Posts Tagged ‘Dustin Byfuglien’

Big Buff, Sopel and Eager sent to Atlanta

June 24th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

There were reports of this deal happening throughout Wednesday, but the trade was held up by the fact the Thrashers had to move a few contracts to make room for the newly acquired players from Chicago. Rick Dudley, Thrashers new general manager and ex-Blackhawk front office employee, sent Brett Sterling, Mike Vernace and a seventh round draft pick to San Jose for future considerations. Once that deal was stuck, it made Blackhawks/Thrashers trade possible late last night.

The Blackhawks sent two players under contract till the end of the 2010-11 season in Dustin Byfuglien and Brent Sopel, restricted free agent Ben Eager and prospect Akim Aliu to the Thrashers. In return, they received two 2010 draft picks (24th and 54th) along with center Marty Reasoner and prospect Jeremy Morin. Oh, they tossed in AHLer Joey Crabb as well (insert not-so mature joke here).

I’m a big fan of this big trade. Stan Bowman freed up $4,183,333 off the 2010-11 payroll, got two high round draft picks and rid the Blackhawks of Dustin Byfuglien (oh, happy day). I applaud Bowman for having the balls to make an unpopular move by trading away Byfuglien and Sopel. He was able to capitalize on the fact that Sopel’s and Byfuglien’s trade value were high coming off their respective post-season performances. Brent Sopel will be missed. Good guy on and off the ice.

Ben Eager gone is not a loss. The Blackhawks wouldn’t have received a qualifying offer before the deadline, and this way they get something for him. Some guys that were in Rockford last season will get a shot at the NHL roster out of training camp. Akim Aliu has talent to be a top six forward, but it’s doubtful he’ll ever reach his full potential. He went in the wrong direction this season, and was demoted to the ECHL for his lack of offensive production and discipline.

Of the new additions to the organization, Marty Reasoner is the only player that will have an immediate impact on the Blackhawks roster. He will likely center the third or fourth line, and is under contract for one more season. His cap-hit is $1,150,000 next season.

Changes have been reflected on our In the Organization page above.

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Sweep – Western Conference Finals series review

May 25th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Blackhawks celebrate Cup Finals birth (Getty Images/Jonathan Daniel)

I won’t go as far to say that being swept by the Blackhawks in the Western Conference Finals was a choke-job, but the only Shark that showed up in the series was Patrick Marleau. In the four games that the conference finals last, Marleau scored five of San Jose’s seven goal goals and tallied an assist. Outside of defenseman Jordan Hendry, the Blackhawks won the series because it was a complete team effort.

The Blackhawks organization will go to their first Stanley Cup Finals since the 1991-92 season. Stay tuned for the finals preview in the next few days, but for now enjoy reliving the awesomeness that was the (1) Sharks vs. (2) Blackhawks series.

Game #1 – Blackhawks 2, Sharks 1 Defenseman Jason Demers gave the Sharks the early lead when his shot deflected off Duncan Keith’s body into the goal. Antti Niemi stayed cool, and didn’t let the unlucky goal faze him the rest of the afternoon. He didn’t allow another goal, saving forty-four shots allowing his team to steal this first game of the series. Dustin Byfuglien scored the game-winning goal.

Game #2 – Blackhawks 4, Sharks 2 The Blackhawks took both games at the Shark Tank to start the series, and have been great on the road this post-season. They are 7-1 away from the United Center. San Jose was never really in this game as the Blackhawks cruised to victory, and returned home with a 2-0 lead in the series.

Game #3 – Blackhawks 3, Sharks 2 (OT) This one nearly ended in regulation, but the Sharks were able to extend the game into overtime when Marleau netted his second goal of the evening. Jonathan Toews was the best player on the ice for either team. He had two assists, won 59.3% of his face-offs and set a Blackhawk post-season record for consecutive games with at least a point at twelve games. Dave Bolland was a close second for his breakaway goal in the third period, and feed to Byfuglien from behind the net for the game-winning, overtime goal.

Game #4 – Blackhawks 4, Sharks 2 It looked bleak for the Blackhawks when the Sharks extended their lead to 2-0 in the second period. Duncan Keith just had seven teeth knocked out, and Andrew Ladd was already in the locker room with an apparent injury. Like they proved in many games this season, the Blackhawks can’t be kept down. The Blackhawks scored an ugly goal that was eventually credited to Brent Seabrook, then Bolland beat Nabokov to even up the score, Byfuglien tallied his third game-winning goal of the series and Kris Versteeg clinched the trip to the Stanly Cup Finals with an empty-netter.

