inferior to them. Secondly, the Kings are pretty sound defensively -more so now with better goaltending -- and the Hawks haven’t put in the effort to break them down, at least not for 60 minutes. The Kings also finish every check (known at the St. Louis Plan), which we know the Hawks don’t handle too well. However, the last time these two teams met, when the Hawks finally got going in the last 30 min., the Kings were mauled. L.A. has also had a problem putting a full 60 minutes together. If the Hawks do so, we’ll have two more points. -Gov. Bobby Jindal City Slick Captain On the opposite end of the spectrum, Jonathan Toews put on a tour de force on Friday. In fact, he’s been doing that for the better part of six weeks. It was more than just his hat-trick (should have been four). As frequent contributor Matt McClure said, “If you played a drinking game where you had to take a drink every time Toews emerges from a battle on the boards or the defensive zone with the puck, you’d be bathing in your own vomit by the second period.” Captain Marvel was simply EVERYWHERE against Pittsburgh. Starting plays, finishing them, keeping them going. Some were worried that the Hawks actually might not have a #1 center, instead of being short a #2. Toews has quite simply put that to rest the past few weeks, and with authority. Without his 12-game goal drought to start the “You know Cris, some men can go more than twice in a row!!” FROM THE EDITOR The following is an actual email I sent to Tom O’Grady, Executive Producer of Gameday Presentation. Dear Mr. O’Grady, Good day, sir. My name is Sam Fels, and I am one-half of the Blackhawks Blog Second City Hockey (Ed. note- I didn’t want to mention I write this for fear that the Hawks organization may want to “kick it old school” and make my life a living hell outside the UC). I am writing to you today because I feel I have a pretty good feel for the pulse of Hawks fans, and there’s an issue which is grating on all of us. I feel it is my duty as a spokesman for Hawks fans everywhere to communicate to you our feelings. It’s our goal song, Mr. O’Grady. Frankly, it sucks. I’m sorry to use such a coarse term, but there simply is no other way around it. Believe me, I’ve heard it described in much worse tones, including some that made children cry. But making more children cry is the goal song. Sam I’m not sure what you were going for here. Happy? Okay, I guess. But this is happy in the way that guy in your office who’s always cheerful. Do you know what people want to do to that guy? Pull out his esophagus. Nobody likes the stupidly-happy guy. And that’s what the Fratellis’ song you’ve chosen is. A goal-song should be loud, jarring, raucous, euphoric. After all, this is celebrating a moment that only happens a few times a night. A goal is an event, a jarring event. The song you’ve chosen isn’t loud, or contain any attitude whatsoever. This is hockey; it’s all attitude. A hockey goal song should make you want drink beer and spill it down your chest. It should produce adrenaline. Your current song makes me want to drink tea, and ponder my emotions. There are plenty of examples of good goal-songs around the league. The Rangers use an original composition that provides a sing-along part, which I think is what you were going for. But theirs contains power chords and drips with spunk. Yours drips with poodle turds. If you don’t want to go that route, you could copy some other teams. Both Philly and Anaheim use Pennywise’s “Bro Hymn,” which also has a sing-along chorus-thing. That’s not bad, but we’d like to be original. So we have some suggestions. Personally, I would love to use Pantera’s “Walk”. I understand if you think this might scare mothers; heaven forbid their kid listens to anything dangerous, i.e fun. But you could still be dorky, as you are now, if you changed the chorus to “Re’...spect! Hawks!” If you want to go really underground, frequent contributor Matt McClure is clamoring for you to use Naked RayFels gun’s “Soldier’s Requiem.” They’re even a Chicago band. But we understand if you would like to go with something a little more user-friendly, and well known. How about “Pump It Up,” either Elvis Costello’s or the Mudhoney cover? “Search and Destroy” by the Stooges? These are perfect. Or you know what, Mr. O’Grady? You don’t even need a goal song. Most fans have expressed a desire for Frank Pelico to just play Here Come the Hawks, or whatever he feels. We don’t need a song to make us feel excited. Whatever you decide, sir, this song has to go. We’re the laughingstock of NHL fans. We deserve better. Please, listen, and lose it. Oh, and can the Hawks hit the ice to “Youth Gone Wild” again? NHL STANDINGS Eastern Conference 1 Boston 3 New Jersey 2 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Washington Philadelphia Montreal NY Rangers Florida Buffalo Carolina Pittsburgh Toronto Ottawa Tampa Bay Atlanta W L 40 18 42 40 33 34 32 31 31 32 31 25 23 20 23 NY Islanders 19 12 19 OTL PTS GF 26 Calgary 75 194 189 20-6-4 14-16-3 17-8-5 14-15-3 7 8 7 5 6 30 12 36 3 21-10-1 12 34 19-9-2 193 153 26 28 San Jose 83 8 27 1 3 10 6 7 85 76 72 70 69 69 68 62 56 52 52 45 211 182 198 175 21-4-5 21-8-4 215 142 24 25 HOME AWAY 93 5 10 23 Western Conference 9 17 22 GA 25-6-1 18-8-4 159 175 19-10-4 182 175 17-12-2 191 195 17-12-2 171 173 169 186 191 227 17-13-1 11-11-8 152 176 13-11-6 188 221 11-17-2 156 198 150 204 11-12-8 13-13-5 *late game not included 15-12-4 15-9-6 13-14-4 14-13-5 15-14-4 2 4 5 6 7 8 9 Red Shite HAWKS Vancouver Columbus Anaheim Nashville Minnesota* 14-14-4 10 Edmonton* 10-17-4 12 St. Louis* 12-17-4 14 Phoenix* 14-15-4 9-18-4 6-23-2 11 Dallas 13 Los Angeles 15 Colorado TOP 10 LIST Top 5 Reasons We Hate Afternoon Hockey 5. Do you have any idea how late we were out last night? 