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:thumbsup

I completely agree.

Also Hawks in 6 is my prediction as well. Should be a fun series.

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Another deadline flop was Wiz to the Ducks. Didn't play a game in the playoffs.

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It is not just even hockey for me, it is any sport. Knowing your team is eliminated is an awful feeling. I have been a die hard sports fan for all my life, well at least as long as I was old enough to care and it was not until the year after I graduated high school that any of my teams won a championship. Admittedly the Raiders won the super bowl once in my lifetime but I was 4 years old (Yankees won a World series when I was 4 months old too but I didn't even know what a sport was) so I was not all that invested, frankly I just chose the team because I liked the logo. Hence at 4 years old it did not seem like a big deal. Before the Yankees won 4 rings once I was out of high school I had never experienced a championship. I suffered through the Raiders perpetually coming up short somehow, those 1980's and early 1990's Yankee teams were just plain brutal to watch they were so awful until 1994 (naturally the year of the strike!) and the Whalers always seemed to look pretty solid only to be eliminated at some point - truthfully had the Whalers not left town I would never have become a Blackhawk fan. Yes, I know the Blackhawks have been great lately but it did not come easy or early for me, they were pretty miserable for over a decade since I started following them. The US mens soccer team is perpetually mediocre and rarely advances further than the second round.

So from the Yankees championship in 2000 I had another 9 years of heartbreak watching all my teams fall short until both the Yankees and Blackhawks won it all in 2009.

Honestly, the only team I ALWAYS had confidence in their ability to bring home a championship was the US women's soccer team because they won cups in 1991 and 1999 and almost always advanced to the semi-finals or further.

That said, I still may not wear the jersey as much but I don't put them away and I wear them on occasion, heck I still wear my old Kevin Dineen Whalers jersey from ages ago and that team doesn't even exist anymore! :lol

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:eiffeltower

i like the Karlsson kid they got back too, plus a 2nd round draft pick.

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Relax everyone.

Not taking offense, I just don't agree with you.

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2nd round pick alone would have been a steal for how little Wiz played. If that kid works out, even better.

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So Zuc lost his ability to speak temporarily?? Damn.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/ho...icle-1.2242623

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Tampa scares the hell out of me. All I know is that we are probably in for a phenomenal series and I wouldn't be surprised to see Tampa win it all, as I definitely think they are clearly the best team the Hawks have faced in these playoffs.

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^ JFC.

They were banged up to say the least, especially on D.

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Hawks in 5.

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Wow. That is crazy. Glad it doesn't sound like any long term issues will derail his career. Can't wait to see him back at it again next year!

Looking more like the Rangers are going to deal Talbot and take one more run at this over the next year or two. Not surprised to hear these rumors coming out of NY. I just hope if they go that rout it pays off. Getting rid of prospects like we are is a good way to go 8 years with out payoffs again.

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While free agency has been killed by the cap, trades in the offseason tend to happen more. Will be itnerested to see what the Rangers do along with a team like the Lightning. Stamkos is a UFA next summer and if they are gonna max him, and sign some of these young guys that have come out of nowhere, they are going to have to dump some salary.

Hawks are another team that need to shed some salary too so...could be fun. Not for the Hawks or their fans maybe, but for the rest of us.

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Shaving the beard is the hardest part for me. Especially because my next job may not be so understanding about me growing one.

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Rangers will gladly take anyone from the Hawks with the numbers: #88, #19.

Really though, it will be a chess match trying to maximize a teams ability with all the Cap issues.

For the Hawks, they may win 3 Cups with the team they have right now. If they come up short, they still won 2 before getting dismantled by the cap.

If the Rangers can't figure it out we could get dismantled by the cap and not have a single Cup to show for it. Plus, all those picks being traded away does really have the potential of a long decade of no playoffs again.

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My prediction would be Hawks in 6 but I would happily settle for 5. Tampa has a great, talented young team with some solid veterans for guidance and lets be honest Crawford is a bit shaky at times. If they can hold together they will be a force for years to come. That said, this is all new for the vast majority of the team and I think Chicago's vast experience in big games is going to be the difference.

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This is definitely going to be the toughest test for both teams' bottom D pairs. God forbid Cumiskey/Rundblad ever get caught out on the ice against Tampa Bay's top 2 lines because they probably won't get the puck out until it goes in the back of the net. Perry / Getzlaf are great players but Tampa has even more dynamic, younger forwards and Steven Stamkos is insane.

That said, the Hawks are going to do the same to the Lightning, as the Hawks' top 9 (as a group) are going to be a big step up from the forwards that populate the Rangers, Habs, and Red Wings.

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Did Patrick Kane strangle a women once? Lu kind of remember the stories from a frat party years ago...but I don't remember him actually harming a women.

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He was at a frat party in Wisconsin and was doing a choking motion on a couple women, but he never strangled anyone.

Hawks in 4

Hahaha! Amazing way to end that post! On my phone or that would get a lot more laughing faces

Also, did he actually put his hands in her or like what it not a big deal sort of thing?

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It was never a big deal, the bigger deal was made about his immaturity and drinking.

...hence my avatar on here.

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Since we're making predictions: Hawks in 5.

