The Hawks won't face Jason Chimera, front left, in Columbus again.
On Monday, the last-place Columbus Blue Jackets made a fairly substantial deal that could improve the youngest roster in the NHL and make them more competitive in the Central Division in 2010.
The Jackets traded veteran forward Jason Chimera to Washington for veterans forward Chris Clark and defenseman Milan Jurcina. Chimera, 30, was a well-respected leader in the Jackets’ locker room and had 17 points (8 G, 9 A) so far this season. Chimera, with 47 penalty minutes, becomes Washington’s new leader in that category. The struggling Jackets have enough holes that this was a move of necessity.
Clark had been the captain of the Capitals for the last four seasons and was enjoying a moderate renaissance this season with 15 points already (4 G, 11 A). The younger Jurcina, 26, has only four assists on the season while averaging over 17 minutes per game for the first place Capitals. Washington has the luxury of depth on the blue line, so Jurcina was an affordable loss.
It has been an interesting couple days in Washington. On Sunday, the team announced a one-year extension for emerging 25-year old forward Alexander Semin, and then traded their captain on Monday. It isn’t very often that a first place team trades a captain in the middle of the season, and Washington will not rush to select a replacement.
On Monday, without the traded players being available, the teams saw opposite results. The Jackets shut out the Red Wings 1-0 in overtime behind a fabulous 34-save night from Steve Mason. The Capitals, meanwhile, lost 6-3 at home to the bad Carolina Hurricanes.
While the Blackhawks have already wrapped up their season series with the second-place Nashville Predators, they have only played the last-place Blue Jackets once this year. The Hawks will get three shots at the Jackets before the Olympics, though, and will see Chimera again on March 14 when the Capitals come to Chicago.
In the last couple weeks, the Chicago Blackhawks have had three amazing goals that were Sportscenter-caliber plays. After Wednesday night’s breakaway game-winner in overtime, it sparked the question: which was the best? You tell us which you think was the top.
A) Jonathan Toews vs. Nashville – video
B) Kris Versteeg vs. Columbus – video
C) Dustin Byfuglien vs. NY Rangers – video
Because there were so many injuries to key players early in the season, and the big names continue to fall, the beginning of December is a good time to look back, and forward, at when some of the top players in the Western Conference could return.
Central Division
Chicago:
Dave Bolland – had back surgery on November 10. Is expected to return in 12-16 weeks. ETA: post-Olympics?
Adam Burish – torn ACL in late September should cost him approximately six months. ETA: playoffs at best, likely 2010-11
Detroit:
Niklas Kronwall – sprained MCL on November 21 is expected to cost him two weeks. ETA: Dec. 7
Jason Williams – broke a fibula in early November and is expected to miss eight weeks. ETA: Christmas
Valterri Filppula – broken right wrist at the end of October expected to keep him out six to eight weeks. ETA: mid- to late-December
Johan Franzen – had surgery to repair torn ACL on October 16, beginning a six month recovery. ETA: maybe playoffs, more likely 2010-11
Columbus:
Rostislav Klesla – doctors discovered a torn groin and torn stomach muscle on Dec. 2, which could keep him out more than six weeks. ETA: at least mid-January
Nashville:
none
St. Louis:
DJ King – could have pins removed from his hand this week. ETA: soon?
Eric Brewer – lower body injury. ETA: this weekend?
Northwest Division
Calgary:
Colorado:
David Jones - tore his left ACL in late November, which should cost him roughly six months. ETA: playoffs at best, likely 2010-11.
Vancouver:
Pavol Demitra – has been recovering from summer shoulder surgery, and doesn’t have a firm timetable for return. ETA: after Christmas.
Edmonton:
Nikolai Khabibulin – is listed as day-to-day with back issues. He has missed a few games because of the injury. No ETA, but injury could be an ongoing concern.
Ales Hemsky – suffered a shoulder injury that required season-ending surgery. ETA: 2010-11.
Mike Comrie – diagnosed with mono on Nov. 16. ETA: TBD
Minnesota:
Martin Havlat – was retroactively put on the disabled list last week because of hamstring issues. Hopes to play Dec. 2.
