SB Nation - Dave Bolland

Rangers GameDay: News and Notes, Scouting the Blackhawks

Jim Schmiedeberg — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:28:36 -0000

More photos » by Paul J. Bereswill - AP

Some news and notes heading into tonight's game with Chicago:

The NY Daily News today talks about Sean Avery going back to the top line:

The initial reason was that a two-game audition on the first line for Artem Anisimov showed the rookie center, while improving, isn't ready to handle that sort of two-way responsibility.

After initiating "a couple of very pointed conversations" with Avery in recent weeks, Tortorella also believes the agitating winger has responded by rediscovering his aggressive and grating style to play his most effective hockey of the season over the last several games.

Granted, the first line has not played up to speed the last two games, but is two games a fair assessment of a rookie's ability to play as a first line center?

For better or worse, looks like Wade Redden will be ready to play tonight against Chicago:

USA Today MVP Poll now has Marian Gaborik at the top, moving up from number 4. Of course this always raises the old question of "can a last place (or close to it) team really have the MVP of the league?"

More after the jump........

Rangers and Blackhawks head-to-head

	STATS
29	GP	28
14	W	18
14	L	7
1	OT	3
29	P	39
0.500	P%	0.696
2.79	G/G	2.93
3.03	GA/G	2.18
20.2	PP%	21.4
83.9	PK%	84.5
29.1	S/G	32.0
29.9	SA/G	24.4
47.5	FO%	53.5

As you can see, the Rangers have their work cut out for them tonight.

Blackhawks Notes:(courtesy of NHL.com)

After fashioning an eight-game winning streak last month, the Hawks have struggled to regain their groove. Chicago has lost three of its last five games, and much like the Rangers, the Blackhawks' offense, too, is struggling. The Hawks have yet to win in regulation since that eight-game stretch, while scoring only seven goals in the process. An obvious source of concern might be Patrick Kane. While the winger has been setting up teammates, Kane is nearly three weeks removed from his last goal, a game-winner against the Oilers on Nov. 21.

With the exception of longterm injuries to Adam Burish and Dave Bolland, the Hawks will have a full lineup Wednesday.

Patrick Kane's seven-game goal-less streak is his third of five games or more this year. While they are not the longest stretches of Kane's career -- he endured a 12-game drought last December and January -- and Kane does have five assists over his current dryspell it is still a worrisome trend for the Hawks. Kane only had three goal-less streaks of five or more games all last season.

NFL Ruins historic ad campaign for Blackhawks and Bears (Puck Daddy, Yahoo Sports)

Marian Hossa "slowly getting there" (Chicago Trib)

Gaborik the focus of Blackhawks attention (Chicago Breaking News)

For more on the Blackhawks, check out Second City Hockey, the SBNation home of the Chicago Blackhawks

Something new I am going to throw into these previews, just for fun:

SweaterRating: A

Original Six teams always lead the pack when it comes to hockey sweaters, and the Hawks home reds have always been among the best in the league. They also get props for a great Winter Classic sweater.

Coming To Chicago This Summer: Cap Reality

The Falconer — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 14:48:43 -0000

More photos » by Larry Macdougal - AP

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For those of you who don't pay much attention to the Western Conference the big news this week was that the Chicago Blackhawks managed to get three of their young stars resigned this week. Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane both signed for 6.3 million per year and Duncan Keith for 5.5 per year. Blackhawk fans were falling all over themselves in self congratulation with the news.

However, the team is going to have to perform "roster reduction surgery" to clear away the foolishness that former GM Tallon committed in the Summer of 2008. This coming summer the Blackhawks are going to have to move a lot of salary just to field a roster of 21 players for the 2010-2011 season. Below is 21 man roster chart of players currently under contract with Chicago and their cap salaries (or Qualifying Offers for RFAs this summer).

A couple of technical notes. RFAs who make under 1 million must be offered a 10% raise in their qualifying offers (which they don't have to sign). Young players on Entry Level Contracts (ELC) will have all bonus money count against the cap next year because it is the final year of the CBA. I have used a 21 man roster instead of the NHL minimum 20 man roster because it is virtually impossible to go with just 20 players. If a guy is out a few days, he doesn't quality for Long Term Injury Replacement, but someone has to to dress--so I budgeted for 21 roster spots. The minimum NHL salary is half a million dollars currently.

