On my travels it has been the people & fans you meet at the games that make the trip as memorable as it is. This game provided me with the chance to meet some great people, starting at the light rail [CTA] station I got off at to head to the arena. Now, I had a good idea of the United Center's location from where I was but to be sure, I spotted a young couple ahead of me, both wearing hawks gear, who I decided to follow, as they were clearly going to the game like myself, but obviously knew the easiest way of reaching the arena. After a while I noticed we were going in the wrong direction and almost simultaneously the couple ahead also stopped looking completely lost. We all sort of looked at each other in the hope one of us knew where we were meant to be heading. As it turned out they were a very cute young couple from Cincinnati called Chad & Nicole. Chad was able to get a map on his phone and we headed the right way. Isn't it ironic that three people are all decked out in Blackhawks clothing and not one of us was a local Chicagoan but instead turn out to be a couple from Ohio and a Hockey Nerd from England. This was Chad & Nicole's first NHL game so they were very excited about it. This might have been my 16th game but I was equally excited. We eventually made it to the arena and found our respective entrance doors.
Once inside the Arena, you realised why this was the largest indoor sports arena in North America. The place had every type of fast food available and several bars. I stopped at one such bar to talk to a Hawks fan wearing full Native American headgear, called Jim or 'Chief'. Jim was joined by his wife, Sandie [Squaw]. We talked about hockey for around an hour, I explained how my local team [The Whitley Warriors] had a similar logo to that of the Hawks. Although the ENL is a million miles away from the NHL. Jim spoke passionately of his favourite team, The 1992 Hawks that lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup finals, and how Jeremy Roenick was one of his favourite players. There was also a mention of the dark days of 'Old Man Wirtz' before the team became good again. Whilst stood with Jim and Sandie a family from Latvia walked past and wanted a photo. I was even able to converse with them a little in Russian!
Having taken up my seat for the game I was sat with a couple from Melbourne called Cady and Steven. Both were travelling the States watching the NBA [something similar to what I was doing] and as there was Hockey on, thought they would check it out. Neither had much knowledge about the sport so I was doing my best to educate Cady as the game went on, with Steven getting taught Hockey 101 by a real Hawks fan next to him. I think both enjoyed it and would be returning to the arena the following night like myself to watch the Bulls play the Knicks. It was funny, if you didn't know who you were talking to, you could imagine Cady was Kylie Minogue given her accent.
Even after the game I was continuing to meet fellow hockey fans. Once again I got lost making my way back to the CTA station. Given it was now pitch black and I'd exited the arena from the opposite side I couldn't get my bearings. I stopped to ask another couple for directions. They were Jonas and Christine from Hamburg, Germany. They were at the game as Jonas had a business meeting in town the day before and were returning home in the morning after a week of sightseeing. Again they were a great couple and as we rode the CTA back to Downtown we marvelled at how there were street dancers performing on the platform as we waited for our train to arrive. Something we are not used to living in Northern England or Northern Germany.
Finally at the end of the evening a local Hawks fan, Rob, who was on a CTA platform with friends spotted my jersey and stopped to ask me about the game. We ended up talking about all things hockey. The arrival of Scott Darling as a serious goaltender, Viktor Tikhonov's Soviet Army Red Machine Team and also how Scott Hartnell as an uncanny resemblance to Will Ferrell's 'More Cow Bell' character from Saturday Night Live.
If any of Chad, Nicole, Jim, Sandie or Rob are reading please get in touch via heshootshescores91
It was a rousing beginning to the game with the singing of the Star Spangled Banner, where the 22,187 fans joined in, creating an electric atmosphere. With the Blackhawks struggling to build momentum in the Patrick Kane-less home stretch, Joel Quenneville put the long time defensive paring of Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook together for the first time in 29 games. Unfortunately for the Hawks even the Keith-Seabrook gambit blew up on Quenneville. Keith was burned for an early breakaway goal that set the tone for a disastrous four-goal first period, and the defensive pairing was broken up before the period was over.
The Blue Jackets' four-goal first period was the Hawks' undoing. Keith and Seabrook were each a minus-three in the period. Corey Crawford was replaced by Scott Darling after Cam Atkinson's short-handed goal on another breakaway with 4:14 left in the first. Brandon Saad got the Hawks off to a great start, sniping a shot from the left faceoff circle past Sergei Bobrovsky for a 1-0 lead just 3:26 into the game. But the lead lasted only 31 seconds as Ryan Johansen parlayed a Keith turnover off a difficult pass from Marcus Kruger into a breakaway goal for a 1-1 tie. After Atkinson scored to give the Blue Jackets a 2-1 lead, Toews scored his tying goal. But Kevin Connauton scored on a shot from the point 1:25 later, and Atkinson scored to give the Blue Jackets a 4-2 Lead.
