Blackhawks Lose Late Lead, Game to Red Wings
In one of the worst officiated games in recent memory, the Blackhawks wasted a late lead and lost in overtime. The Red Wings and Blues are now tied with the Hawks at 53 points, but both have played one fewer game than Chicago.
Most of Sunday night’s game was positive.
The Hawks “finally” scored a couple quick, early goals to take the lead. Nick Leddy bounced back from a couple awful performances to play a fairly good game. Corey Crawford was outstanding, playing perhaps his best game of the season to date. And, just for the heck of it, Dave Bolland scored a goal.
Rookies Andrew Shaw and Jimmy Hayes continued to be impressive. Hayes was credited with four hits in the game, while Shaw saw his opportunity increase when Patrick Sharp was unable to return after the first period. Shaw was credited with two blocked shots and one takeaway in the game, and made a ridiculous pass from the seat of his pants to Bolland in overtime that almost ended the game.
One other Blackhawks player that was very impressive in the game was Viktor Stalberg. “The Good Viktor” showed up once again, and worked hard all night after getting the start with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. Stalberg tied for the team lead with five hits in the game, and was credited with one takeaway and one blocked shot in the game. He was physical the entire game.
Toews did what he does once again: won 16 of 20 faceoffs, tied for the team lead with three takeaways.
But there were, once again, glaring weaknesses from the Blackhawks… specifically Bryan Bickell. Bickell has now officially found the end of the bench, skating the fewest shifts of any Hawks player in the game (other than Sharp), and he did a great job of confirming coach Joel Quenneville’s lack of faith by doing absolutely nothing in his 11:45 of ice time. He was credited with zero hits (though he got rocked a couple times) and only one shot on goal in the contest.
Michael Frolik was better on Sunday night. He was given another golden opportunity to produce, starting with Sharp and Marian Hossa, and he was credited with an assist on Sharp’s goal in the first period. Defensively, Frolik continues to work hard and is a responsible forward for Quenneville, but he appears to have lost any/all ability to shoot the puck accurately.
When the final horn sounded, the officials left the ice after one of the worst performance in recent memory. They missed an obvious goal for the Blackhawks (that resulted in a Jimmy Hayes penalty shot), both teams frequently argued with where faceoffs were being placed, and their inability to make a call on time was painful all night.
Crawford had every reason to complain after the game about interference on Detroit’s second goal, but the most ridiculous no-call of the night was on the eventual game-winner.
Steve Montador’s stick was clearly held right in front of an official. In spite of Pierre McGuire praising Datsyuk, you can watch the video and see Johan Franzen hold Montador’s stick for roughly seven seconds, eventually taking him to the ice.
Just to put icing on the cake, Franzen also sucker punched Montador after the goal had been credited and the game was over. It’s clear in the video, and he did received a minor penalty for roughing. Of course, that penalty, and the lack of a call on him holding Montador’s stick, mean little when the outcome of the game was already decided.
Chicago has now lost four straight, and the Blackhawks sit in fifth place in the Western Conference.
Tab, that was a brutal game to watch and you hit the reasons right on the head. The officiating was just horrible. The typically cheap Holstrom play on the PP which was incredibly dangerous when he tripped Seabrook, who avoided major injury by sheer dumb luck. The missed too many men call in OT just before the GWG. And on and on and on. I usually look at bad officiating as being something that evens out over the year, but it’s hard when every goal in the game against the Hawks was preceded by an easily noticed penalty that caused every ref to swallow his whistle.
Looking for positives, I thought Hayes and Shaw continued to impress and that Leddy played a great game.
Bickell, man, that guy seems like he’s always watching and waiting… So irritating. Frolik – I want to like him because he worked Schneider into a groin pull on that penalty shot, but…he just always loses the puck when he has it, and can’t win it in a battle…
PS: Was Toews hobbled out there? He didn’t participate in the morning skate, then had a knee on knee collision. He wasn’t nearly as aggressive, gave up a lot of puck battles, and seemed slow. Any word?
Things I noticed-
Never thought Wings were a dirty or cheap team but… any time Hawks went to the net with or without puck they were legally and Illegally tied up… the worst might have been Shaw skating between the circles and took a hand, stick, and then forearm to the head ( wow!). When Stalberg did his Hossa immitation… Toews crashes the weakside and gets mugged. The Wings mugged the Captain all nite long. That is exactly how our “D” does not play!!! Our “D” skates and reacts ( but of course D can’t skate or react when they our being held and tripped)!!!
But I have never seen as many take downs in front of the net by the offensive team!
And for all the Kane Kool-Aid drinkers.
