Not sure how many of you guys have kept up with the O'Reilly saga, but things finally came to an end but not without some controversy. So the Flames stepped up and offered O'Reilly (a RFA) a two year 10 million dollar contract that see's O'Reilly getting 6.5 million in year 2 thus that would become his qualifying offer once the contract ends. Colorado stepped up quickly and matched the deal and that's where the controversy comes in. Apperantly, had Colorado not matched the offer, O'Reilly would have had to go through the waiver wire per some clause in the new CBA because he had plaed 2 games in the KHL this calendat year. Had Colorado not matched things would have gotten interesting because I'm sure a team like Columbus who has the worst record and thus top priority would have snagged up O'Reilly as they have a huge need for forwards and O'Reillt would have also fit into their rebuilding mode as he's only 22.
23. 10 straight wins. Crawford looked a bit shaky in the 3rd, but ah yes... Patrick Kane provides the separation the Blackhawks needed. Bickell and Saad were huge tonight. Also, Susannah Collins. That is all.
Saad is awesome. You couldn't tell he's a rookie by the way he plays out there. Oh and Cheryl Scott in Shoot the Puck.
Let's just say that she was pretty amped when she put it in the net. I've also noticed that they bring out some... attractive women to do this segment. And... this dude basically summed it up better than I could. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Smokey smokes smoke smoke. @<a href="https://twitter.com/susannahcollins">susannahcollins</a> @<a href="https://twitter.com/cherylscottwx">cherylscottwx</a> <a href="http://t.co/sVuiaCwUEU" title="http://twitter.com/BarstoolChief/status/309141321354989570/photo/1">twitter.com/BarstoolChief/…</a></p>— The Chief (@BarstoolChief) <a href="https://twitter.com/BarstoolChief/status/309141321354989570">March 6, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> And lol @ Stephen A. Smith trying to talk hockey when he compared the Hawks' streak to the Heat streak. Basically... it would benefit society as a whole if he never attempted to do that again. Ever. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3bfKdRIHhtY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Suddenly everyone on my Facebook newsfeed is interested in hockey... and is claiming to be a Blackhawks fan. Go figure?
Streak's in jeopardy. Avs are playing the Hawks real tough, I think this might be the end of the streak.
24. 11 straight wins!!!! Daniel Carcillo puts the Hawks on top with less than 50 seconds left in regulation!!! Hawks 3, Avs 2
My god, the Avs played their butts off. I thought surely this would be it. Carbomb out of no where scores, one of the more unlikely people to do it. I know Colorado is going to be feeling this one, they'll want revenge on Friday. What a great win though. It was hard watching this game and the Rockets at the same time, both had me on the edge.
To consider that they've played exactly half of their entire schedule for the seasons and that they have earned no less than a point in every single game is unreal.
The Avs have played much better since their dissapointing effort against the Blue Jackets over the weekend which was O'Reilly's first game back. Since then, while they have lost to both Detroit and Chicago, they were both one goal games. In the Detroit game they had many oppertunities to tie it up in the 3rd. Howard just played a fantastic game. Against the Blackhawks, the Avs had a 2-1 lead that they lost in the 3rd. More important than the results was the effort. The Avs played hard and stayed away from stupid penalties. They did have some bad turnovers in their own zone, but I attribute alot of that to being down 2 of their top 6 defensemen (Johnson and Wilson) and having to play the likes of Zanon, Hunwick and Elliott.
http://kuklaskorner.com/hockey/comments/nhlpa-consents-to-realignment Looks like the NHL PA has given consent for realignment. Going to suck seeing Detroit back in the East. No more Hawks/Wings rivalry. Their division would be stacked though. 16 teams in the East, 14 in the West, which opens the possibility of two new franchises in the West. I can see Seattle being one of those teams, the other possibly Houston or Kansas City?
Hmm. I know most traditional hockey fans will scoff at this but I would welcome a shake-up and some new franchises.
16 teams on one conference, 14 teams on the other conference. Its sounds like hockey and baseball switched places.
Glad to see hockey fans in the Houston area. I also hear that Dallas Stars' home attendance has risen significantly this season.
Kinda wierd that the Blackhawks are the only original 6 squad in the west, but with the new schedule they will still play the other original 6 teams twice a year. While Seattle does seem to be the western city most talked about for a new franchise (good location as Seattle has WHL teams which means the area is familiar with the sport) I can't see another western city like KC or even Houston getting a team ahead of Quebec City or Markham. I think if we do get 32 teams, It would be Seattle and Quebec City over Markham as Quebec had a team before. If it does play out this way, I could see Quebec taking Columbus' spot in the East, with Columbus coming over to the midwest divison that includes Chicago and Colorado and Seattle going to the Pacific group. I don't think that would happen for another 3-5 years though as Seattle won't start building a new arena until the Kings move there and Quebec still needs to get a building up themeselves. So in the meantime I look forward to seeing how the playoff format is going to work. For those who haven't seen it the top 3 teams in each divison make the playoffs while the last 4 wildcard spots go to two teams per conference. The 2nd and 3rd place teams in each divison play each other in the 1st round while the top team in each conference plays the worst wildcard team from their conference.
And the streak is over. Hawks buried by 4-goal 2nd period, lose 6-2. Avalanche just wouldn't be denied tonight. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>IT'S ALL LEBRON'S FAULT</p>— Drunk Patrick Kane (@Drunk_Kane88) <a href="https://twitter.com/Drunk_Kane88/status/310250605811728385">March 9, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Definitely a great streak, that 1st loss always stings, but now that the streak is over, they can get back to focusing on other things. I don't care much for a President's trophy, I would love for them to have it though. Just hope to have everyone healthy by May. Also, I hope the Crawford I saw yesterday isn't the Crawford I see for the rest of the season/playoffs.
