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
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.
The mystery question has been solved: Jack Skille will replace Marian Hossa in the Hawks lineup for the game against the Anaheim Ducks.
There hasn’t been an official word regarding the nature of Hossa’s removal from the lineup yet. As we hear something, we’ll update you. Also missing from the lineup is Cam Barker, a fifth consecutive absence from Barker.
Antti Niemi will start in net tonight after a poor performance from Cristobal Huet on Saturday night in Minnesota.
UPDATE: According to the Blackhawks on Twitter, Hossa is out because of an undisclosed “lowed body injury” and is listed as day-to-day. As this develops we’ll bring you more.
In a surprising move announced late Sunday morning, the Blackhawks recalled Jack Skille from Rockford.
The Hawks have, because of injuries to forwards, had a number of players riding back and forth from Rockford already this season. Because of the Hawks salary cap situation, though, Skille had been stuck in Rockford for most of this season in favor of Bryan Bickell or Jake Dowell. Skille has 26 points in 32 games in Rockford this year, but carries a cap number of over $1 million because he was selected with the seventh overall pick in the 2005 draft.
No other transactions have been announced for the Hawks yet, but the only known injury concern on the team is Cam Barker, a defenseman.
As any additional news comes, we’ll let you know.
Now that the ink is dry and the Blackhawks have locked up more of their young core to long term deals, there will continue to be a lot of dialogue surrounding which current Hawks players won’t be on the 2010-11 roster. Somehow, GM Stan Bowman avoided tagging issues to get the deals with Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith and Patrick Kane done, but that doesn’t change the reality that the Hawks need to cut payroll off their roster for next year.
In the first discussion of a developing series, we’ve recruited Michael Wagner, a Blackhawks’ Featured Columnist on Bleacher Report, to help evaluate the trade candidacy of Tomas Kopecky, while we looked at Dustin Byfuglien’s status with the Hawks’ organization.
Dustin Byfuglien
Now that the Have have cleared whatever tagging hurdles there were in the way of signing Keith, Toews and Kane, the immediate need to move a player has disappeared. Just because it isn’t present doesn’t mean it’s dead. The Hawks still need to move a player (or two, or three).
Tomas Kopecky isn’t playing well so far this year, and he was a healthy scratch from the lineup on Saturday night in Pittsburgh. With his minimal exposure, Kopecky might be a veteran another team might bite one.
Personally, I doubt it. He’s played so poorly, my opinion is that Kopecky’s more likely to be bought out next summer. By buying Kopecky out, his cap number would drop from $1.2 million to $360,000, a nearly $900,000 savings that could be the difference between keeping and trading someone like Patrick Sharp.
One player that has a higher value in the trade market right now because he’s statistically performing is Dustin Byfuglien.
Byfuglien is a big body (6-3, 245) who was brought through the Hawks’ system as a defenseman. But because of the emergence of players like Cam Barker and Niklas Hjalmarsson, and the Hawks’ desperate need for a big body to consistently post up in front of opposing goalies, Byfuglien was moved to forward.
This move came while former Hawks’ GM was making the first of a number of mistakes with veteran contracts. Before the 2008-09 season, based completely on the perception of a huge ceiling, Tallon gave Byfuglien a three-year, $9 million contract.
When the ink dried, only five Hawks had a bigger cap number than Byfuglien’s $3 million.
Byfuglien bounced around a little last year before landing on a line with Dave Bolland and Patrick Kane that proved to be special in last year’s playoffs. Though his production went down (from 36 points in 67 games during 2007-08 to 31 points in 77 games in 2008-09), Byfuglien was a much more balanced performer on the ice. He went from a minus-seven to plus-seven in the same one-year stretch.
One of the big factors in Byfuglien’s statistical drop-off was his playing time, and when he was playing. In 2007-08, Byfuglien had 17 points on the power play (seven goals, 10 assists) and was playing over 17 minutes per night. In 2008-09, he had only seven power play points (three goals, four assists), and his numbers dropped under 15 minutes per game.
Because Byfuglien was playing the blue line primarily, he was at the point on the power play more often in 2007-08 than the following year. This season, Joel Quenneville has experimented with Byfuglien back at the point on the power play with some success.
Something else developed in 2008-09: the Blackhawks were a good, deep roster with a fairly well stocked farm system.