4. Sunlight tends to...well, kills us 3. Arena full of kids means we get dirty looks from parents after we let loose the string of obscenities that watching Buff skate causes 2. If we start drinking at 2pm Sunday, Monday morning will be hell 1. Does West Madison really look good in the light? Top 5 Reasons We Love Afternoon Hockey 5. Straight from the call girl’s place to the UC without showering 4. Gets us out of whatever “brunch” is. Seriously, brunch? What is this, New York? 3. If we start drinking at 2pm Sunday, Sunday night will be interesting 2. Teaching kids how to properly call Frolov “fuckwad” 1. Hair of the dog and hockey! W L OTL PTS 41 14 8 90 42 37 34 31 31 31 31 30 30 29 27 26 27 28 10 18 17 22 25 28 28 25 26 25 26 26 30 34 9 6 9 8 6 5 4 5 5 7 8 9 5 1 93 80 77 70 68 67 66 65 65 65 62 61 59 57 GF GA 205 148 234 187 195 175 201 153 HOME AWAY 26-2-3 16-8-6 24-4-3 17-10-5 15-5-6 19-12-3 22-7-4 15-11-2 183 174 15-11-4 16-11-4 167 173 19-10-2 12-15-4 180 188 15-13-3 16-15-2 159 172 19-11-2 12-17-2 153 141 18-11-5 12-14-0 170 186 14-12-4 16-14-1 178 187 17-11-4 12-14-3 170 180 16-11-5 11-15-3 158 175 13-13-8 13-13-1 158 190 17-12-2 10-18-3 169 200 17-14-0 11-20-1 PUCK DROP Michal Handzus, a.k.a Ol’ Dump In His Pants, C, Los Angeles: What was your favorite moment of the Handzus in Chicago era? All eight games of it, that is. If you want to know why we’ve dubbed him thusly, watch #26 skate today. He moves around the ice as if he just soiled himself. Maybe he did, and that might explain why it’s so hard to knock him off the puck. Who the fuck wants to get that close to him? Anyway, Zeus chased the money out to LA, where he’s been what he’s always been, a pretty solid center, but an overpaid one at $4 million. Would have been nice to see what he and Havlat could have done together if either could have stayed healthy. Chicago Blackhawks 34-17-9 The only line to be a negative in Corsi Rating on Friday was Versteeg’s. This third line is becoming a black hole. On Hockey Night In Canada last night, Al Strachan reported (so take it with at least three grains of salt) that Coach Q and Campbell are having their differences, so while the Hawks aren’t shopping Soupy, they won’t hang up on you either. It’s extremely unlikely that anyone would take that contract, though we’d love the space. Campell has definitely had a hand in the power play’s turnaround, and his exit would leave only Keith with any sort of speed from the blue line. But it’s clear Q isn’t enamored, as he booted 51 off the first PP unit on Friday, and hasn’t played him on the PK in months. Though the flexibility is tantalizing, the precedent of shipping out a free-agent signing mere months after bringing him in will leave the Hawks with a rep that will make future free agents think twice, or saddle the Hawks with cumbersome no-trade clauses. Stay tuned. # Pos Player Ht WT AGE GP G A P +/- PIM PP SH GW S S% Salary (Cap Hit) 88 R Patrick Kane 5'10" 187 20 58 20 35 55 1 36 10 0 3 180 11.1 $3,725,000 24 R The Perfect Beard 6'2" 217 27 60 20 33 53 19 22 5 0 3 182 11 $6,000,000 19 C Captain Marvel 6'2" 209 20 60 25 27 52 12 41 9 0 6 153 16.3 $2,800,000 32 L VerStud 5'10" 180 22 57 16 28 44 14 49 4 4 2 94 17 $491,667 51 D 51 Phantom 6'0" 188 29 60 7 34 41 6 18 4 0 1 78 9 $7,142,875 10 L The Sharp-Shooter* 6'1" 197 27 54 23 15 38 2 39 8 0 4 163 14.1 $3,900,000 36 C Dave Bolland 6'0" 188 22 60 14 23 37 20 34 0 2 4 85 16.5 $845,833 16 L Nails 6'2" 198 23 60 10 25 35 23 22 0 0 1 141 7.1 $1,550,000 2 D Duncan Keith 6'1" 194 25 56 7 25 32 30 36 2 1 1 114 6.1 $1,475,000 25 D Cam Barker 6'3" 213 22 47 4 26 30 -2 49 4 0 1 62 6.5 $2,768,587 33 R Dustin Byfuglien 6'3" 247 23 55 10 12 22 -1 66 3 0 2 147 6.8 $3,000,000 22 R Troy Brouwer 6'2" 213 23 51 8 14 22 13 46 3 1 0 97 8.2 $675,000 7 D Brent Seabrook 6'3" 220 23 60 5 11 16 18 47 2 1 0 99 5.1 $3,500,000 46 C Colin Fraser 6'1" 188 23 60 5 10 15 7 46 0 0 0 44 11.4 $500,000 55 L Ben Eager 6'2" 220 24 56 10 4 14 9 116 0 0 0 60 16.7 $568,000 43 D James Wisniewski 6'0" 207 24 29 2 11 13 8 14 1 0 0 67 3 $900,000 8 D Matt Walker 6'3" 214 28 48 1 9 10 14 60 0 0 0 62 1.6 $600,000 37 R Adam Burish 6'1" 189 26 44 5 3 8 7 69 0 0 2 65 7.7 $712,500 23 D Aaron Johnson 6'1" 211 25 28 3 5 8 18 24 0 0 1 20 15 $600,000 28 R Craig Adams 6'0" 197 31 36 2 4 6 -3 22 1 0 0 38 5.3 $600,000 5 D Brent Sopel * 6'1" 211 32 23 1 1 2 -4 8 0 0 1 15 6.7 $2,333,333 11 R Jack Skille 6'1" 208 21 7 1 0 1 -3 5 0 0 0 12 8.3 $1,275,000 Totals/Averages 6'1" 203.75 24.38 199 355 873 56 9 1981 10.05% $44,119,795 # Goalie HT WT AGE GPI Min GAA W L OT SO SA GA Sv% G A PIM Salary 39 Nikolai Khabibulin 6'1" 209 36 29 1673 2.37 17 5 5 1 870 66 0.924 0 2 6 $6,750,000 38 Cristobal Huet 6'1" 205 33 33 1884 2.32 17 12 3 3 863 73 0.915 0 0 2 $5,625,000 31 Antii Niemi 6’2” 204 25 34 1924 2.4 17 12 3 3 885 77 0.913 0 0 2 $488,000 6'1" 207 34 1 22 2.73 0 0 1 0 6 1 0.833 0 0 0 Totals/Averages *injured Probable Pairings Probable Lines Left Wing Center Right Wing 22 Brouwer 19 Toews 88 Kane 16 Ladd 33 Byfuglien 37 Burish 36 Bolland 24 Havlat 46 Fraser 55 Eager 32 Versteeg 11 Skille 16 years ago, David Stern sent me to ruin the NHL. I have done everything I can think of to drive the core fan away, strip hockey of all that’s great about it, and eliminate any attention by the mainstream media... 2 Keith 51 Campbell 43 Wisniewski 7 Seabrook 8 Walker 25 Barker $12,375,000 TOTAL CAP NUMBER: $57,283,000 CAP SPACE: $274,000* *space also affected by buyouts and injured players Injury List Brent Sopel- Out (Talent) Patrick Sharp- Out (Knee) Nikolai Khabibulin-Questionable (groin?) I am so close to completing the task Stern charged me with.... Here’s a guy we hope Tallon at least calls about before Wednesday. Terrific at draws, solid in both ends of the ice, can play a point on the PP, and a reasonable cap number. Hell Damn Ass Kings 26-26-9 One reason the Kings have given the Hawks so much trouble is that they’ve drilled them in the face-off circle. They’ve gone 81 for 121 in the two game, for a paltry winning pct. of 66% # Pos Player Ht WT AGE GP G A P +/- PIM PP SH GW S S% Salary (Cap Hit) 11 C Anze Kopitar "A" 6' 3" 219 21 61 19 31 50 -16 20 7 1 3 179 10.6 $956,000 23 R Dustin Brown "C" 6' 0" 207 24 59 23 25 48 -6 54 7 0 5 241 9.5 $3,175,000 24 R Alexander Frolov 6' 2" 204 26 61 26 20 46 -2 22 11 1 1 135 19.3 $2,900,000 28 C Jarret Stoll 6' 0" 214 26 61 15 21 36 5 54 7 0 0 127 11.8 $3,600,000 12 L Patrick O'Sullivan 5' 11" 190 24 60 14 22 36 1 16 2 1 1 197 7.1 $2,925,000 27 D Kyle Quincey 6' 2" 207 23 58 3 30 33 0 47 2 0 2 124 2.4 $514,000 26 C Michal Handzus 6' 4" 218 31 61 11 17 28 -8 22 3 1 3 108 10.2 $4,000,000 19 L Kyle Calder 5' 11" 177 30 56 7 14 21 0 33 2 0 1 73 9.6 $2,700,000 8 D Drew Doughty 6' 1" 203 19 60 4 14 18 -8 42 2 0 1 98 4.1 $3,475,000 17 R Wayne Simmonds 