Hey, no one's ever gone wrong with the classics.

Well, rematch of last year's Final today as the Hawks bust up the Rangers/Flyers/Penguins/Bruins hegemony of the NHL on NBC, which means a pre-noon start in Central Time. This year's model of the Bruins is pretty close to this year's Hawks, being in that same tier of very good teams that still can't compare with what St. Louis and Anaheim are doing. Fortunately, the East sucks, so merely being very good means the Bruins have a pretty damn clear path back to the Final.

Whereas the salary cap cost us our guys, Boston lost a few pieces in unrestricted free agency. Jaromir Jagr signed with the Devils so they added Jarome Iginla. Andrew Ference went home to Edmonton and (curiously) be their captain; they replaced him with any number of young defensemen in their system, but mostly Torey Krug and Dougie Hamilton, I think. And Nathan Horton left the pressure of Boston's first line for the low expectations of the Columbus Blue Jackets. We're catching the B's in an injury stretch here, with Zdeno Chara's sidekick Dennis Seidenberg out for the year with an exploded knee, #3 center Chris Kelly out with a lower-body injury, and Hamilton concussed.

Sounds like Versteeg is going to play despite the friendly fire from Bickell. I guess it'll be Brookbank if he doesn't, since I didn't see anything about callups this morning.

It was a rough day at the office for the NHL yesterday. First, you had the Kings-Wings game, where a puck bounced off the netting out of play, came down, and bounced off the back of Quick's head into the back of the net for an incorrect and unreviewable game-tying goal. (Detroit won in the shootout.) Then you had the utter shitshow in GUESS WHERE Vancouver, where Calgary started their fourth line and made Tortorella flip out and start HIS fourth AND send them out to start the game with a big line brawl. 204 penalty minutes, most of them coming at zero minutes and two seconds. So let's have the Hawks restore some pride in the league with a hard-fought, clean win today.

Bruins: 30-15-2 (62), 29-15-3 adjusted (61), 60.952 expected
Hawks: 31-8-11 (73), 27-13-10 adjusted (64), 65.864 expected

Bruins: 2.872 scored (7th), 2.170 allowed (2nd), 0.702 differential (5th)
Hawks: 3.540 scored (1st), 2.620 allowed (15th), 0.920 differential (3rd)

Bruins: 25/129 19.4 on the power play (11th), 130/157 82.8% on the kill (12th)
Hawks: 37/163 22.7% on the power play (4th), 112/146 77.1% on the kill (29th)

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Who is the best team in the NHL right now?

Anaheim leads the league with 35 regulation/overtime wins. St. Louis leads in scoring differential with just a hair over 1.2 per game (Anaheim is at 1 on the nose). One of those two, take your pick. They're both head and shoulders above Chicago, Pittsburgh, Boston, or San Jose.

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I was thinking San Jose from some commentary I've heard

Thanks

They're good, but they got fat on extra points like the Blackhawks have. I'd say they're about on par with Colorado: great scoring, great goaltending, questionable defense, guilty until proven innocent as far as the playoffs go.

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The team that currently has the Cup and dominated the team with the best record on Friday night (for about 55 of the 60 minutes anyway).

Don't listen to the doomsday fans.

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Just looking at the numbers. :/

For whatever it's worth, the Hawks can absolutely finish out strong and be the best team in the league come playoff time (and beyond!), but to say they're the best team to this point would be dishonest.

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With last year being the exception, the "best " team rarely wins the Cup anymore anyway so Ill be content with 2nd or 3rd best going into the playoffs.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

But you know, I heard Zawaski say this and I have to agree, I just can't see a team that is going to beat the Hawks four times in seven games.

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Freedom is our Strength.

A month ago we were atop the league so who knows. I think Crawford finally back in the swing of things after injury. Plus with the Olympics who knows what happens? I will not really feel good about standings or ranking them until a couple weeks before playoffs.

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Elections have consequences.

