Being There - Blackhawks 4 - Oilers 2

I just came back from a family wedding in Chicago, and since I was in Chicago, and the Hawks were playing on Sunday, I had a chance to see them play in person. I haven't been to the United Center since December of 2010 (I moved to LA in January, 2011). Blackhawks beat the Red Wings 4-1. It was stupid cold that night, with a low of 12 degrees. It was so cold that people fought each other for taxis outside the UC. Me and my friend couldn't get a cab, and after 20 minutes of being outside, I went into some sort of survival panic. Every organ in my body was awake and my muscles got tense and my brain was telling me to find someplace warm.

We walk/ran to the Cobra Lounge, a "hard rock" bar. That place blows, but it was sweet sanctuary to me that night. Called a cab from the place and went home. I had already planned my move to LA, and this was confirmation that I had made the right decision. It's just too fucking cold in Chicago. Go ahead and tell yourself that the winters aren't that bad or that it builds character. Bullshit. Don't deny the suckage. It's a miserable grey time that you never get back. Snow is pretty for a day or two, then it's 4 months of black slush. Fuck a winter, man.




But enough of my ongoing war with winter.

Since I moved to LA, I've seen the Hawks play 3 times, twice at the Staples Center and once at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. Away games. I've been deprived of the hometown experience.

I forgot how much better the experience is at your team's hockey arena vs. watching it on TV at home. For one thing, everybody around you is cheering for the Hawks, which doesn't happen in other arenas for some reason. There are no shitty announcers rambling on, trying to fill time with corny golf jokes, or excessive analysis, or commercials for that matter. Just breaks in the action. It's a clean hockey experience, and if I could, I would see every game the Hawks play there.  


Delicious Cake

-Patrick Kane. 4 point night. Dude's on a 10 game point streak. His backhander in the 3rd was unfair to blind people, who will never see it. He's simply the best player in the NHL right now.

-Artemi Panarin. Ol' Bread-Face got his groove back, scoring 2 goals in the 1st period including a snipe from a sharp angle. Strong game from the Russian rookie.





So-So Soup

-Trevor Daley. Not too many screw ups in his own end, but for a guy who's supposed to be an offensive defenseman, it doesn't seem like he knows where the net is. His favorite shot is missing the net by 3 feet. No goals through 15 games. He's gotta find a way to score or someone will replace him. 

Expired Tuna Salad

-Viktor Tikhonov. So far, he's the worst free agent addition to the roster. He played a team low 5:54 of ice time, and took a shitty penalty that the Oilers were able to capitalize on, keeping them in the game until the Kane backhander. Through 15 games, of which he has dressed 10 times, he has 0 goals and 0 assists. I don't see what positive contributions he brings to the Hawks, besides smoothing out Panarin's transition to North America, which will help Panarin in the long run. Once Panarin gets acclimated to being in the NHL and living in America, I don't think Tikhonov has a place in this organization.

Noticeably Unnoticed Award for Excellence in Impalpable Impact

-Teuvo Teravainen. Not the best game from the young Finnish dandy. He has yet to gel with the top line of Toews-Hossa, but that can change pretty fast.  The kid's a wizard. He'll come through.