Round One: Calgary @ Chicago

Jarome and the Flames will comme out gunning.

Pierre McGuire will be wearing his Flames tie.

HA HA! I missed his insinuation about the racial slurs... when was this?

shabbs wrote:HA HA! I missed his insinuation about the racial slurs... when was this?

During the game...

McGuire always says whatever comes into his head LOL

Chicago Blackhawks and Calgary Flames trade barbs about physical play

Adam Burish and Rene Bourque put friendship on hold

By Shannon Ryan | Chicago Tribune reporter
April 22, 2009

CALGARY, Canada — Adam Burish wouldn't mind grabbing a drink with Rene Bourque ... after the season.

The opponents and friends, who played at Wisconsin and in Chicago together, engaged in some end-of-game fisticuffs in Game 3 that demonstrated how the Western Conference quarterfinal between the Blackhawks and Flames has transformed into something like "The Hills" meets MMA fighting. The physical and catty fighting has added drama into the playoffs series.

"It's mean and nasty and competitive," Burish said Tuesday, smiling through a 10-minute interview with reporters. "I'm still going to hopefully have a beer with him after the season is done, but he's not my friend on the ice."

The first three games of the best-of-seven series had their share of hard hits. But Game 4 at Pengrowth Saddledome on Wednesday night should be a fireworks display based on the fuse that was lit at the end of Monday night's 4-2 Flames victory. The Flames will try to even the series 2-2 before heading back to Chicago.

The lasting images from Game 3 were Burish breaking his stick across Bourque's shoulder and a fuming Flames winger Jarome Iginla yelling in front of the Hawks' bench after a melee.

Calgary coach Mike Keenan said the Hawks engaged in dirty tactics, while the Hawks accused the Flames of too much post-whistle hitting. The league sent out a memo asking teams to cut back on trash talking and curb their actions after plays.

"People call it message-sending," Burish said. "Well, the entire playoffs is message-sending."

The Flames were upset Burish didn't receive a suspension for his actions against Bourque, whom Keenan said is considered day-to-day as the result of an injury from Burish's high cross-check. Bourque, an ex-Hawk, did not practice during Tuesday's voluntary workout and was not available to the media.

Keenan said Burish broke his stick across Bourque's face, but replays contradict that claim.

"I think there's enough cameras around here … that you can take a look at it and it wasn't too close to the head," Burish said. "I wasn't too worried about [a suspension]. I knew the reason I did it. I don't have anything to be sorry about."

He said Bourque has played "with an edge" in the series, and Burish responded to the physicality.

Keenan said the Hawks were out of line.

"There's no place in the game for those tactics," he said.

Hawks coach Joel Quenneville did not want to engage in the back-and-forth, saying a news conference wasn't the "right forum" to respond to Keenan's accusations.

Fighting at the end of the game was a response to the roughing they experienced after plays through the game, Hawks players said.

"It's easy to criticize a guy for coming after one of their players who was hitting high on us all series," center Jonathan Toews said. "It was a little more blatant than the stuff that was going on after the whistle through the entire game. [We] sent a message; at the end of the day, we're not going to take that stuff."

It's not just physical play that upset Keenan, who said Iginla was the target of "verbal abuse."

Iginla said he was upset about the fight with Bourque, not that the Hawks were launching insults at him. The Hawks have kept Iginla in check through the series, allowing him just one goal.

"Verbally, you can take that and maybe dish it out a little bit," he said. "We'd rather dish it out physically and as a team keep getting results."

Burish, who is sporting a black right eye, seems to relish in the physical—and personal—tone the game has taken. He promised there wouldn't be many dull moments ahead.

"All the fans here are going to be in for a treat," he said. "It's going to be a blast. It's going to be a war. It's going to be mean. It's going to be nasty, and that's what I love."

Those playoff beards again...

So, what's this I hear about Kane having a "slight fever and sore throat" that kept him out of the last game?

What?

This is the PLAYOFFS!

Get shot-up and play!

shabbs wrote:So, what's this I hear about Kane having a "slight fever and sore throat" that kept him out of the last game?

What?

This is the PLAYOFFS!

Get shot-up and play!

If by 'slight fever' you mean he's tossing his cookies every 10 minutes or so...

504Heater wrote:

shabbs wrote:So, what's this I hear about Kane having a "slight fever and sore throat" that kept him out of the last game?

What?

This is the PLAYOFFS!

Get shot-up and play!

If by 'slight fever' you mean he's tossing his cookies every 10 minutes or so...

Because you can NEVER have too much information LOL...

From Yahoo Sports:

There were questions over whether Kane had the flu or was suffering from the thunderous check Bourque dealt him in Game 2 in Chicago. Kane wasn’t enlightening reporters, either.

“I had a funeral to go back to in Chicago. The goldfish that I had since I was 10 years old died so I had go back and say my prayers and flush him down the toilet,” Kane said. “I just bought a turtle.”

cool)

504Heater wrote:

shabbs wrote:So, what's this I hear about Kane having a "slight fever and sore throat" that kept him out of the last game?

What?

This is the PLAYOFFS!

Get shot-up and play!

If by 'slight fever' you mean he's tossing his cookies every 10 minutes or so...

Hadn't heard anything about tossing any cookies... have you?

quite a player this young Patrick Kane...

shabbs wrote:
If by 'slight fever' you mean he's tossing his cookies every 10 minutes or so...

Hadn't heard anything about tossing any cookies... have you?[/quote]

To be honest, no, but if Kane is missing a game - and if it is indeed flu related, you can bet that he was filling buckets and buckets with puke. No one would miss a playoff game - especially not a young buck like that.

But...maybe it is because of the hit he took.

504Heater wrote:To be honest, no, but if Kane is missing a game - and if it is indeed flu related, you can bet that he was filling buckets and buckets with puke. No one would miss a playoff game - especially not a young buck like that.

But...maybe it is because of the hit he took.

Hoping The Kaner is back 2nite...he is one talented fellow.

I guarantee he will be. There's no holding down a 20 year old boy in his first playoffs.

I hope we don't draft his brother Evander just because of the name.

SeawaySensFan wrote:I hope we don't draft his brother Evander just because of the name.

:afro:

and we're on!

kane has one and iggy got one 1-1