So the U.S. better have a good Navy and Air Force and no Army?
- philco28

I'm empty.

Hey - all I did was make a comment abouth the youthfulness of a winning team - not that usual to have so many players 25 and under and still be winning.
- StLBravesFan

I like it, that is what 80% of discussion should be here instead of this trade banter and bring in a bunch of retreads. Does/has Detroit do that? No...

Point is you do not panic. Like your point.

I'm empty.
- StLBravesFan

Peace bro...just saying we have to sacrifice bodies late in games, block shots and never allow the biscuit NEAR our net. Keep that thing AWAY from the net at all
costs to preserve the W.

Exactly, not to be a topper Johnson, but I said before Christmas that he would and should be up as he is.

He is not Burish or Carcillo. He is a version of Marshand. Kris Versteeg with more edge and grit. Some of you hate the phrase, but he is a honey badger.
- TrueGrit

You must have been following him in Rockford, I wasn't. I think he had 12 goals there. Strangely enough, most goals he had in junior in one seasonwas 22 which isn't many for a player jumping to the NHL. But he played in a winning program (Owen Sound) with a number of drafted players.

Too small they said about him.

Looked like he lifted his skate to stop the puck and it went in off of Niemi - lifting the skate is considered a kicking motion.
- StLBravesFan

that is exactly what happened...ok thx for clearing that up

You must have been following him in Rockford, I wasn't. I think he had 12 goals there. Strangely enough, most goals he had in junior in one seasonwas 22 which isn't many for a player jumping to the NHL. But he played in a winning program (Owen Sound) with a number of drafted players.

Too small they said about him.
- RickJ

Making the Versteeg/Marchand comparisons all the more accurate.

IIRC Carcillo's suspension is now over and he can be place on IR. Does Smith get called back up? Does Bickell still have a spot in the lineup?
- NewToHockey

Yeh..Carbomb should be going on IR....I suspect it is Smith.

Ole Bick who never clicks did have a pulse tonight...but I have to believe he is gone with in the month. Only think keeping him here is his low salary and waiver rules.

Also this a tough swallow for the Hawks to pull the plug on a former #1 with size!! They would be fortunate to get a mid round pick for him!

shaw is the young version of mayers with more skill
with his progress should he be a second line center?

stan go get us a top 4 rental defensemen for a few prospects

Yeh..Carbomb should be going on IR....I suspect it is Smith.

Ole Bick who never clicks did have a pulse tonight...but I have to believe he is gone with in the month. Only think keeping him here is his low salary and waiver rules.

Also this a tough swallow for the Hawks to pull the plug on a former #1 with size!! They would be fortunate to get a mid round pick for him!
- bogiedoc

Don't be too sure of that, he is still getting a jersey every night. Scott and Lepisto aren't and there is no indication that Olesz is coming back.

He doesn't do much out there very often but he's still a big body that can be of use against big physical teams like Dallas, St.Louis, LA and San Jose.

Don't be too sure of that, he is still getting a jersey every night. Scott and Lepisto aren't and there is no indication that Olesz is coming back.

He doesn't do much out there very often but he's still a big body that can be of use against big physical teams like Dallas, St.Louis, LA and San Jose.
- RickJ

rick, pull the plug on bickell!! you like a guy like paul gausted, antione vermette,rj umberger,derreck brassard ect. guys like that? i'd take gausted &vermette plus add a D and get sharpie back,good to go!

carbomb: hope your surgery goes well ,Q gave you an endorsement for next year,be fun to see you ,shaw &mayers stirring shlit next year ! jammer,chainshaw & carbomb! if that isn't a destructive line then i don't know what is!

shaw is the young version of mayers with more skill
with his progress should he be a second line center?

stan go get us a top 4 rental defensemen for a few prospects
- molly2522

that is the 5th time you have said that. Make an adjustment. Shaw is not as big and twice as talented...one day you will see...a year or so from now...

You tell me he is a Mayers and will be a second line center..Really? WTF...

Don't be too sure of that, he is still getting a jersey every night. Scott and Lepisto aren't and there is no indication that Olesz is coming back.

