Dale Tallonmade a tremendous blunder this offseason when the qualifying offers for Cam Barker, Kris Versteeg and the team's other restricted free agents didn't get sent out in time. Tallon admitted it was his responsibility, admitted he screwed up, and in the end, worked out contract extensions with the key players (Barker, Versteeg), assuring that they wouldn't hit the open market as unrestricted free agents, free to sign with the highest bidder with no compensation coming back to Chicago.
It's not a death blow by any means, but the Chicago Blackhawks are firmly behind the eight-ball, and they have all the pressure on them.
Tuesday night, a huge mistake by Chicago defenseman Brian Campbell set Detroit up for a game-winning goal. The overtime marker by Mikael Samuelsson put Detroit up 2-0 in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals.
Red Wings 3, Blackhawks 2, OT: Recap | Box Score Red Wings lead series 2-0
After jumping out to a 1-0 series lead in the Western Conference Final, Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock held a press conference on Monday and fielded a variety of questions from the media. For the most part, it was your typical, run-of-the-mill press conference.
About half way through, a reporter started asking Babcock about how he once joked that he was ready for the salary cap to break up the young talent the Chicago Blackhawks have assembled over the years. In Babcock's mind, he wasn't joking.
There was a time when my favorite sport was, without hesitation, baseball. Recently, however, my interest in the game has been lost. Not because of a steroid scandal or the incompetence of Bud Selig, but mostly because the team I grew up cheering for, the Pittsburgh Pirates, has been a Major League Baseball team in name only and is currently working on its 17th consecutive losing season with no end in sight.
You might argue that makes me a fair-weather fan, but I disagree. My interest is so low that if, by some perfect storm -- like the rest of the National League halting operations and disbanding from the league -- the Pirates actually won something, I still probably wouldn't care as much as I should. I just don't care about baseball anymore, but I certainly don't begrudge those who still do. It's still a great game, even if my interest is at an all-time low.
In all the talk about actual hockey games and epic playoff series, a key element to the Stanley Cup playoffs has been ignored. We shall no longer make that egregious error. Instead, it's time to celebrate the legacy of the playoff beard.
As modeled by former Devils Ken Daneyko and Oleg Tverdovsky, it's become as much a part of the playoffs as the hockey itself.
After blowing a three-goal lead in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series Thursday, Vancouver was able to stage a late rally and win the game. Trying to follow a similar formula Saturday night in Game 2, the Canucks ran into a buzzsaw. Vancouver took a 2-0 lead in the first period, had their home crowd in a frenzy, and proceeded to completely fall apart.
The NHL cranks up the conference semifinals Thursday night, as Chicago opens their series at Vancouver. With both teams off impressive opening-round victories, who has the advantage? And will we see any hair-pulling theatrics this time around?
As the third overall pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, Jonathan Toews has always been blessed with exceptional talent. He's excelled on the ice during his first two years in Chicago, he's currently the youngest captain in the NHL, and now that he's getting an opportunity to shine in the playoff spotlight, he's certainly not disappointing.
Toews scored a pair of goals in the second period on Saturday night, as the Blackhawks erased an early deficit to pull out a 3-2 win in game 2 of their Western Conference quarterfinal. Chicago now has a 2-0 lead in the series as it heads to Calgary on Monday.
After the performance Martin Havlat put on in the third period and overtime of Chicago's 3-2 win on Thursday night, that seven-year playoff drought was almost worth it for long-suffering Blackhawks fans. After scoring the game-tying goal with just under eight minutes to play in regulation, Havlat buried the game-winner behind Calgary's Miikka Kiprusoff just 12 seconds into the extra period, giving Chicago its first playoff win since April 18, 2002.
Exactly 1,230 regular season games have been played. We're down to the best eight teams in each conference. The Stanley Cup Playoffs begin Wednesday night with four series lid-lifters.
The Western Conference is home to the league's best team (San Jose), the defending champion (Detroit), and the two most intriguing Cinderella stories in the league (St. Louis and Columbus). Can Cinderella put off the stroke of midnight, or will an established power advance their way to the Finals?
Dale Tallon made a tremendous blunder this offseason when the qualifying offers for Cam Barker, Kris Versteeg and the team's other restricted free agents didn't get sent out in time. Tallon admitted it was his responsibility, admitted he screwed up, and in the end, worked out contract extensions with the key players (Barker, Versteeg), assuring that they wouldn't hit the open market as unrestricted free agents, free to sign with the highest bidder with no compensation coming back to Chicago.
It's not a death blow by any means, but the Chicago Blackhawks are firmly behind the eight-ball, and they have all the pressure on them.
After jumping out to a 1-0 series lead in the Western Conference Final, Red Wings head coach 
There was a time when my favorite sport was, without hesitation, baseball. Recently, however, my interest in the game has been lost. Not because of a steroid scandal or the incompetence of 
In all the talk about actual hockey games and epic playoff series, a key element to the Stanley Cup playoffs has been ignored. We shall no longer make that egregious error. Instead, it's time to celebrate the legacy of the playoff beard.
