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The Chicago Blackhawks fired assistant coach Mike Haviland on Tuesday, the team announced.

Haviland spent four years with the Hawks, and he shared duties coaching the disappointing power play and penalty kill.

He formerly coached the team's AHL affiliates in Norfolk and Rockford.

Thursday’s surprising news that Phoenix Coyotes forward Raffi Torres was appealing his 25-game suspension for hitting Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa in the head last month had a tinge of irony in that it came on the same day Hossa spoke publicly about the hit for the first time.

If commissioner Gary Bettman -- who will hear the appeal -- is going to take into account Hossa’s current health it’s even more doubtful he’ll reduce the suspension. Not surprisingly, Hossa didn’t sound his normal self in talking about one of the worst moments, if not the worst, of his great career.

While there is no reason to believe he won’t recover enough to play, by now everyone knows the longer-term dangers and uncertainty of head injuries. After such a devastating hit, will he be the same player? We won’t know until next season begins.

Torres appeal

Many hockey fans are probably confused by the appeals process. It’s rarely used and rarely results in a reduction of a suspension. Bettman was undoubtedly informed of -- if not in on -- the original punishment, so what would prompt him to change his decision?

The Torres camp and the NHLPA are already on record saying they want to know why the suspension was so severe. According to a source, one thing they would like to do is present evidence of similar hits by similar repeat offenders that resulted in substantially less severe punishments. They were not able to present such evidence in the original hearing with Brendan Shanahan. They’re hopeful they can do so with the commissioner, according the source.

The other notion they are interested in exploring is the idea that suspensions in the playoffs are normally smaller due to the importance one game in a series has -- as opposed to one of 82 regular-season contests. How many games, the source says, would Torres have received if this had been a regular season game and does the current punishment fit any past pattern?

The league can automatically turn down the appeal, ask for another in-person hearing or talk to Torres on the phone. Torres would undoubtedly like another face-to-face meeting, this time with the commissioner, to present his evidence and ask a broader range of questions.

Whatever the outcome it doesn’t help Hossa heal any quicker and that’s the most important part of the equation.

CHICAGO -- There will be more hockey this season for several Chicago Blackhawks, though it won’t be in North America. Getting knocked out in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs is allowing some of them to play in the World Championships being held in Finland and Sweden next month.

Patrick Sharp and Duncan Keith will play for Team Canada while Viktor Stalberg will suit up for Sweden.
Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane declined invitations from their respective countries.

“I think there is that element of uncertainty,” Toews said about a late season concussion. “The smart play is to rest and make sure everything is clear and it’s behind me. Obviously, I’d like to go and represent Canada every chance I get but right now it’s not the smartest thing to do.”

Kane sighted fitness and health as well. Kane had wrist surgery late in the offseason last summer limiting his ability to get in the best condition for the regular season.

“I think I’m just going to take the summer to rest and get excited about next season,” Kane said. “I’m healthy right now, I don’t want to risk that. I saw the difference it could make…I don’t think I was fully prepared for the season due to that.”

Sharp, Keith and Stalberg will leave very soon for Europe. The Championships conclude on May 20.

CHICAGO -- If there was one topic that came up over and over again as the Blackhawks met the media and cleaned out their lockers on Wednesday it was the subpar play of their special teams.

It prevented them from earning more points in the regular season and helped derail their playoff series with the Phoenix Coyotes. The power-play unit scored once in 19 tries in the postseason after finishing ranked 26th during the regular season. The penalty kill gave up four goals to the worst power-play team entering the playoffs on the same 19 chances. It was ranked 27th in the regular season.

“I’m going to absorb the responsibility for its ineffectiveness for the most part,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “Going forward as a staff we have to absorb some responsibility but the players have to as well. …Sharing that going forward has to be important.”

Of course it’s ultimately going to be on the players, but you can’t fire 23 players. You can change assistants though. Special teams and goaltending are usually handled by the lieutenants. Quenneville was asked if there would be any changes to his staff, especially due to the porous nature of their special teams play.

“All year long both coaches [Mike Haviland and Mike Kitchen] had a chance to be on both units, stints on the power play and penalty kill,” Quenneville responded. “At the end of the day we’re all sharing and talking in personnel options as far as execution as well. The power play was a sore point this year. Our penalty kill wasn’t much better when you look at the standings at the end of the year. Special teams can be a differential in games, it was in the last series. We have to be better.”

