Rough Take Off ... But a Smooth Flight for the Blackhawks Against the Jets

Using a timeout in the first period is never a good sign. But after falling behind 2-0 within the first eight minutes of the game, the Blackhawks needed the wake up call.  Whatever Coach Q said worked, because the team put it into high gear and controlled the game the rest of the way.

Ray Emery looked shaky at best in his first regular season start. I'm sure it's not the way he wanted his Blackhawks career to begin. But to be fair, both of the early goals he allowed were on deflected shots—the first being a direct result of a defensive zone turnover. Fortunately the Jets aren't a very offensively gifted team and there was plenty of time left for a comeback.

But the Blackhawks can't continue to force themselves to play from behind. When you play from behind, your game plan changes.

Marian Hossa (G, A) has clearly been the best player on the ice for the Blackhawks so far this season. But on this night, even he had to take a back seat to Patrick Kane, who had a goal and two assists. Even though Kane got credit for the goal, anyone who saw the play knows it was Hossa's efforts along the boards that created the chance for Kane. Hossa battled his way past the Jets defensemen and made a beautiful cross-ice pass to Kane, who one timed it into a mostly open net.

Andrew Brunette contributed a power play tally on another goal mouth scramble that he's made a career out of scoring. This was the type of thing the Blackhawks were missing last season, following the departure of Dustin Byfuglien. Big Buff, along with Andrew Ladd, were warmly welcomed back by the United Center faithful, drawing applause and cheers when they were announced before the game and when they hit the ice for their first shifts of the night.

Dave Bolland scored the other Blackhawks goal, which was a soft goal by Jets' Ondrej Pavelec. After making a sparkling save just seconds earlier on Bryan Bickell's attempt, Bickell followed the rebound, skated behind the net, and threw the pass out to Bolland, who somehow squeezed it in on the short side between Pavelec and the post. That made it 4-2 Blackhawks. He's slowly becoming recognized around the league as a defensive shutdown specialist who has a scorer's touch. His days of flying under the radar may be behind him.

But the highlight of the game for me was seeing my grandfather, John Pianowski, take the ice before the game for the national anthem as the honored veteran for the night.  A World War II vet who served from 1942-1945 as a major sergeant for the Army Air Division was able to enjoy his first Blackhawks game in more than 25 years. And to top it off, it was my cousin's bachelor party, so my dad, uncle, brother, cousins, and close family friends were there to celebrate the moment with him.

He made us proud, just as he made this country proud with his service. Seeing total strangers coming up to him and shaking his hand during the game was a genuinely moving experience. My sincere thanks to the USO of Illinois and to the Blackhawks for making this night so special for him.