October test for Hawks, a loss, and NHL 07 Stanley Cup Champ switches teams

Great read on concerning the upcoming season for the Hawks. Specifically October, which as the article points out, will be tough with every game having its own storyline.

October is, in many ways, an acid test for the Hawks.

Three games are against divisional rival Nashville, a problem team for Chicago; witness three losses last season. They meet 2009 playoff foes Flames and Canucks, both bent on revenge. A grudge match with Martin Havlat and the Wild, and meetings with Colorado, Edmonton and Montreal, all who defeated Chicago during the previous campaign, complete a month which has no ‘gimmes’.

Should the Hawks stutter, the doom and gloom from fans and hockey pundits will multiply. As good as Cristobal Huet can be, the boo-birds will jump on his every miscue. Havlat Nostalgia may resound if the Hawk attack comes up short.

Blackhawks lose their last exhibition game 2-1 and I wouldn't care if it weren't for this little sidenote:

Chicago hadn’t lost to a European club since 1991.

What's that say about this team? Probably nothing, but with all that's gone down this off-season to foreshadow a tumultuous year...

Former Blackhawk and all around old dude signed by Coyotes. An aging star signed by failing franchise--no idea why this is meaningful at all. Except that any player from my XBox 360 NHL 07 Stanley Cup championship team will always have a place in my heart. This one goes out to you Langer.

The Phoenix Coyotes signed veteran center Robert Lang to a one-year contract Tuesday.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Coyotes general manager Don Maloney said the 38-year-old Lang "provides another veteran presence for our team and is a proven scorer in the National Hockey League."

Chicago('s) Fire News

This is what happens when you set your Google Alerts to "Chicago Fire"

High winds last night fanned an extra-alarm fire in a vacant home and spread the blaze to an adjacent building, displacing 14 people, officials said. There had been fears the fire would spread to a third building but those never materialized. The fire occurred in a frame structure (right) at 2334 W. 21st St. and was struck out at 10:23 p.m., about an hour and a half after it began, Chicago Fire Department officials said. The cause is being investigated.

Hawks Predictions, foreign affairs and Indians on Jersey FTW

My two favorite NHL season predictions. [Note: it's the only two I bothered to read]

10. Patrick Kane(notes) will beat up an airline pilot, a train conductor and ship captain and help the Blackhawks win the division. Meanwhile Jonathan Toews(notes) will make a series of hilarious faces.
...
20. The Central will be the best division in hockey.

Hawks beat up on a foreign country. Go America. Whose idea was it for the Hawks to open up the regular season against the Florida Panthers? I didn't even know the Panthers still existed. They are the Golden State Warriors of the NHL.

And finally, Hawks are in the finals for the best jersey's in hockey. From what I gather its all of hockey not just the NHL, but last time I tried to "gather" something it turned out she said "Get away" instead of "Yes, please and don't delay". Hey, it's hard to hear someone when they are running in a direction that is not towards you.

It comes down to this. Hundreds began and now there are two. The final matchup in our summer jersey showdown pits the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux of the WCHA against the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL.

So yeah, there’s a bit of a theme.

The Fighting Sioux knocked off the venerable Boston Bruins in the semifinals after beating the London Knights and Rimouski Oceanic before that. Chicago continued its domination by taking apart the equally legendary Montreal Canadiens (who were last year's logo champion), while the Florida Everblades and Ottawa 67’s were earlier victims (view the tournament schedule on The Hockey News Jersey Rankings and Tournament Central page).

Hawks: ESPN the Mag and the Cap, Sky: eh

Four Hawks made the cover of ESPN the magazine (Toews will eat your babies), and as Yahoo points out, that's not a good thing.

ESPN The Magazine has featured hockey on its cover 12 times since 1998
...

If you're one of those folks that believes an image on the cover of a magazine (or video game) can inflict some sort of voodoo curse on an athlete or team, you might be interested to know that only one of the 12 cover subjects went on to win the Stanley Cup

Yahoo also calls out the rag for making the statement that even signing two of their three best players (Duncan Keith, Jonathan Toews, and Patrick Kane) "nearly impossible".

It's going to take some mountain-moving salary-wise, but negotiations will be ongoing with the trio and there's a chance two of them could be signed before Summer 2010 even hits.

Keeping three of them? Really, really tough. Keeping two of them? We'd file that under "likely," wouldn't you?