The Blackhawks swept the series 4-0.

Next up, the Blackhawks will face the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday at 7pm to begin the Stanley Cup Finals. Here is the rest of the Stanley Cup Finals schedule.

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Next – Blackhawks vs. Canucks series review

May 12th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Luongo exits stage left (AP Photo)

Oh man, this feels good. The Blackhawks ousted those Canucks from the playoffs for the second year in a row. To paraphrase Pat Foley and Eddie Olczyk, there are some very happy humans in Chicago with an extra bounce in their step today. What warms my heart the most is that Ryan Kesler was virtually invisible for the entire series. Anyways, the semi-final round between (2) Blackhawks and (3) Canucks is in the books, so here’s your series review.

Game #1 – Canucks 5, Blackhawks 1 Not the way the Blackhawks wanted to start the semi-final series against a good Vancouver team. It was so bad that there was a Cristobal Huet sighting. It was so bad I don’t want to write about the game beyond this point. Canucks took series lead 1-0

Game #2 – Blackhawks 4, Canucks 2 Five minutes into the game the Blackhawks were down 2-0, but Antti Niemi stopped the bleeding and settled down after Brent Seabrook scored seven minutes into the game. The Blackhawks learned they need to create traffic in front of the net in order to beat Roberto Luongo. Patrick Sharp’s shorthanded goal gave his team the spark they needed to steal this game from the Canucks. Seabrook and Sharp would have been better candidates for the ‘First Star’ over Kris Versteeg. Blackhawks tied series up at 1-1

Game #3 – Blackhawks 5, Canucks 2 Coach Q continued to put pressure on the Canucks’ defense and goaltender in Game #2. He moved Dustin Byfuglien back to forward (fourth line in Game #1, defense in Game #2) on the first line with Toews and Kane. It worked. Byfuglien notched a hat trick, and played the best game of his young career. He was physical, determined and battled in front of the net for rebounds. Blackhawks took series lead 2-1

Game #4 – Blackhawks 7, Canucks 4 Captain Serious, Jonathan Toews, followed Byfuglien’s hat trick with one of his own. He had a total of five points in the win. It was made possible due to the attention Vancouver paid to Byfuglien due to his performance in the previous game. I died a little inside admitting that. The Canucks were undisciplined, and the Blackhawks capitalized by scoring on four of the eight power-play opportunities. Blackhawks up 3-1

Game #5 – Canucks 4, Blackhawks 1 The Blackhawks abandoned the style of play that allowed them to beat the Canucks in the last three games. They didn’t create much traffic in front of Luongo, and he had an easy night in net. Blackhawks still up 3-2

Game #6 – Blackhawks 5, Canucks 1 My unhealthy obsession with Troy Brouwer has been well documented in tens of posts on this very blog, and last night my boy Troy tugged at everyone’s heart strings when he scored the first goal of the game. He hasn’t been the same player since he missed the final four games of the season to be with his ailing father. Troy, I know you don’t read this crappy blog, but my thoughts are with you and your family. Blackhawks win series 4-2

Next up, Coach Q will prepare his squad for the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference Final showdown. This was where the Blackhawks made their exit last year. Thanks to the Sharks, there won’t be a rematch against the Evil Doers of Detroit (sarcasm-o-meter at zero). At the time this was written, the date and time for Game #1 between the Sharks and Blackhawks isn’t set. We must be patient and wait for the East to finish the second round games. The NHL could learn something from the NBA when it comes to post-season scheduling.

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I can only think of Byfuglien’s trade value

May 7th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images

The American-born Dustin Byfuglien re-introduced himself to the Canucks last night in the Blackhawks 5-2 win in Game #3. He played the best game of any Blackhawk this season, and easily the best game of his career. Byfuglien was a one-man wrecking ball on the ice Wednesday night. He went to the corners hard to win puck-battles, crashed the net for rebounds and used his size to intimidate. As a result, he notched a hat trick. Playing on the top line with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane didn’t hinder his performance.

It seems as though Byfuglien can only play up to this level once a year. Luckily for the Blackhawks that one time a year coincides with the semi-final round of the playoffs (see series preview, intangibles).