In 2007-08, the Hawks spent the year fighting to come up with enough points to sneak into the playoffs; their “one goal” back then was to be relevant. In 2008-09, they sprinted to the Conference Finals. Byfuglien played a big role in the Hawks’ postseason success, too.
But the value Byfuglien brings to the team, and how his salary effects the payroll in relation to that production, are why Byfuglien might be the most attractive, yet most easily replaced, piece on the current roster.
Through Saturday night’s win in Pittsburgh, Byfuglien has 10 points (eight goals, two assists). His eight goals are tied for second on the team, just one behind Kane’s team leading nine. So, on paper, he’s a productive big man.
But, as is true with all sports, staring a numbers don’t always translate to reality in games. Byfuglien is far from the top of the Hawks’ roster when it comes to quality on the ice.
Despite his 10 points, and the amount of time he’s on a line with players like Kris Versteeg and Sharp, or Kane and Bolland, Byfuglien hasn’t been a consistent performer. He’s minus-five on the season, making him one of only three Hawks that average over 10 minutes on the ice per night that are negative (John Madden is minus-two, Kopecky is minus-seven).
Byfuglien has also shown a tendency to take less-than ideal penalties this year. It really began for Byfuglien on Oct. 21, after Toews went down against Vancouver. Byfuglien decided to come to his captain’s defense minutes after the hit, and took a dumb penalty that resulted in a critical goal for the Canucks.
Again, on Friday night, Byfuglien took a questionable boarding penalty that cost the team. After that penalty, his role appeared to change in the eyes of Quenneville.
Byfuglien slid from the second line, where he had been skating with Kane and Versteeg, to the third line with Madden and Ladd; Troy Brouwer was elevated to the top line with Marian Hossa and Toews, while Patrick Sharp played with kane and Versteeg.
As the lines were set for Saturday, Byfuglien was with Madden and Brouwer, while Andrew Ladd skated with the first line. Byfuglien’s role was sliding down the depth chart.
It hasn’t been only the penalties he’s been taking that have hurt Byfuglien’s playing time, either. After Hossa joined the team, and with Brouwer playing exceptionally well (13 points), there are other players on the roster that are posting up in front of the net just as well.
Indeed, Brouwer’s solid season, and price tag that comes at one-third that of Byfuglien, might be one of the most important factors in his importance on the team disappearing. Brouwer handles the puck better than Byfuglien, most noticeable in his six assists to Byfuglien’s two, and has also taken only 16 penalty minutes to Byfuglien’s 40, all while being credited with nearly as many hits (69) and Byfuglien (83).
Add to Brouwer’s smarter, less expensive play the reality that the Hawks have good players with similar size to Byfuglien coming along through their system, and Byfuglien’s time in Chicago could be over sooner than later.
We’ve already seen Bryan Bickell and Jake Dowell play effective hockey with the Hawks this year, and they could be with the big team in Chicago for less than $1 million next year. Also available will be better offensive players in Akim Aliu and Kyle Beach, both of whom are having good seasons and are years younger than Byfuglien.
In fact, as Mr. Wagner will be the first to testify, I might be the cheerleading President of the Beach Fan Club on Bleacher Report; I’ve been writing about his potential since early this past summer.
Beach is 6-3 and over 210 pounds, both comparable to Byfuglien’s size, but Beach won’t turn 20 until the middle of January. In 25 games in Spokane this year, Beach has 21 goals and nine assists (30 points) to go with 78 penalty minutes.
Beach could easily replace Byfuglien, Ben Eager and/or Andrew Ladd next year; in my opinion, Beach will be on the 2010-11 Blackhawks, the only question is who he’ll replace. It could, and should, be Byfuglien.
There are General Managers like Toronto’s Brian Burke that love big, banging forwards like Byfuglien. Unfortunately for team’s looking to dump salary on the Leafs, they don’t have draft picks to move in return; they traded most of their high picks for Phil Kessel and are trying to stockpile picks via trade now.
The Blackhawks would want to move Byfuglien in a deal that would unload most, if not all, of his $3 million cap number. That means either a prospect or draft picks coming back. However, if the Hawks could pick up a contributing player for a relatively low cap number, perhaps a young defenseman for under $1 million with an expiring contract, that might get the deal done.
