Die Macht » BYU and Hawaii. Good thing the flights are lo

CHICAGO - Marian Hossa and the Chicago Blackhawks were well aware theyd been playoff underachievers since they captured the Stanley Cup in 2010. Now, theyre eyeing another championship. And they just took an important step toward it. Hossa scored twice to back a strong effort by goalie Corey Crawford, and Chicago beat the Minnesota Wild 5-1 Thursday night to win the first-round playoff series 4-1. The Blackhawks will face either San Jose or Detroit, if the Red Wings get past Anaheim, in the next round. "We knew we hadnt done it in two years," Hossa said. "Minnesota, they still have a great team and are missing some players. We found a way. Now we get ready for the next round." The way the Blackhawks have dominated, anything less than a trip to the Stanley Cup finals would be a disappointment for them. They got off to a record start and captured the Presidents Trophy for finishing with more points than any other team. Now, theyre eyeing the biggest prize of all. And after bowing out in the first round the past two years, they sure are looking good. Even so, coach Joel Quenneville insisted they need to step it up a notch. "Its not the regular season," he said. "Theres another appetite that weve got to get as well. I dont think we should be happy where were at with our play. Lets get angry as we go along here." Hossa scored off a feed from Jonathan Toews late in the first period. Marcus Kruger made it 2-0 with a wraparound early in the second, and Hossa chased the Wilds Josh Harding when he knocked in a rebound minutes later. Then, after Torrey Mitchell scored for Minnesota, Chicagos Andrew Shaw scored against Darcy Kuemper. Patrick Sharp added his fifth goal of the series early in the third period, and that was more than enough for Crawford. Coming off his second career playoff shutout, he saved 21 shots, and his performance in this series went a long way toward winning over a fan base wondering if he had the makeup to succeed in the post-season. After all, he let in some bad goals against Phoenix a year ago. "Im not the only guy in the league thats given up soft goals in the playoffs," Crawford said. "You guys like to keep telling me about it, but its something youre trying to learn from and trying to make yourself better from it." The Blackhawks became the third team to advance in this post-season, along with San Jose and Ottawa. They also bucked a recent trend of early exits for Presidents Trophy winners. The team with the most regular-season points had been eliminated in the first round in three of the previous four years. The Wild were hoping to replicate what the Los Angeles Kings did last year and win the Stanley Cup as the eighth seed, but the Blackhawks simply had too much skill, speed and depth. The Wild were also short-handed after losing one of their top scorers in Dany Heatley to season-ending left shoulder surgery late in the season. They also had to get by without goalie Niklas Backstrom after he suffered a leg injury in warm-ups before Game 1. That forced the Wild to go with Harding, who played in just five games during the regular season after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis last summer. "It was a kind of a curveball there, but I thought Josh played very well. I was very happy for him and way that he handled everything," the Wilds Matt Cullen said. Harding also got banged up in this series. He left Game 4 after a collision with Toews in which his legs got straddled around the left goal post, and he wasnt sharp in this one, allowing three goals on 18 shots even though he was deemed well enough to start. Coach Mike Yeo turned to Kuemper after Hossas second goal. He also insisted the injury in Game 4 wasnt a factor in Hardings performance in this one. "It wasnt," Yeo said. "I dont want to pin this loss on Josh, either. Credit them and their team." There was also a question about Yeos job security after this loss. The Wild were widely considered Stanley Cup contenders after they gave free agents Zach Parise and Ryan Suter identical 13-year, $98 million contracts last summer. But they never quite lived up to expectations. "I cant answer that," Yeo said. "All I can say is if you want to look at it objectively, statistically, if you really want to look at it properly, then thereve been a lot of improvements in our organization and our team. I feel that were