There seems to be a lot of sour taste in mouths of Hawk fans coming off their annual Circus Trip, which ended Sunday with a 5-2 loss at the hands of the LA Kings. This sour taste, although understandable for the way the trip ended, really isn’t warranted. That kind of a road trip (especially the usually very unsuccessful Circus Trip) needs to be looked as a whole; not focusing on how it began and/or how it ended.
As you’ll recall (or won’t since you probably didn’t read my pre Circus Trip post), I said that Hawk fans should set their sights on the number 6. It didn’t matter how the Hawks got those 6 points, but getting 6 out of 12 was the goal for the road trip. I predicted they would get 7 and wouldn’t you know it, I actually got a prediction right! My genius aside though, the Hawks made this trip very successful, despite the way it ended.
The Good: In Phoenix, they were outplayed for much of the 2nd and 3rd periods, yet still found a way to prevail in a shootout. In Dallas, they dominated after a horrendous first then minutes and took advantage of a struggling Marty Turco. In Toronto, they started sluggish but clawed and fought back to earn an OT victory. In San Jose, they played with (and outplayed at times) the best team in the NHL, only to lose a heartbreaker in OT…while losing their starting goaltender near the end of the 2nd period.
The Bad: The 1-0 loss to the Ducks, minus Jean-Sébastien Giguère. Jonas Hiller played well for the Ducks, but the Hawks missed two or three golden opportunities, helping Hiller secure the shutout. A frustrating loss to say the least.
The Ugly: The Hawks came out in Sunday’s game flat. Despite leading 2-1 after the first period, it was just one of those games that you could never feel good about. Cristobal Huet played well for the Hawks, despite giving up 4 goals. The only goal I really fault him for was the third goal, where he left a crucial rebound that was put in behind him. The Hawks, in my opinion, looked like a team playing its sixth road game on a six game road trip, while also playing back to back afternoon games less than 24 hours apart. And credit has to be given to the Kings. We’ve had our troubles with them in the past and they looked much improved from last year and will be a tough game for almost any team this season.
Again, in the end, the Hawks finished the trip at a very respectable 3-2-1, earning seven points. Would Hawk fans have liked to see it end differently? Of course. Eight or nine points would have been spectacular. But don’t let the way it ended blind you from the seven points they earned on the trip. I’m not sure how people feel about me quoting myself, but what I said two weeks ago still applies and will continue to apply throughout the season…
“If the Hawks can stay relatively healthy over the course of the season, they’ll be fine. They’re still the 2nd youngest team in the NHL and Q has only been behind the bench a little over a month. They’re still going to have their ups and downs, because a team like this, like it or not, has the tendency to be streaky. So get ready to ride the wave the next couple of months and watch this young Hawk team grow into its own.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself…
A few Circus Trip Notes:
-The Patricks (Kane and Sharp, duh!) led the Hawks with 4 goals each on the trip. Kane ended the trip with seven points while Sharp had five.
-Coach Q benched, ironically, Patrick Sharp and Patrick Kane during the second period of the game vs. Phoenix for both taking stupid penalties. Kudos to Coach Q for that move.
-Nikolai Khabibulin was injured late in the second period against the Sharks. There hasn't been much official information since then, outside of him being listed as day-to-day. Hopefully he's not out for too long. Corey Crawford was called up from Rockford to back up Huet while Khabibulin is out.
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