Sports with Megs

CHICAGO, IL -- Well, here it begins, my friends. I'm genuinely very, very upset about this. Scott Darling is one of my favorite players, and after seeing him play a great game in December (with some Save of the Year-type saves, no less), I'm really going to miss him. And, honestly, the Blackhawks got literally nothing for him--a third-round pick in this year's draft. I know Bowman is trying to get younger guys since the core is getting old, but... I don't know how much I trust this. And believe me, I hope I eat my words. Darling's played a crazy good game this year, especially having to take over for a good chunk of the season after Corey Crawford had his appendix removed. He had a .924 SV% this season, which was amazing for the 32 games he played in. He won 18 of those starts, which is also a pretty good statistic for a back-up goalie. Therein lies the problem, and the reason I knew he likely wouldn't stay. Darling is too good to be a backup anymor

CHICAGO, IL -- GM Stan Bowman is keeping to his word about making changes, I guess. This may seem like a surprise to a lot of fans, but honestly, I can't say I'm overly surprised. Kitchen was mostly responsible for the power play and penalty-killing units. It's not an exaggeration to suggest that both units were more than disappointing this season--especially when it really mattered and they needed to be strong. But, Kitchen was a good assistant coach. He saw the last two Stanley Cups with the Blackhawks, starting after the 2009-2010 season with the Hawks. Up until this year, the penalty killing and power play has been stellar--but, obviously something changed. Still, I'm not sure anyone expected Bowman to make changes this quickly, or in this fashion. I think this likely sets the stage for what to expect this summer, which could be shocking to some fans this summer. I'm not even entirely sure who is safe on the roster or coaching staff (except Coach Q, w

NASHVILLE, TN -- It's taken me a while to figure out how to write this post. I'm heartbroken, to say the least. I can't even really talk about the game, because frankly, there's not much to say except that I'm glad Jonathan Toews scored. So, where do we go from here? Honestly, I don't think this team sucks, or is a bad team. Inconsistent is probably a better word, and Patrick Kane sadly said it best last night : "Maybe we won a couple close games [in the regular season] that might have made us feel like we were better than we really were." I think the Hawks did go into the playoffs a) complacent and b) overconfident. And those two together create disastrous results. But, I don't think they're a bad team. They just got overconfident. Well, what do we have to look forward to this summer? First, Kane has already said he's going to Worlds to play for the United States, which isn't a surprise. I'd bet Artemi Panarin will go f

NASHVILLE, TN -- So, I'm sure you've noticed I was absent for Games 2 and 3 on here. I will be 100% honest with you. I started watching Game 2, but by the time the Predators scored the third goal, I couldn't figure out what I could even write about that game aside from just distant screaming. And Game 3 started so late (I'm on the East Cost, NHL, help me out) that I only caught the first two periods. And, sadly, I'm glad I missed the third and overtime. So, where does this leave the Blackhawks? Your guess is as good as mine. If they lose tonight, they're out. Done. If they win, they live on to see at least another game. And I know a lot of Hawks fans don't want to hear this, but hopefully this series has been eye-opening for the team. This is not good. Say they come back and win the last four games (which is sadly very, very unlikely--even with the team at peak performance, I'm not sure they could, but they should definitely try). They'

CHICAGO, IL -- Jesus, guys. That was honestly some of the sloppiest hockey I've seen from the Hawks this season. They lost their finesse, and if they want to win this series, they're going to have to find it again. The first period offered the only goal of the entire game, the goal that gave the Nashville Predators the series-leading win. The Hawks had a lot of good, quality chances, but just couldn't seem to capitalize on anything. But, don't give up hope. As long as they take this loss in stride and realize that they need to stop being lazy and pick up the pace, the Hawks will notch a win here soon. They just can't be complacent. Complacency leads to losing, and losing leads to an early and long, long summer. All in all, this loss could've been a lot worse, however. I thought Corey Crawford played very well,  and though he let in the lone goal of the game, it didn't help that the defense did basically nothing and both Nick Schmaltz and Richa

CHICAGO, IL -- Well. The stage has been set, and the Blackhawks face the Nashville Predators in the first round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Game 1 is set for this Thursday, April 13th at 8pm EST, and I know I'm not the only one who's happy about the earlier start time. Anyways, there's a lot of talk about this match up right now--Can the Hawks easily beat the Preds? Will they give the Hawks a run for their money? Does this sound like 2015 to anyone else?  Seriously, though, look at the teams in this year's playoffs that are the same as they were in 2015: St. Louis vs. Minnesota, Anaheim, Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, New York (Rangers), Pittsburgh, Washington... I don't know. The Western Conference especially seems eerily similar. Okay, enough of that superstitious stuff, though. Let's talk about the series at hand. Do I think it'll be an easy win for the Blackhawks? Nope. They don't either.   Coach Quenneville explained that the Predators

ANAHEIM, CA -- Well, last night wasn't exactly fun. I didn't really go into that game expecting to win, because without Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith, the Hawks just don't fare as well. And that's okay--I would rather have those guys sitting for these last two games to rest up rather than win two games that don't wholly matter in the scheme of things. Because at the end of the day, if those four players had been in the game last night, the Hawks probably would have stood a better chance. But, we're not here to analyze last night's game. We're here to talk playoffs. And since the playoffs aren't completely set in stone yet, there's still wiggle room. The St. Louis Blues are still a possible contender, as are the Nashville Predators and the Calgary Flames. The question, then, is who do the Hawks want to face? There are some obvious pros and cons to each team, obviously. St. Louis Blues Facing the Blues