6' 2" 181 20 61 5 9 14 -7 48 1 0 1 90 5.6 $822,000 9 C Oscar Moller 5' 11" 180 20 31 6 7 13 -2 14 5 0 0 62 9.7 $786,000 5 D Peter Harrold 5' 11" 188 25 53 3 8 11 -10 20 1 0 0 77 3.9 $583,000 6 D Sean O'Donnell 6' 2" 230 37 61 0 10 10 4 56 0 0 0 22 0 $1,250,000 2 D Matt Greene "A" 6' 4" 234 25 61 1 9 10 -2 95 0 0 0 56 1.8 $1,150,000 54 R Teddy Purcell 6' 3" 202 23 20 1 6 7 -2 2 0 0 0 29 3.4 $63,900 42 D Tom Preissing ** 6' 0" 197 30 22 3 4 7 -7 6 2 0 0 40 7.5 $2,750,000 7 C Derek Armstrong 6' 0" 197 35 37 4 1 5 -12 51 1 0 1 28 14.3 $1,500,000 15 C Brad Richardson 5' 11" 184 24 23 0 4 4 -4 11 0 0 0 29 0 $588,000 3 D Jack Johnson 6' 1" 225 22 20 3 1 4 -12 29 2 0 0 27 11.1 $2,150,000 21 D Denis Gauthier Jr. 6' 2" 220 32 49 1 2 3 -8 60 0 0 0 29 3.4 $1,931,000 41 L Raitis Ivanans 6' 4" 256 30 60 2 0 2 -7 115 0 0 2 20 10 $600,000 13 R John Zeiler 6' 0" 204 26 23 0 0 0 -3 37 0 0 0 2 0 $702,000 Team Totals/Averages 6’ 1” 206.23 26.0 154 258 412 876 55 4 1833 8.40% $39,120,900 Johnson has been woeful at even-strength, but he’s been their best player with the man-advantage, according to Behind The Net. # Goalie HT WT AGE GPI Min GAA W L OT SO SA GA Sv% G A PIM Salary 32 Jonathan Quick 6' 1" 216 23 24 1254 2.49 8 9 4 0 525 52 0.901 0 0 2 $488,000 31 Erik Ersberg 6' 0" 168 26 26 1447 2.49 13 9 1 3 699 60 0.914 0 1 0 $700,000 Team Totals/Averages 6' 2" 186 27 3593 2.75 26 26 9 5 1663 159 0.904 0 1 4 $1,188,000 This has been dropping ever since the Labarbera trade to Vancouver. Quick has been almost half a goal better than Labarbera. ** injured Probable Pairings Probable Lines Left Wing 23 Brown Center 11 Kopitar 12 O’Sullivan 26 Handzus 41 Ivanans 7 Armstrong 19 Calder 28 Stoll Right Wing 8 Doughty 24 Frolov 27 Quincey 54 Purcell 5 Harrold 17 Simmonds 2 Greene TOTAL CAP NUMBER: $44,149,000 CAP SPACE: $12,551,000* *space also affected by buyouts and injured players 3 Johnson 21 Gauthier 6 O’Donnell ...IS THIS THE YEAR? Injury List Tom Preissing-Out (Head) Raitis Ivanans-Questionable (Upper Body) Letters to The Editor *big ups to Adam for helping out with this. Dude, Dear Editor, Dear Sam, Your program rocks. You’re officially one of Hell’s most psychotic devils. May the maggots in your eyes eat your brain and shit them out your ears. I hope you burn and cough and choke and tear for the rest of humanity. Rock on. Sincerely, James Wisniewski Really really really like your program “The Omitted Finland”. I love how you come up with whacky nicknames like Captian Hilarious, Harp Looter, and 23 Skiddoo. And boy does the word Asshat take me back. Reminds me of Karpotsev. Anyway, Stan, just thought I’d drop you a line and say keep up the good work. Uh, will you buy us beers? Sincerely, Pat Foley Blackhawk announcer Sincerely, Josh Harris, 16-year old Hawks fan. Dear Josh, Fuck and yes. Sincerely, Sam To Sam. Dear Mr. Fels, Dear Mr. Fels, Your book is good. I’ve recently been made aware of your magazine and all the harsh criticism you’ve thrown my way. While I may not agree with everything you say, I am intrigued by some of your thoughts. I would like to buy a subscription to your newsletter at no less than 4 million dollars and have it count against next years cap. I’m gonna run off Duncan Keith if it’s the last thing I do. And it probably will be. I was recently showed your “Ask The Ice Crew” section, and I think it’s important to inform you that I am not Russian, but Argentinian. You’re not even close. I mean, you missed by an entire fucking ocean! And hemisphere! You couldn’t be more off if you drove your car off a cliff while putting a dildo in your ear and singing Ratt songs. Jonathan Toews. Sincerely, Dale Tallon Dear Editors of The Committed Indian, Thanks to you, my 9-year old son has been running around calling everyone and everything “fuckwad.” How dare you sell your filthy little rag to a child? Have you no decency, sirs? My son claims his father gave it to him, but surely no one as mature and upstanding as my husband would do such a thing. Sincerely, Janice Thompson Highland Park, IL Dear Sam, Your program is the best. I had to Stop It Right Here the first time I read it! Now I look like I was shot out of a cannon when I run to buy it! I tell ya, you guys really have stickon-stick, stick-on-puck! Get me the next one EEEEEMEDIATELY! Yours, Eddie Olczyk Sincerely, Yanina of The Ice Crew Dear Sam, I spent over $200k on your education, and all I got was a moron standing in the cold and a dumbass photoshop of John McDonough bragging about his “hot white mouth sanitizer”. Mr. Obama, where’s my bailout? Sincerely, Your mother The Fight Card HAWKS vs. KINGS Fight Stats provided by Hockeyfights.com GAME FIGHT TIME 11-29-08 Fraser vs. Simmonds 1st. 18:05 11-29-08 Walker vs. Ivanans 1st. 1:58 2-23-08 Seabrook v. Brown 2nd. 3:57 1-1-08 Koci v. Ivanans 2nd. 4:04 Bloody Nose Black Eye Bruised Ego √ Just Dancing √ √ √ Analysis A spirited if not eventful bout. Fraser lands some nice shots early, Simmonds some late, and Dan Bernstein uses this as evidence that hockey players and fans are racist. A day after taking on Parros, Walker encounters SoCal’s other slob, and lands some solid rights. Walks in a decision. Brown charges from San Diego to hit Toews, and Seabrook responds with some nice rights before a quick takedown. √ √ Two people who don’t matter wail on each other for a bit. What To Watch For: More than recent Hawks games. The Kings are an unpleasant bunch to play against, they finish their checks and never stop being in your face. They have a few players who have sampled knuckles on more than one occasion. Greene, Armstrong, Simmonds all could go, and we haven’t gotten to resident mongaloid Ivanans. Could get one today.. Power Play Team Opp PPG PP% Team OPP WSH 265 65 24.5 MTL DET SJS BOS PHI ANA CHI BUF STL MIN ATL LAK NJD TOR VAN 275 274 245 234 242 264 279 260 248 255 276 226 259 266 76 67 56 52 53 56 58 27.6 24.4 OTT CGY 22.9 EDM 21.9 TBL 22.2 21.2 NYI COL 20.8 DAL 20.2 CAR 55 19.9 PHX 51 19.7 54 50 51 45 50 20.8 20 PIT FLA 19.9 NYR 18.8 CBJ NSH 251 286 270 278 250 265 255 263 271 292 237 259 260 249 263 PPG PP% Team 53 18.5 NYR 16.9 NSH 47 49 47 42 44 42 43 44 46 35 36 36 34 33 18.7 18.2 16.8 16.6 MIN 219 CGY 267 BUF SJS 16.5 BOS 16.2 PHI 16.4 STL 15.8 MTL 13.9 NYI 14.8 13.8 13.6 12.6 TS FLA NJD LAK OTT 252 274 252 