Kane on the Ice for the last 2 Wing goals and the only Hawk that was a -2!!!
What is going on here…last night, not minutes after the game the phone calls started from friends (that lasted most of the night) about the ONE real culprit from this game.
Yes, the Refs were awful, yes it was biased against the Hawks (yet again), yes Bryan Bickell did little with his time, yes Frolik has lost his offensive confidence, yes the loss of Sharp hurt…I grant you all of this, but why is NO ONE in the media, Tab included, willing to signal the spanner in the works for these Chicago Blackhawks? And who is this culprit?
None other than the $6 million dollar boy, Patrick Kane…he has abandoned his team mates for 6 weeks…his only value and contribution for this team is in creating offensive scoring chances, and therefore points, 5 on 5 and especially on the PP.
He simply isn’t doing these things. Kane’s points came when he was playing Centre predominately between Hossa and Sharp, and various other arrangements, leaving Captain Serious to make his hay with players like Stahlberg and Brunette. When this combination was taken away from Kane, and shifted back to Toews, Kane’s points dried up, and his contributions on the PP all season have been horrific…he plays a ton of PP time with the best combinations around him and yet he has 2 goals and 7 assists to show from it. On the season, he has 10 goals and 28 assists playing with 3 of the most dynamic players in the NHL, all of whom have been named as contenders for the MVP award thus far.
These are NOT great numbers, and when you take into account the fact that he is a liability in EVERY OTHER aspect of the game, these numbers stand out (especially on the PP) as WEAK at best. We have a ton of money tied into a small forward who does NOT compete for the puck, does not engage in physical play, does not engage in serious zone defensive coverage, does not engage in back checking, and does not practise with any intent of getting better…case in point his shot…he expressed himself in the offseason that he missed the net far too many times in close last year, what has happened this season, like last night? He constantly misses the net resulting in no rebounds and often odd man breaks the other way.
Where is his passion? Where is his desire to compete? Last night on the winning goal, he floated onto the ice when the puck was controlled in our end, playing 4 on 4 hockey, he then skated to his blueline and watched while 4 Red Wing players played TACKLE with his team mates swarming around our goal…the RW player had 5 seconds to hold on to the puck and shoot it into the open net because PATRICK KANE stood at the blue line and watched him score.
I have asked this question before and from now on I will ask it daily until someone can give me a positive answer…what is Patrick Kane doing on this hockey team when he doesn’t score and our team defence is essentially the worst in the league???
This isn’t an “unfair” or “biased” rant against Kane…as 49 year old, 40 year fan of the Blackhawks, I care about this TEAM and it’s overall success, and not about any one player or coach…these factual feelings about Kane come from watching him closely for the better part of 3 seasons, and they are very real.
If this team wants to win another Cup, they should bundle up Kane’s name and his perceived greatness and get serious hockey players in return. Players that have beneficial contracts that we can control for a number of years. It is then that we will turn things around and become a legitimate Cup contender, and not the pretenders we have been for a season and a half!
The problem with your self-titled “non rant” Brad, is that there’s no way the management is going to agree with you. They’ve signed him long-term for millions & truly believe he’s the new “face” of the franchise (along with Toews, of course.) The Difference being, Toews IS a COMPLETE player. The tandem does hundreds of endorsements together, they’re well liked in Chicago, and beside yourself & a few others, the fans really seem to think he’s incredible.
Personally? using him now, as a trading piece would definitely get us some very valuable player(s). But the fact of the matter is, IT WON’T EVER HAPPEN.
Back to the game, It’s really tiring to watch officiating decide a hockey game, especially when I saw it happen a couple nights ago against Edmonton. If the refs want to get that involved, why don’t we just hand them a stick. UTTERLY SHOCKING display of unprofessionalism by them, & some of Detroit’s play was dirtier than Ryan Kesler’s panties after Zdeno Chara wears them for two games without washing them.
Tough pill to swallow.
Brad,
FINALLY someone agrees with me!! I said it last season on this blog & got my head ripped off for daring to criticize kane. He’s a “mutt” pure & simple & his selfishness & immaturity are becoming very evident. And he’s a coward to boot, he makes the sedins look tough !!!!
You called it too when he was “cherry picking” at the end of the game while detroit assaulted our net 4 on 3 for the winning goal….. Its pathetic to have all that talent & no heart… It’s obvious too that his teammates are tiring of his act as well…. Too many times players are doing too much & getting out of position to cover for dog-ass kane….. He’s becoming the poster boy for spoiled athletically gifted brat…..
