MVN - Most Valuable Network

Great Expectations

On Friday, April 4th I attended the final Chicago Blackhawks game of the season. I received a media credential, and it was the first time I covered a professional game as a reporter.

Re-published from The Chicago Sports Review below is my article.

Title | Great Expectations

So, it finally happened for me. After months of work toiling, spitting into the wind, and staying up past six A.M. to write articles for no pay, and then subsequently falling asleep at my paying job, my effort was finally validated with a press pass to cover the Chicago Blackhawks.

That the game is the first home game all year where the Hawks are officially out of the playoff race and that I am not technically getting cash to write about them is really neither here nor there.

I had arrived as a writer.

Needless to say, my expectations for the evening were at a level Dickens’ Pip could not imagine.

I was so happy with myself, that despite not getting out of work till around 5:30 PM, I felt I definitely had time for a drink before the game’s 7:30 start. In fact, I deserved one.

Of course, there wouldn’t be any alcoholics in the world if every time people said they were going have “just one” drink they actually did. The one Rolling Rock turned quickly into two and then the boss shows up offering to buy shots. Certainly I, a lowly Analyst, could not throw such generosity in the Big Guy’s face, right?

Obviously, the next detail in my tale will surprise no one. I did not make it to my car to leave for the game until 6:40.

Now, under usual circumstances, giving yourself an hour plus to get to the UC from the Northern suburbs is more than enough time.

Of course, as is always the case with the unorganized, lazy and procrastinating entity known as me, there are never usual circumstances. Just so happened that game day, April 4, was also the beginning of a massive, multi-million dollar renovation of the Edens Expressway. It had been backed up for hours all day, and I had conveniently placed my departure time in the middle of rush hour.

Thus, the easy route, taking the highway and getting off at Madison was out.

I of course, had already factored this into my calculations. I was going to take Lake Shore Drive, exit on Wacker and take Madison and take it right to the rink. I had never taken the route before, but my Guinness loving drinking buddy assured me it would be easy to figure out.

What I did not factor into my finely tuned calculations was passing Madison by over a mile. By which time, of course, the game had technically started.

By the point I finally acknowledged my error, and swallowed my manly pride enough to a nice gentlemen casually sucking down a tobacco tube how to get to Madison, he looked at me incredulously and asked,

“Not from Chicago, huh?”

Well, technically I am not from Chicago, my home suburb of Winnetka is at least fifteen minutes down the road.

After mocking me, my new friend was eventually kind enough to direct me with a route that got me to the rink in less than ten minutes.

I was panicking so much by the time I actually arrived, that I decide to eschew the search for the free media parking lot. I wanted to get my car parked and into the building as soon as possible, I mean the rates couldn’t be too crazy. Five, ten bucks at the most, right?

Twenty dollars I can by no means afford later, my car was parked. In exchange for my monetary castration I was at least hoping the parking lot attendant could guide me to the media entrance?

“Been doing this 19 years, I should really know that, sorry.”

Frustrated once again, I got on my metaphorical horse and ran as fast as I could frantically around the building looking for the media gate. Sadly, my horse had been badly damaged by a college career whose primary professors were Jack and Jim, and whose advisor the Marlboro Man did not give the best guidance for a sprinter.

I finally got to the magical entrance, gate three and a half. Racing down stairs to the basement and then taking the elevator up to the seventh floor, I was glad to see the two spots to my right that were supposed to be filled were not. At least I was not the only tardy party.

I mean, I wasn’t that late, only missing most of the first period. Perhaps I had been lucky enough not to miss any goals as well? My left seat neighbor quickly dispelled any such foolish hopes,

“Well you only missed four.”

And what a four to miss. Keep in mind all of my coming goal reporting is from watching the JumboTron highlights, as I was kicking my own a$$ for being tardy.

Former Blackhawk bust, now Nashville star forward J.P. Dumont assisted on the first goal just 2:18 into the period, while I was driving away from the rink, still too vain to ask for directions.

Torching his former teammates is something Dumont has become accustomed to. After Friday night, in 21 career games against the Hawks he has 17 points. Good thing Hawks brass traded him, eh?

The Hawks were quick to respond however, as former Fighting Sioux forward Jonathan Toews scored two and a half minutes later. Grabbing a rebound in the slot with his back to the net, he did a 180 degree spin worthy of an Olympic figure skating gold medal followed by a wrister that male figure skaters can only pull off in their dreams, straight past Nashville’s Chris Mason.

