Hawks Ready and Eager for Playoff Push

[Femur]

Hawks Ready and Eager for Playoff Push

da Hawks Beat, by Buster Hymen

Big expectations often lead to big disappointments say the cynics; and there is plenty of overlap in the subsets of cynics and Blackhawk fans. This season surely looked like a broken record (EDITOR'S NOTE: excuse the mixed metaphor, he's rolling); bad goal tending, porous defense, and all around lackluster play seemed to by the byline for this season as da Hawks staggered into Thanksgiving (EDITOR'S NOTE 2: American Thanksgiving...the one in late November).

Then, something happened. That something (of all things) was the return of Ben Eager from an injury sustained in the first game of the season. In what most hockey fans probably considered an irrelevant transaction along the lines of "Levi Nelson sent to minors" (EDITOR'S NOTE 3: no offense to Mr. Nelson or his family; once again, Buster is rolling) has turned out to be...well, a turning point for da Hawks.

In just 14 games of his return (EDITOR'S NOTE 4: its 15 games), Eager has registered an astounding 38 hits, and even provided a surprising amount of offense (4 goals, including two in the win Monday night). He has lit a fire under the loafing Hawks who raised their December record to 5-1.

Will the Hawks get back into the playoff mix? They are certainly swimming against a strong tide in their uphill climb (EDITOR'S NOTE 5: again, with the mixed metaphors...you know, Buster, writing is your job!), but as the the poet Horace once said, "A deed that is begun is a deed half done" (EDITOR'S NOTE 6: the actual quote is "he has the deed half done who has made a beginning) (WRITER'S NOTE: my translation is better, as I took some liberties from the original Greek, and now it rhymes) (EDITOR'S NOTE 7: Horace wrote in Latin, not Greek)(WRITER'S NOTE 2: go push some more pencils, geek, and let me write). Where was I? Ah yes, with 13 losses already, a tough Western Conference, and bad seasons from the likes of key players like Neimi, Huet, Big Buf, and Dave Bolland it still could be a lottery year for da Hawks, but if Ben Eager has anything to say about it, that ain't happening.