Bleacher Report - NHL Central

Chicago Blackhawks Prospects Earning Respect, Recognition

TAB BAMFORD — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:23:35 -0500

On the day that the Chicago Blackhawks lock up more of their core with contract extensions, fans can look forward to the team’s future with great anticipation.

But with the news that Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, and Duncan Keith are getting big raises, there is also concern over which players on the current roster might have to leave to make room for the financial considerations being made to keep this great group together.

The position that’s drawn the most interest, intrigue, and rumors has been the Hawks’ blue line, where Brent Sopel and Cam Barker have seen their names headed to nearly every corner of North America in the last few weeks.

Sopel has been rumored to be headed to Toronto, Carolina, and even Rockford, while Barker’s been rumored to be a popular name in Ottawa, Carolina, and New York to say the least.

Barker, who was selected with the third overall pick in the 2004 NHL Draft following Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin (and coincidentally before Andrew Ladd, the fourth overall pick), is a player that carries a lot of unsettled emotion with Hawks fans. He’s still just 23 years old, so many fans still hold out hope for him to develop into a premier defender.

Meanwhile, many fans still associate Barker with the two elite superstars he followed to the podium in 2004, which leaves many fans disappointed.

No matter how Barker or Sopel is viewed, the concern when you hear trade rumors swirling around a first place team is not only the value received for the players dealt, but also the long-term implications of the move.

Blackhawks fans can rest assured that any move taking a player off the blue line is done with the future in mind. Stan Bowman can have every confidence that he has players coming through the pipeline that could be ready in the next couple seasons to become premier defensemen.

On Wednesday morning, Hockey Canada invited 36 players to Canada’s National Junior selection camp from Dec. 12-16, 2009 in Regina, Sask. The camp is for Canada’s top junior-aged hockey players (born in 1990 or later), and players from this elite group will make up Canada’s team in the IIHF World Junior Championships. Canada has won five consecutive gold medals in the Championships.

Two Blackhawks prospects, Dylan Olsen and Shawn LaLonde, have been invited to be a part of the camp for Team Canada.

Olsen, 18, was selected 28th overall in the 2009 National Hockey League Entry Draft. He is currently playing at the University of Minnesota-Duluth and has eight assists in their first 12 contests. Olsen is listed at 6'2", 206 pounds.

LaLonde, 19, was selected 59th overall in the 2008 National Hockey League Entry Draft. He is currently playing with the Belleville Bulls and ranks second on the team with 22 points (7 G, 15 A) in 21 games so far this season. LaLonde is listed at 6'1", 192 pounds.

Another Blackhawks prospect being recognized internationally is center Marcus Kruger. Kruger, 19, is one of four finalists for 2009-10 Rookie of the Year honors in the Swedish Elite League. He was also selected to be a member of Sweden’s World Junior Championship Team at the 2010 IIHF World U20 Championship.

Kruger was selected by the Blackhawks in the fifth round (149th overall) in the 2009 draft.

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It's Official: The Chicago Blackhawks Lock Up Keith, Toews, and Kane

TAB BAMFORD — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:15:44 -0500

An organization that is coming to be known for doing things right continues to one-up their own benchmarks. Thursday’s press conference, and the reason for it, is just one more notch in the right direction.

At the United Center, the Chicago Blackhawks announced the new contracts for Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, and Patrick Kane on Thursday in a press conference that serves as a wonderful example of how much the organization “gets it.”

The press conference began with a video tribute to the three players. Appropriately, as the video began playing, the voice of Chicago’s own Billy Corrigan came through singing “Today’s the greatest day I’ve ever known,” from the Smashing Pumpkins’ classic. GM Stan Bowman correctly stated that today was a historic day in the history of the Blackhawks organization.

Bowman stated that that "the plan was to keep our core together for a long time and Jonathan [Toews], Duncan [Keith], and Patrick [Kane] are a major part of that.” Bowman’s effort to keep that core together came in the form of matching five-year, $31.5 million contracts for Toews and Kane, and a 13-year, $72 million deal for Keith.

All three players noted during the press conference that they were drafted by the Blackhawks as 18-year-olds, and sharing the day together was fitting to all three. As much as Bowman considers these three players the core of the organization, it was obvious at the press conference that the organization, and the city of Chicago , has become the core of the three players.

One reporter asked the three if they realized how good they have it, playing in front of roaring packed buildings every home game, and now becoming the best team in Chicago across all professional sports. Toews responded that its fun to meet and spend time with guys in other sports, but it was Keith that drove home the evolution of the organization.

