Posts Tagged ‘Tomas Kopecky’

Blackhawks good in losing effort to Rangers

November 2nd, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

It’s been a while since I’ve had time to write a game recap, and Henrik Lundqvist got in the way of making this a pleasant affair, despite the optimistic tone of this post. He was amazing, and is easily my favorite goaltender in the league. Lundqvist is the Rangers, and he proved that tonight fending off a determined Hawks offense, stopping 33 of the 35 shots faced. Without him they’d be at the bottom of the barrel that is the eastern conference.

The Blackhawks were able to set up shop in the offensive zone, but had a difficult time getting shots through traffic. When they did, there was Lundqvist. The Hawks were only able to net a couple goals due to a couple bounces that when their way. The First goal was deflected by Tomas Kopecky on the power play, and the second came from Patrick Kane at a tough angle where the puck trickled through the five hole.

There is never such a thing as a good loss when you’re the defending Stanley Cup Champions, but there were a few positives to come out of this game. Brain Campbell looked good in his season debut, and the defense was better as a whole with him in the lineup. He was a culprit in the Hawks ability to spend as much time in the offensive zone as they did on Monday.

Even before Campbell returned in New York, the Blackhawks’ transition game has shown signs of progression. Defenseman are making better passes, and the forwards that are new to the team are learning their importance to the break-out effort at this level. Players are beginning to find their role, and this version of the Blackhawks is close to discovering the identity or chemistry we often hear about.

Due to all the roster turnover this off-season, growing pains were expected. Anyone who thought the Hawks were going to hit the ground running, were just fooling themselves. Coach Quenneville will right the ship, and is slowly getting everyone on buy in. He has his team controlling the flow of the game, and working hard on the back check. The Hawks limited the Rangers to just 23 shots against, which was the third consecutive sub-30 shot game by an opponent.

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Ding Dong Tkachuk Is Gone! – Blackhawks 6, Blues 5

April 8th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Leader of the knuckle-draggers, Cam Janssen

That Blackhawks reached another milestone last night. The 6-5 victory over the delightful St. Louis Blues gave the Blackhawks a total of 109 points this season, which is a new franchise record with two more games left to play. The organization’s previous high came in the 1970-71 and 1971-72 seasons at 107 points. This year’s squad can add to the total with two more games to be played this season.

Anyways, it’s always a pleasure to have the Blues grace us with a visit to the UC. How can anyone NOT love the Blues’ merry band of knuckle-draggers? (Sarcasm is always the highest form of humor). The best news from last night, however, was Keith Tkachuck’s retirement announcement. Yep, this blogger danced in the streets and howled at the moon. My favorite Tkachuk career moment took place this season – when he scored a goal with his face against the Blachkaws January 2nd. Too bad my boy Troy Brouwer and Tomas Kopecky couldn’t be the lineup for the festivities. Brouwer was attending to a personal matter, and Kopecky was sidelined the oh-so vague ‘upper-body’ injury.

The game itself didn’t start well for the Blackhawks. The Blues scored first, but the ‘Hawks were able to rattle off six un-answered goals in the first and second periods to take the 6-1 lead. A few unusual suspects were able to get in on the scoring. Duncan Keith struck first, then Ben Eager scored moments after leaving the penalty box and Bryan Bickell scored his third of the season. Kris Versteeg scored his nineteenth and the team’s thirteenth shorthanded goal of the season. Versteeg had three assists too. Andrew Ladd and Jordan Hendry finished off the scoring with a goal each.

In the third period, the Blackhawks sat back and let the Blues get back into this one. The Blues’ are known for playing dirty (well, at least against the Blackhawks), and that style of play was epitomized when Brad Winchester ran Marian Hossa into the boards. As the game went on the officiating didn’t step in, and the Blackhawks let the central division foe get under their skin. The shoddy play that the Blackhawks exuded at the end of the game culminated at the moment Dustin Byfuglien slashed Andy McDonald on a breakaway with under a minute left to play. Byfuglien’s actions resulted in a penalty shot (Brad Boyes scored to make it 6-5) and received a game misconduct. The Blackhawks held on to win.

