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"The rumors of my demise are greatly exaggerated."
— Mark Twain

Now it's my turn to say I told you so.

When the Hawks re-signed Ray Emery last Spring, it raised more than a few eyebrows. The conventional wisdom was, "yeah, he's a good guy, but he can't play anymore." As I have said many times before and since, and I said then: you can't count this guy out yet. He's a battler, and we didn't know then how much further he might be able to recapture his former physical ability. His experimental surgery to essentially reverse avascular necrosis was essentially uncharted territory from a medical perspective.

When Ray came out flat and rusty in his first start this season, even I thought and mentioned on the message board, he could finally be out of lives.

Nope.

What we saw last night wasn't just one of the better one-game goalie performances in a Hawk sweater over the last 20 years. We also saw that the Hawks' backup goalie situation is probably not the mess we were so quick to believe.

Wonky hip and all, Ray Emery is a warrior. And he can still play. He made 45 saves last night through OT, then stoned 3 Calgary shooters in the shootout. It really appears, even if his motion is somewhat limited relative to his former self, Ray has put together a repertoire of skills that can get him—and the Hawks— through a withering attack.

Hard to find many other heroes on a dog tired Hawk club that made a lot of mistakes due to fatigue. Patrick Kane committed an egregious giveaway late in the third that allowed the Flames to take what looked like a game-winning 2-1 lead. But then Kane redeemed himself with a nice setup to Marian Hossa, which Big Hoss buried for the tying goal with under 3 seconds left in regulation.

This has been a team that pulls out games like this one with a lot of drama, really since the 2009 playoffs. And they did it again. The Hawks—with one notable exception— didn't deserve to win this game. But Ray Emery deserved to win it more than anyone else on the ice.

And so he did.

You could tell it was going to be one of those goalie games, when after Emery shut Jarome Iginla down on a breakaway, all Iginla could do was give Ray a cold, incredulous glare. But then Emery repeatedly turned away quality chances from Iginla and Curtis Glencross especially, before getting beaten by Brent Seabrook's skate on the first Flame goal. I had to rub my tired eyes (gotta love West Coast roadies) to believe them. Seriously. This wasn't the same goalkeeper we saw a couple of weeks ago.

Amen and Hallelujah.

The Hawks pick up 3 points out of four in the opening of this latest road swing, and retain their primacy in the NHL points race. And the Hawk brass, coaches and fans can breathe even a bit more easier over their goaltending situation.

All Hail Razor.


I'll be back with a Sharks game preview and any significant news that might come up before then.



JJ

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