Hawks Move On

ROUND 2 FOR THE HAWKS!! WOOOO

Hawks Win!

The Hawks won tonight with a final game score of 5-1!! They are now leading 3-2 over Calgary in round #1 of the playoffs.

Forgot to Mention...

I forgot to include this detail regarding the playoffs:

• The 7 games that are played each round are rotated between the 2 teams home stadiums; however, a benefit for the team who finished with a higher ranking, is that they have game 7 played  at home. For example, the Hawks are ranked 4th and Calgary is 5th, so the Hawks play the first 2 games home, the next 2 at Calgary, the next 1 home, the following at Calgary, and if they are tied with 3 games each, the 7th game will be home for the Hawks

Playoffs for Dummies

Here's how the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs work:

• The No. 1 seated team plays No. 8, No. 2 vs. No. 7, No. 3 vs. No. 6, and No. 4 plays No. 5
• The Hawks ended the season ranked No. 4, so they are playing Calgary (No. 5)
• There are 4 rounds in the playoffs and 7 games in each round
• The 7 games are alternated between the 2 teams home stadiums
• The first 2 games, the Hawks were home at the United Center (we WON these 2!)
• The second 2 games were played in Calgary (we unfortunately lost)
• Both teams will now come back to the United Center to play the 5th playoff game in the first round
• Right now they are tied 2-2...so the Hawks need to win this next game!!

Cheer on the Hawks as they play Calgary at the United Center on Saturday, April 25th at 8:00 p.m.!! GO BLACKHAWKS!!

Player Watch

Players to look out for against Calgary:

• Jarome Iginla--he has scored 35 goals this season for the Flames
• Todd Bertuzzi--he's a goon, we'll probably see a fight from him tonight
• Andre Roy--he's a big fighter

Game 2

Watch the Hawks as they play Game #2 of the playoffs against the Calgary Flames. The puck drops at 8:00 p.m. tonight at the United Center. If you can't get to a TV, be sure to check out the score throughout the game here.

Playoffs

The Blackhawks are in the playoffs!! They had their first playoff game against Calgary on Thursday night. They won in overtime 3-2; Havlat scored the winning goal.

Easter With the Hawks

My family and I will be spending Easter as we do every year--with the Blackhawks! Come join us and support the Hawks in their final game of the season; they will be playing the Detroit Red Wings again at 1:00pm. In addition, the Hawks will be giving away their jerseys at the end of the game.

Blackhawks Fired Up

The Chicago Blackhawks played the Detroit Red Wings this afternoon...AND WON!! The Hawks beat the Red Wings 4-2, marking their first win over Detroit all year. It was Dustin Byfuglien's penalty shot that broke the tie with less than 30 seconds on the clock. He has been playing well recently--he must know he's trade bait. For more on the victory over Detroit check this out.

Playoff Standings

Western Conference Playoff Standings:

1. San Jose Sharks

2. Detroit Red Wings

3. Vancouver Canucks

4. Chicago Blackhawks

5. Calgary Flames

6. Columbus Blue Jackets

7. Anaheim Ducks

8. St Louis Blues

The Baseball Strike of '94 Inevitable

The 1994 Major League baseball strike was inevitable; the players thought the 232-day long strike was how best to proceed following the deteriorating financial situation in baseball.

Between the salary cap and revenue sharing, and in addition, commissioners holding all of the power, it was no surprise the years of tension led to what became the 13^th work stoppage in the history of baseball.

A timeline of baseball salary as stated by John Helyar in Lords of the Realm:

· 1 1984

o -The PRC would push for some major structural changes: a cap on team payrolls, for one, and a cap on the maximum raise in salary arbitration

o 21 of 26 teams lost money, for a combined operating loss of $41 million

· 1990

o Bud Selig and Jerry Reinsdorf favored a lockout in the hopes of achieving the goal of determining salaries of players with under 6 years’ service by a statistical formula

o PRC brought the idea of a “revenue participation” plan to the table. It stated that the players would get 48% of the gross

In a span of 10 years, the PRC made many poor attempts at compromising with the needs and requests of the players.

But the salary cap, though a large factor in the strike, wasn’t the only reason players were infuriated; there was also the idea of revenue sharing.

While some may argue that revenue sharing could be seen as a positive aspect, as the smaller teams would benefit, it only heightened tension. There was no way that the larger city owners would agree to help out teams in smaller cities. The idea of balance doesn’t quite factor in when owners are clearly only concerned with the success of their team.

Finally, a dictatorship didn’t work for Hitler, I don’t know why people would think it could work for baseball. The commissioner at the time, Fay Vincent, had all the power—what a bad idea—all the power and yet no concern for the players or their demands. The commissioner remained focused on one thing—himself! It’s a good thing he was forced to resign in 1992.

As with most mistakes, hopefully the strike of ’94 was a message learned.