Another possibility is that Hawks GM Stan Bowman packages a couple younger players in a deal to bring in a contributing player that’s less expensive. In the coming days, Wagner and I will look at a few more players that could be on their way out of Chicago. Packaging Byfuglien with someone like Cam Barker, who also has a cap number of $3 million, could be tempting for lots of rival GMs.
Tomas Kopecky
Entering the 2009-2010 season many, including myself , thought that Tomas Kopecky could be an X-factor for the Chicago Blackhawks after a strong training camp and preseason.
Who could blame us Hawks fans for being interested about Kopecky as in the offseason he was signed to a two year, $2.4 million deal? So ‘Hawks management had to believe that there was some talent there.
Well, it seems as though they might have been wrong.
Kopecky has not played well in the Hawks system only recording three points and a minus-7 rating in 27 games and was a healthy scratch for the first time this season against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Now the likely reason that Kopecky was in the press box tonight was just to send a message to the slumping forward but it is also possible that this could be something more.
With the Hawks recent signings of their big three rumors have begun to swirl about who might be in and who might be out.
Most of the names involved in possible trade talks have been the likes of big money players such as Dustin Byfuglien, Kris Versteeg, and Cam Barker but every little bit counts and Kopecky is a movable commodity.
Kopecky might be struggling now but he could still be a valuable player for a team that lacks depth and his ability to play multiple positions is another valuable asset to a team looking for a checking forward.
If Kopecky were to be dealt there would be multiple options to replace him on the 3rd/4th line such as Jacob Dowell, Bryan Bickell, or even Jack Skille.
In the short time that Dowell, Bickell, and Skille were with the Blackhawks they combined for as many points as Kopecky with three and as a group were a plus-1 in 13 games.
So basically whoever the Hawks were to replace Kopecky with would likely be an upgrade and would be a lot less money.
Now the benching of Kopecky could be much ado about nothing but if his slump continues I can guarantee you that he will be seeking employment elsewhere in 2010.
The Kopecky portion of this article was originally published on Bleacher Report by Michael Wagner. For the original article, go here.
When the Blackhawks get healthy, who will disappear from the team photo?
It’s always unfortunate when injuries strike a roster, and the Hawks have certainly been more fortunate than some of their Western Conference rivals like Vancouver and Detroit. Chicago hasn’t been immune to the ijnjury bug, but that hasn’t kept them from accomplishing one of their goals – beginning November in first place.
Now that November has started, the return of injured players is expected to begin as well. Brent Seabrook came back on Thursday night last week and was a noticeable influence on the flow of the defense in both Thursday and Friday’s games. Seabrook, of course, isn’t the only key player to be missing from the regular Blackhawks rotation.
Forward Ben Eager has been out since the first week of October with what appears to be post-concussion symptoms. The team, and the fans, had great expecations for an enegetic fourth line of Eager, Colin Fraser and Adam Burish this year, but Burish went down with a torn ACL in the preseason and Eager has only played in two regular season games.
From watching the Hawks over the last couple weeks, it’s been clear that Eager’s physical presence has been missed. According to reports over the weekend, Quenneville and Eager both indicated that Eager’s head appears to be back where it belongs (he no longer thinks he’s Batman), and now it’s just a matter of him getting his legs back to full speed before the Hawks put him into a game.
Eager’s an important player in the Hawks’ lineup, but certainly doesn’t carry the cache of a name like Jonathan Toews or Marian Hossa. Hossa hasn’t stepped into a game for the Hawks yet because of summer shoulder surgery, but there’s no questioning his status as an elite scorer. The Hawks offense has been above average to start the year (2.92 goals per game, 15th in the NHL), and adding Hossa to the mix undoubtedly brings another fear factor to playing Chicago.
The loss of Toews, and the duration of his absence, has been troublesome, though. The Hawks’ 21-year old captain took a nasty shot from Vancouver’s Willie Mitchell on October 21 and hasn’t skated with the team since. In fact, it now appears that Eager is closer to returning that Toews; if Toews misses the same four weeks Eager did because of his concussion, the Hawks will continue to experiment with lines and hope for results.
Toews’ presence has been obvious on the stat sheet. With their captain in the lineup, the Blackhawks averaged 3.75 goals per game, and Toews was winning over 60 percent of his faceoffs. Without Toews, the Blackhawks are averaging just 2.00 goals per game, their power play has disappeared, and they’re breaking even in the faceoff circle.
