Chicago Blackhawks

March 8 2013; Denver, CO, USA; Chicago Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville on his bench during the first period of the game against the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports If you have listened to any bench interview of Joel Quenneville he has one constant word-PACE.  He talks about it constantly whether it’s pre-game, post-game, NHL 36  you could have a drinking game with the number of times he talks about Pace.  The Hawks are a fast young team that can create pace but in Game #2 it wasn’t there due to the nonstop clutching and grabbing a la 1980′s playoff hockey of the Detroit Red Wings.  Here is  four easy steps to create pace in Game #3 and steal back home ice advantage in the series. 1. Re-Insert the #3 line- Yes I’m as tired as everyone else about hearing the benching of Viktor Stalberg but it is evident that the dominant line in the Wild series has disappeared in the Detroit series.  Throughout the season people talked about the Andrew Shaw, Byan Bickell, Viktor Stalberg line.  Most people said it was incredible that this was the Hawks #3 line was better than most teams #2 lines.  When Marian Hossa was hurt the Hawks moved Bryan Bickell to the top line for two games but quickly learned their mistake and put back together that line while calling up Jimmy Hayes to move players around.  This line is pesky with speed and a hitter why break it up now in the second round of the playoffs. Hopefully whatever lesson you were teaching Stalberg is learned and we all can move on (This is rumored to be happening after practice today). 2. Bench Michal Handzus. If you want to talk about pace then it is time to put Handzus up in the press box.  Yes, he was part of the only scoring play of the game but that was on a deflected pass and only because he was trailing the play. Patrick Sharp and Patrick Kane are fast players and need someone with (pace) speed to keep up with them instead of having Handzus trailing every sequence.  The way to beat Detroit is speed and pace and the last time I checked that is not one of  Handzus’s strengths. 3. Replace Daniel Carcillo- Not that the carbomb is a slow skater but this isn’t a goon series nor do we need Brandon Bollig.  We need skill and speed which is why Carcillo is averaging about 6:30 a game of ice time.  Skill and speed is a recipe for beating the old guard Red Wings and Carillo only has one of those traits.  Put Ben Smith in for Carcillo on the fourth line and let’s get some young legs that really want it with some skill.  The new fourth line of Marcus Kruger, Michael Frolik, and Smith would be fast and skilled and would be able to be on the ice more than one shift  a period and penalty kills a game.  The Hawks seem to be getting away from rolling four lines and this needs to become a focus again in Game #3.  Skill and speed will be the evil enemy. 4. Put Dave Bolland back on line #2.- I’m all for this even though people like calling Bolland names. He’s annoying yet skilled enough to play between Kane and Sharp.  He’s a better option than Kruger without breaking up line #3.  Bolland is a playoff gamer but seems a little off ,due to time off and the guys he’s skating with in the first two games.  Put him back on the line with Kane and good things will happen plus they will have a defensive presence added with Bolland on the ice that is missing with Handzus.  This will increase the pace for Q and will still be offensive for the team. What do you think? What changes or adjustments would you make for Game #3? For more Blackhawks conversation follow us on Twitter @Blackhawk_Up or Like us on our new Facebook page at Blackhawkup.

Game 5 between the Blackhawks and Red Wings is scheduled for 7 pm CT on Saturday, May 25.The post Game 5 Time Set appeared first on Committed Indians.

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CHICAGO -- Chicago Blackhawks forward Viktor Stalberg likely will play in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinal series against the Detroit Red Wings after being a healthy scratch in the first two games, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said Sunday. Stalberg practiced with the third line during Sunday’s practice at the United Center. He was taken out of the lineup for the series’ first two games after playing in 47 of 48 regular-season games and in all five of the team’s first-round playoff games.

May 18, 2013; San Jose, CA, USA; San Jose Sharks center Logan Couture (39) is mobbed by his teammates after scoring the game-winning goal against the Los Angeles Kings in overtime of game three of the second round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs at HP Pavilion. The San Jose Sharks defeated the Los Angeles Kings 2-1 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports Yesterday’s Stanley Cup Playoff Games Detroit Red Wings-4 Chicago Blackhawks-1 (Series Tied 1-1) The Red Wings clutched, grabbed, frustrated, then defeated the Blackhawks in the United Center. (Second City Hockey) (The Committed Indian) (Octopus Thrower) San Jose Sharks-2 Los Angeles Kings-1 OT (Kings lead series 2-1) Logan Couture scores the game winner in overtime to give every game of this series so far to the home team. (Blades of Teal) (Rink Royalty) (SBNation San Jose) Today’s Stanley Cup Games (TV Listings) New York Rangers at Boston Bruins 2 pm (Bruins lead series 1-0) The Bruins have been magical in overtime will the Rangers be able to beat the Bruins in regualtaion. (Causeway Crowd) (Boston Globe) (Blue Line Station) Pittsburgh Penguins at Ottawa Senators 6:30pm (Penguins lead series 2-0) Will the Senators be able to slow down the Penguins offense  or will this just be a quick series on the way to the Eastern Conference finals for the Pens. (SenShot) (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