No one is questioning that but Quenneville never answered the question if changes to his coaching staff were imminent. Bowman left it up to him.

Some of Bowman’s harshest comments of the day were directed at the special teams.

“The results speak for themselves,” Bowman said. “They were a huge disappointment this year. It’s unacceptable to have the caliber of players we have and not have it work. Ultimately we have to improve that.”

And Quenneville was just as straightforward about his thinking for next year.

“Going forward it will be a point of emphasis,” Quenneville said. “Don’t expect to be on the power play, earn your right to be on the power play.”

The same should go for the Hawks’ penalty killing. Quenneville admitted his stars might not be the right ones to be killing penalties.

“Maybe the guys we do use on special teams ... you might say we work them up too much or they get too much ice time,” he said. “Committed to blocking shots or denying lanes makes you more effective as team…You can get guys to do whatever it takes to kill a penalty however we want to kill it and if guys aren’t willing to commit to doing what we want to do I think going forward someone else will get a chance. Whether it’s blocking a shot or denying a shot or laying down in front of a shot, that’s what it’s all about.”

The only question is why did it take 88 games for Quenneville and even Bowman to talk this tough about the special teams? Maybe they were doing it privately but players don’t really feel the heat until a coach is calling them out publicly. Hawks’ fans can only hope next year will be different because when it comes to the Hawks’ power play and penalty killing units, it can’t get much worse.

CHICAGO – With the Hawks entering an offseason of uncertainty, the team’s situation at second-line center looms as one of its biggest question marks.

A hole since last summer, the Hawks never really filled it to anyone’s liking.

Two in-house players emerged as possible candidates moving forward, Patrick Kane and Marcus Kruger. Kane was a first time center and Kruger is just 21 years old, so there is room for improvement for both.

Kruger did his best playing in a position he might not be ready for until a year or two from now. The Hawks asked too much of him, yet he did more than an admirable job. But it wasn’t long into the playoff series against the Phoenix Coyotes that he was replaced by Kane, who also had some good moments during the season.

“I like playing center,” Kane said as the team cleaned out its lockers on Wednesday. “You come up the ice with a lot of speed in the middle. It’s kind of natural for me to do that anyway. When I was playing wing I was kind of playing like a center anyway, coming back and getting the puck and trying to come up the ice. I’m fine with it. Sometimes it’s exciting to play some new positions whether it’s wing or center. You look at it, this year the team was successful when I was at center.”

The Hawks did get off to a good start with Kane in the middle, surprising many observers with his play. He finished the season there as well after Jonathan Toews went down with a concussion.

“Our team’s best record, and it coincided with Patrick’s best performance, was when he was in the middle,” general manager Stan Bowman explained. “Patrick carried our team the last month or five weeks of the season. He kind of put us on his back and got us into the playoffs. He stepped up and was our No.1 center for all those weeks…I think the notion that he can’t play center or isn’t good at center has been dispelled. Not only did our team play well when he was in the middle he played well. He had his most productive time when he was there.”

Both Kane and Bowman are forgetting about the middle portion of the season. Why was Kane ever moved back to wing if his time at center was so productive? In November, when the Hawks hit the road both before and during the annual circus trip, Kane was moved out from the middle. He struggled with road matchups in which opposing coaches can match up a bigger, stronger player against Kane. And his face-off percentage wasn’t very good. But it takes nothing away from how he finished the season without Toews in the lineup. Except he went back to wing when the playoffs started, until Kruger faltered. So which is better for him?

Joel Quenneville’s highest praise came for Kruger.

“Kane started off the year and did a nice job for us,” Quenneville said. “He did again at the end of the year but I think Kruger came in and did a real strong job as far as filling that need or that void or that niche…Is he qualified to put up the numbers a second line center would produce at? Hopefully he continues to get better. You like his upside as a player, you like his competitiveness, you think he has great instincts, intelligence as well. Offensively gifted, I don’t know if its high end second line center, but as an organization, you have some young centers.”

So Bowman likes Kane there and Quenneville kind of likes Kruger. The question for the Hawks is , are either qualified for that position on a championship caliber team? It sounds like Bowman already believes he knows the answer.

