I can't decide if I hate this team more than the 2006 Cubs.  It's all a moot point really  If I have to draw comparisons to 2006 then chances are the 2010 Cubs are pretty high on my list of most reviled seasons.

We have yet too reach the All-Star break and I already have grown tired of this bullshit squad.  It certainly has made my desire to blog about the Cubs completely deteriorate.  So much so that I'm taking a hiatus from writing about them.  I may pop on with something here or there this season but until something takes a gigantic turn for the better I'll remain a ghost on EOC.  I also will be spending time on a new blogging venture I plan to launch next month.  One that is not tied to this miserable franchise, so I'm looking forward to once again blog about something that I actually enjoy.  Such a novel concept.

So this isn't good bye necessarily, just a note that I'll be on vacation somewhere else so I may not be around here much for the remainder of the summer.  I'll be back eventually, and maybe when I do return the Cubs will be minus a few people, notably everyone in management and a good handful of aging veterans.  I really don't care if the large majority of these guys stick around.  Here's the team I want in 2011:

Marlon Byrd, Tyler Colvin, Geovany Soto, Starlin Castro, Andrew Cashner, Sean Marshall, Carlos Marmol.

The rest can go join Jeff Samardzija in Wolter's Firebarn.

Hoo boy. Just when I think the Cubs can't possibly get any worse, they find a way. Friday, El Toro Loco finally crossed the line between Manny Ramirez Loopiness and full Milton Bradley Craztytown. Zambrano gave up four runs in the first inning and then stormed into the dugout practically foaming at the mouth, apparently angry that DLee and Aramis didn't dive for the two groundball liners the Sox smacked. Zambrano managed to anger Derrek Lee, who could be seen to shout back "That's bullshit!" at Carlos as Piniella, Trammel, and Rothschild moved between the two. Piniella sent Zambrano home and later on he was suspended indefinitely. If and when he returns, Zambrano will return to the bullpen.

I've been a Carlos Zambrano fan for the last eight years. In the past, I've defended his emotional outbursts and chalked it up to his passion for the game. I can't defend this one. It kills me to say this, but it's time the Cubs parted ways with El Toro Loco. It's become clear that he's not going to mature the way that we all had hoped. It's a goddamn shame because Zambrano has the stuff to be an ace pitcher, but he can't get beyond his petulant childishness to put it all together. While most of the blame must reside with Zambrano himself, the Cubs bear some of the brunt of responsibility. Up until now, they've done little to correct Z's aberrant behavior beyond spouting vacant platitudes. This is partly their mess and now they have to clean it up.

This is pretty much it for me with this team this year. I've fucking had it. I'm not giving up being a Cub fan and I'm not going to pick another team or anything like that. It's too late for that. The Cubs are like heroin. I don't like being a junkie, but I am and I'm too lazy to quit. But I can back off the doses and that's what I'm going to do. I've already been missing more games this year and I see that trend continuing. This team has fallen apart and it's just too damn depressing to watch, so fuck it.

Well, we knew it was coming. With the payroll as it stood, the Blackhawks were going to have to make some tough decisions regarding the future of the team. Still, it was hard to see the news last night that the Hawks dealt playoff star and fan favorite Dustin Byfuglien to the Atlanta Thrashers last night. Over the last few years, Byfuglien had become my favorite player on the team, so I'm really sorry to see the big man go. He was almost traded before the trade deadline, so I guess it's good that he stuck around long enough to notch 11 playoff goals, which included 5 game winners, and win a Stanley Cup. Along with Big Buff, the Hawks also sent our #1 goon, Ben Eager, human bruise Brent Sopel, and prospect Akim Aliu to Atlanta in return for first and second round draft picks, center Marty Reasoner, and forwards Joey Crabb, and Jeremy Morin. I don't know enough about the East to say whether or not the Hawks got a good deal or not.

I knew a move had to be made to clear cap space, but I was really hoping it wouldn't be Big Buff, since we don't really have another big guy like him on the team. I would have rather seen the Hawks deal Kris Versteeg or maybe even Patrick Sharp. There may be more moves to come, so any of the guys not locked up long term (Toews, Kane, Hossa, Keith) may be fair game. An unwelcome reminder that sports is a business as well as a pleasure.

