Reason one: Recent history

Perhaps as Blackhawks fans we are spoiled. After all, the Blackhawks acquired Versteeg in an utter coup of a trade. That goes double for Patrick Sharp. In the Dale Tallon era, the Blackhawks did better than ok in the trade area.

The first move of the offseason, which it can be argued is the first major move of the Stan Bowman era, maintained the status quo of the Tallon days.

Bowman moved Dustin Byfuglien, Brent Sopel and Ben Eager for Marty Reasoner, Jeremy Morin and a first-round draft pick (No.24). It was a massive salary dump, one that you invite your friends into the room to discuss, but brought back a NHL veteran and two high-level prospects. Tip of the hat to you Mr. Bowman, for coming out nearly the victor in a no-win situation.

Perhaps Bowman peaked early. Maybe Rick Dudley, Atlanta’s GM, decided to give Bowman a break. Whatever happened, the magic of the Byfuglien trade did not carry over to the Versteeg trade.

Was it wrong for me to get my hopes up? No more so than it is wrong for me to ask rhetorical questions in a hockey article.

I’ll admit, I’m very high on Morin. I loved how he played in the World Junior Championships and I believe he can be a sniper of the highest caliber in the NHL. Others don’t rank him that high, but if not for his enigmatic nature, he would have been a top-15 draft pick in 2009. To get a player with a ceiling that high in a salary dump trade is excellent. I don’t see any player of Morin’s caliber in the Versteeg trade.

Reasons two and three: Viktor Stalberg and his fellow prospects

I have a strange feeling that Mr. Stalberg and I will not see eye-to-eye on how effectively play hockey. While I am sure he couldn’t care less of my opinion, he might think differently when Joel Quenneville is the objector.

That’s the road the Blackhawks are heading down. Stalberg is a 6-foot-3, 210 pound forward that earned the nickname “The Swedish Rocket.” He’s a big man who skates like the wind. With that speed he also skates away from any contact. While that might be a solid trait in the offensive zone, his lack of any physical play defies logic. A player that big and that fast should be attempting to pattern their game after Cam Neely, not Paul Kariya, and yet that’s what Stalberg is doing. He’s built like a grizzly but is as soft as a teddy bear. Hell, Kris Versteeg has more of a physical presence on the ice. Yet Stalberg will be thrusted into a checking-line role in 2010-2011, as he is not talented enough to crack the top-six, but too skilled to play in Rockford.

Stalberg is the best prospect the Blackhawks received in the Versteeg trade. Fellow prospect Philippe Paradis is of the mold of a Pascal Pelletier. That’s not saying a lot. Christopher DiDomenico might develop into a player of some value, but he will never be more than a defensive center and he is three years away from being NHL-ready.

So the Blackhawks have Stalberg and if my scouting report is correct, they will not be happy with the purchase.

Reason four: Is this the best they could do?

Obviously, this is tied in directly with my dislike for Stalberg: but seriously, is the best return you can get for a top-six player like Kris Versteeg? I won’t even go into hypothetical trade scenarios, because that’s an endless cycle. Regardless, I am sure that Kris Versteeg could have fetched a two better prospects and an NHL-ready player. And while I understand that the Maple Leafs have no draft picks anymore, would it have been impossible to find some 2011 picks in the process?

Reason five: Stan Bowman has robbed us of the perfect union of Kris Versteeg and the Los Angeles Kings

It would have been perfect. Forget the Western Conference rivalry, Kris Versteeg would have been a flawless fit in flamboyant Los Angeles, what with his persona.

He had to be traded from the Blackhawks after this little outburst (my ears are bleeding too), but the kid has star power and Los Angeles would have loved him.

Congratulations, you deserve the Stanley Cup that is heading towards Chicago. I know, I know, the series isn’t technically over, but who amongst us believes the Flyers can win four of the next five games? I didn’t think so.

And before you go off and claim that I am putting a voodoo hex on Chicago’s hockey team, I will let you know that if the Hawks do lose in the Finals it will not be because of me. If I had the ability to change the fate of the Blackhawks with my words, the team would have won Stanley Cup long before 2010. And if that was the case, I wouldn’t be writing this letter.

I type away because for Blackhawks fans who have been to the depths of sports hell, sitting at the precipice of glory can be a bit bittersweet. I’ve been struggling with the concept of losing “my” Blackhawks to every suburban kid with an ebay jersey — the off-colored Chinese strips that look nothing like the beautiful jerseys the Hawks actually wear.

I’ve struggled with this because there was a beauty to having an NHL team in the city that no one cared about. We were in at the base level. We saw terrible hockey, but were also there for the Toews’ goal against Colorado and sang Rudy Can’t Fail for Tuommo Ruutu. We applauded the move for Adrian Aucoin and then booed everyone of his overpaid strides. We celebrated Petr Bondra’s 500th goal despite the fact that we weren’t Capitals fans. Ultimately, we cared about the team that an owner didn’t care about.

It is an interesting dynamic sharing a team with 100,000 (at most) Chicagoans. I am sure that if we were better organized, we could have bought the team from Old Man Wirtz and run the team our way. I suppose his passing and the Rocky Wirtz administration is the next best thing.

But being there when the days are lean can create a sense of entitlement. Those of us who were there for the bad should have first dibs on the good. All the bandwagoners can hop in the back of the wagon— we were the trailblazers.

Sadly the world doesn’t work that way. So we, the trailblazers, will fork over the cash.

If the simple dynamics of supply and demand were the reason of my angst, I would be on the first boat to Cuba. The fact is, while it sucks that three years ago we could have sat anywhere we wanted for $8, that was a mirage. We never wanted the ticket deals to last because that meant that the Blackhawks would still be in last place. There have always been enough Blackhawks fans to fill the United Center — they just needed a reason to come out. As the saying goes: hockey never left Chicago, but it has most certainly returned.

