Determined Caps Come Out On Top

By Al Cimaglia
I watched a nondescript preseason game at the United Center on Saturday night. Many first string Blackhawks were on the ice against the Washington Capital “B” team. The Hawks did a lot of good things in the first period and should have scored more than one time. The Capitals continued to battle and deserved to come out ahead on determination alone. Their goalie, Michal Neuvirth who I have never seen before, turned in a very solid performance and provided the Caps with a victory.

The Hawks passing was surprisingly good and so was the pace of the game during much of the contest but they really didn’t  have many good scoring chances from close in. There was a lot of perimeter play except when Dustin Byfuglien, Tomas Kopecky and Jack Skille were on the ice. Byfuglien performed with playoff determination, which was great to see.

The Hawks power play controlled the puck throughout, but there wasn’t enough traffic in front of the Caps net. The result was a 0-6 night for the Hawks when having the man advantage.

Jack Skille sparkled; as he did what he does best and that is take the puck to the net and wrist a hard shot. Skille scored on a nice strike after flying by a couple of Capitals. It appears so far, the training camp decision for one spot on offense will involve Colin Fraser, Jack Skille, Jake Dowell and possibly Bryan Bickell. Kyle Beach still has the deck stacked against him; he will get a chance to shine tonight in Minnesota.

Hawks bench boss Joel Quenneville commented after the contest that Huet was “good”….. In my view he was good at times but his same weaknesses did show up. Huet made some tough saves, but the young Caps rang a few off the iron and the score could have been more slanted in their favor. Huet still doesn’t look very comfortable when the puck is near his crease and he is down on the ice. The overtime score illustrated the same, and also was an example of the Hawks defense not being very interested.

The Chicago defenders were fair, except for Cam Barker, who had a nice game. Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook’s performances could be categorized as below their usual high standard. Brent Sopel wasn’t special, but he wasn’t bad either as it has been a long time since he has played in a live game.

Chicago defenseman Richard Petiot will probably be looking for housing in the Rockford area soon. He didn’t appear to be an upgrade to Aaron Johnson or Jordan Hendry. The Hawks don’t need another larger defenseman who plays much smaller than his size.

Tonight’s game in Minnesota could be more interesting as Beach and maybe both young goalies will see action.

Al’s Shots

Kris Versteeg saw only one shift on the ice in the second period. Versteeg suffered a reported not serious upper body injury.

Jeremy Roenick will be honored with a Heritage Night on November 15th. The one time Hawk sniper was at the UC on Saturday night.

The Hawks attendance was an announced 19,734, which was a record for a preseason game. It seemed like there were far fewer actually in the house.