So long, Big Buff. Thanks for your part in making the playoffs this year something to remember. It was awesome.

Welcome to This Week on "Los Cubs," where we attempt to inject story and plot to a team that can occasionally make getting through a season unbearable. By treating it like a TV show, we can at least hold out hope that something amazing/cathartic/non rage inducing will happen to resolve things comfortably by October. Plus, Telenovelas are way more entertaining than Bob Howry giving up a three run homer out of the pen.

Last Week

This Week on "Los Cubs": After dropping a series as fast as humanly possible to the cross-city meth addicts, the Boys in Blue finally won their first series in six tries against an Oakland team that decided not to get anyone warmed up in the pen after their reliever walked the bases full in the 9th with one out. Riding that wave, they promptly decided to play like crap for the next two days, winning the final game of the series with a technique that baseball pundits term "Retard Strength."

It is worth noting, however, that the then-first place Central team took to Seattle last weekend and scored 1 run in three games. So as bad as the Cubs can play, the division is willing to match us in mediocrity.

This Week

- Lou Piniella will continue to say that he's done everything humanly possible to give the team a chance at success. This is because he believes that Tyler Colvin, much like the Great Gazoo, exists only in his head.

- The Cubs visit a team just as bad as they are in the Pacific Northwest. Not only is their record worse, but they decided earlier this year that trading for Milton Bradley was a good idea.

- The weekend sees the conclusion of the BP Sorry About Your Coastline and Livelihood Meaningless Shit Trophy. The food stampers from across town hold a 2-1 lead, and have won 10 of 11. SPOILER ALERT! This ends with Jeff Baker looking at a discarded crack pipe on Archer Avenue and shedding a single tear.

- No one can seem to find Jeff Samardzija, until his bloated corpse is found floating in an Iowa quarry, clad in a navy and gold ND-themed gimp suit. The hunt for justice begins ...

Exile on Clark is not a political blog. We're here to (hopefully) entertain you, not bore you with our political positions. So first of all, this is not a political rant per se, although it may briefly mention a political position. Secondly, this post is going to involve soccer, so if you hate soccer, feel free to stop reading right now. (Furthermore, I have no problem if you legitimately hate soccer. Not everyone can like every sport. I personally hate basketball, both college and NBA.) I won't blame you. I'm not here to shove soccer down anyone's throat, but I have to toss my two cents in.

Last week, Glenn Beck said this about the Beautiful Game: "I don't get the baseball thing, but the soccer thing, I hate it so much-probably because the rest of the world likes it so much, and they riot over it, and continually try to jam it down our throat . . . It doesn't matter how you sell it to us. It doesn't matter how many celebrities you get. It doesn't matter how many bars open early. It doesn't matter how many beer commercials they run. We don't want the World Cup, we don't like the World Cup, we don't like soccer, we want nothing to do with it. You can package it any way-you can spend all kinds of money. You can force it on our television sets. We will not enjoy the World Cup."

He later went on to compare the popularity of soccer to Barack Obama's policies, but I won't go into that on this site. My biggest problem with the Beckster is his use of the royal "we" in his little tirade, intimating that he speaks for all Americans in his hatred for soccer. As I mentioned above, I dislike the NBA and basketball, but I would never assume to speak for the rest of the country on the matter. If you read further into Becks's rant, it's implied that to like soccer is somehow UnAmerican and by liking soccer, you're embracing socialism. All those years that I played the sport and little did I know I was being indoctrinated!

Glenn, if you don't like soccer, that's fine. But don't presume to include me, an American, in your little piss and moan session. Judging by the ratings thus far, there's a lot of people who feel the way that I do about the sport. How dare you question me or anyone else in this country based merely on whether we enjoy a fucking team sport? It sounds to me like you're disparaging my "Americanness". For your information, my first exposure to soccer was on an American airbase in West Germany. Most of the soccer I played during my childhood years was with the other children of servicemen and women and never once, did we feel like we were playing a "European" sport that was destroying the fabric of America. You seriously need to get a grip on reality.