Being a big picture kind of guy, I can’t help but think of Byfuglien’s trade value when has those rare games where he puts it all together. What his trade value would be is beyond me, but it couldn’t be much higher than it is right now. Maybe, I’m just a dreamer. I do spend an inappropriate amount of time fantasizing about general managers sitting at a conference table with their scouts, assistant general managers and assistants to the general managers putting together a pitch for Byfuglien’s services in the off-season. Most of the time it happens to be Brian Burke sitting at one end of the imaginary conference table.

I should probably qualify my opinion of the big guy by informing those who stumbled upon this site for the first time, I’m not a member of the Dustin Byfuglien fan club. I’ve been known to successfully steer a friend or two away from purchasing a #33 jersey. My dislike of the Blackhawk forward/defenseman is fueled by the texts my dad sends me every time Byfuglien scores, on top of the fact that he is inconsistent and there are two or three more players on the Blackhawk roster that can already do his job better. I’m tired of the Byfuglien learning curve.

I know I’m not the only one who finds it hard to watch Byfuglien play productive hockey. The only thing I think about is why we don’t see this more often. The last time Byfuglien made a difference in a game was when he turned on the afterburners to beat Rangers’ defender Matt Gilroy to tally a game winning overtime goal.

For the sake of the organization I hope he keeps playing well for a couple reasons. If he continues to play like he did in Game #3, Byfuglien will help the team advance in the post-season. His trade value will stay relatively high as well.

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Orca! – (2) Blackhawks vs. (3) Canucks preview

April 30th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

This is turning into a nice little rivalry. Ever since that bloody Sunday in March last season – the one where Alex Burrows tugged on Duncan Keith’s hair (not in a good way) – the two teams have played with an edge. Then there is the bad blood between Andrew Ladd and Ryan Kesler that dates back to when the Canucks and Blackhawks met in last year’s semi-final series – a series where the young Blackhawk team upset the Canucks and ousted them from the playoffs. Vancouver would love nothing more than to return the favor this time around. With the introduction out of the way, we move onto breaking down the second round (2) Blackhawks vs. (3) Canucks series.

Offense – The enemy led the West with 272 regular season goals, and the Blackhawks were in second with 271 goals. They also have this season’s Art Ross Trophy winner in Henrik Sedin, but our points leader has a mullet. Advantage: Blackhawks

Defense – Brian Campbell returned to the blue line in the first round series against the Predators, and the Blackhawks were 3-0 since. Coincidence, I think not. The Blackhawks are a complete core. Campbell is the puck-mover, Keith is a good two-way defenseman, Seabrook is the hitter, Hjalmarsson is the smart one and Sopel is great in the defensive zone. The Canucks aren’t as versatile on defense. After facing the Predators defensive core, the Canucks will be a cake walk. Advantage: Blackhawks

Goaltending – Roberto Luongo is viewed as one of the better goalies in the game these days, but has never won any major hardware. Antti Niemi has better numbers this post-season, but Bobby Lou is Bobby Lou. Advantage: Canucks

Special Teams – I assume you already know about how good the Blackhawks penalty kill has been this season and in the first round. Against the Predators the kill was successful twenty-seven of twenty-eight times, and Patrick Kane added the notorious Game #5 shortie. The Canucks power-play unit has been good in the regular and post-season, but can they have to get past Brent Sopel first. Advantage: Blackhawks

Coaching – Let’s make this one short. This is the eleventh post-season appearance for Coach Q, and the Canucks’ Alain Vigneault is a noob in comparison in his fourth. Advantage: Blackhawks

Intangibles – I added this section to the preview in hopes of writing about the Green Men. An homage to one of my favorite television shows. However, Dustin Byfuglien will move back to forward for the semi-finals. There are a few people who think the Blackhawks wouldn’t have won the series last year if Byfuglien didn’t own the space between Roberto Luongo’s ears. They could have used another body in front of the net against Nashville. Advantage: Blackhawks

Prediction – Blackhawks win in seven

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Blackhawks 4, Flames 1

April 4th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

My boy Troy beat the Kipper

With today’s victory the Blackhawks clinched the central division title and tied the franchise record with their forty-ninth wins in a season with four games to go. It was the first time the organization has held the top spot in the division since the 1992-93 season.

