When will the carousel stop?
After Tuesday morning’s skate, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville told the media that Antti Niemi would start in net against the Los Angeles Kings.
Round and round we go…
The staggering issue the Blackhawks continue to deal with is that neither of their netminders appears ready/willing/able to grab the top of the depth chart. Niemi has had a handful of opportunities to become the undisputed number one, and has struggled with each chance. Meanwhile, Cristobal Huet has defined mediocrity all season, especially since the beginning of the calendar year.
When the trade deadline passed as quietly as a far in an elevator for the Blackhawks, the stink every fan now has to deal with is the situation between the pipes. Niemi has shown flashed of ability to become the man, but hasn’t consistently brought that effort to the ice. Indeed, Niemi’s goals against average has increased in every month since November (1.44) by just enough that while December was still exceptional (1.74), January (2.41) and February (2.84) have allowed doubt to creep into the minds of Hawks fans.
And yet by comparison, Huet has been worse. Since November (1.97), Huet’s goals per game average has increased to decent in December (2.02) and poor in January (2.98). Since the Olympics, Huet’s average has been awful (3.56) with a save percentage (.831) to match.
Sunday’s performance against Detroit became the latest spark for Huet haters to call for Niemi to be the man. Quenneville isn’t as quick to place blame.
“I’m not blaming [Huet for the] last game. I just think Antti gets a chance to grab the net,” said Quenneville after Tuesday’s practice. “We have back-to-back games over the weekend. We have a lot of tough opponents as well, and we have a condensed schedule. So they’ll both see some time here, and we’re looking for both of them to take charge.”
Clearly, the talent surrounding the netminders on the Hawks is good enough to compete for, and win, the Stanley Cup this year. But the defensive play in front of the net has also left a lot to be desired lately. The PK has allowed a goal in seven of ten games since the start of February, and one of the three they didn’t was when the Islanders didn’t have a chance.
What has compounded the problem has been the number of penalties the Hawks have been forced to kill; since the start of February, the Hawks have had to kill 39 penalties in those ten games. That represents a ten percent increase in the number of penalties the Hawks are killing per night through January.
The Blackhawks have eight shut outs this season, four by both Huet and Niemi. However, the Hawks have only held their opponent off the scoreboard in one game in 2010. Meanwhile, the Hawks have allowed more than three goals nine times in only 25 games. Allowing at least four goals in 36 percent of a team’s games is clearly not good enough to win at the end of April.
On Wednesday, Niemi will face a Kings team that comes in averaging 3.75 goals per game since the Olympics. He’ll be tested, and Hawks fans hope he performs.
If nothing else, we aim to please at CommittedIndians, and received an insightful question that warranted not only an answer, but some research as well.
Tom, a regular reader, asked what the Blackhawks’ record was in the new alternate third jerseys this year. So, we did some research, and came up with the following fun facts.
The Hawks will wear the third alternate jerseys 12 times this year, and still have six of those games remaining in the final 18 of the season. Nothing like driving sales through the finish, right?
So far, the third jerseys have been worn on Dec. 1 and 22, Jan. 5, Feb. 9 and 14 and March 2. In those six games, the Blackhawks are 4-2-0 with three shoot-out victories.
But looking deeper into the games is more intriguing…
Cristobal Huet has started three of the six, but relieved Antti Niemi in the Rangers game. Overall, Huet has allowed nine goals on 74 shots (.878 sv pct), while Niemi has allowed ten goals on 67 shots (.851 sv pct). The ugliest performance from Huet was the Dec. 22 loss to San Jose at the United Center, when he allowed three goals on only 14 shots. Obviously the start in New York was Niemi’s worst in the alternate jersey.
The defense in front of the netminders hasn’t been that bad. Opponents have only put an average of 23.5 shots per game on net, but have scored 3.17 goals per game. The Hawks have only allowed three goals on 22 power plays, an 86 percent kill rate.
On offense, it’s been all about Patrick Kane in the alternate jerseys this year. He has six goals in the six games in the alternates, and Marian Hossa has two multi-point games to lead the team. Patrick Sharp has also played well in the third jerseys, scoring two goals. The Hawks have only scored on six of 26 power plays in the third jerseys, though, good for only a 23 percent conversation rate. Jonathan Toews has won 72 of 127 faceoffs in the third jerseys (57%). The Hawks have supported their goalies with 3.50 goals per game of offense.
