It’s been a little over two weeks since I’ve been up on press level, but I’m back once again!
As usual, I was in a scramble to get ready right after class. It didn’t help, this time that I had absolutely no idea what I was going to wear.
I’m normally pretty good with outfit planning, and even when I change my mind, I at least have some idea of what I might wear. This game was the exception, and I was a disaster. I had to do a breathing treatment right after class, due to the humidity and so I was a shaky mess.
Due to the craziness, I was subjected to a pretty simple outfit tonight. I did the usual black on black on black on black, but I added a vibrant floral printed blazer to liven it up and pull it all together.
One of my favorite things to do is add a statement piece to an outfit. For this look, the blazer is that staple. You have to be careful, especially with something so bold. Wearing all black with it is a safe bet, because you don’t want for it to be too busy.
Press Level Fashion Tip: I believe in situational dressing. I think that you should always be wearing what is appropriate for the circumstance. In this sort of situation, you need to dress professional, while still keeping warm. Men have it easy…they can just wear a suit and layer it on. When women professionally “layer” they end up looking like a marshmallow. Because of this, you should layer smartly. If you wear a dress or skirt, put some tights under, and maybe a blazer or jacket. Because you’re wearing tights, you shouldn’t wear peep toe heels (so not classy). Throw on some booties or taller boots. I personally don’t like the look of a pump with tights, but if you enjoy that feel free. If you wear pants, wear a pair of pumps to go with it. I strongly believe that a third piece such as a blazer or jacket is essential to any outfit (and that’s probably just because I work at J.Crew and they encourage it), so throw one on if you’re feeling it.
I pick up my local morning paper and I work my mind trying to do the crossword puzzle. Then I glance at the sports section. Most times it is not worth checking out. Lo and behold, today I see a column about the highest paid NHL stars.
Reading the column has made me think about the way we pay the people who entertain us. Lets face it, people who make us jump in our seats make an awesome amount of money. From the stars of Hollywood to the greens of the golf course to the fields of football and to finally the ice of hockey, they all make money.
Lets get real here for a minute or two. This chart I have is ranked by Forbes (who else?) and it is for the 2014-2015 season. The highest paid player based on this guide is Crosby, total earnings: $16.5M and the lowest is Kessel at $10.3M. This also includes all endorsements.
Wow! I thought there was a cap, over salaries! The amount is unsettling to me. Put it into the basic form, the players push each other over a small puck and try to guide the puck into the net via skates. Yes it is exciting to watch and I love the game but I find the value of pay for the players to be sickening.
There is so much un-justice in the world today, the public adds to it by paying high amounts for entertainment. That includes sports, movies and such. Could the players play for less? I believe they can and should. One other question keeps popping up- does the hockey player of today play for the love of the game or for the money? I believe it is hard to tell anymore, when a few years ago the players wanted more pay. Owners and players, two groups who wanted more.
I have a nephew who loves basketball. He bounces his ball all the time even in the house as my sister gets mad at him. I encourage him, why? His aunt needs a new pair of shoes! I have a great friend who lives far from me. Her boy plays hockey in a league. His team is very good and played in the play- offs last season. Once again I encourage him. Not just for his mom but for me. Call me sly if you need too. But I would like to retire soon!
After winning three straight games against the Bakersfield Condors, the Stockton Thunder could not contain the Condors offense in the last of the four game series, losing 5-2 in a pre-Thanksgiving tilt on home ice. There were some positives to the game; Forward Robert Lipsbergs netted his first professional goal and Tyler Maxwell continued his goal-scoring streak, adding number seven to his tally in a Thunder sweater. Unfortunately, Maxwell, who has contributed heavily to the offensive firepower on a line with Peter Sivak and Jack MacClellan, sustained a lower body injury during the game, making him unavailable for last Friday night’s matchup against the visiting Utah Grizzlies.
Head Coach Rich Kromm was thus forced to shuffle the lines and see if any magic could be created with some different pairings. Kromm paired Tyler Shattock and Peter Sivak on the wing with James Henry centering as they had some success earlier in the season. He put together newcomer Alexandre Mallet with JT Barnett and Jack MacClellan. The new lines produced goals and gave the Thunder an offensive edge to beat the Grizzlies 6-1.