So which two do you bring back? Obviously all three would be lovely but that just ain't going to happen. My vote goes with Toews and Keith--but by Merlin's Beard do I love Kane and his ability to handle the puck. Makes my peepee tingle.


The Sky extend their GM and head coaches contract by two years. In other news, I just learned that the Sky have a GM and head coach.

Key managed improvements in the Sky’s overall record in each of his first two seasons as head coach. In his first year, the Sky went 12-22. In his second season, he improved team depth by bringing in several new athletes to complement the all star line up of Candice Dupree, Jia Perkins and Sylvia Fowles. Despite Fowles missing 10 games in 2009 due to injury, the Sky under Coach Key’s leadership finished 16-18, establishing a new franchise record for wins in a season and nearly making the franchise’s first playoff berth.

McBride's late header rescues Fire

The Fire (currently in 2nd) are in a heated race for first place in the East, and currently have the 4th seed in the playoffs. With just three games left of the season, the city of Chicago seems to be embracing the team (even more), as Fire fever has spread...like a wildfire, throughout the Chicago media. Examples of this include: my seeing a man wearing a Fire jersey on the train (and he was not Mexican), numerous Chicago Fire Google Alerts on my email, and an article in the Tribune that included a picture. Unfortunately, the team itself has not been performing to the level of play they are accustomed to, with their last three matches ending in a draw.

Here are the links:

Poor Fire defense equaled plenty of chances for the visitors in the first 13 minutes of play. And then Chicago got lucky. McBride sent the ball into the box for Patrick Nyarko. Toronto defender Nick Garcia turned to clear the ball out of danger, but instead knocked into the back of the net, tying the match at 1-1.

Chicago took five shots in the first half, but none of them were on goal. Justin Mapp had a near miss for Chicago in the 19th minute, sending the ball inches wide of the left post. In the 32nd minute, Attakora took down Nyarko. Mike Banner sailed the free kick over the crossbar and out.

Fast forward to :35 to see C-Dup graze some iron

Fire and Hawks Links

Troubled draft pick, Peter Lowry's offense no surprise to coach/team.

When Peter Lowry scored twice in the Fire's 2-2 draw Sunday with Columbus, you couldn't blame the midfielder for wanting to soak it all in. It's not too often the 24-year-old gets a start, let alone scores two goals.

"I was pretty excited," the Santa Clara University product said. "It's pretty rare that something like that happens."

No matter how much Lowry's performance may have surprised, his coaches and teammates are adamant that it was only a matter of time for the 2008 second-round pick.

Also this may be a joke but according to his Wiki entry he had gills as a child.

When Peter was born doctors were amazed to discover he was born with gills. Until the age of 7 Peter was able to breath under water for short periods of time. His gills have since stopped function and have been surgically removed.

On to the Hawks. Injuries causing major pains for young team.

Kris Versteeg went down in the first game with what the club calls an upper-body injury. He hasn't practiced with his teammates since. Adam Burish suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament while crashing into the boards in the second game. He needs surgery and won't play again until March.

On Wednesday, Jack Skille suffered a lower-body injury after playing barely three minutes.

''It's not serious,'' said coach Joel Quenneville, who added that the full medical report wasn't in yet. Skille is the next in line for Burish's spot on the Hawks' fourth line.

''He was having another good game,'' Quenneville said. ''He was one of the top guys in the first period.''

With Marian Hossa out until November after shoulder surgery and Dustin Byfuglien recovering from a groin injury, the Hawks are trying all sorts of forward combinations. They recalled Bryan Bickell and Rob Klinkhammer from Rockford for practice Thursday and put forward Danny Bois and defenseman Richard Petiot on waivers. Petiot, though, participated in the workout Thursday at the United Center.

Candice Dupree: A Leader Beyond the Numbers

C-Dup is the best Forward in the WNBA, finally she is getting the credit she deserves

On the surface, it’s no wonder why Chicago Sky forward Candice Dupree is one of the Sky’s leaders. Look at her numbers. She’s currently leading the team scoring 15.4 points per game up from 14.3 a month ago and she grabs 7.9 rebounds up from 6.7 at the beginning of August. But her leadership is much deeper than the stat sheet.

“From the outside looking in, Candice seems really quiet and soft spoken, but she’s actually a fireball,” said four-year WNBA veteran and first-year Sky player Shyra Ely. “She’s pretty much been our cornerstone all year. She’s done a great job stepping up and being our go-to player. She’s been vocal too. It’s not something that’s all the time, but when something needs to be said Candice will say it.”