One point that was odd regarding the six games in the third jerseys that was odd was the number of players that have scored. Besides Kane, Hossa and Sharp, eight Blackhawks have scored a goal in an alternate jersey this year: Toews, Kris Versteeg, John Madden, Troy Brouwer, Bryan Bickell, Jacob Dowell, Dustin Byfuglien and Brian Campbell.
The Blackhawks will wear the alternate jerseys six more times this yeah:
Over the next three weeks, the Blackhawks will learn a lot about how they stack up against the rest of hockey’s elite teams.
Between now and March 25, the Hawks will play nine games against playoff teams, most of whom made significant moves at the trade deadline to improve their club. When the Hawks play a home-and-home against Columbus, they should have a good idea of what they’ll need to do to win the Stanley Cup.
Starting Friday, when the Vancouver Canucks come to the United Center (after hammering the Red Wings 6-3 on Wednesday), the Hawks will face one of the toughest stretches of games on their calendar. Four of the first five games are at home, against Vancouver, Detroit (now at 11:30 AM in Chicago, thanks NBC), Los Angeles, then at Philadelphia before hosting Washington on the 14th. In that stretch, the Hawks will do battle with teams currently in third, fourth and eighth in the Western Conference and first and sixth in the East.
If the last two games against the Islanders and Oilers seemed rough at times, wait until this stretch. The little mistakes in the corners will turn into goals, and the probability that the Hawks can hold one of these teams to three shots in a third period like they did on Wednesday is zero.
March 14: Ovechkin in Chicago
While the Hawks have faced the Canucks, Red Wings and Kings already this year, the game against the Washington Capitals on the 14th will be the only time during the regular season that they will face the team with the best record in the NHL.
Despite their potent offense and 92 points, the Caps were very busy at the deadline. Washington added defensemen Joe Corvo and Milan Jurcina, and forwards Eric Belanger and Scott Walker in four deals that give them more depth all over their roster. This game will be a nationally-televised gauge for how the Blackhawks match up against the Eastern Conference’s best.
After the first five games, the Hawks hit the road for an intriguing three game trip filled with familiar faces in new places.
The trip starts in Anaheim, where the Ducks added defensemen Aaron Ward and Lubomir Visnovsky at the expense of Ryan Whitney. The Ducks are presently sitting in 11th in the West, but are just three points behind Detroit for the final playoff spot. Adding the trade of Jean-Sebastian Giguere to Toronto for Jason Blake and Tesa Voskala (who was subsequently traded to Calgary for Curtis McElhinney), the Ducks made a number of impact moves to make a run for the postseason.
The Hawks play the following night at the Kings, who made a few strong moves of their own. Gone is Teddy Purcell, but the Kings added Jeff Halpern and Fredrik Modin. LA is the hottest team in hockey right now, running off an 8-1-1 record in their last ten games.
After a Friday night off, the Hawks spend the night of Sat. March 20 visiting the busiest team at the trade deadline, the Phoenix Coyotes. Peter Mueller is gone, but the Coyotes added Derek Morris, Wojtek Wolski and Lee Stempniak to a team that’s been playing very well of late. The Coyotes are just one point behind LA for the fourth seed in the West, and the added scoring of Wolski and Stempniak should only improve their 25th-ranked offense.
The Hawks will then come home and play the Coyotes again on Tues. March 23, concluding the nine-game gauntlet.
Following the home-and-home against Columbus, the Hawks will play each of their final eight games of the regular season against teams that are either currently in the playoffs or within four points of the eighth spot. Perhaps the best playoff barometer will come on Friday, April 2 when the Blackhawks play in New Jersey against the Atlantic Division-leading Devils.
In all, the Hawks’ final 19 games will prove to be a hard testing ground against teams battling for playoff position. Any questions the Hawks have in net will either be answered or magnified, and any scoring droughts will cost them games. When the regular season ends, Hawks fans should have a very good idea of how far this team can go in the playoffs.
Will the Hawks play for this?
Most Chicago fans felt that the Blackhawks would make at least one major move, if not more, before Wednesday’s trade deadline. After all, there are a few areas (goaltending, goaltending and… goaltending) that most fans and analysts thought could use improving if the Hawks are going to make a run at the Stanley Cup.
But then the deadline came and passed… and the Blackhawks did nothing.
The knee jerk reaction to the lack of action from the United Center is a lot of four-letter words and sweaty palms. How are the Blackhawks supposed to win the Stanley Cup with the guys they have? What are we going to do? Help!
Pause.
Deep breath.
OK. Let’s take a step back and look at the Blackhawks from a sane, big-picture perspective. It’s going to be alright.
