Chicago Blackhawks

May 17, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins ice crew member picks a hat off the ice after Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (not pictured) scored a hat trick against the Ottawa Senators during the second period in game two of the second round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs at CONSOL Energy Center. The Pittsburgh Penguins won 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports Last night’s game Pittsburgh Penguins-4 Ottawa Senators-3 Sidney Crosby’s 2nd career hat trick helped lead the Penguins to a 2-0 series lead as the series heads to Ottawa. (Senshot) (Ottawa Sun) (Pittsburgh Post Gazette) Today’s Stanley Cup Action Detroit Red Wings at Chicago Blackhawks Noon  (Chicago leads series 1-0) Will the Red Wings respond to Chicago’s tremendous effort on the forecheck in Game 1 or will they continue to struggle with the Hawks pressure? (Octopus Thrower) (Chicago Sun-Times) (Blackhawks) Los Angeles Kings at San Jose Sharks 8pm (Kings Lead series 2-0) The Kings have found different ways to beat the Sharks now it’s up to the San Jose to make it a series with the game at the Shark Tank. (San Jose Mercury News) (LA Times) (NHL)

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks are prepared for the Detroit Red Wings to be a more driven team in Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinal series on Saturday after being outplayed in Game 1. The Blackhawks ran away from the Red Wings with a 4-1 victory in Game 1 on Wednesday. The Blackhawks dominated the puck the last two periods and outshot the Red Wings 42-21 for the game. “We expect a harder game,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said after Friday’s practice.

Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports You know that scene in Casino where Joe Pesci is playing Blackjack and the dealer keeps hitting him with bust cards? Well his rant towards the casino staff was word for word how I responded when I got word that neither Chicago Blackhawks goalie was nominated as a finalist for this year’s Vezina Trophy. Well almost word for word. The Vezina trophy is awarded annually to the NHL‘s goaltender who is “adjudged to be the best at this position.” You got that? Good. Me too. Unfortunately the 30 general managers that vote on the award don’t know the difference between “Best” and “Most Valuable,” so I’m gonna spell it out for them. Earlier this week Antti Niemi, Sergei Bobrovsky, and Henrik Lundqvist were nominated as the three finalists. All solid guys, and very “Valuable” to their teams, however since there seems to be some confusion about “Valuable” versus “Best,” we’re gonna break out the great equalizer in the goalie universe—the points percentage stat. I think you’ll find that Hawks goalies Corey Crawford and Ray Emery deserved just a tad more respect. The points percentage statistic should be called into play when you discuss the word “Best” for net minders. Give the guy two points for each game he started, and then divide that number by the total possible points he might have earned: two for a win, and a single point for an OT loss. Voilà! The percentage in which a goalie actually wins tells us who’s best at their job. And sure it helps to be on a good team, but do we hold that against pitchers when the Cy Young comes up? I rest my case, your honor. Now let’s proceed with the prosecution. We’ll start with San Jose Sharks goalie Antti Niemi. Now I love Niemi; he won the Cup in 2010 for the Hawks and for that, I’ll always be grateful, however the reality is he is nowhere near the “best” at his position. Niemi’s record this season was 24-12-6, which gave him 84 possible points (42 starts x 2 points). His record earned him 54 points (24 wins=48 points plus six OT loss points) and so if you crunch the numbers his points percentage is .642. What about Bobrovsky? He went 21-6-6 for the Columbus Blue Jackets with 37 starts. That gives him 48 points (21 wins x 2pts plus six points for OT losses) divided by 74 possible points (37 starts x 2pts) for a points percentage of .648 Lundqvist? 24-16-3 on 43 starts. So we tally the New York Rangers goalie at 51 points (21 wins x 2pts plus three for OT losses) divided by his total possible of 86 which puts him at .593 Crawford meanwhile went 19-5-5, which puts his total possible points at 58 (29 games each worth two points). His record tells us he’s amassed 43 points (19 wins=38 points plus five points for OT losses) and so when we do the math his points percentage is .741—best in the league. Emery? He went 17-1-0 in 19 starts which means he racked up 34 points out of a possible 38 (19 starts x 2pts). That puts his points percentage at .894. Now he might not have had as many starts as the rest of these guys but c’mon. This is a man of respect; give him some! So, I ask you: who’s really “Best” at their job? What’s that? “Well the nominees don’t have the defense or scoring the Hawks have!” Fair enough. Let’s take a look at a pure goalie stat—Save Percentage. In this category Bobrovsky comes in at second (.932), while Lundqvist is tied for fifth (.926) with Crawford, and Niemi is 8th (.924). Emery you ask? 11th (.922). So what are we talking about here? Ten one thousandths separates the guy in second from the guy in 11th. Please don’t tell me five one thousands made the difference? In hockey the “Best” goalie should be defined as the guy who gets his team the win based on how often he plays. And if you wanna split hairs and say Emery played less than half the season? Fine with me, but pick a number—like baseball does with plate appearances—and hold everyone to it. I’ll leave it at this: How d

Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports The past two weeks have been very kind to the Chicago Blackhawks in terms of NHL Awards nominations. Brandon Saad is a Calder Trophy nominee, Jonathan Toews is up for the Selke Trophy and Patrick Kane was announced as a Lady Byng Trophy finalist. Now the team can add another name to the nominees list: Joel Quenneville has been nominated for the Jack Adams Trophy as coach of the year. Quenneville’s in good company with Paul McLean of the Ottawa Senators and Bruce Boudreau of the Anaheim Ducks. But while McLean’s and Boudreau’s teams have both seen success this season, Quenneville has led the Blackhawks through not just a very successful season, but an historic one. With Quenneville at the helm, the Blackhawks set a huge league record with points in their first 24 games, and they set a team record with an 11-game win streak. The team ended the season with a 36-7-5 record, a league record 77 points (the most ever recorded in a 48-game season) and the President’s Trophy. Did I mention that the team’s .802 point percentage is the fifth best in league history? I’d say that’s not too shabby for a shortened season. If Quenneville wins the Adams Trophy, it wouldn’t be his first time. He won it back in 2000 as the coach of the St. Louis Blues after leading them to a 51-19-12 record. He would also be the only other Blackhawks coach to win it, joining Orval Tessier, who led his team to a 47-23-10 record way back in the 1982-83 season. The Blackhawks have incredible players and are amazing as a team, but they’re only half the team they are without Coach Quenneville. As the driving force behind such a record setting and breaking team, he deserves to be nominated.

Ottawa Senators (GDT) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (GDT) Game 2 (PIT leads 1-0) 6:30pm NBCSN

Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports Despite their 5-1 record so far in these Stanley Cup Playoffs, it’s no secret that the Chicago Blackhawks still have yet to play their best hockey. That goes for the team as a whole, as well as a few individual players. Included in those individuals is the captain, Jonathan Toews. Toews has had a strong postseason, there’s no doubt about it. He impacts the game in so many ways that even if he’s not scoring, he’s likely doing something else that is helping the Hawks to be successful. Take Game 1 against the Detroit Red Wings, for example. The captain got on the stat sheet, but it wasn’t with a goal. He had an assist, with the real story coming from the defensive end. He held Red Wings star Pavel Datsyuk to zero shots for the entire game, while also besting him in the faceoff circle. Nonetheless, the focus is going to be on Toews in the goal scoring department until he manages to pot one, even if that’s not his primary responsibility. If what we’ve seen in the last couple of games is any indication, he’ll break out of that slump soon. The Toews line dominated possession in Game 1 against the Wings. The trio of Toews, Brandon Saad, and Marian Hossa held the puck quite a bit and accounted for 11 of the Hawks’ 41 shots on the night. That bodes well for Toews trying to get one in the back of the net. He’s also seen more offensive opportunities in recent games. He had a pair of shots in Game 1, but was also coming off a game in which he had five in Game 5 against the Minnesota Wild, the highest of the postseason for him. Toews, along with his line as a group, are seeing more scoring chances than they were in the first few games of the postseason. After going the first four games without a point, Toews has points in each of the last two. He had a pair of assists in Game 5 against Minnesota, before adding another one in Game 1 against the Wings. With this line starting to generate more opportunities and dictating play, it’s only a matter of time before he tickles the twine. But even if he doesn’t, if he continues this type of play against Datsyuk, it won’t matter in this series.