Brent Burns – hasn’t played since Nov. 18 because of a concussion. ETA: TBD
Petr Sykora – hasn’t played since Nov. 7 because of a concussion. ETA: TBD
Pierre-Marc Bouchard – has only played in one game because of concussion-like symptoms. ETA: TBD
Pacific Division
San Jose:
Jody Shelley – hasn’t played since Nov. 7 because of “general soreness” and was placed on the disabled list on Nov. 30. ETA: TBD
Los Angeles:
Rob Scuderi – hasn’t played since Nov. 14 because of a lower body injury. ETA: soon? Did not play Dec. 1.
Ryan Smyth - has been out since Nov. 16 with an upper body injury, but has been cleared to skate with the team. ETA: soon.
Phoenix:
Peter Mueller - left Friday’s game with an injury and did not play Sunday. Status is still being determined.
Vernon Fiddler - left Friday’s game with an injury and did not play Sunday. Status is still being determined.
Ed Jovanovski - left Friday’s game with an injury and did not play Sunday. Status is still being determined.
Kurt Sauer – hasn’t played since the season opener because of head issues. ETA: TBD.
Dallas:
Anaheim:
Joffrey Lupul – was placed on the disabled list retroactively after missing five games with back spasms. ETA: TBD.
Kyle Calder – took a puck to the eye Nov. 28 and is expected to miss between two and four weeks. ETA: Christmas.
Ryan Carter – hasn’t played since Nov. 11 because of a foot injury. He’s expected to miss at least two more week. ETA: late-December.
The first of Kris Versteeg's two toe-drags on his gorgeous short-handed goal Tuesday.
How many firsts were there on Tuesday night?
Tuesday was December 1st. The Blackhawks played at home for the first time in two weeks. It was the first game between the Blackhawks and division rival, and second place, Columbus. Marian Hossa was playing in his first home game as a member of the Hawks. It was the first time the Hawks wore their new third jerseys. And it was the first time a Blackhawks’ team had a shootout reach double-digit shots.
All of that to get Coach Joel Quenneville his 500th career win as an NHL coach.
Welcome home indeed!
The Blackhawks admittedly didn’t have their legs in the first period as they were outshot by the Blue Jackets 10-5, but held the advantage on the scoreboard after an incredible short handed goal from Kris Versteeg. Versteeg got the puck on a break up the right side, used a ridiculous toe-drag to beat an initial defender, then used another sick toe-drag to elude a second defender before depositing the puck over Steve Mason’s shoulder to give the Hawks the 1-0 lead.
Despite the score, the Hawks didn’t have much momentum heading to the first break. On the radio broadcast, Patrick Kane told the Chicago broadcast team that the Hawks were struggling to get the flow of their offense down after being gone for two weeks on the West Coast. The Blackhawks made a number of mistakes, including two questionable penalties and numerous turnovers in the Hawks’ zone that their stellar defense effectively mitigated.
The second period started with more back and forth action, and just over eight minutes in the Jackets tied the game with Antoine Vermette putting back a sloppy rebound off Cristobal Huet. Then, six minutes later, former-Blackhawks center Sami Pahlsson got another puck past Huet to give Columbus the lead. The Hawks were still searching for their groove.
But the second penalty of the period on Anton Stralman opened the door for the Hawks to put together an offensive rush, and they capitalized. With a lot of traffic in front of the net, Kane threw the puck to Hossa in front of the net. Hossa nicely tipped Kane’s pass through the traffic to a wide-open Patrick Sharp on the backside of the play and he tied the game again.
Once Sharp tied the game, the Hawks became noticeably more physical. Dustin Byfuglien, Troy Brouwer and Niklas Hjalmarsson worked the corners hard and, more times than not, left their opponent without the puck and off their feet. The Hawks controlled the final three minutes of the second period, and the game headed to the third period even in almost every way; not only was the score tied, but the Hawks had taken just one shot more than the Jackets and the two teams were nearly even in every other statistical category.
Columbus came out strong in the third, and took the lead only 40 seconds into the period on a long shot from Kris Russell.
However, the Hawks continued to press the offensive zone and drew more penalties. Only 17 seconds after Fedor Tyutin was called for high sticking, Jonathan Toews tied the game at three. The Blackhawks power play offense, which had been a concern for much of October, has continued to improve since Toews’ return.
