Every Blackhawks Thought Bouncing Around In My Brain
GOOD morning. At the time of this writing it is 6:30AM on a beautiful snowy and frozen Chicago morning. Many of you are tucked away, warm in your bed because it’s Martin Luther King Day and you don’t have to work. If that is you…1) fuck you. 2) This blog is designed for the people who are miserable on their way to work. The people who just sat at their cube, but realistically won’t start actually working until 11am and then they’ll take a lunch break at 11:45am.
I think I am going to start Mondays with collection of my Blackhawks thoughts from the weekend and then close every week with a mailbag blog to answer your thoughts. Nice little bookend. What do you think?
Is This The Best Last Place Team Of All-Time?
I think it’s safe to say that this is the best last place team ever. Has there ever been a team with two hall of famers at the absolute top of their game? I did a quick google search and I’m pretty confident in saying that this is the best awful team that has ever existed and we owe it all to Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.
Yesterday was a perfect exampled. Toews and Kane combined for 10 points, played on a line together, and absolutely dominated the game. And they had to because the Hawks gave up 5 goals. Without them being sensational the Blackhawks lose this game easily.
The Hawks record is MUCH worse this year than it was last year, but this team is much more enjoyable to watch. Somehow being in 31st feels better than wherever they finished last year and I think it’s just because of 19 and 88. They’re great to watch and it gives you a little hope. Maybe, just maybe, with competent management, this can be turned around and quickly. The Blackhawks aren’t looking for foundational stars like most teams picking at the top of the draft. They already have them. Toews and Kane just need roughly 15 new teammates. How hard can that be? Here’s all 10 points from our guys on Sunday
Corey Crawford Returning?
I had pretty much written Corey Crawford off into the sunset after his latest concussion. He’s been out for about a month and it feels as if NOBOBY had talked about him. Last year it was a question from fans and media basically every day. This time nobody seemed to care if he came back. Part of that is because Delia has played so well, but I think its mostly because people understand how serious his concussion history is. I was pleasantly surprised to see him. Hopefully he’s healthy and able to play at a high level.
If Crawford does return to the lineup that means that Collin Delia is likely headed back to Rockford. He’s proven he’s a capable NHL goalie this year. There have been very few silver linings this year and Delia has certainly been one of them. Having said that, Crawford is obviously still the #1 if healthy and there’s no point to having Delia sit behind him. Barring a trade of either Ward or Crawford, Delia is heading to the American League and that’s totally fine. Just keep working.
Speaking Of Development…
Big ole healthy scratch on Sunday. And you know what… I don’t really care. He wasn’t good on Thursday against the Rangers. Ice-time is the biggest tool coaches have to teach and since Jokiharju is only 19 I don’t have a problem with sending him to the press box for a game.
What I do find interesting is that Jokiharju was MUCH better playing under Joel Quenneville than he has been under Colliton and Colliton was billed as the millenial whisperer. It’s normal for a rookie to have ups and downs, especially as a defensemen, but he certainly has regressed since the beginning of the year. In the past, I’ve never cared about the coaching staff benching young players, but with this season obviously being a disaster I would like to see Jokiharju in the lineup more and playing in all situations. There’s no reason for him not to be getting PP minutes. See what he can do there. Get him used to quarterbacking the second unit because the Blackhawks are going to need help there.
It’s also pretty obvious that going to the WJC did nothing for Jokiharju. I don’t think that any 3 week stint will drastically alter a player’s career arc, but that is what was suggested when the Blackhawks loaned Henri to Finland. Stan said that Henri would play in all situations and it would do wonders for his confidence. What it looks like instead is that he is having trouble re-adjusting to the speed of the NHL game.
From New To Old
I am getting annoyed with the Brent Seabrook discussion in this town. Is he worth $6.875M? No, of course not. That is a bad contract. Is he a bad player? Also no. People talk about him as if he is the biggest problem the Blackhawks have and it’s not even close. He is still a serviceable NHL Dman. He’s just not a top 4 guy anymore. He needs sheltered minutes and he needs to play with players who can keep the puck.
When Seabrook is on the ice and his forwards consistently turn the puck over that means he needs to defend in transition more and that is not a strong suit of his at this point. More turnover highlight his deficiencies. We saw yesterday that he is capable of strong and smart play. He was jumping in on the cycle when the Hawks had possession in the offensive zone. He created time, space, and options for puck carriers in the O-zone. Seabrook can be a useful part of a good team. He needs to be surrounded by smart and skilled players to be effective though. It’s not unlike Brooks Orpik with the Capitals last year. Orpik has a big cap number and the game changed and his skating can’t quite keep up. He played under 20 mins per night and coaches put him in position to succeed. Seabrook can do that too if the team around him is elite. Don’t throw dirt on him just yet. He’s better this year than last year and if the Hawks had a competent roster then we wouldn’t be seeing angry tweets or think pieces about him.
Patrick Kane For MVP?
He actually has 70 points, not 69. Still very nice. And no, he won’t win the Hart, but he should get consideration because Kane is probably the best player in the NHL right now. Nobody is doing more while surrounded by less. Kucherov has Point and Johnson, MacKinnon and Rantanen have each other, Gaudreau plays basically every shift with Monahan and Lindholm, and even though the Oilers suck McDavid still has Leon Draisitl for the majority of his shift. Kane….his most frequent linemates have been Dylan Strome(whose previous career high in points was 9) and Anisimov. And he’s only played with them for 6% of shifts. Even with a bad PP and a rotating cast of linemates who don’t belong in the top 6, Patrick Kane is on pace for 117 points. That is PREPOSTEROUS. That’s a career high. Nobody does more with less. Give him Panarin and who knows how many points he’d have. 140? Not inconceivable. He should be recognized for how truly great he’s been this year for a team that has really struggled.
The Captain Is Elite
Jonathan Toews is on top of his game too. He’s still a Selke worthy defender and he’s only 5 points off the pace of other elite offensive-minded centers like John Tavares, Malkin, and Claude Giroux. Like I said above, having Toews and Kane playing at their peak levels give me hope for 2020. It pisses me the fuck off that their primes are being wasted right now, but I’m optimistic and hopeful that they’re good enough to be the best players on the best team again in the future.
Alex Debrincat Is A Front Line Piece
Alex Debrincat is everything we’d hope for and more. Before the season started I said that he would fall out of bed and score 25 goals per year. Well…he’s done it already in just 50 games. He knows how to play. He works his ass off. He’s the perfect complimentary player because he’s always going to put up points. He’s going to score 40 in the NHL at some point and the Blackhawks better ink him soon before we end up with another RFA gets-traded-for-4-dimes-and-a-nickel situation.
That’s it for now. Things are bleak right now but the stars are still fun to watch. There’s a glimmer for next year.
Fire Stan, draft Hughes(3rd best lottery odds), sign Panarin, bring in the young cavalry on defense. In that order. Then the Blackhawks could be right back in the mix. Join or die.