A sports blog by and for Midwest Sports Fans
With baseball wrapping up, no NBA season in sight, and the NFL only being on a couple times a week, looks like you’ll be turning to the ice for your sports fix.
I mean, you could just do something else, but you won’t. So kick back, relax and enjoy the conclusion of the MSF NHL Preview. (View Part 1 here: Eastern Conference Preview and Predictions.)
Now let’s make like Ice Cube and “Rep That West”
It’s NHL playoff time again.
I’m taking a break from bringing you forgotten baseball players to preview the Sweet 16 of the National Hockey League. This year looks to provide some intriguing match-ups to go along with the standard blow-outs.
Let’s get to it, with previews and predictions of each 1st round series.
After some time, former Chicago Blackhawk goaltender Antti Niemi finally found a new home, and it’s San Jose.
It’s hard not to say that this deal will somehow affect the Blackhawks, now that they have a very good chance of competing against Niemi, given he wins the number one spot against Antero Niittymaki.
San Jose is, no doubt, trying to bolster their roster to make that deep run into the playoffs that always seems to just barely escape from their grasp. Very few teams look as good as the Sharks during the regular season. However, once postseason starts, they become an underachieving mess.
So will Niemi be that piece that puts San Jose on track to beat other playoff favorites, such as Detroit and Chicago?
I wouldn’t get too excited.
The Hawks have had some unbelievable success on the road this postseason, winning a postseason record seven straight road games.
In sharp contrast, the Hawks are an even .500 at home this postseason, and with a commanding 2-0 series lead against the Sharks the Hawks must play the same type of game as at home as they do away from home.
The series heads back to Chicago Friday and Sunday, and with a win in at least one of those games the Hawks will have set them up nicely to put it away back in San Jose. But two wins would mean a series sweep and a huge moral boost heading into the Stanley Cup finals.
The Chicago Blackhawks and the San Jose Sharks both took down two worthy opponents in their second round of playoff action.
The Hawks beat the Vancouver Canucks in six, and the Sharks shocked the hockey world with an upset of the Detroit Red Wings in five games. The two best teams, seed-wise, left in the NHL Playoffs will battle it out to see who is worthy of playing for the Stanley Cup.
If the regular season record between these two mean anything to anybody, it would be in the Hawks’ favor.
Thursday night was a mixed-emotions day for both the Blackhawks and their fans. After being blown out 8-3 by the Columbus Jackets, possibly their worst played game of the season, the Blackhawks found out they had clinched the playoffs for the second straight year after a Calgary loss.
In the loss, Cristobal Huet made coach Joel Quennville’s choice for starting goaltender even easier. Quennville gave Huet the green light on Thursday even after Niemi’s sixth shutout of the season, hoping Huet would make his case for starting goaltender in the playoffs.
It backfired.
It’s finally that time Hawk fans. Forward Marian Hossa will finally play a game in a Hawks jersey this Thursday night.
It’s the big day for Hawk fans. If you are a Blackhawk fan you have to be happy.
The Hawks look like they have both Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane signed for many years to come, Hossa is starting tonight, the team has a 7-game winning streak, and the Hawks are siting pretty high in the conference standings.
It’s that time of year again for the Chicago Blackhawks.
If you are a Hawks fan you know exactly what I mean. This is the time of the year when the Circus comes into Chicago, forcing both the Bulls and Blackhawks to go on a 2-week road trip.
The Hawks go into their 2-week road trip confident after winning four straight games. They sit at the 3rd spot in their conference and 1st in their division.
