He's just not very good.

He's a good skating, defensively responsible forward with zero shot and really no vision to set guys up. He's an offensive black hole that potted a big penalty shot in the playoffs and scored 20 goals twice for Florida 3 years ago. Great resume.

Here's the thing though- If you watch his highlight clips, the vast majority of his goals are scored extremely close to the net... almost all of them low shots and rebounds. The reason he doesn't score with Chicago is because he's never ever in that position. He's usually back checking or digging defensively along the boards and when he does manage to get a rush, his speed puts him ahead of everyone and he just settles for a limp wrister.

To get Frolik going- get him in position down around the net. Dude is a poacher of garbage goals. Garbage goals are good. He's useless on the perimeter.
- AceRatbang

yep and he played on PP in Florida...that helped.

i'm good with taking a flyer on gomez. could light a fire under his ass and play for a contract for next season especially if he has chemisrty with marion hossa. 2nd line centers don't grow on trees, maybe lil stosh may be on 2 something here. the kid's 33, if he plays decent for say this year & next it buys time for the youngins comin thru the pipeline.
what would you rather do? trade away players & picks for a 2nd line center, or see what gomez can offer for 48 games? i'll take the latter, it can't hurt. could be addition without subtraction.
gomez pans out ( if we sign him instead of vanc., or SJ) the D steps up & crawford can stop a beach ball ,i think will be in the hunt.
and other than shaw & kaner, i looked at the roster, everyone is 6"1,6"2, 6"3 & 2 bills,so they do have some size, hopefully they will play big!
- wonthecup10

What's going to motivate a guy like Gomez - it sure isn't money. He"ll take the buyout after making $7M for a number of years and then what - play for $1M like a man possessed? I doubt it. He may be a great guy and all that, but the logic and reasons aren't there to sign him. If anywhere he"ll go back to Uncle Lou in Jersey.

Totally just realized they are playing Phoenix Sunday.

Absolutely hate those 9pm starts.
- fattybeef

oh goodie...our Pal Mike Smith. This guy has just stoned the Hawks the last 2 years. I hope he is out of shape..maybe we can sneak 3 or 4 past him.

Either Brookbank or Leddy (sorry Savvy)

or do they dress 7 d ?
- philco28

Philco...please....Leddy is not sitting. He has been playing during the LO and none of the others are in game shape.

Edzo had a long layoff and seems to have rather different take on C2 in the playoffs: He stated C2 outplayed Smith during regulation!!

Now that last year was last year but really Mr..."for all you kids out there" what games were you analyzing. Not even close. My gosh the Hawks outshot Phoexnix with their passive rope a dope offense almost 2:1. Smith made saves I still see in my sleep. He won that series for them....period.
- bogiedoc

I actually think it waa a lot closer than people think. As we talked about here, how many really good chances did the hawks have? They took a lot of shots, but they were mostly perimeter. . Smith did make some great saves, especially in game 6, though. But I do think Crawford faced the better quality shots, no doubt

Danault had 1 goal and 3 assists the ither night, and tore i up at the dot15/23....
Teravainen had a goal and an assist the other night,he is looking pretty good...I'd bring him over to the AHL next season if I were the Hawks...let him get used to the smaller ice

JJ, you dont have to write another article but please get rid of the Scott Gomez picture !

I actually think it waa a lot closer than people think. As we talked about here, how many really good chances did the hawks have? They took a lot of shots, but they were mostly perimeter. . Smith did make some great saves, especially in game 6, though. But I do think Crawford faced the better quality shots, no doubt
- tomcat24

It wasnt even close. Crawford was plain bad. Mike Smith was very good.

JJ, you dont have to write another article but please get rid of the Scott Gomez picture !
- mrpaulish

Yikes! I hope this goes nowhere if there's any interest in Gomez. Would rather no moves than this to start the season. I get the lightning in a bottle route and sure it happens; was hoping the same thing with Morrisson last year but he had nothing left.

Still hoping something is done in goal; if not now during the season if Crow can't regain his rookie year form.

Tim Connolly would be a perfect Bowman pick up. He wins about 45% of draws, averages about 30 hits a year, and has a history of injury issues. Sign him up! Missed 4 games in 2011 with a "nasal injury."

Actually I hear Stan now:
"We decided to stand pat with our roster because, um, well, the chemistry....yeah, that's the tickect! The chemistry is so good going into the short season ,I didn't want to add new players who would not know the system Q has worked so hard to put in place. Yeah, yeah, that's it. Chemistry."

I hate you, Stan.

Edzo had a long layoff and seems to have rather different take on C2 in the playoffs: He stated C2 outplayed Smith during regulation!!

Now that last year was last year but really Mr..."for all you kids out there" what games were you analyzing. Not even close. My gosh the Hawks outshot Phoexnix with their passive rope a dope offense almost 2:1. Smith made saves I still see in my sleep. He won that series for them....period.
- bogiedoc

He keeps this up and soon people will be mistaking him for Steve Konroyd.

Philco...please....Leddy is not sitting. He has been playing during the LO and none of the others are in game shape.
- bogiedoc

You're right Bogie...he has been playing during the lockout

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGiQsXrdhFQ

Edzo had a long layoff and seems to have rather different take on C2 in the playoffs: He stated C2 outplayed Smith during regulation!!

Now that last year was last year but really Mr..."for all you kids out there" what games were you analyzing. Not even close. My gosh the Hawks outshot Phoexnix with their passive rope a dope offense almost 2:1. Smith made saves I still see in my sleep. He won that series for them....period.
- bogiedoc

In the NHL Network season preview, both Melrose and Weeks pretty much laughed off Eddies take.

Clendening made the AHL all star game. Not sure if anyone noted that yet.