Thats been my contention all year long, without the lisp.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

Zawaski is a pud, but this is the truth. If the Hawks stay healthy, not sure who is gonna beat them.

Throw the records out - in any sport, the team with the best record is rarely the "best team". I'm not sure I met a person all season long that thought the Chiefs were the best team in the NFL. They had the best record for the first 10 games though.

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I tend to feel that way myself in the long run, but I'd like to see the Hawks beat St. Louis one time before I can say we'll beat them four times. Is that fair? I mean, they've struggled with the Blues this year and until Friday night had lost at least four in a row to the Ducks going back to 2012. If we throw the records out completely, what are we basing anything on, y'know?

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Speculation and wannabe expertise?

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

Playoff experience counts too. The time of year when people lose their heads over the increased physicality, goalies wilt under pressure, and everybody's sphincter tightens.

I'm not exactly trembling when I look at St. Louis' playoff history.

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Is anybody throwing records out completely?

Anaheim is better than Buffalo. Look at their records. There I said it.

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Going back to the preview, Tortorella is a fucking douche. What , a team can't have their 4th line start a game without you taking that as a personal affront and turn it into a brawl? He should be suspended for that shit. Its hard to outdouche Vigneault but he sure did it. Im gonna have to look at The Vancouver Sun comments section for a good laugh on how they are going to defend that move.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

I get that, and the Blues still have to prove themselves in the playoffs, but man, you say "when goalies wilt under pressure" and I can't stop seeing Crawford giving up back-to-back pillow-soft winners to Mikkel fucking Boedker.

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I felt the same way in 83 when the White Sox couldn't hit Michael fucking Boddicker.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

He did the exact same thing in a game against Jersey. DeBoer started the game with his fourth line and Tortorella took it as a huge threat instead of just, you know, putting a shutdown line against a scoring line and hoping you win that matchup. He upped his game this time, though, by going to the Flames' dressing room, presumably to fight their coach. Calgary's players had to restrain Torts and Clint Malarchuk, who I guess must be the Flames' goaltending coach and has dealt with some dead-serious shit in his career and thus has no time for the silly-bitch antics of the Cannots.

How many times has Babcock put a fourth line against a first line? How many times has the opposing coach called for a brawl? I don't know, because the Wings didn't have to play against Tortorella's dumb ass very much.

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1. I hate Vancouver like every good, red-blooded Hawks fan should.

2. Torts is gonna be suspended, but it's gonna be for charging the Calgary dressing room like a lunatic.

3. Until he did that, Torts was 100% in the clear in that situation, IMO. Calgary submits their lineup first and Vancouver responded the way they had to with their lineup - but more importantly, at the opening faceoff, the Flames were clearly looking for a line brawl and they got it. The Calgary centerman dropped his gloves before the puck even hot the ice. Absolute minor league move by the Flames.

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If he had put the Sedins out against Westgarth and McGrattan, there wouldn't have been a fight because the Sedins don't fight. If they had tried anyway, it would have been game misconducts for every Flame who dropped the gloves. No excuse for Tortorella.

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Watch Westgarth from Calgary take this faceoff - and tell me how this is Tortorella's fault. Keep in mid that Calgary puts their lineup inn first.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vlel1VPZ4zA

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Bad hockey thoughts.
One Sedin has a broken jaw - and again - Calgary submitted their lineup first. True the Sedin's don't fight - what do you think the 3 guys that Calgary out there do? They fight. How is that Totorella's fault again?

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So you think if Torts puts out his Number 1 line against them, that fight still happens?

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

Yeah, jump a star player who turtles (and we know they will) and you're looking at a 2-5-10, ejection, and a suspension, and you don't even take opposing players out with you.

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And more than likely lose the game right there, 2 seconds into it.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

Very entertaining start, I love it.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

There's your obligatory terrible goal against on Crawford.

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Late-period goals by the opposition just fucking suck . Crawford looked out of position on that one, giving up too much space over his right shoulder.

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Not a mult.