He doesn't do much out there very often but he's still a big body that can be of use against big physical teams like Dallas, St.Louis, LA and San Jose.
- RickJ

Rick, you have been doing well...but do not refer to Bickell as a former number 1 try 4h or 5th

Big win tonight for the Hawks, 3 of 4 pts in a 24 hour span vs the Wings and Sharks is a big plus.

Also I've said it before and I'll say it again, NOBODY in the NHL has drafted as well and developed as well as the Hawks have the past 7-8 years. This team has a system that's as deep as any team's in the game. Great to see some of the "lower tier" prospects (Hayes and Shaw) making contributions with the big club already. I also liked what I saw out of Olsen when he was up here.

Rick, you have been doing well...but do not refer to Bickell as a former number 1 try 4h or 5th
- TrueGrit

FWIW, looked it up, 2nd.

Rick, you have been doing well...but do not refer to Bickell as a former number 1 try 4h or 5th
- TrueGrit

Mixing up your posters - I didn't refer to him as a former #1 because he wasn't. But I do think he was about the 31st or 32nd pick overall in his draft year.

rick, pull the plug on bickell!! you like a guy like paul gausted, antione vermette,rj umberger,derreck brassard ect. guys like that? i'd take gausted &vermette plus add a D and get sharpie back,good to go!

carbomb: hope your surgery goes well ,Q gave you an endorsement for next year,be fun to see you ,shaw &mayers stirring shlit next year ! jammer,chainshaw & carbomb! if that isn't a destructive line then i don't know what is!
- wonthecup10

Gaustad plays in the 3 hole for Buffalo so he'd have to replace Bolland or be moved down to the 4th line. Sabres are so banged up they have trouble finding 4 centers every night. Maybe the Hawks could get him at the deadline if the Sabres have given up on the season.

Umberger is a dog that doesn't hunt with an albatross contract. I don't want any of those losers from that loser organization in Columbus. The Hawks would need to send their players to a correctional institute to purge them of their loser mentalities and that takes too long.

The Hawks were clearly the better team tonight. Don't blame fatigue either, as the Sharks beat an awful Columbus team and the Hawks lost to the Wings in overtime. The only reason the game was close because Crawford and the Hawks had a brain fart in the first part of the second period. Yes, the Sharks pushed late in the 3rd with the power play, but the Hawks were clearly the better team tonight. Here is where my frustration sets in, why cannot the Hawks bring that kind of effort every night? Something is a miss somewhere because the Hawks kept the Sharks pinned into their zone much of the night, and Toews and Kane were way better than the Sharks stars. This team at times is very frustrating, but man do they have talent when they want to play. Lat comment of the night, Shaw and Hayes are keepers, jettison Bickell to Rockford or put him on waivers, it does not matter, big body with no heart. #29can float somewhere else and that is ok with me.

Don't mean to be a Johnson, but Really? WTF do you think they have been doing evaluating and developing guys. Not sure if you are part of the bipolar pta club here looking to trade anybody because maybe you had a bad day.

Poise and composure. Still need help on the blue line, but the right kind of help. At the right price.
- TrueGrit

You don't mean to? So it just comes naturally, then?

Couple of points...I have also been a Stalberg supporter this year, saying I'd rather have a guy who has the puck find him than a guy who can finish but never seem to get the puck. Can he seriously be a 25/50 guy? As for Shaw, remember JJ talking about how it takes more than talent to make it in the NHL? Saying something about how brutal the game is at the highest level and so many talented guys simpky can't stomach the brutality. Shaw may become a favorite of mine. Peca/marchand sounds good to me but we'll see.

As for trades, yes, True Grit, I want the team to really improve on its own, but I also think it is fun to come up with ideas...now that you are the official "trade cop" on this site, you take all the fun out of it because god forbid we post a stinker or do something other than pray this team gets it. You make it hard to agree with your usually salient points.

The flury at the end and OD's game is making me impatient for a Dman.