Keith made his Blackhawks debut in 2005-06, when the Hawks were regularly filling between 7-9,000 seats. Kane and Toews have been the poster boys for the evolution of the Hawks organization, but Keith said it’s “amazing to see the turnaround…how much fun it is to play here.”

Keith also said he’s happy to have signed such a long term deal with the team, and he is confident that the team will win a championship during his tenure. Keith said he always envisioned playing his entire career for the Blackhawks, and now he’ll get that chance.

When asked why it was important to announce all three deals together, Keith said it was because no single player is bigger than the team. It was overwhelmingly apparent that all three of these players are committed to the Indian and their teammates.

Both Toews and Kane said in their remarks that they’re new contract is for five more years, but that shouldn’t be the end of their Chicago careers. And Keith made special mention of his partner on the blue line, Brent Seabrook.

The Blackhawks did not, however, address the salary cap issue. One question was presented to the players, but Kane simply said they don’t think too much about the business end of things and just focus on the ice. There has been little done publicly to clarify how the tagging situation for the Hawks would play a role in these three contracts, and whether or not a move needed to be made to formally make these deals a reality.

It is clear, though, that money will have to be moved off next year’s payroll to put a complete roster on the ice under the projected salary cap. The speculation will be in high gear as the coming days and months move along toward the trade deadline, but for now Hawks fans can sit back, put their feet up, and enjoy a cold one in honor of a great day in Chicago hockey history.

All three players stressed that today was about the team, and winning the Stanley Cup. Now that they’ll be part of the team for the better part of the coming decade, the Cup dream might be closer to becoming more of a reality than at any time since 1961.

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Blackhawks Leave Jackets Blue as Quenneville Reaches Milestone

TAB BAMFORD — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:00:58 -0500

How many firsts were there for the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night?

Tuesday was Dec. 1. The Blackhawks played at home for the first time in two weeks. It was the first game of the year between the Blackhawks and division rival—and second place—Columbus.

Marian Hossa was playing in his first home game as a member of the Hawks. It was the first time the Hawks wore their new third jerseys. And it was the first time a Blackhawks’ team had a shootout reach double-digit shots.

All of that to get Coach Joel Quenneville his 500th career win as an NHL coach.

Welcome home indeed!

The Blackhawks admittedly didn’t have their legs in the first period as they were outshot by the Blue Jackets 10-5. But Chicago still held the advantage on the scoreboard after an incredible short handed goal from Kris Versteeg.

Versteeg got the puck on a break up the right side, used a ridiculous toe-drag to beat an initial defender, then used another sick toe-drag to elude a second defender before depositing the puck over Steve Mason’s shoulder to give the Hawks the 1-0 lead.

Despite the score, the Hawks didn’t have much momentum heading to the first break. On the radio broadcast, Patrick Kane told the Chicago broadcast team that the Hawks were struggling to get the flow of their offense down after being gone for two weeks on the West Coast.

The Blackhawks made a number of mistakes, including two questionable penalties and numerous turnovers in their own zone that their stellar defense effectively mitigated.

The second period started with more back and forth action, and just over eight minutes in the Jackets tied the game when Antoine Vermette put back a sloppy rebound off Cristobal Huet. Then, six minutes later, former Blackhawks' center Sami Pahlsson got another puck past Huet to give Columbus the lead. The Hawks were still searching for their groove.

But the second penalty of the period on Anton Stralman opened the door for the Hawks to put together an offensive rush, and they capitalized.

With a lot of traffic in front of the net, Kane threw the puck to Hossa in front of the net. Hossa tipped Kane’s pass nicely through the traffic to a wide-open Patrick Sharp on the backside of the play and he tied the game again.

Once Sharp tied the game, the Hawks became noticeably more physical. Dustin Byfuglien, Troy Brouwer, and Niklas Hjalmarsson worked the corners hard, and, more times than not, left their opponent without the puck and off their feet.

The Hawks controlled the final three minutes of the second period, and the game headed to the third period even in almost every way; not only was the score tied, but the Hawks had taken just one shot more than the Jackets, and the two teams were nearly even in every other statistical category.

Columbus came out strong in the third, and took the lead only 40 seconds into the period on a long shot from Kris Russell.

However, the Hawks continued to press the offensive zone and drew more penalties. Only 17 seconds after Fedor Tyutin was called for high sticking, Jonathan Toews tied the game at three. The Blackhawks' power-play offense, which had been a concern for much of October, has continued to improve since Toews’ return.