Coach Qunneville has to have his team playing smarter hockey. There is the obvious excuse of fatigue in the second game of a back-to-back, but I won’t buy it. The Blackhawks can’t let themselves lower to the Blues’ game. It’s absolutely pathetic that Davis Payne (head coach) lets his team resort to mass-goonery when they are outmatched. As ugly as this game got, however, I will always relish a victory over any team from St. Louis.

Next up, the Blackhawks will match-up against the playoff bound Colorado Avalanche on Saturday. Hossa left the game in the first period after the hit, but hopefully it was a precautionary move. Quenneville believes Kopecky won’t miss any significant time with his injury, but the outlook isn’t as good for Kim Johnsson after suffering a concussion weeks ago. The verdict is still out on his eventual return to the lineup.

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Blackhawks 4, Flames 1

April 4th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

My boy Troy beat the Kipper

With today’s victory the Blackhawks clinched the central division title and tied the franchise record with their forty-ninth wins in a season with four games to go. It was the first time the organization has held the top spot in the division since the 1992-93 season.

Per usual, the ‘Hawks dominated the Calgary Flames on their way to a 4-1 victory. In the last two years the Blackhawks have owned the Flames – to say the least – going 8-0-0 and ousting them from the playoffs last year. Sunday’s win could have ruined Calgary’s chances of overtaking the eighth and final playoff spot in the west with three games left in the season – the Avalanche have five games (situation when writing this post) left to play. There must be so many kinds of hate coming from Flame fans towards the Blackhawks right about now.

Anyways, the goaltending today was great. Antti Niemi looks so comfortable in net right now. He gave up a few bad rebounds, but the defense was there to bail him out. The only blemish on the afternoon was when defenseman Ian White skated into the Blackhawks’ zone virtually untouched on his way to beat Niemi. Every facet of their game (minus the power play) was in working order.

The first two goals scored by Tomas Kopecky and Troy Brouwer was due to their conscious play in front Calgary’s goalie. It was Kopecky’s tenth goal of the season (a career high). Patrick Kane beat Miikka Kiprusoff on his stick side with a wicked wrist-shot from the slot in the second period, and Dustin Byfuglien scored in the third frame for the his first since returning to the blue line.

Next up, the Blackhawks will face the Dallas Stars this Tuesday. With four games in seven days to close out the season, I wonder if Coach Quenneville will give some players rest going forward.

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Lucky #7 – Blackhawks 4, Wild 0

April 1st, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Tomas earned the belt in Minny

The fourth line was great last night. They attributed for three goals in the 4-0 shutout victory over the Minnesota Wild. Tomas Kopecky scored his eighth and ninth goals of the season, and Ben Eager scored a goal and tallied one assist. I’m quite disappointed Eager of all people couldn’t drop the gloves to give the viewers at home what they wanted – a Gordie Howe Hat Trick. On a serious note, Eager isn’t the fourth line energy forward we fell in love with last season. Ever since getting his brain scrambled in the first game of the season, Eager has become soft.

The defensive play in front of Antti Niemi was better then has been (still not great). They limited the Wild offense to twenty-one shots on goal. The Blackhawks controlled the tempo of the game, and Niemi didn’t see much action in his end of the ice until they were shorthanded three to five in the second period. Being down two men for ninety-one seconds, Niemi pulled up his pants and made a few pad saves the escape shorthanded situation unscathed. At the risk of sounding as though I bat for the other team, I’ve always been impressed with Niemi’s flexibility. For a man of his size, he moves form side-to-side rather well. This win marked his seventh shutout of the season.

