USA Hockey announced their 22-man roster for the World Junior Hockey Championships on Wednesday morning. Blackhawks’ prospects Jeremy Morin and Nick Leddy were selected to the national squad that is heavily favored to repeat as gold medal winners in 2011. The 19-year-olds were stationed in Rockford (AHL) before joining the team, and both have some NHL experience on their resume.
Archive for the ‘News and Notes’ Category
Dylan Olsen makes Canada’s junior team
December 15th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis
When the Canadian World Junior training camp closed up shop last year, defenseman Dylan Olsen didn’t survive the final round of cuts and was sent packing. This time around, the outcome was more desirable for the Blackhawks’ first round pick (28th overall) in 2009, as it was announced Wednesday morning that he was selected to the 2011 squad. He is just one of the two players that made the team from the collegiate ranks.
Forward Brandon Pirri, who was also invited and attended the training camp, was one of the nine players released this morning. He will no longer experience the hoopla that surrounds the Canada’s selection process to their national junior team, and return to the not-so glamorous surroundings of Rockford, Illinois
Olsen and Co. will have 11 days to prepare for their first match of the World Junior Hockey Championship against the Russians on Boxing Day (December 26) in Buffalo, New York.
On the American front
Forward Jeremy Morin and defenseman Nick Leddy were invited to Team USA’s selection camp, which begins Thursday, and will compete with 27 other players for a spot on the 22-man roster. Morin was a member of the 2010 gold medal winning team, but whether he’ll attend the camp is still up in the air. Injuries to players such as Marian Hossa and Patrick Kane could keep him in Chicago indefinitely.
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Jeremy Morin replaces Marian Hossa, tallies assist
November 30th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis
In case you’ve been living under a rock or missed tonight’s 7-5 victory over the much loved St. Louis Blues, the news regarding Marian Hossa‘s health is of the breaking variety. Hossa was helped from the ice after colliding with defenseman and perennial whipping-boy Nick Boynton at Monday’s practice. It was announced today that he will miss up to three weeks with a lower-body injury.
This is the second time this season Hossa will miss a handful of games due to injury. A clean hit by Jarret Stoll in the October 27 match against the Kings forced him to miss five games. In his stead, the Blackhawks re-called forward Jeremy Morin from Rockford (AHL) this morning.
In his third game with the Blackhawks this season, Morin tallied his first NHL point against the Blues. He assisted on Troy Brouwer’s power-play goal in the second period. Morin dumped the puck into the offensive zone, which took a favorable bounce off the boards, leaving the net wide-open for Brouwer to tap it in. The 19-year-old had a plus-two rating, a five-minute fighting major and had 11:38 of ice-time (a career high).
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Olsen and Pirri invited to Canadian WJHC selection camp
November 29th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis
Hockey Canada announced their 39-man World Junior Hockey Championship selection camp roster on Monday. Two Blackhawks prospects – defenseman Dylan Olsen and forward Brandon Pirri – will be in attendance starting December 12 in Toronto, Ontario. The roster will need to be trimmed down to 22 players before the championship tournament begins in Buffalo, New York on December 26.
This is Olsen’s second consecutive year at Team Canada’s camp. He didn’t make it past the final round of cuts last December, but has a great shot to make the team this time around despite the competition on defense. Three blue liners are returning from 2010′s silver medal squad (Jared Cowen, Ryan Ellis and Calvin de Haan). Olsen is having his best collegiate season to date with the top-ranked Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs (WCHA).
Pirri has spent the majority of the season with the Rockford IceHogs (AHL), and will be made available by the Blackhawks for the selection camp and World Junior’s if need be. This is his first invite to a Canadian national training camp.
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Mathis Olimb made AHL debut Wednesday
November 25th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis
Norwegian forward Mathis Olimb made his AHL debut against the Lake Erie Monsters at home Wednesday night. It was also his first professional game on North American soil. He missed the first portion of the season recovering from a shoulder injury he sustained in a fight with fellow IceHog Kyle Beach at prospect camp this summer. Olimb skated on the third line with Brandon Bollig and Igor Makarov. He was held scoreless, with a minus-one rating and four penalty minutes.