The other side of the special teams, the penalty kill, also continues to be exceptional for Chicago. The Hawks entered Tuesday with the second-ranked PK unit in the NHL, but were facing the top converting power play in the NHL in Columbus. Through three periods and overtime, the Hawks defense was again superior as they killed all three penalties the Jackets drew.

Why, after being gone for two weeks, would the Hawks cheat their fans by playing only 60 minutes of hockey? Let’s play five extra minutes.

Neither team was able to score in the overtime session though, so the Blackhawks treated their great fans to a shootout.

In the second round of the shootout, Hossa put the puck into the net to start the dance for the Hawks. But Jakub Voracek answered to start the third round, and when Kane couldn’t end it, the game continued for extra shots.

Sharp, Versteeg, Andrew Ladd, Brouwer, Tomas Kopecky, Byfuglien, and John Madden all tried their best but couldn’t beat Mason, who had struggled in shootouts before Tuesday.

It wasn’t until the 11th round, when Quenneville finally called on a defenseman, that the game ended. Brent Seabrook, who already has two overtime game-winners this year, got the puck past Mason to end the longest shootout in franchise history.

Huet stopped 20 of 23 shots, but made great saves on the best moves from Columbus.

On more than one occasion, Rick Nash made stunning moves in traffic and got the puck to Huet, but the Hawks’ goaltender was up to the task every time. He was also stellar in the shootout, in which he was aggressive playing the puck and made saves in nearly every direction.

Hossa had two assists in his first game in Chicago, giving him four points in four games with the Hawks. Duncan Keith had his 14th assist on the season on a shot that has, for now, been credited as a goal to Toews. Whether or not Toews made contact with the puck could be reviewed.

And so, after a night filled with firsts, Quenneville finally reached his 500th career win in his third try.

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Blue Jackets-Blues: Columbus' Slump Is Over—For a Night

Ed Cmar — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:45:20 -0500

Well, my luck ran out, as it relates to pre-game analysis. I predicted that St. Louis would win, 4-3, in either Overtime (OT) or a Shootout (SO).

Result? The Columbus Blue Jackets (CBJ) won, 5-2, although the game was much closer than the final score indicated, as the CBJ netted two empty-net goals with less than one minute to play.

So, note to self: If the CBJ need to win, (I should) pick against them.

On to the post-game analysis (what went well, what went OK, and what was a downer):

The Good

* R.J. Umberger—'Nuff said. R.J. posted a hat trick—OK, one of those goals was an empty-net goal, but still, it was so great to see the ever-streaky Umberger get his goal-scoring game back on track. This guy is the heart and conscience of the team, so, as goes R.J., (hopefully) so go the CBJ.

* Kris Russell played an outstanding game, scoring a goal and logging a goal, an assist, a plus three (+/- rating), and a whopping 23:06 of Time On Ice (TOI). I believe K Russ is best served when he is leading the team on the break, when using his great puck-handling and skating speed out of the defensive zone.

Let's face it: Russ' shot from the point won't remind anyone of Zdeno Chara or Sheldon Souray anytime soon. In fact, his goal from the point was his first ever goal from that spot. But it was great to see Russ step up after being healthy scratched for a puzzling five out of the last six games.

* Mike Commodore getting a plus four for last night's effort, as well as two stellar blocked shots. That was easily the best game Commie's played this season—then again, it didn't take much to top the previous best performance. Ouch!

* Steve Mason played an extremely solid game in net, stopping many key shots from the point. The two goals he did let in, Patrick Roy, in all his greatness, couldn't have stopped. It looked like the Mase of last season. Here's hoping the trend continues. This has been the problem—Mason will follow a solid game or two with an absolute clunker of a performance. Fingers crossed, fingers crossed...

* Known CBJ killer Keith Tkachuk was held scoreless, registering only two shots. That's the first time the CBJ have done this against Tkachuk, well, ever.

* There were several other solid performances. While I won't go into detail, I will mention those who did stand out for Columbus:

Rick Nash—Interesting; for a night in which he didn't register a point, he did have a plus two rating, which has been an inverse of how his season has gone so far.

Jan Hejda—Nice to see The Big Plus back to his under-the-radar efforts as the CBJ's true defensive stopper.

Antoine Vermette—Sure, an empty-net goal, but also a plus two and also registered an assist.

Derick Brassard and Jake Voracek—Both sophomores had beautiful feeds to Umberger for his first two goals.

The OK

* Jason Chimera—Well, he played last night, but it's now game No. 11 without registering a point. So, there's my answer to the question to those who tell me, "Chimmer is having a great start this season. What do you have to say about that, Mr. Hockey Writer?"