I say trade him for corey perry or rick nash straight up, either way its a steal for us……
If we were talking about Cory Perry or Rick Nash, I would even bundle up a prospect and a pick to make it happen…
Perry and Nash are in the league to win championships, but have none, Kane is in the league to sell cars…
I am sorry if some of this offends Hawk fans, but as a HUGE Hawks fan I am only calling it as I see it…
Patrick Kane is NOT a superstar…he is an undersized, yet talented player, who has commitment and compete issues…
Shane, I agree with your comments…it is likely that management would not agree with dealing Kane…but the fact remains, it would be the best thing for this TEAM!
I’m with you Brad, I’m over Patrick Kane in a BIG WAY! We need grit, enthusiasm & work ethic. Not Lemonheads & a new Ford.
Was it “Lady Bing” Datsyuk who stuck his knee out when passing Toews in yesterday’s game. Guess you’re only a cheap team/player if you get caught/penalized for it.
It seems not just this game that the refs have been biased against the Hawks especially recently. Yes, they did deserve to lose some of those games, but the refs are making it almost impossible for the Hawks to win when they are playing well.
This game should have had penalties on every Detriot goal and the winner there should have been multiple penalties: Holding and Too Many Men on the Ice. The first goal might have happened anyway, but the Wings should have gotten a penalty as well as Seabrook. It would have kept it at a 4 on 3. The second goal was goalie interfernce. But not only are they awarding unfair goals to the opposing team, but disallowing our goals or blowing the whistle too early.
The Oilers game was bad and the Kings game should have had both goals disallowed. Going back even to the Penguins game earlier was terrible.
Refs make mistakes, but its hard to overlook when its seem to be getting to the point where its every other game and multiple times in a single game and costing us valuable points. We are THIRD in the Central Division now and I feel while the Hawks haven’t been their playing are best lately they have lost games because of the refs and if it continues it could cost us a division title and home ice in the playoffs.
Brad and Joey Zamboni-
I am also A Kane-Hater…
What player in the NHL is more over-rated?????? No one!!!
Scores 25% of his points on the Power-Play… Newsflash…. it is a Man Advantage, and statistically around 20% PP conversion rate… we are supposed to score!!!
He is basically Devin Hester on ice!
Look at the Stats— Brad Marchand is better and has way more real 5 on 5 value.
can play the PK… and has a knack for big plays in big games ( see Stanley Cup 2011 run)
Stats say Patrick Kane hits no one….
Among the top 100 point scoring forwards in the league, guess who is in the bottom 5 in shot % at an eye-popping .074 %???
This is from the guy who said “I worked all summer on my release!”
What he meant to say is,— I worked on my release during the Lemon Head commercial!
Your all right about the refs (melissa). We have been in 4 of last 8 games played, thrown by refs. There are bad calls in every game, its hard to ref… a game can still be evenly called with 2 bad calls (the same amount…) going to each team. 4of8 last games we have had more than just an uneven called game. Where the refs make a series of calls against one team and it screws that team over, reguardless of how either team plays/or score in game at time…but&decides it stickly by calls/no calls
What pisses me off the most is when these refs make a call on our player and don’t make the same call against them (bruno gets called, their guy doesnt on Shaw…)(slash on seabs, no slash on sharpy arm ,that gets broken. besides seabs getting tripped)(I don’t eve want to talk about the f-ing wrestling with player lying in the blue paint wrestling, where only the goalie is suppose to be able to move anywhere he wants to in the paint-blow the play dead and have a faceoff, that ref just stood there and watched, because he hadn’t finished what he started in giving them the tie and lead, like he was pro wrestler. did he count to 3 smaking the mat with his hand). There are bad calls in everygame in sports, but when the refs clearly throw the game to the other team that makes me mad.
Theres no excuses but the refs do make a differnce and maybe only 25% it evens out over the course of the year (their damage has been done though, they took our +14 to 10+ and 9+ lead away from us). Its clear its not just because we all like the blackhawks, I tell it how it is and the refs are the difference in the last 8 games.
3-4-1 (refs threw 4of8 games)
pit, tie they don’t score on pp when our player gets hit dirty,maybe still lose in ot
la, 0-0 tie maybe still lose in ot
edm, tie at worst case, maybe still lose in ot
det, win in reg. 2-0
4-1-3 (anywhere close to evenly called game.)
At 25-10 (+15, +12 and +10) still have our lead in division (if we don’t win division by less than 4 points it because of these thrown games by refs).
Still in the thick of things and should be dogfight all the way to game 82, we just need to play good like last year when we had all those guys out. What matter the most is that we have everybody for stretch and playoff runs with 2-3 more starters coming our way. I can’t wait until that 9 game road trip when we get Sharpy and 2 other good players back. That will be a huge boost!