As for jamming soccer down your throat . . . the World Cup takes place every four years and like it or not, happens to be one of the premier sporting events in the world. ESPN has chosen to broadcast the games. Much like FOX does with your crappy show, they promote the events they choose to broadcast in order to boost ratings. By boosting ratings, they increase the chance of selling ad space to sponsors (and stay with me here) in order to make money. Sounds suspiciously like capitalism to me, but what the fuck do I know? I'm apparently not a Real American™. ESPN and FIFA attempt to package the game to better appeal to American sports fans in order to reach a wider market. Nobody's jamming it down your throat any more than the NFL jams the Super Bowl or MLB jams the All-Star Game down America's throat every year. It's a business, jackass. I thought you believed in business?

Another thing that irks me is that right now, America has a team of athletes competing in the World Cup. For how long, who knows? But just like Olympians, these athletes are competing for their country. They represent you, Glenn Beck, and me, on the world stage. Hate the sport if you want. If by some crazy, impossible chance Landon Donovan and company manage to win this thing (now who's crazy, huh?), are you going to berate them for their "socialist agenda"?

And in closing, you don't "get the whole baseball thing"? Jesus Christ. If you can't figure the whole baseball thing out, do us all a favor and stay home with your tinfoil hat on. You shouldn't be operating heavy machinery or broadcasting your thoughts to millions every day.

As a Cub fan, I've put up with a lot of shit over the years. DustyBall, Juan Pierre, towel drills, Antonio Alfonseca, Mel fucking Rojas, watching Greg Maddux walk away, watching Mark Grace (Ron Coomer? Fucking seriously?) walk away, Jim Hendry, Neifi Perez, Sosa and his expanding . . . ego (not to mention his corked bats), Moises Alou temper tantrums, Andy McFail, the Tribune ownership, Neal Cotts, LaTroy Hawkins, Larry Rothschild keeping a job through three managers, the decline of Steve Stone into dickishness, the Chip Caray years, the Milton Bradley Experiment, Todd Hundley, 2003, 1998, 2007, 2008, dumbasses blowing up the Bartman ball, Aaron Heilman, all the fucking goat jokes I'll ever need, Dawson going in the Hall as an Expo, Santo not even going into the Hall, the canonization of The Riot and Sam Fuld, Furcal breaking DLee's wrist, the Patterson/Pie/Bowie/Prior/Hill/Dubois/Choi/Kelton hype, the 14 game losing streak that opened 1997, Zambrano to the bullpen, the cast of misfits whom manned third until Aramis's arrival in 2003, Kyle Farnsworthless, watching Nomar tear his groin off the bone, Chad Fox and his cavalcade of injuries, Chads & Trixies, letting Kerry Wood walk away (even though he hasn't been good for Cleveland, it still irks me), Horry Kow T-shirts, the "It's Gonna Happen" asshat, Felix Heridia, but what in the name of Jim Riggleman's sunglasses is going on with this goddamn team?

The Cubs lost last night to the Athletics 9-5. The Cubs tallied 4 errors in the game, 2 in one inning by former Gold Glover Derrek Lee and 2 from usually defensively sound Tyler Colvin. There were also other mental gaffes involving the cutoff man. This team just keeps getting worse and worse as the year rolls on. There are beer softball teams who have better fundamentals than these guys do. Even in the truly stinky years, I always looked forward to watching the Cubs. This is the first year that being a Cub fan has felt like a damn job. I'm just glad I had the Stanley Cup playoffs to watch and right now, the World Cup is going on. Shit, I even watched the frickin' Tony Awards with the wife on Sunday rather than watch this collection of stiffs.

Saturday's game against the White Sox illustrated just how bad the Cubs have been for most of the season with runners on base. Last night's game was a microcosm of how bad the defense has been. The Cubs have gotten good starting pitching (aside from Wells), but that won't last if the team can't field their positions. Zambrano and Silva both pitched well enough to win their last starts. Ted Lilly was lucky to get the one run he did on Sunday and luckier that nobody behind him fucked up the way they did last night. I'm beginning to lean more and more toward blowing this team up. Our minor leaguers may not play any better, but at least they might be fun to watch while they suck it up. The current team is a multi-million dollar trainwreck that only seems to play decent baseball two days out of the week, if that.