going in the right direction." For a moment, the Wild looked like they might get back into this one. Moments after Minnesotas Jared Spurgeon hit the right post, Mitchell ripped a one-timer past Crawford midway through the second period. But Shaw answered 35 seconds later with his first career playoff goal when he swept the puck in from a bad angle just to the right of the net, making it 4-1. As for Crawford, there was some debate in Chicago over whether he or Ray Emery should be the No. 1 goalie in the playoffs. Both were terrific during the regular season. Emerys lower body injury ended the discussion, and Crawford was nothing but solid in this series. "Hes making saves that he needs to make and hes making saves that he shouldnt be making," Sharp said. "When he does that, it breeds confidence throughout the lineup and it filters through everybody." He even had the fans chanting his name at several points. For example, when Crawford stopped a routine shot by Jason Pominville from the wing and scrambled back toward the middle of the net for a neat pad save against Mikko Koivu on the rebound. That foiled another power play by the Wild after they went 0 for 15 in the first four games. "I definitely heard (the chants)," Crawford said. "Its nice. It was a good feeling. Theyve been hard on me at times this year, obviously, but thats a part of it. They want the best. They expect us to be at our best. Its only fair." Notes: Blackhawks C Dave Bolland and Emery remain sidelined by lower body injuries, although Quenneville said theyre "real close." Bolland said its 50-50 he would have been able to play if "it was do or die" for the Blackhawks, but he expects to be ready in the next round. ... Quenneville moved ahead of Mike Keenan and took sole possession of second place on the Blackhawks playoff wins list with 34. Billy Reay is the club record-holder with 57 from 1963-77. Cheap Shoes From China .C. at the helm of the top team in the Eastern Conference. His tenure as the GM in Vancouver was all too brief. Though he led the Canucks to what was then a franchise record-shattering campaign in just his second season, Nonis was gone and replaced one year later. China Shoes Free Shipping . Philadelphia is 2-0 against the Senators this season and scored five goals in each victory. The Flyers recorded a 5-0 win in Ottawa on Nov. 12 and then earned a 5-2 home decision on Nov. 19. The Flyers have claimed three straight and four of the last five encounters with the Sens overall and Philly has won two in a row and three of its past four tests in Canadas capital city. https://www.chinashoesshop.com/ . Brad Jacobs and his Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., team took control of the game early. Fake China Shoes . Three came down to the fourth quarter while quarterbacks continued to shine in all four games; so important to the overall quality of the game. China Shoes Wholesale .com) - Richie Incognito has reportedly been admitted to a psychiatric care unit in Arizona. The Bottom 10 Inspirational Thought of the Week:Over the rainbow a Kansas tornado can twist up a little girls head. Aunt Ems on relief and the tinmans a thief and even the wizard cant wake the dead.La la la la la la la la la.-- Magdalene Lane, Don McLeanHere at Bottom 10 headquarters, located in the coat closet of the laboratory where Heather Dinich calculates her College Football Playoff scenarios, we, like the playoff selection committee, rode out the storm of Week 11 like Lieutenant Dan atop the mast of Forrest Gumps shrimp boat.One by one, top-15 teams lost games in which they were favored by 20-plus points. No one seemed willing or worthy to snatch the crown being dangled before them. Meanwhile, our dilemma at the bottom of the charts was the same ... sort of.Dangled in front of our teams was a chance to sit atop the bottom of the standings. But where the playoff hopefuls kept inexplicably losing, the Bottom 10s hopeless kept impossibly winning. FIU once held down the No. 1 spot, but won. FAU took it over, but won ... over Rice ... who took it over and then on Saturday they won, too.Honestly, it gets a little insulting, not to mention lonely. We cry into the night, Does no one want to hang out with us? Then, just as reach the point of desperation, an old friend pops up out of nowhere to greet us. Like, literally.With apologies to L. Frank Baum and Steve Harvey, heres this weeks Bottom 