OK and now for the really ugly part. If we assume that all of the current Blackhawks RFAs were to simply accept their qualifying offers and no trades were made, then I have Chicago sitting at $66 million in cap hits with a salary cap expected to remain largely unchanged (currently $56.7 million). The team is projected to be over by $8-10 million depending on where the cap is set next season.

SALARY	FORWARDS
6.300	Toews
6.300	Kane
5.275	Hossa
3.900	Sharp
3.375	Bolland
3.083	Versteeg
3.000	Byfuglien
1.550	Ladd	RFA Qualifying Offer
1.200	Kopecky	ELC
1.070	Eager	RFA Qualifying Offer
1.025	Brouwer
0.770	Fraser	RFA Qualifying Offer
	DEFENSE
7.142	Campbell
5.500	Keith
3.500	Seakbook
3.083	Barker
2.333	Sopel
0.700	Hjalmarsson	RFA Qualifying Offer
	GOAL
5.625	Huet
0.800	Crawford
0.500	Bench Player
66.031	2010 TOTAL
56.700	Current Cap Max
9.331	Difference

Ch-ch-changes

The good news for Blackhawk fans is that their young core players were signed last week. The bad news is that several current members of a Cup-contending squad will have to be traded this summer. Let's play amateur GM and see how this works out.

The non-Campbell, non-Huet Scenario

Let's assume that both the Campbell and Huet contracts are too costly to move. In this situation the Hawks need to deal away 4 guys making some serious coin. If they moved Cam Barker ($3.08 million), Dave Bolland ($3.375) and Dustin Byfuglien ($3.0) and replaced them with three players averaging just $0.700 a piece that still leaves the team $2 million over the current cap. Assuming the cap doesn't rise, they would need to a) move either Versteeg or Sharp; or b) exchange their entire checking group (Kopecky, Eager, Brouwer and Fraser) for 4 guys making the NHL minimum. This scenario involves the most carnage for the existing lineup of skaters, as it would essentially gut the team's depth.

The Campbell Traded Scenario

The two most egregious contracts are those given to Brian Campbell (7.142 million) and Christobal Huet (5.625 million). To move either of this contracts Chicago would probably have to include either a 1st round pick or a top prospect to make another team swallow either of them. Let's suppose that Chicago was able to swing Campbell + 1st round pick to Dallas for a pick or prospect. If Cam Barker moves into the top 4 D for Chicago, and a journeyman making .6 million fills Campbell's roster spot, that still leaves them $2.8 over the cap. To clear that much more salary they would have to swap a player making $3.3 million for a guy making the league minimum or basically Dave Bolland or Patrick Sharp.

The Huet Traded Scenario

Most teams only have one starting goalie--there are only so many starting jobs around the NHL. Few teams can afford afford to lavish All-Star money on a non-All Star talent, which means that the Cristobal Huet contract is probably tougher to move than the Campbell contract. But let's suppose for a moment that Chicago can find a taker. Who would take Huet's place? That's a key question and one that is hard to predict. Almost any starter of any quality is going to have a cap hit of $3 million or more. The team might find a cheaper option such as Theodore, Biron or Emery on the UFA market, but those cheaper options come with a serious downside risk. Let's assume that the Blackhawks go very cheap at the goal position and only spend $2.5 on Huet's replacement. That still leaves them $6 million over the cap. Trading away Barker ($3.08), Sopel ($2.3) and one medium priced forward (perhaps Bolland $3.0) and replacing them with players making just $700,000 gets them under the cap with some money for a Hjalmarsson raise.

The Dream Scenario: Campbell and Huet Traded

The least disruptive solution to the Blackhawks depth would be to move both fat contracts next summer. The biggest question is whether they can find any suckers (call Bob Gainey?) or whether they are willing to part with high draft picks or top prospect Kyle Beach to purchase cap space. Assuming that they can make these two ugly contracts vanish and replace the D slot with a cheap defenseman, that would leave about $2-3 million for a starting goalie. This is easily the least disruptive scenario for the current roster--but presumably would come at the cost of future talent (picks and prospects).