After a much longer than anticipated hiatus, the Cubs of Yore Battle Royale is back and continues on with first round matches in the Pete LaCock Region.  But first let's recap the final scores out of the Jose Cardenal Region.

Glenallen Hill - 23
Doug Glanville - 9

Rich Harden - 13
Rey Sanchez - 15

Mike Bielecki - 14
Glendon Rusch - 12

Mark Grudzielanek - 19
Doug Dascenzo - 10

Just like before, I will outline each matchup, giving the readers a little background about each player. Once you've finished reading, you are then encouraged to vote for your favorite player to win the battle in the polls located in the right sidebar.  The polls will run until Thursday afternoon-ish where they will then be closed and the winners announced.


PETE LaCOCK REGION, ROUND 1

• Hails from Detroit.
• Played with Cubs for 5 years.
• The last Cub to pitch back-to-back complete game shutouts, which were his last games with the Cubs.
• Helped the team reach the playoffs in the oft-heralded 1984 season.
• Was no stranger to the occasional burrito-eating contest.
• This.

RON CEY FAST FACTS*

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LES LANCASTER FAST FACTS*

• Hails from Texas.
• Played with the Cubs for 5 years.
• 1.36 ERA in 1989, and won Game 2 of the NLCS against the SF Giants.
• Greatest MLB pitcher ever named Les.  (Sorry Mr. Walrond)
• Current manager of the Sioux City Explorers.

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MATT CLEMENT FAST FACTS*
BRIAN McRAE FAST FACTS*

• Hails from Florida.
• Son of All-Star DH Hal McRae.
• Played with Cubs for 3 years.
• Acquired from the Royals for Geno Morones and Derek Wallace. Wallace threw in 33 career major league innings. Morones never even got a cup of coffee.
• Known for his speed, McRae led the '96 Cubs in stolen bases with 37. In '95 he stole 27, which was second best on the team behind Skinny Sammy Sosa.
• Was born with a full five o'clock shadow.
• Took pain killers while playing in New York, more than likely to deaden the feeling of playing for a worse franchise at the time than the Cubs.

*Some of the Fast Facts may not be true.

The Cubs lost another close game last night, falling to the Brewers 5-4 on a throwing error by Xavier Nady. Still basking in the glow of a Blackhawks' Stanley Cup win, I asked myself this morning what the Cubs would be like if they took a page from their neighbors on Madison. See, the Hawks were in even worse shape than the Cubs not all that long ago. While the Cubs likely can't hire John McDonough back, there are a few things they might be able to do to get back on the right track.

1. Don't Hire the Fan Favorite Manager

Lou Piniella's contract is up at the end of the season and the Cubs are going to be tempted to make Ryne Sandberg the manager next season. I've advocated for this in the past, but after giving it some thought, I'm not so sure this is the right move. Sure, Ryno is the fan favorite, but how are those fans going to feel about him if he fails miserably? The Blackhawks hired fan favorite Dennis Savard, only to realize that they needed someone like Joel Quennville to mold their young team. They replaced Savard with Coach Q early in the 2008 season and just over a season later, the Hawks are hoisting the Stanley Cup.

The Cubs could do the same for their team by hiring a tough manager who emphasizes fundamentals. Years of playing DustyBall and now LouBall seems to have taken its toll on the Cubs' players. Our fundamentals suck and have sucked for years without anyone doing anything but talk about fixing it. The solution is to bring in a guy like Trey Hillman, who isn't afraid to step on people's toes and fix what needs to be fixed. Sure, maybe his record in Kansas City wasn't stellar, but he's a hard-nosed manager who won't take any shit from superstar crybabies who can't field their position. You give this guy a talented team in a division that's actually winnable and I think he could do for the Cubs what Quennville did for the Hawks. Or what John Madden and Ron Gardenhire have done for their teams.

2. Go Younger

I know that this is going to be hard to do, as some of our big fat contracts are for players over the 30 year mark. Soriano obviously isn't going anywhere, as no one is going to be dumb enough to take that contract, so you're stuck with him. Trade Kosuke Fukudome (which should have been done mid-May, while he was scorching the ball) and start playing Tyler Colvin every day. Hell, even if you can't trade Kosuke, start playing Tyler Colvin every day. And while you're at it, Xavier Nady is only allowed to pinch hit off the bench. Maybe, maybe, a spot start every once in a while to keep his bat fresh, but if I'm the Cubs, Colvin and Byrd have to play almost every day. The days where you have to give Nady a start, Colvin plays left and Soriano sits.

