NHL league sources are reporting that Blackhawks defenseman Brian Campbell has broken a collarbone and rib and will likely miss the rest of the season, including playoffs, after a cheap shot from Alexander Ovechkin in Sunday’s 4-3 loss to the Capitals.
The story was initially reported by Hendricks Hockey.
The Blackhawks are now forced to scramble to put together a defensive group behind the already-tired Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook. Niklas Hjalmarsson and Brent Sopel have both missed time because of injuries this year and, because they block a lot of shots, are banged up a lot. Jordan Hendry hasn’t dressed for most of the team’s games this year.
The most likely scenario is that the Hawks will place Nick Boynton, acquired before the trade deadline, on waivers Monday in hopes that he clears and can join the team on the road trip before Wednesday’s game against Anaheim.
Adding Boynton from Rockford doesn’t help the Hawks’ defensive issues, though. Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook are both playing too many minutes, and it’s starting to show in the quality of their play. Niklas Hjalmarsson hasn’t been a 23-minute-per-night guy yet in his career, but might be in the wake of this devastating news. Campbell was playing well for the Hawks this year, playing only two seconds per game less than Seabrook.
Need something to worry about?
The Blackhawks hosted the league-leading Washington Capitals on Sunday just 20 hours after a devastating loss in Philadelphia. How the team responded to the loss on the ice in such a short turnaround could have been a strong indication of how the final three weeks of the season could turn out.
Then the Hawks threw everyone a curveball: both Kim Johnsson and Marian Hossa were scratches on Sunday with upper body injuries. Johnsson didn’t play in the last 13 minutes on Saturday, but Hossa was on the ice in the final four seconds when the game was lost. Their status moving forward has been labeled day-to-day, but both will make the trip with the team this week.
Then Alexander Ovechkin threw Brian Campbell into the boards, a “tough hit… a dangerous hit” as coach Joel Quenneville. Ovechkin received a five minute boarding penalty and a game misconduct for the play, which drew the fire out of Mike Milbury on NBC between periods. Milbury, of course, needs to publicly defend Ovechkin after calling the Russians “Euro trash” during the Olympics. How he’s still on the air is beyond me. Ovechkin was taken out of the equation, but that doesn’t mean the Capitals had no offense left on the ice.
However, losing Campbell was a worst-case scenario for the Hawks. With Johnsson already out after suffering an injury in the third period of Saturday’s game and Brent Sopel still working his way back from injury, the Hawks defense was already thin. Forcing Jordan Hendry and Sopel to play more minutes (Hendry played over 16, Sopel over 18 on Sunday), coupled with Brent Seabrook’s two-month funk, against the highest-scoring team in the league was a recipe for disaster.
Disaster came in the third period.
Hendry took a double-minor for high-sticking Alexander Semin, and near the mid-point of that penalty Colin Fraser drew a penalty for high-sticking Brooks Laich. With the Fraser penalty delayed, Laich scored the first tally for Washington on the afternoon. Because there were 22 second left on the first minor penalty to Hendry, the Blackhawks were then forced to kill a full two minutes of five-on-three against the Capitals in the mid-third.
The Hawks did indeed kill the penalty, but consider how they accomplished that feat. With Hendry in the box and Campbell out, the Hawks had four defensemen to skate for two minutes against an active, powerful offense. They killed the five-on-three, but allowed the second goal of the game to Nicklas Backstrom just three seconds after the penalties were over.
Momentum was gone, and confidence was questionable. The lead was only one.
That lead lasted only 13 seconds.
With dead legs and frustrated brains, the Blackhawks had watched a big lead disappear in the third period again, this time in front of the home crowd. The Hawks have not only lost three of their last four games, but they’ve been shell-shocked by a five-goal period from Detroit, Philadelphia’s winner in the final two seconds and now Washington’s comeback.
Stat of the game: the Chicago Blackhawks were credited with ONE shot on goal in the third period. One.
What’s worse, the Hawks’ dressing room has been described as silent, dead and questioning after Sunday’s loss.
Duncan Keith said, “I don’t know how we will regroup.”