“Having him in the middle, he’s [Kane] certainly better than any other center that’s available,” Bowman declared.

That statement might be one of those defining ones for Bowman. If he’s right, the Hawks can allocate their resources elsewhere, possibly to improve an under-sized defense. If he’s wrong, they might end up back at square one a year from now. Or else an improving Kruger might have to give it a try again.

CHICAGO-- Goalie Corey Crawford was last to walk into the press room on the day when the Chicago Blackhawks cleaned out their lockers and said their goodbyes. He would be the last voice on the season that finished too early for fans and players alike. And in many people’s minds, the team’s early demise was partly on Crawford.

“I don’t think the whole year was negative,” Crawford said unprompted. “Obviously a disappointing finish, I thought we could have gone further. … It seemed like it was a year with a little bit more frustration [that] set in than it should have. ... but overall it wasn’t as bad a year as most people would think. I just have to make sure those down times aren’t as long, aren’t as bad for next season.”

So already Crawford is learning from his sub-par season. He can’t let bad goals or bad games carry over. It’s a good lesson to learn, but is it enough? Can the Hawks win the Stanley Cup with Crawford in net? We can safely say he’s no outright bust. He’s not Cristobal Huet. Many might think they know what he is, but in reality no one does. Not yet.

“The goalie growth chart, when you look at all the top goalies, you look at their sophomore season, it doesn’t quite measure up to their rookie year,” Joel Quenneville said before Crawford took to the media stand. “You look at a lot of goalies in the league, the longer they’re in the league the more effective they are. They get better and better with time. In Corey’s case we expect him to get better as we go along here. Having confidence and showing it in him is the right thing to do.”

That’s telling from a coach who has no issues with replacing his starter. Quenneville could have couched his words or been a little harsher, and no one would have blinked, probably not even Crawford. But maybe Quenneville has a point.

Take the three Vezina finalists for this season -- Jonathan Quick, Henrik Lundqvist and Pekka Rinne. Like Crawford, they broke in playing about half a season and they put up some decent numbers. Their second year, when asked to carry the load, the numbers were less impressive.

Quick went from a 2.48 goals-against average to 2.54, his save percentage went down from .914 to .907. Lundqvist from 2.24 to 2.34 and from .922 to .917. Rinne from 2.38 to 2.53 and .917 to .911. A more recent example is Detroit’s Jimmy Howard. His sophomore slump consisted of a goals-against average that went from 2.26 to a whopping 2.79 and a save percentage that dipped from .924 to .908.

Crawford’s numbers include a 2.30 goals-against average in 2010-2011 to 2.72 this year and his save percentage came down to .903 from .917.

The point of all this?

In all those cases -- and many others -- the goaltender in question rebounded to have a solid third season. The “sophomore slump” is not just a myth. Plenty of good current goaltenders had their dips, then came out of it better than ever. What’s to say Crawford won’t? His mental make-up isn’t off the charts, and his technique doesn’t need an overhaul.

In the middle of this past season, it was OK to ask for a new goalie for the stretch run. After all, who knows how long the window for the core group will be open, and it became obvious the Hawks weren’t going to win the Stanley Cup this year with Crawford in net. But now the season is over, and it’s time to focus on next year.

Though he dismissed the notion, there is something to be said about becoming the No. 1 goaltender, getting a new contract and potentially playing in more games than ever before -- at a position plenty would say is the most important one in sports.

“At every level it just gets magnified a little bit more,” Crawford said. “I experienced that this year. It’s something you learn from and try to get better from it.”

The Hawks will undoubtedly look at the history of the position and more than likely realize they would have to trade a core player to obtain an elite goaltender. Could they still have one in the making here?

No one knows, not yet.

ESPN NHL Analyst Barry Melrose discusses what the Blackhawks need to do heading into the offseason.

ESPNChicago.com writer Scoop Jackson is spending this week trying to prove that when it comes to sports, there is no city like Chicago.

Saturday

The day I decide not to go to see the Cubs is the day they decide to ball.

But when one has choices as one has today...