Per usual, the ‘Hawks dominated the Calgary Flames on their way to a 4-1 victory. In the last two years the Blackhawks have owned the Flames – to say the least – going 8-0-0 and ousting them from the playoffs last year. Sunday’s win could have ruined Calgary’s chances of overtaking the eighth and final playoff spot in the west with three games left in the season – the Avalanche have five games (situation when writing this post) left to play. There must be so many kinds of hate coming from Flame fans towards the Blackhawks right about now.

Anyways, the goaltending today was great. Antti Niemi looks so comfortable in net right now. He gave up a few bad rebounds, but the defense was there to bail him out. The only blemish on the afternoon was when defenseman Ian White skated into the Blackhawks’ zone virtually untouched on his way to beat Niemi. Every facet of their game (minus the power play) was in working order.

The first two goals scored by Tomas Kopecky and Troy Brouwer was due to their conscious play in front Calgary’s goalie. It was Kopecky’s tenth goal of the season (a career high). Patrick Kane beat Miikka Kiprusoff on his stick side with a wicked wrist-shot from the slot in the second period, and Dustin Byfuglien scored in the third frame for the his first since returning to the blue line.

Next up, the Blackhawks will face the Dallas Stars this Tuesday. With four games in seven days to close out the season, I wonder if Coach Quenneville will give some players rest going forward.

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Lucky #7 – Blackhawks 4, Wild 0

April 1st, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Tomas earned the belt in Minny

The fourth line was great last night. They attributed for three goals in the 4-0 shutout victory over the Minnesota Wild. Tomas Kopecky scored his eighth and ninth goals of the season, and Ben Eager scored a goal and tallied one assist. I’m quite disappointed Eager of all people couldn’t drop the gloves to give the viewers at home what they wanted – a Gordie Howe Hat Trick. On a serious note, Eager isn’t the fourth line energy forward we fell in love with last season. Ever since getting his brain scrambled in the first game of the season, Eager has become soft.

The defensive play in front of Antti Niemi was better then has been (still not great). They limited the Wild offense to twenty-one shots on goal. The Blackhawks controlled the tempo of the game, and Niemi didn’t see much action in his end of the ice until they were shorthanded three to five in the second period. Being down two men for ninety-one seconds, Niemi pulled up his pants and made a few pad saves the escape shorthanded situation unscathed. At the risk of sounding as though I bat for the other team, I’ve always been impressed with Niemi’s flexibility. For a man of his size, he moves form side-to-side rather well. This win marked his seventh shutout of the season.

On defense, Coach Quenneville had Dustin Byfuglien paired with Duncan Keith on the blue line. Byfuglien didn’t play all to well, but he didn’t embarrass himself either. Nick Boynton was out of the lineup as a result of his scuffle with Cam Janssen two night’s ago. Glad to see Brent Sopel off the top pairing, and Niklas Hjalmarsson and Brent Seabrook seem to play well enough together to keep that project going.

It was great that the fourth line stepped up and won this game for the slumping ‘Hawks, but the first two lines really need to get going with just six games left in the regular season. Jonathan Toews did score off a nice drop pass from Marian Hossa last night, but the bottom lines won’t always be productive enough to bail out the team. The win over the Wild was great, but I’m still a little worried about the state of the team and that lines are being shuffled willy-nilly.

Next up, the Blackhawks will travel fly to the cultural Mecca of the East Coast (sarcasm) to face the Devils this Friday. I haven’t had the opportunity to watch a game with Ilya Kovalchuk in a non-Thrashers jersey yet. It’s going to be weird.

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Streaks Always End – Blackhawks 2, Coyotes 0

March 23rd, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Save of the night

The Coyotes’ story this season is a good one. They filed for bankruptcy less then a year ago, and going into tonight’s game the Coyotes were tied with the Blackhawks atop the Western Conference standing. Dave Tippet has done a great job with the team he inherited, and has already won the Jack Adams Award in the eyes of many. The roster is riddled with other teams’ castoffs. No one would have predicted anything close to this sort of success from Phoenix this season. One could say the organization has risen from the ashes.

Now that all that good stuff is out of the way, it was great to watch the Blackhawks shutout the Coyotes 2-0, end their nine-game win streak and take sole possession of first place in the West. Coach Quenneville emphasized defense leading into this game, and it clearly paid off. It was apparent that the boys were playing tighter on their opponent in the defensive zone. Antti Niemi stepped up his game as well. He saved all twenty-eight shots on goal on his way to a sixth shutout. Niemi made some less then routine stops throughout the night to keep the Blackhawks on top. The goaltending job is his to lose at this point.

