As he continues to blow past his career best numbers, Viktor Stalberg continues to emerge as a legitimate offensive threat in Chicago. He hasn’t scored this many goals since he was at the University of Vermont, and his 30 points is already six more than his best season (which was 24 points last year).
But have Hawks fans seen this before?
The Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks played a great, playoff-caliber hockey game on Tuesday night to begin the home stretch of the season. The game was as close as the final score indicated, and the action was intense for more than 60 minutes.
But when the dust settled, the box score makes little sense.
When the Blackhawks begin the second half of their season on Tuesday night in Vancouver, they’ll have a couple familiar faces back on the ice… and one new one.
Both Patrick Sharp and captain Jonathan Toews will return to action against the Canucks. Toews missed just one game, while Sharp was out eight games. Joining them in the lineup will be newly acquired center Brendan Morrison.
The Blackhawks top selection in the 2011 NHL Draft, Mark McNeill, was named the Player of the Week in the Western Hockey League. With the Prince Albert Raiders, McNeill posted five goals and three assists, with a plus-four rating, in three games.
On Monday, the Carolina Hurricanes and defenseman Tim Gleason agreed to a four-year, $16M contract.
Gleason is the second defenseman to leave the theoretical trade market with a multi-year contract, as the Canes followed the lead provided when the Anaheim Ducks inked Francois Beauchemin.
This removes a second defenseman from the list of potential trade targets for the Chicago Blackhawks. So who could be some of the names the Hawks look at moving forward?
On Saturday afternoon the Blackhawks assigned rookie forward Jimmy Hayes to Rockford. Hayes has four goals, three assists and six penalty minutes in 13 games with the Blackhawks.
The move was necessary after Chicago acquired Brendan Morrison from Calgary on Friday night. Chicago expects captain Jonathan Toews to return from IR in time for the team’s first game after the All-Star Break in Vancouver on Tuesday.
On Friday night, the Blackhawks acquired a veteran center.
No, Brendan Morrison isn’t going to step in and become the 60-point second center that fans were craving, but the ripple effect on the rest of the roster could prove to be a positive.
On Friday night, the Blackhawks acquired center Brendan Morrison from the Calgary Flames in exchange for two-time AHL All-Star defenseman Brian Connelly.
Morrison, 36, has 11 points (four goals, seven assists) and is minus-one in 28 games. He has won 50.4 percent of his faceoffs (150/298), and has been credited with five hits, 15 blocked shots and 20 takeaways while averaging 13:44 on the ice this season. He comes with a $1.25M cap hit on a one-year deal that expires at the end of this season.
In the last couple days we’ve evaluated the performances of some of the Blackhawks. First we looked at the rookies, and then we graded the defensemen and goalies. Now, let’s take a serious look at the forwards’ play before the All-Star Break.
On Thursday night the NHL held their second annual NHL All-Star Game Fantasy Draft in Ottawa. Captains Daniel Alfredsson and Zdeno Chara make the selections.
From the Blackhawks, Marian Hossa was selected fourth by Team Chara. Patrick Kane was selected 12th, also by Team Chara. Former Blackhawks defenseman Brian Campbell, also on Team Chara, was chosen in the round just before Kane.
For complete draft results, click here.