They lose Game 1 and people freak out. They respond by taking Game 2 and splitting on the road. Come home and take care of business in Games 3 and 4. Then in Game 5 they smell blood and finish it off.

My rooting interest definetly plays a role, but the core Hawk guys look like they've finally taken it up a level. Game 7 on the road against a tough team, and they would not be denied. Jonathan Towes is coming for that cup. I have the utmost confidence right now, and would be rattled if the Hawks got their asses kicked.

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Hawks in 7 for me.

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No reason to debate back and forth, but I honestly don't understand where you're coming from. You are honestly the first Hawks fan I've seen say anything positive about Kimmo. So a statement that we might not be here without him? I don't even know how to process that honestly. I'm also fully aware you're a diehard hockey fan, and understand the game very well.

Bowman hits more than he misses. They have two cups already, an OT period from having another one last year, and despite that right back at it this season. Saying he made an awful trade doesn't equate to saying the Hawks are bad. I understand why the move was made, but it just hasn't panned out at all from my perspective.

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The move clearly was a gamble, and Kimmo clearly isn't 2010 Kimmo. I'm not disputing that, but I also think a lot of Hawk fans (and sports fans in general) love to find a scapegoat for any kind of issues. The fact was that Kimmo was a veteran defenseman available in an extremely obvious seller's market. There just weren't many options there, and Bowman clearly needed help at the deadline on the blue line.

Patrick Kane was hurt, so his cap hit was off the books...with the new cap hits for 88 and 19 coming in next year, and the organization having information on Kane's potential quick return, there was an obvious need to try and grab SOMEONE at the deadline. TvR went down, Rundblad wasn't panning out at all, Rozsival clearly was starting to have age catch up to him and his legs...and this organization is committed to their younger players staying in the AHL to maximize minutes until they feel the player is 100% completely ready for the NHL...so they needed a veteran defenseman, and the fact of the matter is, there just weren't a ton available that worked. They wanted Vermette, too, which added a second dimension in what they wanted to part with. The only other option I can think of is Jeff Petry, and rumors were they didn't want to deal him in the conference if they didn't have to...so that leaves us with Kimmo.

I think he played his role just fine. He wasn't the bust people are saying he was. Hell, Bowman made the trade not knowing if the dude would play AT ALL, let alone almost every game since the trade. Was he skating Duncan Keith minutes? No, hell, not even Rozsival minutes...but people undervalue what he brought. Eating 5-6 minutes isn't ideal, but when Keith and Hjalmarsson and Seabrook can skate 26-30 minutes a game no problem, well, you just don't need that much out of a 6th defenseman. Remember in 2010 when Jordan Hendry and Nick Boynton were the 6th defenseman, and Sopel was the 5th? Yeah, we won a Cup with that. Our top 4 are that good that we don't need much out of a 6th defenseman, especially Keith and Seabrook.

For years people have talked about how the physical toll of the minutes and the hits from other teams would wear on Keith, etc. as the playoffs roll on, but, uhhhh, I'm still waiting for that to EVER happen. Keith is a machine, Seabs is a machine, and so is Hammer. These guys are physical freaks. You need a 6th defenseman to skate 6-8 minutes a game to just give them a break every once and a while, be in position, don't turn the puck over in the defensive zone. Everything else on top of that is gravy. And ya know what? Kimmo was pretty close to that.

Throw in any potential help he's given Teuvo...and I don't think it was that bad. The Hawks are very, very likely about to get draft picks back, as well, and have that compensatory 2nd rounder for Kevin Hayes...and again...it's not that bad of a deal. They'll replace those picks, or close to it, and for any help at winning a Cup, it's not a bad move, IMO. I'm not saying it was a great move or anything, just not a bad one. Add in the signing of Artemi Panarin, who was basically a first round pick signing, as well as Baun and Paliotta, who Bowman might have viewed has 2nd round picks...

The ultimate goal is to win a Stanley Cup, and if Kimmo did absolutely anything at all to help that, all I'm saying it that makes it not bad move. Plus all those x-factors (picks from trades this offseason, signings of Panarin, Baun, Paliotta, etc., giving Teuvo a "mentor)...

Anyway, there's still hockey to play.

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Rangers would have won that series in 4 :p

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Hawks in 6

experience prevails

tampa will be back though

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I'm really looking forward to the final. I think it's gonna be a great series. I'll say Hawks in 6, but I could see Bishop stealing a game or two and swinging the whole thing. And if Tampa can play defense for 3 games like they did in game 7, well, then we're gonna have a whole new ballgame (puckgame?). But in the end, I think Chicago's depth and experience will carry them to the Cup. Duncan Keith your Conn Smythe winner.

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Yeah every time I open the closet where I keep my jerseys and sweatshirts I get sad now. My brother borrowed my home #8 earlier this year, so it's at my parents' house because I haven't gotten it back yet, but I've still got my Pittsburgh winter classic #19 and my DC winter classic #65 (love the jersey, love the kid, and I look forward to wearing it for years, but funny because he was a healthy scratch in the WC) looking at me every time I go in for my Nationals jersey.

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Will Kimmo get to play a game in the Final if all health stays the same as it is now? That's what I care about now.

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Really hope not but if the Hawks start struggling anything is possible.