On Saturday, the Chicago Blackhawks activated forward Adam Burish off the injured reserve. He is now available to return to game action.
Burish had speculated before the Olympics that Sunday’s game against Detroit might be when he appears in a game for the first time since having surgery on a torn ACL, but it now appears the Blackhawks will wait until they host the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday for Burish to see real action again.
When Burish returns, the Hawks will expand an already crowded group of forwards. When center Dave Bolland returned before the Olympics, the Blackhawks were forced to sit a regular contributor on a nightly basis because they had too many bodies for the roster. Colin Fraser and Ben Eager have been the most frequent healthy scratches. When Burish returns, there will be two too many bodies for the spots available.
It only took 37 seconds for the gloves to drop, and the penalties kept coming all night but the Blackhawks handled their business with a stunning 6-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Friday night.
The Blackhawks ran a clearly frustrated Roberto Luongo after only one period by scoring five goals in the first 20 minutes and Vancouver was never able to get into the game. With their win, the Hawks stay tied for the Western Conference lead with the San Jose Sharks and move within three points of the Washington Capitals for the top spot in the NHL.
Despite being shut down for a full two-minute, two-man advantage after two fights broke out less than a minute into the game, it didn’t take long for the Hawks to get on the board. Andrew Ladd, who was involved in the first altercation of the evening with crybaby Ryan Kesler, scored his 12th goal of the year just 3:48 into the game to give the Blackhawks the lead. Seven minutes, six penalties and two fights later, Duncan Keith scored his 12th goal of the season on a power play to extend the lead. The flood gates were now open, and Luongo’s leash was shrinking.
Troy Brouwer scored his 19th goal of the year only 31 seconds after Keith’s, and the route was on. Kesler made a pretty play, shooting the puck between Keith and Cristobal Huet’s legs to get Vancouver on the board, but Kris Versteeg got off the schnide with his first goal (and only his third point) in his last 16 games. When Jordan Hendry added his first of the season with only 43 seconds left in the period, Luongo looked like he needed a shower. The Blackhawks five goals came on only 14 shots.
Andrew Raycroft replaced Luongo after the first period and would allow two goals on only ten shots in the final two periods. Alex Burrows tried to help Raycroft out by scoring the first goal of the second period and drawing the Canucks to within 5-2, but Marian Hossa made sure the hopes of the visitors were short-lived when he put in his 19th at 16:55.
Tanner Glass had an impressive night for Vancouver, being whistled for five penalties, all for separate offenses. His nine penalty minutes led the way in the game, as Ben Eager and Vancouver’s Andrew Alberts would also serve seven minutes in the box. In total, 18 penalties were called on Friday night. The Blackhawks took advantage of a man-advantage situation on Keith’s goal in the first, but ended the night just 1-7 on the power play; Vancouver was 0-4 on the night.
Hossa, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews all continued their hot scoring streak after the Olympics on Friday night. Kane had one assist, Toews two assists and Hossa one assist and one goal to lead a balanced offense for the Blackhawks. Jordan Hendry, the game’s Number One Star, had one goal and one assist. Also being credited with assists on Friday night were Dustin Byfuglien, Brian Campbell, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Kim Johnsson and Patrick Sharp.
Huet’s raw numbers weren’t spectacular (three goals allowed on only 23 shots) but he made a number of spectacular saves early on and, for the most part, controlled the puck in traffic when needed. Once the lead was established in the first period, the action spread out and Huet only faced 12 shots in the final two frames.
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.
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
According to a story on ESPNChicago on Thursday evening, Blackhawks forward Adam Burish could return to the lineup immediately after the Olympics.
Burish is quoted by Jesse Rogers, saying, “From talking to the trainers, I think [it’s] some time in that first week of March… Maybe [March 3] or [March 7]. A lot of dates have been thrown around, but some time in that first week.”
This would give coach Joel Quenneville even more possibilities, and headaches, when putting together a lineup. When Dave Bolland returned, it gave the Blackhawks one forward too many. Since that time, Colin Fraser has sat once and Ben Eager twice.
Eager will not play this weekend and missed Tuesday’s game against Dallas because of a lower-body injury. He has missed time already this year because of recurring issues from concussions, and could be a candidate for a trip to the injured reserve if he’s hurting after the Olympic break. The crowded roster for the Blackhawks, coupled with the need to cut payroll for next year and the team’s chance to go deep into the playoffs, makes the Hawks a likely trade candidate before the March 3 deadline.