Mixing up your posters - I didn't refer to him as a former #1 because he wasn't. But I do think he was about the 31st or 32nd pick overall in his draft year.
- RickJ

oops...me bad...ole Bick not a 1st

Drafted: CHI / 2004 NHL Entry Draft

Round: 2nd (41st overall)

Still don't think the Hawks could get much more than a middle round pick!

Couple of points...I have also been a Stalberg supporter this year, saying I'd rather have a guy who has the puck find him than a guy who can finish but never seem to get the puck. Can he seriously be a 25/50 guy? As for Shaw, remember JJ talking about how it takes more than talent to make it in the NHL? Saying something about how brutal the game is at the highest level and so many talented guys simpky can't stomach the brutality. Shaw may become a favorite of mine. Peca/marchand sounds good to me but we'll see.

As for trades, yes, True Grit, I want the team to really improve on its own, but I also think it is fun to come up with ideas...now that you are the official "trade cop" on this site, you take all the fun out of it because god forbid we post a stinker or do something other than pray this team gets it. You make it hard to agree with your usually salient points.

The flury at the end and OD's game is making me impatient for a Dman.
- Kentxo

It really is becoming more and more evident that Shaw will be the guy that sticks and JJ's Golden child Krugs will be headed for Rockford. That is if we pick up another forward.

Shaw vs Sharks: 5 shots, 1 goal, 3 hits and 6-for-6 in the face-off circle.

And this from the Sharks coach: “I thought the Shaw kid had a great game, out-did our group, there’s no doubt about it,” McLellan said.

Shaw became the first Blackhawks player since 2003 to score four goals in the first seven games of his NHL career.

Athis rate he might pass Kane by mid February!

Hawks meet your new 40 goal scorer!

Mr Leddy joins some pretty good company: With his 20th assist of the year in the first period. He is the fourth defenseman in Blackhawks history to post a 20-helper season before turning 21 years old, joining Brent Seabrook, Keith Brown and Doug Wilson.

Shaw vs Sharks: 5 shots, 1 goal, 3 hits and 6-for-6 in the face-off circle.

And this from the Sharks coach: “I thought the Shaw kid had a great game, out-did our group, there’s no doubt about it,” McLellan said.

Shaw became the first Blackhawks player since 2003 to score four goals in the first seven games of his NHL career.

Athis rate he might pass Kane by mid February!

Hawks meet your new 40 goal scorer!

Mr Leddy joins some pretty good company: With his 20th assist of the year in the first period. He is the fourth defenseman in Blackhawks history to post a 20-helper season before turning 21 years old, joining Brent Seabrook, Keith Brown and Doug Wilson.
- bogiedoc

I wasn't at the game but watching on TV in the 3rd period it seemed Shaw was on the ice every second shift.

Q probably can't believe his good fortune, plays him in all situations.

Is Rockford that rotten of a place? Seems like Shaw doesn't want any part of going back there.

Kid can really skate for somebody drafted in the 5th round.
- RickJ

As a life long Rockford area resident, I'm proud to say we ranked as the 9th most dangerous city in the United States!

http://www.theatlantic.co...in-america/239513/#slide2

Really, I'm being sarcastic about being proud of that. Rockford itself isn't all that rotten. Besides the horrible public school system and the higher than state average unemployment rating, it's a fairly decent place to live and raise a family. Cost of living and property values are a heck of a lot cheaper here, and it's an easy commute to Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison, WI. It's a factory city trying to reinvent itself into something else. I think why someone might find it "rotten" would be for it's lack of refined nightlife and culture.

All in the same, with the lack of that, it's a perfect place for the Hawks to have a farm club and to keep the young kids out of trouble at the same time. Also, the Hawks don't have to put a lot of money into the roster to build a winner in the AHL, unlike some of the bigger cities in the AHL. Rockford really doesn't have to compete with any other team for dollars that way, and the Icehogs keep a steady attendance. This also draws fans from the Rockford community into Chicago to see the Hawks.

that is the 5th time you have said that. Make an adjustment. Shaw is not as big and twice as talented...one day you will see...a year or so from now...

You tell me he is a Mayers and will be a second line center..Really? WTF...
- TrueGrit

...If only I had a nickel for everytime he repeats the same crap....