First of all, let’s be realistic about playoff position. The Blackhawks are going to win the Central Division; they have a 14-point lead on second-place Nashville. Despite a few moves by the Predators, it’s unrealistic to think that the Preds will catch the Hawks with 20 games left in the season. By winning the division, the Hawks are assured of one of the top three seeds in the Western Conference in the playoffs.
Secondly, at the top of the Western Conference there are as many issues with the other teams as there are with the Blackhawks. The Sharks are only two points in front of the Hawks for the top seed, and have questions surrounding their own situation between the pipes. While Hawks fans might have reasons to question Antti Niemi’s lack of experience and Cristobal Huet’s questionable, albeit limited, results in the postseason, the Sharks have a netminder in Evgeni Nabokov that not only has a resume filled with recent playoff failure, but he just crapped his pants in the Olympics for Russia.
There’s no reason to think that the Hawks can’t catch the Sharks for the top spot, and should have at least even confidence with the Sharks, if not better, in the goalie situation in Chicago. With Vancouver nine points behind the Hawks in in third, and with a tough division chasing them, to assume that the Blackhawks will end the year in one of the top two seeds in the West isn’t far fetched.
So the Central Division and seeding in the playoffs shouldn’t be a concern.
The Blackhawks, despite their offensive droughts and struggles in net, still rank near the top of the NHL in most statistical categories. This team is not bad. It’s easy to scream about soft goals and a bad night when the team’s playing for a championship; remember, two years ago the Blackhawks were trying to remember how to spell the word “playoffs.”
Also consider the reality of what’s left this season.
Because of the Olympics, every team in the NHL will have to slam 20 games into the next five weeks. Simple math indicates that teams will average four games per week, with travel, before the playoffs begin. Whenever a trade, no matter the profile of the player, takes place, there is always an adjustment period that will take place. Before the Olympic break, the Hawks added Kim Johnsson from Minnesota and are still working through who will play how many minutes on the blue line.
Practice is where players get to know each other, and where coaches are best able to gauge how players work with each other. It’s hard, in any sport, to establish flow to a game plan when you’re mixing up players that don’t know each other. But with teams having only two, sometimes three days off per week to not only travel but also practice, working new players into the rotation is going to be hard to during the rest of this year’s regular season.
Another factor the Blackhawks had to consider at the deadline is that Dave Bolland has only played a couple games after returning from injury, and Adam Burish is coming back on Sunday. Adding two smart players to the mix, along with Johnsson, gives coach Joel Quenneville too many pieces to have in uniform every night already. The Blackhawks will have enough trouble picking someone to watch from the suite every night.
Let’s not ignore the reality that every team that will compete for the Stanley Cup this spring had players in the Olympics. This presents a few situations for teams to deal with when considering a trade.
First, the immediate impact of a trade on contending teams is players missing from the ice. On Wednesday night, the Blackhawks host the Edmonton Oilers, who will be without Denis Grebeshkov and Lubomir Visnovsky on their blue line; both players were dealt before the deadline. The Oilers received only a draft pick for Grebeshkov, and won’t have Ryan Whitney (acquired for Visnovsky) in uniform yet for the game. So the Blackhawks will face a depleted defensive unit a night after getting their tails whipped in New York.
The Oilers are just one of many teams that will be without players in key positions tonight. If points are at a premium at this time of year, can a team trying to gain the best position possible in April afford a night with two or three AHL guys playing a major role on the ice? No.
Second, the medium-term impact is trying to work new players into the rotation and still get Olympians the rest they’ll need to be fresh in the postseason. Look at Anaheim, for example. Ryan Getzlaf and Cory Perry played seven games in Vancouver for Canada, and now they’re not only losing Whitney but they’re looking at a roster that is adding Aaron Ward and Visnovsky on the blue line.
The on-ice chemistry will either remain a work-in-progress that will have to be figured out during games (again, potentially costing the team valuable points), or will be achieved through practices on the limited off days the team has in the coming weeks.
The long-term impact on a roster is dead legs. Both Ward and Visnovsky should be key contributors for the Ducks down the stretch, but at what expense to the odometer of their Olympians’ legs? With limited time for rest between now and the end of the season, finding time to be off the ice will be crucial for teams hoping to make a deep run.
Look around the Western Conference. Phoenix improved the most, moving underwhelming Peter Mueller out and adding Wojtek Wolski and Lee Stempniak up front and Matthieu Schneider and Derek Morris on the blue line. The Los Angeles Kings also made a couple solid moves, adding Jeff Halpern and Fredrik Modin. But outside of Phoenix, LA and Anaheim, nobody in the West did much to make a dramatic improvement.
