Hawks vs. Hacks Post Game 3 Musings

I must chime in on this series so far because it's been surprisingly good thus far. A little excitement and controversy and up and down play abound.

Game One:

I didn't get to watch all of this game but my impressions were simply this: Gary Bettman loved this game. All offense and no defense. Bettman's flawed philosophy is that there is no such thing as an exciting 1-0 game but there's no stop to excitement if the teams score 2 touchdowns and a field goal between the two teams. Well, they provided in this one.

The Hawks prevailed but I thought barely. Hold onto that statement.

Game Two:

This game was much tighter defensively and a lot better called... if you are a Flyers fan. The Flyers got away with a lot more than the Hawks did, and yet the Hawks still prevailed.

NHL On the Fly gave the star of the game to Antti Niemi but I disagree completely. I think I'd go with Eager. Yeah, he has his hack side of things, but he scored the game winner. Why I didn't pick Niemi for this? Because though he made the saves he had to make, the Team D in front of him took away most of it. The Hawks held a clinic on blocking shots that night.

The Hawks prevailed but I thought barely. Catch the theme?

On to Game 3 and Philadelphia.

First off, the "Orange out" or whatever was a great touch. I thought the Flyer fans were really into the game. That's about as positive I can put the Flyer fanbase. After all, they are the fans that had one among them that damaged a journalist's car...FOR NO REASON AT ALL OTHER THAN HE DID NOT COVER THE FLYERS. Unfortunately, the journalist had too much FRENCH in his Canadian blood and decided not to press charges. I wonder if that yellow streak on the North bound interstate out of Philly was from that guy?

Anyways, it was an up and down game where defense took a dump on both sides of the rink.... around the time the other team scores. Philly scores, then Philly D takes a dump and the Hawks score. Then vice versa. Even Brent "Holy Crap I scored?!?" Sopel scored.

The Flyers prevailed this time. Again, though, barely. The theme continues.

Controversy

The big controversy is the play of Chris Pronger and the seemingly lack of cohones for the officials to call penalties on the Flyers.

I'm not sure. The Flyers definitely have gotten away with their share. Like the video stated earlier.... isn't when a player goes for the body check on a player who is not in the act of playing the puck called interference? Anyways...

People are calling Pronger a hack, but I'm not so sure. I don't like Pronger. I think he has a tendency to make cheap-ish hits and test the boundaries of good taste (see the puck incident as an example) but I'm not convinced he's a worthless hack. Here's a few reasons why:

1. Without the cheap stuff, he's a competent defenseman. Unlike other hacks in this category, without the physical cheap crap, Pronger actually can play and contribute otherwise. Carcillo, Cooke, etc. can't.

2. He doesn't go out there to try to injur...I mean "make his presence known." Carcillo and Cooke do that.

3. He doesn't have a rule named after him...at least not yet. Ask Matt Cooke or Sean Avery about this one.

4. He doesn't really dive.

Anyways, where does this series go?

Well, I figured the Flyers would win at least one home game and that happened tonight. The question is: Can the Hawks win in Philly?

They were never out of this game so I think they can, but will they is entirely a different story. Neither team has been all that dominant this series and I don't see that changing.

I predicted that the Hawks will win in 6 games but if Philly wins Game 4, then it could go seven. The key is obviously Philadelphia. I feel like John Madden when I say this but... if the Hawks can't win at least one in Philly, they'll be in deep trouble.

As a side note and Red Wings fan: I can't imagine Stevie Y on the podium at the NHL draft... FOR TAMPA BAY. Congrats to him for sure, but... it feels weird.