But now us trailblazers have to share the team, the rink and the city with millions upon millions of novice fans. And we blend right in.

The celebration should be on soon, and I urge all old-time Blackhawks fans to not hold anything back. If you have a grudge, let it go. High five the guy with the green Kane jersey and let the emotions flow when Toews lifts the Stanley Cup. The Blackhawks are still “our” team, no matter how many times the guy at the bar asks why the game was stopped.

The fact of the matter is, we deserve the glory and we should let no one damper our spirits. The guy who didn’t care about hockey three weeks ago? Well, he’s wearing a Hossa jersey now. When the Hawks win the Stanley Cup, that guy won’t have any emotions. He’ll cheer and get drunk in Wrigleyville. The bandwagoners will never understand what this Stanley Cup means to the trailblazers, and that is a good thing. The emotions, the unbridled joy that will poor into every nook and cranny in Chicago, will be an equal an opposite reaction to the years surrounding the lock-out. It will be the trailblazers job to lead that celebration.

Perhaps there will always be a twinge of regret that as a trailblazer, you were not front and center for the rebirth of the Blackhawks, pushed aside by a guy in corporate seats or the yuppie couple at the bar.  But for those who still feel that limitation in celebration, imagine if the scenario went a different way.

The best parallel I can draw is to music. Hopefully, everyone has a band or an artist that is underground. They make great music, but they just aren’t big — yet. You see them in concert, or listen to their debut album, and you sense something great about them. “They’re going to be the next big thing,” you say. For me, there are two bands that fit that mold, and each went a different direction.

The band that represents the current Blackhawks is Kings of Leon. A few years ago they were raw, edgy, and showed promise. I was a big fan, and when their fourth album, Only By the Night, came out, it was so good that it vindicated all the times I had pimped the band. I had a few months with the album before the rest of America caught on—now they are the biggest rock band of this generation.

Another band I was into, a band I just knew was going to be huge, was We Are Scientists. Their poppy-indie rock was different and I like different. I thought America would like different too. If the music world was a stock market, I wouldn’t have needed to diversify my portfolio, Kings of Leon and We Are Scientists were slam-dunk moneymakers. It hasn’t worked out that way. I was right about one band, but the greatest accomplishments of We Are Scientists are a couple of movie soundtracks and a few commercials.

The Blackhawks could have easily become the We Are Scientists of hockey: a good team, but nothing the masses are getting excited about. Wouldn’t you rather see the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup?

Now, there is a joy to being proven correct. For years we have been saying that the Blackhawks could turn it around, that these Toews and Kane guys would bring hockey back to the city. We were right.

I have loved every minute of Antti Niemi’s season, not just because he’s playing great hockey, but because I said he could do it when no one else did. I’m not trying to toot my own horn here, because we all have these accomplishments, each a little different than the other guy’s.

As trailblazers, we now know, but would never say, “I told you so,” to the city of Chicago. We were right, they were wrong. Let’s be cool about how much more awesome we are than them. There’s no need to rub it in, because deep down, in places they don’t talk about at parties, they know they were wrong.

This is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity: two generations of Blackhawks fans coming together to celebrate the first Stanley Cup Championship in 49 years. The newbies might not stick around and follow the team in the future, but those who are just getting into hockey and will stay with hockey for the rest of their lives, well, they’re no different than us. They just needed the push. For us, that push might have been playing hockey or going to your first game, a father or a brother dragging you to the rink to see a last-place team. For them, it’s a great team that is exciting the city. In the end, a love of hockey is a love of hockey, no matter how you got there.

So, let the yuppies and the corporates fade away, they always do. It is not our responsibility as trailblazers to be bitter and judgmental, we should be teachers of the next generation of Blackhawks fans, no matter how young or old they might be. What Pat Foley represents to us trailblazers, we should represent to the newbies. Regale them with stories of Roenick and Chelios, Thibault and Amonte, Gilmour and Wilson, Belfour and Secord. With all the ignorance out there, it is our job to impart some knowledge. Thankfully, we are never going back to hockey purgatory, which means some of the bandwagoners are going to stick around. These new Blackhawks fans are moldable, let’s impart passion, tradition and blue-collar attitudes onto them. Let’s make the next generation of die-hard Blackhawks fans a better version of us.

But most of all, let’s let the emotions of the moments that lie ahead carry our actions. Let’s savor every second of the games and celebrations that follow. Don’t let anyone or anything damper our spirits. After all, we deserve this. The glory days are back for another round in Chicago, let’s enjoy every minute of it.

The candidates: Drew Doughty (LA), Duncan Keith (CHI), Mike Green (WAS).

-Doughty was outstanding in the Olympics and is one of the most exciting players in the league for LA. At the age of 20, his ceiling appears sky-high—it is safe to say that he will win at least one Norris Trophy in his career. Nearly sixty points, a plus-20 rating, hell that year could be 2010—but the candidates he is up against are just too good. This is an elite group of two-way defensemen, and while Doughty is elite, he just barely averaged two minutes per game on the penalty-kill, and was not an elite penalty killer. When deciding between the three defensemen, you have to split hairs, and in one major aspect of the game, Doughty doesn’t match up.

-So, the debate comes down to two players: Keith and Green.

Keith is a far superior penalty-killer, Green is a superior power-play captain. Let’s call those special-team’s accomplishments a wash in comparison. Let’s break it down to the real test of a d-man, the all-around game of five-on-five hockey.

When it comes to scoring, one would expect that Green would dominate Keith in five-on-five. Those expectations are wrong. Not only are they incorrect, when broken down into points per sixty minutes, Keith marginally trails Green (1.79 to 1.61) but is doing it with a statistically worse teammates (behind the net says Green’s are .323 above average, Keith’s only .034) and against significantly more difficult competition. (Keith went up against the top-lines—.081—Green did not share that responsibility—.005.)

