A little something from Highway 61 and our man from Minnesota.

The Wild are a dark spot on my hockey brain, so I'm not sure what the hell happened for them to tumble down the standings and cede the Northworst division back to Vancouver. But something did and they did. Maybe shithead Dany Heatley got hurt again, I don't fuckin' know.

Anyway, these guys always play us tougher than they should even when they're bad, so the Hawks especially need to be on their game for this one.

Hawks are 29-5-4, adjusted 24-5-9, two points above expectation
Minnesota is 22-14-2, adjusted 18-5-5, two points below expectation

Hawks lead the league in goals scored at 3.237, and are tied with Boston for the league lead in fewest allowed at 2.079.
Minnesota is tied for 16th with 2.605, 11th in allowed at 2.526.

Sharp is expected to play. Bolland isn't. Do we dare try Sharp at #2 center at all, let alone right out of the gate? Prospective lines are thus
Saad - Toews - Hossa
Sharp - Kruger - Kane
Carcillo - Shaw - Frolik
Bickell - Handzus - Stalberg
Usual suspects at defense
Presumably Crawford to start

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Emery starting in goal tonight.

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A sign of things to come.

Disagree with this call.

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Team Cutler.

If everyone remembers when the Blackhawks won it all in 2010, they did so with technically their backup goalie in Antti Niemi before he signed quite a deal with the SHARKs (no relation) that the Hawks simply couldn't match during the offseason. I get the impression that Coach Q is headed down that same path with Ray Emery with the Stanley Cup Playoffs right around the corner this year.

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Sidebar please. When the hell did Dylan get indie billing? I clearly am off on my musical genres.

I would have gone with "Graveyard" by Trip Shakespeare...

If you go walking in the land between my arms
You will find a graveyard, little graveyard
Since no light shines there, I'm afraid you'll come to harm
In the holes you find there, and the ground is cold and hard

I thought Bob Dylan was a Minnesota native...

He is my fine finned fitness friend. So is Trip Shakespeare. As we look for indie bands to showcase, I was surprised to find the one and only Bob Dylan headlining. Maybe I (again) misunderstand the music genre.

I also thought Highway 61 dates all the way back to 1965.

There's no indie requirement. I just pick stuff I like. I did Def Leppard for a Sharks game once. Highway 61 runs through St. Paul, site of tonight's game, and Dylan is from Minnesota, so I figured it was a good choice.

And also, the Sharks gave Niemi an offer the Hawks simply couldn't match because the Hawks weren't allowed to match. The Hawks declined an arbitration award, which meant they forfeited their right to sign him.

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I got a good chuckle while polishing my monocle at your new avatar CH. Well done sir.

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Pretty fast paced so far. Glad I get to see it.

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Okay, the Hawks have thoroughly outplayed Minnesota. Now that we have established that, please put the game away in the second.

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Fully agree

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46 shots on goal in Emery's last seven frames. I think that's what Mike Smith or Pekka Rinne see in three.

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Kaner...come out come out whereever you are?

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I'm going to bounce from the spot for awhile but I will be back at some point to argue with you about this hoops stuff again. Playoffs have been great this season. See ya up the road.

I'm out.

What a beat down for a 0-0 game. Waiting for the Wild to net a softie.

This is nuts they can't score

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Hosssaaaa!

They can't handle our forecheck.

Hossa is back

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17-3 on the hits I know the hawks are the most physical team and almost always get outhit but 17-3 is quite a margin.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

They've had the puck too much to knock it off the other team.

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Someone lit a fire under the Wild's ass, huh. This game is developing the distinctive stank of a 2-1 shootout loss.

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If only someone was there to put one of those rebounds in.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

Shaw is such a little shit. I love it. If he gets much better at this, and Danault is as good as advertised, he might make Bolland redundant.

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Terrible pp

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You'd think the Hawks were the team down 1-0.

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Git on back there.

The Wild are all over the Hawks. Can't believe they are up 1-0.

Sharp hurt again in his first game back

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That's my purse! I don't know you!