Concluding Thoughts

Trying to game plan the future is always challenging. At this point, we have no idea what the final cap number will be (but attendance is flat and tickets are being discounted in many cities). We also have no way of knowing if RFAs like Ladd and Hjalmarsson will demand more money than their qualifying offers. Despite these "known unknowns" I've tried to get a sense of how things might play out this summer in the Windy City.

Matt Cullen Mentioned in Chicago Rumors

Bob Harwood — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:00:01 -0000

More photos » by Gerry Broome - AP

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The Chicago Daily Herald ran a report over the weekend which stated that the Blackhawks were interested in Carolina Hurricanes center, Matt Cullen. Chicago second line center, Dave Bolland, recently had back surgery and is out indefinitely. Cullen would be a nice plug in for them, for a couple of reasons. Most notably, his contract would run out at the end of this season.

The Hawks will be hard pressed to fit several of their young stars under the salary cap next year.

If the Hurricanes can not reverse their losing ways, the deal would make sense for them if they got the right return. As long as the Canes are out of the playoff race, expect many more rumors to come.

Wednesday links: Who knew the Blues had that kind of firepower edition

averagejoe — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:00:35 -0000

Well that sure was a lot of fun. Six goals, man. Six goals.They should do that more often. I'm glad to have David Perron on my fantasy team.

Blues news

Here's the BND rundown of the offensive explosion. [Belleville News-Democrat]
Wanna know how the AP saw it? Find out. [Yahoo! Sports]
In case you missed, the Blues will honor Brett Hull on Dec. 15. [USATODAY.com]

Hockey news

Last night featured some good games. The Flames beat Montreal 1-0 on a goal by Jarome Iginla. Oh, and the Habs looked like the Wilds. [Yahoo! Sports]
It seems like the NHL schedules six games a night. [Yahoo! Sports]
Think Phoenix has it bad? At least their players are getting paid. [New York Times]
Finally, the NHL's suspension policy has been unearthed. [Down Goes Brown]
Mike Danton has less hair but still the same amount of crazy. He insists he wasn't trying to kill his agent, but his dad. Because that is sooo much better. [sportsnet.ca]
Dominik is not a fan of shootouts. [Lighthouse Hockey]
Stop me if you've heard this: A Swedish legend is debating coming back to the league and toying with going to Vancouver. This time, it's Peter Forsberg. [ESPN]
Dave Bolland is having back surgery.[ESPN]
Trapezoid stays, head shots go? Notes from Day 1 of the GM meetings.[TSN]
The NHL might renegotiate its lease with the city of Glendale. [TSN]
Jean-Sebastian Giguere says he'd rather retire than be a backup. Really? Play better and you won't have to decide that. [TSN]
Who knew Reid Simpson could formulate intelligent opinions. [Puck Daddy]

Other links

This might be my favorite podcast. [Yoda and Me]
Sometimes, you gotta have Chewbacca. [INSTANT CHEWBACCA!]
You've seen people of Walmart, now here's people of Waffle House. [The People of Waffle House]
Is there such a thing as too drunk? Yes. This woman shows what it is. [Guyism]

Video

This video combines random lines from movies and television to form a coherent song. It's cooler than it sounds.

Finally, I'd like to say Happy Veterans Day to all. I know we have some vets around here -- and I'm not talking about Keith Tkachuk -- and I want to say, from the bottom of my heart, thanks. You guys basically put your life on the line so I can do make a living. Thanks for that.

gametimelinks(at)gmail.com

Desert Sessions

McClure — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:24:35 -0000

More photos » by Matt York - AP

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Well, that could have turned out better. The long layoff seemed to have a slight effect on the Hawks, but not much. Certainly nothing that is significant enough to pin the loss on. A few notes from the game:

