Blackhawks Didn't Win By More Than Five

Readership,

Just a quick one tonight.  Tomorrow I'm off to Memphis for Steph's family reunion.  There, I will take pictures of Graceland and spareribs, cos that's all that city has going for it.  It's like Tennessee's version of Cleveland. 

Tonight we saw a different team in the first period, a team that said, "No, we're not going to allow you to score on us!".  That team came out to the ice in the 2nd and quickly we were down 2-0 as if it were earlier this week.  Thankfully, the team came back and said, "No, we're not going to allow another shutout in front of our fans!". So they were scored on again and that was the end of that.

Trotz mentioned in the post-game press that we were lacking decisiveness and I completely agree.  Though I think Laakso will grow into a fairly good defenseman, he hesistated on multiple occasions this evening - from his one-timer from the blue-line to his a-second-too-late-rear-check, he was thinking too much instead of just going with it.  Klein got himself in position a milli-second too late and his chance to score in the third was gone (his D also appearing a bit late in the second as well).  The passing game...well...it wasn't really a game cos a game is when 2 people are playing - too many turn-overs, too many missed passes; sloppy is the only word for it.  What I've noticed this week is a severe lack of urgency.  When lines change, no one seems to give a damn except for Wilson and possibly Bouillon - they mosey off at their own leisurely pace or slowly glide onto the ice, apparently not paying attention to what was happening before their number came up.  That's inexcuseable.  Wilson has a grin from ear to ear and seems to be alert, pointing his veteran teammates to where they should be, because he's now in an elite league, getting paid to do what he loves to do most and what any hockey fan would die to do.  Somehow it seems that that point, that truth, is something that a handful of our fellas might be taking for granted.

How the hell do you fix a spoiled athlete? If you scratch him, he's still getting paid...to do what he already does on ice: nothing.  How do you get something to work out when you're already known as the team that always works something out...and it's not working?  Like I mentioned two posts ago, something drastic has to take place if the bring up / send down doesn't work.  A trade must occur or some jobs might need to be shifted...in that order. 

Tough nuggets - we lost again, but this time it was respectable.

Cheers.

PS.  Lemme know what you think of Falkous the Hockey Dog.  Any ideas for future lampoons with Rizzo and Falk are appreciated.  Off to the Land of Nod...then Memphis.