I was totally stunned. Some tears may or may not have happened. The best part is I had just sent my oldest out of the room. That season the Hawks always seemed to score when she left the room.

She didn't believe when I told the Hawks had just won the Cup.
- Elbows15

The 'Hawks owe her a ring!!

Yes sir, I like tough hockey too, not Vandemeer tough with clowns only purpose to fight and "intimidate" opponents. I remember when you didn't need enforcers, the players were their own enforcers, including the stars. No one was tougher than Richard, Howe, Hull. The smaller players were extra tough, Mikita, Pocket Rocket, Bathgate. Yeah Hull had his shadows (Watson, Provost, etc.), but they were talented hockey players too. Even John Ferguson who was probably the "toughest" guy in the league at the time averaged about 18 goals a season when if you hit 20, was like hitting 30 home runs (other than the juiced players and juiced ball seasons).
- LAHawk

Eddie "the Entertainer" Shack
Kenny "the Rat" Linsemann"
"Dirty" Derek Sanderson
Johnny "Pie Face" McKenzie"

Me too, LA as for allowing the players to police the game. Hockey will always be a niche sport. Give the game back to the devotees. Not for stupid fighting, but for dictating the style of play by the players. Sometimes in hockey, as in life, a 3rd man needs to register his own viewpoint.

He still can't drink legally for 2 years. I wonder if Seabs let's him have a brew occasionally?
- boilermaker100

Dach is Canadian so those guys (Seabs) surely go by Canadian laws. Drinking age is 19. Dach going to be drinking tonight. Probably epic proportions considering the Hawks are off

Q interview in advance of tonight's game.

https://podcasts.apple.co...7EWIATZFltGKw86YkLxMZQNOM

AHA!!!! You old fart. I am wayyyyyy younger than you. My first memories are of the Hawks lose to the hated Habs on that lemaire goal (1970??..1971???) I woulda been 6 or 7. Don't remeber 1966 like you though, old man. I woulda been like, two!!!

- hawk35

Graduated from high school in 1971. Wept openly like a g'damned beaten dog for a week. And, we are resurrecting this again, WHY??? LOL.

Eddie "the Entertainer" Shack
Kenny "the Rat" Linsemann"
"Dirty" Derek Sanderson
Johnny "Pie Face" McKenzie"

Bob "Mad Dog" Kelly.....I remember my dad saying..."just don't check him, don't wake him up. If he is not involved he is nothing, get him going, he changes a game..."

And....man....those Flyers were T-O-U-G-H !!!!


Me too, LA as for allowing the players to police the game. Hockey will always be a niche sport. Give the game back to the devotees. Not for stupid fighting, but for dictating the style of play by the players. Sometimes in hockey, as in life, a 3rd man needs to register his own viewpoint.
- gabriel

I remember a game at the stadium when the ugly duckling Eddie Shack gave a dirty hit to our smallest player Angotie. I still remember our coach pointing the finger to Redgy Flemming to take care of long nose Schack. Flemming snuck behind Fleming and took a running start and Shack went flying and than needed help to get back to his bench. Hawks fans hated that bimbo.

Eddie "the Entertainer" Shack
Kenny "the Rat" Linsemann"
"Dirty" Derek Sanderson
Johnny "Pie Face" McKenzie"

Me too, LA as for allowing the players to police the game. Hockey will always be a niche sport. Give the game back to the devotees. Not for stupid fighting, but for dictating the style of play by the players. Sometimes in hockey, as in life, a 3rd man needs to register his own viewpoint.
- gabriel

Johnny Pie was about 5'6" at most.

All i know is since being paired with Murphy my swear count on Gus is non-existent.
- Elbows15

That sucks. Means you're due.

I remember a game at the stadium when the ugly duckling Eddie Shack gave a dirty hit to our smallest player Angotie. I still remember our coach pointing the finger to Redgy Flemming to take care of long nose Schack. Flemming snuck behind Fleming and took a running start and Shack went flying and than needed help to get back to his bench. Hawks fans hated that bimbo.
- spanky

He was a whack job for sure, but also the smartest illiterate guy you could ever meet.

He was a whack job for sure, but also the smartest illiterate guy you could ever meet.
- 6628

A total loon, but he too had hockey skills, could skate like the wind, shoot, just wasn't wired right. Played on the Toronto teams that won 3 cup in a row in the early 60's.

Here are a couple of animal stories from the old stadium in the early sixties. During one game some crazy fan decided to bring a small cage filled with about one hundred mice . I was sitting behind the guy when he threw the cage with the critters onto the ice from the third row and the game was delayed for over 10 minutes. Some of the players used their sticks in clubbing the critters.

The old stadium also famous for spotting big super rats running around in the hallways especially near spilled beer ( which was generally all over the joint). One game right after the ice was cleaned and the door still open thirst rat took center stage and the Keystone Cops with their poop shovels tumbled one after the other before the big critter was finally cornered.

Not sure what's going on, Gabe, but Gus seems better lately, too. Probably a mirage brought on by my terrible thirst.....

Edit - Elbows says it is because of Murphy. If so, Murphy must be good.
- mohel

Have your brown liquor poised and at the ready. Elbows may be onto something. Also seeing some nifty re-direction shifting that is throwing off incoming attackers. Where has this been hiding until recently? Vast improvement, I must confess.

He was a whack job for sure, but also the smartest illiterate guy you could ever meet.
- 6628

For a guy who never learned to read or write, Eddie the Entertainer knew how to market himself and sell tickets. In an era where average players were probably making $20-25K and superstars got $50K, Eddie made lots of dough around Toronto selling Christmas trees, promoted a company called The Pop Shoppe and even shaved off his mustache in a Schick commercial.