Also, in Q's defense, he made sure Sharp played against the other teams poorest Quality of Competition and he popped 33 and 34 goals the last 2 years. Shows pretty savvy management skills IMO.

Tim Connolly would be a perfect Bowman pick up. He wins about 45% of draws, averages about 30 hits a year, and has a history of injury issues. Sign him up! Missed 4 games in 2011 with a "nasal injury."

Actually I hear Stan now:
"We decided to stand pat with our roster because, um, well, the chemistry....yeah, that's the tickect! The chemistry is so good going into the short season ,I didn't want to add new players who would not know the system Q has worked so hard to put in place. Yeah, yeah, that's it. Chemistry."

I hate you, Stan.
- Kentxo

At $4.5M/year, Connolly isn't in any of the garbage cans Stanbow rummages thru. He looks in the lower priced bins where you find a Brendan Morrison and Ryan Johnson and then tells Q to polish them up real pretty.

At $4.5M/year, Connolly isn't in any of the garbage cans Stanbow rummages thru. He looks in the lower priced bins where you find a Brendan Morrison and Ryan Johnson and then tells Q to polish them up real pretty.
- RickJ

This is true, but once the TML buy him out, he won't be a $4.5 mil cap hit. He will become a concussed Brendan Morrison v2.0 searching for a team at bargain basement prices

If they are not going to make a trade, I think Gomez at a low salary and one year deal is worth it. Now that he was out from underneath that enormous contract, the pressure is off of him. He played with that egregious contract in NY and Montreal, not exactly low pressure environments. I think whoever gets hm now is going to be pleasantly surprised. I am not sure how anybody thinks it can hurt. He has a lot more left in the tank than any of the AARP members StanBow has brought in lately.

He keeps this up and soon people will be mistaking him for Steve Konroyd.
- Hal9000y2k

Probably a safe bet he and Foley have been, ahem, advised to follow the talking points. The post-playoff elimination critique they put forth likely threatened some people.

I watched both of the TSN and Sportsnet channel preseason preview/prediction shows last night here in Canada.

Both shows were a lot more optimistic about the Hawks fortunes this year than many of our posters. In fact, TSN final consensus for western final had Chicago vs LA with LA advancing.

Lots of Blackhawk tidbits from Keenan on Sportsnet show. Raised my eyebrows on his comment about moving Hasek (during Luongo situation discussion) because of upcoming expansion --really?

I watched both of the TSN and Sportsnet channel preseason preview/prediction shows last night here in Canada.

Both shows were a lot more optimistic about the Hawks fortunes this year than many of our posters. In fact, TSN final consensus for western final had Chicago vs LA with LA advancing.

Lots of Blackhawk tidbits from Keenan on Sportsnet show. Raised my eyebrows on his comment about moving Hasek (during Luongo situation discussion) because of upcoming expansion --really?
- 67hawks

Yes, they would have lost in expansion draft, I think. Keenan did have a trade for Lindros agreed to that would have included Belfour and Hawks keeping Hasek but it was vetoed by Dollar Bill and FrankenPolford.

I'm worried about St Louis beating the sh!t outta everybody this year
- miked23

Reasonable concern. However, guys all over the league are not adjusted to the speed of the game and the conditioning that goes with it. That being said, St. Louis plays a big, nasty, physical game, but they are not the quickest, IMO that could hurt St. Louis the first week or so of this condensed season.

Darkest moment of the season - you got that right! I think I recall flipping out on New to Hockey later that night but it may have been someone else.

Team allowed their captain to be abused and they all stood there and watched. I knew right then and there the Hawks were one and done in the playoffs. Just like I knew the Canucks were toast when they let that little puke Marchand abuse Sedin and did nothing about it.

I don't look for Bollig to be the undefeated heavyweight champion of the Western Conference, but he's in the lineup for a reason just like John Ferguson was there to look after Henri Richard, Yvan Cournoyer and a few others. If he can accomplish that, he's worth having on the team.

And I subscribe to the Gordie Howe memory bank theory - it doesn't have to be the next game or even next season but there will be a day to even the score. It took him 3 years to retaliate against Bobby Baun for a check he didn't like. And then he stood over Baun as he lay on the ice and said he considered the score settled and the case closed.
- RickJ

Doesnt happen if Carbomb is their. He has a sack and while people are still on the fence, I think Carcillo may be the one and only signing that I have applauded Stan for. Carcillo is the type of tough guy you need in your lineup. He is skilled enough to know his role in the top six, or you could stick him in the bottom six to really stir the pot.

He can help kill penalties, occasionally pot a goal, hit people. No he might not destroy a guy like Westgarth like Scott did. But who cares. I GUARANTEE you this: Jordin Tootoo will never again take liberties with Hawk players while Bollig is in the building. Bollig is a hockey player who keeps other hockey players honest. Not a sideshow like Scott and Westgarth and Boogard (RIP). And Bollig's fights are fun to watch because he is a freaking savage!
- John Jaeckel

I tend to agree with the bolded above, but I would not mistake him for a deterrent by any stretch. He was after all on the ice when Torres hit Hossa in the playoffs wasn't he?

Well so far it's a great Friday morning. Did a wee bit of work and then went to check the Hawk's web site hoping not to see a PR spinaroma introduction of the newest Hawk. So far, nothing there....whew...

Doesnt happen if Carbomb is their. He has a sack and while people are still on the fence, I think Carcillo may be the one and only signing that I have applauded Stan for. Carcillo is the type of tough guy you need in your lineup. He is skilled enough to know his role in the top six, or you could stick him in the bottom six to really stir the pot.
- nickmo2699

I love Carbomb too...but he's always on the borderline of taking that dumb penalty that can really hurt us. Just ask Flyers' fans.