Shots From The Slot – KKK – Kovalchuk, Kesler And Keith

Co-conspirator Christopher Ralph

“Shots From The Slot” scans Hawks hockey cyberspace for all the latest and greatest articles.

I wanted to highlight some great work over at The Hockey Writers (THW). If you haven’t checked this site out, here’s a sampling of some fantastic recent work:

*First up – a Blackhawks specific article: PIB’s own Jim Neveau on who has the better shot at taking home hardware come NHL awards night – Duncan Keith or Jonathon Toews. (THW)

*Here’s an interesting take on attacks on a player after he executes a clean hit: Attack After The Hit – Hockey’s Next Epidemic. (THW)

*Not a former Blackhawk, but the epitome of what it means to be a class act as a sports figure – Jean Beliveau. (THW)

*John Tortoralla – not quite accepting of Larry Brooks’ “come on lines”! (THW)

Blackhawks Specific Puck Links

Now let’s move on to Blackhawks articles!

*Tim Sassone notes Canucks Ryan Kesler calling out Andrew Ladd as a coward. It’ll be interesting to see how Ladd responds. Seems to be after Ladd landed a nice punch Saturday night, Kesler was pretty quick to try and end the fight with a take down. How’s the more yellow of the two?? (Between The Circles)

*Remember the brief time when Fleury was a Hawk? Jim Neveau reviews his book released the end of last year – Playing With Fire. (PIB)

*Chris Kuc notes the rigors of the road may have finally caught up to the Blackhawks in reporting on the dismal 5-1 loss at the hands of the Vancouver Canucks. (Chicago Breaking Sports)

*TSN’s Bob McKenzie’s non-committal statement thinking the Hawks are in the mix for Ilya Kovalchuk: “I’m not saying that talks have been made, but I am saying that guys like Patrick Sharp or Cam Barker or David Bolland will be in the mix. Legitimate, bonafide NHL players are what Waddell is looking for in return and he is looking for a couple of them. I think that at the end of the day, both Chicago and Calgary will be in that group to pursue Kovalchuk and pursue him hard.” (TSN)

*Jesse Rogers with a Hawks 50 games in report card. He notes a few interesting stats: “Duncan Keith ranks second in the league in average time on ice per game at 26:34, while Troy Brouwer ranks 10th in shooting percentage. Dustin Byfuglien is 17th in hits, while Patrick Kane is second among all right wingers with 57 points. As a team, the Hawks still rank near the bottom in power play chances. They’re at 25th.” Omitted is Niemi’s fantastic GAA. (ESPN)

*Forklift’s report on the 5-1 loss to Canucks. Although the Hawks were “out-gooned”, he’s not about to pester GM Stan Bowman to bring in Georges Laraque just yet. (Hockee Night)

*Trade talks with Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman – nothing too revealing. (Inside The Blackhawks)

*McClure with another take on the Ryan Kesler – Andrew Ladd saga: I Know What You Did And I Know Who You Are. (Second City Hockey)

*A little bit of Hockey History Repeating and some updates on the farm and with prospects elsewhere. (Fifth Feather)

*Although I’d like to be a little further along, I have completed 4 detailed Blackhawks prospect profiles, with Jack Skille being the latest completed – see Future Blackhawks. (PIB)

*Follow Paint It Blackhawks on Twitter for all the latest Blackhawks news. (Twitter)

Tags: Andrew Ladd, antti niemi, cam barker, Chicago Blackhawks, Cristobal Huet, Duncan Keith, ESPN, Ilya Kovalchuk, Jack Skille, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp, Ryan Kesler, Troy Brouwer