After being skewered by most people, myself included, Tomas Kopecky had himself a heck of a game. He was a constant presence in front of Ilya Bryzgalov, and the goaltender interference call that he drew was soft, as a screaming Edzo let the viewing audience know immediately. If the Hawks continue to get this kind of effort out of Kopecky, the fourth line might regain last year's form.
While Patrick Sharp was seemingly everywhere last night, he's got to bury the chances he has. Granted Bryzgalov wasn't giving much to shoot at last night, but true scorers pot at least one of those, and missing the net entirely on the breakaway is not acceptable. It was pleasant to see Sharp creating his own shots for once, though.
As bad as the power play has been, that's how good the penalty kill has been. The Hawks PK kept the Phoenix man-advantage off the board, which is actually saying something, as they've been a top-10 unit all year. Even Patrick Kane was solid in his own zone while shorthanded before setting up the Hawks' lone goal.
Dave Bolland was completely invisible. If it's his back, as soon as Toews returns, he needs to be shelved.
Niklas Hjarmalsson continues to incorporate more and more of the physicality he was rumored to have.
Fix. The. Power. Play.

Once again, thanks to everyone who joined us at the Whirlaway last night, and to Sergio and Maria for having us. More to come later in the day regarding the game against the Avalanche tonight.

Unfortunately, Trading Ray Whitney Makes Sense

Cory Lavalette — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:07:22 -0000

More photos » by Gerry Broome - AP

Carolina Hurricanes' Tim Gleason, upper left, and Ray Whitney (13) celebrate Whitney's goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the third period an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009. Pittsburgh won 3-2 in a shootout. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

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The Carolina Hurricanes are 11 games into the 2009-10 NHL season, 11 games filled with frustration, penalties, poor play and ... well, more penalties. It's hard to point the finger in any one direction. A combination of offensive ineptitude, special team struggles and untimely defensive errors have all sunk the Canes at different moments in this still-young campaign, with the mistakes coming from all corners of the locker room.

Coach Paul Maurice has tried just about every trick in his repertoire: shuffling lines, repositioning players, focusing on avoiding ill-advised infractions, preaching defense, praying for offense. Nothing is working. So it's time for Jim Rutherford to step in — and boldly. It's time to trade Ray Whitney.

Rutherford has tried subtle tactics to motivate his team, including sending newcomer Stephane Yelle through waivers and calling up Brandon Sutter from Albany. The first was a warning shot to every veteran on the team. The second was a reminder that there are young, hungry players waiting for a chance. Neither seems to have worked. If Rutherford wants to save the season, he needs to make a move that will rock his team the core. Enter Whitney.

There's no denying that Whitney has been one of the players holding up his end of the bargain this season. Like last season, he's atop the Canes scoring leaders with four goals and four assists. He's had several momentum-shifting goals, tallies that mostly failed to get his teammates to rise to the occasion, but nonetheless provided hope. He's been a leader and producer for Carolina. and horribly underrated — look no further than The Hockey News leaving him off the list of the NHL's top-20 left wings, behind inferior players like Ryan Malone (15), Scott Hartnell (16) and fellow underappreciated forward J-P Dumont (20).

But while the Canes have struggled, Whitney has continued to play like a player a decade younger than his 37 years. He skated in his 1,000th NHL regular season game Oct. 21, a milestone few would have expected from a 5-foot-10* winger who filled the scoresheet in juniors but lacked the size to make NHL scouts drool. (*generous listing)

On Sunday, the Canes will honor Whitney's achievement at the RBC Center prior to the team's game against the San Jose Sharks, the team that selected Whitney in the second round — 23rd overall — in 1991. So you give Whitney the honor he deserves. Then you thank him, and send him to Chicago on Monday.

In the final year of his deal, Whitney makes sense for the cash-strapped Blackhawks. With Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith and Patrick Kane all due new deals following this season — and each should get at least $5 million a season, if not significantly more — Chicago needs to prepare for the inevitable: you can't keep everyone.

Departed GM Dave Tallon made several mistakes in assembling this team: he overpaid Brian Campbell, a very good offensive defenseman, giving him No. 1 d-man money for a No. 3 guy; and he screwed up in signing journeyman goalie Crisotal Huet to a four-year, $22.5 million deal to be his No. 1 netminder, a job he has yet to firmly grab a hold of. Then, Offer Sheetgate, with Kris Versteeg and Cam Barker earning big paydays (more than $3 million annually each) because of a paperwork error that would've kept the two emerging stars on the cheap for another season. Sprinkle in the signing of injured Marian Hossa and several other players looking for new contracts after this season, and you have, simply put, a mess.