In the East, the Washington Capitals certainly made some strong moves, as did the Pittsburgh Penguins. But only one of those teams can play the Blackhawks for the Stanley Cup, and anything can happen in a seven game series.
If the Blackhawks were good enough to be at the top of the conference with what they had, if they stay together and avoid the potential headaches that other teams will have to deal with moving forward, they’ll have a great chance to run deep into the playoffs and possibly compete for a Stanley Cup.
The NHL has two poster boys they promote all day, every day. Alexander Ovechkin was watching the gold medal game from home. And yes, Sidney Crosby scored the now-legendary game-winning goal in overtime to win the gold, but he hadn’t scored in in regulation in four games in the tournament. The national face of the Blackhawks has been Patrick Kane; he was selected with the Number One overall pick in the draft, won the Calder Trophy, led the Blackhawks in All Star votes last year and is now on the cover of EA Sports’ NHL ‘10 video game.
While the world watched over the past two weeks, the Chicago Blackhawks’ captain put on a show worthy of every accolade he received. The Directorate named Jonathan Toews the tournament’s Most Outstanding Forward, and he was voted onto the All-Olympics team by the media. If USA goalie Ryan Miller hadn’t played one of the best seven game stretches imagineable, Toews would have likely been named the tournament’s MVP as well.
But is Toews now emerging as a new face of the game?
He was voted the youngest captain in the history of the Blackhawks before the 2008-09 season began, and has continued to hold that role through this season. Earlier this season, the Blackhawks made arguably their best investment ever by locking up Toews, Kane and Duncan Keith with long-term contracts. Toews, with Kane, will be in Chicago for at least the next five years, and both have indicated their wanting to stay in the Windy City longer.
With Toews and Kane together, the Blackhawks might be looking at the dawn of their Jordan-Pippen Era.
Could Toews & Kane become the new Jordan & Pippen?
What Toews has that Kane doesn’t, though, is a Canadian birth certificate. In Canada, if you’re a great hockey player, you’re a god. If you’re a great person, even better. And Toews is both.
The reality that Toews is just 21-years old, bilingual, responsible and already the captain of a successful team simply adds to his marketability.
Toews has something that neither Crosby nor Ovechkin can claim as well: a major market. According to the 2008 Census, Chicago is the third-largest city in the United States with a population of approximately 2.85 million people. Ovechkin’s Washington DC area had a population of roughly 590,000, and Crosby’s Pittsburgh is only 310,000 strong. When you then consider that half of Pennsylvania hates Crosby (Flyers fans) and the density of NHL teams up and down the East coast, and then factor in that the nearest teams to Toews in Chicago are Detroit and Minneapolis, the fanbase in the heart of the country to which Toews could be sold is enormous.
What do Crosby, Ovechkin and Kane have that Toews doesn’t? Big goal totals and exposure (which, for Kane, hasn’t always been a good thing). But there is something, unfortunately, about each that someone could not like; Crosby is perceived by many (right or not) as a primadonna, Ovechkin is a physical cheerleader, and Kane has had some PR issues in the last year.
There’s nothing about Toews to not like.
So perhaps this memo needs to go out to Gary Bettman’s office, the NHL Network, NBC, and anyone else selling the NHL to North America. Jonathan Toews is not only one of the best young players in the game, but he’s a great human being. If the league wants to slap the a face on billboards, video games, magazines, Game of the Week promotions, Toews should be the first, not the next, guy in line.
A wonderful tribute to the six Blackhawks that played in the Olympics from the organization. Worth watching a hundred times.
from Blackhawks.nhl.com
If the Blackhawks are going to make a move for a goalie, specifically Florida’s Tomas Vokoun, the Hawks are certainly playing their best poker faces right now. On Thursday the team practiced without the six players that have games remaining in the Olympics, and coach Joel Quenneville was asked about his goalie situation when he met the media.
“During the course of the season somebody is going to get the net and get the opportunity to keep it,” Quenneville said. “That was the chance and (Niemi) took it and he’s got it. Based on him winning, it’s tough to change the goalie in that situation.”
Does that sound like a coach preparing for a major trade? Maybe not, but Quenneville has been in the NHL long enough to know how to handle the media, and his locker room.
“We’ll announce our goalie going into the Islander game and go from there, but we won some games and I don’t like usually bucking that trend,” Quenneville added.
