Blackhawks Come Up Just Short

Anyone who doubts that the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs provide the absolute best in sports should have watched game seven of the Chicago Blackhawks/Vancouver Canucks series. Despite a barrage of Canucks shots, Hawks goalie Corey Crawford made spectacular save after save.

When Hawks captain Jonathan Toews scored his first goal of the series -- shorthanded -- with less than two minutes to play in the third period of a 1-0 game, it looked like the Hawks might pull off the amazing come from behind victory in overtime. However, a turnover in their own zone spelled the end of the Hawks season.

Congratulations to the Vancouver Canucks, who, despite disappearing in games four and five, played a great series. And ... for online poker buddies and Canucks fans Schaubs, Pirate Lawyer, and Fuel55 -- best wishes for a deep run in the playoffs.

Monday Musings

Chicago Blackhawks vs Vancouver Canucks

Well, well, well. How things have changed. As best I can understand, the Vancouver Canucks are the closest thing in other professional sports to the Chicago Cubs -- lots of great, dedicated fans and a team that just can not seem to do it, whether by circumstances, bad luck or bad karma, or a curse. The Canucks, the best regular season team in the NHL in 2010-2011, has been forced into a game seven after leading the once-floundering Chicago Blackhawks 3-0 in their series. With the game at home and superior overall talent, it would appear that the Canucks should take game seven. However, with history and momentum on their side, the Chicago Blackhawks are probably the smart choice. The final game could go either way, but I expect that Wednesday's Vancouver Sun online will be filled with anger and vitriol.

Rocking the Real Green Felt Tables

The current state of online poker helped me make a last-minute decision Saturday night to take a road trip to the nearest casino offering poker. I made the trip to Peoria, IL in record time, only to have to wait for an hour on a busy Saturday night to get seated when the  room opened a new table. I perhaps might write about the trip in more detail in a subsequent post. However, I was able to get my poker jones satisfied, playing in a cash game for over seven hours. I was a little rusty and misread the board once as I got ready to call it a night. I ended up losing a few bucks, but the trip was well worth it to get me back at the table again.

The Aftermath of the DOJ Indictments

I have still been able to play online poker at Ultimate Bet, and even played a little at Cake Poker and Bodog, sites that I do not particularly like. I also played in a private play money tournament at PokerStars that had gift certificates for the winners. With some tangible incentive, the game played just like a regular real money tournament.

What did I miss most this past week? I missed connecting with some of my regular online poker buddies. I think I am going through Very Josie withdrawal. Does anyone have a cure?

As the future for basketball and hockey becomes cleared after Tuesday, I will finally write my long-promised post regarding the current status of Chicago professional sports teams.

Cheers!

Don't Let It End: Chicago Blackhawks Run as Stanley Cup Champs Nears the End of the Line

Chicago area music demi-god Dennis DeYoung

Tonight is game four of the Chicago Blackhawks and Vancouver Canucks first round Stanley Cup playoff series. Yes, as we all knew but had to see in post-season play, there was really a reason that the Canucks were seeded first and the Hawks eighth in the Western Conference..

The Blackhawks problems are best summed up by Chicago Sun Times writer Adam Jahns: "Their struggles and inconsistencies from the regular season have surfaced in the playoffs. There have been poor third periods, inconsistent performances by the top players, a power play that struggles to connect at key times, an inept penalty kill and a team that has been thrown around one too many times.' Yes -- brutal, but the truth.

Unfortunately, the Hawks, due to salary cap regulations, had to dump a significant portion of last year's championship team immediately after winning the Stanley Cup. Former second, third, and fourth line players went to other teams, robbing the Hawks of the depth that proved the difference last season. For example, Dustin Byfuglien and Andrew Ladd combined for 49 goals in the 2010-2011 regular season. Wouldn't they be great to have back? How about the defensive depth lost when the Hawks said goodbye to Brent Sopel or the toughness lost in Ben Eager and Adam Burish?

Unfortunately, with the notable exception of Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls, Chicago sports teams, on the rare occasions they win championships, tend not to repeat (see the 1985 Bears and the 2005 White Sox). Although the Hawks could hypothetically come back and win this series vs the Canucks, they have not been playing well enough to do so, and Luongo and the Canucks have been great.

So ... it appears that it will soon be time to look for a new Stanley Cup champion and for the Blackhawks to regroup and make a run for the Cup next year. But ... it sure was one hell of a ride ...

Umm ... What to Talk About ... Poker? -- NO; Chicago Blackhawks? -- NO; SOFTBALL -- YES!

It was hard to think of someting positive to talk about today. Everyone is unhappy about online poker, the Chicago Blackhawks are down 3-0 to the hated Canucks in hockey, but ... there was softball. The temperature was supposed to drop tonight and the rain was due to start sometime, so what a great night for softball!

Now, for those readers who can still call themselves "young adults," the prospect of playing a softball game in the cold and wet weather might sound fun. For those of us who have a few more rings around the trees, we get concerned about pulled muscles, hamstrings, groins, ...

I looked at the lineup card and got the great news -- designated hitter! This gig got even better when the rain started coming down about halfway through the game. We were playing a much younger and more athletic team, but surprisingly we were kicking their asses. However, after the rain started coming down their bats seemed to come alive and we seemed to be standing still. They caught up in the rain and pulled ahead. However, similar to last week, we staged a comeback and pulled to within one run. The umpire decided to let us play in the rain, but the increasingly wet and muddy field did not help our defense as their bats came alive. Alas, we went from down one run to nine in the last inning and ran out of gas. Nothing like playing a cold, wet softball game. We were all soaked.

This "old" guy went two for three -- two singles and a fielder's choice. Yeah -- I'll take hitting .667 in the first two games this season. Take that, youngsters!

Congratulations Packers Fans

Although it was heartbreaking to see my Chicago Bears lose to the arch rival Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game, I am able to at least stomach it by remembering that faithful fans of Green Bay have been rewarded.

There was a really bad dry spell in major Chicago sports championships while I was growing up -- a HUGE dry spell from December 29, 1963 to January 26, 1986. The Bears won both those championships, but there were none in between -- no White Sox, no Cubs, no Blackhawks (in fairness, the Hawks won in 1961), no Bears, and no Bulls. The Chicago Sting won North American Soccer League (NASL) titles in 1981 and 1984, but soccer has never been considered one of the major professional sports in the United States.

Remembering how difficult it was to root for teams year after year and never see success, I would certainly like to see some long-suffering fans rewarded in the next few years. I feel sorry for fans in Cleveleand who have been without a title in so many years. If the Blackhawks can not win in 2011, I would actually like to see the Vancouver Canucks fans be rewarded.

All dedicated sports fans deserve a winner sometime. Tonight the Packers fans have their day. Congratulations!