2009-2010 Blackhawks Lord Stanley Bonertime Thread

[Waco Kid]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Chicago-vs-Philadelphia-Who-has-the-better-cap?urn=nhl,244382&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Who's the better captain? Richards or Toews?

I see a Puck Daddy theme emerging.

That he is an idiot?

[Slaky]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Chicago-vs-Philadelphia-Who-has-the-better-cap?urn=nhl,244382&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Who's the better captain? Richards or Toews?

I see a Puck Daddy theme emerging.

That he is an idiot?

Here lies my dilemma: I am completely biased, HOWEVER, Mike Richards is a great player. I've admired his play for a while now. He's tough as nails and skilled as hell. Now that he's led his team to the Finals it's hard to argue he doesn't possess similar intangibles to Jonathan Toews.

Richards has more experience than Toews - he's been in the league since 2005. I suppose it's fair to argue that Richards might be a better captain right now. Again, might be. I don't agree. However, if you asked me to bet on which player is going to have his name carved into the Cup more times I'd say Toews. Richards is a good captain and a really good player. Toews has legend written all over him.

[Waco Kid]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Chicago-vs-Philadelphia-Who-has-the-better-cap?urn=nhl,244382&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Who's the better captain? Richards or Toews?

I see a Puck Daddy theme emerging.

That he is an idiot?

Here lies my dilemma: I am completely biased, HOWEVER, Mike Richards is a great player. I've admired his play for a while now. He's tough as nails and skilled as hell. Now that he's led his team to the Finals it's hard to argue he doesn't possess similar intangibles to Jonathan Toews.

Richards has more experience than Toews - he's been in the league since 2005. I suppose it's fair to argue that Richards might be a better captain right now. Again, might be. I don't agree. However, if you asked me to bet on which player is going to have his name carved into the Cup more times I'd say Toews. Richards is a good captain and a really good player. Toews has legend written all over him.

That whole analysis is full of shit. After pointing how Toews has more points and is better at faceoffs, Richards gets the nod because of Puck Daddy's obession with grittiness. Richards is a great player, but Toews has been better during the season and playoffs.

[CT III]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Chicago-vs-Philadelphia-Who-has-the-better-cap?urn=nhl,244382&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Who's the better captain? Richards or Toews?

I see a Puck Daddy theme emerging.

That he is an idiot?

Here lies my dilemma: I am completely biased, HOWEVER, Mike Richards is a great player. I've admired his play for a while now. He's tough as nails and skilled as hell. Now that he's led his team to the Finals it's hard to argue he doesn't possess similar intangibles to Jonathan Toews.

Richards has more experience than Toews - he's been in the league since 2005. I suppose it's fair to argue that Richards might be a better captain right now. Again, might be. I don't agree. However, if you asked me to bet on which player is going to have his name carved into the Cup more times I'd say Toews. Richards is a good captain and a really good player. Toews has legend written all over him.

What throws me off is when he says:

"Look at what Richards has done, and when he's done it this postseason. Six points against the Devils. Five points in four wins against the Bruins."

Toews has 1 more goal and 5 more points than Richards while playing one less playoff game.  So the only way I can buy this is if he's giving Richards points for having to drag a less talented lineup through the playoffs than Toews.  Which I could find understandable, except:

Advantage

We're giving it to Philly.

This isn't based on paper, because the Blackhawks have bigger names and some truly explosive players throughout the lineup. This is based on this postseason's action, and the fact that the Flyers' ability to score with balance and attack in gritty, fore-checking waves has been a determining factor in their success. It's also based on the fact that the sluggish play of the Blackhawks' secondary scorers earlier in the postseason (like Versteeg) contributed to their struggles overall.

The Flyers are better offensively now, when healthy, than the Blackhawks are. They can match their depth at forward and have the same tenacious two-way players the 'Hawks have. The battle up front is a great one, but we'll give the edge to Philly.

I don't care if he likes Richards better than Toews, as Slak says, Richards is an awesome player, and I'd want him on my team in a second.  But Jesus Christ, try to put together a cogent argument, would you?

[Dr. Nguyen Van Falk]

What throws me off is when he says:

"Look at what Richards has done, and when he's done it this postseason. Six points against the Devils. Five points in four wins against the Bruins."

Toews has 1 more goal and 5 more points than Richards while playing one less playoff game.

Not to mention an active 13-game points streak against versus Richards' 4-game points streak in the second round. 3 game-winning goals versus Richards' 1. A hat trick.

Richards has also racked up 14 penalty minutes to Toews' 4, but I suppose that's probably considered leadership in Philly.

[Yeti]

What throws me off is when he says:

"Look at what Richards has done, and when he's done it this postseason. Six points against the Devils. Five points in four wins against the Bruins."