“There was some chemistry there,” said Kromm about the new line pairings. “Sometimes you get lucky and it works out. ”
Sharp goaltending contributed to Stockton’s success. Netminder Philippe Trudeau, who had struggled in net for the Thunder, delivered a solid performance, making 35 saves out of the 36 shots he faced.
Goaltender Philippe Trudeau stops Jacob Johnson
“The boys did a good job giving me shots from the outside, so it made my game easier,” said Trudeau about the defense in front of him. “I’ve been practicing pretty hard, trying to get my game back on track, so I think that helped me.”
Head Coach Kromm was pleased with Trudeau’s effort between the pipes. “I thought Philippe was awesome in net for us…He was obviously frustrated in his game and frustrated with not getting a start in a while and I think he really wanted to come in and prove to everybody that he was up to the task, and he showed a lot of character.”
Odd man rushes were the secret ingredient for the Thunder on Friday night. Several 2-on-1 opportunities led directly to scoring chances with the puck in the back of the net in the end. The chemistry between Shattock, Sivak and Henry was evident earlier in the year when the trio were together, but this game showcased their skill as a unit. Sivak is known for his vision on the ice and finds the right places to be, whether it be to place the puck for a teammate or to collect a pass and bury it. He seems to make everyone on his line be a better player.
“We got a chance to play together up in Alaska,” said James Henry about on ice chemistry with Shattock and Sivak. “Those two are great players, they are easy to play with and offensively skilled. I’m just trying to help out on the line as much as possible, be good defensively, win some faceoffs and help out however I can.” Henry has been buzzing around the net as of late, placing himself right in the goaltender’s eyes. His net front presence and good passing from his linemates have netted goals and assists.
Tyler Shattock receives a pass from James Henry for the goal
Another new line experiment produced for the Thunder. Alexandre Mallet, JT Barnett and Jack MacClellan combined for three goals against the Utah Grizzlies. Mallet had just arrived from the AHL Bridgeport Sound Tigers and collected 3 points in his debut. He is a big body and is quick with the puck and matches up well with Barnett’s speed and finesse in the offensive zone. MacClellan finds the right spot and drives the net. Barnett has yet to score, but it seems only a matter of time, particularly if the trio remains intact into the weekend matchup with the Alaska Aces.
The Thunder meet the Aces yet again for a three-in-three series on home ice and celebrate “Ten Years of Fantastic Fun” with festivities planned on Friday night. Alaska has been steadily improving their play after a rough start to their season much like Stockton. The Thunder were swept in a three game series up in Anchorage in early November. Both teams sit at just 16 points with the Aces sitting in 6th place in the Pacific and the Thunder in 7th. Stockton would be happy to grab all six points in the weekend games and leapfrog over Alaska, but getting 4 out of 6 points may be more realistic. The Aces have some serious firepower in Olivier Archambault, who just received the ECHL Rookie of the Month Award and gave the Thunder some trouble in front of the net the last time the two teams met.
The Stockton Thunder may be able to feature three goaltenders between the pipes as Kent Simpson, who had an impressive debut with the Thunder against the Bakersfield Condors and then was recalled to Bridgeport, has been returned. The three games series begins Thursday night, with the middle frame on Friday and the final matchup on Saturday.
Anyone who pays attention to the NHL knows that the Buffalo Sabres are not having the best of seasons. They lost their first three games of the season and went a horrible 2-8-1 in the first month. On the other hand the Tampa Bay Lightning went 7-4 in their first month and find themselves sitting atop the league standings with an overall record of 17-6-3. However, they are only 1 point above three other teams so this one loss can mean going from first place in the standings to fourth or worse. Luckily, Tampa was able to take Buffalo to a shoot out and at least keep one point instead of directly giving up 2.
Buffalo has been on a roll gaining at least one point in 6 of their last 7 games, including a weekend sweep of conference rivals the Montreal Canadiens, whom are only 1 point behind Tampa in the standings. “Obviously the confidence is a little bit higher now,” Jhonas Enroth said. “We’ve beaten a couple of great teams here the last couple of games so we know we can beat every team in the league, especially beating Montreal back to back there. We’re just going to try and build on that momentum and stay positive and take it day by day.” Enroth has been solid in net for Buffalo as of late and he is key for the team in the shootouts, stopping 14 of 15 shooters. He used to watch Ryan Miller practice shootouts day after day at and has been doing the same thing this season. “He stayed after practice and practiced shootouts,” said Enroth. “That’s what I’ve been doing the last couple months here and it’s paid off.”
