Archive for January, 2010

Another Road Trip In The Books

January 31st, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

The eight-game road trip is over that took the Blackhawks from one coast to the other and back again. It ended with a 4-2 loss at the hands of the resurgent Carolina Hurricanes, and it is games like these that remind me why some game reviews are impossible to write when nursing the Sunday hangover. This one could have gone the way of the ‘Hawks, but like most other squads finishing a long road trip the team let up in the last game.

The Blackhawks won five games of the eight games on the trip, and tallied ten points out of a possible sixteen. Anytime a team can go .500 or above on a long road trip is impressive. So don’t let anyone of Barry Rozner’s ilk tell you otherwise.

Anyway, the Blackhawks have three days until they host the lovable Blues at the United Center. The ‘Hawks won the two games played between the two central division foes this season. The trio of Barrett Jackman, B.J. Crombeen and Cam Janssen will likely take their shots at Chicago’s stars once again – it will become apparent early that they can’t keep up the better Blackhawk team.

The Blackhawks have today and tomorrow off, and as we’ve learned this year – especially one night in Vancouver for three Blackhawks – idleness has been the root of mischief for this team. So what will Coach Quenneville do to keep his player’s hands from being tools for the devil? Guitar lessons from Adam Burish, maybe? For the record I could care less what players do off the ice.

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Brouwer Pouwer: Blackhawks 4, Sharks 3 (OT)

January 29th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

I think my unhealthy infatuation with my boy Troy Brouwer is starting to scare my girlfriend. If you read this blog occasionally you’d be scared too. All kidding aside, the former seventh-round draft pick has been a great fit on the first line. Brouwer is a smart, hard-working, Kokanee-drinking power forward that thrives in front of the net and against the boards. Last night in San Jose, my affection for Brouwer grew stronger when he scored the game-winning goal in overtime.

The way he scored the goal to clinch the 4-3 victory over the Sharks is just another example of the confidence and improved overall play from Brouwer. He went for the slap shot, saw that it wasn’t a good scoring opportunity and skated around the defense to beat Evgeni Nabokov from the slot. No longer can he be criticized for his stone hands or lack of skating ability. Yea, his point total is a result of playing with Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, but he has earned every goal and assist.

Anyway, back to last night’s game. The Blackhawks came out strong in the first period scoring three straight goals in the first ten minutes of the game, and that was all the scoring the ‘Hawks could muster in regulation. The Sharks took over the game shortly after when Joe Pavelski scored the first of his two goals just shy of the twelve-minute mark. The next two periods belonged to the Sharks as they controlled the puck and pressured the Blackhawks in their zone the rest of the night.

With San Jose pressing in the final two periods Cristobal Huet and the defense limited the potent Sharks to only two more goals. They were contesting the Sharks every opportunity they had and put their bodies in the line of fire. Duncan Keith, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Brent Sopel all took a fair share of abuse from the vulcanized rubber puck.

Huet was solid and came up with some great saves last night. I’m never one to come up with excuses for the francophone, but Sharks second and third shots were a result of too much traffic in front of the net. Huet didn’t have much a chance to stop either shot. Because of his performance, the Blackhawks were able to take this one to overtime, and come away with two points with the win.

This game lived up to the hype. The two best teams in the West put on a show for those who stayed up late to watch the whole game. Next up, the Blackhawks will travel to the East Coast for Saturday’s game against the Hurricanes. It’s the last game on the eight-game road trip. Cam Ward has been hot since he came of the injury reserve, so this won’t be the cakewalk some believe it to be.

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The Penalty Kill

January 28th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Everybody should know by now that the Blackhawks have one of the best penalty-killing units in the league. They currently rank fourth (85.6%), and have held the top spot at one point. Tonight’s opponent, the San Jose Sharks, has the best penalty kill in the league with percentage of 87.9. I don’t think it takes a rocket scientist to realize that there is a correlation between either team’s ability to keep opponents from scoring with the man-advantage and winning games.

In the case of the Blackhawks, as many dumb penalties it seems the team takes they have had the third fewest shorthanded instances (174) in the league. Combine that with their penalty-kill percentage and they have only allowed twenty-five power-play goals this season – third fewest in the league.