Overall, Sunday’s loss cannot, and should not, be blamed on Antti Niemi. He stopped 26 of 29 shots during regulation, making a number of critical saves. Just as Cristobal Huet was on Saturday, Niemi was the victim of the players in front of him taking a few minutes off. The five-on-three with only four available defensemen was too much for the Hawks to handle, and the subsequent two goals in 15 seconds killed the lead. Of the 60 minutes in regulation on Sunday, the Hawks played their hearts out for almost all of them.
Bad penalties with worse timing, coupled with an unexpectedly limited bench against the top scoring team in the league cost the Blackhawks. The moral victory on from Sunday’s loss is the one point from drawing overtime, but moral victories don’t mean much at this time of year.
When there is more information on the extent of Campbell’s injury, and the status of both Hossa and Johnsson moving forward, we’ll update their situations.
On offense for the Blackhawks, Jonathan Toews scored two goals and Patrick Kane had two assists.
The Blackhawks next three games are on the road, with the first coming on Wednesday in Anaheim.
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?
The Blackhawks honored their six Olympians before the game.
After a disappointing return from the Olympic break in New York on Tuesday, the Blackhawks certainly didn’t want to leave points on the table against the dreadful Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday. They didn’t.
The Oilers were playing with a handful of AHL players after the organization made a few deals at the trade deadline earlier in the day, and the Blackhawks took advantage. It wasn’t an easy start, and there were a few moments of doubt, but the Hawks handled their business and got a big win for Cristobal Huet. San Jose did not play on Wednesday, so the Blackhawks and Sharks are now tied atop the Western Conference with 89 points through 63 games.
Because the Blackhawks did not make a move to improve between the pipes at the deadline, it’s going to be Huet or Antti Niemi the rest of the way. Niemi struggled and was pulled on Tuesday, but Huet didn’t do much better. The second period didn’t treat Huet very well, either, as he allowed two fairly weak goals. The first should have been blown dead by the officials, but was allowed to count after Huet failed to control a puck under his legs, and the second was a shot from between the circles that should have been handled as well.
But the Blackhawks are considered an elite defensive group for a reason, and they showed it in the third period. Huet would only face three shots in the third, and the defensive moved the puck up the ice well to create chances for the scorers. In that third period, Niklas Hjalmarsson was rewarded for supporting the rush with just his second goal of the season, what proved to be the game-winner only 20 seconds into the period, and opened the flood gates. From there, the game was over.
Dustin Byfuglien played one of his best all-around games of the season, and scored his 16th goal of the season on a power play near the mid-point of the third to extend the Hawks’ lead to 4-2. Jonathan Toews, on his bobblehead night, put the nail in the coffin with his 20th goal of the season with under four minutes left as the Hawks finished with a solid 5-2 victory. In the game, the Blackhawks outshot the Oilers 47-14.
In total on his bobblehead night, Toews had a goal, an assist, won 16 of 23 faceoffs, blocked a shot and was credited with three hits. Not bad.
Patrick Kane had two assists to give him five points in the two games since the Olympics. Also scoring multiple points on Wednesday were Duncan Keith (two assists), Toews (goal, assist), Marian Hossa (goal, assist) and Dave Bolland (goal, assist). Bolland and Hossa’s goals in the second period featured wonderful passing between the two, as Bolland appears ready to assume his spot as the second-line center now that he’s fully healthy.
On Tuesday night in their first game together in two weeks, the Chicago Blackhawks looked like a team that was still on vacation.
Despite outshooting the New York Islanders 22-9 in the first period, the Hawks failed to pull away from a struggling team that was playing without one of their key defenseman, Andy Sutton, who was traded to Ottawa a couple hours before the game. While some credit was earned by the Islanders, the loss was cleary earned by the two goalies from Chicago.
Amid swirling trade rumors, coach Joel Quenneville started Antti Niemi for a fifth straight game. After the team’s practices at the end of the break, Quenneville stated that Niemi had his chance to win the starting job in net and had taken control of the situation with his play; various media outlets in Chicago, however, reported that Huet’s role in a potential trade was keeping him on the bench.
Niemi’s play on Tuesday couldn’t keep Huet on the bench for three more periods.
Niemi played just over 22 minutes, allowing three goals on just 12 shots. After the third goal was allowed, Quenneville pulled the plug and replaced him with Huet. In perhaps his best shot at staying with the Hawks, much less regaining his status as the team’s top goalie, Huet allowed two awful, soft goals despite only facing 11 shots. In all, the Blackhawks tandem of goalies allowed five goals on 23 shots, which adds up to a save percentage of not good.