This was the first contest between these two teams this year and it was a pretty quiet one. There were only four penalties all game, two for each side, and the scoring didn’t take place until the third period. Tampa would get on the board first with nine minutes gone in the third with Ondrej Palat, scoring his 7th of the season. It was a nice play that started in the Tampa zone and was just passed to each player on the team and down the ice and into the Buffalo net. Buffalo didn’t get discouraged though and 6 minutes later, Zemgus Girgensons scored his 8th of the season to tie the game at 1. Tyler Myers was able to take a quick shot from the blue line and with the goalie falling, Girgensons snatched up the rebound and found the back of the net. Tampa almost won the game with about 5 seconds left as Steven Stamkos put a shot right off the post and Enroth had to make a quick reaction to ensure that the puck stayed out of the net. Enroth stayed strong in net through the overtime period as well as the shootout stopping both Palat and Ryan Callahan’s attempts. Buffalo’s Cody Hodgson and Tyler Ennis both scored in the shootout to secure the win for Buffalo.
While Tampa continues to lead the league in the standings Buffalo has been able to jump to 26th after their recent success. Buffalo travels down to Florida on Thursday to finish the home and home series against Tampa. Several of Buffalo’s players will have their parents on this trip to Florida for the annual “Parents Trip.” For several years, members of the team have been bringing parents on one road trip a year that allows them to get a better sense of what it’s like for their children to play professional hockey on the road. “Growing up with the support we had from our parents and family members, you kind of get to pay them back in some sort of way here by showing them what we do for a living,” said Drew Stafford.
On a side note, Buffalo’s Girgensons is currently occupying the top spot in the fan voting for this year’s All Star Game. He currently has 399,356 votes, enough to hold first place over players like P.K. Subban, Patrick Kane, Sidney Crosby, and Carey Price. A lot of credit is going to Girgensons hometown country of Lativa with all the votes the fans there are giving the young star. By some comments read on NHL.com, many people are unhappy with Girgensons being on top as of right now, but as a Sabres fan, I really do hope he gets a shot to show the rest of the hockey world the type of talent he has. Voting continues until January 1, with the game taking place in Columbus on January 24 and 25.
Shannon Szabados has made a lot of headlines this year, and it doesn’t look like she has any plans to stop. The Olympic goaltender has been named the Easton player of the Week for November 24-30, the first woman to do so. Szabados has gone 2-0-0 with a 1.49 GAA and a .963 SV% this season with the Columbus Cottonmouths of the SPHL, her first full season with the team.
She also earned her first assist, on the game-winning overtime goal against the Fayeteville FireAntz. (That game was officiated by the league’s first two female referees for Girl Scout Night). Her impressive showing this season has earned the two-time gold medalist praise both within the league and outside it for her role as a trailblazer and role model for young athletes. As WLTZ.com put it:
She does know it’ll always be an important part of who she is– becoming a female in the public eye who continues to make a splash in the male-dominated sport. But Shannon is more than just an athlete, she’s become a role model for young girls everywhere. Something she wasn’t comfortable with at first, but has since become used to it.
“Yea know it’s fun. It’s fun to see those little girls in their jerseys and to hear their stories and to share my stories as well,” said Szabados.
Her first win with the Cottonmouths in November was also the team’s first win of the season, snapping an eight-game skid and starting them on a six-game winning streak. She beat out five other athletes for the honor: Derek Elliott of Fayetteville, Nick Lazorko of Huntsville, Ryan Salvis of Knoxville, Adam Pawlick of Pensacola, and Kyle Rank of Peoria.
The return of Scott Gomez to the New Jersey lineup was not an overly welcome thought for Devils fans. Yes, he left the Devils for the Rangers and has been a below average NHLer ever since (read: karma). But more importantly, it signaled a low point for a team dealing with 4 straight losses, injuries, poor play and requiring inspiration from a thirty-four year old who had scored 13 goals in his last 4 NHL seasons combined. The only reason to be excited by Gomez’s inclusion in the lineup was the guarantee that many references would be made to the Devils’ Cup winning teams of 2000 and 2003.
However, fans were instead treated to perhaps the team’s best effort of the season – a very 2000/2003 effort – allowing 1 goal on 23 shots, albeit in a loss. Even after losing three forwards to injury between the first two periods, the Devils put together a complete game and with a little puck luck, could have easily left Pittsburgh with at least a point. The most optimistic stat to take from the game is that for only the third time this season, they allowed fewer than 25 shots against. A much more Devils-like number than the 30+ they have been averaging.
