I have a feeling that Bickell may be replaced by Versteeg. The Bolts are fast & that is one thing that Versteeg is...but everything else that he is is bad. Has Kimmo been sent home yet?

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

Still searching.....but in the meantime, try to do some research into what it was like as a Hawks fan prior to the whole Toews/Kane/Keith/Quenville experience. Because this is really something you should be trying to enjoy if you are a Hawks fan.
This is not gonna last forever. And when I say that, I do not mean after next week. Because that salary cap is gonna slap a lot of teams silly. Not just the Hawks. Our future is pretty bright.

I do kinda feel bad that you haven't enjoyed the last several years. It's been a fun ride.

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Except he's won a Cup.

Seriously. Grasp that. ALL of those other guys have not. That matters.

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I think the next time we'll see Timonen will be the Cup skate. Zawaski just suggested that van Riemsdyk could dress for Game 1, but I think that's an enormous reach.

If Q is going to scratch Bickell, it could just as soon be Nordstrom drawing in, given Q's weird love for the guy and his misconception that Nordstrom is a big body, but that would mean elevating Desjardins to the second line, which I don't feel great about. I'd stick with Bickell for Game 1 on the off chance he finally finds it in himself to give you something -- the last change Q made at forward was an unmitigated disaster. Very short leash, though.

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I'm gonna go WAY out on a limb and say that Bickell skates in game 1.

Q had a cushion, wanted to send a message, and hopefully it worked.

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Holy crap, speaking of HUGE, the man himself is on the Score right now!

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Which man? I'm not listening.
Can he give the inside scoop on Bradley club hockey??????

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Is it really an enormous reach? There was speculation he would play last Wednesday. Another week of rest and healing...

I think it is very possible we see him in the finals.

Regarding Bickell, I am very leary of removing him. I know he has been pretty much a non factor, but there are not many other options out there. Do we really need to see Versteeg again?

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

I'm not sure what Bickell did to get himself benched in the 3rd. I'll have to re-watch it.

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

You're gonna have to watch a LOT of these games. You got a comfortable spot on the couch?

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Bill "HUGE" Simonson after they switched to the CBS Sports Radio feed. He sounds half dead.

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Why??

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Well, I expected the Hawks to be here & I will be extremely disappointed if the Hawks lose...but they wont.

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

I went to a Lightning home game this year. Extremely cheesy atmosphere.

Hawks in 6.

I guess I'll get back on the bandwagon. Honestly, I don't pay attention unless they have a chance to hoist the Cup (usually, around game 4-5 of the Finals)

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1926-1931-1934-1942-1944-1946-1964-1967-1982-2006-2011

Yea, the Southern cities with an NHL team almost treat games as a tourist event. Tampa, Florida, Charlotte, Phoenix...all bad and all have a screamy PA announcer.

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

I disagree. It was cool that they installed that organ (and almost every team's organist is better than ours -- Pellico sucks), and the Tesla coil is a neat gimmick. As far as southern fanbases go, Tampa's is actually one of the better ones.

Charlotte doesn't have an NHL team. Raleigh does.

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I disagree with your disagreement.

Hey Fuck-o,
Can you go ten posts without saying something negative about the organization? Good Grief, have you thought about taking an anti-depressant? You always seem to find something wrong. You are almost as bad as the average White Sox Fan. Do you get any enjoyment out of the Cup runs and winning seasons the team has been having?

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When I am stuck and need to figure something out I always remember the Immortal words of Socrates when he said:"I just drank what?"

This reminds of fanboys going after critics of their favorite developer or fanfic writer

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1926-1931-1934-1942-1944-1946-1964-1967-1982-2006-2011

You can't handle me saying that our organist could be better? God, he's been playing "Eye of the Tiger" and generic sporting-event licks for like 25 years. Teams are getting creative with music; it's getting to be as bad as Detroit and their worn-out Jock Jams tape cassette.

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That is not what I am saying. I am saying you can not go more than 10 posts without deriding the Hawks in one form or the other. It's like you really don't like them. Like you are only a skin deep fan because you have to be. Like I pointed out before you are like Moriarty from Kelly's Heroes, no matter how good things where going. Like and the end of the movie when they n\bought the Tiger tank all he could do was complain and bring his"Negative waves". You do the same thing, all that ever comes from you and your posts regarding the Hawks is a palpitate aura of gloom and doom. Toews and Kane are over rated, Craw suckes, He is not big enough,etc etc.