Option 1: Cubs vs. Reds
Option 2: Fire vs. FC (Toronto)
Option 3: White Sox vs. Mariners
Option 4: Wolves vs. Rampage
Option 5: Rush vs. Mustangs
Option 6: Bulls vs. Mavericks
Option 7: Blackhawks vs. Coyotes. Game 5

I don’t know if any other city in America can claim days like this on the calendar when it comes to professional sports. Seven teams all in action on one day.

Options.

So try doing this: Wake up at 5 a.m. to take youngest son to school on a Saturday because he’s in the band and the band is in a competition that starts at 7 a.m. Go back home. Take other son to driver’s education at another school at 10 a.m. Turn on WGN at noon to see what Cubs team is going to show up. Leave in the middle of the first inning to pick up kids. Return home, Cubs are winning 5-1. Find the Fire/Toronto match on TV. Scream “Goal!!!!!” 25 seconds into the match when the Fire score. Turn to White Sox game. Phil Humber looks good early. Go to get oil changed in the car. Come back, Humber still looks good. Leave home, head to United Center. Word is Derrick Rose might play. Get to UC, hear two words: Perfect game! Find out Rose is playing. Watch Bulls starting lineup start a game together for only the 13th time all season. Leave at halftime. Get home just in time for Game 5 puck drop. My son screams downstairs, “The Bulls are up by 10!” Go online to see Humber highlights. Text Kenny Williams. Check CN100 for Wolves update. They won. Eat dinner. Immerse myself into overtime No. 5. Goal! Text Blackhawks media relations coordinator for possible credentials to Game 6. Begin to write blog you are currently reading. Get response from Blackhawks: “See You Monday!”

The ability to watch, pay attention to or get locked into six professional games all in the same day? Unheard of. The chances of being a part of a day where the city you live in goes 7-0? Incredible. And, in the middle of it all, the 21st perfect game pitched in Major League history? Priceless.

We live for days like this. We live in Chicago because of days like this.

Scoop's Day 5

Scoop's Day 4

Scoop's Day 3

Scoop's Day 2

Scoop's Day 1

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- You’re going to hear a lot about heart and desire and determination regarding the Chicago Blackhawks’ thrilling 2-1 overtime win in Game 5 of their playoff series against the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday.

But make no mistake, there is one other thing that showed up for Chicago in staving off elimination: talent.

“They’re resilient, they’re competitive, they never say die,” coach Joel Quenneville said after the fifth consecutive overtime game in the series. “I still think going into today’s game one of the things we tried to stress is we haven’t played our best yet, and I think there is another level we have to get to and when we get [there] it’s going to feel great and taste great. So let’s think we’re getting there, and I think this was a major step in that direction.”

In fact, this could be the turning point.

Even with some of the Hawks’ stars not playing at their typical level against the Coyotes for most of the game, Chicago only let up for a portion of the second period -- and it almost cost the Hawks. But they were rewarded with a Nick Leddy goal to tie it in the third period and then the Jonathan Toews winner in overtime.

“That’s got to say something about our character and what we are able to do,” Toews said. “Especially against a team that late in games is so good at protecting leads and playing smart defensively and not making too many mistakes.”

Character was never really a question with the Hawks. Not with Toews in charge. The captain called his team together for a rare players-only talk on the ice Saturday morning, and then they went out and played a dominant game for about 60 minutes. That lapse in the second period, when Phoenix scored, was the only real downer of the night.

“We played our best game of the series,” Quenneville said. “Even when we were down 1-0 going into the third I still liked the way we were playing. … We didn’t give up much, we didn’t get a ton, but at least we had better pace in our team game.”

If there is any key word to the Quenneville era as coach of the Hawks it’s “pace.” When the Hawks have it going at the right tempo, few teams can match them. The problem in this series is the Coyotes’ full reliance on patience. An up-tempo pace can create mistakes, and the patient Coyotes have pounced. They have shown to be adept at the art of the counterpunch. Still, over the course of 60 minutes, if played the right way, the Hawks’ talent should simply win out.

“We dictated the play from the start,” Duncan Keith said. “We played hard the whole way through. It’s tough being behind by a goal when you are dictating most of the play. We stuck with it and finished it off in overtime.”

Think about it. Phoenix has scored on soft goals given up by Corey Crawford or on glaring mistakes by the defense, not on sustained pressure or waves of offense. In back-to-back games the Hawks gave up just 19 shots in over 60 minutes of play. That’s as good as it gets.