And he had enemies on just about every team in the league - John Ferguson, Reggie Fleming, Ted Lindsay, the Plager brothers, Jim Dorey. One of his better moments was when the Canadiens were after him and he punched out Henri Richard and then head butted him. And he also had a scary stick swinging brawl with Larry Zeidel.

But Eddie could also play a little bit - pover 1000 NHL games and he was on 4 Stanley Cup teams. He had almost 250 career goals.

Have your brown liquor poised and at the ready. Elbows may be onto something. Also seeing some nifty re-direction shifting that is throwing off incoming attackers. Where has this been hiding until recently? Vast improvement, I must confess.
- gabriel

The whole group seems to be playing as a unit far more often now. And the results show it. Fun to see, even without the brown (not that I'll test that theory).

Recall vividly having friends "that could get tickets" for Hawks games. No matter how hard they tried however, nothing was available when the Boston Bruins came into town. Later, the same applied to the Flyers. Gee, I wonder why that was?

Official:

Toews vs Keith fight started because Toews called Keith a Boomer.

Keith left the ice when Toews (who won the fight) said Vegan 1 Carnivores 0

For a guy who never learned to read or write, Eddie the Entertainer knew how to market himself and sell tickets. In an era where average players were probably making $20-25K and superstars got $50K, Eddie made lots of dough around Toronto selling Christmas trees, promoted a company called The Pop Shoppe and even shaved off his mustache in a Schick commercial.

And he had enemies on just about every team in the league - John Ferguson, Reggie Fleming, Ted Lindsay, the Plager brothers, Jim Dorey. One of his better moments was when the Canadiens were after him and he punched out Henri Richard and then head butted him. And he also had a scary stick swinging brawl with Larry Zeidel.

But Eddie could also play a little bit - pover 1000 NHL games and he was on 4 Stanley Cup teams. He had almost 250 career goals.
- RickJ

Thanks for sharing this, as I would have never known otherwise. Those guys were ornery on the ice, but they all probably respected each other. I think that most people who aren't insane, comprehend the idea that hockey is an emotional game. Fights go on in every kid's pond in Canada and the U.S. The combatants have their moment and move on.

I saw Fleming and Hull go at it at the Amphitheater. Afterwards, they were signing autographs a few feet from each other. Laughing and joking and harboring no I'll will. They were both athletes and entertainers who were "all in" in allowing the fans an enjoyable night. What I always appreciated from those men, was what they did and how they played, mirror-reflected the reality of the times in which they lived.

Official:

Toews vs Keith fight started because Toews called Keith a Boomer.

Keith left the ice when Toews (who won the fight) said Vegan 1 Carnivores 0
- gifman

Unofficial?

Official:

Toews vs Keith fight started because Toews called Keith a Boomer.

Keith left the ice when Toews (who won the fight) said Vegan 1 Carnivores 0
- gifman

I give up...…….what did he mean by Boomer?

So - which one voter kept Jeter from being the second player to be a unanimous vote into the HOF?

I expect a very entertaining game tonight between 2 teams that have been playing very well and scoring a lot of goals along the way. Should be fun!

The Hawks forward depth/firepower has been EMPHATICALLY boosted by the recent play of Kubalik and Caggiula, and the forming of the new top line with those 2 flanking a red-hot and rejuvinated Toews.

This productive and dangerous newly formed trio along with the return of Saad has sparked a chain reaction in depth across the lineup.

Saad can now play with Kane, giving 88 a legit winger on his opposite side to allow for a replacement-level yet gritty and effective 2C(like Carpenter or possibly Kampf, or maybe even Shaw when he returns). We've seen this team on several occasions in the past use guys like Shaw, Handzus, Bolland, Richards, etc to plug in at 2C with the overall lineup remaining effective.

The chain reaction continues then as this allows for DeBrincat, Dach, and Strome(hopefully returning to join this duo after the All Star break) to all form a "3rd" line. Even though they haven't been putting up the points quite yet, you know the ability is there and on paper this is among elite 3rd lines in the NHL.

4th line options are overwhelming. In a good way. Starting with Kampf/Carpenter(whoever isn't 2C), then add in a little speed/skill with Nylander(who has played infinitely better in this role than he has in the top 6), Zach Smith(subtly effective for us this season), and Highmore. Possibly Sikura as well.

If that top line continues to produce(which i believe it can), and that 3rd line eventually finds the back of the net and rewards themselves for their hard work then this forward depth has the potential to stack up against any of the elite teams and be extremely dangerous.

Then you must couple the improved forward firepower(and the always reliable and often elite goaltending) with several factors that have also improved the team defense:

Boqvist development.
Loss of Seabrook.
Koekkoek getting more minutes, instead of Gilbert, and finding a groove of steady improvement.
Murphy, Keith, and Maatta all finally healthy.
Maybe most importantly we've had quick and active sticks by the entire team, commitment to poke checking while being smart about it, noticeable effort in deflecting pucks and getting in passing lanes at at level that makes us look like a completely different team than last year.


I can't believe I'm saying this, especially after where we were 20 games ago....but this turnaround has given me new hope and changed my mind about our playoff chances. Lets hope this positive trend continues. Starting with tonight's showdown with Q!

I give up...…….what did he mean by Boomer?
- BobP.

It’s an insult young people make to alte-kachers like me....when we say something they don’t like.

Don't like the Bruins but hope they defeat Vegas tonight. Also want to see CAR beat WPG. Both in regulation of course.
- boilermaker100

Yep, Boiler, this is going to make for some strange rhetorical bedfellows. I don't care at all. We are going to need all the help we can get. (If, indeed, this is real).

Canes up on Jets 2-0 after just 5 minutes.

Go Canes!!!!