Playing without Seabrook, Eager, Hossa and Toews has allowed coach Joel Quenneville to play with his lines like a fantasy hockey team, mixing up the talented players he has available to find a winning combination. It’s also presented a golden opportunity to youngsters like Jack Skille and Jake Dowell to get quality ice time with the big club. Even Jordan Hendry got time as a forward in Nashville.
But what happens when Eager, Toews and Hossa return?
When Toews was healthy, Quenneville appeared to be a big fan of a second line of Dave Bolland between Dustin Byfuglien and Patrick Kane. In Toews’ absence, he’s stuck with Byfuglien and Kane being together, but has placed John Madden between them more often.
On the third and fourth lines, the wing and center situation has been mixed up pretty regularly in Toews’ absence. The team acquired Andrew Ebbett from Anaheim, a younger player with the ability to play both wing and center, and he’s played both positions in the last few games. In fact, he played center between Kris Versteeg and Andrew Ladd in Nashville.
Andrew Ebbett
Depending on who returns first between Eager and Toews, it appears the first decision will come down to either Ebbett or Fraser.
On paper, it would appear that Ebbett has been more productive and, based on ice time, has more of Quenneville’s confidence than Fraser. But that’s where statistics fall short of telling the story.
First, let’s not discount the fact that Fraser played well between Eager and Burish last year. When Eager returns, Quenneville might believe he can recapture the Energy Line’s effectiveness from last year by putting Eager and Fraser back together. In that case, it would be up to Tomas Kopecky or Ebbett to complete the line by trying to replace Burish.
Colin Fraser
Secondly, Fraser has been more involved in the Hawks penalty killing unit in Toews’ absence. that isn’t going to help any player accumulate points or have a solid +/- rating, so there needs to be some concession in the argument in favor of Fraser there.
Finally, Fraser has been center that has suffered from the revolving door between Chicago, Rockford and the injured reserve. He’s played next to Skille, Dowell, Kopecky, Ebbett and Hendry to name a few of the rotations Quenneville has tried recently.
Fraser, though, was apparently the final player to make the Hawks roster when Quenneville put the final roster together for the season; he won a stiff competition with Dowell for the fourth center position. Ebbett has a lot of skill, versatility, and upside, but Fraser is a known commodity.
In Ebbett’s favor, the Blackhawks are about to play a long stretch of games against faster West Coast teams, and Ebbett’s quicker on his skates than Fraser. His speed, and familiarity with teams like Phoenix, Los Angeles and Anaheim from his time on the Ducks’ roster, might make him a valuable asset in the coming weeks.
Either way, Quenneville has an interesting decision coming up.
As far as production on the ice, I would have to think Hendry is on the short list to leave town as well. Quenneville playing him at forward was as much a salary cap-related decision because of depth and financial concerns as it was because of Hendry’s ability to play the position; Hendry only played five minutes on Thursday and wasn’t effective in the minutes he was on the ice.
But, given Seabrook’s recent return from injury, odds are that Quenneville will keep a seventh defenseman around for depth.
It appears Hossa could be ready to return in just a couple weeks, perhaps in time for Jeremy Roenick Heritage Night on the 15th against San Jose, and Toews hopefully won’t be out much longer. The Blackhawks are off until Thursday this week, giving the roster time to get healthy before they play again.
When Hossa and Toews return, both exceptional two-way forwards, that could easily cost Hendry his position on the roster.
How Quenneville will align the talent he has when this exceptional roster is at 100 percent is another discussion completely, but which young player is on the move as these three veterans begin returning could be interesting over the next couple weeks.
New Blackhawks C/W Andrew Ebbett
According to both indications in practice Monday and Tweets from the Blackhawks, it appears that newly-acquired Andrew Ebbett will play wing in his first game with the team on Wednesday night. Ebbett has played more center than wing at the pro level, but skated on the fourth line with Colin Fraser and Tomas Kopecky for a lot of practice.
The Blackhawks host Vancouver on Wednesday night, and it appears Jack Skille will not continue accruing mileage between Rockford and Chicago; reports from Chicago are that Skille will stay with Rockford on Wednesday.
Adding Ebbett to the mix gives coach Joel Quenneville one more option to play with on such a talented roster. Quenneville’s played with lines a lot in the first couple weeks of the season, and Saturday was no exception. Kris Versteeg started next to John Madden and Troy Brouwer.