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When I am stuck and need to figure something out I always remember the Immortal words of Socrates when he said:"I just drank what?"

Okay, cool.

Hey, here's something to consider about Tampa Bay vis-a-vis Miami when it comes to hockey support and the ragging-on thereof. I'd say that Tampa Bay is firmly middle-of-the-road at this point, kind of like Columbus. South Florida, as we all know, is a disaster. Here's a 25-mile radius from each team's arena:



25 miles out from the Ice Palace pretty well covers all of the metropolitan area. 25 miles from Sunrise? Look at all that water and swampland within the radius, and all the population that isn't: Miami itself is outside the circle, as is most of Palm Beach County and all of Martin County, which Panthers fans trumpet as being "a good hockey demographic" (well-off and white) but it's ridiculous to expect people to drive to/from Jupiter or Stuart on a regular basis. (Hell, going from West Palm Beach to Jupiter feels like a journey and it's only like 10 miles up the Turnpike.) Also, the new ownership in Tampa has gone out of its way to market itself and develop adjacent real estate in downtown Tampa. The Panthers left Miami for an outlet mall and just kinda do their thing. If anything, as much as people mocked Michael Yormark sponsoring everything that could be sponsored and putting on cringe-y ethnic promotions like Yarmulke Night, their marketing under new ownership has gotten worse.

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Put him on ignore then, your bitching about him is just as predictable.

Now you're going after my guy Frank Pelico??? Frank is great. He wears 1 stanley cup championship ring on each hand when he plays.

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

Los Angeles, of all places, has the best organist. St. Louis's guy is pretty good too; they probably use more organ music than anyone. I wish the Hawks would cut down on prerecorded music. That was one of the few McDonough moves I did not like one bit. "Shipping Up to Boston" has no place in a Chicago sporting event. Must have been a popular request from Beverly douchebags.

btdubs, your guy Frank Pellico is the one who told Bill Wirtz to dismantle the Chicago Stadium organ.

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Credit where it's due, this made me smile:



But it goes from a FF6 battle screen to a FF7 summon...

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Bickell will be out there for Game 1. We really don’t have a better answer it this point. I do not see Q shaking things up that drastically to start the series.

I had many doubts about Anaheim. I underestimated them, but I’m pretty sure I had company there. Tampa is a good fast team…I would have rather have faced the Rangers, but they don’t have our depth. Lots of things started going right the last 2 games.

Hawks in 6.

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Conference Finals Game 7 Officials are indeed working the SCF, some familiar names from 2010 and 2013 for the Hawks. This is from the following site:

http://scoutingtherefs.com/2015/06/9010 ... smen-2015/

Stanley Cup Final Referees & Linesmen – 2015
Posted on Jun 2, 2015
The NHL has announced the four referees and four linesmen selected to work the 2015 Stanley Cup Final.
As to how they’re chosen, NHL Director of Officiating Stephen Walkom told the Star-Tribune:
“It’s their presence in a game, it’s their control in tough situations, it’s following the NHL standard, it’s the ability to keep up with the game physically,” said Walkom. “The evaluation is ongoing. At the end of the year, we put together the guys who we consider are performing the best to go into the playoffs. Then each and every round, it gets knocked out so we have our best team of officials in the Cup.”
Here are the best officials from 2014-15, the ones chosen to work this year’s Cup Final:
Referees
Wes McCauley (#4)
Dan O’Halloran (#13)
Kevin Pollock (#33)
Kelly Sutherland (#11)
Linesmen
Derek Amell (#75)
Shane Heyer (#55)
Brian Murphy (#93)
Pierre Racicot (#65)