Another bright spot for the Devils was the continued strong play by Jacob Josefson. While he still hasn’t reached the expectations of a first round draft pick, Josefson is finally contributing on a consistent basis. He tied for the team lead in shots with 3, and also played significantly on the penalty kill, which shut out Pittsburgh’s top ranked unit. He’s been strong on the puck and his speed is a much needed asset in an ever aging and slower moving forward corps. As long as he stays healthy, which has always been a big question mark, he has the potential to make his mark on the team. With the injuries at center, he could have the opportunity to play on a top-two line providing even more of an opportunity for growth.
The effort was certainly reminiscent of teams only expected to be seen in Gomez highlight packages tonight. The game featured a playoff like atmosphere with big hits and hustle plays outshining the razzle dazzle hockey that the Penguins are used to. A pesky Devils forecheck created numerous turnovers and strong play in the neutral zone kept the Penguins at bay for most of the game. Adam Larsson and Marek Zidlicky were strong defensively – the latter getting into the head of Evgeni Malkin enough to earn him a 10 minute misconduct to end the Russian wingers night. Assuming none of the aforementioned injured players are out long term, joining a list that includes Travis Zajac, Marty Havlat, Ryane Clowe and Jon Merrill, the Devils have to be excited about the effort they proved they are capable of. As they get their offensive fire power (relatively speaking) back, there is reason for optimism that this team can start winning games. And if they have any hope of re-creating the success during Gomez’s previous tenure, they need to start winning games fast.
With offseason hirings of people like Cam Charron and Tyler Dellow, hockey is being dragged into advanced stats, in some cases, kicking and screaming. For better or worse, the “moneyball” era is here to stay, so I put together this hopefully easy to understand guide of the more common terms in the world of advanced stats, to prove that Corsi is nowhere near as scary as it looks.
Corsi/Fenwick
Corsi is probably the easiest “fancy stat” to get to grips with. Corsi is basically the number of shot attempts a player takes during a game. A Corsi event is a shot on goal, a shot that is blocked by a player, or a shot that misses the net. For example, last season, Jonathan Toews had 141 shots on goal in even strength play (5v5), and an individual Corsi of 206. Fenwick works exactly the same as Corsi, but doesn’t take blocked shots into account. Fenwick basically measures everything the goalie has to tense up for.
Then there’s Corsi for and Corsi against, which are the number of Corsi events taken while that player is on the ice both for his team and against it. (Toews had a Corsi for of 1238 last season, and a Corsi against of 851.) This number can then be turned into Corsi %. A Corsi % above 50% means that more shots attempts are taken while this player is on the ice for his team than are taken against his team. For example, Jonathan Toews’ Corsi % for last season was 59.26%. That means that he was on the ice for 9.26% more shots attempts for than against.
Corsi relative % is slightly more complicated. Corsi relative % takes the average team Corsi%, and works out how many more or less shots are taken when that player is on the ice, relative to the rest of the team. Last season, Jonathan Toews had a Corsi relative % of 5.5%. That means that he was on the ice for 5.5% more shot attempts for than the team average (55.28%).
Corsi and Fenwick are used to gauge possession numbers. Because it’s so hard to track possession in hockey the same way we would in soccer/football, for example, Corsi and Fenwick assume that teams who have possession for the majority of the game will be shooting the puck for the majority of the game, and therefore will be the better team. Last season, the top five teams for Corsi were LA, Chicago, New Jersey, Boston, and San Jose. Four of these five teams made the playoffs, two of them made it to the Conference finals, and one (Boston) won the President’s trophy. However, conversely, you have teams like Colorado, who finished in second place in the Western Conference and third in the entire NHL, and they had a Corsi of 47%, good for 26th in the league, just ahead of Montreal (another Conference final team).
Corsi teammate % is a very similar stat to Quality of Competition, which I’m not going to talk about here if only because Corsi teammate % is much more relevant (and easier to understand). Corsi teammate % measures how much higher the Corsi is of the players someone is on the ice for than the team average. For example, last season, Toews had a Corsi teammate % of 56.1%. This means that he played with players that had on average a Corsi 6.1% better than the average team Corsi. Andrew Shaw, who spent a lot of last season bouncing from line to line, had a Corsi teammate % of 56.6%, and Marcus Kruger, a season long fourth liner for the Blackhawks, had a Corsi teammate % of 48.8%, so he played with players who had on average a Corsi 1.2% worse than the team average. This is likely due to Brandon Bollig‘s less than stellar possession numbers last season, as the Blackhawks are collectively generally a very good possession team.