238 231 271 303 284 248 268 245 266 260 Penalty Kill PPGA PK% 27 87.7 36 86.5 32 44 41 40 39 46 83.2 ANA 83 CAR 82.8 VAN 82.5 EDM 82 TOR 83.1 82.7 48 48 306 WSH 43 44 TBL 83.9 82.8 47 256 CHI 83.7 82 81.5 TS CBJ 87.3 52 49 Team PIT DAL COL PHX DET ATL 255 309 258 312 233 236 240 277 227 262 258 239 271 PPGA PK% 48 81.2 61 80.1 49 62 52 63 48 49 50 58 49 58 58 60 69 80.8 79.9 79.8 79.8 79.4 79.2 79.2 79.1 78.4 77.9 77.5 74.9 74.5 Spotlight Dustin Brown We wouldn’t be shocked if Dustin Brown also slobbers during games. Those of us in real hockey markets always end up furious that a player like Brown plays in a non-hockey market, where he clearly isn’t appreciated. Surely if Brown played here, he would be everyone’s favorite Hawk. Brown does everything so high-octane, L.A. coke dealers are tired of the calls from customers telling them they want whatever Brown’s on. He is always the most noticeable player on the ice. He’s either taking a shot, barreling to the net, or barreling over someone. He’s a fucking pinball. Brown has never seen a hit or a shot he didn’t think was worth taking. He leads the Kings in shots by over 40, and in hits by over 70. Brown has gotten better every year, and he very well may be playing on the other wing opposite Patrick Kane on Team USA’s second line at next year’s Olympics. Here’s yet another player that Bettman and his marketing cronies would be wise to get out there, instead of peddling the cold steak that is Sidney Crosby. Brown is young, fast, skilled, would run over his girlfriend to get to the net, and a leader. He was named Kings’ Captain at the beginning of the year, and will be the centerpiece -- along with Kopitar -- of their franchise for a long time. He’s the total package, as he can play any style of game, and the type of player the NHL should accentuate, but sadly, hasn’t. The Committed Indian is printed by Royal Omega Graphics- Elk Grove, IL 847-952-8000 [email protected] KNOW THY ENEMY This afternoon, Matt from from Life In Hockeywood (www.lifeinhockeywood.com) joins us to fill us in on the Southland Hockey Club. Q: You guys are making a pretty decent run at the playoffs, when you were picked to be bringing up the rear. How has this happened? A: After last season, the Kings could really go nowhere but up. The Kings have been stockpiling talent in the minors, and continue to do so. It’s Dean Lombardi’s belief that you must rebuild a franchise from the inside out, and he’s doing this. That kind of tinkering takes time. Some fan estimates give Dean a 5-year window that the Kings will seriously contend for the Cup. Depending on who you talk to, this is either Year Two or Three. Seeing that he came in 2006 and it’s 2009... you do the math. The fact of the matter is: they are ahead of the curve. These players are hungry now, and want to win now. You get enough young, hungry talent together and sooner or later, you’re gonna get a team that wants to compete, odds be damned. That is what the Kings are this season. It’s quite refreshing to see. Getting Drew Doughty has made a huge difference. Potential can only get you so far in the NHL. If you have what it takes, you’ll produce on the ice. It happened with Kopitar a few seasons back out of camp, and it’s happened again. You listen to some fans, and they’ll say Doughty is the second coming of Christ. But realistically, he has got the skills to become an All-Star defenseman for years to come. And I firmly believe he should win the Calder Trophy this season. I believe in it so much that I wrote a blog about it... (blatant blog pimping!!!) http://lifeinhockeywood.com/2009/01/04/calder2.aspx Getting Quincey has been a godsend as well. Thanks Detroit. Obviously, Marc Crawford didn’t have Quincey and Doughty to play with, but what has Terry Murray done differently this season? Coach Murray really has focused of the defensive aspect of the Kings. This team is built around young talent, many of which haven’t been taught in intricancies of playing defense at the NHL level. They have always been able to score, last season they were ranked middle of the league in goals. This season, their scoring is down, but their two-way game has picked up. Case in point: Anze Kopitar. The Slovenian player’s points have dropped considerably, but he’s chipping in other ways that you don’t see on the stat sheet, which, unfortunately too many fans worry about. He’s become pretty good defensively, and as soon as his on-ice conditioning improves, he’ll return to form. It’s a hard thing to teach these young players better habits. It’s slow, but they are responding. We saw enough of Jonathan Quick the last time we played. Is he the longtime answer in goal? Is Ersberg? Or is there another possibility? God, this is a toughie. How many teams can you say would be better with a better goaltender? The Kings have had crap, honestly, the last few years. Then this year, the herd was still being culled when Johnny Quick was brought up. And he’s played remarkable. As far as I’m concerned, the job is Quick’s until someone else makes a case. I like Iceberg as well, but Quick is that much better. Next season, we should see a more determined Jonathan Bernier out of train- ing camp, and challenge Quick for that starter’s spot. This which will make the team that much better. Believe me, as a Kings fan, we’ve been waiting a long time to have this kind of problem. There’s nothing wrong with having too many goaltenders, right? Jack Johnson has had his struggles this season, along with injuries. What’s the forecast for his career? The hype is he’s going to be the next Ray Bourque. The reality is, and I’m just spitballing here, is that JMFJ will not sign a long-term deal with the Kings. He played at Michigan, he bleeds red and white and his heart is in Detroit. I’m sure he’d love to play for them some day. So, while he’ll be a gamer in L.A. and give his all, his stint in L.A. may already be predetermined. Personally, I’m hoping he and Doughty hit it off and become the wickedest blueline ever. But I think he’ll give Detroit a hometown discount and sign there. I really do. We have loved Dustin Brown for years, though good lord has he been a pain in our ass at times. Only now is he just getting the pub he deserves. You guys watch him every night, is he that ace? Dustin Brown