Scott 'More Cow Bell' Hartnell was his usual dirty self, and drew a roughing call after a cheap shot on Andrew Shaw at 13:50 of the third. Hartnell was unavailable for comment after the game but was photographed during the pre-game warm-up.
Game in a Nutshell
Cam Atkinson's second NHL hat trick helped the Blue Jackets defeat the Blackhawks 5-2 at United Center, extending their winning streak to five games and road winning streak to seven, as they play the role of playoff party poopers. The Blackhawks defense struggled in the first period and it ultimately cost them the game. Multiple turnovers led to good scoring chances, and Columbus scored on four of them, including two by Atkinson. Center Ryan Johansen and defenseman Kevin Connauton scored goals in the first against Corey Crawford, who was replaced by Scott Darling after Atkinson's second goal.
Hawks Quotes
Marian Hossa: "We just have to put our heads up and these things, we have to shake it off. There's still lots of hockey in front of us. Stay positive and turn the page and just learn from our mistakes, because it's getting [to be] too many of those mistakes. We just have to learn from it and get better, especially tighter defensively. I don't have a formula on that, on why, but we know it doesn't matter who we face … we have to be better. We had lots of good stretches, but when we had bad ones, it's like it’s costing us a game because they end up in our net."Joel Quenneville: "I wasn't blaming [Crawford] at all. We gave them too high a quality [of opportunities]. I didn't pull him because of what he let in. We wanted to change things up. We had more chances in that first period than we had in a long time in any game, but the quality [chances] against were self-generated. I think we gave them the first three goals, and the fourth one was the icing on the cake. Tough to come back after that one."
Jonathan Toews: "We had spurts where we played well. We just gave them way too many grade-A scoring chances, and it hurt us. We've been doing that to our goaltender way too often lately, and it finally caught up to us. We can't expect Crow to keep bailing us out. It's on us."
Blue Jackets Quotes
Goals
1-0 - 3:26 - Brandon Saad Asst: Johnny Oduya, Patrick Sharp - The Blackhawks scored to make it 1-0 at 3:26 of the first period on Saad's 22nd goal but quickly lost the momentum.
1-1 - 4:07 - Ryan Johansen Asst: None - Johansen scored on a breakaway to tie it.
2-1 - 9:24 - Cam Atkinson Asst: Cody Goloubef - Atkinson scored his first at 9:24 to give Columbus a 2-1 lead,
2-2 - 11:38 - Jonathan Toews Asst: Johnny Oduya, Kris Versteeg - Toews' 24th goal tied the game at 2.
3-2 - 13:03 - Kevin Connauton Asst: None - Connauton made it 3-2 with a shot from the left point.
4-2 - 15:46 - SHG Cam Atkinson Asst: Cody Goloubef, Artem Anisimov - Atkinson scored off a shorthanded breakaway with a backhand-forehand deke..
5-2 - 59:01 - EN - Cam Atkinson Asst: Nick Foligno, Ryan Johansen - Atkinson scored into an empty net for the hat trick.
Stars of the Game
1 Cam Atkinson
2 Cody Goloubef
3 Johnny Oduya
Stats
- The Blackhawks (44-24-6) have lost three of their past four games and lead the Minnesota Wild by one point for third place in the Central Division. They are 9-4-1 since Kane suffered a broken clavicle.
- The Blackhawks went 0-for-5 on power plays.
- Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves and rebounded from goals he allowed in the first to Brandon Saad and Jonathan Toews.
- The hat trick was the second for the Blue Jackets in as many games, after forward Scott Hartnell had one against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday. It's the first time Columbus had back-to-back hat tricks in its history.
- Columbus swept the two-game season series and ended a six-game losing streak in Chicago that dated to Feb. 18, 2011. The Blue Jackets (35-35-4) are .500 for the first time since Jan. 9.
- Crawford has allowed four goals in the three most recent losses, which were in games the Blackhawks were outplayed by teams not in contention for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
- Chicago defensemen Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook were reunited as a pair for the first time since they were split up Jan. 20 against the Coyotes, but it didn't last long. They were on the ice for the first two Columbus goals before being split up again before the period ended. Keith finished minus-3 rating and Seabrook was minus-4.
Penalties
| 1st Period | ||
|---|---|---|
| 13:50 CBJ | Jack Johnson Tripping against Marian Hossa | |
| 2nd Period | ||
| 05:13 CBJ | Marko Dano Hi-sticking against Bryan Bickell | |
| 08:07 CHI | David Rundblad Tripping against William Karlsson | |
| 19:39 CBJ | Dalton Prout Cross checking against Andrew Shaw | |
| 3rd Period | ||
| 03:29 CBJ | Marko Dano Hooking against David Rundblad | |
| 13:50 CBJ | Scott Hartnell Roughing against Andrew Shaw | |
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