PDO
PDO is a weird stat. In layman’s terms, it basically calculates how lucky or unlucky a team is. PDO is a number that generally hovers above or below 100, and it’s a team’s shooting percentage plus that team’s save percentage (for example, last season, the Chicago Blackhawks had a shooting percentage of 8.4%, and a save percentage of 91.47. This gave them a PDO of 99.87. This is about average. In 2013, the year they won the Cup, they had a PDO of 102.03. This meant that they had both absurdly high shooting and save percentages, which is a huge reason for their success. Generally though, this number would be unsustainable, but it’s a good way of tracking how teams are playing, and whether they’re going on a hot streak or going through a slump. Teams will not generally have a PDO of higher than 101 or lower than 99 for longer than a season unless they’re an unusually good team (Chicago, LA) or an unusually bad team (Buffalo, Edmonton).
On Ice Shooting Percentage
On ice shooting percentage is a way of calculating what kind of effect a player has on a team’s performance. On ice shooting % is what percentage of shots are scored on while that player is on the ice. It’s kind of like plus/minus
Last season, Toews had an on ice shooting percentage of 9.17%. This means he was on the ice for 9.71% of the 182 goals Chicago scored that season. When you compare this to Michal Rozsival, who has a slightly higher average TOI, but only has an on ice shooting % of 8.1%, you can see that of the two skaters, you want to get Toews out on the ice much more often than Rozsival, because more goals happen while he’s on the ice than while Rozsival is. A lot of this can come down to who regularly shares the ice with a player. Toews’ regular linemates, Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa, are both excellent players in their own right, so he’s going to be on the ice for a lot of those goals, as well as goals by defencemen (Chicago’s best defencemen are Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook, both excellent offensively as well as defensively).
Offensive/Defensive Zone Starts
Another factor in scoring is where the faceoff is taken when a player is on the ice. Obviously, it’s easier to score if you have a faceoff in your offensive zone. Equally, it’s harder to score if the faceoff is in your defensive zone. Looking at zone start time should be a really easy indicator of what a player’s main role is. If your player is relied on for scoring (for example, the Sharp-Toews-Hossa line in Chicago, or any time Patrick Kane is on the ice) then chances are they will get most of their faceoffs in the offensive zone. If a player is relied on for possession, then they will get the majority of their faceoffs in the defensive zone (for example, last season’s fourth line of Bollig-Kruger-Smith). A line like this season’s Bickell-Shaw-Carcillo line, which is relied on for checking, will likely get many of it’s starts in the neutral zone.
Last season, Jonathan Toews had 63.62% of his zone starts in the offensive zone. Patrick Kane had 69.61% of his starts in the offensive zone. This is because Toews is a much more reliable two way player, with a higher defensive responsibility, and can be trusted at both ends of the ice. Kane is much more of a purely offensive player, and as such takes very few shifts in the defensive zone, outside of icings. Ben Smith has only 26.16% of his starts in the offensive zone, this is because he is almost exclusively a possession player (shown by the amount of time he is given on the penalty kill) and is rarely relied on to score.
These certainly aren’t all the possible stats out there, they’re just a few of the easier to understand and more relevant ones. war-on-ice.com is an excellent website, with up to date stats for games as they happen, with a ton of easy to understand graphs and charts to help you get to grips with advanced stats.
The team features players from 10 different states, and nine players from last year’s squad who helped lead the team to a silver medal. Minnesota has the most representation on the team, followed by Massachusetts with four and Illinois with three.
Burt, a goaltender, is currently on Boston College‘s NCAA Div. I women’s hockey team.
A number of players on the team have northeast ties, with Cayla Barnes, of Corona, Calif., playing for the East Coast Wizards, and goaltender Brittany Bugalski, of Lake Worth, Fla., playing for Assabet Valley (Mass.).
Bugalski joins Assabet Valley teammates Gilmore and Caitrin Lonergan (Roslindale, Mass.) on the roster.
