Blackhawks Win 4th Straight

It's early in the season, but the Chicago Blackhawks are looking like things are starting to come together. Their shootout victory over the Vancouver Canucks last night is their fourth straight win. Despite not having many scoring opportunities, Chicago managed to prevail as Jonathon Toews, Patrick Sharp, and Patrick Kane all scored in the shootout against Roberto Luongo. Marty Turco gave up two goals in the shootout as well, but Mikael Samuelsson's shot went wide of the net, giving the Hawks the win.

Viktor Stalberg, who came over from Toronto for Kris Versteeg, scored his second goal of the season with 37 seconds remaining in the first, a beauty of a shot that sailed past Luongo. One of the motherfucking Sedin twins, Daniel, scored in the third for Vancouver to tie the game. Luongo stopped a brilliant Hossa shot in overtime to preserve the tie, but had some trouble with the shootout shots from Sharp and Kane. It appears that he sort of helped push Kane's shot over the goal line as he was sliding backward.

Marty Turco was a beast in this game, totally deserving of the Number One Star status he was awarded. Chicago heads to St. Louis on Friday to take on the Blues.

EW: The Relaunch

What's up bitches? It's been a long time since I posted here (just over a year). Things have been absolutely crazy over that time. I had back surgery at the end of last year and my wife has had her fair of health issues as well. We've also seen the Chicago Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup and watched another mediocre season of Cubs baseball come and go. For some reason it seems like the perfect time to relaunch the awesome lameness that is Effectively Wild, albeit with a few changes.

For one thing, this site will no longer just focus on Cubs baseball. I will also bring my lack of focus and consistency to Blackhawks hockey, Arsenal FC of the English Premier League/Champions League, and FC Kaiserslautern of the German Bundesliga. Why these teams? Here's why:

1. The Chicago Cubs:

A no-brainer. I've been a Cub fan since I was in the womb. My first favorite Cub was Bill Buckner. I liked his mustache. Other favorite Cubs through the years have been Mark Grace, Rod Beck, Ryne Sandberg, Andre Dawson, Rick Sutcliffe, Derrek Lee, Kerry Wood, Aramis Ramirez, Carlos Marmol, Geovany Soto, Scott Servais, Carlos Zambrano, and the man-beast that is Marlon Byrd.

Most of my Cub writing will probably still take place at Exile on Clark Street, which will also recommence posting soon.



2. The Chicago Blackhawks:

I first started watching hockey in 1998 when I was fresh out of college. I really enjoyed the Blackhawks, but it became more and more difficult to catch games on TV, especially after the lockout. I started watching again a few years ago after an endorsement by Hire Jim Essian's Bad Kermit. Hockey has no almost pulled even with baseball as my favorite sport. Favorite Hawks have been Tony Amonte, Eric Daze, Chris Chelios, Nikolai Khabibulin, Marty Havlat, Dougie Gilmore, Bob Probert, Dustin Byfuglien, Kris Versteeg, Jonathon Toews, Patrick Sharp, Duncan Keith, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Antti Niemi, and Marion Hossa.

3. Arsenal FC:

I played soccer from the age of five until I was fifteen. I fell in love all over again during the 2002 World Cup and really became interested in the game after the 2006 World Cup. I became enamored with Thierry Henry, which led me to Arsenal FC. Henry may not be there any longer, but I still catch the Gunners whenever I can. I love their style of play, even though they can be frustrating at times. Some favorite Arsenal players are: Thierry Henry, Bacary Sagna, Samir Nasri, Cesc Fabregas, Philip Senderos, Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshire, and Andrey Arshavin.


4. FC Kaiserslautern:

I started watching the German Bundesliga this season, mainly because this club was able to secure promotion from Germany's second tier league. My family and I lived in Kaiserslautern when I was very young while my father served in the Air Force. Kaiserslauutern is where I first played the beautiful game, albeit not beautifully. When I read online that Kaiserslautern had been promoted back into the Bundesliga, I knew I had to watch as many games as I could. I haven't seen enough games to really have favorite players yet, but so far I really dig Srdjan Lakich.

US-Candian Relations Fray

The Blackhawks sucked it up last night against the Vancouver Canucks. The 'hawks lost 4-0 and lost some of their composure in the 3rd in a series of silly fights that served to accomplish nothing. While I admire their fighting spirit, the fire didn't translate to anything useful on the ice as the Canucks easily shut out the home team. If the Blackhawks are going to make the playoffs, they need to play smarter and not let their frustration get the better of them. It's kind of pathetic when you have more men in the penalty box than are on the ice. It's one thing to fight to defend your teammates, but quite another to fight as a response to the embarassment being served up by the other team. The Blawkhawks did not look like a playoff caliber team last night. Hopefully, they can learn from this defeat and get their shit together.

Hockey, Eh

This is ostensibly a Cubs blog, but lately I've discovered, or rather, rediscovered a sporting passion. Namely, Blackhawks hockey. Now, I haven't been into the Hawks since Tony Amonte, Eric Daze, and Chris Chelios cruised the ice, but ever since the Winter Classic, I've found my interest in the fastest game on ice rekindled. With a mix of young talent, like Jonathon Toews, Kris Versteeg, and Patrick Kane, and wily veterans like Marty Havlat and Nicolai Khabibulan, the Blackhawks are very exciting to watch. At the very least, its been nice to have some distraction from the seemingly endless drought of the baseball offseason. I've been somewhat reluctant to post on the Hawks, simply because of a lack of comfort with the intricacies of the game. I'm much more familiar with baseball, the current players and the lore of the past. As far as hockey goes, I know the guys the Blackhawks have now, some of the guys from the time period I mentioned above, and almost no knowledge of the history of other teams. At least I know who Wayne Gretzky is. He coaches the Phoenix Coyotes, right? He must be fabulously endowed, otherwise why would they call him 'The Great One'?

Anyway, to make a long story short, you may see some Blackhawks posts start popping up here. Don't be alarmed. And if you know more about hockey then I do, feel free to snicker and laugh at the newbee. That's okay, I understand.

The Hawks won last night, 5-3 over the Tampa Bay Lightning. I wonder if Jonathon Toews can bat lefty.