Acquiring Whitney could alleviate some of the money problem while improving the Hawks' chance at winning the Stanley Cup this season. First off, he's in the final year of a contract that pays him $3.55 million annually. Second, he's an upgrade at left wing, where ex-Cane Andrew Ladd is the only natural playing in the spot. On top of adding a left wing, the Blackhawks would get an elite passer up front, something they lack outside of Kane. In return, Carolina could get back one of the $3 million-club youngsters (Dave Bolland, Versteeg, Dustin Byfuglien or Cam Barker) or sniper Patrick Sharp, who is set to take up $3.9 million in cap space through 2011-12.

Bolland, frankly, is overpaid. And while Sharp's scoring prowess, Versteeg's creativity, Byfuglien's size would all help the Canes patch up an area of need, it's Barker who would add the most to the Hurricanes.

Barker would add offensive punch to a struggling blueline, and also serve as the long-term replacement for Joe Corvo, whose deal expires following this year. At 6-foot-3 and 213 pounds, Barker has desirable size and isn't afraid to use it. His ability to play the point on the power play — he had six goals and 40 points last season — would allow Eric Staal to return to the front lines with the man advantage and free up fellow point patrolmen Corvo, Joni Pitkanen and Matt Cullen. Plus, Barker' is no slouch in the point shot department himself.

With a $3.083 million cap hit through 2011-12, the Hawks may need to offset more cash, perhaps in the way of recent waiver claim Andrew Ebbett ($500,000 this year). They also will likely want a premium for the talented Barker, who was chosen after only Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin in the 2004 Entry Draft in — you guessed it — Raleigh. A draft pick and/or mid-level prospect (Bryan Rodney? Nick Dodge?) might be enough. Or maybe a swap of Brent Sopel (too pricey at $2 million this season and next, $2.33 million cap hit) for Andrew Alberts ($1.05 million cap hit this year and next) would be desirable to Chicago?

The Canes could then carve out a more significant full-time role for Brandon Sutter or even Zach Boychuk — a player Whitney himself said would take his spot one day — while shaking up the team and adding a valuable piece for now and the future. Chicago would improve their chances at a title this year and, though lose a valuable young asset, clear cap space to re-sign Toews, Kane and Keith.

With Campbell untradeable, Seabrook valuable and Keith irreplaceable, the Hawks simply can't afford to shell out more than $3 million a year to Barker as a No. 4 defenseman. And in Whitney they'd get a winner, a player who knows how to overcome the odds and spur his team to victory.

And the Canes — despite losing an important and admired player and man — might just turn things around.

No More Secrets, Marty - Hawks 3, Wild 1

McClure — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 03:52:50 -0000

Well, that was pleasant to see. To me, this game had the distinct aroma of an ugly affair coming into it, due to the Hawks history with the Wild, as well as on Versus (and particularly against the Wild ON Versus), and the threat of Martin Havlat going all Fatal Attraction on the Hawks. Outside of an early rush around and through Niklas Hjalmarsson, Marty was fairly invisible, likely due to a lingering groin issue, and not the kind that Adam Burish needs inoculations for.

The game had a good pace to start off, with the Hawks again looking to get the crowd fully into it and continue to bolster their tenuous support of Cristobal Huet. After a bit of back-and-forth with no real good chances either way, Dave Bolland buried a rebound of an Andrew Ladd shot, which culmitated a nice sequence that originated with a risky cross-ice pass from Jordan Hendry to Ladd. Troy Brouwer increased the lead to 2-0 by stuffing home a garbage goal off of a rebound on the power play. It's likely due to Toews not being in the lineup, but even once he returns, Brouwer needs to be given a look on the power play as an alternative to whatever it is that Tomas Kopecky has been doing with a man up.