“This overtime period especially, we felt like this was our game and we were going to go out there and take it,” Toews said. “We want to feel like this game was a turning point for us in this series.”

And it just might have been. It’s the game the Hawks remembered they have more talent on their roster and to throw away a series -- at least in five games -- would be a missed opportunity.

“We played well in the first, thought we had a good second, and we were still hanging there for 60 minutes. We were doing what we wanted to do despite chasing it at the end.”

That’s all you can ask for, especially against this Coyotes team. Maybe the real Hawks just showed up.

Game 6 on Monday will confirm or deny that suspicion.

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The Chicago Blackhawks trail the Phoenix Coyotes 1-0 after two periods of Game 5 at Jobing.com arena.

The Coyotes got on the board after an odd man rush led to a Gilbert Brule score. For some reason Niklas Hjalmarsson was pinching down low in the offensive zone when the puck got turned over creating the 3-on-1 the other way. Brule fired the puck top shelf on Corey Crawford for the game’s only score.

Moments before that Crawford stopped Michal Rozsival after a Duncan Keith turnover as the Hawks had a poor start to the middle 20 minutes. The Hawks had better chances in the first period and are still outshooting the Coyotes 22 to 14. They haven’t had many dangerous scoring chances though.

The Hawks will start the third period shorthanded as Viktor Stalberg took a late tripping penalty. It was his third minor penalty of the game to go along with a slashing and roughing call.

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The Chicago Blackhawks and Phoenix Coyotes are scoreless after the first period of Game 5 at Jobing.com arena.

The Hawks outshot and outchanced the Coyotes in the opening 20 minutes, but back-to-back power plays produced little besides a couple of easy chances which Mike Smith stopped.

The visitors wasted 15 seconds of 5-on-3 time by losing the face-off and having to retrieve the puck in their own zone.

Phoenix also had a power-play chance but didn’t manage much in terms of scoring chances and finished with just four total shots on net. The Hawks had 12 and had the puck more on their stick than their opponent.

Through four games of their opening-round playoff series against the Phoenix Coyotes, the Chicago Blackhawks have scored exactly one goal in the second period.

They’ve scored early and they’ve scored some very late -- but not much has happened through the middle portion of games. This is no coincidence.

The Hawks are failing to listen to their coach -- at least for more than 20-30 minutes -- and it’s about to knock them out of the playoffs.

Patience is what Joel Quenneville has been preaching, and while they’ve gone about their business the correct way to start games, that patience has slowly turned into frustration and that’s what Phoenix has been capitalizing on.

“They’re a patient team,” Duncan Keith said Friday before the Hawks departed for Phoenix and Game 5. “You can give them some credit in that aspect. They wait around and wait for a mistake.”

Those mistakes start happening when the Hawks stop passing and shooting and try skating. Just ask Viktor Stalberg or Johnny Oduya. They were two of the culprits in some key turnovers.

Putting the puck on net is the most important aspect of staying patient. Shoot instead of skate.

“The more we throw at Smith, the more we get in front of him and get ugly goals, whether it goes in off a shin pad or off a stick, that’s what we need,” Keith said.

And that’s exactly what the Hawks' top players are getting away from. The reason Bryan Bickell, Brendan Morrison, Brandon Bollig and even Michael Frolik have scored in the series is simply because they are putting shots on net whenever they get the chance. The first three players in that group don’t have moves to go around the defense. But the Hawks' stars have those moves and think -- after failing to score with early shots -- they can twist and turn and spin their way to scoring. It only leads to trouble. It’s playing right into the hands of the Coyotes.

“It’s something we’ve been stressing a lot in this series,” Quenneville said. “We need more shots, we need more traffic. Trying to score on second opportunities is what we’re looking for. They’re playing tight on those guys. They’re focusing on our top guys. I just think recognizing when there’s time to get it behind them and get it at the net is what we have to look for.”

You need proof of a decline as the game goes on? How about scoring first in each of the first three games while also dominating the action early on in Game 4 despite not getting a goal?

