About Last Night...

Over the last few days I wrote up a summary of my thoughts on what the Hawks have been going through since I last posted way back in early January.

However, that'll have to wait until tomorrow, as WAY too much happened in last night's game for me not to throw out a few thoughts. And because brevity is not a skill I possess, I'm gonna ramble on a bit about the game today, then post the lengthy Part I tomorrow, and then the equally lengthy Part II come Monday.

To last night's game:

1) That hit by Wisniewski was the worst I've ever seen live in hockey. It was malicious and dirty, and complete bush league. He did every single thing to break the rules - he came from 60 feet out, didn't play the puck, came in with his hands up, targeted the head, and left his feet.

And the results were as scary as anything I've ever seen - Seabrook was instantly knocked out cold on his feet. Watching the replays made me sick. Everyone involved was lucky he didn't fall weird and do real damage, because he had zero body control at that point. And who knows what damage was done just by the hit - Seabrook looked really bad. Concussions are scary ass things - I hope this wasn't a major one.


2) The only thing that made me sicker than the hit was the ref's response. TWO MINUTES FOR CHARGING?!? If the NHL doesn't both suspend Wisniewski for a huge chunk AND issue an apology for the ref's mishandling the call, I'm gonna be furious. Sure I had the benefit of all the slow motion replays, but these guys are supposed to be watching everything that's going on. You mean to tell me between the four of them not a single one saw even a few of the FIVE different things Wisniewski did to make that an obvious game misconduct?

But the fury I felt after this hit was only compounded by the refs' decision to swallow their whistles with 5 minutes to go and thereby directly cost the Hawks the game. Look, I understand it's a tough call to make - Sopel wasn't pushed super hard and it's a tight game late.

But when ref's start thinking instead of just doing, you get the exact situation that played out - the push to the back (which everyone in the entire arena and watching at home saw - we all were waiting for that puck to come down) goes uncalled while taking Sopel out of the play and giving the Ducks the puck alone in front of the net. A mad scramble by the Hawks defenders to compensate ensues, leading them to be out of position for the Ducks goal.

Look, it's simple - the guy might not have pushed hard and a bit of contact in that situation is part of the game, but the rules are the rules for the very reason we saw play out - cause if you don't call em, it could be a HUGE advantage to the offending team. And that's what happened - that clear penalty gave the Ducks the game, plain and simple.

Say what you want about baseball's rules, but the one place it does it right is with managers - it should be normal in every sport for a manager or coach to run onto the field, get into an explosive argument with the ref, and get tossed. Watching the Hawks lose because the refs blew the second painfully obvious call of the night would have brought me, as a coach, over the boards and onto the ice, mouth foaming, until I had gotten my money's worth. And then I would have started back to my bench... only to turn back around and charge the ref a second time! I would have made sure not to bump him, but definitely got a second dose of my money's worth.

One terrible call will get me going - two of them, one which failed to penalize an absurdly dangerous play and one which directly cost us the game - there is no way I wouldn't have put on one of those coaching meltdowns that gets replayed on sports highlight shows for decades.


3) What the F was with the Hawks lack of a response?!? I respect Keith for his effort, as girlish as it was, because he's not at all a fighter but still went after Wis. But when it became clear the ref's weren't gonna punish Wis, it became necessary for one of the wingers to go straight at him, the hockey game be damned.

I'm not meathead who's always calling for guys' heads or anything, but as I said, that was one of the dirtiest hits I've ever seen and it did some major damage to Seabrook. He might be concussed enough to miss huge amounts of time, at the absolute point we can't afford to lose a blueliner. Hell, his whole career could be in jeopardy - not saying it is, just saying that a bad concussion can definitely have that effect.

Someone on the Hawks absolutely, no question, has to go out and make Wis pay. If the first guy who picks a fight doesn't pound him into oblivion, then another guy should take a whack at it. Look, you're not risking anything in the game - those points don't mean jack, as the Hawks have their two seed locked up baring a meltdown. And if they meltdown, the seed is the least of our worries.

On top of that, the Hawks already have a bunch of extra skaters they don't need - with Seabrook out and Buff back on D, JQ can't roll four forward lines anyway. So Burish and Eager are expendable - first one and then the other should take on Wis. Even if it means getting the 2 minute instigator. Hell, even if they get a 5-minute major and Wis gets nothing - I DON'T CARE! Again, a loss doesn't matter now.

But allowing a guy to do that to your teammate without any response is extremely bothersome. I obviously don't know if JQ mandated, but you have to figure he did. No way all the players took it upon themselves to back down. Those dudes live for that shit. So what was JQ thinking? Dude, the wins don't freakin matter!!! Defending Seabrook is way more important. Teams remember that kind of stuff - it makes a difference in how they'll play you in the playoffs. JQ needed to tell his boys to establish for the whole league to see that you don't mess with the Hawks.

Instead the mustachioed idiot established that he really, really wants to get two extra points that will serve no purpose. You're an idiot, JQ. You've used this theory (that shortterm points are worth more than longterm success) to screw up your goalie situation (more on that tomorrow). And now you've used it to establish the Hawks as pussies in other teams' minds.

Finally, on some level I appreciate Boynton trying to go after Wis when the game ended, but that just drove in the above point further - that JQ had called off the dogs as long as the game was in play. Seriously, shave your mustache right now, because you don't deserve to wear one. Mustaches are for guys who believe in old time hockey. I don't know what you believe in, JQ, but what I saw last night leaves me to believe you don't have what it takes to lead this team to the promised land.

Not just cause you pussed out, but because you continue to miss the bigger picture of what you need to do to win it all. You seem to be coaching for one game at a time. But the sign of a great coach is one who's coaching with an eye on games, weeks, and months down the road. Everything the great coaches do is strategically thought out to result in one goal - winning the whole damn thing. Everything JQ seems to do is focused on winning the next game.

That's the kind of thinking that makes you good, but never great. And check JQ's record - that's the kind of coach he's been. 90+ win seasons, a round or two in the playoffs, then hit the golf course. Sure he's never had talent like he does now. And he's never operated under Bowman's system. So maybe this time will be different. But what I saw last night and what I've seen out of the way he's handled the goalies - I'm a bit fearful JQ might be our Doug Collins. If so, will the Hawks realize it in time? And will they be able to find their Phil Jackson?

Man I hope so. Because the one other thing I got out of last night's game is a reminder of what it used to be like to be a Hawks fan. We've been so spoiled lately after having been away from hockey for so long that we forget what it's like to have subpar players out there. Last night our defensive corp couldn't have been more subpar, and for the first time in forever, I remembered how frustrating it is to watch guys not be able to do what they wanted, when they wanted.

Look, the Hawks make mistakes and aren't always successful, but you always feel like the guys out there on the ice can do it, they just aren't getting it done at that moment. But last night I remembered the feeling of knowing that the guys we had out there just couldn't do it. The helpless feeling of wishing someone more talented was wearing your jersey on that shift.

The fact is that the Hawks have a pretty amazing thing going right now and I'm just now realizing how much more fun that is than the garbage we've been dealing with since the mid 90s. I don't want to blow this collection of dudes because the coach isn't right. I'm overstating this all right now - JQ did a great job with them last year and has them in the right spot again this year. But with so much at stake and such a small window to win the Cup (you just never know what the future holds), I'm a bit nervous about whether he's got the chops. It's one thing to make a bad team good. It's a whole nother challenge to make a good team great.

I just hope JQ's up to it.