The other side of the special teams, the penalty kill, also continues to be exceptional for Chicago. The Hawks entered Tuesday with the second-ranked PK unit in the NHL, but were facing the top converting power play in the NHL in Columbus. Through three periods and overtime, the Hawks defense was again superior as they killed all three penalties the Jackets drew.
Why, after being gone for two weeks, would the Hawks cheat their fans by playing only 60 minutes of hockey? Let’s play five extra minutes.
Neither team was able to score in the overtime session, though, so the Blackhawks treated their great fans to a shootout.
In the second round of the shootout, Hossa put the puck into the net to start the dance for the Hawks. But Jakub Voracek answered to start the third round, and when Kane couldn’t end it, the game continued for extra shots.
Sharp, Versteeg, Andrew Ladd, Brouwer, Tomas Kopecky, Byfuglien and John Madden all tried their best but couldn’t beat Mason, who had struggled in shootouts before Tuesday. It wasn’t until the 11th round, when Quenneville finally called on a defenseman that the game ended. Brent Seabrook, who already has two overtime game winners this year, got the puck past Mason to end the longest shootout in franchise history.
Huet stopped 20 of 23 shots, but made great saves on the best moves from Columbus. On more than one occasion, Rick Nash made stunning moves in traffic and got the puck to Huet, but the Hawks’ goaltender was up to the task every time. He was also stellar in the shootout, in which he was aggressive playing the puck and made saves in nearly every direction.
Hossa had two assists in his first game in Chicago, giving him four points in four games with the Hawks. Duncan Keith had his 14th assist on the season on a shot that has, for now, been credited as a goal to Toews. Whether or not Toews made contact with the puck could be reviewed.
And so, after a night filled with firsts, Quenneville finally reached his 500th career win in his third try.
After three home games this season, the Blackhawks have made a powerful statement to the rest of the league: they’re for real, and a force to be reckoned with in the coming months.
The 2009-10 NHL season is set up so that the first few months of the season will go a long way in determining playoff positioning at the end of April.
Because of the Olympics in February, the schedule is front-loaded with significant games against conference and divisional rivals because, with a two week break in the middle of the season, there just isn’t enough time to spread the games out.
The front-loaded schedule brings this season into focus now especially because of the injuries hitting the rest of the Western Conference.
Detroit lost Johan Franzen last week, Columbus announced they’ll be without Jan Hejdafor the next few weeks on Wednesday, and the Vancouver Canucks announced that they’re going to be without both Sami Salo and Daniel Sedin for over a month as well. The Blackhawks, of course, are starting their season without Marian Hossa and won’t get him into the lineup until mid-November.
As key players continue to drop like flies all over rosters in the Western Conference, the Blackhawks have the luxury of getting their young nucleus off to a strong start before adding Hossa to the mix. And they’ve done just that, starting the season 4-1-1.
But what’s equally important is that the Hawks are beating good teams they’ll face in important games later in the season as well. After a tough loss in Detroit’s home opener, the Blackhawks came home to Chicago and scored the maximum six points in defeating Colorado, Calgary and Edmonton.
Even without Hossa, the Blackhawks have started the season in a statistically dominating fashion.
They rank second in the Western Conference in goals per game on offense, are second in the NHL in fewest penalty minutes per game and are second in the league in shots on goal per game. They are averaging ten more shots on goal per game than their opponents through six games as well.
Patrick Sharp and Patrick Kane have already scored seven points each, while Kris Versteeg has six, all ranking among the top ten scorers in the Western Conference. Meanwhile, Brent Seabrook’s five points and Brian Campbell’s four rank among the top ten for defensivemen in the West as well. Seabrook also ranks third among Western Conference blue liners to date in average time on ice and hits.
On Thursday, the Blackhawks will place Cristobal Huet back in net against a struggling Nashville team that has only scored seven goals in their first five games. Antti Niemi improved to 3-0-0 on Wednesday, putting additional pressure on the expensive Huet to have a strong performance against the Predators.
The Columbus Blue Jackets announced Wednesday that they’ll be without defenseman Jan Hejda for between four and six weeks because of a sprained left knee.
Already missing from action with a bad groin is Hejda’s line mate, Mike Commodore. Commodore did skate with the team on Monday, but is not ready to return to action yet.
The Jackets are currently 4-1-0 and, with eight points, lead the Central Division heading into Wednesday night’s action.
