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Chicago Blackhawks Blogger •
Ray Ferraro said it best last night: "The Blackhawks can say what they want. But they have a problem in goal."
No. at 5-3-1, it's not time for the Blackhawks to hit the panic button. But a soft goal a game, which is about what they're averaging this year, is going to prevent them from winning the Stanley Cup, much less being serious contenders.
In arguably the biggest game of his career thus far, Antti Niemi showed himself to be human. In fact, following the recent pattern of the Hawks' titular number 1 goalie, Cristobal Huet, he had a number of nice saves, and let in at least one goal he absolutely should not have.
The game winner, late in the third period.
Now, like many of Huet's softies thus far this year, Niemi was betrayed by a putrid defensive play (thank you Brian Campbell) in front of him in that instance. Still, I didn't even see a hint of his glove coming up as the puck whistled by his left shoulder.
I'm not ready to ship Niemi back to Rockford. The kid is an NHL goalie, which I'm still not sure Corey Crawford is.
But I'm starting to doubt whether Niemi's ready to be a #1.
Tightening up the defense would help, but the Hawks' options there are limited as well. Though I still suspect Cam Barker might be wearing another teams' sweater on March 1, and the Hawks will fill a need with a rugged, stay-at-home type d-man in his place.
On the bright, well, less dark side, Huet can play a lot better than he has. And in spite of the many condemnations he's received recently, he can play like a #1. The Hawks next game is at home against the offensively-challenged Predators, and that might be a very good time to throw #39 back into the fray.
But even if Huet gets it back together, one has to wonder if or when he'll come apart again. And if he does, will Niemi go "deer in the headlights" again in the third period of a big game?
The Hawks' front office has to be thinking hard about adding another goalie. The best case scenario is finding a vet who can complement and/or replace (if necessary) a rehabbed Huet. But that's problematic for many reasons, as I'll discuss in a moment.
The candidates?
First, it is highly unlikely either San Jose or Anaheim is going to help the Hawks out of this pickle with Evgeni Nabokov or J.S. Giguere.
Marty Turco is a faint possibility and only if Dallas is really fading at the trade deadline.
Crawford is off to a good start in Rockford. But, he's no better than Niemi and probably not as good. And he doesn't have the experience necessary.
Martin Biron or Dwayne Roloson. When Rick DiPietro comes back on the Island, one of these gentlemen is going on the block by December 1. The asking price will be a second round draft pick. Biron works better from a money and term perspective. But I like Roloson a little more.
Manny Legace. Legace had some big years in the not too recent past with Detroit, and had some nice stretches in St. Louis. He is currently playing in Chicago with the Wolves, and he's a mere phone call and a cab ride away.
Now, adding any of these guys means the Hawks either carry three goalies, or send Huet or Niemi to Rockford. Either of those two could get claimed on waivers, with Niemi being the more likely to be claimed. Another problem for Stan Bowman.
Does he trade Niemi, and risk repeating another colossal goalie blunder, when the Blackhawks traded Dominik Hasek in 1992?
Does he consign Huet to Rockford, and eventual buyout, and go with, say, Legace and Niemi the rest of the season? If Legace plays as well as he can, this isn't necessarily a bad thing.
My advice?
1) Scout Legace big time (and I'm betting dollars to donuts, the Hawks already are).
2) Be patient. I'd wait until the situation on the Isle clears itself up a bit. Because that's another option with a relatively low price tag. Like I said, Huet getting his confidence back takes a lot of the urgency off of this situation, but not totally.
3) Consider dealing Niemi. He's still an intriguing prospect. See what the return might be. Again, you're dealing him to acquire a more experienced (as a number one) goalie to help win it all this year. Risky, but perhaps high reward.
4) Also take a hard look at this defense. I don't think the Hawks can or should deal Brian Campbell. But replacing Cam Barker with a lockdown defenseman like an Anton Volchenkov would be huge.
Your move, Stan.
RANDOM SHOTS:
Troy Brouwer had a nice night again last night. Is it just me, or is he seeming to now find his offensive game at the NHL level. Add that to his defense, hitting and smart play, and the Hawks might have another young star.
Nik Hjalmarsson gets compared a lot (well, mostly by Pierre Maguire) to Nik Kronwall. I have said he strikes me as a more physical, though not quite as mobile, Duncan Keith. But I've always seen flashes of another ex-Hawk defenseman in him, which I saw again last night: Steve Smith.
Nice, clean hit by Willie Mitchell on Jonathan Toews. As a poster on the board noted, he made a point not to raise his arms up and exacerbate the hit (as Kronwall is prone to doing). Taser will be OK. But kudos to Mitchell. That's how the game should be played.
On the other hand, Mikael Samuelsson drew a penalty on Dustin Byfuglien by going after Patrick Kane in a post-whistle skirmish. Maybe it was a smart, veteran move. It was also typically gutless.
