Sports with Megs

CHICAGO, IL -- Oh. Oh my god. The Blackhawks--your Chicago Blackhawks--were in a playoff spot for about 45 minutes Wednesday night. Yes, the same team that was in dead last on January 19th, a little over a month ago, is that close to a playoff spot. If you told me a month ago that they'd be here, I would laugh in your face. They're not a perfect team by any means, but the way they've been playing the past month has been insane. They've won ten of their last twelve, which is absurd. Both goalies and the defense look astronomically better than they did a month ago--again, not perfect, but better--and the offense has finally flipped a switch. It also really helps that the rest of the Western Conference is meh at best. They're currently in a race with Colorado (who took the playoff spot from the Hawks a mere 45 minutes after their game ended, after the Avalanche routed the Winnipeg Jets 7-1), Arizona, Vancouver, and Minnesota. None of these te

CHICAGO, IL -- I feel like there are a lot of things happening with the Blackhawks lately, and I haven't really properly talked about any of it. So, we're going to tackle all of the pressing Hawks news today--from point streaks to goalies to wins to trades, it's safe to say that there's a lot to talk about in the Hawks' world right now. The Goalie Thing If you don't follow the Blackhawks on any social media or you're living under a rock, you may not have seen that Corey Crawford has been practicing with the team again. I'm going to reiterate here that this really doesn't mean anything--he could still be pretty far from returning to the team. If nothing else, it's definitely a good sign. He attended the full practice earlier this week, which is great news, especially if the Hawks are going to make a legitimate run at the playoffs. But, you have Cam Ward who has a no-move clause in his contract meaning he can't be sent down to Ro

CHICAGO, IL -- Last night marked six straight wins for the Blackhawks. Yeah, you read that right. The Blackhawks, after the rough November, December and January, are sitting within two points of a playoff spot. The best part of all of this? They keep this up, and they might actually find their way to a playoff spot this season. Now, keep in mind, there are quite a few teams in the playoff hunt right now--as it stands, the Hawks are tied with Edmonton and Colorado (53 pts), but behind Vancouver and St. Louis (55 pts) for the last wildcard spot. Except for Vancouver, all of those teams have games in hand over the Hawks, which puts them in a tough position. The way I see it, about five things need to happen for the Hawks to legitimately have a chance to make the playoffs this season: First, there are 27 games left in this season, and the Hawks are currently at 53 points through 55 games. For them to realistically make the playoffs, they'd have to end with about 88-90 p

CHICAGO, IL -- And, we're back! I took a bye week as the Blackhawks did, since there wasn't much to talk about Hawks-wise (or really hockey-wise, to be fair), and the All-Star Game hadn't really happened yet. It was a really, really fun weekend for hockey, and I personally love the All-Star Game every year. I know some people want it completely done away with, and as I think I've mentioned before, some people just hate fun. The stars were all out in full-force, and a lot of guys (and girls!) put on a great show. But, something--no, some one --kept coming up in almost any interview or conversation with players, analysts, color commentators, or social media participants. That someone was none other than Patrick Kane. Now, let me preface this by saying this shouldn't be too surprising or anything--he was one of the older players there, and on top of that, he's played in eight All-Star Games now, which was the most of any of the players at the event th