It looks like the only person experimenting with lines more than Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville these days is Charlie Sheen…
Reports are that, for Tuesday night’s game against the Stars, Quenneville will again keep Ben Eager on the bench. Because of how effective it was reuniting Patrick Sharp with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, that will remain the top line. Andrew Ladd will move back up onto the second line, playing with Dave Bolland and Marian Hossa. One of the surprises is the third line, where Kris Versteeg appears set to spend some time at center between Troy Brouwer and Dustin Byfuglien. Tomas Kopecky, who was thrilled after skating with Hossa on Saturday and played well in the change, moves back to the fourth line, where he’ll again skate with Colin Fraser (at wing) and John Madden.
The third line of Byfuglien-Versteeg-Brouwer looks especially intriguing, with two big, hitting forward on either side of Versteeg, a smooth criminal who moves the puck exceptionally well in space. Versteeg has been a central figure in many trade rumors lately, so moving him back to center has a bit of intrigue to it because of that potential as well.
The changes would figure to impact Brouwer’s production the most. He was scoring at a pace he’s never displayed at the NHL level while skating with Toews and Kane, and provided a physical force on the line that created space for Kane and Toews to create. However, the creativity on the line with Sharp, Kane and Toews was good last year for most of the season, and it contributed both of the Hawks’ goals in Saturday’s victory.
Antti Niemi will start in net on Tuesday.
For a lot of Blackhawks fans, Jack Skille is a four-letter word. He’s a guy who’s been the next-best-thing for long enough that many feel his time has past, and yet his time might still be coming. Why do we seem to hate Skille so much, and what should the Hawks do with him? Let’s get to know Skille a little better.
First, the case for why Blackhawks fans don’t like Skille.
The Blackhawks draft Skille with the seventh overall pick in the 2005 draft, a class that was headlined by the top pick, Sidney Crosby. There was a lot of good talent off the board by the time the Hawks got to pick (Crosby, Bobby Ryan, Jack Johnson, Benoit Pouliot, Carey Price and Gilbert Brule were the top six), but the problem the Hawks have is the classic Chicago “What If” game with names that followed Skille’s selection at seven.
And that’s just the names from the first round. Mac-Edouard Vlasic, Justin Abdelkader, Paul Stastny, Guillaume Latendresse and Mason Raymond all went in the second round. Kris Letang, Kris Russell, Evan Brophey, Jonathan Quick, Jared Boll, Keith Yandle, Darren Helm, Matt D’Agostini, Sergei Kostitsyn and Patric Hornqvist were all selected after the second round in that class. Heck, the Blackhawks drafted my favorite young player on the current roster, Niklas Hjalmarsson, in the fourth round that year.
Because so many quality players were picked after Skille in 2005, the fact that we’ve only seen limited action with moderate productivity from Skille, the knee-jerk reaction to his “career” has been that he’s a bust. And there’s still a good chance that Skille is exactly that.
But let’s pause for a moment and consider what the Hawks have in Skille, and why we haven’t seen much from the young winger.
Look at some of the guys that have broken into the NHL roster in the last four years. Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Kris Versteeg and Dave Bolland have all broken into the lineup as puck-moving, scoring, skating forwards on the top two lines.
These guys have been complimented by additions through trades or free agency by Marian Hossa, Andrew Ladd and John Madden to fill out a lot of the top three lines. When you add home-grown Dustin Byfuglien’s transition from defense to the front lines, where is the room for Skille to fit with the NHL roster?
He isn’t a center, so somehow he would need to crack the top-six wings on the roster to break in. Skille isn’t going to be a glove-dropping wing, either, so taking the spot of Ben Eager, Adam Burish or Colin Fraser hasn’t happened, either.
Skille’s been solid for a few years in the minors. This year, Skille’s having agruably his best season as a professional in Rockford, too. In 42 games, he has 35 points (16 G, 19 A) and was an AHL All Star. Last year, Skille had 45 points (20 G, 25 A) in just 58 games. He’s been a productive forward in Rockford who just happens to have a concrete ceiling over his head because of the talented roster in Chicago.
Oh, and he’s still only 22 (he’ll turn 23 in May).
And yet because he hasn’t produced instant offense when he’s had the chance in Chicago (eight points, -5 in 30 career NHL games), the jury appears to have pushed him into the “Bust” category for good.
As the 2009-10 season progresses, the options for Skille will likely remain in Rockford. Because of where he was drafted, he has a cap number of over $1 million, which is higher than some of the names that have been in Chicago more often this year. But Bryan Bickell and Jake Dowell haven’t put up nearly the same production in Rockford that Skille has, and likely wouldn’t be expected to at the next level. A lot of the reason that those two were called up earlier this year over Skille was because the Hawks needed more size on the fourth line when Eager was out, too. Skille’s listed at 6′1 and 205 pounds, so while he has decent size (a giant next to Kane and Versteeg), he isn’t big enough and doesn’t play a rough enough game to replace Eager in the lineup.