And the Hawks were not done. Despite being shorthanded thanks to an Andrew Zyuzin interference penalty, Adam Burish intercepted a lazy Alexander Radulov pass to Ville Koistinen.

Racing the puck down the ice, Koistinen actually caught up to Burish and pushed him hard enough that Burish was only able to get a weak backhander on Mason. Thankfully, Koistinen did the rest, falling into his own goalie and taking the biscuit to the back of the net with him.

As if that were not enough, the Hawks really wanted to rub my tardiness in my face, as Patrick Kane scored four minutes later.

They had a two on one, and the Nashville defender hit the deck to prevent the crossing pass. Sharp attempted quite possibly the most difficult pass in hockey, a backhand saucer to raise the puck over the body on the ice and onto Kane’s tape.

He failed, lifting the puck far too high to land on Kane’s blade, but he did manage to hit Patrick’s stick. The puck then bounced conveniently into the white stuff behind Chris Mason to give the Hawks a 3-1 lead.

It was Kane’s 20th goal of the year, helping him put a strangle hold on his lead in the Rookie points race. After the game, Kane was asked if he thought about his first overall position. In true champion fashion, he responded, that only now with the playoff race over would he focus on such things.

The rest of the period I caught my breath, and tried to steady my mind for analyzing the game.

FIRST INTERMISSION

In the intermission, speaking with my neighbors, a quite humorous tale was recounted to me that involved a man being persecuted for taking a little too much freedom in his choice of sweaters. Check this out for more details of Jason Wisinewski’s totalitarian rules for reporters.

SECOND PERIOD

The second period was all about one man.

That brave soul who sacrifices life, limb and sanity, fearlessly putting his very soul on the line, for the right to be pelted for 60 minutes a night by biscuits made of anything but flour, flying at over one hundred miles an hour. Only an alien would not just take this role if assigned, but volunteer for it, right?

Appropriately, the courageous individual wearing a red jersey on his chest has a Martian scrawled over his helmet.

Patrick Lalime faced over twice as many shots as his Predators counterparts, thirteen to five, and stone walled them all.

It was also not as if they were just soft shots from the perimeter. Nashville had one scoring chance after another as they relentlessly attempted to best Patrick. You see, aside from the exponential speed jump, the biggest difference between professional and amateur hockey is that players do not pass to one where their teammates are, they pass to where their teammates will be.

One such case was a Nashville forward receiving an outlet pass around center ice. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a white jersey streaking to his right. Without a seconds hesitation, he made a behind the back pass to the streaking Predator. The puck was angled down ice, so it connected exactly with his tape when the Predator reached the blue line.

There were Hawk defenders skating backwards, but none within ten feet as the forward streaked to the net. Lalime squared his shoulders to the shooter, taking the best angle to give him as little net as possible to shoot at. The Predator wristed a quick shot around the top of the hash marks that bounced easily off Lalime’s pads.

Another time late in the second, Brandon Bochenski executed a flawless give and go with Martin Erat. Erat made the return pass as Brandon had split the Hawks D, perfectly placing the puck under the stick of Brent Seabrook, back to Brandon.

Forced to move from post to post in a flash, Lalime made the play, using the inside end of his right leg pad to control the puck, and then smothering it before any rebounds could be had.

Speaking of goalies, in a move that reminded me of my childhood hockey days, Nashville coach Barry Trotz switched goaltenders halfway through the second period.

Pekka Rinne was put in net, replacing Mason; and you know what, if nothing else, I was one of only 29,000 or so fans to see Rinne play live in the NHL this season, so that’s sweet.

Psych myself.

THIRD PERIOD

Again the third period featured no scoring, much to my chagrin. I was so selfish that I even got to the point where I hoped Lalime would let in a softy or two, forcing the game to go to overtime and then a shootout, with the Hawks coming out victorious obviously.

As usual, by the end of it I was happy my selfish wishes were not answered.

Lalime once again dominated the action. Savard said as much afterwards, noting that “Patty was the difference in the hockey game.”

The other dominating presence on the ice was the Hawks top line of Patrick Kane, Joanathon Toews and Patrick Sharp. They combined for four points and six shots on the night.

