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The NHL All-Star Game, as is the case with the rest of professional sports’ mid-season clashes, is often derided as being a meaningless exhibition that people take way too seriously, but for those fans that can appreciate the fun that the players have with it, it is actually a cool spectacle.
Patrick Sharp has been out of the Chicago Blackhawks’ lineup for the past four games, but it hasn’t slowed them down one bit. Buoyed by performances from guys up and down the roster, the Hawks have been scoring goals, playing solid defense, and most importantly, picking up points. This weekend was no different, as they got a point yesterday against the Detroit Red Wings, a team with an insane home record this season, and they did it again Sunday night as they took down the San Jose Sharks 4-3 at the United Center.
In comprising a ranking of the Top 10 National Hockey League (NHL) General Manager’s (GM’s), I assessed the GM’s by a series of factors: Overall performance – cumulative and trending; drafting and development; trades and acquisitions; capology – the ability to efficiently manage their respective salary cap; variable factors – ownership, organizational legacy, the situation they’ve inherited.
So, this list is not linearly-related to the team’s current record or whether they recently won the Stanley Cup as so many rankings of this type tend to do.
With that, here are the rankings of NHL GM’s:
Some sporting events have momentum swings that seem to occur in nearly every minute of action, but the tilt between the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks was not one of those events.
Through the first 40 minutes of Saturday afternoon’s matinee between the Red Wings and Blackhawks, there was little doubt as to who the better team was on the ice. Sure, the Hawks got a huge break when Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard flipped a puck from behind the net directly to Andrew Shaw, but the Wings were the class of the Central for those 40 minutes, outshooting Chicago 29-11 and outscoring them 2-1. As soon as the third period started, however, it became a hockey game.
“Greg from Lemont” is an ex-baseball player, who’s becoming the next sports blog viral video star.
The Chicago Blackhawks fan was given a chance to play “Shoot The Puck,” an period intermission goal shooting contest during Hawks home games at the United Center. The formula is simple: a kid, really hot chick, and adult white guy (sometimes celebrity). Rinse and repeat. The hot girl always gets cheered, the kid and the celebrity can get cheered or booed, the adult white guys always gets booed. But this isn’t about the shooting competition; it’s about Comcast SportsNet Chicago reporter Sarah Kustok, and what she was told by Greg.
I do enjoy publishing stories on people from my hometown becoming stars.
You may have seen the video of a hockey fan telling the sideline reporter “how pretty she is” and how he loves her“…that’s Sarah Kustok
Paul M. Banks has an exclusive discussion with Comcast Sports Net’s Sarah Kustok.
You’ve undoubtedly seen the DePaul graduate on TV covering the Chicago Blackhawks, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs, and Chicago Bulls. She’s had the opportunity to cover a lot of high profile playoff games in multiple sports, and after the jump she’ll tell us all about her amazing experiences, as well as her own backstory.
After going largely unscathed on the injury front for the first half of the season, the Chicago Blackhawks have been getting bitten by the bug in a big way in recent weeks. You have Marcus Kruger out with a concussion (although he is skating now and should be back soon), Daniel Carcillo down with a knee injury that he sustained on his incredibly stupid hit on Tom Gilbert against Edmonton, and Steve Montador just came back from the injured reserve list. Although those guys are all supporting characters in the narrative the Hawks have written so far, one of the prime time players is going to have to be replaced with an understudy for a while.
With Friday’s 4-0 loss at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche, the Chicago Blackhawks reached the 41-game mark of their season, meaning that half their campaign has come to an end. While the old adage of “time flies when you’re having fun” certainly can apply to a big chunk of those games, the same cannot be said about the way the Hawks ended this stretch of schedule.
Despite being only one point out of the lead in the Central Division, the Hawks have been reeling as of late, dealing with injuries to players like Marcus Kruger and Steve Montador and also losing three games in a row, at least two of which would have been deemed winnable just by looking at the schedule. Falling to the Oilers, Flyers, and Avalanche may not be a season killer by any stretch, but it certainly doesn’t bode well for a team that is going to be getting into a very road-heavy portion of their schedule in the coming weeks. [Read more...]
After Sunday night’s loss to the Edmonton Oilers, some of Chicago fans’ attention was focused solely on the largely lackluster effort by the Blackhawks, especially on the power play. They were unable to capitalize on several key opportunities, including a lengthy four minute power play when Jonathan Toews was caught in the face with a high stick, and that contributed greatly to their downfall.
What some other fans, and most of the national media who commented on the game, was focused on was the illegal hit that Hawks forward Daniel Carcillo laid on Edmonton defenseman Tom Gilbert. Carcillo, who missed the season’s first two games while serving a suspension and also was suspended this year for an illegal hit, has been suspended indefinitely by the league. That suspension may not even begin at any point soon, because Carcillo may be out for the long term regardless because of a knee injury that he suffered on the play.
How has “Hockeytown U.S.A.” never hosted a NHL Winter Classic? The Detroit Red Wings are one of the game’s most legendary brands and franchises. With the exception of the Montreal Canadiens, no team has a richer history and more iconic logo on their sweater.
Of course, Montreal hasn’t hosted the game either, but first things first. The Wings have the perfect venue with a track record of success for hosting outdoor hockey, exactly what the January 1 NHL event.
Coming into the 2011-12 season, the Chicago Blackhawks seemed like they finally had a guy they could count on in net. They inked Corey Crawford to a three-year extension over the off-season, and the only question was whether Ray Emery or Alexander Salak would back up the talented youngster. As has happened in previous years with Cristobal Huet, Nikolai Khabibulin, Antti Niemi, and Marty Turco, however, the Hawks’ crease was not as solidified as previously thought.
Even though next season will see the Chicago Blackhawks and Vancouver Canucks only play each other twice, their rivalry still continues to burn hot. Their next tilt will not take place until January 31st, but that did not stop center Dave Bolland from throwing a couple of jabs at the Canucks’ Swedish tandem of Daniel and Henrik Sedin.