10.1. Kansas Nayhawks (1-9)Yes, Kansas, the 2015 Bottom 10 runners-up, have suddenly made a late dash to the top of the bottom thanks to its loss in Pillow Fight of the Century 2: Electric Boogaloo. KU fell into the funnel of the Iowa State Cyclones in the Auntie Em Bowl. The good news in Lawrence, as we explained, is that the 2016 trend is for teams to not occupy this spot for very long. The better news is that college basketball has started.2. Fres-no State (1-9)Joining Kansas as the only other one-win FBS team are the Bulldogs, who spent their off week hiring former Cal head coach Jeff Tedford. At the news conference, the Fresno State alum and former QB said I do bleed Bulldog Red because Ive been here. Coach, anyone who has been there this season has bled plenty.3. In a Rut-gers (2-7)Whats that you say, Michigan State? You were in the playoff one year ago and this year youre a total mess? You started the season ranked 12th but fell faster than a green bowling ball off the top of Spartan Stadium? You say you need a shot of confidence to get your mind right? Take two of these scarlet R-shaped pills and call me in the morning.4. Texas State Armadillos (2-8)You know things arent going you way when Idaho, a school going back to FCS, just rolled you 47-10 to achieve bowl eligibility. This week the Arma ... er, Bobcats travel to fellow 2-7er New Mexico State in Pillow Fight of the Week IX. Or is it X? Or maybe its XI? Whatever it is, itll be X-rated.5. ACC Coastal (Something-and-2 or worse)North Carolina had to beat Duke and didnt. Virginia Tech hhad to beat Georgia Tech and didnt.ddddddddddddNow they are both 7-3 overall and 5-2 in the ACC and will provide zero résumé help to Clemson in the relocated ACC championship game, help that the Tigers now need because they just lost to four-loss Pitt, also from the ACC Coastal. This division is like your transient uncle. Every time you think hes gotten his act together, you invite him back for Thanksgiving, but he always ends up sneezing into the turkey and picking his nose in the family portrait.6. Rice (2-8)Rice lost Pillow Fight of the Century I: The Owl Bowl to FA(not I)U, but then followed up with a win over frequent Bottom 10 resident Charlotte. Now they will face UTEP to see who will finish in the basement of Conference USA West. I was once in that basement. Its full of old Houston, Memphis and TCU media guides and one wall has a giant AMERICAN CONFERENCE SUX painted on it.7. Georgia State Not Southern (2-8)Speaking of the return of old friends...this weekend Georgia State Not Southern will host Georgia Southern Not State in the Georgia Dome, just south of the Georgia Aquarium and Georgia Tech, located 1.3 miles from the Georgia State Capitol, which is adjacent to the Georgia State campus, which sits between the headquarters of both the Georgia Department of Agriculture and Georgia-Pacific. Next year Georgia State will play at Turner Field, which is on Georgia Avenue. Within the 4-square-mile area I just described there are also six Waffle Houses, which is the most Georgia thing about this entire paragraph.8. UMess (2-8)The Minutemen lost in OT to the Fightin Byes of Open Date U and will now close out the season with trips to BYU and Hawaii. Good thing the flights are long. They need to study. Have you ever heard a bunch of guys with New England accents try to pronounce Samoan and Hawaiian names? Thaht BYU coach is wicked smaht. Whahts tha kids name? Kawh-lawh-nah Sawh-tawh-kah?9. Buffalo (2-8)Oh, OK, I see how it is. All season long Ive been trying to get College GameDay to do their show from a Bottom 10 game. Now theyre going to Western Michigan because the Broncos are undefeated, but well be monitoring the situation to make sure Buffalo receives equal time ... and to count how many times Coach Corso calls the Bulls the Bills.10. Arizon-ugh (2-8)Just as Kansas and Iowa State played for the bottom of the Big 12 and Rice and UTEP will play for the bottom of C-USA West and Rutgers and Michigan State played for ... oh, you get the premise here, right? Arizona will travel to Ore-gone State, a faceoff of the worst teams in each Pac-12 division. The loser will immediately be traded to the Big 12 for Oklahoma and a plate of burnt ends.Waiting list: I-Ow!-State (2-8), Bowling Green (2-8), Oregone State (2-8), New Mexico State (2-7), EC-Yew (3-7), San Jose Can You See...being 3-7, the Week 12 schedule. ' ' '