Most talent evaluators have moved on past Skille as well. Hockey’s Future, one of the top prospect rating sites, ranks Skille as the Blackhawks #6 prospect behind Kyle Beach, Akim Aliu, Dylan Olsen, Shawn LaLonde and Billy Sweatt. However, this evaluation is on long-term potential, not on more immediate production capability. Skille is the most NHL-ready player in the Hawks system.
Let’s jump to the here and now. Despite that concrete ceiling, Skille still has value to the Blackhawks. Because of his production in Rockford and age, and his restricted free agent status after this year, Skille will be a popular trade chip between now and the deadline. He could step into the lineup for a lot of NHL teams on their third line and be a productive player right now.
However, between now and the trade deadline, the Blackhawks’ tinkering and likely look toward bolstering the blue line will likely involve moving salary off next year’s payroll, though. Versteeg, Byfuglien and Patrick Sharp are NHL players that have a track record that makes them attractive to other teams while their price tage (all over $3 million) mean their likely to be moved to create the necessary cap flexibility for next year.
This is where Skille fits in.
As the Hawks look to make next year’s team affordable under the cap, Skille could become a player Chicago fans get to watch more. There’s a very good chance that next year, the then-23-year old Skille could be a contributing member of the Hawks’ third line, and could be around for a few years to come. Given his success in Rockford, and the Hawks need to move salary, it certainly isn’t time to write off Skille as an NHL player.
Patrick Kane celebrates his first period goal.
After almost three weeks and eight games on the road, and with Dave Bolland returning to the lineup for the first time since Nov. 5, the Blackhawks figured to get an emotional lift on Wednesday night.
Everything started well. Patrick Kane scored 7:40 in to give the Hawks a 1-0 advantage, which they held through the end of the first period. In the frame, the Hawks held the Blues to only three shots on net, none of which came in the first nine minutes.
Then the second period happened.
On only nine shots, the Blues scored three times against Cristobal Huet, the last two of which came in a back-breaking flurry to end the period. “Bad Huet” showed up on a night when Antti Niemi was supposed to start but was a morning scratch because of the flu. The Hawks didn’t help Huet much in the second, as sloppy passing and lazy puck handling contributed to the demise, but allowing three goals on only 12 shots to a team that only averages 2.53 goals per game (24th in the NHL) is unacceptable. The 19 shots the Blues put on net was their lowest total since the day after Christmas, when they only got 18 shots to the net against Minnesota.
Dave Bolland played well Wednesday.
The second goal for the Hawks was scored short-handed, and was a work of art between Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa. Toews brought the puck up the ice, worked his way between two defenders (one of whom ended up on his butt) and completely crossed the zone, drawing Chris Mason from one post to the other. Hossa settled in on the far side of the net all alone and received a gorgeous pass from Toews that he easily deposited into the net. Despite getting worked on this shot, Mason was clearly the better netminder on Wednesday; he saved 32 of 34 shots on the night to earn a crucial win for a struggled St. Louis team.
Unfortunately for fans of the Blackhawks that don’t want trade rumors to be a distraction, night like Wednesday will continue to put pressure on management to bolster the defense in front of whomever is playing between the pipes, and the goaltender position will remain a question mark. The rumors about the Hawks’ involvement in the Kovalchuk Sweepstakes continue to be hot, and losing a home game to the Blues won’t help management feel comfortable with the roster as-is moving forward.
Antti Niemi will start in net for the Hawks.
A lot of noise was flying around the Blackhawks practice today, so here is some clarification.
First, Antti Niemi is starting in goal against St. Louis on Wednesday night.
Next, Dave Bolland appears to be back at 100 percent and will play at the United Center on Wednesday for the first time since Nov. 5.
Now, the heart of the buzz. Andrew Ladd warmed up with the team, and then left the ice for the bulk of practice. When Bolland slid into the center spot between Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa, logic started to kick in that a seemingly-healthy Ladd might be on the road to O’Hare. However, according to coach Joel Quenneville after practice, Ladd left the ice because of a “lower body injury” and is expected to play against the Blues.
Which begs the question: who plays where?
Quenneville indicated that Bolland probably won’t jump into the mix for 20 minutes on Wednesday, and that the team would begin a rotation on the fourth line. Who sits on Wednesday hasn’t been determined yet, but odds are that it won’t be Ben Eager considering the physical history between the Blues and Blackhawks.
This certainly doesn’t close the door on a trade, but the party line response from the Blackhawks is that the team will be together as-is for the first home game in almost three weeks. Stay tuned…