The offense that looked crisp in the first period was miserable in the final two frames. Marian Hossa appears to have left his legs and hand-eye coordination in Vancouver on a number of occasions. Patrick Kane was credited with an assist on Brian Campbell’s goal in the first, and scored the second goal for the Hawks, but that was pretty much when the offense disappeared.
It wasn’t until Dustin Byfuglien scored with less than five minutes left in regulation, and the Hawks trailing 5-2, that the Hawks would score again. Kane was credited with another assist on the third goal, giving him a three-point night. Jonathan Toews also had two assists for the Blackhawks on the night.
Mats Zuccarello Aasen played for Norway in the Olympics.
A report out of Norway is that the Blackhawks are among a number of teams interested in forward Mats Zuccarello Aasen, who was part of the Norwegian team eliminated from the Olympic tournament by Marian Hossa, Tomas Kopecky and Slovakia on Tuesday.
Zuccarello Aasen, 22, will be remembered as the tiny player on the Norwegian team from these Olympic Games; listed at 5′7 and 161 pounds, there are concerns that Zuccarello Aasen would be able to play at the NHL level. His performance in the Olympics was good enough to draw interest, however, and the Blackhawks have been confirmed as having an eye on him.
In the four games the Norwegians played, Zuccarello Aasen ranked second among their forwards in ice time (21:07 per game), was third on the team in scoring (one goal, two assists, three points) and was the only player on the Norwegian roster to have a positive plus/minus for the tournament (+1). He scored one of Norway’s three goals on Tuesday.
The addition of Zuccarello Aasen does not appear to be something that would come during the 2009-10 regular season.
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
Kim Johnsson is formally welcomed to Chicago after his first period goal.
How about that for an introduction to Blackhawks’ hockey?
Just a little more than 24 hours after being traded from Minnesota to Chicago, Kim Johnsson took part in a game that flashed every bit of the first two-thirds of the season. Big scoring, a blown lead, a late comeback and a shootout thriller ended up being the recipe for Johnsson’s debut.
For his part in the 5-4 Hawks win, Johnsson was good enough to earn the game’s Number Three Star. He scored his first goal for Chicago less than ten minutes into his first game here, and would play 19:24 in the game and was credited with one hit and one blocked shot as well.
The game looked like a Hawks blowout at the end of the first period. After Jim Slater scored on a wrap around for Atlanta, the goals came quickly for the Blackhawks. Patrick Sharp scored his 18th of the season, on a power play, at 7:31 in the period. Johnsson would then score on a pretty pass from Patrick Kane at 9:44, and Marian Hossa scored shorthanded at 13:14 to extend the Hawks’ lead to 3-1.
The second period, as has been the trend of late, was a totally different story than the first. The Hawks were not only out-shot early in the period, but were outplayed for most of the frame. On the third penalty of the period the Thrashers were finally able to score on the power play, their third goal of the period and fourth of the game. When the second period ended, the Hawks were trailing 4-3 and were clearly frustrated.
In the third period, unfortunately, it took a huge hit that cost Hossa the rest of the night just a little more than three minutes into the period for the Hawks to wake up. Colby Armstrong caught Hossa looking down, something he rarely does in traffic, and lit him up. From the scrum that followed, both Armstrong and Kris Versteeg were hit with minor penalties. During the four-on-four, Dave Bolland put a gorgeous move on Ondrej Pavelec to tie the game.
Hossa’s status for Sunday’s game has not yet been determined.
From there, the game was skated through the overtime with very little offense from the Thrashers. Atlanta was only credited with four shots in the third period and just three more in overtime. Pavelec was outstanding throughout the third period and the overtime, killing a number of great opportunities for the Blackhawks and fighting off good traffic in front of him to keep the game tied. But when Jonathan Toews put the puck past him in the shootout, it was all the Hawks needed to give Antti Niemi a third win in as many starts.
Niemi, starting a third consecutive game for the first time in the NHL, was great in the first period but wasn’t nearly as sharp in the second. In all, Niemi allowed four goals on 27 shots, but came up big when needed and shut out the Thrashers three shots in the shootout to get the win.