is the real deal. But, he was given a lot of responsibility this season, handed the reins as the youngest captain in franchise history. He’s now going to need to bring the same intensity in the locker room as he does on the ice. That could prove to be exhausting. Dustin, as is the case with many players, is far different off the ice than on. He’s quite reserved in person, very polite. But you get him on the ice, and he hits everything in the different jersey. It’s going to take a season or two for him to really grab this team and make it his own. But he might not even get that. Kopitar has shown signs of becoming a solid captain as well, in this his first season as an alternate. He often is the last to leave the ice and really fills that cheerleader role a great captain can do. If Kopitar winds up taking the C from Brown, the last thing you’ll see is Dustin get pissed. In a way, he can now focus on what he does best: play vicious hockey on the ice. And I think that might suit him more. The editor of this worthless rag spent last season in Los Angeles, and was surprised as how knowledgeable and passionate Kings fans are, while being equally sickened by the idiocy found in Anaheim. What’s it like living in the same town (sort of) with those tools? When those dreaded Ducks hoisted the Cup, the pain was excruiating. All those years of making fun of them was known shot back by those hardcore fans. Good thing there wasn’t too many of them. Anaheim has a huge bandwagon fanbase, so it still was fun making fun of these fans in their crispy-ironed jerseys. Plus, the new jerseys look like a giant Spork! They just can’t look cool either way. I wrote a blog about those kind of Ducks fans (more blatant blog pimping!!!) http://lifeinhockeywood.com/2007/06/06/how-to-deal-with-those-kind-of-ducksfans.aspx. It sums up just how stupid these fans really are. There are some real knowledgable Ducks fans, but they are few and far between . It does kill me to see that Stanley Cup banner up there in their rafters. It should kill every hockey fan. But they got one before the Kings, and that’s what matters. Hawks-Kings: the Last 4 Jan. 29th, 2009: Hawks 2, Kings 5 Nov. 29th, 2008: Hawks 2, Kings 5 Feb. 23rd, 2008: Hawks 6, Kings 5 (OT) Jan. 1st, 2008: Hawks 2, Kings 9 This will be a continuing theme: Hawks don’t bother with an effort against a team they feel is beneath them, and it’s too late when they get it going. We hear Randy Newman too many times. Same pattern in reverse. Hawks jump out to 5-1 lead after two, go into pathetic shell and cough it up in last minute. Sharp saves some blushes by winning it in OT, but this was still a stupid occasion. See Jan. 29th. Toews gets hurt, Hawks’ season never recovers. Didn’t exactly help the hangover from New Year’s Eve, did it? Hockey Sabermetrics CHICAGO Every game, we provide you with the Behind The Net numbers. These are at even strength, 5-on-5. Key: QUALCOMP- A measure of the quality of competition each player faces on the ice. Calculated by averaging +/-/60 for opponents on the ice against player. QUALTEAM- A measure of the quality of teammates each player plays with. Calculated by averaging +/-/60 for teammates on ice with player. TOI/60- Time on ice, per 60 minutes, that player spends on ice at full-strength. GFON/60, GAON/60- Goals for and against team per 60 min. player is on ice +/-ON/60- Team’s Plus/minus, per 60 minutes, while player is on ice. +/-OFF/60- Plus/minus of team while player is off ice, per 60 minutes. RATING- +/-ON/60 subtracted by +/-OFF/60. NAME QUALCOMP QUALTEAM Aaron Johnson -0.04 -0.07 Andrew Ladd 0.11 0.1 Adam Burish -0.08 0.13 Ben Eager -0.11 0.01 Matt Walker -0.03 Duncan Keith 0.09 Dave Bolland Martin Havlat Colin Fraser -0.11 Troy Brouwer 0.01 James Wisniewski -0.01 Kris Versteeg 0.04 Jonathan Toews 0.03 Brent Seabrook 0.1 Patrick Kane Brian Campbell Patrick Sharp Dustin Byfuglien GFON/60 GAON/60 +-ON/60 GFOFF/60 GAOFF/60 +-OFF/60 RATING 11.78 4 1.27 2.73 2.17 12.77 3.58 1.99 1.59 2.46 1.78 0.4 2.33 2 0.47 1.13 7.13 2.94 1.17 1.76 2.78 8.07 2.7 1.22 1.49 2.86 2.08 0.7 1.06 2.07 0.79 0.7 -0.07 13.74 2.97 1.67 1.3 -0.01 18.42 3.14 1.89 1.24 2.56 1.92 0.64 0.66 2.79 2.18 0.61 0.64 0.12 0.2 12.49 3.42 2.2 0.07 0.1 13.47 3.4 2.26 1.22 2.54 1.92 0.62 0.6 1.13 2.52 1.88 0.64 0.49 0.05 7.73 2.63 -0.19 11.47 2.51 1.45 1.18 2.81 2.11 0.7 0.48 1.36 1.15 2.84 2.07 0.77 0.38 0 14.45 -0.22 12.33 2.52 1.48 1.04 2.84 2.08 0.76 0.28 2.78 2.17 0.61 2.83 2.02 0.81 -0.2 -0.17 0.2 13.14 2.94 2.32 0.62 2.71 1.86 0.85 -0.23 16.65 2.44 1.89 0.55 2.97 2.05 0.92 -0.37 0.04 -0.02 -0.14 13.96 2.64 2.34 0.3 2.67 1.9 0.77 -0.47 -0.03 17.55 2.84 2.38 0.46 2.74 1.75 0.99 -0.52 -0.02 -0.03 13.25 2.52 2.26 0.25 2.9 1.83 1.07 -0.82 -0.01 0 11.99 1.95 1.76 0.19 3.19 2.15 1.04 -0.86 Cam Barker -0.04 -0.04 13.38 2.44 2.63 -0.2 2.86 1.61 1.25 -1.45 Craig Adams -0.14 0.13 8.05 1.28 1.7 -0.43 3.15 1.98 1.17 -1.6 Jack Skille -0.03 0.21 8.9 0.96 3.85 -2.89 2.89 3.37 -0.48 -2.41 Corsi Rating Shots attempted for a team vs. how many are attempted against while a given player is on the ice, per 60 min. NAME CORSI James Wisniewski 22.8 Jonathan Toews 15.1 Martin Havlat 14.6 Troy Brouwer 13.1 Adam Burish 12.5 Brian Campbell 12.4 Andrew Ladd 12 Patrick Sharp 11.9 Patrick Kane 11.5 Brent Seabrook 11.2 Duncan Keith 11.1 Kris Versteeg 10.9 Cam Barker 10.2 Dustin Byfuglien 10 Dave Bolland 9.4 Aaron Johnson 8.9 Ben Eager 8.2 Matt Walker 6.8 Colin Fraser 4.6 Craig Adams -0.2 TOI/60 Penalties Drawn vs. Taken NAME PDRAW/60 PTAKE/60 Jack Skille 4.8 0 Kris Versteeg 1.6 0.7 Adam Burish 1.4 1 Ben Eager 1.4 2.6 Colin Fraser 1.4 0.5 Patrick Kane 1.4 1.1 Patrick Sharp 1.4 0.9 Dave Bolland 1.3 0.6 Craig Adams 1.3 0.9 Andrew Ladd 1.2 0.6 Troy Brouwer 1.2 0.9 Martin Havlat 1.1 0.6 Dustin Byfuglien 1 1.4 Jonathan Toews 0.9 0.7 James Wisniewski 0.7 0.7 Brian Campbell 0.5 0.4 Aaron Johnson 0.4 2 Matt Walker 0.4 0.6 Duncan Keith 0.2 0.8 Brent Seabrook 0.2 0.9 Player Face-offs Face-Offs Taken FO% Jonathan Toews 937 53.4 Colin Fraser 621 47.0 Patrick Sharp 556 46.0 Kris Versteeg 197 44.2 Dave Bolland 873 43.8 Rank: 28th 46.9 Total Power Play Ratings Penalty Kill Ratings This is a measure of a team’s This measures how many goals a goals-for per 60 minutes of player team gives up per 60 minutes the being on the ice on the