Sports with Megs

CHICAGO, IL -- JOHNNY'S BACK. Sorry for the caps. I'm so excited to see him back. And, after the recent struggles in our defense, he'll slot right in. In case the all-caps intro didn't allude you to this, Johnny Oduya has been with the Hawks. In fact, the Hawks traded him along with Patrick Sharp and Stephen Johns down to Dallas in the summer of 2015, right after winning the cup. Another cap era casualty. But, seeing as the Stars are apparently willing to trade away anyone for anything, the Hawks get another shot with Oduya. And I'm excited. Oduya is one of those quiet-but-deadly types. He doesn't really make a lot of waves at the surface, but oh, man, is he someone you want. And, since he's been here before, he'll likely fall right back into place. He's only got seven points (1-6--7) on the season, but that's also partially due to the conditions in Dallas. I don't know what went haywire down there this season, but no one seeme

CHICAGO, IL -- This may well have been a playoff game between the Blackhawks and the Blues with the amount of tension that surmounted. And, by some miracle (named Artem Anisimov), the Blackhawks came away with two points, poising them just one point behind Minnesota in the standings. Even better? Minnesota is on their bye week, which means the Hawks can easily catch them. But, we're here to talk about that incredible game, aren't we? Because, wow. The Hawks honestly haven't looked this good and consistent in a long, long time. That first period was proof enough that they're just getting started. They played down in the Blues' end a lot in the first period, which I think Coach Q knew they needed to do in order to be successful against this team. And, it paid off, because Nick Schmaltz was able to use his silky-smooth gloves to slide the puck through a Blues player's legs, right to Jonathan Toews, over Jake Allen and into the net. Unbelievable. Speak

CHICAGO, IL -- Well, this one was unexpected. Only sort of, though. I at least was right in that the Hawks would look to get some sort of forward, either for the top line or bottom six, but I thought it'd be Patrick Eaves. Nope, he's headed to Anaheim (on a very *ahem* interesting trade, but that's neither here nor there). With only 15 goals in 159 games, a -8 rating over 16 games this season with no goals and a handful of healthy scratches, I think a lot of people are probably questioning him off the bat. But, I'm telling you, hang on. The Hawks eat this crap up. Remember Richard Panik last year? I'm not sure anyone really knew who he was, or knew why we got him of all forwards. But, look. He's paid dividends for the team this year and last, for that matter. Who's to say Jurco just wasn't in the right place in Detroit? He might prove himself in the last leg of the season. And, if he doesn't, he's a restricted free agent at the end

CHICAGO, IL -- Well, well, well. This is getting a bit repetitive, isn't it? Believe me, this time it's a great thing. And, it's another night for the Hawks to prove just how dangerous they can be. (B ear with me--this one's a bit of a long one.) Nick Schmaltz opened the scoring tonight with a goal just 37 seconds into the game, the assists coming from just Jonathan Toews. Seriously, I'm living for this line, and I really hope Coach Q keeps it for a while. It's obviously working. But, the Coyotes howl back with a nice wrister from rookie Jakob Chychrun, who actually impressed the hell out of me tonight. For a defenseman, he's not half bad, and after a few more years in the league, he could be lethal. That shot definitely was.  Shockingly, it doesn't take long for the Hawks to answer. With a beautiful pass from Marian Hossa, Ryan Hartman puts it in for his fifteenth goal of the season. Then, something even more magical happens--Patrick Kane g

ST. PAUL, MN -- Wow. Where do we start with this one? The energy of the entire game (especially the last five or so minutes) felt like a true playoff game. The goalies were both amazing tonight, making some amazing saves that at some points seemed unreal. Both were able to rob a few guys of breakaways, which is another amazing feat. It was definitely a battle of the goalies for most of this game. To start, the game was kind of slow-paced I thought. There were no penalties in the first, some amazing saves on each side, but nothing really heart-racing, playoff-esque playing. It was actually pretty boring, those first twenty minutes. But, oh, boy, the Hawks weren't going down without a fight tonight. Nope, they were going to win this one tooth and nail, no matter how hard they had to play. And, boy, did it pay off. Jonathan Toews opened up the scoring tonight with a great tip-in from Brian Campbell. That was the first of five points tonight for Toews, so he definitely w