It’s as simple as that. Keith not only played the most minutes of any defenseman, he was an elite contributor on both special teams and had a flat out better season that Green in the all-things-equal five-on-five category.

Mike Green had a great year, he improved his defensive play and put up ridiculous numbers, but Duncan Keith earned my vote for the Norris Trophy.

The Candidates: Matt Duchene (COL), Jimmy Howard (DET), Tyler Myers (BUF)

–Duchene was possibly the best player on a Colorado team that surpassed all expectations. There is little question that the center will become an impact player in this league for years to come—in the mold of teammate Paul Stastny. That said, the inconsistencies this year hurt his candidacy.

–Myers was a revelation for the Sabres. He solidified Buffalo’s blueline, averaged more icetime than any rookie, and led the Sabres in the same category.
As a d-man he put up the third most points of any rookie-that’s outstanding. He showed a maturity beyond his years and people in Buffalo cherish him like an idol. I know, because when I pointed out that Myers led the league in giveaways, with 94, I was told that I was flat-out wrong. Well, the proof his here, and that amount of giveaways tarnishes a fantastic season by the 6-foot-8 blueline giant.

–My choice for the Calder is Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard. He entered this season as the back-up goaltender to Chris Osgood, but took the reigns fully by mid-season and has looked to be the man between the Detroit pipes for the next decade. A .924 save percentage in 63 games is elite, his goals against average is top-flight, and he went on a 15 game points streak to end the season, only dropping two points in the process. Everyone’s afraid to drop Howard’s name in the realm of elite goaltenders, but after one full season he deserves such categorization. Marry Brodeur was a Vezina finalist (column soon) and Howard had a better season than him. Sure the shutouts weren’t as plentiful—neither were the trapping defenders. But a save percentage is the best way to judge a goalie, and you don’t have to read down the list very far to find Jimmy Howard’s name.

Sunday’s gold medal game was the type of contest that can convert the most ardent hockey haters into beer league players. It was a game that was played with passion; passion is not something you see professional players exude.

It was unadulterated drama, it was unbridled ecstasy, it was perfect.

Lifelong hockey fans savor the moments that games like USA-Canada give. No sport can elicit such excitement. Pulled goalie, down by one, gold medal on the line? I defy anyone to find a more desperate moment than that. And from the depths of desperation comes the greatest moments of jubilation.

The game’s greatness wasn’t bound to the final minute of regulation. Each goal had a storyline that was straight out of a hollywood script.

Goal one, scored by the next Canadian captain, Jonathan Toews, who dominated in each game he played, making the Olympics his own personal coming-out party. Goal two scored by Corey Perry, a bit of redemption for the player who could have been singlehandedly blamed for Canada’s loss to the US a week before. Ryan Kesler scoring goal number three to give the US a chance, giving the out-spoken and controversial Vancouver Canuck the body of work back up his words. The final goal, well, if it wasn’t Zach Parise, it wasn’t going to be scored. The finisher, in overtime, scored by the NHL’s brightest star. It had to be Toews. It had to be Perry. You would expect no different from Kesler and Parise, and you knew that it was going to be Crosby with the puck on his stick, deciding the game.

Oh my, what a game it was. Only one word can describe it: transcendent.

The US and Canada are heavyweight prize fighters and last Sunday was a fight for the ages.

The US: upstarts carried by heart. No one expected them to be the champ, no one expected them to beat the favorites. Canada came in, fighting on their soil, with a group of inferior opponents being the only thing standing in their way of a gold medal.

The US starts strong and earns their way to a bout with Canada, who struggles with a lesser opponent early on. Perhaps Canada is resting on their laurels, perhaps they are overrated. No one knows why Switzerland gives them a go, but it happened. Canada is lucky to get out of the rink victorious.

So the two neighbors get together to slug it out. Canada is the heavy favorite, and they have something to prove after the scare they received in the last game. The upstart US looks overmatched in every area on paper. They don’t measure heart on paper.

The puck drops and the bell rings to start the match. There will be no feeling out in the first round. The US comes with their best stuff. Canada wasn’t ready for the full attack of the US and they get dazed early.

Canada, going to their talent, fends off the rest of the flurry and answers back in round two. Everyone in the arena thinks that the US’ jig is up. Canada showed up and now they are throwing punches in bunches.

That confidence was misplaced. The US hits back before Canada is done celebrating. The US is working the body and Canada is on on their heels, fending off the relentless shots, unable to use their unparalleled knockout punch.

Back and forth they go, a good jab here, a nice hook there. Everything is hitting, nothing is connecting for points. In round four Canada comes out strong and lands a combination for points. The judges’ scorecard is all even, but Canada is only landing the big punches – the showman’s boxer – the US is getting the points but putting Canada’s resolve to test with the punches to the body. If this is a bout that is going the distance, it will be the US, not the presumed Canada that will come out on top.

Found five is a microcosm of the fight – Canada goes for the knockdown, the US pounds away at the body, waiting for Canada to open up.

The work on the body pays off. Weakened, Canada is stunned by a big shot to the abs. It’s a pedestrian punch, but the relentless dirty work the US puts in culminates in a point.

Canada is down on the scorecard, they are in poor shape, suffering from the body shots, and can’t go the distance with the US. They start swinging heavy hands. It’s all big hooks and power jabs from here out.

Those haymakers leave Canada wide open for counterpunching and the US does just that. A big right hook is blocked by the US and they go in for a big right-jab counterpunch. It lands right on the chin. Another point for the US.

Down by two, Canada’s punches are thrown harder and are even more open than before. The US can only block so many, eventually a left hook lands. Canada hopes that the US will fall, that they will be stunned and Canada will have their way with them in the final round. They don’t get what they hoped for. Canada only causes the US to stagger. They come back and work the body some more. The next counterpunch will be the knockout blow.

