Antti Niemi, Blackhawks Part Ways As Stanley Cup Break-Up Continues
First and foremost, thanks to Edyta B for another wonderful photo. Check out her work here. Or else.
Antti Niemi deserved a better fate. As did Dustin Byfuglien, Adam Burish, Ben Eager, Colin Fraser, Andrew Ladd, Brent Sopel and Kris Versteeg.
The goaltender who helped the Chicago Blackhawks clinch their first Stanley Cup in 49 years won’t be in between the pipes to defend it next season after the Hawks’ front office declined to pay Niemi’s arbitration salary of $2.75 million. The now ex-Blackhawks net-minder is an unrestricted free agent.
The purging of the Blackhawks’ championship roster looks like the spawn of what would happen if Jim Hendry’s spending habits drunkenly mated with the Florida Marlins’ penchant for fire sales.
Watching players turn in their red and white sweaters, the same ones they soaked with champagne and other alcoholic goodness, has been bittersweet.
And there is only one man to blame for that. (more…)
So Many Great Stories From One Great Blackhawks’ Run
There was one goal, one year and one main theme. The Chicago Blackhawks won their first Stanley Cup since 1961. This is the simple theme, but underneath, there are so many storylines that fit this franchise.
If we start with the management, the team was built around the front office of a new president in John McDonough, a new owner Rocky Wirtz took over for his father, Stan Bowman took over as general manager after seeing his father winning so many Cups with Detroit. You can add in Scotty Bowman himself, who became an adviser for the Hawks, and Joel Quenneville took over as head coach early last season. The staff brought in the right players, brought in a strong marketing campaign and brought Chicago fans back to the world of hockey.
On the ice, the symbols of the resurgence have been Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. Kane scored the game-winning goal this evening from an impossible angle, and Toews was given the Conn Smythe Trophy for being this postseason’s most valuable player. It fits that these two young stars are together on the big scene, a year after the dynamic and young duo of Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby won it for Pittsburgh.
Marian Hossa signs with the Blackhawks during the offseason, needs surgery, comes back and scores two goals in San Jose and then finally wins the Cup after two losses in the last two finals. Hossa didn’t score many goals during this postseason run, but his tough presence, stick-handling and experience were certainly needed.
John Madden was added to the roster this season, a guy who won titles with New Jersey. Tomas Kopecky went through a title with Detroit and Andrew Ladd did it in Carolina when current coach Peter Laviolette was heading the Hurricane bunch. These players went through it before and helped bring the Cup to the Windy City.
Finally, Antti Niemi. The man was driving a zamboni a short time ago, with Cristobal Huet being the starting goaltender at the beginning of the year. Niemi forced Quenneville to put Huet on the bench, as the Finnish netminder played consistently and made some big saves when needed to. The man is a rookie and nobody heard of him at the beginning of the year. He is now a Stanley Cup goaltender.
There are a lot of stories, and overall, Chicago can celebrate a title. It feels good and you wonder how many of them will return next season. For now, nobody cares. The Cup is in the Windy City.
Lots of Things Point to Blackhawks Losing Tonight
It could just be a thing that us Chicagoans do, that point of view where you expect your team to lose and make things difficult when it matters most. It could also be the fact that the Blackhawks have lost 10 straight games in Philadelphia dating back to 1996. Yet, maybe it is the opponent and the idea that the Flyers always win when their backs are up against the wall.
This championship final has proved to be anything but a cakewalk for the Blackhawks, a team that was supposed to roll over Philly after sweeping the Sharks in the Western Conference Final. It is safe to say that the Blackhawks have more talent than the Flyers, as shown by their 3-0 lead after one period in Game 5. They flew all over the ice and had Philadelphia wondering what hit them at first.
That machine has made the Blackhawks the succesful team that they are today, a team that has plenty of skill and works well together with crisp passing through the ice. Game 5 was the first time they showed what Blackhawks’ hockey is all about, and now, the question is whether they can take that to the Wachovia Center this evening.
The Flyers understand that Detroit had a 3-2 series lead in last year’s Stanley Cup after dominating Game 5, and then the Red Wings lost to Pittsburgh in the final. The Flyers also know that they were down 3-0 in the last round against Boston and down 3-0 in Game 7 of that series on the road. Chris Pronger cannot be as bad as his minus-5 in the last game of this series. Mike Richards has to step up sometimes and play like the captain that he is. Michael Leighton will return in net and you expect him to be better. The sea of orange will dominate the scene at Wachovia and cause a tough road game for the Blackhawks.
Chicago did close out the Nashville and Vancouver series in a Game 6 on the road, but that was also at a time when the Blackhawks were playing a lot better away from home. The visiting team has not won a game yet in this Stanley Cup, and the Flyers will be ready to come with a better start than they did in Game 5. If they don’t, well, then they will lose. Yet, I do not see Chicago dominating like they did in the last game.
