Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports
You just knew something bad would happen between the Chicago Blackhawks and Vancouver Canucks. The heated rivalry makes for entertaining hockey, to say the least. Monday night was just a burning trash heap of a game, and while we can blame the players, there was an omen that things wouldn’t be good.
I was going to pinpoint something about this game, anything that would redeem it. Aside from the flukey goal that Daniel Carcillo scored, the only thing I can think of is that Corey Crawford valiantly tried to save his team’s collective behind. But Crawford is only one man, he can only do so much.
There’s no easy explanation for what coach Joel Quenneville called “the worst game of the year”. This was worse than losing to the Colorado Avalanche. So let me just run with my theory (which I will believe until the end of time, thank you).
It was a perfect storm of sports in Chicago: the Blackhawks were in Vancouver, the Chicago Cubs were in Cincinnati and the Chicago Bulls were in a playoff game in Brooklyn. Because of this, the baseball and basketball games were on Comcast SportsNet and its companion channel, and the Blackhawks game would be on CSN afterward because of the late start. But then the Cubs game ran late, and the Blackhawks were shoved onto a channel that can only be described as off-off Broadway. The telecast was, well, really bad.
CSN then moved the Blackhawks to the main channel, but it’s like the Cubs had already tainted them. The Blackhawks avoided the shutout but lost 3-1, and the Cubs eventually blew their lead and lost.
It’s not the loss that stings, it’s that the Blackhawks lost to the Canucks that really hurts. So thanks, Chicago Cubs, for jinxing them. Just leave them alone for the playoffs.