Canada is swinging wide and heavy. The US waits for their spot. A duck left, a block right, they throw an uppercut to the unprotected jaw.

1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…It’s all over.

The underdog knocked out the favorite. Was it a fluke or is the US that good? No one really knows.

After being embarrassed, Canada found a form that was close to overdrive. They came out and dominated their follow-up opponents. They are the fighter everyone expects them to be. They have the US, who hold their belt now, right where they want them. There is no underdog anymore. It’s two fighters at the top of their game, and the rematch will settle the question of who is better? There won’t be a third bout. This one is for all the marbles.

The Blackhawks introduced Niemi to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday night and Niemi made the struggling Bolts his third victim of the season.

In the Blackhawks previous four games they faced some great goaltending performances and only scored six goals in that stretch. Facing Antero Niittymaki, one of the league leaders in goals against average and save percentage, the Blackhawks were able to find the antidote for their snake bite, scoring four goals.

Patrick Kane broke his own personal slump, scoring his first goal in ten games. After a neutral zone turnover by the Lightning, Kane made them pay as he skated into the Tampa Bay zone up the right wing boards. Cutting to the center of the faceoff circle, Kane shot for the far post and beat Niitymaki on his blocker side. The goal would be the game winner, but Kane would play less than five minutes in the game.

The Blackhawks had a 70 second two-man advantage later in the first period that was unconverted, but seven seconds after the first penalty expired Matt Smaby tripped Kane in the corner. As Kane went to the ground his head hit the ice. The play gave the Blackhawks another two-man advantage, but Kane skated off the ice and was out for the rest of the game. The Blackhawks would fail to score on any of their seven powerplays on Sunday.

If the Blackhawks’ offense was affected by loss of Kane, there was no way for a bystander to tell. That’s because the Marian Hossa show started in the second period. Halfway through the period, Hossa knocked the puck up the right wing boards, taking on Tampa Bay’s No.2 overall pick, defenseman Victor Hedman. As the puck advanced through the zone, Hossa was able to beat Hedman and fellow defender Matt Walker to the corner. Hossa’s speed caught Hedman and Walker out both out of position and Hossa made a backhanded centering pass to a wide open Ben Eager in front of Niittymaki. Eager was able to redirect Hossa’s spot-on pass for his second goal of the season.

Hossa one-upped himself in the final seconds of the middle frame with a goal that he described as lucky in a post-game interview. Breaking out with speed Patrick Kane attempted to make a cross-ice pass to Hossa. The puck was deflected and popped up above the boards. Hossa gloved the puck and dropped it. Before it hit the ice, Hossa knocked the puck out of the air and it beat Niittymaki for the Blackhawks’ third goal of the game. Hossa’s reinvention of the slapshot was his fourth goal of the season.

The Blackhawks would score once more when Jonathan Toews, moving the puck out of the defensive zone found Dustin Byfuglien with space on the right-wing boards. Byfuglien attacked the lax Tampa Bay defense and fired a shot on Niittymaki. Toews, bisecting the ice into the Tampa Bay zone crashed the net and received an early Christmas present from the Lightning goaltender. Niittymaki was unable to control the Byfuglien shot and the rebound went, as if magnitized, right to Toews in front of the net. Toews easily scored his ninth goal of the season. Toews has now scored five goals in his last seven games.

Oh, and on the other end of the ice, the Blackhawks only allowed 18 shots on goal, all of which were stopped by Niemi. The Blachawks’ rookie goaltender now has a has a 1.50 goals-against average and .937 save percentage in eight appearances to go along with his three shutouts. That shutout number is good for second in the league. Now comes the next question for Antti Niemi, is he still the second goaltender on the Blackhawks?

Three Stars:
Third Star – Brent Seabrook
Second Star – Antti Niemi
First Star – Marian Hossa

The first goal of the game was scored by Kris Versteeg on the penalty kill. Streaking into the Columbus zone from the right wing, Versteeg did not one, but two toe drag moves as he skated across the goal mouth before beating Columbus goalie Steve Mason. The goal was as sweet as the Blackhawks’ jerseys, an updated version of the jerseys the Blackhawks wore in last season’s Winter Classic they wore for the first time on Tuesday. The shorthanded goal was Versteeg’s second of the season and the sixth of the season for the Blackhawks, both good for best in the league.

Columbus answered in the second period when a Kris Russell shot was mishandled by Huet. Traffic in front of the net eventually led to Antoine Vermette’s eighth goal of the season, assisted by RJ Umberger.

Later in the second former Blackhawk Sami Pahlsson scored from the top of the left wing circle, putting a wristshot over the glove hand of Huet. The forechecking Pahlsson found the puck wide open in the Blackhawks’ zone when a clearing puck bounced of a glass partition and out into the middle of the ice.

Three minutes later the Blackhawks connected on a powerplay to tie the score. Patrick Kane, working the halfboards, found a backdoor Patrick Sharp with a cross-ice pass. Mishandling the feed, Sharp adjusted and was somehow able to elevate the puck over an outstretched Mason. The puck was knocked on by Marian Hossa in front of the net, he was credited with his first assist as a Blackhawk on the play.

Kris Russell struck in the opening minute of the third period for Columbus. Entering the Chicago zone Umberger made a dump pass to the Blue Jackets’ defenseman and Russell ripped a slapshot past Huet of a 3-2 lead. The secondary assist was credited to Vermette, marking the second time in the game the trifecta of Umberger, Vermette and Russell scored.

The Blackhawks had an entire period to answer, but only needed four minutes and three seconds. On the powerplay Duncan Keith fired a slapshot from the deep slot that was deflected several times in front of the net, ultimately by the skate of Jonathan Toews. The inadvertent blade direction was enough to fool Mason and the game remained tied until the end of regulation.

