THIS GUY. (Photo: Bridget Samuels/flickr)

Oh, how the mighty Capitals have fallen.

Last year, I was hyped for this match up — and so was NBC, putting the game on the main network. This year? Well, it was on NBC Sports Network. That should tell you something.

How bad was this game for the Caps? Bryan Bickell had a three-point night (one goal, two assists). Andrew Shaw, who seemed to channel Kris Versteeg with his compulsive need to toe drag every other shift, had two goals. (Viktor Stalberg opened up scoring, while Patrick Kane scored in between Shaw’s two goals.)

Three wins in row, and 7-1-1 in the last nine games despite Jonathan Toews being out of the lineup? I like it!

And speaking of Versteeg — you’re welcome, Florida Panthers fans.

I can’t get too excited about preseason games. At the end of the day, they don’t really count, so I just shrug afterward. But I know some people would like to know how the Blackhawks are doing so far in these games, so here’s a roundup of the first three games of the preseason.

September 20, 2011
Blackhawks lose to the Edmonton Oilers 4-2.

This game wasn’t much to write home about. Probably the most exciting part of the entire game was that the Toews brothers played together on the same team for the first time since they were children. Rostislav Olesz and Jamal Mayers both scored for the Blackhawks. The three 2011 draft picks playing in this game — Phillip Danault, Mark McNeill, and Brandon Saad — showed a lot of grit and heart, which bodes well for the future of the Blackhawks. Ray Emery started the game, with Alexander Salak coming in halfway through. Both goalies impressed in their Blackhawks debuts, and the race for backup goalie was about even after this game.

» Continue reading “Weekend Preseason Roundup: Because None Of These Games Matter”

It's so close! (Photo: Jed Sullivan/flickr)

Tomorrow at 10am, Blackhawks regular-season tickets will go on sale via Ticketmaster, and, trust me — it will be a mad scramble. But what games will give you the most bang out of your 45 bucks (at least)? I’ve decided to help you out with the ten game tickets you should try to get your hands on tomorrow, given here in chronological order.

(You may find that this list is Eastern Conference-heavy — but this is because this will be the only chance to see these teams in the United Center this year. If you want to complain, blame Bettman.)

» Continue reading “Ten Blackhawks Games You Have To See Live”

The second-best thing to being here? (Photo: Cheryl Adams/flickr)

If you can’t catch the Blackhawks on CSN Chicago or WGN, and you don’t have Center Ice, don’t fret — you’ll still have a lot of opportunities to catch the Blackhawks on national TV. They will be exclusively on NBC or Versus (which will be re-branded as NBC Sports Network on Jan. 2) 12 times, while one game will be aired both on NBC Sports Network and CSN Chicago. The Blackhawks will also be on the NHL Network six times this season.

After the jump, check out the national TV schedule and plan your life accordingly. All times are CT.

» Continue reading “Blackhawks Will Be On National TV 13 Times; Bill Wirtz Keeps Spinning In His Grave.”

I miss the UC already. (Photo: Cheryl Adams/flickr)

The Blackhawks have announced their 2011 preseason schedule, which will open on Wednesday, September 20 in Saskatoon, SK against the Edmonton Oilers. This will be the second straight year that the Blackhawks open their preseason at a neutral site. Last year, the Blackhawks played in Winnipeg against the Lightning at the MTS Centre.

The other three preseason opponents are the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Washington Capitals, and the Detroit Red Wings. Here is the complete schedule:

TUE SEP 20: vs. Edmonton Oilers (Credit Union Centre, Saskatoon, SK) – 6:00pm

THU SEP 22: @ Pittsburgh Penguins – 6:00pm

FRI SEP 23: vs. Washington Capitals – 7:00pm

SUN SEP 25: @ Detroit Red Wings – 3:00pm

WED SEP 28: vs. Detroit Red Wings – 7:30pm

FRI SEP 30: vs. Pittsburgh Penguins – 7:30pm

SUN OCT 2: @ Washington Capitals – 4:00pm

Expect the regular season schedule to come out later this week.

Blackhawks lose to the Washington Capitals 4-3 in overtime.
Oy.

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As a tribute, I will now write this post with as much effort as the Blackhawks showed for large stretches of this game.

…

Meh. It’s a point. Try again tomorrow.