After a thoroughly uneventful second period, the Hawks once again began parading to the sin bin in the third, which led to Andrew Brunette potting a goal on the advantage after a scrum and three or four whacks at the puck in front of a prone Huet; not a lot Cris could do on that one. The Blackhawks responded with a lot of sustained pressure in the Minnesota zone, cycling the puck in the right corner, when Patrick Kane broke free and was allowed to deal from behind the net, walked out in front, and basically gave a Belmont Transfer to Nicklas Backstrom and the Minnesota defensemen. Kane walked out, turned around, and fired a shot past Backstrom's ear, ringing it off the back bar and out before half of the Wild knew what happened. From there on out, it was academic, as Minnesota put up little fight in the waning seconds.

Observations

John Forslund and Andy Brickley are BRUTAL.
It was nice to see the fourth line generate a little bit of pressure and physicality tonight, with Jake Dowell getting into an obligatory scrap with Shane Hnidy after being called up. I know inbound rush hour traffic in the rain on the Kennedy is enough to make most people ornery, probably had the same effect on Dowell.
The Hawks were flat out horrendous at the dot with Toews not in the lineup, winning only 17 of 50
The PK looked good for the most part, despite allowing the lone Minny goal. It was more of a result of giving them enough opportunities. Let's hope this recent trend of heading to the box in the third is merely a fleeting thing.
Likewise, in spite of scoring a goal, the power play still looks like shit.

Player Of The Game

While it was tempting to give this honor to 20 Cent based on the degree of filth in that goal, again, it has to go to Cris, who provided another solid, confidence inspiring effort, albeit against another popgun offense. The eye test shows a more relaxed and aggressive Huet, which is how he'll need to continue to play.

Play of the Game

Killion here... McClure already mentioned it - but this deserves many repeated viewings so I thought I'd add it here. I think the best part may be Backstrom looking back in utter confusion immediately after the goal... or it could be Kane toying with the defender behind the net... or just the insane space 20-Cent fits it in over his shoulder... or just the whole thing in general..

Minnesota Wild @ Chicago Blackhawks: Game Recap

nathaneide — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 03:18:28 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

about 1 month ago: Chicago Blackhawks center Jake Dowell, left, fights with Minnesota Wild defenseman Shane Hnidy during the first period of their NHL Hockey game Monday, Oct. 26, 2009 in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

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Minnesota Wild 1-3 Chicago Blackhawks

Another road game, another road loss. This is getting painful. Sure, I know we're only 11 games into the season, but this team isn't exactly showing a lot of signs of improvement or consistency in learning the new system. In fact, I'd say they've regressed overall. Sure, they're showing flashes here and there, but overall, they seem to lose focus in their own end, and either don't have the guys to breakout and apply offensive pressure, or they still don't get the new style. Either way, the Todd Richards-led Wild aren't exactly the talk of the town. They're averaging fewer goals per game scored and more goals per game allowed than they did under Lemaire. This isn't exactly a positive step. Hopefully it's only a matter of time before they leap forward, because crawling doesn't seem to be working.

Once again the Wild found themselves down early, as Dave Bolland took a pass from Andrew Ladd and buried it, putting the Blackhawks up 1-0 at the 9:23 mark. Chicago then added to their lead at 17:13 as Troy Brouwer scored on the power play on the rebound from Tomas Kopecky and Duncan Keith. This goal was yet another this season in which Niklas Backstrom had absolutely no help from his defensemen and Brouwer easily poked the rebound home.

One positive from the first period is that the shots were 10-10, but again, the Wild didn't cash-in on their scoring chances, and the Blackhawks had far too many. The defense needs to get tight, especially on the road.

Chicago started to take over the game after that power play goal, while there were no goals in the second period, Chicago clearly carried the play, outshooting the Wild 11-6, then things only got worse in the third. The Wild seemed to pick up play early in the period, culminating in Andrew Brunette's 7th goal of the season, on the rebound from both Antti Miettinen and Mikko Koivu. Bruno has had a great start to the season, one of the lone highlights thus far.

After Bruno's goal however, Chicago again took over and clamped down hard. Just three minutes later, Patrick Kane made a superstar move, driving to the net, spinning in the low circle and roofing one from a ridiculous angle. It was a goal-scorers goal. That put Chicago up 3-1, and the Blackhawks shut the door from then on. Shots in the third period ended up 14-5 and 35-21 overall.