Much more than that though, was the way they controlled the action every shift they got. It was almost as if the Hawks were on a power play when the trio was on the ice, as each of them had the individual ability to get the puck through the neutral zone, which is a tall task for mere mortals.

Then, in the offensive zone, they moved so well without the puck and made such crisp, effortless tape to tape passes, that they seemingly had an excellent scoring chance every time they carried the puck over the Nashville blue line.

While I may have missed the beginning of the game, I was happy to be there for the final minute, Savard alluded to in the press conference. It was fan appreciation night at the United Center for the Hawks final home game, and the fans came out in force. 29,929 came out, filling the UC to 107% of capacity.

They showed their devotion a couple times during the third, with unprompted “Let’s go Hawks” chants, but then they stole the show with just over a minute to go.

I do not know if it was one fan or a group of fans who started it, but all of a sudden I started noticing that people were clapping and standing. I thought to myself that’s nice, but there is no way they will give a full standing ovation.

I mean college fans do that sometimes, but not pro fans. And remember, this is the Blackhawks we’re talking about a here. A team that has been the butt of more jokes in recent years in Chicagoland than even the Cubs. At least they got people in the seats regularly.

Once again, my absolute stupidity was validated, however, as not just one section, but the entire stadium got to their feet and clapped and screamed their hearts out for their beloved Hawks. It was a moment that would have made a human who actually felt emotion cry.

I was in further disbelief, as the cheering did not stop after the game was over. Indeed, it continued and the volume was turned up to 11, when the Hawks stood as a group in center ice and raised their sticks in appreciation.

It reached a truly feverous pitch, when Kane was later announced as the first star and skated around with his stick above the head like some cowboy.

Walking into the scene, an outsider would never have guessed the Predators were to keep playing into the postseason and the Hawks year was all but done.

They were the Champions Friday night.

Patrick Lalime summed up the story more succinctly and accurately than any writer (even a professional one who shows up on time for games) ever could,

“The big story in Chicago is the fans coming back.”

* * * * * * * * *

Écrit près Charlie Danoff — Homepage

Prescient Stars of the Future 11/28

Greetings Gentle Readers,

I  have not been quite as rigorously consistent in my posts, but that is something I hope to change.  To start off on a good foot, I will let you know who will play well in Wednesday night’s games … before they even happen.

Star 1 - Jeremy Roenick 1 goal, 1 assist vs the LA Kings

Star 2 - Patrick Kane 2 assists vs the Lightning

Star 3 - Jay Bouwmeester 1 goal vs. the Caps

Only take my recommendations if you want to be a champion.

Did he say pears?

Tuesday Night’s theme in HockeyLand was pairs:

* A pair of records from the Senators victory over the Leafs:
** Best NHL 14 Game Start Ever - 13-1-0.
** Set a team record with 8 straight wins.

* A pair of rivalry games:
** Long Island Jews beating the Soulless Manhattanites in DiPietro’s return to the lineup.
- Speaking of the New York Metropolitan Area.
** Canucks beating Canucks.

* A pair of injured current stars:
** Ilya Kovalchuk left the game with back spasms in Tuesday’s OT win over the Capitals.
** Jason Spezza missed his 4th straight game.

* A pair of injured former stars:
** Eric Lindros is set to retire.
** Peter Forsberg leaves his Swedish team with an injury.
- Worst trade ever?

* A pair of DUI’s:
** John Leclair getting caught.
** Mark Bell’s finally getting over getting caught.

And quickly …

* Had to mention the tragedy of Benoit Pouliot being sent back to the minors. Not only because his name is amazing, but also because of this (worst faux-hawk EVER).

Fantasy Starts 2Night

Corey Perry against the hapless Coyotes.

Boston goalie Tim Thomas against the weak Sabres.

Mike Riberio of Dallas against the Sharks. Though not traditionally a scorer, Riberio is 5th in NHL with 1.45 points/game.

Sunday Night’s Fantasy STAR!!!

Congratulations to the infamous, never to let a good man him keep him down, Manny Malhotra of the Columbus Blue Jackets.  Amidst a sea of mediocre NHL performances Sunday night, you were #1 with 1 goal and 1 assist.  Congrats Manny, can’t imagine you ever thought you would be mentioned on a prestigous blog like StatICEtical Prescience, but life throws curve balls to us all.  Now you can set your sights on less ambitious goals like league MVP, or getting the Blue Jackets to the playoffs.