Novice fan's thoughts on Blues-Blackhawks series
Novice fan's thoughts on Blues-Blackhawks series
*When I've seen the Blues play in the regular season the past three years, I've thought that they would be a terrible matchup for the Hawks. Last year I thought they were the best team in the NHL other than the Hawks, yet they flamed out in the playoffs (don't really know what happened). Glad to get this series over with, because I think St. Louis is one of the toughest opponents.
*I thought Seabrook's suspension was deserved. You just can't do what he did and not expect some type of time off.
*St. Louis probably would have won the series if they had any type of powerplay success.
*Crawford played great in Game 6, but there was a 15-minute stretch in Game 5 where I had zero confidence in him. He was flying out of the net and falling down on the first fake. Still too inconsistent/volatile for my taste. The pulling off of Backes' helmet was funny, but probably an indication that he's too emotional at times, especially for a goalie.
*This is probably just me, but I think a big reason for the Hawks turnaround is the improved play of Hossa (high-stick withstanding). I thought he was terrible in Games 1 & 2, but played much better in Games 3-6.
*I think Saad is making postseason progress. He went from doing nothing to doing something...maybe next series he might even score.
*Hawks had great front-of-the-net presence from guys like Shaw, Toews, and Kruger. Kind of strange considering how phyiscal St. Louis is. Ryan Miller took a lot of criticism, but most of the goals he let in were deflections.
*I thought the officiating in Game 6 was NBA-like in its terribleness. Did the NHL want a Game 7? I did not agree with the high-stick on Hossa, and if you call that, then shouldn't the officials enforced the high-stick to Sharp's face even though he scored? Couldn't they have called that one a double-minor? My favorite play was in the 3rd period, after a myriad of penalty calls, Ott tackles Toews immediately after the face off and holds him on the ground for a good 15 seconds...right in front of the ref. No call? At least in the NBA, if someone did that to LeBron we'd be talking about fines and suspensions. I am somewhat amazed at how a superstar like Toews gets such terrible treatment from the NHL refs. Does the NHL think the fans want to see Steve Ott instead of Jonathan Toews?
* The Wild kind of blew game 5 against Colorado, but I am still hoping they can pull it out. Glad to see Detroit got eliminated, too.