If this is the up-tempo, offensive style we were expecting, I demand a refund. 21 shots is below the season average under Lemaire, and the team just isn't picking it up.

Oh, and by the way:

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Marian Gaborik	10	8	18	6	4

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Martin Havlat	1	4	5	-10	0

Please read the game recap over at Second City Hockey

Hockey Wilderness Three Stars

Patrick Kane (1 G)
Andrew Brunette (1 G)
Brian Campbell (+2 in 26:08 TOI)

Questions to Answer

Can the Wild find consistency and bring the Wild Rumpus to Chicago? No.
How will Havlat perform back in Chicago? Less than mediocre. He needs to pick it up. He's killing the team right now.
Can Niklas Backstrom continue the fantastic streak of play? He is doing everything he can to win. He has little support.
Will the time off do Pouliot well? Benoit Pouliot was a -1 in 9:05. The kid needs time to play, this is quickly becoming a lost season, just play him 15 minutes a night and let him free.
With Chicago off to a hot start, can the Wild learn from their level of play? Let's hope so. They need to learn from someone.

Meet my fantasy hockey team

James Mirtle — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:55:37 -0000

More photos » by Darryl Dyck - AP

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We're into Year 4 in the Hockey Bloggers Invitational fantasy pool that I run, and we've introduced a new wrinkle this season: keepers. And I think it might be my undoing.

I finished fourth last season after limping to the finish line (Martin Gerber was one of the pillars of that team), and really didn't have anyone I was jazzed on keeping, especially after Marian Hossa went out with shoulder surgery. (Finishing fourth is a bit like placing ninth in the NHL conference standings: You don't win anything and you get a crummy draft pick the next season.)

Ultimately, Hossa and Carey Price (reluctantly) were the best players I had and are back again.

Here's my full team:

Forwards
Alexander Semin, Jason Spezza, Alexander Frolov, Marian Hossa (IR), Chris Kunitz, Stephen Weiss, Brenden Morrow, Dave Bolland, Mikael Samuelsson, Mark Recchi, Brandon Dubinsky, Matthew Lombardi, Brad Richards, Claude Giroux, Colin Wilson (IR)

Defencemen
Victor Hedman, Keith Ballard, Ian White

Goaltenders
Carey Price, Jose Theodore, Jaroslav Halak, Mathieu Garon

I'm pretty sure my team's in a rebuilding year.

Others in the pool include Greg Wyshynski (his team here), Dirk Hoag, Spector, Matt Fenwick, Earl Sleek, P.J. Swenson, Dan Tolensky, Stephen Pepper, Kent Wilson (last year's winner), five of my hockey-loving friends from the media, and the lucky winner of the B Pool I hosted last year.

I don't think I've got a hope of taking home a third title, but at least my keepers are a smidge better for next season. And after last night, I have a feeling Price won't be one of them.

Meet the Enemy: 5 Questions with the Blackhawks

MrNorrisTrophy — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:00:56 -0000

Heading into tomorrow's contest, I wanted to do a feature that I had meant to do with the St. Louis Blue but just flat out forgot to get it out in time. I had wanted to do a five question survey for each of the teams in the Central Division to give some of us Wings fans a little more insight into the other squads. I think it's a pretty good way to learn more about a team and what to watch for when the teams square off.

Anyway, this first segment is with Matthew Dirt, the "Head of Cyber Division" over at the SBNation Blackhawks' site Second City Hockey. Matt was kind enough to take time out of his schedule for us so hopefully you'll do the same and read what he has to say. Also, keep comments respectful.

1. Nikolai Khabibulin was a strong point for the Blackhawks last year. Will Cristobal Huet be able to fill that void or is the gameplan similar to the Red Wings last year of trying to just outmuscle a team offensively?