Dec 14, 2011; St. Paul, MN, USA; Chicago Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville during the second period against the Minnesota Wild at the Xcel Energy Center. The Blackhawks defeated the Wild 4-3 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports The personal and team accolades for the regular season keep rolling in for the Chicago Blackhawks.  Along with Bruce Boudreau of the Anaheim Ducks, and Paul MacLean of the Ottawa Senators, Blackhawks head coach, Joel Quenneville was named a finalist to win the Jack Adams Award. The Jack Adams Award is awarded to the head coach who has been recognized for contributing the most to his team’s success, amongst all of the other coaches in the NHL.  So, basically “Coach Q” is up for Coach of the Year.  Quenneville previously won the Jack Adams Award in 2000, when he was head coach of the St. Louis Blues.  “Coach Q” has the most career wins as a head coach, amongst all active coaches in the NHL, with 660 (regular season) victories, which has him ranked 6th all-time in that category. Congratulations, Coach Q! One thing you can count on is Coach Q would happily lose this award in exchange for another Cup! For more Blackhawks updates follow us on Twitter @Blackhawk_Up or like our new Facebook page at Blackhawkup

Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports Playing for the Chicago Blackhawks, Patrick Sharp is likely used to playing the role of “second fiddle”. With the likes of Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane on the same roster, it’s quite difficult for the veteran forward to get much publicity. That hasn’t been the case during these Stanley Cup Playoffs, though. Sharp has been one of the most consistent performers for the Hawks, outplaying both Kane and Toews, at least on the stat sheet. In fact, Sharp is playing some of the best hockey of his time in Chicago. The regular season wasn’t the easiest of things for the Hawks. Despite their record-setting season, he was unable to hang for much of the year. He was limited by injury, mostly due to a hurt shoulder that kept him out of the lineup for most of March and April. Since the postseason started, though, no Blackhawk has been better than Patrick Sharp. After being held scoreless in the first game of their Western Conference Quarterfinal series against the Minnesota Wild, Sharp has been good for at least a point in each of the five games since. Sharp has nine points in those last five games, with three of those tilts including multi-point performances. He had multiple goals in Game 2 and Game 4 of that first round series, including a game-winner in each. Six of his nine points have come from putting the puck in the net. In Game 1 against the Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference Semis, Sharp had another pair of points, with two helpers coming in the Hawks’ 4-1 win. He’s constantly generating offensive opportunities, with at least four shots in every game this postseason except one. In the game he was held to just one shot, he still added an assist. This Hawks team continued their fantastic run in the second half of the season, even when Sharp was out with injury. With him playing at the level at which he’s been for the postseason, this team gets even scarier as we head deeper into the postseason.

Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports It’s the story that just won’t go away in the Windy City. Viktor Stalberg was a healthy scratch in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals for the Chicago Blackhawks against the rival Detroit Red Wings. Since news of his benching broke, theories have abounded as to why he was left out of the action. Some have speculated that Stalberg questioned his role, or lack thereof, on the power play, while Stalberg himself came right out and said that Joel Quenneville was hoping for more intensity from the forward. Regardless of the reason, what does this mean for Stalberg’s future in Chicago? Stalberg has been one of the bigger bargains in the league over the past couple of seasons. After a disappointing first year in Chicago, he had an outstanding year last season, finishing with 43 points in 79 games. He followed up with 23 in the shortened 2013 campaign. On a deal worth just six figures, which is set to expire this summer, Stalberg is line for a pretty healthy raise. In fact, his combination of youth, size, and speed are going to make him a hot commodity out on the market. Which means that he could have already been looking for new employment elsewhere this summer. In reality, the chances of Stalberg returning next year were already slim. Regardless of how much Stalberg chooses to ask for, it’s probably going to be more than what the Hawks are willing to offer, given that they have some talent coming up through the minors that may be capable of replacing him. The benching of Viktor Stalberg is likely just the final nail in the coffin for his career in Chicago. It doesn’t actually change anything, just keeps it status quo. He was going to leave anyway. He’ll likely get back into action again at some point during these Stanley Cup Playoffs, but once the calendar turns to July, expect him to find a new home elsewhere.

CHICAGO -- Chicago Blackhawks forward Daniel Carcillo knows what it's like to be odd man out of the lineup. Carcillo was a healthy scratch during spurts of the regular season and was left out of the lineup during the team's first three playoff games. While he's since played in the last three playoff games and contributed an assist in Wednesday's 4-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings in Game 1 of their second-round series, he still isn't taking anything for granted.