Matt Hendricks took an immediate beating when it was announced that he was coming to Edmonton in exchange for Devan Dubnyk. The stat heavy Oilogosphere pounced on his production, age, and contract length and gave MacTavish’s newest acquisition a virtual thrashing. Tyler Dellow had one such article up for Sportsnet
here., and Jonathan Willis had one up for the Edmonton Journal’s Cult of Hockey
here. Both come from very astute writers who both watch the game on the ice and study the data off of it, but despite their warnings I am seeing that there is a lot to like about the new guy’s addition to the club.
The Oilers were reportedly going after Hendricks very hard in the off-season in their quest to revamp their bottom 6, and now I see why. The story after last year was that there were too many passengers on the team who were content with contributing next to nothing to the club. Either offensively or physically the depth forwards were not present every night.
Enter Matt Hendricks.
This is a player who has barely been with the club for enough time to know everybody’s name and yet to watch him play you would think he’s been in the fox hole beside them this whole time. One thing we’ve discussed a fair amount this year is that the Oilers aren’t supporting each other in the corners, on the walls, or even after the whistle. Those aspects of the game are what most people would consider “The Little Things”, and they really are. “The Little Things” are part of the vocabulary of Hockey that receives the most derision from new media, as if they didn’t refer to actual events in a hockey game that matter. But if nobody is doing the little things, if nobody battles for the puck in the corners, sacrifices their body to block a shot, or gets in someone’s face after the whistle then all those little things start to add up.
Hendricks does those little things and in stark comparison to the rest of his club, it has been noticeable. One of the things he has done without fail is finish his checks. In 3 games he has 13 hits already with the Oil and most of those I would wager have been from the forecheck. He has also shown a willingness to sacrifice his body blocking shots and stand up for himself with some fisticuffs. The puck he took to the ear, for example, would have left most people crying on the ice. I don’t think he missed a shift after it happened. This is a player who is emotionally engaged and willing to be aggressively physically present.
The Oilers are a team filled with players who back up when someone gets in their face. When the tough gets going, the Oilers check their watches and look around for the exits. Hendricks isn’t built that way and you can see it in his body language after the whistle. He isn’t looking down and slumped over like (insert any Oiler name here), he is locked into full eye contact with someone from the other team, right up in their grill, and standing tall.
There was one sequence early in the Vancouver game that caught my attention. The play was blown dead with Scrivens holding onto the puck and rookie Martin Marincin was getting jawed at by Kesler, who apparently realized that this was his one chance to pretend to be tough. Hendricks saw that his rookie blueliner was getting some verbal abuse from the faux tough guy and stood up for the kid playing just his 14th NHL game.
It was a tiny exchange. It didn’t lead to a scoring chance, it didn’t show up on a stat sheet of any kind, and it lasted maybe 3 seconds, but it is something that hasn’t been happening nearly enough. The Oilers should be jumping to protect and support all of their players but ESPECIALLY so their young ones. When Yak was dumped there was nothing, when the goalies are crowded there is nothing, when RNH is surrounded by sweaters of the wrong color everybody looks the other way. Except now Hendricks is bringing that support. He is bringing that physical energy, and he stands out while he’s doing it because nobody else is joining him.
The contract might very well be a problem in the future, one that could prove to have been more hopeful than realistic, but in the here and now Matt Hendricks has been a pleasure to watch. When he’s on the ice there is a guarantee that there will be at least one player who wont back down when challenged.
My new media colleagues may not respect “The Little Things” that Hendricks brings to the table or care one bit for his contract, but it’s easy to see what the Oilers liked about him.
Follow me on Twitter @Archaeologuy 
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»