SCH: That's without a doubt the biggest question many Hawk fans are asking. As we've been trying to hammer home though, Huet's numbers (2.53, .909) weren't terribly far off from Khabby's (2.33, .919). Khabby had the better year but was far from phenomenal. Very similar, Huet had stretches where he was brilliant, but he can also be maddening. In the long run though, I think Huet should be able fill-in just fine. The Hawks have improved defensively with the addition of John Madden and players like Dave Bolland and Andrew Ladd improving their defensive games. Of course, the true strength of this team are the forwards - so we'll try to just outscore you most nights too. Hopefully they can do a better job of that than they did last spring.

2. Everyone in Detroit knows about Marian Hossa leaving for Chicago but Tomas Kopecky's departure was substantially less "loud". How well has Kopecky fit in the offensive plans so far and what type of expectations do people have for him?

SCH: Kopecky hasn't really done much so far to make an overall impression with the Blackhawks other than being "that other Detroit guy". The biggest thing he add is the ability to fit in at center if needed since the Hawks are fairly thin in that spot. Right now Kopecky is skating on the 4th line, which along with Ben Eager, makes for a pretty damn good 4th line. So far with the Blackhawks though, Coach Q has changed up the lines about as often people make a Patrick Kane/Cabbie joke.. so we'll see how long he stays in that spot and what his overall role will be.

3. Who is the most underrated player on the Blackhawks? In the same thought process, who is the most overrated player?

SCH: There's a few players who might be a bit underrated but we'll see how long that lasts. I mentioned Ladd and Bolland earlier, partly because I think they're two huge pieces to this team. They both played on the same line last year with Havlat on the wing. Bolland had a great year, signed a big contract and now has to go about proving that he's a #2 Center behind Toews. So far he's a great shutdown player who can come up with a big goal when needed. Ladd is the same way on the left wing. This year I expect him to focus much more on his defensive role and really frustrate other teams' stars. With all the talk about the offensive firepower - these two don't get much credit but for the Hawks to win, these two really have to live up to our expectations.

As for the most overrated - I think that might be Kris Versteeg. He was certainly an amazing surprise last year but faded out once other teams started really paying attention to him. His performance in Game 4 of the Hawks/Wings series was just shameful and I'm not sold on him the way I was in the first half of last year. A lot is being made of Dustin Byfuglien too but ask any Hawk fan and they're probably still skeptical of him. He was crucial late last season and of course in the Playoffs (Luongo still isn't the same...) but all of us are keeping an eye out for him to revert to the lazy, sloppy and disinteresed player we saw for most of last year. If he's turned a corner and is actually going to play hard all year (and so far he has 3 points in 2 games)... you'll quickly learn to hate him.

4. Which player is under the most pressure to perform well this season? A lot of people from the outside would suggest Brian Campbell but insiders might see someone else.

SCH: Campbell certainly has a lot to prove to many Hawk fans who were unhappy with his play last year but plenty of others realize he filled his role pretty well (leading the defensemen in points, helping to greatly improve the power play and filling in the spin-o-rama we've all missed since Savvy left). As I said above, Buff certainly has to prove a lot but he's so oblivious I'm not sure he really feels any "pressure". Although Havlat didn't do much in his three years here, he became absolutely adored by many in his final year - so Hossa will have some pretty big skates to fill in a few fans' eyes. And of course you may have heard of all the fun Patrick Kane got into during his summer vacation.

5. How is the front office situation following the fiasco of the summer?

SCH: All quiet on the Western Madison Ave Front. With the fiasco with the RFA contracts, the sudden and poorly timed firing of GM Dale Tallon and the PR nightmare of one of their brightest young stars beating an older working man... there isn't much room for things to get worse. So far though, Tallon's replacement, Stan Bowman, has been pretty quiet since there hasn't been much to do for him yet. Of course there's plenty of fans already reading dreading the doomsday that will be the expiring entry contracts of Kane, Toews and Duncan Keith - so I'm sure we'll hear plenty from these clowns soon. Winning forgives just about anything in professional sports though, so hopefully they'll just focus on that.

BONUS! Do people in Chicago still hate Niklas Kronwall for the hit on Martin Havlat, even following Havlat's disgruntled departure?

SCH: Yup - Still hope that someone knocks him into next week. It was technically a clean hit, I know, but I still hate him.

Once again, thanks to Matt for taking part in this and hopefully it gave you some insight to the 'Hawks.