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Jeremy Morin to make NHL debut in Atlanta
November 5th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis
The Blackhawks have re-called forward Jeremy Morin from Rockford (AHL) this morning, and will suit up against the Atlanta Thrashers on Saturday. Ironically, Morin will make his NHL debut against the team that selected him 45th overall in the second round of the 2009 entry draft. The Hawks acquired him in the deal that sent Dustin Byfuglien to Atlanta this summer.
In eight games with the IceHogs, Morin has three goals and an assist with a plus-one rating. He missed two games due to a lower-body injury he sustained in October, but he returned to the lineup last weekend.
Morin will be a welcome addition to the roster for a myriad of reasons. The most substantial being that Coach Quenneville won’t have to put two defenseman on the fourth line as wingers. One was already too many. Morin should also inject some life into an offense that has looked flat, and fill-in for Marian Hossa on the power-play unit. With Rockford, three of his points came on the power play.
Projected forward lines –
Brouwer – Sharp – Morin
Kopecky – Dowell – Bickell
Scott – Pisani – Skille
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Brian Campbell returns to blue line in NY
November 1st, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis
Defenseman Brian Campbell will make his season debut Monday night in New York. The red-headed defender missed the first four weeks of the year with a sprained knee he injured in a pre-season game against Pittsburgh. Campbell will wear a knee brace for the rest of the season.
His return couldn’t come at a better time. The Blackhawks lost star forward Marian Hossa last week to an upper-body injury, and the Hawks’ blue line has left a lot to be desired in Campbell’s absence. He will add some depth to the position, resulting in less playing time for fellow defenseman Jassen Cullimore, Nick Boynton and John Scott down the road. Yay.
In hindsight, it was too early for me to deem Boynton as this year’s Brent Sopel. I made the comparison based on Boynton’s willingness to sacrifice his body in order to block a shot – currently leads the league with 37 – but his play has been atrocious in the defensive zone otherwise. Coach Quenneville hasn’t been pleased with his efforts either, as Boynton is a scratch against the Rangers. Scott will line up as a fourth-line forward, and Cullimore will fill out the third defensive paring alongside Jordan Hendry.
Campbell isn’t known for his defensive prowess, but his speed is an asset other defenders on the roster lack on the back-check. Niklas Hjalmarsson has to be the happiest Hawk after hearing the news of Campbell’s return. He can go back to playing the defensive role he excelled in last year, as there is some level of comfort/familiarity he’ll get being paired with Campbell once again.
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Marian Hossa out a couple weeks with upper-body injury
October 28th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis
Marian Hossa left part-way through the second period in Wednesday night’s 3-1 victory over the Kings, after he was hit by forward Jarret Stoll. Initial reports have Hossa missing two weeks with an upper-body injury. Got to love the vague description. Anyways, it sounds like the injury is to either his shoulder or arm. Aggravating his surgically repaired shoulder would be the last thing the Blackhawks need right now.
Loosing a two-way winger of Hossa’s caliber will obviously hurt on both ends of the ice. Coach Quenneville said a player be called-up from Rockford (AHL) to replace right winger before Friday’s game against the Oilers at home. Jeremy Morin would be the ideal choice, but he was hurt over the weekend.
Campbell eying his return
Brian Campbell could return to action as soon as this weekend from a sprained right knee. He started skating over the weekend, and has been practicing with the team. Campbell will play with a knee brace for the remainder of the season, which they say won’t hinder his skating and speed.
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Niklas Hjalmarsson gets two games for Pominville hit
October 12th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis
Pominville carried out on a stretcher (AP Photo/David Duprey)
The Blackhawks came from behind to defeat the Sabres 4-3 for their first win of the season. The story of the game isn’t Marian Hossa’s two goal performance, but rather Niklas Hjalmarsson’s hit on Jason Pominville in the first period. Hjalmarsson received a five-minute major for boarding and a game misconduct for the hit. Pominville was carted off the ice and diagnosed with a concussion. For the hit, judge, jury and executioner Colin Campbell suspended the Swedish defenseman two games.