Expected pairings for the Stanley Cup Final:
Referees

O’Halloran & Sutherland

O’Halloran (#13) is working his eighth career Stanley Cup Final, with all eight coming in the past nine seasons. His only cup final absence was in 2009, when Devorski, LaRue, McCreary, and Joannette handled the championship series. In his 20-year NHL career, O’Halloran has handled 1163 regular season and 149 playoff games.
Referee Kelly Sutherland at the 2015 Winter Classic (Photo by Clyde Caplan/clydeorama.com)
Referee Kelly Sutherland at the 2015 Winter Classic (Photo by Clyde Caplan/clydeorama.com)
Sutherland (#11) returns to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2011, when he handled the seven-game series between the Bruins and Canucks. He’d worked back-to-back Finals in 2010 and 2011. The 15-year veteran has worked 943 regular season games along with 99 postseason matches. He also suited up for this year’s Winter Classic, when we had a chance to speak with Sutherland about his career.
The duo worked one games together this postseason – Game 7 between the Ducks and Blackhawks. O’Halloran was previously paired with Steve Kozari, Dan O’Rourke and Brad Meier. Sutherland officiated alongside Chris Rooney and Francis Charron.
McCauley & Pollock

McCauley (#4) is handling his third straight Stanley Cup Final, having officiated the series in 2013 and 2014. McCauley made his NHL debut in 2003; since then, he’s seen action in 750 regular season and 71 playoff games.
NHL Referee Kevin Pollock
Referee Kevin Pollock is making his Stanley Cup Final debut
Pollock (#33) is making his Stanley Cup Final debut. The 15-year veteran has worked 1,015 regular season games and made 149 postseason appearances. Pollock’s made it as far as the Conference Finals five times prior to this season (2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, and 2014).
McCauley and Pollock seemed to be the designated Game 7 go-to crew this postseason. They handled three Game 7s: Red Wings/Lightning in Round 1, Rangers/Capitals in Round 2, and Rangers/Lightning in the Conference Finals. McCauley and Pollock officiated nine games together this postseason, having worked the previous two rounds together.
Linesmen

Derek Amell & Brian Murphy

Amell is working back-to-back Cup Finals and his third in four seasons.
Murphy last made it to the Final in 2013. The 27-year veteran has 256 playoff games and 1,713 regular season matches under his belt.
Amell and Murphy worked one game this postseason – Game 7 between the Rangers and Lightning. They were joined in stripes for that one by referees Wes McCauley and Kevin Pollock.
Shane Heyer & Pierre Racicot

Heyer also worked the 2015 Stanley Cup Final with Amell. This will be his third straight and the sixth Cup Final appearance of his career. Heyer’s seen action in 1,797 regular season games along with 171 in the postseason.
Racicot has nearly been a Stanley Cup Finals regular. Though he missed last season’s final, the veteran linesman had a run of five straight Finals appearances (2009-2013). Racicot has manned the lines for 1,462 regular season games and 181 in the playoffs.
Heyer and Racicot had been paired for just one game – Game 7 of the Western Conference Final between the Ducks and Blackhawks. O’Halloran and Sutherland were the officials for that game.
Who’s Missing?

Eric Furlatt made his fourth trip to the Conference Finals, but has yet to work a Cup Final. Steve Kozari handled the 2014 Stanley Cup Final; he nearly made it back this season. Chris Rooney made the Final in 2012 and 2013. Brad Watson has seen eight Stanley Cup Finals but failed to make the cut in this, his 18th season. Watson had worked the previous three and eight of the past 11 Cup Finals. Montreal Canadiens’ forward Brandon Prust claimed Watson had made abusive comments earlier this postseason, but the league stood behind their official, who was then named to work the Conference Final. Unfortunately for Watson, he would go no further.
Linesmen Scott Cherrey, Michel Cormier, and Greg Devorski will miss the Cup Final, along with Brad Kovachik and Steve Miller. Kovachik was injured in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final, suffering a sprained MCL on a hit along the boards. Miller, the designated standby linesman, filled in admirably for a handful of games but has understandably not moved on.
Good luck to all officials working the 2015 Stanley Cup Final!

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An unjust law is no law at all--St. Augustine of Hippo

Cause tried and true
I see the light in you
Oh, can you dig in my soul?
Could you smell my whole...
life?--Gener and Deaner

What, no game-day posts in the proper thread, yet?


Anyway, Q says TVR will play at some point this series

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Not a mult.