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WASHINGTON RUMOR:

Late breaking, Hawks have (I’m hearing this morning) discussed a deal for big Cap defenseman John Erskine. There also has been a discussion of a larger deal involving Jeff Halpern (as I predicted on the message board thread this AM) and a number of Hawk prospects. As reported by Al Cimaglia yesterday, a contingent of Cap scouts has been/will be at the UC (and possibly Rockford) to evaluate the goods. And don’t be surprised to see Bryan Bickell dressed tonight.



Florida Panthers at Chicago Blackhawks

7:30 Central
United Center
CSN Chicago, WGN Radio


RECORDS:

Florida 21-14-10
PP— 12th
PK— 24th

Chicago 28-13-6
PP— 9th
PK— 26th


PROJECTED LINEUPS:


Florida

Fleischmann-Weiss-Versteeg
Kopecky-Goc-Samuelsson
Repik-Madden-Matthias
Bradley-Santorelli-Barch

Campbell-Garrison
Ellerby-Weaver
Kulikov-Dudbranson

Theodore


Chicago

Stalberg-Toews-Kane
Hossa-Kruger-Shaw
Brunette-Bolland-Hayes
Frolik-Mayers-Smith

Keith-Seabrook
Hjalmarsson-Leddy
O’Donnell-Montador

Emery


SCOUTING REPORT:

When the Vancouver Canucks traded Mikael Samuelsson for David Booth, the hockey world screamed steal—all the focus was on how great the Great Booth would make the Great Canucks. Hasn’t really worked out that way. At least not yet. Samuelsson is not really the story in Florida, except in 18 games he’s +1, while Booth is -8 and missed a month due to injury. And that’s the real story here. Samuelsson is part of a patchwork of cast-offs and retreads and young players who have come together to make the Panthers a likely playoff team. Dale Tallon is doing what he does in Florida: building.

Not only will the Hawks see a lot of their old mates tonight (Madden, Versteeg, Campbell, Kopecky) but they will also see sort of a rough clone of themselves. A team that relies heavily on speed and transition.

Still, when you look at the lineups on paper, and this being a home contest, this is a game the Hawks should win. But wth a quick strike offense, the Panthers can ut the Hawks in a hole if Chicago comes out with one of their flat starts, as they did against Buffalo.

One of the storylines tonight has to be will the two rookie phenoms— Andrew Shaw and Jimmy Hayes (nephew of former NHL star Keith “Walt” Tkachuk)— continue their dominance. If so, it will be hard for the Panthers to win. These two players are effectively making the Hawks a team that scores consistently on three lines. But let’s put it in perspective. If Shaw continues the rest of the season on his current pace, he will end up with 26 goals and 5 assists in half a season. So, the odds are, he will not continue that pace forever.

Ray Emery gets the start tonight in the first of back-to-backs. This likely means nothing more than that. Though past history has shown if Joel Quenneville has any questions about the goalie position going into the playoffs, now is the time he starts looking really hard at both goalies. Corey Crawford has really created more questions than answers this year. He hasn’t been terrible—overall. But he’s often battled the puck and struggled with positioning while the Hawks have worked out their defensive issues. Emery has been somewhat more consistent. And Emery has more playoff skins on his wall.

#SHAWFACT:

Andrew Shaw converted to Buddhism . . . so he could kick the Dalai Lama’s a— through all eternity.


That is all. For now.


JJ

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