On defense, Coach Quenneville had Dustin Byfuglien paired with Duncan Keith on the blue line. Byfuglien didn’t play all to well, but he didn’t embarrass himself either. Nick Boynton was out of the lineup as a result of his scuffle with Cam Janssen two night’s ago. Glad to see Brent Sopel off the top pairing, and Niklas Hjalmarsson and Brent Seabrook seem to play well enough together to keep that project going.

It was great that the fourth line stepped up and won this game for the slumping ‘Hawks, but the first two lines really need to get going with just six games left in the regular season. Jonathan Toews did score off a nice drop pass from Marian Hossa last night, but the bottom lines won’t always be productive enough to bail out the team. The win over the Wild was great, but I’m still a little worried about the state of the team and that lines are being shuffled willy-nilly.

Next up, the Blackhawks will travel fly to the cultural Mecca of the East Coast (sarcasm) to face the Devils this Friday. I haven’t had the opportunity to watch a game with Ilya Kovalchuk in a non-Thrashers jersey yet. It’s going to be weird.

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The Thin Blue Line – Blackhawks 3, Kings 0

March 19th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Big Buff was solid on defense.

Coach Quenneville didn’t have much to work with on the blue line last night. Three of the Blackhawks six regular defensemen were out of commission. We know Brian Campbell will be out for the rest of the regular season, Kim Johnsson is day-to-day and no timetable has been set for Brent Seabrook’s return. So in order to fill out an already thin blue line, Dustin Byfuglien took the ice at his natural position on defense, and he looked rather comfortable. The defense was tight, limiting Antti Niemi’s workload to a miniscule seventeen shots and a 3-0 shutout (his fifth) of the Kings. Niemi didn’t have to stand on his head, but made the saves he needed to make.

Not only were the Blackhawks good in their own zone, they were on the attack all night tallying three goals on thirty-seven shots. My boy Troy Brouwer scored the first goal of the game in the second period and his twentieth of the year. He was reunited with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane on the first line. Tomas Kopecky padded the ‘Hawks lead by scoring two goals in the third period, and earned him self a pat on the back.

The officiating crew was the same two refs and same two linesmen from Wednesday’s game in Anaheim were they blew a couple big calls – James Wisniewski‘s hit on Seabrook that earned him an eight-game suspension and Corey Perry’s shove of Brent Sople that led to Saku Koivu’s game-winning tally. They made a few calls obviously in favor of the Blackhawks last night. The one that stands out the most was giving Raitis Ivanans two-minutes for roughing on top of the five-minute fighting major when Ben Eager clearly threw the first punch. Anyways, I’m not complaining.

Next up, the Blackhawks will travel to the desert to play the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday. By then we should hear more on Seabrook’s situation, and more on Johnsson’s day-to-day status.

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Canada vs. USA Redux – Gold Medal Game

February 28th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! A rematch of last week’s American upset over the Canadians will take place in the gold medal round of the Olympic tournament. It should be a great game, and the Canadians will do their darndest to exact revenge on the Americans. Each team took a different road to the gold medal game, but nothing should be taken away from what both teams accomplished in the 2010 Olympic tournament.

Team USA

Going into the tournament the Americans were regarded as a dark horse to make it as far as they have. Most of the team’s success can be attributed to the stellar play from their goalie, Ryan Miller. No one realistically thought they could make it this far, and apparently the young American squad didn’t get the memo. They haven’t trailed at any point of the five games it took to get to the gold medal game. The Americans earned a first round bye and the first overall seed in the tournament bracket after winning each game in the round robin, and had their way with the Swiss in the quarterfinals and the Finns in the semifinals.

Team Canada

In the case of the Canadian team, they improved on their seventh place finish four years ago in Torino, Italy. As important as this game is to the Canadians, the quarterfinal game against the Russians was bigger. If Team Canada lost to the Ruskies and didn’t have the opportunity to medal, the whole nation would have been on suicide watch. Anything less then gold wouldn’t be acceptable for the host nation. A shootout win over Switzerland and a regulation loss to the Americans during round robin play was less then ideal for the Canadians. After handing Roberto Luongo the starting job, and shuffling the line combinations sparked the team’s improved play. They handled the Germans and Russians easily, and squeaked by the Slovaks in the semifinal round.