This really hurts me to say, but I would also trade Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Zambrano, either by the trade deadline or the offseason. Ramirez has had a bad year, but there are plenty of teams who would take a chance on him rebounding, the Angels for one. And Zambrano may have gotten off to a shaky start and endured the bullpen nonsense, but he's still a solid arm that a lot of teams would covet. Those two guys are my favorite current Cubs and I would hate to see them go, but I think that's the only way the Cubs could get some decent prospects in return. I would also trade Ryan Theriot and go with a platoon of Fonetenot and Baker until some of the younger middle infielders are ready. It's time for the Cubs to really use the farm and bring more guys up to join Colvin, Castro, and Soto.

3. Resign Derrek Lee.

Whoa, wait a minute, Goreo, I thought you just said the team needs to get younger. I did, but Derrek Lee is an exception because he's the Cubs' Jonathon Toews. I would even give him the "C" to wear on his jersey. He's the quiet leader who leads by example and he and Marlon Byrd could provide the player-level leadership the Cubs will need over the next couple of seasons. Like Toews, Derrek's intangibles outweigh his age. Plus, the Cubs don't yet have a legitimate replacement in their system. Micah Hoffpauier is not that guy. Neither is Alfonso Soriano, whose name has come up as a possibility to move to first. The Cubs need to keep Derrek for the same reason the Rockies keep Todd Helton around. He may not be a 3-4 hitter in the seasons to come, but his value goes beyond what he can do with the bat.

4. Have a Plan

The Blackhawks seemed to have a plan. Draft well and build the team slowly, add free agents who fit in with the team being constructed, and exercise patience. Their plan came to fruition earlier than it was supposed to, but only because of the talent level the team possessed. If the Cubs exercised a similar plan over the next five years, they could do what the Hawks have done and build a solid team of young fundamentally sound ballplayers. In order to do that, obviously the Ricketts have to clean house, because this plan will never work with Jim Hendry in charge. I would try and steal someone from the Rays, the Twins, or maybe try and get Kevin Towers on the North Side. The baseball draft is always a crap shoot, but do the best you can to draft fundamentally sound players and trade your veterans for the same. The current Cub plan seems to be throwing money at veterans and hyping the wrong prospects and then destroying a player's value before dumping him off on some other team. Great plan.

That's four things I could think of. If the Cubs do decide to get younger, they'll probably lose a bunch of games over the next few years. I'm fine with that at this point. If they're gonna suck, I'd rather watch a young team suck as they grow into the game rather than a bunch of overpaid vets who still can't field the ball. Start now and maybe by 2015, the Cubs could be real contenders. The way they're going now, the payroll keeps going up while their place in the standings keeps going down. Time for a change.

Holy crap, what a game! Patrick Kane scores in overtime to secure the Blackhawks' first Stanley Cup in 49 years! My God, what a damn nailbiter. Awesome game, awesome series, and a freaking great season from Chicago's best sports team. The Flyers put up a helluva fight and this series was sometimes gut-wrenching to watch. Final score Hawks 4, Flyers 3.

I'm so excited right now, I don't know what to do with myself. The only thing sweeter would be a Cubs World Series win. Just a few quick hits: Big Buff scored yet again, Patrick Sharp and Andrew Ladd also had goals for the Hawks. Antti Niemi made some incredible stops. Captain Johnny Toews was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Stanley Cup playoff MVP. Marion Hossa wins his first Stanley Cup in his third straight attempt.

If I didn't have to work tomorrow, I would so be drinking right now. Way to go Hawks! Respect the Indian!

December 18, 2009 was a day that saw many Seattle Mariners and Chicago Cubs fans mutually happy. A majority of Cubs fans were happy to see Milton Bradley go and many Mariners fans were elated to accept him for what they considered to be a cancerous Silva.

In fact, a Seattle Times poll asked fans what they thought of the trade. An astounding 11,022 (93%) voters said, "Yes" it was a good deal back in December. That was compared to 822 (7%) that thought it was a bad move.

