The wave of excitement coming off an 8-2 win on Tuesday vs. Ottawa and an unexpected trade to land Anthony Duclair quickly vanished with a disappointing loss vs. the Minnesota Wild.
The Hawks dominated the Wild in the 1st period and I really started to think that whatever Jonathan Toews said to his teammates that kick-started that 2-game winning streak could be the turning point to this season. It still might be as overall, the Hawks have been playing a stronger team game.
Unfortunately, they let the Wild hang around and get back into the game. At the end of the night, Minnesota had the last goal and the last spot in the Western Conference playoff picture.
If the Hawks can play at this level or higher, they will be on the better end of the outcome in the 2nd half – the question is, will it be enough for playoff-town?
One addition that's hoping for his first taste of playoff hockey since 2014-15 with the Quebec Remparts is Anthony Duclair.
Stan Bowman "shocked the hockey world" with his trade that yesterday that sent Richard Panik and Laurent Dauphin to Arizona for Anthony Duclair and Adam Clendening. Seriously though, I think hockey fans were just dying for a trade.
Most reviews claim the Hawks have ROBBED the Coyotes.
Personally, I see it as an even swap on paper with the Hawks getting the edge because of the cap savings going from Panik (2.8M for 2 years) to Duclair (1.2M).
Panik really started to scare me with his play this year about 15 games in. I think he's an above-average player when he's "on". However, his inconsistencies proved his fate in Chicago.
All-in-all, great move Stan… for now…
This move comes off of the likes of Darren Dreger and others recently saying that Stan Bowman was in pure listening mode and was not looking to make a move. That, obviously, changed overnight or did it?
Pierre LeBrun commented that this deal was in the works for a week or so:
@PierreVLeBrun: Discussions between Hawks and Coyotes on Duclair really picked up over last 7-10 days although it's worth noting Chicago also looked at him last season, but there wasn't a fit at the time. Hawks obviously keen on Duclair's speed and upside
Time was up for Duclair in Arizona as he and his agent had requested a trade. Things hadn't been good there for a while:
@SWhyno: #Coyotes GM John Chayka on Anthony Duclair: "It's gone back for a few years now where the team wasn't particularly happy with the player and the player wasn't particularly happy with the team."
What I heard on Duclair was that he was a target for a year or so (as LeBrun stated) and is the exact type of player they were looking to add… and I heard they aren't stopping there if Stan gets what he wants before the deadline.
I heard that while that media pointed to attitude issues with Duclair, Stan and Co. liked his character. Quenneville surely checked in with his good buddy Dave Tippett on his thoughts on the 22-year old.
I also heard that Stan and Quenneville were going to give this team a longer leash this year due to the number of newcomers and youngsters. They think they have something "special with the mix of guys and don't want to break up the unique chemistry they've been working on for years as it's going to be vital to their success in the next few years" according to a source.
Panik didn't fall into that special group and Stan deemed him expendable. But outside of that, look at these connections:
* The Core Love – Sharp and Saad brought back to join Toews, Kane, Keith, Seabs, Crow.
* New Wave – Stan is banking on the childhood and youth hockey connections with Hartman, Hinostroza, Hayden and Schmaltz (+ Anthony Louis, Luke Johnson & Darren Raddysh in RFD who have strong ties to current Hawks).
* Czech Pals – both Jan Rutta and David Kampf were teammates in the Czech Extraliga last year playing for Piráti Chomutov. I don't think either of them thought they would be teammates with the Chicago Blackhawks by December 2017.
* Coyotes Back in the Pack – now Connor Murphy and Anthony Duclair wear the same sweater in a much better situation than their time with the Coyotes. Another plus according to Stan for bringing in the speedy winger to Chicago.
After what I've heard, Stan is very conscious of the chemistry in the room as he knows they've had issues in the past after acquiring deadline players that didn't gel with the current group as they headed into playoffs. With this move, a month before the trade deadline, he's looking at giving this group more time to get acquainted.
Now with 13 players under 25-years old on the roster (vs. 4 the year before), Stan's goal to get younger and faster is coming to life.
Does younger always mean better though? Not necessarily. The progress of a lot of the first/ second-year pros is very promising, but they have a ways to go. And, I've heard, if the Hawks miss the playoffs, Stan has this "13 under 25" narrative in his back pocket for his PR twist prompting to fans that brighter times are just around the corner.
The Hawks have a tough challenge playing Winnipeg tomorrow night. Sure, they beat them 5-1 on December 14th which means the Jets are going to be looking for revenge.
No idea on the lines but we will find out tomorrow during the morning/early afternoon skate.
Anthony Duclair will play and wear the Brad Richards #91 jersey.
See ya out there!
J-Lowe
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ICYMI:
* Random thought: Why call up Jurco to not play him? I know the Panik trade threw Coach Q off but going with 7D for the Wild game. Why was he called up in the first place with this pending Panik trade? Jurco will have to pass waivers to go be down when Anisimov comes back. Confusing stuff.
* Rockford Update: Cody Franson and John Hayden each had an assist in their IceHogs debut last night vs. Ontario. It was a 5-2 win for Colliton's crew, just their 2nd victory in 7 games. They take on San Jose tonight as they continue their Western swing.
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