Finland 5, Slovakia 3

I didn’t watch this game. Bronze medal games are of little interest to me. Anyway, the Slovaks were unable to continue playing above expectations. The loss means that Marian Hossa and Tomas Kopecky won’t return to the Blackhawks with a medal. Hossa had an assist and a goal in the game. Kopecky was held off the scoresheet.

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Olympic Hockey Day Nine

February 24th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

A face only a mother could love

A brief write up on how the six Blackhawks have done in the last twenty-four hours of the Olympic tournament. Also, for all the people that visit looking for Jonathan Toews’ jersey number, he wears 16 on Team Canada (Joe Thornton is 19).

Canada 8, Germany 2 (Tuesday)

Yesterday’s post does its job.

Slovakia 4, Norway 3 (Tuesday)

In last night’s late game Slovakia beat Norway 4-3. It’s a shame since we will no longer see or hear the name Tore Vikingstad in the Olympics. The Norwegians made things interesting with their two goals in the second period to tie the game at 3-3, but Miroslav Satan put the Slovaks on top with his third period goal. Marian Hossa had an assist in the game, and Tomas Kopecky was on the ice for the game-winning goal. Slovakia will face the Swedes in the late game tonight.

USA 2, Switzerland 0

Those pesky Swiss gave the United States a run for their money in their quarterfinal match this afternoon. Jonas Hiller and Ryan Miller were great for their respective teams, but Zach Parise put one by the Swiss goalie early in the third to spoil his solid game – he stopped forty-two of the forty-three shots faced. Patrick Kane didn’t crack the scoresheet. The Americans will play Finland on Friday. No one thought Team USA would make it this far.

Canada 7, Russia 3

The Canadians played with the sense of urgency they needed to beat the Russians in an elimination game. It appeared as though they just overwhelmed the Ruskies from the get go going up 4-1 in the first period. Team Canada was just better in every aspect – offense, goaltending and physical play. Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith had two assists each, and Brent Seabrook didn’t tally a point in this game. Toews was great on both ends of the ice all game.

I hate to see such a talented team get knocked out of the tournament this early, but it’s better that it was the Russians then the Candians. Seeing the Canada come out so strong gives me hope for the rest of the tournament. After going to overtime with the Swiss and losing to the Americans I was a little worried. Next up, the Canadians will play the Slovaks in the semifinal round.

Slovakia 5, Sweden 4

Well, the Slovaks completed a guaranteed Sweden- and Russian-less Olympic semifinal round. No one could have predicted that. The Slovakian win also guaranteed all six Blackhawks would participate in the semifinal round – giving each ‘Hawk a chance to return to Chicago with a medal around their neck. Hossa had three assists against the Swedes, and Kopecky scored the game-winning goal. The underrated Slovak team will attempt another upset of the Canadians this Friday.

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Dave Bolland’s Return To The Lineup

February 2nd, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

The word is that Dave Bolland will play tomorrow night against the Blues. According to Chris Kuc, Bolland lined up with Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa during practice this afternoon. Sharp did a solid job filling in at pivot, but will move over to the wing to make room for a more conventional center in Bolland.

Of course, now that Bolland is back there will be some speculation into who is the odd man out. That’s where I come in – to offer my two cents on the matter as if I actually know what I’m talking about. The Blackhawks haven’t had a healthy-scratch at forward since Jordan Hendry replaced Tomas Kopecky on the fourth line on December 15th. So, whom will Coach Quenneville bestow the honor upon?

Bolland’s return will push Andrew Ladd off the second line, and will likely find a home on the third line with John Madden and either Dustin Byfuglien or Kris Versteeg. Going off style of play and size, Versteeg simply doesn’t fit the mold of a fourth liner, but Byfuglien does.