To this point Silva has been a sparkling gem to an otherwise dull season start. Currently he is the only Cubs starter that has a winning record. At 8-0 he has the best start to a season since Ken Holtzman went 9-0 in 1967. My father was 8.

Silva has a legitimate shot at being the only Cubs player to make the All-Star game, but that might not be the only great moment of his season. June 22-24 the Cubs play a series at Safeco Field and it's looking as if Silva will have a shot at pitching against the club and fans that couldn't wait to see him leave on June 24th.

Not that anyone out there who still reads this website cares, but last week my alma mater, Illinois Wesleyan University, won the Division III World Series 17-5 over SUNY Cortland. Congrats to the Titans on a great season. If you give a shit, you can read more here. The Titans were 31 and 21 for the season. Way to go fellas!

It's been a while since I actually wrote something about baseball, but given that my internet connection kept crapping out the last few times I've tried to write about the Blackhawks, I'm taking that as a sign that I need to actually put up a Cubs post (That and with one win needed to secure a Stanley Cup, I'm too damn nervous to write anything worth a shit about hockey anyway).

Anyway, I had kind of an off the wall idea the other day that I'd like to share: trade Ryan Theriot. Look, I know the guy is a fan favorite and all, but with the addition of Starlin Castro, the Cubs have a plethora of middle infielders right now, plus more of them in our system (Darwin Barney, DJ LeMahieu, etc). Of all of them, Theriot is probably the most attractive trade chip, at least in my opinion. And I'll be honest, I've never really gotten the whole The Riot lovefest thing in Chicago. I'm not saying I actively hate the guy, like Bad Kermit over at HJE, but if he were on a different team tomorrow, I'd shrug and go "Meh". Mike Fontenot and Jeff Baker could easily platoon at 2nd for the rest of the season and probably combine for equal or better numbers than Theriot.

I even have a destination in mind: San Diego. Why San Diego? Why not? They've put together a good season to this point and unless something drastic happens, they're likely to be buyers rather than sellers, but they're still not going to be able to buy much with their payroll as it is. Currently, they're running the corpse of David Eckstein out there at short and maybe they'd like the 2010 version. Right now shortstop Everth Cabrera is on the DL and they've recalled some kid named Zawadzki to fill in. With his ability to play short and second, Theriot would give them some flexibility and he'd fit right in with their current youth movement.

And the return? Tim Stauffer. The Padres have a lot of good young pitching, so I think they could afford to give up Stauffer, who's rehabbing in Triple A after an emergency appendectomy. Stauffer's been great as a starter, but he's also logged some bullpen time. He could be a fantastic addition to the Cubs relief core. In 23.1 innings pitched this year, Stauffer has 2 wins, 19 Ks, and an 0 .39 ERA with a 0.94 WHIP. Not too shabby. I'd love to see him pitch out of the bullpen and maybe compete for a rotation spot next season.

Let's be clear: this is not a trade rumor. It's bad speculation at best. Could this trade ever happen? Probably not. So why did I write the post? Probably for the same reason you read it.

Welcome to This Week on "The Cubs," where we attempt to inject story and plot to a team that can occasionally make getting through a season unbearable. By treating it like a TV show, we can at least hold out hope that something amazing/cathartic/non rage inducing will happen to resolve things comfortably by October.

Last Week

Our heroes were beset by as many divisional foes as humanly possible in a week's time. They fell, due to the dual menaces of offensive malaise and ... more offensive malaise. In managing to drop a game to the previously 0-7 Felipe Paulino, hardcore fans took solace in the fact that Zambrano didn't actively ruin the team's chances of victory. So yeah, it's one of those years...

This Week

- A trip to the barren Northland beckons, against a foe who the Cubs have not managed to get owned by. Recent results tell us that they will soon likely correct that oversight.

- The MLB draft approaches, and a bold choice must be made. ESPN says that the Cubs "aren't afraid to take risks," which, translated into actual meaning, means that the Cubs aren't afraid to pay an assload of money to a guy who will top out in Daytona.

- Two titans of the Second City will wrest for control of the Toxic Oil Spill Crosstown Piece of Shit Trophy. A rapt world will yawn and change the channel to reruns of Everybody Loves Raymond.