One trend Quenneville will have to deal with, whether a trade is made or not, is the playing time he’s giving his forwards. Adam Burish skated with the team on Thursday and indicated that he is targeting the Sunday, March 7 home game against the Detroit Red Wings for his return. Ben Eager also skated on Thursday, creating a more crowded roster from which Quenneville has to choose is lineup each night.
A candidate to possibly see some time in the the suite before the break was Tomas Kopecky. He is tied with Dustin Byfuglien for the worst plus-minus on the roster (-6) and has only contributed 12 points (4 G, 8 A) this season. However, Kopecky has played very well in the Olympics for Slovakia, and his game-winning goal that put Slovakia in the medal rounds for the first time ever should put his confidence at an all-time high.
As the Olympics continue Friday night, the trade rumors will undoubtedly pick up. If, and where, the Blackhawks make a move could be one of the dominoes that lead to other deals all over the NHL, so we’ll be sure to stay on top of the situation.
During the Olympic break, there will be a number of opportunities to meet current and former Chicago Blackhawks. Below is a list of events where autograph seekers could meet the Hawks.
At the Chevy Dealers/Blackhawks Fun Zone @ the Auto Show: Bobby Hull – Wednesday, Feb. 17, 5-7 pm Brent Sopel – Saturday, Feb. 20, 12-2 pm Troy Brouwer – Sunday, Feb. 21, 12-2 pm
At Hawk Ford – 6100 W. 95th Street in Oak Lawn: Bobby Hull – Saturday, Feb. 20, 1-3 pm
“Blackhawks Night” @ the Rockford IceHogs - Rockford MetroCentre, 300 Elm Street in Rockford: Kris Versteeg, Troy Brouwer, Colin Fraser, Antti Niemi, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Assistant Coach Mike Haviland and Tommy Hawk - Saturday, Feb. 27 6-6:55 pm
Finally, Andrew Ladd is taking part in the Super Plunge to benefit the Illinois Special Olympics on Saturday, Feb. 27 on Northwestern’s campus in Evanston. If you’re interested in supporting Ladd’s efforts and helping the Special Olympics, you can donte on Ladd’s page here . CommittedIndians‘ founder Tab Bamford, who is an assistant coach on the Riverside-Brookfield High School Special Olympics team, will be jumping with other RBHS representatives that afternoon in the Polar Plunge. Click here to support the RBHS team in the Polar Plunge.
As the Olympics begin, it gives us two weeks to look back at the first 61 games of the season. The standings in the Central Division are updated through the beginning of the break already.
Below are the full team stats for the Blackhawks to date.
Legend: PIM = Penalty Minutes, ATOI = Avg Time on Ice, PPG/A = Power Play Goals/Assists, SHG/S = Shorthanded Goals/Assists, GWG = Game Winning Goals, FO% = Faceoff Win Pct, BS = Blocked Shots.
Legend: SO = Shutouts, TSA = Total Shots Against
On Friday, a memo was distributed by the NHL highlighting the business trends for the league through the end of January. Part of the memo was the rankings for players’ jersey sales, and two Chicago Blackhawks are in the top ten. Patrick Kane was sixth and Jonathan Toews eighth on the list.
The Blackhawks were also mentioned as a leader in television attraction. Based on ratings from regional sports networks (like Comcast SportsNet and WGN), two-thirds of NHL markets showed a year-over-year increase in television audience. Leading the league was the Blackhawks, who saw a year-over-year rating increase of 109 percent. According to Comcast Sportsnet, the Blackhawks have averaged 106.8 percent of the United Center’s capacity for home games this year, and have hosted the 12 most attended, non-Winter Classic games of the season.
The jersey rankings take into account only jerseys sold through Shop.NHL.com, and adds all jerseys for each player (home, road, alternate, etc). The top two on the list weren’t surprising: Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin. Evgeni Malkin and Mac-Andre Fleury of the Penguins ranked third and fourth, and Mike Richards of the Flyers was fifth. Milan Lucic of the Bruins ranked seventh, between Kane and Toews.
The rest of the top 20 was, starting with ninth after Toews: Henrik Lundqvist, Martin Brodeur, Zach Parise, Marian Gaborik, Henrik Zetterberg, Ryan Miller, Chros Pronger, Pavel Datysuk, Zdeno Chara, Jeff Carter, Marc Savard and Claude Giroux.
You’ll notice that seven of the top 20 players were part of the Winter Classic in Boston this year.