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Box Score:

1st Period
04:46: CHI Nick Leddy (3) Slap Shot – Assists: M. Hossa (26) & M. Frolik (24)
06:11: WSH SHG – Boyd Gordon (3) Slap Shot – Assists: none
19:06: WSH PPG – Jason Arnott (15) Slap Shot – Assists: A. Semin (22) & D. Wideman (27)

2nd Period
03:09: CHI Tomas Kopecky (13) Wrist Shot – Assists: none

3rd Period
06:23: WSH Brooks Laich (15) Wrist Shot – Assists: M. Hendricks (15) & E. Fehr (10)
19:21: CHI PPG – Jonathan Toews (29) Wrist Shot – Assists: D. Keith (31) & P. Sharp (30)

OT Period
03:51: WSH Mike Knuble (16) Wrist Shot – Assists: M. Johansson (13) & D. Wideman (28)

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Captain Force of Nature watch: Scored the goal that sent the game to overtime and assured the Blackhawks a point. Good job, son.

Duncan Keith plus/minus rating watch: Even.

Post-game quotes from @TramyersCSN:

Quenneville: “I find (short-handed goals) really take a lot out of your team.”

Keith on having 4 D-men 4 a time: “That was tough. It wears on you, especially with a team like that with a lot of speed.”

Toews: “It bites pretty hard when you get scored on shorthanded.That definitely didn’t help.”

Quenneville: “I thought we were generous in all the goals we gave them.”

Post-game videos: Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, Joel Quenneville

Bonus video: Brent Seabrook got into a fight with Jason Chimera. It wasn’t a very good fight, mind you, but still — me gusta.

WSH

Mike Knuble (16) Wrist Shot – Assists: M. Johansson (13) & D. Wideman (28)

March 13, 2011

12:30 PM EST/11:30 AM CST

NBC, WGN Radio 720

Chicago Blackhawks
Record: 37-24-7
Points: 81
Western Conference Standing: 5th
Central Division Standing: 2nd

@

Washington Capitals
Record: 39-20-10
Points: 88
Eastern Conference Standing: 2nd
Southeast Division Standing: 1st

The enemy’s G9 Sports site: None

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The Blackhawks complete their East Coast tour with a stop in the nation’s capital to take on probably the hottest team in the league right now, the Washington Capitals. The Capitals come into the game on a seven-game winning streak. Meanwhile, the Blackhawks have dropped their last two games after going on an eight-game winning streak.

…Okay, forget it, whatever — I’m not even going to pretend that I care about the Capitals, because they’re not in the Western Conference. All I want is the two points. Can we get two points today, guys? You’re making all of us suffer through Pierre McGuire early on a Sunday, for God’s sake. The least you guys can do is win.

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Previous Game

Chicago lost against Tampa 4-3 on Wednesday in a shootout

Washington won against Carolina 2-1 on Friday

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Injury Report

CHI: Defenseman Jordan Hendry will miss the rest of the season after having knee surgery on a torn ACL. (nhl.com) Forward Dave Bolland (concussion) is out. Defenseman Brian Campbell (leg) is a game-time decision. (via @TramyersCSN)

WSH: Forward Nicklas Backstrom (finger), goaltender Semyon Varlamov (undisclosed), and defenseman Mike Green (head) are all day-to-day. Defenseman Tom Poti (lower body) is week-to-week. (via the Washington Capitals game notes)

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Quoted

Joel Quenneville, CHI: “At the beginning of the season that was our objective — to try to win the division. For the majority of the season that hasn’t been really realistic. It looks more realistic now than it probably has been at any point. But at the same time, we’d love to have home-ice advantage in the playoffs. It’s something we’re looking at. Either one of those should be our objective, but it’s not going to be easy.” (Chicago Sun-Times)

Bruce Boudreau, WSH: “I think there are two good teams going at it, that’s for sure. I think [the Hawks have] been here for three days; they’ll probably be pretty hungry. It’ll be national TV. If the game is anywhere near as good as it was last year — which I thought was the best game of the year, even if Ovi got kicked out, best comeback of the year for us, anyway — it was exciting. I hope that same kind of game gets played [Sunday] so people that are watching it will say, ‘This is hockey. What a sport. This is great.’” (capitals.nhl.com)

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Stats

Via capitals.nhl.com