power play. player is on the ice on the PK. Player GFON/60 Cam Barker 10.23 Patrick Sharp 8.61 James Wisniewski 7.83 Patrick Kane 7.49 Jonathan Toews 7.2 Dustin Byfuglien 7.1 Troy Brouwer 6.45 Brian Campbell 6.45 Duncan Keith 6.37 Martin Havlat 6.24 Kris Versteeg 6.11 Brent Seabrook 6.01 Player GA/60 Andrew Ladd 4.22 Adam Burish 4.5 Brent Seabrook 5.22 Aaron Johnson 5.42 Duncan Keith 5.57 Brent Sopel 6.43 Colin Fraser 6.66 Matt Walker 6.95 James Wisniewski 7.26 Kris Versteeg 7.66 Dave Bolland 7.67 Cam Barker 9.65 Hockey Sabermetrics LOS ANGELES Every game, we provide you with the Behind The Net numbers. These are at even strength, 5-on-5. Key: QUALCOMP- A measure of the quality of competition each player faces on the ice. Calculated by averaging +/-/60 for opponents on the ice against player. QUALTEAM- A measure of the quality of teammates each player plays with. Calculated by averaging +/-/60 for teammates on ice with player. TOI/60- Time on ice, per 60 minutes, that player spends on ice at full-strength. GFON/60, GAON/60- Goals for and against team per 60 min. player is on ice +/-ON/60- Team’s Plus/minus, per 60 minutes, while player is on ice. +/-OFF/60- Plus/minus of team while player is off ice, per 60 minutes. RATING- +/-ON/60 subtracted by +/-OFF/60. NAME QUALCOMP QUALTEAM TOI/60 GFON/60 GAON/60 +-ON/60 GFOFF/60 GAOFF/60 +-OFF/60 RATING -0.03 0.13 11.09 2.39 1.77 0.62 1.81 2.55 -0.74 1.36 Sean O'Donnell 0.04 -0.07 15.84 2.17 1.8 0.37 1.83 2.66 -0.83 1.2 Patrick O'Sullivan -0.03 -0.11 13.43 2.68 2.46 0.22 1.68 2.3 -0.61 0.84 Kyle Calder -0.05 0.16 11.8 2 1.82 0.18 1.88 2.4 -0.53 0.71 Kyle Quincey -0.04 -0.01 15.28 2.3 2.23 0.07 1.81 2.38 -0.57 0.64 Jarret Stoll Matt Greene 0.01 0 16.38 1.92 2.1 -0.18 1.97 2.5 -0.53 0.35 Dustin Brown -0.02 0.17 13.51 2.94 3.16 -0.23 1.62 2.08 -0.46 0.24 Oscar Moller -0.04 0.11 9.99 1.74 1.74 0 2.22 2.33 -0.11 0.11 Alex Frolov 0.03 0.05 13.41 2.2 2.64 -0.44 1.85 2.23 -0.38 -0.06 Edward Purcell -0.07 0.1 9.59 1.56 2.19 -0.63 1.35 1.85 -0.5 -0.12 Wayne Simmonds 0.04 -0.03 12.05 1.14 1.63 -0.49 2.26 2.62 -0.37 -0.12 Michal Handzus 0.04 0 11.76 1.76 2.34 -0.59 2.03 2.36 -0.33 -0.25 Drew Doughty 0.02 0.16 16.28 2.15 2.7 -0.55 1.89 2.1 -0.21 -0.34 Peter Harrold -0.08 -0.3 10.25 1.1 1.88 -0.77 2.06 2.43 -0.37 -0.41 Anze Kopitar 0.01 0.2 14.27 2.55 3.24 -0.69 1.67 1.93 -0.26 -0.43 Denis Gauthier -0.13 -0.27 11.3 1.73 2.6 -0.87 2.02 2.32 -0.3 -0.57 Raitis Ivanans -0.09 -0.46 6.24 0.48 1.6 -1.12 2.23 2.44 -0.21 -0.91 Tom Preissing -0.11 -0.26 11.52 2.13 3.55 -1.42 1.84 1.76 0.08 -1.5 Jack Johnson 0.02 -0.01 16.37 1.28 3.3 -2.02 1.93 1.93 0 -2.02 Derek Armstrong -0.08 -0.33 7.67 0.85 3.38 -2.54 2.36 2.63 -0.27 -2.27 Corsi Rating This measures how many shots are attempted for a team vs. how many are attempted against while a given player is on the ice, per 60 min. NAME CORSI Anze Kopitar 13.1 Kyle Quincey 11.3 Patrick O'Sullivan 10.9 Tom Preissing 10.4 Kyle Calder 9.7 Edward Purcell 8.8 Dustin Brown 7.6 Oscar Moller 7.6 Peter Harrold 7.3 Jarret Stoll 5.8 Alex Frolov 4.8 Drew Doughty 3.1 Derek Armstrong 2.7 Sean O'Donnell 2.5 Matt Greene 2.5 Denis Gauthier 1.7 Wayne Simmonds 1.5 Michal Handzus -4.3 Raitis Ivanans -7.4 Jack Johnson -8.8 Penalties Drawn vs. Taken Pretty self-explanatory. A measure of penalties drawn vs. taken, per 60 min. NAME PDRAW/60 PTAKE/60 Dustin Brown 3.5 0.8 Patrick O'Sullivan 1.9 0.4 Oscar Moller 1.4 0.8 Anze Kopitar 1.3 0.3 Raitis Ivanans 1.3 3.5 Derek Armstrong 1.3 2.1 Kyle Calder 1.2 1 Edward Purcell 0.9 0.3 Michal Handzus 0.9 0.6 Jarret Stoll 0.8 1.9 Alex Frolov 0.7 0.7 Wayne Simmonds 0.6 0.9 Peter Harrold 0.6 0.8 Denis Gauthier 0.6 1.3 Drew Doughty 0.5 1 Matt Greene 0.4 1.6 Jack Johnson 0.4 1.5 Kyle Quincey 0.2 1.1 Sean O'Donnell 0.1 0.5 Player Face-offs Face-Offs Taken FO% Jarret Stoll 861 57.1 Michal Handzus 975 53.6 Derek Armstrong 150 52.7 Anze Kopitar 1016 50.9 Rank: 4th 52.5 Total: Power Play Ratings Penalty Kill Ratings This is a measure of a team’s goals This measures how many goals for per 60 minutes of player being a team gives up per 60 minutes the player is on the ice on the on the ice on the power play. Player GFON/60 Jack Johnson 10.28 Michal Handzus 9.65 Kyle Quincey 9.5 Alex Frolov 9.42 Jarret Stoll 9.09 Peter Harrold 7.99 Dustin Brown 5.87 Patrick O'Sullivan 4.84 Drew Doughty 4.71 Anze Kopitar 4.51 Tom Preissing 4.48 Player GAON/60 Jarret Stoll 2.6 Jack Johnson 4.17 P. O'Sullivan 4.5 Matt Greene 5.13 Dustin Brown 5.21 Tom Preissing 5.33 Drew Doughty 5.53 Sean O'Donnell 5.86 Denis Gauthier 6.17 Kyle Quincey 6.68 Michal Handzus 7 Referee Stats For The Hawks Referees 1st NHL Game Hawks Games Hawks PP’s Hawks PK’s Pens/Game Hawks PP/Game Hawks PK/ Game W L OTL 2 Fraser, Kerry 1980 3 14 17 10.3 4.7 5.7 3 0 0 3 Leggo, Mike 1997 3 10 15 8.3 3.3 5.0 2 0 1 4 McCauley, Wes 2003 5 11 14 5.0 2.2 2.8 2 2 0 5 Rooney, Chris 2000 1 4 1 5.0 4.0 1.0 1 0 0 6 Marouelli, Dan 1984 3 14 11 8.3 4.7 3.7 1 2 0 7 McCreary, Bill 1984 4 17 15 8.0 4.3 3.8 2 3 0 8 Jackson, Dave 1990 5 23 20 8.6 4.6 4.0 3 1 1 10 Devorski, Paul 1989 2 9 13 11.0 4.5 6.5 1 1 0 11 Sutherland, Kelly 2000 1 5 8 13.0 5.0 8.0 0 1 0 12 Koharski, Don 1981 4 19 20 9.8 4.8 5.0 3 0 1 13 O’Halloran, Dan 1995 4 22 17 9.8 5.5 4.3 2 1 1 14 LaRue, Dennis 1991 5 22 22 8.8 4.4 4.4 3 0 1 15 Auger, Stephane 2000 4 17 13 7.5 4.3 3.3 3 0 1 16 Shick, Rob 1986 1 2 2 4.0 2.0 2.0 0 0 1 18 Kimmerly, Greg 1996 5 26 25 10.2 5.2 5.0 3 2 0 20 Peel, Tim 1999 2 13 13 13.0 6.5 6.5 1 1 0 21 VanMassenhoven, Don 1993 3 10 5 5.0 3.3 1.7 2 0 1 23 Watson, Brad 1996 2 7 4 5.5 3.5 2.0 1 0 1 25 Joannette, Marc 1999 2 13 5 9.0 6.5 2.5 1 0 1 26 Martell, Rob 1996 1 3 1 4.0 3.0 1.0 1 0 0 27 Furlatt, Eric 2001 6 27 26 8.8 4.5 4.3 2 3 1 28 Lee, Chris 2001 1 5 4 9.0 5.0 4.0 1 0 0 29 Walsh, Ian 2000 1 1 3 4.0 1.0 3.0 0 1 0 30 Hasenfratz, Mike 2000 3 22 13 11.7 7.3 4.3 0 1 2 32 Kowal, Tom 2000 4 13 10 5.8 3.3 2.5 4 0 0 33 Pollock, Kevin 2000 3 10 12 7.3 3.3 4.0 1 1 1 34 Meier, Brad 1999 4 14 20 8.5 3.5 5.0 3 1 0 35 Warren, Dean 1999 - - - - - - - - - 36 Morton, Dean 2000 2 16 10 13.0 8.0 5.0 0 1 1 38 St Laurent, Francois 2006 2 14 15 14.5 7.0 7.5 1 0 1 39 Dwyer, Gord 2003 3 16 15 10.3 5.3 5.0 2 0 1 40 Kozari, Steve 2006 4 26 20 11.5 6.5 5.0 2 2 0 42 O’Rourke, Dan 1999 2 11 13 12.0 5.5 6.5 1 0 1 43 Pochmara, Brian 2006 1 4 7 11.0 4.0 