Let me show you just how much you missed me

Everybody still with me? You are? Good, I was a little concerned.

What a game. Seriously a roller coaster. But thank goodness a win 5-4 shootout win.
Wins make it worth it.

• Well, we seemed to have found Patrick Kane & Jonathan Toews. Thank goodness for that.
  
• Kaner with 3 points (2 goals & 1 assist)
  
• Tazer with his first ever 4 point night in the regular season (2 goals & 2 assists) plus a sick shootout move that knocked Pavelec's water bottle off the top of the net.
• Turco, I love you but man you're testing my sanity with leaving the net & going halfway up the ice.
• Jeremy Morin is a trooper. Took a shot block to the back of the knee & tried to play through it but couldn't. Points for trying. Hope he's not hurt too bad.
  
• The power play is looking solid, but in the hell has happened to the penalty kill?
  
• Viktor Stalberg with some beautiful moves to score the shootout winner & Turco held down the fort with some nice saves.
• Marian Hossa is coming back tomorrow for the game against the Oilers! (source)
• Everybody watch out, if Jack Skille scores. The world/Twitter might explode. I wait for the day this happens.
  
• Saying hat trick before it happens, it like saying shutout before it happens. Just saying.
• Man, do I miss the former Hawks but it's nice to get the win over them. Broke my heart with that shootout goal Ladd did.

This about sums it up, Jonathan Toews on getting the title belt, "I forgot what it feels like. It feels pretty good, though."

Here's to 2 points & 2 more tomorrow! Rest up & prepare yourselves.

When the past comes back.. to bite you

And the moment you've all been waiting for... The Blackhawks take on the Atlanta Thrashers.

It's the inevitable faceoff between the Hawks & the team that was more than willing to take all the cap casualties the Blackhawks were willing to give them.

I'll be the first to admit it, I miss all of the Blackhawks that we lost. Some more for hockey reasons and some more for their personalities that we were so lucky to see because of Blackhawks TV. Either way, I'll miss all the former Hawks since the the 2009-2010 Blackhawks team will always be my favorite. (Can you blame me? First sports team I ever loved to win me a Championship!)

How valuable these depth players were though is starting to become more and more apparent as the Hawks struggle to find a flow in the young NHL season.

Essentially the Blackhawks had the same team for the most part of the previous two seasons until the salary cap made keeping the team together no longer an option.

Guess that's what happens when you have a solid core of young players who are all looking for what they're due.

I'm not bemoaning the salary cap and all the players we lost. It's over and done with and there's nothing that's going to change it. (I'm really not upset about losing Niemi now like I was during the summer.)

But tonight when the Blackhawks take on the Thrashers, I'll be watching Ben Eager, Andrew Ladd, Dustin Byfuglien and Brent Sopel thinking they look better in red and black.

And hopefully seeing their old teammates will motivate the Blackhawks to show the boys they're doing just fine without them.

Gimme Mor(in): While the Blackhawks did lose a lot of their depth in offseason trades, one key pieces that they got in return was Jeremy Morin.

While Kyle Beach was the prospect most Hawks fans had their eyes on, Jeremy Morin stole the spotlight with some impressive moves in training camp & preseason games. (Which inspired the creation of the Jeremy Morin Fan Club, of which I'm a member.)

When Morin was sent down to Rockford, I was a bit surprised but made sense for his development to get minutes and I'm sure salary cap wise. (this seems to be a reoccurring theme.)

Well with the Hawks needs something, anything at this point to spark an offense that is looking lost on remembering how to score. Morin has been called up and hopefully provides that spark since he's expected to get decent minutes on the 2nd or 3rd line.

And of course, it doesn't hurt that he's about to make his NHL debut against the team that traded him away. Show 'em what you got kid. (He's older than I am, but oh well.)


Let's hope the battle drills, a long practice & getting kicked off the ice by Q during morning skate woke up the Hawks & shows some positive results tonight.

Personally, I'm waiting for J.Toews to get seriously pissed off & dominate like we know he can.