There is no questioning the value of a goalie to the penalty kill, but it has to be one of the most overused hockey clichés. If a team has piss poor defense, the goalie has no shot of seeing any amount of success on the kill. If the Blackhawks weren’t able to control the puck like they do at even strength or while shorthanded the level of success on the penalty kill would be significantly less. Not only does that keep the other team from setting up shop in the Blackhawks’ zone on the kill, they have scored eight shorthanded goals this season – leading the league, and one ahead of the Sharks.

Coach Quenneville’s use of capable two-way forwards such as Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp, and Marian Hossa on the kill has attributed to the offense along with solid defense while shorthanded. Of the eight shorthanded goals, three were scored in the 7-2 victory over the Sharks in San Jose – one each from Hossa, Sharp and Troy Brouwer. The seasonal breakdown is Hossa leading with three, Kris Versteeg with two and Brouwer, Sharp and Duncan Keith with one.

An interesting stat – Cristobal Huet has been in net for every one of the Blackhawks’ shorties.

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Blackhawks 4, Oilers 2

January 27th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Seeing Jeff Deslauriers on the other end of the ice last night had the Blackhawks licking their chops. They could smell the blood in the water, but weren’t ravenous enough. The ‘Hawks didn’t have to play their best game to beat the Oilers, and they didn’t. Still, they had their way in Edmonton and took this game 4-2. It was that apparent this game was theirs to lose when Jonathan Toews scored the first goal of the game just forty-four seconds into the game.

After Toews’ goal the Blackhawks rattled off three more in the second period to extend their lead to 4-0. All night the Blackhawks were deep in the offensive zone with little resistance from the Oilers’ defense. Patrick Kane’s second assist of the night – he set up Toews’ goal as well – happened because he was left untouched as he skated around the offensive zone at will to set up Troy Brouwer. Dustin Byfuglien was credited with a goal after redirect a Duncan Keith shot/pass. Keith had two assists on the night, and Marian Hossa caped off the scoring with his power play goal.

It seems as though Hossa has made playing high in the offensive zone part of his game. Whether it is with the man-advantage or at even-strength Hossa stations himself just shy of the defenseman in the opponent’s zone. His goal last night was a product of that. He watched Patrick Sharp and Andrew Ladd battle down low, and pounced on the opportunity to put the puck on twine. In that spot he can watch the play develop, keep the puck in the offensive zone and get a great jump on the back check if need be.

Anyway, with the big lead the Blackhawks started to ease the offensive pressure, and the Oilers were able to cut the lead in half. Late in the second period Fernando Pisani scored the Oilers’ first goal, and in the third period Ryan Potulny scored off a Niklas Hjalmarsson turnover in the defensive zone. Luckily the ‘Hawks were able to stave off any more offense from Edmonton due to good goaltending from Cristobal Huet. He kept this one from turning into the January 9th game in Minnesota part deux.

The victory over the Oilers gave the Blackhawks their fourth win on the eight game road trip. They are 4-2 on the trip and have two more games to go before returning home. Next are the San Jose Sharks, then on to Carolina.

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Olympic Profile: Brent Seabrook (Canada)

January 26th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Team Canada's Seabrook

This is the second installment of player profiles for the six Blackhawks that will represent their nation at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. It’s now Brent Seabrook’s turn. Stay tuned for future installments, and feel free to comment below. Previous Olympic Profile: Tomas Kopecky

Birthplace – Richmond, British Columbia, Canada

International Experience – 2004 World Junior Championships, 2005 World Junior Championships and 2006 World Championships

After finishing seventh in Torino, Team Canada general manager, Steve Yzerman, knows that anything less then gold is unacceptable in front of the hometown crowd. Of the twenty-three players named to the Canadian roster fifteen are going to their first Olympics. Five of which are on defense (Dan Boyle was a reserve in 2006). Five of the blue-liners are twenty-six or younger. Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook fit the mold and represent Team Canada’s youth movement.

Seabrook was a dark horse to make the Canadian Olympic roster, but when Yzerman and his cohorts selected the Richmond native to the national team it came as a surprise. The lack of production from the trio of Calgary defensemen, the need for a hard hitting defensive defenseman, the desire for new blood and his rapport with ‘lock’ Keith solidified his roster spot.