7.0 1 0 0 45 St. Pierre, Justin 2003 6 29 26 9.2 4.8 4.3 3 1 2 Points Goals 1 2 3 GAA Player Team G A. Ovechkin WAS 45 1 Evgeni Malkin PIT 89 1 PHI 36 3 S. Crosby PIT 79 3 Zach Parise Jeff Carter NJ 4 I. Kovalchuk ATL 21 J. Toews CHI 5 NHL LEADERS P. Marleau SJ 38 34 34 25 Player 2 4 5 33 A. Ovechkin Zach Parise Pavel Datsyuk Patrick Kane Team WAS NJ DET CHI P 81 76 75 55 Player 2 4 5 8 SV% Player Team SV% Team GAA Tim Thomas CBJ 2.06 1 Tim Thomas BOS .933 Pekka Rinne NSH 2.15 3 Pekka Rinne NSH .926 Steve Mason N. Backstrom M. Fernandez N. Khabibulin CBJ MIN BOS CHI 2.14 2.24 2.24 2.31 2 4 5 T. Vokoun N. Backstrom N. Khabibulin FLA MIN CHI .927 .925 .924 The Other Brother Defending Your GM I’m coming up on my tenth year living in New York. While I love the city and think it’s one of the greatest cities in the world, in no way do I consider myself a New Yorker. I am, and shall always be, at least in this cluttered and sticky mind, a Chicagoan living in New York. Thus I get a lot of Grief when things go wrong for us in the Second City. Our governor comes to mind. But the governor of New York is only governor because the last governor had a hooker problem, so that quickly goes away. There was the whole Eli vs Rex thing but Eli won his Super Bowl and I just let that one go down as a loss. Then there’s the Cubs...... Finally, my New York friends get around to the Blackhawks, and for the life of them they don’t understand how so many people can hate the GM of a team any city would love to have. Young passionate, talented players who work hard, play right, and are all under 25 (O.K., not all, but you get the point.) This is probably the most ideal team to have in the NHL and yet everyone wants the head of general manager Dale Tallon. It was understandable to hate the decision to take Tallon out of the booth and put him in the front office. Yet another Wirtz-Pulford Stooge was the general unfair thought at the time. When Tallon took over for the awful, awful, and let me just say again, awful Mike Smith. things were bleak. It was even more understandable after Tallon’s free agent signings stunk up the UC. role as well. Almost every trade has worked out well-Sharp, Havlat, the aformentioned Versteeg, the fifth grader we’re eventually going to get for Byfuglien- right? Tallon’s not perfect. The goalie situation is silly (although productive). Brian Campbell, while being a very good addition to the team, was given way too much money. This is where Blackhawk fans jump in with both feet. They’re so terrified of losing some player due to salary cap restrictions in two years that they can’t enjoy what’s in front of their face right now. When you talk to Blackhawk fans -- or blog with them as the case may be -- you get the impression they’d rather watch the Blackhawks lose and be right about Dale Tallon then to have the Blackhawks win and admit they were wrong. Crazy. Hopefully a good run of April and May Blackhawk games changes the tide. Or maybe Bill Guerin on Mar. 4th. Whatever it is, I hope some people take a look at what Tallon and his staff are doing with this Blackhawk team. Adam Fels But Tallon learned from his mistakes. He even has admitted as much. He has dedicated toward building this team through the draft. And man, has the draft produced. A lot of people tack up Tallon’s success to “...lucking out on Kane and Toews.” These people are wrong, plain and simple. Dave Bolland, Duncan Kieth, Brent Seabrook, and Kris Versteeg (though he was a trade) have all had their time in the “invaluable” As for me, well, my Rangers fan friends have Scott Gomez and his 10 goals and $7-mil per year contract for another 5 years. Underachieving Chris Drury and his $7 million for another 3 years, and Wade Redden and his -20, $6 million+ contract for another 5. Those conversations don’t last long either. Adam Fels lives in New York, after raising himself and his little brother in the standing room of the Old Stadium. The latter went on to start this complete waste of time. If you’d like to tell Adam thank you for turning the editor of this into an official drain on society, albeit a hilarious drain on society, you can reach him at [email protected] If you’d like to contribute to our silly little rag, please send submissions to [email protected]. All guest contributors will have a chance to win a free jersey from Triple Threat Sports! The Committed Indian We’re freezing our ass off so you can laugh yours off The Making of The Chicago Blackhawks YEAR 2008-2009 DRAFT 2007-2008 Patrick Kane (1st round) 2006-2007 Jonathan Toews (1st round) 2005-2006 Jack Skille (1st round) 2004-2005 Cam Barker (1st round) Dave Bolland (2nd round) Troy Brouwer (7th round) 2003-2004 2002-2003 Brent Seabrook (1st round) Dustin Byfuglien (8th round) Duncan Keith (2nd round) James Wisniewski (5th round) Adam Burish (9th round) GM HISTORY Dale Tallon (2005-Present) Bob Pulford (Too Fucking Long, Too Many Fucking Times) Mike Smith (2001-2004) Bob Murray (1999-2000) TRADE info in part provided by hockeyreference.com FREE AGENT Ben Eager (PHO 1st round 2002) from PHI for Jim Vandermeer (FA PHI 2000) Craig Adams (HAR 9th round 1996) from CAR for future considerations. Andrew Ladd (CAR 1st round 2004) from CAR for Tuomo Ruutu (CHI 1st round 2001) Martin Havlat (OTT 1st round 1999) from OTT and Bryan Smolinski (BOS 1st round 1990) for Tom Preissing (FA SJ 2003), Josh Hennessy (SJ 2nd round 2003) and Michael Barinka (CHI 2nd round 2003) Kris Versteeg (BOS 5th round 2004) from BOS for Brandon Bochenski (OTT 7th round 2001) Patrick Sharp (PHI 3rd round 2001) from PHI for Matt Ellison (CHI 4th round 2002) and CHI 3rd round pick 2006 Brian Campbell (BUF 6th round 1997 Cristobal Huet (LA 7th round 2001) Matt Walker (STL 3rd round 1998) Aaron Johnson (CLB 3rd round 2001) Antti Niemi (Undrafted FA) Brent Sopel (VAN 6th round 1995) Nikolai Khabibulin (WIN 9th round 1992) Colin Fraser (PHI 3rd round 2003), Jim Vandermeer (PHI FA 2000) and 2004 2nd round pick from PHI for Alex Zhamnov and 2004 4th round pick (WIN 4th round 1990) COACHES Head Coach-Joel Quenneville Assistant Coach-John Torchetti Assistant Coach-Mike Haviland Assistant Coach- Marc Bergevin Goaltending Coach-Stephane Waite The Making of The Los Angeles Kings info in part provided by hockeyreference.com YEAR