Brent Seabrook, just two days before beginning his quest to help teammates Duncan Keith and Toews lead Canada to a gold medal in men’s hockey at the Olympics, filled the stat sheet as he always does. Seabrook 26:49, of which 7:19 was shorthanded, and was credited with six hits and six blocked shots. Keith again played more than half the game (30:35), despite newly-added Johnsson playing more minutes that Barker averaged for the Hawks. With Brent Sopel out on Saturday night, Jordan Hendry only played 10:10, though.
On Sunday afternoon the Blackhawks finish the first “half” of their season in Columbus only three points behind the San Jose Sharks for the top spot in the Western Conference; San Jose lost 3-1 at Buffalo on Saturday night.
Before the game, the Blackhawks honored their six Olympians before the game. Marian Hossa and Tomas Kopecky will play for Slovakia, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Jonathan Toews will represent host nation Canada, while Patrick Kane will play for the United States.
Out with the Old (Barker), In with the New (Johnsson)
In the wake of the Blackhawks trade with the Wild, let’s look at how newcomer Kim Johnsson stacks up against Cam Barker this year.
Age
Barker: 23 (24 on April 4)
Johnsson: 33 (34 on March 16)
Height/Weight
Barker: 6′3 223 lbs
Johnsson: 6′1 187 lbs
“Soft J’s” in Last Name
Barker: 0
Johnsson: 1
Games Played
Barker: 51
Johnsson: 52
Goals
Barker: 4
Johnson: 6
Assists
Barker: 14
Johnson: 8
Plus/Minus
Barker: +7
Johnsson: +3
Average Time on Ice
Barker: 13:06
Johnsson: 23:46
Hits
Barker: 59
Johnsson: 31
Penalty Minutes
Barker: 58
Johnsson: 26
Blocked Shots
Barker: 33
Johnsson: 64
Short-Handed Time on Ice (average/game)
Barker: 0:02
Johnsson: 2:29
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So what do we take away from these numbers? Let me first point out that, in December of 2008, Johnsson served as captain of the Wild. In the ten years he’s been on the earth longer than Barker, he’s played in the 2002 Olympics for Sweden and 43 playoff games; Barker has played in 17 playoff games, all of which were last year.
A few numbers jump off the page. The two that strike me the most are the blocked shots and average short-handed time on ice per game. Johnsson figures to replace Barker on the third defensive pairing with Brent Sopel and should, in theory, play a more significant role in penalty killing.
In a perfect world, Brian Campbell wouldn’t step on the ice short-handed, but because Niklas Hjalmarsson has been banged up, he’s seen more time on the PK lately. The fact that Johnsson averages almost 2:30 per game in short-handed ice time is significant because it will help Sopel stay on the ice further into the playoffs. Despite Sopel’s legendary performance on the PK in overtime against Dallas earlier this week, expecting him to block four shots and play all 120 seconds of a penalty kill in overtime in late April or early May isn’t realistic.
The blocked shots totals are significant because, right now, the Hawks are taking a beating getting between pucks and the net. Every night, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Sopel and Hjalmarsson all seem to leave the ice in pain at some point because they sacrificed their body to keep the puck away from the net. By adding another guy that averages more than one blocked shot per night, coach Joel Quenneville can have more confidence that a veteran will position himself to take one for the team.
Another number that is impressive is the difference between the two in penalty minutes. Considering that Johnsson is averaging more than ten minutes per game more than Barker and has been called for just over half as many penalty minutes means the Hawks are getting a smarter player. The biggest headache Barker gave Blackhawks fans (other than the two guys drafted in front of him) has been stupid penalties. Johnsson’s numbers indicate that he won’t take the dumb penalty.
Adding Johnsson should, as Stan Bowman said when he met with the media on Friday, give Quenneville more options. His presense on the roster should help limit the minutes Keith, Seabrook, Campbell and Hjalmarsson are skating down the stretch, and should put the team into fewer short-handed situations.
Johnsson makes the Blackhawks a better team on paper. But paper can burn, and chances can fade if performance doesn’t match ability and challenges aren’t met. Hopefully this move is the right spark for a team looking to bring home the Stanley Cup for the first time in almost 50 years.
