When you sell your soul to Satan, you’ve gotta pay the price eventually. Chicago’s mistake was not requesting that they be made the best team for an entire SEASON. Ol’ Scratch’s trick was to make them the best team up to the Olympics, and then make them plummet.
Much like the Twins up to the All-Star break, and then back to the cellar.
I think that our children need to learn of the legalities of infernal and diabolical contracts, and how best to twist the language to suit yourself. Won’t somebody PLEASE think of the children?
Face it. The Hawks were playing way over their heads for most of the season. They sucked for the last few years and made no significant changes for this season. The same thing happened to the Flames, they just came back to earth sooner. At least the Hawks are going to make the playoffs due to the strength of their performance in the first part of the season.
I think they made a very significant change…they got a good coach. Jocelyn Thibeault is a GREAT goalie, and for the most part, they’re a good hockey team.
And regardless of whether they were ‘in over their heads’ in the beginning of the season what made them crash so spectacularly? A Zhamnov injury? Doubt it.
Could be worse. You could be a Capitals fan. They have one of the best lineups in years and yet they’re still second in the Welfare Division and are like three games out of the playoffs.
Your local supermarket should have octopi, and your local supermarket should also be able to supply you with the coals, lighter fluid and matches for the fire sale:D
They haven’t “Crashed.” They just aren’t getting as lucky as they were before the Olympics.
If you look at the standings, the Hawks’ record (35-23-13) is out of proportion to their goals scored and allowed (191 to 182.) They have won more games than you’d expect from a team that only scores a few morethan they allow. They were a little flukey - not much, but a bit. In their last 10 or 11 games their luck has shifted a bit. They haven’t been THAT bad, though. There’s no real collapse here.
I don’t agree that Thibault is a great goalie. Chicago allows more goals than any other team in the top 8 in the West and more than some not in the top 8. Thibault isn’t among the league leaders in save % or goals against. His statistics are simply not good. He’s being outplayed by Patrick Lalime and Roman Turek, for God’s sake. The Hawks win in spite of Thibault, not because of him.
Note: Throwing octopi on the ice is a horrible, cruel thing to do that frankly should carry a jail sentence. Octopi are not mindless creatures; they have functioning brains and are as conscious of their surroundings as, say, rodents (or so they think, testing octopus intelligence is not something the scientific community has quite mastered.) Anyone who would throw one onto the ice is a pig who probably kicks dogs for fun.
Just wanted to give a shout out to the best team in hockey at the moment…
Go Kings!! (who happen to be tied with Chicago at the moment but really have the San Jose Sharks in their crosshairs. Dare I say even the Avalanche are looking over their colectives shoulders at the LA Kings?)
Well, yeah, Thibault is better than the clowns who have disgraced the Blackhawk net in the past few years, for sure. Just don’t think there isn’t room for improvement. Don’t curtisjosephize the guy.
(Curtisjosephizing is the propensity of hockey fans to worship a goalie for his greatness even though the goalie isn’t actually all that great. You can curtisjosephize an athlete in any sport, actually, but it is most pronounced with goalies, catchers, and shortstops. Your new shortstop, Alex Gonzalez, was heavily curtisjosephized here in Toronto.)
Yes, but that will all be over tomorrow (Sharks/Kings, 1 p.m. check your local listings). And I will be there. I expect a playoff atmosphere and STAPLES Center wil be rocking!