The Blackhawk Shuffle

Tommie Lee
Feb 14, 2015
2 min read

Don’t Pay The Ransom… I’ve Escaped

Have I procastinated writing this article? You bet your sweet bippy I have.

Am I frustrated, as a fan? Yes and no. Emotions run high during the run of questionable winter losses the team hits every season. As Chicago hockey fans we know it’s always going to come: losses to teams we shouldn’t lose to (or teams we loathe, like Vancouver). The team went 4-3 on that road trip, only to drop the first two games of an eight-game homestand, including to the Insert Your City Here Coyotes, and the Vancouver Canuckleheads. In both games, there was free hockey and a point was collected. But a W was not. I’ve learned it’s best to not write too much during these stretches.

88 + 81 = Many, Many Points

Here’s the thing. Even though the Blackhawks are playing a little funky and losing weird games (the Wild shut us out? But we OWN Minnesota!), there is plenty to still smile about. Patrick Kane is the league’s points leader, with 62 after this week’s action. Both he and my main man Marian Hossa seem to have the EASY setting turned on for them when they take the ice. Hoss has scored two goals in each of the last three games. He forced the overtime with Vancouver like a boss. The only thing missing was a hat trick to win it…and maybe a cape with an S on it. I guess it would be for “Slovakia.”

86 Is 86’d… again

Teuvo Teravainen is playing Finn-again Begin Again in Rockford. The youngster has been sent back down to the Icehogs again as of Thursday. Coach Joel Quenneville says it was necessary because there just isn’t room for him anywhere. He’s more of a finesse scoring guy, a top-three line player. He doesn’t match up well on the physical fourth line. With the return of Kris Versteeg, there was simply no other option that made sense to Coach Q. Just last week, we saw his value with the way he set up his teammates and played smart hockey, especially in the tough places on the ice. My biggest fear is that he’ll sniff out work elsewhere in the NHL. We need players like Teuvo on our side, not against us. He had four points, including two goals, in the 15 games he started this season.

At the same time, the Hawks have called up their first-round pick from the 2013 draft Ryan Hartman (Forward) and Defenseman Kyle Cumiskey from Rockford, a first-round pick from the year before. The question now is what they can show us. Cumiskey skates for Rozsival Friday night, as Hartman…who grew up in West Dundee…makes his debut.

Valentine’s Weekend is upon us…

…and nothing says I Love You like Blackhawks Hockey on TV. At least at my house (yes, ladies… it’s hard to believe I’m taken). The struggling New Jersey Devils hit the UC ice Friday night, and Pittsburgh skates in on Sunday for a network game on NBC.

Go Blackhawks!