The Blackhawks are a very good team, and I am not focused on the history of the franchise or the pessimistic points of view that Chicago fans may have. I am just focused on the facts of this series and those point to the Blackhawks losing this evening. It would make for a nervous and exciting Game 7, and nerves and excitement is what this series has been all about.
Chicago History Says Blackhawks Game Six Is A Big Deal
It would be among the biggest understatements in Chicago sports history to say June 9, 2010 is an important night.
The Chicago Blackhawks represent the first Chicago sports franchise to be put in a position to clinch a championship for the first time since 2007, when the Bears lost to the Colts in Super Bowl XLI.
That does not seem like a long time, but the Bears have played 48 games since … and have not won a single playoff game in that time. Hell, they haven’t posted a winning season since going to the Super Bowl.
Go back further to the last time a Chicago sports team won a championship, which sources tell us was in 2005. The source claims that the Chicago White Sox won a World Series title, sweeping the Houston Astros. We’re working on confirming this, but if it turns out to be true, the White Sox have played approximately 700 games and have one playoff win to show for it.
The Chicago Cubs have lost nine consecutive postseason games and have not registered a playoff “W” since October 11, 2003. Nothing further to say here, let’s move along.
Is it possible for the Bulls to be Chicago’s most successful postseason team in recent memory? Kind of. The Bulls have earned five postseason appearances over the last six years, dating back to the 2004-05 season. They made the playoffs three straight years (2005, 2006, 2007), skipped a season, and then have made back-to-back postseason runs the last two seasons.
Compared to Chicago’s other teams, the Bulls have been a success story in the postseason winning a 14 games in that span.
You’d have to add up the Cubs’ playoff wins dating all the way back from 1918 to equal the 14 postseason wins the Bulls have since the 2004-05 campaign.
So, here come the Hawks. On the cusp of hoisting the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1961. Do you want to know how long ago 1961 is?
The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin by federal and state governments while making the Jim Crow Laws completely obsolete, had not even been passed yet.
So, yeah. I’m watching the Blackhawks-Flyers game tonight.
Are you?
Flyers Enjoy Adversity, Hawks Enjoy Series Lead
It took a couple of badly played games with rough starts, some poor defense and a Philadelphia surge to give the Chicago Blackhawks a wake-up call. Chicago is a team that had one bad month in March and did struggle early in the Nashville series. Yet, overall, they have not had to play through much of a stretch where there were big issues.
The Flyers changed that with a pair of wins at the Wachovia Center, but Chicago answered with a high-flying, relentless attack in the first period of Game 5 . They took a 3-2 series lead last night because of that start. The Flyers came back with a strong effort in the final two periods, but the Blackhawks did enough to answer each goal that Philadelphia scored the rest of the game.
Philly has been down 3-0 in a series and down 3-0 in a game at Boston in the previous round. They came back from both of those and looked like a team ready to make a comeback bid last night in Chicago. They will not go away, and history is not on Chicago’s side with ten straight losses in Philadelphia if you count the regular season.
The sea of orange will be back in full display on Wednesday in Philly, and you have a feeling their fans and players are still confident after seeing what they did to Boston in the conference finals. The Flyers also know that they cannot afford to start the way they did on Sunday, with the Blackhawks leading 3-0 after one period. The action was pretty balanced the rest of the way before Chicago hung on for the wild 7-4 win.
There have been a lot of goals in this series except for Chicago’s 2-1 win in Game 2. Goalie Antti Niemi has not been as sharp as the last round and either has his defense. The offense, despite the high amount of scoring, was not getting enough contribution from its top players until last night’s game. Dustin Byfuglien had 2 goals and 2 assists as the Hawks finally found a way to solve Chris Pronger and the Flyers’ physical defense.
You can also give credit to Chicago coach Joel Quenneville, who switched up the lines to make them more balanced. Patrick Kane was on the second line and not with Jonathan Toews, and Byfuglien was down to the third line. Marian Hossa played with fellow Slovakian Tomas Kopecky on the top line with Toews, and Kopecky has received some important playing time since filling in for Andrew Ladd and scoring the game-winning goal in Game 1.
All these changes and overall improved play shows what the Blackhawks are capable of, and now, they need to bring that to Philly. Yes, winning the Stanley Cup in front of your own fans is great. Yes, it is nice seeing Michael Jordan, Vince Vaughn and whoever else shows up at the UC.
Yet, I don’t think anybody in the Windy City minds if Chicago takes the Cup on Wednesday in Philadelphia. They still have a lot of work to do and the Flyers know all about coming back from deficits. The Blackhawks found something last night, though, and they hope to take that on the road.