When four on four hockey bore no fruit the teams headed to the shootout. In the shootout Marian Hossa scored in the second round, but Jakub Voracek followed with a score in a make-or-go-home situation for Columbus. No player could beat either Huet or Mason until round 11 of the shootout when defenseman Brent Seabrook showed soft hands with a nifty forehand backhand move flicked over a sprawled Mason for the win.

Feathers in the Headdress

Third Star: Cristobal Huet
Huet only made 20 saves in regulation and the overtime period but was nearly unbeatable in the recess session following the game, making 10 saves and earning the Blackhawks the extra point, regardless of the merit. Even if Huet did give a point to the Blue Jackets, the Blackhawks came out with their two points because of Huet’s one-on-one performance.

Second Star: Kris Versteeg
The goal was dirty enough to earn Versteeg the rest of the day off of work. Two toe drags in one goal = a early favorite for Blackhawks’ goal of the year.

First Star: Brent Seabrook
Seabrook is clutch. With two game-winning overtime goals and now a marathon shootout winner Seabrook is the go-to guy when you need results in a bind. Seabrook also had five hits in the game and five blocked shots in the game.

The Blackhawks would not give them the satisfaction.

The Hawks opened the floodgates on the Flames in the second period, scoring five unanswered goals after the Flames tied the game 1-1 early in the middle frame. The Hawks finished the period with two powerplay goals in 36 seconds and a 6-1 lead; the Flames would be booed off the ice by the hometown fans and goaltender Mikka Kiprusoff would not return for the third period. The Hawks would go on to win the game 7-1.

The first Blackhawk goal was scored by Troy Brouwer on the powerplay. After a point shot by Duncan Keith was saved by Kiprusoff, Brouwer fought off his check in front of the net and was able to elevate it over Kiprusoff’s extended leg pads. The goal was Brouwer’s fourth powerplay goal this season, his sixth goal overall. Of Brouwer’s nine points, five have come with the man-advantage. [My formula  of Brouwer = Powerplay success is very much a truism]

A carry over powerplay for Calgary between the first and second periods would not last long, as Jerome Iginla and Olli Jokinen broke out after the opening faceoff of the second period. Iginla, taking the puck into the zone from the right wing made a simple pass to the centerman Jokinen, who fired a tight wristshot past Cristobal Huet to tie the game.

For the Flames, it was all downhill from there.

The Hawks would waste no time in untying the score. Soon after the Jokinen goal the Blackhawks went to the powerplay. On that man-advantage Brent Seabrook fired a one-time slapshot on net from the left point. The powerful drive was deflected at the bottom of the left wing circle by Kris Versteeg and Kiprusoff was unable to react to the redirection in time.

With the score 2-1, two game changing plays happened to swing the momentum the Blackhawks’ way. One, a huge open ice hit by Niklas Hjalmarsson on former Hawk Rene Bourque, and two, a jumping save by Cristobal Huet, who did his best superman impression to keep the puck out of the net.

From then on, luck was on the Blackhawks’ side. And if the Calgary Flames didn’t already know it, they certainly found out that luck and skill are a lethal combination.

Dustin Byfuglien got off the schnide with a great individual effort to give the Blackhawks a 3-1 lead. Poking away the puck at the Blackhawks’ defensive blueline, he picked up a touch pass from Patrick Sharp at center ice and skated to right wing as Sharp skated up the middle to give the Blackhawks a two on one advantage into the zone. Byfuglien waited for Sharp to enter the play and when he did, the big winger fired a routine wristshot from the right wing faceoff. With Sharp charging hard Kiprusoff was caught off guard by the shot, which was only remarkable in its placement. It beat Kiprusoff on the far side. The nearly unassisted tally was the first even strength goal for Byfuglien in nine games, his last coming on Oct. 24 against Nashville.

The Blackhawks were far from done. A little less than five minutes later Duncan Keith caught the Flames on a full line shift. Keith made a tape to tape pass from deep in the Blackhawks’ defensive zone to Andrew Ladd at the opposite blueline, springing Ladd for a breakaway. One on one against Kiprusoff, Ladd did just enough of a drag move to elicit a move from the Flames goaltender. With Kiprusoff then in motion, Ladd was able to easily put the puck in the net for a 4-1 Blackhawks lead. The goal was Ladd’s fourth of the year. Ladd has an affinity for playing against the Flames, the goal was Ladd’s ninth regular season point in eight regular season games against Calgary in his career.

The Blackhawks really put the game out of sight for the Flames with two powerplay goals in the final two minutes of the period. The Blackhawks found themselves with a 5-on-3 powerplay when Dion Phaneuff was tagged with an instigator penalty after a fight with Brent Seabrook. Already on the powerplay, the Hawks had half a minute of two-man-advantage. Zero for five on the year with the two man advantage to that point, the Blackhawks finally made the most of their opportunity. Running the point solo, Cam Barker made a slap-pass to an unmarked Patrick Sharp in the corner. Sharp, looking weak-side to a cutting Patrick Kane, attempted to pass the puck through two Flames defenders, Jonathan Toews and Kipprusoff. It worked, sort of. Toews knocked the pass on to the wide open Kane who buried the puck in the for-all-intensive-purposes empty net. [The scorecard doesn't credit Toews with an assist, but I know what I saw, he knocked that puck on.]

Thirty six seconds later the Blackhawks struck again, this time with just the one-man-advantage. A brilliant cross ice pass by Kane from the right wing halfboards found an unmarked Kris Versteeg on the weak side. Versteeg was able to one-time the pass into the, again, open net for possibly the easiest powerplay goal the Blackhawks have scored all year. The second of the game for Versteeg marked the first multiple goal game for a Blackhawk this season. They were the last team in the NHL to have a multiple goal scorer.