- Aramis Ramirez will face down his evil twin in a fight for his very soul. Unfortunately, the gun he needs to end the ordeal only has 9 bullets in the clip. Everyone knows that he requires 10 attempts to score one hit. Will he survive?

- Carlos Zambrano! Doin' stuff ... probably.

Adventure! Excitement! Mediocrity! All of that and more, this week, on "The Cubs."

I was hoping not to have to use the angry Khabibulin picture again this year, but it was too much to hope that the Blackhawks would sweep the Philadelphia Flyers. Once again, the game was decided by one goal, this time in an exciting overtime that ended with a Claude Giroux goal that slipped through goalie Antti Niemi. Niemi had a pretty solid night between the pipes, saving 28 of 32 attempts, but it wasn't enough to stop the home team. The Blackhawks got goals from defensemen Duncan Keith and Brent Sopel before the first line finally broke through in the third period with a goal from Patrick Kane.

The Flyers' defense has done a terrific job of holding down the first line and are taking some good shots at Niemi. One gets the feeling that the Hawks have yet to play their best hockey, as they've looked a little lackluster at times. The power play has been especially bad, as the Hawks have yet to score with the advantage, whereas the Flyers have converted on several. The Blackhawks need to fix the power play issues, tighten up the defense, and eliminate some of the bad turnovers. Despite the loss, I'm still impressed with Antti Niemi. He gave up several juicy rebounds in Game 3, at least one of which led to a goal, but by the end of the game, he had begun to control the puck better, making adjustments on the fly. This kid is really damn good. He learns from his mistakes and adapts to each team he faces. He'll be a restricted free agent at the end of the season and first priority needs to be tendering him a new contract.

Game 4 is Friday night in Philly. Hopefully, the Hawks can play tough and steal a game on the road and come back to Chicago and win it.

The Stanley Cup Finals are off to a roaring start as the Chicago Blackhawks have taken the first two games of the series from the Philadelphia Flyers. Game One on Saturday night was a slugfest, as neither team seemed able to maintain any sort of gameplan. Instead, scoring yo-yo-ed between the two teams as both starting goalies surrendered five goals apiece. Troy Brouwer scored two goals while Kris Versteeg, Dave Bolland, and Patrick Sharp provided the other Chicago goals through the second period. The Flyers would pull goalie Patrick Leighton after Brouwer's second goal gave the Hawks a brief 5-4 lead. The game was deadlocked at five apiece entering the third. Tomas Kopecky would score the sixth Hawk goal off of backup goalie Brian Boucher. Kopecky was only playing due to the injury to Andrew Ladd and hadn't played for five games, but he didn't show any rust at all. Final Score: 6-4 Hawks

Game One was sloppy on both sides. The Hawks' defense was especially suspect and many of the Flyer goals were the result of turnovers. Niemi wasn't as sharp as he had been in the San Jose series and that coupled with the sloppy play led to such a high scoring game. Both teams vowed that Game Two would be a more polished affair.

True to their word, the second matchup was a lower-scoring contest. Game Two was also more physical, with the Flyers adding volatile winger Daniel Cacillo to the mix. There were a lot more dustups and some heavy hitting on both sides. In the end, as it has for most of the postseason, it came down to Antti Niemi and his 32 saves. The young Finn stopped all but one Flyer shot. Luckily, Marion Hossa and Ben Eager combined to give the Hawks the one goal edge over their Eastern Conference opponents, scoring within seconds of each other in the second period. Niemi was beaten on a power play early in the third period, but he made the 2-1 lead stand up, stopping 14 shots in the final period alone. Final Score 2-1 Hawks.

The series now moves to Philadelphia. If the Hawks are going to continue their success, they need to tighten up the defense, which while better than in Game One, still allowed the Flyers too many opportunities. As good as Niemi has been, those kind of shooting opportunities will eventually lead to Philadelphia goals. It was nice to see Marion Hossa score last night. He's been a standout player in the playoffs, doing a lot of the little things to help the Hawks win, but has few goals to show for his efforts. One thing I'm sick to death of hearing about is the so-called "Hossa curse" or that Hossa doesn't show up in the playoffs. A few more big games from the Slovakian should put that nonsense to bed.