On the other end of the ice the Blackhawks played a solid game as well. They could only muster two goals against Ilya Bryzgalov in the second period, but that was all they needed (and then some) to come out of this game with two points. Patrick Kane scored the first off a neutral zone turnover. He went top shelf with a wrist shot to beat the Coyote netminder. Marian Hossa scored the second after Dave Bolland’s takeaway behind the net moments earlier. That second line has been playing well of late.

Anyways, it was great to see Brent Seabrook back in action. He missed only two games after getting his bell rung by former good buddy James Wisniewski. Sitting out for two games probably did Seabrook some good. He was a revolving door on defense coming down the stretch. Seabrook logged 22:41 of ice time. I was a little surprised to see Quenneville go with Dustin Byfuglien on the blue line again, but he played another decent game. I hope this trend doesn’t continue when Kim Johnsson returns.

Next up, the Blackhawks will be in Columbus for a game Thursday night.

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The Thin Blue Line – Blackhawks 3, Kings 0

March 19th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Big Buff was solid on defense.

Coach Quenneville didn’t have much to work with on the blue line last night. Three of the Blackhawks six regular defensemen were out of commission. We know Brian Campbell will be out for the rest of the regular season, Kim Johnsson is day-to-day and no timetable has been set for Brent Seabrook’s return. So in order to fill out an already thin blue line, Dustin Byfuglien took the ice at his natural position on defense, and he looked rather comfortable. The defense was tight, limiting Antti Niemi’s workload to a miniscule seventeen shots and a 3-0 shutout (his fifth) of the Kings. Niemi didn’t have to stand on his head, but made the saves he needed to make.

Not only were the Blackhawks good in their own zone, they were on the attack all night tallying three goals on thirty-seven shots. My boy Troy Brouwer scored the first goal of the game in the second period and his twentieth of the year. He was reunited with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane on the first line. Tomas Kopecky padded the ‘Hawks lead by scoring two goals in the third period, and earned him self a pat on the back.

The officiating crew was the same two refs and same two linesmen from Wednesday’s game in Anaheim were they blew a couple big calls – James Wisniewski‘s hit on Seabrook that earned him an eight-game suspension and Corey Perry’s shove of Brent Sople that led to Saku Koivu’s game-winning tally. They made a few calls obviously in favor of the Blackhawks last night. The one that stands out the most was giving Raitis Ivanans two-minutes for roughing on top of the five-minute fighting major when Ben Eager clearly threw the first punch. Anyways, I’m not complaining.

Next up, the Blackhawks will travel to the desert to play the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday. By then we should hear more on Seabrook’s situation, and more on Johnsson’s day-to-day status.

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Dave Bolland’s Return To The Lineup

February 2nd, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

The word is that Dave Bolland will play tomorrow night against the Blues. According to Chris Kuc, Bolland lined up with Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa during practice this afternoon. Sharp did a solid job filling in at pivot, but will move over to the wing to make room for a more conventional center in Bolland.

Of course, now that Bolland is back there will be some speculation into who is the odd man out. That’s where I come in – to offer my two cents on the matter as if I actually know what I’m talking about. The Blackhawks haven’t had a healthy-scratch at forward since Jordan Hendry replaced Tomas Kopecky on the fourth line on December 15th. So, whom will Coach Quenneville bestow the honor upon?

Bolland’s return will push Andrew Ladd off the second line, and will likely find a home on the third line with John Madden and either Dustin Byfuglien or Kris Versteeg. Going off style of play and size, Versteeg simply doesn’t fit the mold of a fourth liner, but Byfuglien does.

Ladd did leave practice early with a ‘lower-body’ injury, but should be ready for tomorrow’s game. Should we read more into this? Nope, but my inner conspiracy theorist would like to think otherwise.

Anyway, this is always a good problem to have – too much capable talent. If I had to guess, Coach Quenneville would sit Colin Fraser. Kopecky has energized the fourth line with his play of late and can play center. Ben Eager has some offensive skill, and can be an affective instigator. Fraser is a decent player that sees some time on the penalty kill, but doesn’t provide much of a physical game. When it comes to fisticuffs, he can’t hold his own.

What will be interesting is what will happen to the lineup when Adam Burish returns. He skated at today’s practice as well. Will Stan Bowman opt to move a forward for some depth on defense, or stand pat and send someone to Rockford?

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