Down 6-1, the Flames entered the third period a defeated team and played like such for the final 20 minutes. Ben Eager was able to score his first goal of the season in the final five minutes of the game when Tomas Kopecky took a puck off the boards and tucked it back out in front of the net. Kopecky made a touch pass to an unmarked Eager and the enforcer was able to bury the puck past replacement goaltender Curtis McElhinney. The goal was only one of two Blackhawks shots in the final period.

Feathers in the Headdress:
Third Star: Duncan Keith
I’m out of superlatives. Three assists, one of them in spectacular fashion, to go along with shutting down Jerome Iginla – that’s a quality evening at the rink. At this point it’s more uncommon for Keith not to be earning a feather for a game well done. I’ll go out and say that Duncan Keith should be the front runner for the Norris trophy right now, with one quarter of the season finished.

Second Star: Patrick Kane
Patrick Kane received a gift and gave a gift on his 21st birthday. First he received a great knock-on from Jonathan Toews [not Patrick Sharp] to set up an easy powerplay goal. Then Kane made a remarkable cross-ice pass to a wide open Kris Versteeg, giving him an easier goal than Kane’s 36 seconds beforehand. All in all the Blackhawks powerplay went four for five on the evening. Let that sink in a bit…four for five. So with two points, a birthday cake and because Truck Brouwer couldn’t be here tonight to accept this award, Patrick Kane becomes the honorary captain of the powerplay. A powerplay which was the second star of the evening, but we can pretend it was Kane who was the winner.

First Star: Cristobal Huet
It was a 7-1 game, Cristobal Huet could have given up six goals and still won the game. So why is he the second star? Because the first period was hardly dominated by the Blackhawks. It was, though, dominated by Cristobal Huet. The goaltender made 27 saves, 10 in the first period, and kept his team in striking position despite great scoring chances early on for the Flames . After being decimated by Calgary the last time he took the ice against them, Huet responded with a great performance. His second period save will be replayed amongst the best saves of the year. All in all, this game would have been much different had Huet not been on his A-game from the git-go. Because of that Cristobal Huet is the first star of the game. Remember when people wanted to run him and his pads out of town? Me neither…

The opening goal of the game was scored by the most improbable of lines. Jordan Hendry, playing wing on the fourth line with Kris Versteeg and Andrew Ebbett scratched, worked the puck out of the corner and passed it back to Brent Sopel at the right point. Sopel fired a warning flare of a shot, but this effort beat Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov. Bryan Bickell, called up from Rockford before the game, played an intrigal part of the goal on his first shift of the game. Bickell, who earns his paycheck in front of the net, streaked in front of Nabokov and screened the goaltender from seeing Sopel’s shot. The early play of Bickell forced Joel Quenneville to take notice; soon there after, Bickell was moved up to play wing with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. The goal was Sopel’s first of the season and 42nd of his 533 game NHL career.

The Hawks’ lead would not last long. Dany Heatley scored the equalizing tally ten minutes later. Taking a backhand pass from Joe Thorton at the goalline, Heatley fired his remarkable wristshot from the top of the right wing circle. Cristobal Huet stood little chance against the elite shot of Heatley.

While the Hawks lead didn’t last long, the tie evaporated and then the deficit exacerbated far faster. Early in the second the Sharks showed the offensive abracadabra that has put them in the NHL points giving themselves a two goal lead in 45 seconds. Jason Demers scored his first NHL goal 1:14 into the second period to tie the game. Demers, a rookie who was drafted 186th overall in 2008, picked up a puck that was deflected in the slot and one-timed it past Huet. The unassisted goal was yet to be announced when Patrick Marleau scored the Sharks’ third goal and a 3-1 lead. A centering pass from Joe Pavelski found a streaking Marleau who was able to skate past an aggressive Huet to bury the puck into the open net. The second period started 1-1, two minutes into the middle frame it was 3-1 San Jose. All seemed bleak in Chicago.

But the Blackhawks switched up the lines and started chipping away at the San Jose lead. Patrick Sharp shifted to center, Bryan Bickell moved up to the Toews and Kane line and Tomas Kopecky, who started the game at center, moved back to the fourth line wing. The moves worked.

Just past the game’s halfway point, the best shift of the game was turned in by Jonathan Toews, Bryan Bickell and Duncan Keith. It created several scoring chances for the Blackhawks, and Patrick Kane finished the forecheck off with a goal. Kane was set up by a fantastic pass from Toews, working behind the net, and beat Nabokov gloveside.

Andrew Ladd helped tie the score before the end of the second period when he took a pass at the Sharks’ blueline and drove in on Nabokov, who made the initial point-blank save. Giving up a rebound, Ladd tried again from the side of the net, but a flailing Nabokov made a second save. John Madden, never one to stop before the whistle, skated through all five San Jose skaters to pick up the second rebound. He finished the job and tied the game at 3-3.

The third period was full of scoring chances and missed opportunities, as each team hit the red pipe twice and were unable to convert on their respective powerplays. The game headed to overtime.

It only took one shift to finalize the game. Jonathan Toews, Troy Brouwer, Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith started the 4-on-4 period for the Blackahwks and would end it as well. An initial chance by Brouwer was turned aside by Nabokov, but again, Toews refused to give up on the forecheck. Toews’ dirty work on the endboards earned him the puck, and he skated out to in front of the net, and hit an activated Brent Seabrook with a tape-to-tape pass. Nabokov dove to stop the Seabrook shot, but to no avail. Seabrook now has two goals this season, both of them overtime winners.

