Not Quite Lee Elia, but the most life I've seen out of the Hawks in a while
>> Friday
Lost in the shuffle of Super Bowl week...and that it happened in the NHL was Blackhawks coach Denis Savard's tirade on his team's woeful performance (currently in last place); telling the players they need to "Commit to the Indian."
In one of the stranger writer questions ever, Hawks President John McDonough responded saying that the Blackhawks will NOT be changing the official team slogan to "Commit to the Indian." Not because of any half-assed attempts at labeling what Savard said as "racist" because to do that ignores that the Hawks have worn the Indian Head Sweater since the 1920s.
My reason is while I like the passion Savard showed and saying what was on his mind rather than standard coachspeak, I gotta say a team's official mantra should never be when they're getting called out by an irate coach. It would be like if the Cubs adopted a marketing scheme of "Wrigley Field: It's a playground for the cocksuckers!"
However, in the internet age, it's already too late.
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9 comments:
Wow, with that incredibly artful design, it's amazing how quickly they were able to pump out those t-shirts.
Lee Elia was dead on with that description of Wrigley Field.
The Blackhawks have been playing very well this season, although they have started to struggle ever since Jonathan Towes (sp?) got injured a couple weeks back. Yeah they are in last place, but they are in the toughest division in the NHL and are .500 (24-24 I think). Better than the Bulls piss poor 18-29 record and only 1 spot out of a beating by Celtics in Round 1.
Plus, this comment by Savard was directed toward Martin Havalat who has been brutal to watch the past couple weeks
Wrigley Field? You mean, Dentine Diamond.
Saying they're .500 is deceiving, though, because of the way NHL records work. .500 is still well below average. Last I saw the standings, I think there were about five teams total that were under .500. Hence, the 'Hawks still suck.
You are both right.
PATRICK IS RIGHT
The Hawks are 23-24-4 (50 points in that weird NHL system that only gives 2 points for a win, but gives one if you lose in OT). Yes, they are presently in 5th place, and could easily move up. The Hawks are only 7 points out of second place in the division (with a game in hand).
PATRICK IS WRONG
However, to say they are in the toughest division in the NHL might be a bit of a stretch, if not just false. The Hawks are more likely in the most bottom-heavy division in their conference. If the playoffs started today, the five teams in the Central would be seeded #1, #9, #11, #12, and #14 out of 15 teams in the Western Conference Playoffs.
The "toughest division" top-to-bottom in the NHL right now is probably the Atlantic. It's the only division where all teams are over .500, and also if the playoffs started today, would have its teams seeded #2, #4, #5, #8, and #9 in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.
VINNIE IS RIGHT
Being .500 in the NHL is not that impressive. Counting overtime losses as ties (and not towards the loss total), 23 out of 30 teams are over .500. (Toronto, Chicago, Los Angeles, Edmonton, Tampa Bay, Florida, & Atlanta are the sub-.500 teams.) In terms of overall point total, the Hawks are 25th out of 30 teams.
I'm not saying .500 is great, but they are 7 games better than last year at this time (a 14 game swing) and that has primarily been to the play of the young guys. I think it is more of what this team can do in the next couple of years that has me thinking positively. Of course they won't win the Cup this year and may or may not back into the playoffs, but they have a lot of promise for the future. Kind of like the Bulls 3-4 years ago and the Brewers 2 years ago. Young talent plus suddenly very good management equals success.
Plus, I know it is against only one team, but they have kicked the crap out of the Red Wings this season...if they can just get a little more consistent goaltending from khobibulian (not even close to spelling it right), they would be probably be 5-6 games better
Also, even if they back into the playoffs, they would likely be matched against the Red Wings in the first round. I think it was Edmonton who was the 8 seed and ended up getting to the Finals (I might be wrong on that)
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