The twenty-four year old will have to cut down on some of the sloppy play that has plagued him this season. Seabrook has been a frequent contributor to turnovers and lapses in the neutral- and defensive-zone. Still, he is has a better defensive presence then his competition and has a plus/minus of +22, which makes him tied for eighth in the league.

Taking off my Blackhawk-colored glasses, Seabrook doesn’t make the team if it weren’t for the on-ice chemistry he has with Keith. I like the decision of Team Canada’s brass to keep Seabrook and Keith together. They go up against the opposing team’s best line every night, and are on the ice for over twenty minutes each game. The duo will be a second or third defensive paring.

With the firepower on Canada’s blue line, I wouldn’t expect Seabrook to see anytime on the power play. He should be used on the penalty kill though.

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Ladd Fires Back

January 25th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Andrew Ladd responded to Ryan Kesler’s coward comment:

“It’s pretty to tough to take when we square off and he takes one shot and then decides he wants to bail on the fight and really pretty much just throw me down. I think anyone who has seen both videos can make their own conclusions. […] We squared off, he took a shot and then didn’t really seem to want to fight anymore.

“I’m a pretty honest player and I play the game hard and fair and if he wants to whine about it, go ahead. It seems like he had a lot of stuff bottled up. He was talking lots before but didn’t really say much after the fight. He was pretty quiet. I’ll do the rest of my talking on the ice.”

It sounds like Ladd is satisfied with the beating (well, one good punch) he put on Kesler in Sunday’s game. The next time the Blackhawks face the Canucks it will be at home on March 5th. It should be a blood bath, but knowing the type of player Ladd is he won’t be the one to instigate the melee.

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Coward? Them Fighting Words

January 24th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Ryan Kesler said of Andrew Ladd in a post-game radio interview:

“He’s a coward and that’s the way it is. It started last year in the playoffs. He hit me, cross-checked me in the face when I wasn’t looking. At least he was man enough to hit me when I was looking this time.”

Well Mr. Kesler, I deem you the coward. Ladd and Kesler squared off late in the first after the Canucks had a 3-0 lead. Neither is known to drop the gloves. According hockeyfights.com Ladd had no prior fights this season and Kesler had one (fight below).

Ladd landed a punch early, and Kesler bailed on the fight by lifting Ladd’s leg to bring him to the ground. He knew the refs would break them up once they were on the ice-surface, and that is a cowardly act.

The next time the two teams play on March 5th no one will remember the score, or that Antti Niemi was pulled after one period. The bad blood between the Blackhawks and Canucks is well known to the fans of each team, and goes back to last season. Kesler’s accusation is just another item on the list as to why these teams hate each other.

Ladd will have the March date of their next game circled on his calendar, yet again he might have the ability to let this one go, unlike Mr. Kesler.

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Escape From Cowtown – Blackhawks 3, Flames 1

January 22nd, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Where was the tenacity we are used to seeing from Calgary last night? Coming off a 9-1 loss to the Sharks you would think the Flames would come out swinging, but the Blackhawks did them a favor and handed them their sixth consecutive loss. The Flames we are familiar play a physical brand of hockey, are chippy and antagonize opposing players. None of that was really going on last night. With the recent history between the two teams, if the Blackhawks of all teams can’t provoke any energy from the Flames there is a big problem in Cowtown.

Miikka Kiprusoff (spelled it right the first time) was the only Flame to show up. His performance last night trumps that of Jonas Hiller and Brian Elliot. Except for Patrick Kane’s goal in the second period, Kipper was flawless. It took a series of lucky redirects for the Blackhawks to take beat Kiprusoff to take the lead in the third period. Tomas Kopecky tossed the puck at the net, it ricocheted off a Flame defender and its course was corrected off Ben Eager’s right leg. Rarely was Kiprusoff out of position and he didn’t cough up any rebounds.

After a brief hiatus, the Blackhawks’ defense returned last night. Not to take anything away from the solid game from Antti Niemi, but he faced a very manageable twenty shots. He made some great saves too. The only goal Niemi let in was on the penalty kill, Colin Fraser just lost his stick, he made the initial save with the insole of his skate and Brent Sopel was unable to clear the puck before Jamie Lundmark tapped in the rebound. An honorable mention should go out to Niklas Hjalmarsson, John Madden and Marian Hossa for their back checking.

Ducan Keith scored the final Blackhawks goal to clinch the Blackhawks 3-1 victory on an empty net. Hossa saw him streaking down the center of the ice, and set him up with a cross-ice pass.