Then things dried up because the star players stopped shooting. Game 4 was a perfect example. Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp, Jonathan Toews and Viktor Stalberg -- to name some of the Hawks top goal scorers --were peppering Smith with shots, but when none got by him, they stopped shooting and tried skating. Kane’s last shot on goal came with 17:52 left in the second period. Sharp’s last one came with 7:39 left in the middle period. And Toews went from 11:55 left in the first -- when he had a great attempt -- to late in the third (3:17 left) between shots on net.

Start out well, get stymied by a good goaltender, then get away from the game plan. The Hawks have been fortunate to mount a frenzied comeback in three of four games to force overtime but once again that’s not a winning formula.

“I think we’ve had good starts in all four games,” Quenneville said. “When we had to come back we came back. In second parts or second periods we seem to lose that momentum. … Sustaining it, you have to have that mentality or that patience is going to be ok in a game or series like this. We still want urgency but then again we want to make sure there is a purpose behind it.”

The statements Quenneville is making are the keys to the whole series. The Hawks have more talent almost everywhere but in goal. Instead of outshooting Phoenix 32-19 as they did in Game 4, they need to make it 42 or 52 to 19. Whatever it takes to get some pucks by Smith. They have the talent to do so. As evidenced by the starts to these games, the Hawks can overwhelm the Coyotes in the offensive zone -- but they have to do it for 60 minutes. Just because Smith isn’t giving up an easy ones early on doesn’t mean he won’t later or won’t give up some rebounds. It’s a game of percentages. The better the goalie, the more shots you have to hit him with.

“The answer is the same as it’s been all series,” Sharp said. “You look at all the goals we’ve scored, its bodies at the net, deflections, screens. Ugly goals. That’s how we have to be to be successful against them.”

Bickell, Morrison and Marcus Kruger had more shots on net than Sharp, Kane or Toews. That tells the story right there. And that includes power-play time for the latter three and very few for the former. The core guys have one more chance to prove they can stick with the program for more than half a game.

“Our top guys have to be better for us to be successful going forward,” Quenneville said. “We need them to be our best players for sure.”

It starts with shooting the puck. Simple as that.

ESPNChicago.com writer Scoop Jackson is spending this week trying to prove that when it comes to sports, there is no city like Chicago.


Day 4: Thursday A Night In Real Time.

5:54 p.m.: Tribune reporter KC Johnson tweets Luol Deng will play.
5:58 p.m.: ESPN Chicago's Nick Friedell announces Derrick Rose is out.
6:00 p.m.: I pull up to Nike's new L210 Chicago Lounge.
6:25 p.m.: The Blackhawks take the ice.
6:27 p.m.: Jabari Parker and the Simeon High School basketball team enter L210.
6:30-7:00 p.m.: Nike in a private event honors Simeon for winning their third straight state championship. Exclusive three-peat championship jackets, music, food, NBA2K12 on one flatscreen, Bulls/Heat on another, special video presentation of their championship run, etc. I give an impromptu speech to the team.
7:12 p.m.: I walk into Union Park Bar. With the Hawks and Bulls both playing at the exact same time, this is the best place in the city to watch two big games simultaneously.
7:20 p.m.: Hawks' Brandon Bollig and Coyotes' Paul Bissonnette get into a fight. Both get five-minute major penalties. Bissonnette gets game misconduct for not having jersey strapped.
7:56 p.m.: Omer Asik misses two free throws but the Bulls get the offensive rebound. Sums up their entire season.
8:00 p.m.: Miami Heat forward James Jones puts a forearm into Joakim Noah's neck. Flagrant Foul. Penalty 2. Ejected.
8:15 p.m.: Bartender recognizes me. Gives love. The guy next to me, not so much. "You work for ESPN. I've read the (stuff) you write."
8:17 p.m.: Phoenix's goalie Mike Smith stops Andrew Brunette on breakaway.
8:18 p.m.: Dwyane Wade makes a sick reverse lay-up. Heat take 41-40 lead.
8:26 p.m.: Jonathan Toews' "One Goal" commercial airs to the response of "Wish he'd (expletive) score one!"
8:27 p.m.: Smith stops one again.
8:28 p.m.: ... and again (and 30 seconds later another.)
8:40 p.m.: First play of the second half, LeBron left hand layup in the lane.
8:41 p.m.:Regina Taylor takes celebrity shot from center ice between second and third period.
8:46 p.m.: D-Wade gives Rip Hamilton a shot in the ribs. Rip and Wade get into an argument.
8:52 p.m.: Taj Gibson enters the game. (Someone screams, "Here he comes to save the day!")
9:01 p.m.: LBJ lays John Lucas III out with a pick.
9:02 p.m.: Shane Doan scores: PHX 1, CHI 0
9:06 p.m.: Taylor Pyatt scores: PHX 2, CHI 0
9:06 p.m.: Taj Gibson 3-point play. Here he comes...
9:07 p.m.: LeBron. Another left hand lay-up in the lane.
9:08 p.m.: The guy next to me in the Toews jersey says to no one in particular, "It's over."
9:10 p.m.: Brendan Morrison powers one from 40 feet out. Scores. PHX 2, CHI 1.
9:19 p.m.: Patrick Sharp goes out for tripping (2 minutes).
9:19:25 p.m.: Third quarter ends: Miami 66, Bulls 61
9:25 p.m.: Michael Frolik scores!!!!!! PHX 2, CHI 2 (The bar erupts!)
9:27 p.m.: Taj Gibson hits another jump shot. Miami 68 Bulls 65. (Here he comes...)
9:29 p.m.: OT for the fourth straight game in the series.
9:41 p.m.: Heat go up by 10. Tom Thibodeau looks confused, lost. They turn on the lights in Union Park.
9:44 p.m.: OT starts.
9:47 p.m.: OT ends. Series: Coyotes 3, Blackhawks 1.
9:49 p.m.: Thibs has the same look on his face.
9:52 p.m.: Mario Chalmers puts a nail in the Bulls' coffin with a 3.
10:01: Samuel Jackson is on all TVs talking to Siri.

