Hawks are finally home!

After a long 6 game road trip, the Hawks are finally home for most of Dec.  As of 12/12/10, they were currently 2nd in the division, 4th in the conference, 16-12-3, and with 35 pts.  The past five games (11/30-12/11/10) they have been 3-1-1 with 7 out of 10 pts.    Even though the Hawks are ranked 24th in the league for their penalty kill, they have only allowed 3G out of 18 chances and the power play is still pretty good with 8G in 19 chances.  Here are the game recaps.

Hawks vs. Blues (11/30/10)
Hawks win 7-5

The Hawks take a 5-1 lead halfway thru 2^nd period.  Crombeen drops the gloves with Nick Boynton to change the momentum of the game for the Blues.  It works in their favor because Brewer scores with 2:30 left in the 2^nd to cut the Hawks lead to 3.  Pietrangelo scores a slap shot early in the third and Boyes scores on a bouncing puck three minutes later to make it 5-4.  Coach Q calls for a time out.  Kane and Toews both score their second goals of night in the 3rd to win the game. 

--Kopecky was a +3 for the night with 1G, 3A

--Brouwer and Bickell with 5 hits each

--Bolland with 31 shifts (the most) for the game

--Toews and Dowell both 67% at the dot

Hawks vs. Canucks (12/3/10)

Canucks win 3-0

The Hawks dominated the 1^st out shooting the Canucks 14-8.  Glass scored with 9 left in the 2nd on Canucks only second SOG for the period.  Ehrhoff scores on a power play in the 3^rd from the right point and Henrik Sedin scores with three left in regulation to secure the win for the Canucks.  Roberto Luongo gets his second shutout of the season. 

--Boynton with 6 hits for the game

Hawks vs. Flames (12/5/10)

Hawks win 4-2

Patrick Kane gets helped off the ice on his first shift of the night and does not return.  All the goals in this game were scored on the special teams.  It was a crazy 1^st period with Bickell, Bolland (1^st 5-on-3 advantage scored), and Toews for the Hawks.  Iginla and Babchuk scored for the Flames.  Bolland gets the empty netter and second of the night to seal the victory. 

--Seabrook with 3 assists and 6 hits for the game

--Bolland with 4 blocked shots

--Sharp at 100% at the dot winning all 8

Hawks vs. Stars (12/8/10)

Hawks win 5-3

Adam Burish makes his debut since leaving the 2010 Stanley Cup Champions over the summer.  Andrew Raycroft starts in goal for the Stars.  Bickell, Toews, Morin, and Brouwer score to take a 4-1 lead for the Hawks.  Dallas rallied at the end of the 2^nd with goals from Segal and Eriksson.  Coach Q calls for a time out.  Crawford was on fire for the 3^rd and Sharp scored a PPG empty net.

--Bickell, Scott, and Brouwer 5 hits each for the game

--Toews 78% at the dot winning 14 out of 18 face-offs

Hawks vs. Sharks (12/11/10)

Sharks win in OT 2-1

Hendry scores the lone goal for the Hawks.  Clowe scores both the goals for the Sharks.  Crawford played amazing making 28 saves for the game.  Niemi wins the second game against his former team. 

--Sharp and Toews both over 70% at the dot

--Hjalmarsson with 4 blocked shots

--Skille with 7 SOG

As of 12/12/10

Crawford          8-4-1                GAA 2.35          SV% .915

Turco                8-8-2                 GAA 2.90          SV% .901

Most Goals       Sharp 17

Most Assists    Keith 17

Most Points       Sharp 30

+/-                     +11 Campbell  -7 Keith

Most PPG          Toews 7

Most SHG          Sharp 2

Most GWG         Sharp 4

Most PIM            Dowell 38

Most TOI            Keith 27:19

Most S/B            Hjalmarsson 62

Most Hits           Brouwer              93

FO%                  Toews 60.3

Who’s Hot

Crawford-won 7 consecutive wins

Killer B line-Brouwer, Bolland, and Bickell

Who’s Not

Stalberg-was benched in the 3^rd period vs. Dallas

Kane—should have put him here sooner….just showing up for a game or two and disappearing isn’t cool

Who has made an appearance

Bolland and Bickell 

Report Card

PP-B

PK-B

Offense- B-

Defense- C

Goalie- A-

Overall B

Interesting notes

-Corey Crawford wins 7 games in a row to be the 1^st rookie goalie to win that many consecutive games since Darren Pang in 1988

-Jeremy Morin gets called up from Rockford and scores his first point in the game (11/30/10) and gets in a fight with Porter

-Hawks win their first home game since the circus trip vs. Blues (11/30/10)

-Hawks outshoot the Canucks 32-18 but end up loosing the game

-Bolland scores his 1^st goal in 17 games on 12/5/10 vs. Flames

-Jordan Hendry scores a goal since being out of the lineup for a month (12/11/10)

-Jake Dowell does a classy move and doesn’t punch Steve Ott when he was down on his knee during a scrap.  Ott tapped Dowell on the helmet after the fight.

-Scott gets his 1^st point in 21 games

Overall

The Hawks did pretty well with 3-1-1.  Corey Crawford has been playing great.  He got 7 wins before loosing to the Sharks although he deserved that win too.  In these five games, I did notice that the Hawks would be taking a huge lead and let it all fall apart.  We need the full 60 minutes to be consistent.  Thank god you guys were able to rally back and win the games versus Blues/Stars.  We have certain players still out of the lineup.  Kane….you better come back when you’re healthy.  We saw what happen both times when you hurried on back and you weren’t the same.  I just hope you are more consistent with your game.  Hossa…well you’re just awesome so if you could come back….it would be much appreciated.  I must admit I do like the Killer B line (Brouwer, Bickell, and Bolland).  You guys have impressed me and mesh well together so keep up the great work!  For the rest of you guys……let’s GO HAWKS!!

Side note: Thanks to Kimmy aka HawksNCanes7 for the tip on stats per game.