Toews has 1 more goal and 5 more points than Richards while playing one less playoff game.

Not to mention an active 13-game points streak against versus Richards' 4-game points streak in the second round. 3 game-winning goals versus Richards' 1. A hat trick.

Richards has also racked up 14 penalty minutes to Toews' 4, but I suppose that's probably considered leadership in Philly.

DA FIER AND DER PASHUN!

[Slaky]

For anyone else that had the misfortune of listening to Hub Arkush try and talk hockey I'm sorry.

[CT III]

For anyone else that had the misfortune of listening to Hub Arkush try and talk hockey I'm sorry.

Eh, he's still better than Hanley.

[Tony]

For anyone else that had the misfortune of listening to Hub Arkush try and talk hockey I'm sorry.

I was listening at the beginning of the show when he mentioned something about not wanting Lebron. Needless to say I turned it off after that and missed any hockey talk.

[Slaky]

For anyone else that had the misfortune of listening to Hub Arkush try and talk hockey I'm sorry.

I was listening at the beginning of the show when he mentioned something about not wanting Lebron. Needless to say I turned it off after that and missed any hockey talk.

Heard that too. The first caller said the Flyers are going to take the Hawks the distance because they have Kate Smith and he's no expert on the Flyers but listen, come on, you know?

Then someone called in crying the Ghost of Bill Wirtz was getting his revenge because the cap would be too small for the Hawks to keep this team together next year. Hub then dispelled the caller's idea by mentioning that Duncan Keith has about one more year left on his contract, he wasn't sure what Niemi's contract situation was and that they would be fine even though Stan Bowman messed up all those offer sheets and we ended up signing Versteeg and Brent Seabrook to longer deals for more money.

How much wrong can one man fill the airwaves with? There's no way Hanley is that bad.

[CT III]

For anyone else that had the misfortune of listening to Hub Arkush try and talk hockey I'm sorry.

I was listening at the beginning of the show when he mentioned something about not wanting Lebron. Needless to say I turned it off after that and missed any hockey talk.

Heard that too. The first caller said the Flyers are going to take the Hawks the distance because they have Kate Smith and he's no expert on the Flyers but listen, come on, you know?

Then someone called in crying the Ghost of Bill Wirtz was getting his revenge because the cap would be too small for the Hawks to keep this team together next year. Hub then dispelled the caller's idea by mentioning that Duncan Keith has about one more year left on his contract, he wasn't sure what Niemi's contract situation was and that they would be fine even though Stan Bowman messed up all those offer sheets and we ended up signing Versteeg and Brent Seabrook to longer deals for more money.

How much wrong can one man fill the airwaves with? There's no way Hanley is that bad.

Hanley's just as bad.  Which makes him worse, because he was actually the Hawks beat writer at some point.

[Waco Kid]

The Hawks D was awful, they got no power plays, and yet pulled out the win.

[Quality Start Machine]

3.

[Dr. Nguyen Van Falk]

Leighton starting tonight.

And Carcillo's dirtstache drama queen powers: activated. Perhaps the Flyers' PIM drought is about to end.

Will Laviolette be rolling 13 forwards at the expense of Ryan Parent? That won't require too much adjustment coming off Parent's 41 seconds of ice time in Game 1.

There's that popular maxim that playoff games are won with depth, with top lines canceling each other out. Watching Game 1 via tape delay, I kind of felt like this series was going to flip that back around, with the Hawks' and Flyers' depth canceling each other out and the Cup going to the team that can manage get their top-3 to break free.

And, if the Flyers go with 5 d-men the whole way, logging 30+ minutes every night will have to have some effect on Pronger's dusty old bones, right?

Right?

I mean, that guy is so old.

[Slaky]

Leighton starting tonight.

And Carcillo's dirtstache drama queen powers: activated. Perhaps the Flyers' PIM drought is about to end.

Will Laviolette be rolling 13 forwards at the expense of Ryan Parent? That won't require too much adjustment coming off Parent's 41 seconds of ice time in Game 1.

There's that popular maxim that playoff games are won with depth, with top lines canceling each other out. Watching Game 1 via tape delay, I kind of felt like this series was going to flip that back around, with the Hawks' and Flyers' depth canceling each other out and the Cup going to the team that can manage get their top-3 to break free.

And, if the Flyers go with 5 d-men the whole way, logging 30+ minutes every night will have to have some effect on Pronger's dusty old bones, right?

Right?

I mean, that guy is so old.

It's probably pretty fruitless to hope that Pronger suddenly breaks down after an entire season of playing a ton of minutes at a high level with just a max of six games left. He'll be good unless he gets injured.

I wouldn't be surprised if they lost tonight but I don't expect them to.