Next up, the Blackhawks take the road show into Vancouver this Saturday. They have one three of the four games played on the trip so far with four more to go.

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Niedermayer Is All The Rage

January 21st, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

A few weeks ago ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun mentioned Ilya Kovalchuk and the Chicago Blackhawks in the same breath. Like any other good blogger would, I ran with a rumor that had no validity to it whatsoever. Since LeBrun reported that the Blackhawks could make a play for the Russian sniper’s services, every other team in the league has been linked to Kovalchuk.

I bring this up because in my poorly written post regarding the Kovalchuk to Chicago rumor, I named Scott Niedermayer as a possible target for the same reason acquiring Kovalchuk would work. Stan Bowman would be able to shed a few multi-year contracts in order to ease the off-season payroll issue now for a veteran, ‘superstar’ defenseman. His contract expires at the end of this season, and he would bolster the roster for the playoffs.

Sam Fels of Second City Hockey mentioned in a post yesterday that he likes the idea of trading for the Ducks’ defenseman. Niedermayer would provide some depth on the blue line, and could play on the power play. He suggests moving Cam Barker and an expendable forward (Dustin Byfuglien or Kris Versteeg) back to Anaheim. None of which will be back with the Blackhawks next season anyway. The depth at forward wouldn’t be depleted since Dave Bolland and Adam Burish are close to returning.

I like where Fels is going with this, and can easily get behind any idea that would move Byfuglien elsewhere. Barker hasn’t been all that great this season either. He hasn’t even seen a substantial amount of time on the power-play recently. If a draft pick is needed to sweeten the deal, I’m all for it.

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Blackhawks 1, Senators 4

January 20th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Another great performance from a goalie impeded the Blackhawks’ progress in the West, and it came at the hands of the little known Brian Elliot of the Ottawa Senators. He didn’t stand on his head like Jonas Hiller, but he came up with some big saves to keep the Senators on top. Elliot stopped twenty-nine of the thirty shots he faced, and was named the first star of the game as the Blackhawks lost 1-4.

The Senators controlled the game in the first period. They came out of the period with a 2-0 lead due to a few key defensive lapses from the Blackhawks. First, Brent Seabrook turned the puck over behind the net that the Senator’s first goal. Cristobal Huet was drawn out of his crease for the wide-open shot on net. Later, Brian Campbell and Niklas Hjalmarsson were soft on the back check leading to the Sentors’ second goal. Ryan Shannon was able to redirect of Peter Regin’s pass to beat Huet up high.

In the second period the Blackhawks were better in their offensive zone, and the momentum of the game started to shift in their favor. The Blackhawks took a few bad penalties in the game, but the slashing call on Jonathan Toews bogus. At least Marian Hossa was able to capitalize on the situation, and scored the lone Blackhawks’ goal of the night while Toews was in the box. It is the team’s league leading eighth short-handed goal of the season.

Hossa’s goal was the product Duncan Keith’s interception of a pass in front of Huet and quick up-ice pass. The assist was Keith’s forty-fifth point of the season – a career high for the defenseman.

With less then two minutes left in the second any wind the Blackhawks had in their proverbial sails disappeared when Regin scored on a wrap around. Huet was so far out of position on this one, all the way on the other side of the crease. Regin’s goal, and Elliot’s diving save earlier in the period to stop Hossa’s sure goal proved that this wasn’t the Blackhawks’ night.

The rest of the third was just more of the same from the Blackhawks – bad penalties (see Dustin Byfuglien’s roughing call), porous defense and questionable goaltending. All of which attributed to the Senators’ fourth and final goal of the game. The Blackhawks’ penalty kill was perfect up to this point, but the lack of resistance from Keith and Seabrook in their zone allowed Mike Fisher to score with the man-advantage.

Anyway, the season is long, and the Blackhawks are on their way to top billing in the West. So, no worries just yet. Next up, the Blackhawks will look to rebound in Calgary tomorrow night. The ‘Hawks have owned the Flames going back to last season.

AHL All-Star Game

Jack Skille had two assists in the AHL exhibition game, and a plus/minus of +1. Mark Cullen didn’t crack the score sheet. The Canadian team beat PlanetUSA 10-9 in a shootout.

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