* Anton Stralman—As I've said before, he's a pleasant surprise, offering more defensive prowess than anyone had expected; however, he did look a bit out of sorts last night, particularly in moving the puck out of the defensive and neutral zones.

The Bad

* The crowd—12,291. I know, I know: It's a Monday night, the team's coming off of a five-game winless streak, we're not yet over Buckeye football, my kids have school, tomorrow...garbage! No excuse for that putrid crowd.

I don't know if many folks knew this, but the NHL Commish, Gary Bettman, was in town last night for part of the game. For those of you who really want to present the case that the NHL belongs in Columbus, this outcome didn't exactly help.

* Rusty Klesla's injury. Klesla's out for four to six weeks with a very serious groin tear, one for which surgery is being considered. Some have reported that his injury was the result of Blues defenseman Barret Jackman barreling into him from behind.

I was near the play and saw it more than a few times on the Jumbotron—haven't we learned anything from the Joe Theismann leg snap from over 20 years ago?—and really didn't see a dirty play. It just looked like two players getting tangled up, with an awkward result.

As a result, Mathieu Roy is being called up from Syracuse (Columbus' AHL affiliate) to fill in for Klesla.

So, in summary:

1. Getting off the schnide.

2. Great performances to go around.

3. On the down side, the crowd and Klesla's injury.

The Jackets moved up to four games above .500 and into a tie for ninth place in the Western Conference standings. I know, I know, it's early, but hey, historically, this is usually the date around which the CBJ have been mathematically eliminated from playoff competition. Personally, I take the little victories.

Up next, the team that is fast becoming one of the elite teams in the NHL, the Chicago Blackhawks. It's one thing to play a game on back-to-back nights, and it's another to play at the United Center, but it's another thing to have to play the Blackhawks on the night in which Joel Quenneville is going for his 500th career win and when Marian Hossa makes his Blackhawks home debut.

I think I speak for coach Ken Hitchcock—he says it so many times when facing the 'Hawks—when I say, "Avoid the track meet."

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Chicago Blackhawks December Preview

TAB BAMFORD — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:18:08 -0500

December begins with the Chicago Blackhawks in first place in the Central Division.

Life is good.

After a spectacular November that saw the team handle most, if not all, of the Western Conference powers both at home and on the road, the Hawks come on in December for a month highlighted by games against some of the top talent from the Eastern Conference.

Thankfully for the fans, though, most of December is played in Chicago.

The fun begins Dec. 5, when the Hawks make their lone trip to the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins. This game could not only be a showcase of some of the best young players in the NHL, but might be a trendy pick to serve as a 2010 Stanley Cup Finals preview.

After the Pittsburgh trip, the Hawks return home for New York Rangers before heading to Buffalo to take on the red-hot Sabres Dec. 11. Brian Campbell will face one of his former teams in Buffalo, a reality many Hawks will deal with in December.

This stretch of three games could serve as a good gauge of how the Blackhawks stack up against the stronger teams in the East.

But the schedule doesn’t get easy after just that one week.

After the Sabres game, the Hawks have a five-game homestand during which Original Six foes Boston and Detroit come to the United Center.

It will be the only trip for the Bruins to Chicago this year, and the first time the Hawks will face the Red Wings since their third game of the season; that loss also happened to be the Wings home opener and the first game either team had played on American soil this season.

Marian Hossa will play against the last two teams with whom he advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals in Pittsburgh and Detroit. The Red Wings should be getting some of their injured players back during December, but the losses on their roster have kept them from playing consistent hockey this year.

Following the Red Wings could be a dangerous game for the Blackhawks. The final game of the homestand is against the San Jose Sharks…the same Sharks that have lost both games against the Hawks this year and who got their doors blown out in their building during the Circus Trip.

If there’s one team on the December schedule that has a score to settle, it’s the Sharks.

The Hawks will leave town for a couple tough games after facing the Sharks, travelling to Detroit and Nashville, before returning home for Nashville again.

The Predators started the season in a funk, but have come on strong lately, and fall in a couple spots on the December schedule that could present an opportunity for a good team to take advantage of a team playing a lot of games against premier Eastern Conference teams.

The back-to-back home and home series on the two days immediately following Christmas could be a great test for both teams.

The final day of 2009 will also present a potential Finals preview when the New Jersey Devils come to Chicago. It will be the first time John Madden faces his former team, and will absolutely serve as a test of the potent Hawks offense against Hall of Fame goaltender Martin Brodeur.

Both teams are elite defensively, so that could be a bell ringer to end a special calendar year in the history of the Blackhawks.

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