Feathers in the Headdress:

Third Star: Niklas Hjalmarsson
Duncan Keith has played himself into the NHL elite, but this season, its hard to say that Keith is, hands down, the Blackhawks’ best defensive d-man. The play of Niklas Hjalmarsson has been that outstanding in the season’s first 19 games. Hjalmarsson has four points this season, hardly elite, but as the campaign has progressed, he has gotten more and more icetime, and has been solid enough to allow Brian Campbell to free-wheel. That free-wheeling has defensive ramifications, but Hjalmarsson has been able to handle the defensive work of two men when the counter-attack scenario arises, as it did Sunday. Hjalmarsson is calm under pressure, physical and extremely skilled defensively. Questions swirl about Keith’s pending restricted free agency, but Hjalmarsson is proving no less vital to the Blackhawks success this season and he too is a pending restricted free agent.

Second Star Star: Bryan Bickell
Bickell has been unable to stick with the parent club this season, but he might have earned himself a second straight game as a Blackhawk with his performance on Sunday. While some might call the +/- a flawed stat, tonight it was very representative of Bickell’s performance. A +2 on the evening, Bickell played the role of Troy Brouwer for Toews and Kane, as he made space for them to work and made the goaltender’s life miserable. He was a game changer who appeared to be in his element at all times against the best team in the NHL. And while every game by Bickell might not be as impactfull, he might be turning up the heat on Dustin Byfuglien, who was outplayed and replaced by a last minute callup.

First Star: Jonathan Toews
Toews was some sort of magic tonight. The captain had two razzle-dazzle assists that helped carried his team back from a two-goal deficit and beat the best team in the league. The kid has eyes in the back of his head, but is willing to do the work in the corners to keep plays alive. And when plays stay alive, Jonathan Toews usually ends them in celebration. Toews’ first assist was an example of just that. The play started against a long shifted Sharks defense. Despite two great chances being turned away by Nabokov, Toews kept the play alive and disassembled the remains of the tired opponent with a nifty fake and pass from behind the net that found Kane and thereafter the back of the net. There are no apparent ill-effects from the concussion that knocked Toews out of commission, and that is the best news Blackhawks fans could hear and see short of a contract extension.

Kessel had two goals worthy of a military marksman, but was unsupported by his teammates, who could not best Blackaawks’ netminder Cristobal Huet, who made 29 saves.

The Blackhawks dominated the game’s first two periods against the team with the second lowest point total in the NHL. Patrick Kane scored three minutes into the game, when the forechecking winger lifted the stick of Luke Schenn. With his newfound possession, Kane fired a wristshot from in front of the right wing post of Toronto goaltender Vesa Toskala’s net, pinpointing the puck into the upper right corner, over Toskala’s flailing glove. Kane’s goal came after an icing call against the Maple Leafs, incurred when Matt Stajan dumped the puck just shy of center. The tired Leafs had to stay on the ice and Kane never conceded a line change, even though the Leafs won the subsequent defensive zone faceoff.

Ten minutes later, John Madden and Duncan Keith made the score 2-0. After Madden won an offensive zone faceoff, Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook went d-to-d, with Keith taking a shot from the center point. In traffic, Madden slapped his stick down on the puck, barely deflecting Keith’s shot with the heel of his stick. Toskala was unable to react to the low shot’s change in trajectory, and it beat his left leg-pad before he could close the gate.

Troy Brouwer, who has scored half of his 2009-2010 goals on the powerplay [prompting me to conclude that the formula for powerplay success is Brouwer + powerplay icetime] scored his third powerplay goal of the season in the third period, redirecting a Patrick Sharp slapshot from in front of the net. Brouwer’s fifth goal of the season seemed to declare the Leafs dead on the ice.

Then Phil Kessel flashed the talent for which Burke traded two first round picks. Inside the final three minutes of the second period, Kessel took the puck at center ice, skated in to the Blackhawks’ zone, where four red-sweatered skaters waited for him. Starting up the left wing,  Kessel moved across the blue line and fired a wristshot from the high slot, which beat Huet for the game’s first goal, Kessel’s third in five games for the Leafs.

Toronto came out with a fervor in the third period, and the Blackhawks were never able to fully counter their offensive attack. The first five minutes of the final frame were played almost entirely in the Blackhawks’ defensive zone, but Huet stood strong. Finally, the Maple Leafs’ dominance hit paydirt. After a shorthanded scoring chance by Kris Versteeg, the Blackhawks’ first penalty of the game expired. Moving the puck out of the zone, Kessel found the puck on his stick just shy of center ice. What followed as almost a mirror image of his goal from the second period, save for the fact Kessel shot from on top of the right wing circle.  It was deja vu all over again for coach Joel Quenneville and the Blackhawks, who had now let a game in which they were dominating 3-0 become 3-2 on almost the exact same play by the exact same player.

With more than half of the period remaining, and the Blackhawks unable to contain the offensive attack of Toronto, the philosophy was bend, but do not break. The Hawks rode Huet and their penalty killing squad to the finish line. On the other end of the rink, Toskala stopped one on one chances against Versteeg, Toews and Kane, and stuffed them, keeping Toronto within striking distance.

The Blackhawks had two more penalties in the period, but that posed no problem for the league’s best penalty kill. In the past six games, the Blackhawks have not allowed a powerplay goal, spanning 17 straight man disadvantages.

Feathers in the Headdress – these players are becoming a trend

Third Star – Troy Brouwer
Brouwer was an assist shy of the Gordie Howe hat trick – perhaps 7 hits can make up for the lack of a helper. There isn’t much more to say about Truck, he has been the Blackhawks’ most surprising forward and the key to powerplay success. He’s the bizarro world version of Tomas Kopecky… In the past three games when Quenneville has put Brouwer out on the powerplay without Kopecky as a linemate, the Blackhawks have scored on the powerplay. Another interesting stat: Kopecky has been on the powerplay unit for every game this season, the Blackhawks have 70 powerplay opportunities, Kopecky has been on the vast majority of those advantages. Kopecky has one powerplay point, an assist. Troy Brouwer, on the other hand, has been on the powerplay for roughly five games, (that’s 20 pp shifts, maybe less). He has four powerplay points and three goals. Those are the facts of the case, and they are indisputable – you can come to your own conclusions.

