Chicago Blackhawks

[Shake]

Teuvo strong game so far. 3 for 3 on FO wins, played strong defense so far and assumes Kane's role on the PP unit. Kid looking good early on.

[ridinryan44]

Ended up 7-0 in the faceoff circle. That is extremely impressive. His ice-time was limited, and rightfully so, but he never once looked out of place or uncomfortable. Strong passing plays and high-end smarts/awareness (see stick pass to Hjalmarsson) and his hands were quick and talented. I think this kid is as much of a lock as they come.

[Shake]

Hawks go right back with Teuvo. He will play tonight vs the B's.

Crawford and Rask are the goalie starters.

[Shake]

Ok, these past few games have been rather embarrasing. Time to figure out the PP struggles and get the ship back on track before the playoffs begin. Get this rough patch of games over with and let's get into the playoffs on a run....

Not sure who's playing worse right now, Toronto or Chicago. Jeez.

[The Guvnah]

Just a little bit of hyperbole there... The Hawks are 4-3-1 over the last two weeks -- not their best stretch, but it's not exactly time to hit the panic button either. And to compare them to the Leafs is being overly dramatic. The Leafs would kill to be 4-3-1 over the last two weeks!

[Shake]

Great news!!


Chicago Blackhawks ‏@NHLBlackhawks 1m

Coach Q: Toews will sit out for the remaining regular-season games but is expected to be "100 percent" for the playoffs. #Blackhawks

[Shake]

Mark Lazerus ‏@MarkLazerus 6m

#Blackhawks sign #NotreDame defenseman Stephen Johns to a two-year contract.

[Daydream Nation]

Great news!!


Chicago Blackhawks ‏@NHLBlackhawks 1m

Coach Q: Toews will sit out for the remaining regular-season games but is expected to be "100 percent" for the playoffs. #Blackhawks

I have no reason to believe Q.

To me the great news is the Johns signing.

Edit- I guess saying he expects him to be 100% is a little different. I just don't trust what hockey teams say about their players when they have games left to play.

[Shake]

Kane has skated the past couple days and is getting close to being healthy. Toews will skate with the team starting on either Thursday and Friday and he too is close to being healthy.

[Shake]

FYI..


Chris Kuc ‏@ChrisKuc 1m

Patrick Kane is skating freely and isn't showing any signs of his knee injury slowing him down. #Blackhawks

[Shake]

Ahhh the gooood news!


Chris Kuc ‏@ChrisKuc 24m

#Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville: "(Jonathan Toews) skated yesterday. He skated very well. Looked good. As did (Patrick) Kane."

[Daydream Nation]

McDonald's new deal for 5 mil per for the next 6 years is an another example of how great Keith's (5.3 M for the rest of his career) and Hammer's (4.1 M for the next 4 years) are for the Hawks.

[Daydream Nation]

To all the people who wanted to declare Bryan Bickell's contract a bust, I present to you Playoff-Mode Bryan Bickell. Bickell has been one of the best forwards for the Hawks in the postseason so far and has racked up 28 hits in 4 games. He brings a physical game to the top 2 lines that cannot be found anywhere else on the team. While I am not ready to make any conclusions on Bick's 4 year/ 16 mil contract right now, all the proclamations made about him during his injury-plagued regular season were premature. Bickell was one of the best Hawks 2 of the last 3 postseasons and he has continued that trend so far this postseason.

[The Guvnah]

Bickell has indeed been very good so far in the playoffs. I've noticed him (in a good way) in every game, which is more than I can say for him in the regular season. I got burned by picking him up this year, so I won't be making that mistake again! I'll just wait for the playoffs.

[Shake]

Yep Bickell has been solid, but Ben Smith has really impressed me a ton. Doing a lot of the little things on the ice that create big things.