Scoop's Day 3

Scoop's Day 2

Scoop's Day 1

CHICAGO -- It’s not Blackhawks’ coach Joel Quenneville’s style to call out players individually, but he came close enough when asked about his team’s play in a 3-2 overtime loss on Thursday.

“There are certain guys that have to pick up their game,” he said after the defeat, which put Chicago in a 3-1 hole in its first-round series with the Coyotes.

It's hard to imagine those guys being any of the Hawks’ role players. A successful playoff team needs secondary scoring, the Hawks have gotten it from the most unlikely players on their roster.

Quenneville benched Jamal Mayers Thursday in favor of Brendan Morrison, and he tallied on a laser of a shot that deflected past goalie Mike Smith for the Hawks’ first goal. Then it was often-scratched forward Michael Frolik scoring late to tie the game. It was his second goal in as many playoff starts filling in for the suspended Andrew Shaw. Bryan Bickell and Brandon Bollig had big goals in the Hawks' lone win of the series.

But where are Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp, Jonathan Toews and Viktor Stalberg? That foursome has combined for two goals in the first four games of the series. And Brent Seabrook had his worst game of the series in Game 4 after playing stellar hockey for so long.

“Five on five whether it’s more zone time, we’re looking to beat guys and look for a better play,” Quenneville said. “We have more success when we just put it on the net as opposed to one more play.”

Toews, Kane and the normally shoot-first Sharp combined for six shots total. Stalberg had four but if anyone defined the tepid play of the stars it was him. On one shift, he started from his own end with the puck three different times only to get his pocket picked and have to circle back before a counter attack occurred.

“We had our opportunities to score, we had our opportunities to take advantage, whether it was on the power-play or whatever,” Toews said. “We didn’t work hard enough for that offense, and to try and go ahead in the game.”

The bottom line is getting goals from Bickell, Frolik and Morrison is nice, but it’s nothing to count on.

That’s what the Hawks' stars are there for. And now they may only have one game left to do it.

“For 40 minutes I didn’t mind the way we played,” Quenneville said. “Certain guys I think need to be better in our team game.”

Names aren’t needed.

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks and Phoenix Coyotes are scoreless after two periods at the United Center.

There weren’t many scoring chances in the middle 20 minutes for either team but both had mini break-away tries as both goaltenders came up big.

First, after a Brent Seabrook turnover, Ray Whitney was stopped by Corey Crawford then after a shot block by Michael Frolik he was turned away by Mike Smith.

The Coyotes have just 10 shots on net, five in each period. The Hawks have 23 but the game remains scoreless.