Sports with Megs

RALEIGH, NC -- I’d like for anyone who’s said that Raleigh isn’t a hockey city, or that the fans don’t care, or that this team would suck without Jeff Skinner/Elias Lindholm/Cam Ward/Noah Hanifin, to sit down.  This team has taken hit after hit (literally and figuratively) this season but kept getting back up. ‪They stuck with it even when they were sitting at the bottom of the league, they stuck with it when the critics rained all kinds of crap down on them. This team has battled through adversity and I could not be any prouder. No one thought they’d be here, but they said, ‪“Us? Of course we’d be here.”  It’s been so fun and so rewarding to watch this team come into its own and land a playoff spot. I know they weren’t happy with just getting into the playoffs, but I was. I was going to be proud of them no matter what they did in the first round, and even the second round, and I’ll be proud of them no matter the outcome of the third round. These guys have worked t...

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...

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...

CHARLOTTE, NC - - In years past, I've only really watched the Stanley Cup Finals. I live down in the Southeastern part of the US, so hockey just doesn't really have a presence (at least, not like it does in the northern part of the country), so playoff hockey was usually all I watched. But, the interesting thing is that... I don't ever remember it being so controversial. I know hockey's not a nice sport--there are always going to be fights and booing and yelling and just general anger. And, I know that me not being an avid hockey fan might be a part of this, too. At the end of the day, all of these teams are fighting for the same thing. They want the Cup. There are right and wrong ways to go about this, though, and I think a large part of the issue I have with this first round of the playoffs is what the league is doing--or, rather, isn't. It's not a question that the coach's challenge this year has been a mess. That's often what happens when you t...

CHICAGO, IL -- What a game. What started as a bleak outlook and a possible end to the Blackhawks' season turned into a resounding 6-3 win over the Blues. The Hawks started off relatively strong, with a nice shot from Ladd just four minutes in. The Blues answered not two minutes later, then five minutes after that, giving them a 2-1 lead at the halfway point of the period. And just following that, the Blues scored again. It looked very, very bleak for the Hawks. But, someone lit a fire under them, because they came back hot . Anisimov scored four minutes into the second on a power play, which gave us a little hope. It was a while before the Hawks scored again, killing a penalty off in between. It was then turn for van Riemsdyk to finally get his first playoff goal, and as you can tell, he was pretty stoked about it: ( sheercompulsion  on tumblr) Weise answered right after that, giving the Blackhawks the lead going into the third. But, I, like many other fans, didn...

ST . LOUIS, MO - - I don't even know where to start with last night's game. I should preface with the fact that I went to bed at about 12:30am EST. I have classes this morning, so I had to get some sleep, and I thought whatever the outcome was, I'd just have to find out in the morning. So, waking up to a 2OT win? Pretty damn special. Let's start at the beginning, though, shall we? The boys played well the first period, though it was a mostly dull period. No goals, no penalties--but a lot of incredible saves made by both Elliot and Crawford. Their battle is incredibly intense, and I've been impressed by both of them the past few nights. Now, the second period is when things started to get crazy. The Hawks played well again,  killing off a few penalties here and there. They weren't able to capitalize on the one they received, but they at least staved the Blues off for a while and Hossa even managed a shorty. He's basically the king of shorthanded goa...

CHICAGO, IL -- I wasn't going to write anything after the game last night. I turned my TV off after the Blues' 3rd goal, and I threw things. Including my sweater, which I regret a lot. I shouldn't have done that. But, I was so angry. I still am, so therefore, this isn't really a recap of the game at all. It's a story that happened about 20 minutes ago. -- I call my mom every morning, just to touch base (really, I’m just homesick, bored, and avoiding work for the moment). She’s a huge Blackhawks fan, since she lived in Chicago when she was younger and was able to actually go to games. So, when I called her this morning, you know what the first thing she said to me was? You know, it’s just not their year. And, you know what? I can be okay with that. This season has been so good to us, between Kane’s point streak, the 12-game winning streak, the success of the second line, guys stepping up that really needed to (Shaw, Anisimov, Desjardins, Hjalmarsson, etc....

CHICAGO, I L -- That was the most stereotypical and frustrating loss in Blackhawks history. I can't even really type this right now but I'm trying to keep up with this blog. The first period was stellar--Seabrook's power play beaut early on helped the boys gain some confidence. There were only ten shots by the Hawks, but they made sure not to let the Blues get too much action. The Hawks really should have scored more in the first, since they had three power plays nearly back-to-back at the start of the first, yet only capitalized on one. The Blues managed to put one on the boards as well, but it wasn't stressful yet. The second period was insane. It was a lot of playing keep-away, rather than a whole lot of scoring. Interestingly enough, Panarin's first faceoff ended in a goal for Anisimov, which is pretty incredible. After an adorable celly, the boys managed to keep the Blues at bay. Crawford was unbelievable, making about three series of saves that had me...

ST. LOUIS, MO -- OH. MY. GOD. Hands down, most stressful game I've watched all year. The first period was just downright brutal. With only two shots made by the Blackhawks to the Blues' seven, it looked grim for the Hawks. There was only one power play opportunity in the first period for the Blackhawks, and though they didn't score, they at least killed off a penalty of their own. It wasn't until the second period that things started to pick up. Tarasenko notched one fifteen minutes in, giving the Blues a lead. But, Duncan Keith wanted to make sure the Scottrade Center knew he was back in the game, scoring with just a few seconds left in the period and tying it up. That was enough to shut the Blues fans up for a bit (seriously, the booing every time either Kane or Keith touched the puck grew annoying after about the second time). The second period even ended with a nice little kerfluffle (as the Blackhawks Twitter account called it)! And, the third period, o...

ST. LOUIS, MO -- That game had me biting my nails like crazy last night. And I don't often chew on my nails at all. It didn't help that the game was a 9:30pm EST start, and I feared from the start that the game would go into OT. If only I'd known. I thought the Blackhawks played some damn good hockey last night. The defense finally looked good and they managed to kill four penalties. The Hawks couldn't seem to capitalize on any of their power plays, but to be fair, Elliot is like a damn brick wall. Crawford was, too. Last night was a battle of the goalies, honestly. I thought the Blackhawks did have a lot of good opportunities to score, and yes, as usual, I would have loved for them to shoot the puck more. For some reason, they seemed to pass it a lot last night. The passes were often complete, but nothing came of them. As far as stellar players, I thought Toews played incredibly last night. Ladd did as well, despite his distraction earlier in the day (congr...