Crushing defense? Check. Relentless offense? Check. Good, old fashioned, team work? Check. Yep, everything you could have asked for in a sporting competition was on display last night. That is, if you were watching the Blackhawks. LEN ZIEHM (Sun Times) talks about the best team in Chicago right now.
This latest Blackhawks victory—their seventh in a row—had most unlikely heroes.
Rookie goaltender Antti Niemi, who sat on the bench the previous six games, showed no signs of rust in getting his second shutout, and Bryan Bickell, knocked dizzy the night before at Edmonton, tapped in the game-winning goal in a 1-0 win against the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday night at General Motors Place.
The Hawks, for the second straight season, swept the three games in Canada to start their six-game ‘’circus trip.’’ Now it’s on to California for games with San Jose on Wednesday, Anaheim on Friday and Los Angeles on Saturday.
Niemi has watched top netminder Cristobal Huet build a six-game winning streak, but Niemi made 30 saves Sunday—and a shot by Alex Elder in the final minute caromed off the crossbar. Though his ice time has been limited, Niemi has a 4-1-1 record and the Hawks’ two shutouts. His first came in the second game, when the Hawks faced the Florida Panthers in his native Finland.
It is going to take a while for Chicago to get used to the fact that not only is there a hockey team in this town, but it is very freaking good. They are well coached, have a great mix of veterans and youth and give their all every night. Better yet? They are just going to keep getting better as they go along.
When they win, each and every member of the Hawks uses the word “we.” The same holds true on those rare occasions when they lose. This is a team that has bought into the whole program.
Compare and contrast the above with the Bears.
After watching the first half where the Bears took opportunity after opportunity and got down on their knees and blew it, I shut off the tube and made a sandwich. Then I ate the sandwich. This turn of events was far more interesting, and ultimately more satisfying, than watching the game.
There are some who claim that Ron Turner will be the “scapegoat” at the end of the season since his contract is up and the offense is putrid. However, for him to be the “scapegoat” it would imply that he is somehow blameless and just a victim of fate. That is not true. He is a very bad offensive coordinator and has been for decades.
Joke of the day? Why was Khalil Bell so good last night? Because he hasn’t had a chance to be coached by Ron Turner.
Another sign of a poorly coached team is penalties and the Bears grab them like they are free Skittles. DAN POMPEII (Tribune) blows the whistle on the lack of concentration.
The Bears continued their mistake-prone ways with seven penalties for 64 yards.
The play of the first half for the Bears’ offense was a 72-yard run by Kahlil Bell. The rookie running back was taking his first NFL handoff. He got a little lucky, as the Bears caught the Eagles in an all-out blitz. But Bell, who was brought up from the practice squad Friday, knew what to do with the daylight.
He brought it all the way to the Eagles’ 10, but the Bears still couldn’t get a touchdown out of the deal. They had a 1-yard completion, a Matt Forte run for minus-1 yard, and an incompletion before they settled for a 28-yard Gould field goal.
“If I had a little more speed, I might have been able to shake off that last guy,” Bell said.
Cutler was lucky his incompletion wasn’t an interception. It was yet another red-zone force, this one into double coverage to Olsen over the middle. Eagles corner Macho Harris got his hands on the ball.
The next time in the red zone, Cutler was smarter. He backpedaled away from pressure and threw the ball to a spot in the back of the end zone where no one could have caught it. Gould’s third field goal, a 28-yarder, pulled the Bears to within 10-9 with 13 seconds left in the first half.
The points were set up by a takeaway by Charles Tillman. He stripped DeSean Jackson of the ball and Anthony Adams recovered on the Bears’ 33. It was the Bears’ second takeaway of the game, as Zack Bowman also came up with an interception on the previous Philadelphia possession.
Tillman came up with another forced fumble in the fourth quarter, poking the ball out of the arms of McCoy. Al Afalava recovered, setting up the 48-yard Gould field-goal attempt that was blocked.
While they didn’t just hand the ball to the Eagles at any point they, nevertheless, did look capable of it. I haven’t see people this unfocused since I went to the after party for the Grateful Dead. I kept waiting for Cutler to talk about the “gnarly colors” or something in his post-game interview (such as it was).
Oh well, it’s all in the past now and we all know that only cowards live there.