How Ebbett joining the roster, coupled with strong starts from Brouwer and Andrew Ladd, gives Quenneville lots of options to choose from.
Newly acquired Blackhawk forward Andrew Ebbett
In a surprising move, the Blackhawks announced Saturday that they have claimed forward Andrew Ebbett off waivers from the Anaheim Ducks.
Ebbett, 26. has experience playing both center and wing, and played in 13 playoff games for the Ducks a year ago. He accumulated 32 points (8 goals, 24 assists) in 48 games with Anaheim last year. He has not scored in two games this season.
The addition of Ebbett, who won’t yet be available for Saturday night’s game against Dallas, gives the Blackhawks a crowded roster full of forwards. The Blackhawks again recalled Jack Skille from Rockford for Saturday’s game, putting the Hawks into an intriguing situation moving foward with Ebbett.
Given Ebbett’s versatility, he might steal the playing time from Skille or Colin Fraser with the fourth line. Ebbett is listed at only 5′9 and 180 pounds. According to the Blackhawks, he will wear number 15 when active with the team.
The Chicago Blackhawks opened their home calendar with three tough contests on paper. The Colorado Avalanche, Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers are all among the top teams in there Western Conference, and the Blackhawks got each team’s best shot.
Even when the Hawks weren’t their best, though, they were good enough to beat all three teams.
On Wednesday, two days after giving up five quick goals in the first period against Calgary, the Hawks got on the board only 51 seconds into the contest. Patrick Sharp, who’s been as hot as any skater in the league, beat Nikolai Khabibulin to get the Hawks started.
But the Oilers countered minutes later, tying the game at one. With just under seven minutes left in the opening frame, though, Jack Skille broke the tie with his first goal of the season. The period would end with the Blackhawks up 2-1.
The Hawks were noticeably more aggressive on the boards and shooting the puck in the first period, and their defense stiffled the Oilers. The Hawks outshot the Oilers 16-6 in the first period, and it showed on the scoreboard.
The rush from the Hawks continued in the second period. Kris Versteeg scored on a great assist from Brian Campbell to extend the lead to 3-1, and the Blackhawks had a great chance to add another when Sharp was awarded a penalty shot after being tripped on a breakaway by Jason Studwick. Khabibulin stopped Sharp to keep the score at 3-1 as the second period ended.
At the end of two periods, the Hawks were dominating the Oilers in every part of the game. They had outshot the visitors 30-10, were leading by two, and had drawn the only penalty of the game to that point. Khabibulin was playing a fantastic game, but wasn’t getting much help.
The third period started slowly but climbed to a frantic climax as the Oilers clawed back into the game with a push that ended up being too little, too late. Cam Barker scored the game winning goal with a blast from the blue line that beat Khabibulin, who was fighting around a Sharp screen when the puck passed his shoulder.
In the game, Niemi stopped 16 of 19 shots and improved his record on the young season to 3-0-0. Khabibulin was marvelous, stopping 34 of 38 shots in the loss.
Scoring goals for the Blackhawks were Sharp, Versteeg, Skille and Barker. Jonathan Toews and Campbell each had two assists, and Andrew Ladd, Sharp, Duncan Keith and Niklas Hjalmarsson all had one assist in the victory.
The Chicago Blackhawks accounced two roster moves on Saturday morning. One was logical, the other intriguing.
The logical move was the Hawks recalling wing Jack Skille from the AHL. Skille, 22, has been considered a top prospect in the organization since Chicago drafted him seventh overall in 2005. In the absence of Marian Hossa, Skille figured to see time with the Blackhawks at some point this season, but was among the final cuts made before the season began.
The intriguing move that happened Saturday was the loss of wing Radek Smolenak. Smolenak, 22, was claimed off waivers from the Tampa Bay Lightning on September 25 and made his first appearance for the Hawks in Thursday’s loss in Detroit. He received a fighting major in the loss, and played just over four minutes.
What made the loss of Smolenak intriguing was the nature of the transaction. Tampa Bay, who lost Smolenak on waivers just a few weeks ago, claimed him back off waivers from the Blackhawks on Saturday. Apparently Smolenak is using Hertz as his agent, as the Hawks apparently only rented him.
The Blackhawks host Colorado in their home opener Saturday night.