In my opinion, Hjalmarsson’s suspension is a game or two too long. Remember Alexander Ovechkin’s hit on Brian Campbell last year? Ovechkin was suspended two games for shoving Campbell into the boards. Hjalmarsson came in hard from the blue line with the intention of knocking Pominville off the puck. It was a shoulder-to-shoulder hit, and the Sabre didn’t brace himself for the amount of force and awkwardly banged his head against the glass.
Aside from the outcome, the same sort anyone can find in every other game without any level of discipline. There was no intent to injure and Hjalmarsson is not a repeat offender, but the only reason he will miss two games is because Pominville was concussed. The only questionable aspect of the hit was whether the puck got to Pominville in time, which is always up to interpretation.
In his first game back from serving the two game suspension, Hjalmarsson and company will face the Sabres at home on Saturday. This may be an understatement, but things should get interesting in the rematch. There have been a few threats coming out of Buffalo already.
A thin blue line
The season isn’t even a week old, and Hawks’ blue line depth has been thoroughly tested. Campbell was knocked out for four-to-five weeks in the pre-season with an knee injury, Nick Boynton was suspended for his throat slash gesture and now Hjalmarsson will be watching the game from the press box. For the next two games, the Blackhawks will be without their second defensive pairing.
I’ve been one of Nick Leddy’s harshest critics, but I’ll admit that the 19-year-old has shown signs of improvement. I just wish he wasn’t learning on the job. Giving substantial minutes to Leddy, Boynton and John Scott is worrisome. The Blackhawks shots against total (34.0) needs to come down in order for the Blackhawks to win consistently this season.
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Blackhawks’ opening night roster set
October 5th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis
The Blackhawks have cleaned up the roster, and appear to have their opening night roster set. Hannu Toivonen was assigned to Rockford after he cleared waivers on Saturday, and Jeremy Morin will join him on the IceHogs after being demoted on Monday. Morin will benefit from getting top-six minutes in the AHL, which he wasn’t guaranteed in Chicago. Ryan Potulny and Jassen Cullimore were placed on waivers Tuesday morning. As it stands the Hawks have a 22-man roster, which includes the injured Brian Campbell.
Projected opening night lineup
Brouwer – Sharp – Kane
Stalberg – Bolland – Skille
Bickell – Dowell – Pisani
Keith – Seabrook
Leddy – Hjalmarsson
Hendry – Scott
Turco
Crawford
Injured – Campbell
Suspended – Boynton (1 game)
A short Nick Leddy rant
Nick Leddy is not a NHL-ready defenseman, yet the organization is rushing him into the lineup in place of the injured Brian Campbell. It takes years for a defenseman to hone his craft, and I saw nothing from Leddy in prospect camp or during the pre-season that would prove he’d be the exception to the rule.
There is no way the kid can hang with the big boys when the begin playing for keeps. Leddy was drafted out of high school, and only has one year at the collegiate level under his belt. In 30 games at Minnesota, he scored three goals with eight assists. Leddy is better suited for the Canadian Hockey League at this point in his development, not thrust into the pressure cooker that is the NHL.
Random opening night notes
- Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa looked great playing together in the last few games of the pre-season. Hossa appears to be healthy, and ready to dazzle fans with jaw-dropping plays. Tomas Kopecky will try his best to keep up.
- Troy Brouwer will stick somewhere in the top-six. From what I saw, it looked like he improved his play in front of the net this off-season. He was battling with defenders, screening goalies and was in position to re-direct pucks.
- The penalty kill will be spearheaded by Toews and Hossa, followed by Dave Bolland and Fernando Pisani. Patrick Sharp, Troy Brouwer and Jake Dowell will also see playing time in shorthanded situations.
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