And kudos to the Canucks for fighting hard and winning the game last night.
JJ
No. at 5-3-1, it's not time for the Blackhawks to hit the panic button. But a soft goal a game, which is about what they're averaging this year, is going to prevent them from winning the Stanley Cup, much less being serious contenders.
In arguably the biggest game of his career thus far, Antti Niemi showed himself to be human. In fact, following the recent pattern of the Hawks' titular number 1 goalie, Cristobal Huet, he had a number of nice saves, and let in at least one goal he absolutely should not have.
The game winner, late in the third period.
Now, like many of Huet's softies thus far this year, Niemi was betrayed by a putrid defensive play (thank you Brian Campbell) in front of him in that instance. Still, I didn't even see a hint of his glove coming up as the puck whistled by his left shoulder.
I'm not ready to ship Niemi back to Rockford. The kid is an NHL goalie, which I'm still not sure Corey Crawford is.
But I'm starting to doubt whether Niemi's ready to be a #1.
Tightening up the defense would help, but the Hawks' options there are limited as well. Though I still suspect Cam Barker might be wearing another teams' sweater on March 1, and the Hawks will fill a need with a rugged, stay-at-home type d-man in his place.
On the bright, well, less dark side, Huet can play a lot better than he has. And in spite of the many condemnations he's received recently, he can play like a #1. The Hawks next game is at home against the offensively-challenged Predators, and that might be a very good time to throw #39 back into the fray.
But even if Huet gets it back together, one has to wonder if or when he'll come apart again. And if he does, will Niemi go "deer in the headlights" again in the third period of a big game?
The Hawks' front office has to be thinking hard about adding another goalie. The best case scenario is finding a vet who can complement and/or replace (if necessary) a rehabbed Huet. But that's problematic for many reasons, as I'll discuss in a moment.
The candidates?
First, it is highly unlikely either San Jose or Anaheim is going to help the Hawks out of this pickle with Evgeni Nabokov or J.S. Giguere.
Marty Turco is a faint possibility and only if Dallas is really fading at the trade deadline.
Crawford is off to a good start in Rockford. But, he's no better than Niemi and probably not as good. And he doesn't have the experience necessary.
Martin Biron or Dwayne Roloson. When Rick DiPietro comes back on the Island, one of these gentlemen is going on the block by December 1. The asking price will be a second round draft pick. Biron works better from a money and term perspective. But I like Roloson a little more.
Manny Legace. Legace had some big years in the not too recent past with Detroit, and had some nice stretches in St. Louis. He is currently playing in Chicago with the Wolves, and he's a mere phone call and a cab ride away.
Now, adding any of these guys means the Hawks either carry three goalies, or send Huet or Niemi to Rockford. Either of those two could get claimed on waivers, with Niemi being the more likely to be claimed. Another problem for Stan Bowman.
Does he trade Niemi, and risk repeating another colossal goalie blunder, when the Blackhawks traded Dominik Hasek in 1992?
Does he consign Huet to Rockford, and eventual buyout, and go with, say, Legace and Niemi the rest of the season? If Legace plays as well as he can, this isn't necessarily a bad thing.
My advice?
1) Scout Legace big time (and I'm betting dollars to donuts, the Hawks already are).
2) Be patient. I'd wait until the situation on the Isle clears itself up a bit. Because that's another option with a relatively low price tag. Like I said, Huet getting his confidence back takes a lot of the urgency off of this situation, but not totally.
3) Consider dealing Niemi. He's still an intriguing prospect. See what the return might be. Again, you're dealing him to acquire a more experienced (as a number one) goalie to help win it all this year. Risky, but perhaps high reward.
4) Also take a hard look at this defense. I don't think the Hawks can or should deal Brian Campbell. But replacing Cam Barker with a lockdown defenseman like an Anton Volchenkov would be huge.
Your move, Stan.
RANDOM SHOTS:
Troy Brouwer had a nice night again last night. Is it just me, or is he seeming to now find his offensive game at the NHL level. Add that to his defense, hitting and smart play, and the Hawks might have another young star.
Nik Hjalmarsson gets compared a lot (well, mostly by Pierre Maguire) to Nik Kronwall. I have said he strikes me as a more physical, though not quite as mobile, Duncan Keith. But I've always seen flashes of another ex-Hawk defenseman in him, which I saw again last night: Steve Smith.
Nice, clean hit by Willie Mitchell on Jonathan Toews. As a poster on the board noted, he made a point not to raise his arms up and exacerbate the hit (as Kronwall is prone to doing). Taser will be OK. But kudos to Mitchell. That's how the game should be played.
On the other hand, Mikael Samuelsson drew a penalty on Dustin Byfuglien by going after Patrick Kane in a post-whistle skirmish. Maybe it was a smart, veteran move. It was also typically gutless.
And kudos to the Canucks for fighting hard and winning the game last night.
JJ
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