DRAFT 2008-2009 Drew Doughty (1st round) 2007-2008 Oscar Moller (2nd round) Wayne Simmonds (2nd round) 2006-2007 2005-2006 2003-2004 2002-2003 2000-2001 Anze Kopitar (1st round) Jonathan Quick (3rd round) Dustin Brown (1st round) Alexander Frolov (1st round) GM HISTORY 2007-Present: Dean Lombardi 1998-2007: Dave Taylor TRADE FREE AGENT Brad Richardson (COL 5th round Kyle Quincey (DET 4th round 2003) 2003) from COL for 2008 2nd round off waivers from DET pick Jarrett Stoll (EDM 2nd round 2002) and Matt Greene (EDM 2nd round 2002) from EDM for Lubomir Visnovsky (LA 4th round 2000) Denis Gauthier (CAL 1st round 1995) and 2010 2nd round choice from PHI for Patrik Hersley (LA 5th round 2005) and Ned Lukacevic (LA 4th round 2004) Sean O’Donnell (BUF 6th round 1991) from ANA for conditional 2009 pick Patrick O’Sullivan (MIN 2nd round 2003) and 2006 1st round pick from MIN for Pavol Demitra (OTT 9th round 1993) Jack Johnson (CAR 1st round 2005) and Oleg Tverdovsky (ANA 1st round 1994) from CAR for Eric Belanger (LA 4th round 1996) and Tim Gleason (OTT 1st round 2001) Kyle Calder (CHI 5th round 1997) Michal Handzus (STL 4th round 1995) Tom Preissing (SJ Undrafted FA 2003) Erik Ersberg (Undrafted FA) Raitis Ivanans (Undrafted FA) Teddy Purcell (Undrafted FA) John Zeiler (PHX 5th round 2002) Peter Harrold (Undrafted FA) Derek Armstrong (NYI 6th round 1992) from NYR for 2003 6th round pick COACHES Head Coach-Terry Murray Assistant Coach- Mark Hardy Assistant Coach- Jamie Kompon Goaltending Coach- Bill Ranford The Hawks Record When... Playing at home............ 15-5-6 Playing on road........... 19-12-3 Scoring first.......... 23-5-3 Opponent scores first........ 11-12-6 Shoot the puck bimbo scores...... 4-1-1 Shoot the puck bimbo doesn’t score...... 11-3-5 Shoot the puck bimbo blows editors of Commited Indian..... 0-0-0 ANYONE blows editors of Committed Indian ................. 0-1-0 Playing on a Monday.............. 2-2-1 Playing on a Tuesday................ 5-2-0 Playing on a Wednesday........... 7-1-2 Playing on a Thursday.............. 2-3-0 Playing on a Friday................ 4-3-3 Playing on a Saturday............. 7-4-3 Playing on a Sunday................ 7-2-0 Savard changes lines during game... 1-2-1 Coach Q keeps lines as they are..... 33-15-8 Are out-muscled by opponent.... 10-13-4 Outshoot opponent....... 23-10-4 Are outshot by opponent.... 11-7-5 Havlat shies from contact......... 16-6-6 Patrick Kane scores............... 11-4-2 Jonathan Toews scores.......... 11-1-5 Martin Havlat scores............. 12-4-1 Patrick Sharp scores............ 15-3-2 Dustin Byfuglien scores......... 6-1-1 Dustin Byfuglien turns down a hit...... 27-13-7 Andrew Ladd scores............. 9-0-1 Dave Bolland scores......... 10-1-2 Adam Burish scores....... 3-2-0, and totally ruins that joke 51 Phantom scores....... 3-2-1 Duncan Keith scores........ 4-3-0 Brent Seabrook scores...... 4-0-1 VerStud scores.... 10-4-1 Troy Brouwer scores.... 7-0-0 Scoring a Power Play goal....... 25-5-8 Not scoring a Power Play goal... 9-11-1 Allowing a Power Play goal...... 13-14-9 Not Allowing a Power Play goal....... 21-3-0 Scoring a short-handed goal........... 6-2-0 Allowing a short-handed goal......... Taking 30 or more shots......... Taking less than 30 shots..... Allowing 30 shots or more...... Allowing 30 shots or less......... 100 Level doesn’t cheer for anthem. 1st of a back-to-back...... 2nd of a back-to-back..... Opponent played night before.... Taking more than 5 penalties..... Taking 5 or less penalties.... Seabrook gets a flat-footed penalty.... Burish takes a penalty....... Keith takes a penalty......... Sharp takes a penalty....... Toews takes a penalty..... Havlat takes a penalty.... Sopel takes a penalty...... Sopel looks 6 steps slow...... 51 Phantom blows a coverage...... Toews is trying too hard...... At least 1 fight in 300 Level... No fights in 300 Level..... Playing Eastern Conference..... Playing Western Conference..... Playing Central Division...... Playing Northwest Division.... Playing Pacific Division Playing Atlantic Division Playing NASCAR Division Playing Northeast Division Playing in October.... Playing in November.... Playing in December...... Playing in January..... Playing in February..... Playing in March...... Playing in April...... UC plays really stupid goal song..... Huet’s five-hole open like Lindsay Lohan’s..... 2-2-1 25-12-7 9-5-2 16-6-5 18-11-4 15-4-6 4-4-3 7-4-0 8-3-1 16-13-4 18-4-5 8-4-4 7-5-2 10-3-2 10-2-2 8-4-2 5-3-1 3-2-1 7-5-5 23-14-8 3-7-2 3-2-4 12-3-2 7-2-3 27-15-6 4-6-5 12-5-0 11-4-1 1-1-2 3-1-0 3-0-1 4-3-3 6-3-3 10-1-1 7-6-1 7-4-1 0-0-0 0-0-0 15-3-6 3-9-3 Getting obliterated on face-offs....... 13-10-4 Are even close on face-offs..... 21-7-5 Eddie O tells crew to “stop it right here!”.... 29-15-9 Eddie O tells us D have the forwards and forwards have the D during 4-on-4........ 29-15-9 Pat Foley screws up a name...... 32-14-9 Ice Crew wear skirts....... 6-1-3 Ice Crew wear pants....... 3-1-0 Ice Crew wear shorts.... 6-3-3 Member of Ice Crew hilariously falls on her shapely ass.... 0-1-0 Leading after 2 periods...... 28-2-3 Losing after 2 periods...... 2-10-3 Tied after 2 periods......... 4-5-3 In overtime.......... 3-4 In shootout....... 2-5 Cam Barker plays....... 27-13-6 Cam Barker is in Rockford due to GM incompetence..... 5-2-3 Lacking a #2 center........ 34-17-9 In 1-goal games..... 7-6-9 In 2-goal games...... 11-5-0 In 3-goal games....... 7-4-0 In 4+ goal games...... 8-2-0 Scoring 3+ goals..... 32-4-4 Scoring less than 3 goals...... 2-12-4 PA plays Ministry....... 0-0-0 PA plays Modern Cock-Rock..... 15-5-6 PA plays Classic Cock-Rock....... 9-4-6 PA plays P.J. Harvey........ 0-0-0 Fraser fights...... 7-2-1 Burish fights....... 5-2-0 Seabrook fights..... 0-0-0 Barker fights......... 0-0-2 Buff fights......... 1-0-2 Sharp fights........ 1-0-0 Eager fights.......... 9-1-1 On Comcast...... 26-9-6 On WGN....... 8-5-3 On Vs........ 0-2-0 On NBC.... 0-1-0 Judd Sirott hates Adam Creighton 34-17-9 Not going to the game? Get The Committed Indian via Email! $2 per issue. Sign up for the rest of the season and get the playoffs free! Just go to www.secondcityhockey.com and look for the link on the left. All season-subcribers will be entered into a drawing for a free jersey from Triple Threat Sports!