A number of Shattuck St. Mary’s players were also nabbed for the squad: Alexis Mauermann (younger sister of Ross Mauermann, who plays for Providence College), Samoskevich, Alex Woken, and Patricia Marshall.
The team’s head coach is Joel Johnson, head coach of the University of Minnesota women’s ice hockey team. He is assisted by Katie Lachapelle (Winthrop, Mass.), an assistant women’s ice hockey coach at Boston University, Brent Hill, an assistant women’s ice hockey coach at Merrimack College, and Lucy Schoedel, an assistant ice hockey coach at Buffalo State. The team will begin practicing Dec. 30.
All games will be streamed live on usahockey.fasthockey.com. The first preliminary game will be a match-up against Canada on Jan. 5 at 7 p.m. A full schedule is available here.
The Chicago Blackhawks had a 4-1 victory against the Los Angeles Kings at the Staples Center Saturday night in the final act of their annual “Circus” road trip, where they finished with a 5-1-0 record.
They outscored opponents 23-12 on the trip, which included six road games in nine days–starting with the Calgary Flames Nov. 20 and closing in Los Angeles the 29th.
The second line, which includes the up-until-now so-so Brad Richards and Kris Versteeg as well as Patrick Kane, became a force to be reckoned with on tour.
“They were all really tough opponents and we ended up finding the way we wanted to play for all 60 minutes a lot of the trip,” Versteeg told the Chicago Tribune. “You have to try to prove it every day. It’s not about just going and showing in a two- or three-game span, it’s about trying to do it every day. That’s what the best teams do, they do it all season long.”
Versteeg had two goals and five assists and Richards tallied three goals and one assist, including the game-winner against L.A.–showing strength in this line and a couple of players getting their groove back. Kane had three goals and four assists in the five games.
A Crowning Victory
The grand finale of the road adventure seemed a bit like a circus. There was quite a bit of action and pageantry.
“I don’t want to say a lot,” Richards told Comcast Sportsnet after the L.A. win. “I don’t like talking about those things. When you do, weird things happen.”
Chicago outshot L.A. 25-20 and blocked 13 shots to the Kings’ seven.
The Kings outhit the Blackhawks 34-14. Carcillo took exception to one of those hits, a high elbow from Brayden McNabb. He responded with some hits of his own.
So, with a wave, the Blackhawks closed their trip.
“It’s great for the confidence. I think we’d been, maybe not questioning ourselves, but we were struggling at the start and it made us think,” Niklas Hjalmarsson told the Tribune. “Now, a lot of players are starting to play really good hockey. We just have to keep bringing the confidence.”
Hawks Fly Past Ducks
Just one day before hitting Los Angeles, Chicago was able to battle a powerful Anaheim Ducks squad and the talented Frederik Andersen in net for another 4-1 victory.
Chicago had five power play opportunities to Anaheim’s two, but neither team was able to capitalize on the advantage. Instead, it was domination with the puck that allowed the Hawks to soar. They outshot the Ducks 38-24 in the game.
On Nov. 26, Chicago edged the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 despite leading in shots 45-29. Penalties proved costly for the Avs, though, as the Blackhawks were 2/6 on the power play while Colorado was 0/2.
The first period was scoreless. Colorado tallied the first goal in the second.
The Blackhawks managed a disappointing 25 shots to Vancouver’s 30.
A Slick Win Against the Oilers
Two goals in seven power plays helped the Blackhawks with their 7-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers Nov. 23. The Hawks outshot their opponents 30-25 for the win.
Kane scored the game-winner, giving the Blackhawks an optimistic start with their first road game when they took on the Calgary Flames Nov. 20. Despite being outshot 27-22 and giving up six power plays, Chicago pulled out a win.
“We enjoy this trip and enjoy being together,” Kane said. “I think it’s nice coming to Western Canada. We enjoy playing hockey in this environment, where hockey’s like god’s country here. It’s important to start that way. I think we enjoy it. I think for these ‘Circus Trips’ especially you want to take it a game at a time and not worry about what the overall record is going to be at the start. Just take it game by game.”
Game-by-game, the Hawks finished their tour on top and are back home now.
While Patrick Sharp has started skating again, he is still out with an injury suffered Nov. 4.
Crawford injured his foot on stairs at a concert and is expected to be out for 2-3 weeks. Scott Darling has been called up from Rockford and Antti Raanta will be in net Wednesday.
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