If you frequent Twitter, you would think that a majority of Chicago hockey fans thought the Blackhawks would go 16-0 in the playoffs and win every game by at least 4 goals. Well, that just isn't going to happen. If you didn't think the Detroit Red Wings were going to respond with their best effort today, you have not been paying attention. There is too much veteran leadership on this team to just roll over and die just because the Blackhawks kicked the crap out of them on Wednesday night. The Hawks played their best game of the post season in Game 1, which forced the Wings to play their worst game of the playoffs. Saturday was the exact opposite happened and a complete role reversal occurred on the ice. The Wings looked like the superior team,and took advantage of numerous Hawks defensive lapses to even up the series heading back to Detroit. Monday will be the biggest game for the Hawks since Game 7 of the 2011 Vancouver playoff series. The winner of Game 3 will not guarantee themselves a series win, but they will make their path a whole lot easier. You've got two of the best coaches in the game today going head to head. Game 3 will be Coach Q's chance to make the adjustment. I predicted this series to go six games, and I didn't waiver after the Hawks Game 1 performance. The Wings are going to give us a series and not just let the Blackhawks steamroll them right out of the Western Conference. * I wrote the other day that the way Andrew Shaw embracing the role of the "playoff troll' would make it easier to trade Dave Bolland in the summer. It should be easy to trade Dave Bolland because he is terrible. And Andrew Shaw is flat out hard to watch on the ice at times. * We didn't lose Game 2 because Viktor Stalberg was a scratch, but he better be dressed come Game 3. You can't tell me his size and speed can't create something positive. If I were Q, and I'm not, Stalberg and Ben Smith play and Game 3 over Shaw and Daniel Carcillo. * Johnny Dduya and Michal Rozsival have been the best defensive pairing in this series. If you need more proof, just look at the Corsi numbers. *Speaking of Corsi numbers, the 2nd line was absolutely terrible today. * Woohoo! Brendan Smith had redemption and scored the game winning goal in Game 2. Patrick Sharp being lazy on defense was the main reason for that goal. By the end of series, Smith will be responsible for more goals for the Blackhawks than goals against them. * Daniel Cleary is awful. * Loved how NBC fell in love with Henrik Zetterberg and the defensive job he did on Jonanthan Toews. It's very easy to be a "shutdown defensive player" when you are allowed to cross check players in the back of the neck. Blackhawks Corsi Numbers Player Pos ES TOI Total Shots For Total Shots Against Corsi Net Zone Starts Adjusted Corsi Duncan Keith D 17:59 8 20 -12 +1 -12 Niklas Hjalmarsson D 15:59 7 18 -11 +1 -11 Brent Seabrook D 14:13 9 13 -4 +1 -4 Nick Leddy D 13:40 8 13 -5 +1 -5 Patrick Sharp R 13:45 7 14 -7 0 -7 Daniel Carcillo L 7:40 3 6 -3 0 -3 Marcus Kruger C 9:29 6 6 0 0 0 Jonathan Toews C 15:57 19 7 +12 +3 +11 Brandon Saad L 13:58 19 7 +12 +2 +11 Michal Handzus C 13:01 6 17 -11 0 -11 Johnny Oduya D 16:59 21 9 +12 +1 +12 Bryan Bickell L 12:07 7 14 -7 0 -7 Michal Rozsival D 18:25 21 11 +10 +1 +10 Dave Bolland C 10:18 8 12 -4 0 -4 Andrew Shaw C 11:29 7 15 -8 +1 -8 Michael Frolik R 9:09 6 3 +3 -1 +3 Marian Hossa R 13:50 17 9 +8 +3 +7 Patrick Kane R 15:12 6 16 -10 +1 -10 Red Wings Corsi Numbers Player Pos ES TOI Total Shots For Total Shots Against Corsi Net Zone Starts Adjusted Corsi Brendan Smith D 14:42 15 13 +2 +1 +2 Jakub Kindl D 14:5

Jerry-Lai-USA-TODAY-Sports.jpg Coming into the afternoon game between the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings, some fans had the uneasy feeling that something bad would happen. Call it a curse, call it being underprepared, but the Blackhawks just don’t seem to have a lot of oomph in the majority of their afternoon games this season. This was evident in their 4-1 loss to the Red Wings to even their semifinals series. It was a sloppy, poorly executed game on the Blackhawks’ part from the beginning, with only flashes of offense or defense to be found. Once again, Corey Crawford did his best to keep the team afloat, but he’s only one person. When losses like this happen, it’s not his fault that no one’s trying to help block shots coming his way. What caught the Blackhawks off guard? It’s probably that they underestimated that the Wings would be ready for them, unlike Wednesday’s game. Perhaps the Wings found a counter to the Blackhawks’ speed and depth. I prefer to think that it was lack of sleep from playing the game at noon Chicago time. With the exception of their game on Easter (which was against the Red Wings), they’ve struggled in afternoon games. There was only one bright spot in this entirely terrible game. Late in the first period, Patrick Sharp made a pass intended for Patrick Kane. The puck bounced to Michal Handzus, who wasn’t quite expecting it. He then passed the puck to Kane, who rifled a slap shot into the top corner and put the Blackhawks on the board first. It was Kane’s first goal of the playoffs, and it shook the scoring monkey off his back. The Blackhawks need to focus on what went wrong and fix it quickly. At this point in the postseason, they can’t afford to play as haphazardly as they did. That kind of misstep will end their playoff run before they know it.

Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports Nobody in the NHL had a better regular season than the Chicago Blackhawks. Finishing with 77 points, they were five points better than the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference and 11 better than the closest Western Conference team — The Anaheim Ducks. Chicago also opened the season with a record-setting 24-game point streak before the Colorado Avalanche ended it. The Detroit Red Wings, on the other hand, finished the season with 56 points and had to beat the Dallas Stars on the last day of the season to guarantee a playoff spot. Most people didn’t think they would get by the Ducks in the first round. While Chicago took care of the Minnesota Wild in five games, the Red Wings needed all seven to get past Anaheim. After Chicago easily took care of Detroit in game 1, the roles were reversed in game 2. Chicago won 4-1 in game one only to watch Detroit win by the same score and steal home-ice advantage from the Blackhawks. This should be very concerning to Chicago. After taking care of business in the first round and being able to rest players, you do what needs to be done in the first game but lay an egg in game 2. Having won a Stanley Cup not too long ago, the Blackhawks should know the last thing you want to do is give another hockey team momentum — especially the goaltender. Of course, there is something to be said about a team that has been in playoff mode since there was about three weeks left to go in the season and another team who basically was able to coast into the postseason. The desperation Detroit had to play with to get into the playoffs has carried over into the way they are playing right now. Not only did they beat Chicago in game 2, they dominated. Detroit had more shots, blocked shots, face-offs won and more power plays. This is only going to continue as the series shifts to Detroit. In order for Chicago to regain the momentum they need, goalie Corey Crawford has to be the best player on the ice. If he can do that and outplay Jimmy Howard, then Chicago can win this series. However, if he does not and the defense continues to allow that many shots for Detroit, they could be heading to the beaches early this summer. Greg Higgins is an NHL contributor for Rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter: @greghiggins457, “Like” him on Facebook, and add him to your network on Google.

May 18, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford (50) makes a save as defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson (4) battles for positioning with Detroit Red Wings center Pavel Datsyuk (13) in the second period of game two of the second round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports The final score was the same as Wednesday night’s Game 1 in Chicago, but with the visitors on the winning side this time. Detroit Red Wings players made promises to their fans via interviews and social media that they would come out harder in Game 2 and resemble the team that fans expected. Detroit did just that. Here are a couple facts: First, Patrick Kane scored his first goal of the post season for the Chicago Blackhawks. This should get the guys fired up, right? Finally, one of the two guys we’ve been waiting for is scoring goals! Toews can’t be far behind. Second, the penalty kill unit is still undefeated so far in the playoffs, killing off all 23 penalties. With both of those tidbits, Blackhawks fans would be excited for Game 2. But Kane’s goal was the only one scored by the Blackhawks. And although they killed off 4 penalties, they gave up 4 even strength goals. The Blackhawks had trouble protecting the captain, making passes, not falling at inopportune times, and giving an extra push to gain puck possession. In short, they played one of their worst games of the year, and there have only been about 4 or 5 of those. Damien Brunner tied it up early in the second period and the Red Wings took the lead with a goal from Brendan Smith with 4 minutes remaining. Johan Franzen and Valtteri Filppula both added insurance goals in the third period to silence the United Center for the afternoon. The best player for the Blackhawks was easily Corey Crawford who made 26 saves – a few of them pretty spectacular – and kept his team in it for as long as he could. The sluggish defense of the Blackhawks relied on Crawford so they could take another breath or two. With the lethargic showing by the Blackhawks against an extra determined Detroit team, Joel Quenneville should think twice about reintroducing the speed of benched Viktor Stalberg for their trip across the lake. Being tied 1-1 in the series against the Red Wings isn’t the worst case scenario. The series is moving to Detroit where the Blackhawks are 9-0-1 in their last 10 visits. Stealing a game back at the Joe will be a fight, but definitely doable! This will be a long series if the Blackhawks use this game as a wake up call and play like the Blackhawks again! Let’s go Hawks! Do you think the Blackhawks will take a game in Detroit? For more updates and conversation, follow us on Twitter @Blackhawk_Up and friend us on Facebook at Blackhawk Up.

CHICAGO -- For the first 10 minutes of Saturday’s game, Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville was proud of the way his team played against the Detroit Red Wings. Over the game’s next 50 minutes, Quenneville’s mood gradually declined as the Red Wings skated away with a 4-1 victory in Game 2 and evened the Western Conference semifinal series. “I liked our start,” Quenneville said. “I thought the first 10 minutes of the game the pace was probably as fast as any point throughout [the series’ first] four periods, but we didn’t sustain it.