I'll admit when I'm wrong. In a blog from August 2018,
I predicted the Blackhawks goals by forwards.
Obviously, this was just for fun and fully knew it would bite me in the butt. I had Alex DeBrincat at 25 goals, which was a slight decrease from his 28 in his rookie season. In my brain, the rationale was that the Hawks were short on offensive firepower and with "The Cat" being one of the go-to weapons up front, opponents would hone in on him and take away a lot of space. Also, after a 28 goal rookie campaign, he was now a known commodity and teams wouldn't be overlooking his 5'7 frame.
Boy, was I wrong? I'm thrilled to be wrong, especially when it's due to the success of an underdog.
DeBrincat was passed over 38 times before the Hawks took him with their first selection of the draft, in the 2nd round with the 39th pick in 2016.
Alex DeBrincat's draft day interview (courtesy of NHL):
With 2 goals last night, Alex DeBrincat hits the 40-goal plateau. Stan, you're going to need to break out your wallet to pay this young man when his contract is up in July of 2020.
Other than being a tad streaky at times, DeBrincat has shown no signs of slowing down offensively. He's not the best 2-way player, but he competes hard all over the ice and will be a staple in the Hawks top 6 for many, many years.
I loved watching the video below of him this summer; DeBrincat opted to stay in Chicago for a good portion of the summer to train with the Blackhawks Strength and Conditioning Coach, Paul Goodman.
"He really is a very special person, a special athlete and in a game 7 when the game's on the line, that's a guy I want to be suited up with." (Paul Goodman)
I hope more young Hawks follow suit and stay in Chicago to work with Goodman to take that next step.
With Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane both hitting the 40-goal mark, they are the first Blackhawks duo to score 40 goals in a season since 1990-91 when Roenick (41) and Larmer (44) did so.
Also, courtesy of the NHL NHL Public Relations team: Alex DeBrincat (21 years, 100 days) is the youngest player in Blackhawks history to reach 40 goals in a season, eclipsing the previous mark set by Steve Larmer (21 years, 284 days) on March 27, 1983.
The Cat will look to build on that goal total when they take on the LA Kings Saturday night.
Moving on to Rockford, they lost their last game 4-2 vs. the Admirals who they just couldn't solve as they lose 3-games in a row to them. They take on the Griffins Saturday night and the Wolves on Sunday to try to get back into the playoff race.
In the prospect ranks, Boqvist (London) and Entwistle (Guelph) both move on to round 4 as their teams swept their way through their first playoff series. Meanwhile, Hagel/Johnson (Red Deer) were swept and their seasons are over.
In the Q, Beaudin's Drummondville squad has a 3-1 lead in their series, while Halifax has battled back to a 2-2 series tie with Kurashev's Ramparts.
See ya out there!
JL
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • 
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