CHICAGO, IL -- It's hard to say for certain what's going to happen over the next few months. The trade deadline is just under two weeks out, playoffs start mid-April, the Cup is awarded in early June, the Vegas draft is in late June, and the general draft is right after that. The next few months are going to be crazy, that's for sure. So, where do the Blackhawks fit into all of this? Well, I'd say they're right in the thick of it. In order to talk about all that needs to be said, we need to go in order, and probably in different blog posts. Which means we should probably start with the trade deadline. WHO'S HEADING OUT There have been a lot of names thrown around with regards to who's staying in Chicago, who's going, and who's coming (back?). In regards to who makes for trade bait, the Hawks actually have a nice handful of potential trade chips. Scott Darling Look, I don't want to lose Darling. He's been great this season, filli

BUFFALO, NY -- Winning in your hometown is something most kids dream of. Patrick Kane has lived that dream since he's been a Blackhawk. The last time the Sabres beat the Blackhawks was in 2009, and tonight's win made it a n e leven -game winning streak against the Sabres. Tonight was the second night of a back-to-back, and the Hawks came into the Buffalo game with a 3-1 loss to the Oilers last night. Luckily, they played well enough last night to gear themselves up for tonight. The Sabres haven't had much help this season, however--they've been fighting injuries and illnesses all year long, which can't lead to a winning formula. Going head-to-head with a relatively fired-up Blackhawks team coming off a bye week, they didn't have much of a chance tonight. And, boy, did the Blackhawks play well. With Scott Darling in the net, you can barely go wrong. He's been unbelievable in the games he's played this season, and it's very comforting

ST. PAUL, MN -- That was a pseudo-playoff game if I've ever seen one. The tension was remarkably high, the chances were unbelievable, and the goaltending was superb. I was blown away by this one, folks.  The Blackhawks start out with a good number of chances, and it didn't seem like they were too afraid to get up to the net and fight for a goal. The defense was actually quite good tonight as well, finally looking like the Hawks we know.  And, after eleven minutes of pressure, Ryan Hartman finds the back of the net with a beauty of a pass from Vinnie Hinostroza, and the kids put the Hawks up 1-0 with nine minutes to go in the first period. Corey Crawford made some unbelievable saves in the first period as well, but as a whole, the period was pretty boring with just one goal scored. Charlie Coyle took an interference penalty, but nothing came of the Hawks power play, and thus the period ended with the Hawks up 1-0. Of course, the second period had the most energy and de

ST. PAUL, MN -- One could certainly argue that tomorrow's match-up between the seemingly rejuvenated Minnesota Wild and the inconsistent Chicago Blackhawks is the biggest, most important game of the season. For the Blackhawks, that is certainly the case. With a season record of 32-17-5 in 54 games, the Hawks have 69 points, just four points out of reach of first in the Central Division. The next closest in the Central are the Nashville Predators, who trail with only 58 points. The Wild are sitting pretty at 34-12-5 in just 51 games, giving them a clear advantage, and will likely stay on top in the Central by season's end. Things look meek for tomorrow's game if you look at just the records. But, there are a few things working in the Hawk's favor tomorrow. The first of which is the fact that the Wild will be coming into the game on the second half of a back-to-back. Depending on how that game goes tonight against the Winnipeg Jets (who are favored to win the

CHICAGO, IL -- It's been a while, blog. It's been a while. Sorry I disappeared from this blog entirely. I had a rough summer, dealing with a slew of things that I couldn't exactly control from where I stood, then a rough first semester of my final year of college with a clingy roommate. With that being said, I think it's time we catch up. I've done a lot since I've been gone! First, I went to yet another Hurricanes/Rangers game with my roommate, and since we were able to get there early enough, I got a hat that now hangs proudly with all of my Hawks hats. The Rangers lost, but it was still a fun game, and we made a weekend out of it in late October. I also worked on a project involving my college's club hockey team, which included sitting in on practices and attending games, and of course, interviewing a handful of them. It was a really fulfilling project to do, and I'm definitely going to remember that one for a long time. I finally went t