Ladd did leave practice early with a ‘lower-body’ injury, but should be ready for tomorrow’s game. Should we read more into this? Nope, but my inner conspiracy theorist would like to think otherwise.

Anyway, this is always a good problem to have – too much capable talent. If I had to guess, Coach Quenneville would sit Colin Fraser. Kopecky has energized the fourth line with his play of late and can play center. Ben Eager has some offensive skill, and can be an affective instigator. Fraser is a decent player that sees some time on the penalty kill, but doesn’t provide much of a physical game. When it comes to fisticuffs, he can’t hold his own.

What will be interesting is what will happen to the lineup when Adam Burish returns. He skated at today’s practice as well. Will Stan Bowman opt to move a forward for some depth on defense, or stand pat and send someone to Rockford?

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Escape From Cowtown – Blackhawks 3, Flames 1

January 22nd, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Where was the tenacity we are used to seeing from Calgary last night? Coming off a 9-1 loss to the Sharks you would think the Flames would come out swinging, but the Blackhawks did them a favor and handed them their sixth consecutive loss. The Flames we are familiar play a physical brand of hockey, are chippy and antagonize opposing players. None of that was really going on last night. With the recent history between the two teams, if the Blackhawks of all teams can’t provoke any energy from the Flames there is a big problem in Cowtown.

Miikka Kiprusoff (spelled it right the first time) was the only Flame to show up. His performance last night trumps that of Jonas Hiller and Brian Elliot. Except for Patrick Kane’s goal in the second period, Kipper was flawless. It took a series of lucky redirects for the Blackhawks to take beat Kiprusoff to take the lead in the third period. Tomas Kopecky tossed the puck at the net, it ricocheted off a Flame defender and its course was corrected off Ben Eager’s right leg. Rarely was Kiprusoff out of position and he didn’t cough up any rebounds.

After a brief hiatus, the Blackhawks’ defense returned last night. Not to take anything away from the solid game from Antti Niemi, but he faced a very manageable twenty shots. He made some great saves too. The only goal Niemi let in was on the penalty kill, Colin Fraser just lost his stick, he made the initial save with the insole of his skate and Brent Sopel was unable to clear the puck before Jamie Lundmark tapped in the rebound. An honorable mention should go out to Niklas Hjalmarsson, John Madden and Marian Hossa for their back checking.

Ducan Keith scored the final Blackhawks goal to clinch the Blackhawks 3-1 victory on an empty net. Hossa saw him streaking down the center of the ice, and set him up with a cross-ice pass.

Next up, the Blackhawks take the road show into Vancouver this Saturday. They have one three of the four games played on the trip so far with four more to go.

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Olympic Profile: Tomas Kopecky (Slovakia)

January 18th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Hossa and Kopecky

This is the first installment of player profiles for the six Blackhawks that will represent their nation at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. Tomas Kopecky gets the honor of going first. Stay tuned for future installments, and feel free to comment below.

Birthplace – Ilava, Slovakia

International Experience – 2001 World Junior Championships and 2002 World Junior Championships

This is the first time in Tomas Kopecky’s career that he has made the men’s national team – the twenty-seven year old is ready to make the jump from the women’s squad. Kopecky’s play has picked up in the last month. He has been a source of energy that the fourth line lacked, and has been the reason why they have been productive of late. He (and Team Slovakia) will hope that his improved play will carry over into the Olympics.

When the Czechoslovakia split in 1993 it became apparent that most of the hockey talent was bred on in the Western half (the Czech Republic). There are a few elite hockey players on the team – Marian Hossa, Zdeno Chara and Marian Gaborik – but then there is a significant drop-off in talent level. The Slovakian talent pool is rather shallow, and the fact that Kopecky made the team is enough evidence to make the point.

I’m a little surprised that the Slovakian brass opted for Kopecky’s services over Marek Svatos – who has previous Olympic experience and has reached the thirty-goal plateau in the NHL. My guess is that Kopecky will fill a checking- or fourth line roll for the team.

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