Overreactions! Overreactions everywhere!
I wasn’t kidding about Twitter providing some solid entertainment surrounding the Hawks first preseason game. And I haven’t even checked r/hawks yet.
No, the Blackhawks weren’t intentionally trying to prevent you from watching a preseason game. Yes, the feed sucked but it was for understandable reasons.
No, you shouldn’t be worried that the Hawks best players didn’t play their best.
It’s preseason.
That being said, here are some thoughts from last night’s game. Hockey is back!
Hawks 2 - Red Wings 4
Read about it:
Ben Pope
Scott Powers
A caveat. I wasn’t watching this game with the intention of breaking down certain players or anything like that. I’m not including fancy stats. It’s preseason, after all. I was even making dinner during the first period.
I hate repeating this, but it needs to be said. The best players aren’t playing 100%. It’s preseason. The players that are playing 100% are those trying to fight for a spot or make an impression. These players haven’t played a game together before. Stop freaking out. It’s a preseason game.
Wings scored pretty quick, 70 seconds in. I was chopping celery, so I missed this one.
Craig Smith was making impressions right away. He looked solid and maintained that effort throughout the night. He would finish with a goal and 5 shots on goal.
The couple of powerplays looked alright. I’m going to really enjoy Tyler Bertuzzi on the PP.
Tuevo Teravainen’s goal was beautiful. Great vision from Connor Bedard and a wonderful display of skill from Teuvo. It’s great to see him back.
Had to get used to watching Kevin Korchinski in 14. He looked solid tonight. He had some solid shots on goal and was even active in the OZ. That’s not to say he was perfect by any means (neither was Bedard, but that shouldn’t bother you).
Paul Ludwinski looked solid throughout the night. He was good on the dot and played well in his role. He played with Samuel Savoie and Joey Anderson most of the night and they all looked good.
Frank Nazar didn’t really stand out to me and he’s a player that should be trying to make a strong impression. He’s going to get more opportunities to fight for a spot, but like I said before, don’t be surprised when he gets sent to Rockford.
*takes deep breathe* AJ Spellacy had some noticeable hits and looked fast. He’s been making a solid first impression. Twitter is having a… thing for him right now. I’m just going to leave it at that.
Next game is on Friday at 6PM CT in Detroit.
And just a reminder friends, it’s preseason. Breathe.
Trash Bin
For all things not Hawks related.
The Ritual
I am not a movie nut. In terms of anything pop culture I’m generally behind the times. I have the attention span of an inebriated hamster (thanks TBI) which means that movies take days for me to finish, and I’ll only watch a show if it’s good.
That being said. It’s Halloween.
The Ritual is a horror film on Netflix (or it might be gone now, Netflix sucks these days).
It follows some British guys who are on a hiking trip in Sweden in memory of a lost friend. They end up taking a wrong turn and get lost in a Swedish forest where they are seemingly hunted by some unknown entity and some Viking hillbillies.
I wouldn’t say this movie was particularly scary. There are some good creepy moments and the atmosphere is unsettling, which I prefer over jump scares and over-the-top gore. Once you find out what's hunting them, I thought it was kind of silly. Not trying to spoil anything, but it just looked kind of goofy, although the “lore” behind the entity was interesting.
As far as story goes, it’s a horror film. It was kind of predictable, but I didn’t care. I thought the characters were a bit cliche, but they had some good chemistry.
I recommend giving this a watch if you are in the mood for an atmospheric movie that isn’t scary.
Nike SB Japan - GACHI
The skate scene in Japan continues to blow me away. Nike SB Japan released GACHI a few days ago and it rips. Keyaki Ike, the last part, threw down hammers and made it look effortless. Dude’s noseslides are probably one of the best out there. Around the 9:05 mark he does a noseslide revert firecracker but it’s a pretty good example of what I’m talking about. His BS Feeble, the very last trick, was nasty. I actually watched his part a couple times.
Out.