Second Star – Cristobal Huet
29 saves, hot damn. Huet was rock solid for the Blackhawks tonight. Tested in quantity, not quality by the Leafs until the third period, Huet didn’t fail when put the test.

First star – Duncan Keith
Keith was seventeen different types of awesome tonight. He made great defensive plays look routine, and had two assists to boot. So far this season, Keith has transformed himself from rising star to one of the NHL’s elite two way defenseman. Like Brouwer and Huet, Keith has received plenty of feathers for his play this season, and there are not enough superlatives to describe their play.

While by virtue of replacing him, Bolland’s replacement will not be as qualified, but the Hawks need a player who can appear as such in big games. Is that second-line center on the Blackhawks roster? The front-office brass and coaching staff intend to find out.

As of now the Blackhawks have three main options to replace Bolland. The cases for each are made below:

SUBJECT A: Andrew Ebbett
Andrew Ebbett might be the best half a million dollars the Blackhawks have spent all year. A waiver wire pickup from the Anaheim Ducks (or as I will call them until the day I die, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim), Ebbett was expected to be a breakout player in Southern California in 2009-2010, but was given the boot when the Ducks signed Saku Koivu. Too small to fill the physical roles the Ducks’ third and forth lines exhibit, Ebbett was put on waivers. The Ducks hoped that Ebbett would go unclaimed and they could have him on their ECHL affiliate Bakersfield, or possibly loan him to an AHL team. (The Ducks’ have no AHL affiliation this season.) That was a pipe dream. With a paltry contract, wing/center ability and defensive skills, Ebbett was a great catch. The Blackhawks, at the time of claiming Ebbett, were still unsure about Dave Bolland’s back. A $$487,000 insurance policy was taken out, in the 5-foot-9 form of the former Michigan Wolverine.

Can Ebbett cut it? At this point, all we know is that Ebbett will get the first chance to impress. Is Ebbett a solution in the Stanley Cup playoffs? Unlikely. But when you play a different team every night, and some are good, some not so good, well, you can afford a bit of talent drop off. In two games thus far playing center in Bolland’s absence, Ebbett hasn’t stood out. While that’s not a positive, it’s hardly a negative. Ebbett is a smart hockey player, he is an above average passer, the more comfortable he becomes with his role the better he will play, and the more he wills stick out, in a good way. The first choice might be the correct choice when it comes to replacing Bolland.

SUBJECT B: Kris Versteeg
Kris Versteeg is not a center – he is a winger, and a damn good winger at that. But that’s not to say that Versteeg couldn’t play center, nor does it mean he would not be a good center. Joel Quenneville experimented early on with Versteeg at center when Bolland went down, that experiment lasted one period. The argument could be made that the sample size was far too small for Versteeg to be eliminated as a viable candidate.

Faceoffs are an important part of a center’s skills. 50%+ centers are hard to find, and Versteeg isn’t one of those players. Neither is Dave Bolland, and believe it or not, Versteeg had a better faceoff percentage than Bolland last season (124/266 46.6% for Versteeg 522/1177 44.4% for Bolland.) By that same token Troy Brouwer is also a better center than Bolland, but you have to understand what you lost when you try to replace it.

Bolland was a solid defensive forward and could play on the penalty kill. Versteeg is both. Bolland is a plus distributer of the puck; while we don’t know if Versteeg can do the same from the center position, he certainly is a nifty passer from the wing position.

All in all, it’s hard to discern between Bolland and Versteeg, and that’s why the Hawks would be best off with 32 at centerman.

SUBJECT C: Patrick Sharp
The Blackhawks have done it before, they could do it again. Last off-season the Blackhawks traded Robert Lang to the Montreal Canadiens, leaving a gaping hole at the second line center position. That hole was filled by Patrick Sharp, and no that has nothing to do with the sexiest athlete contest Sharp is currently in.

The Hawks saw unprecedented success with Sharp at center. Last season’s nine game winning streak? Sharp was at center. He flourished in the role as well. (His FO% was also better than Bolland’s, to boot). And mind you, he complained that he would be better suited for the wing, but Sharp has $3.9 million to go home and complain to. If Sharp can do it, so can Versteeg, but why not go with a tactic that is tried and true? If its about winning, Sharp has the best resume of the bunch.

So who do you think is the Blackhawks’ best option to replace Bolland? Lend me your thoughts (I could use them…) post a comment or @reply me on twitter, username:dkurtenbach

Three games, three shootouts: needless to say, when the Avalanche and Blackhawks match up this season you can expect a evenly matched game.

Wednesday night maintained the trend of great hockey games between these two teams that are finally matching success at the same time. Ina  game that neither team deserved to lose, the Avalanche an the early lead halfway though the first period. That’s when Kyle Cumiskey banked a shot from behind of the net off the number 39 on Cristobal Huet’s jersey and across the goal line. It was a rare lapse of judgement between the posts for Huet, who made 25 saves in the game.

Patrick Kane answered for the Blackhawks to knot the score roughly five minutes later. Working the right-wing half-boards, Kane fired a snap shot under the crossbar and over Colorado goalie and Chicagoland native Craig Anderson, who was crouched to protect against a goal-crease pass.

The second period was dominated by Colorado, and they peppered Huet with 12 shots and constant offensive zone pressure. Wojtek Wolski gave the Avalanche a 2-1 advantage 13:10 into the middle frame. After his initial shot was blocked in front of the net, Wolski picked up the loose puck and beat a confused Huet, who never found the location of the puck after Wolski’s first attempt.

Despite the second period play being decidedly one sided in Colorado’s favor, Huet stood strong and kept the score 2-1 heading into the third. For the second consecutive game, the Blackhawks dominated the final period. On Monday, the Blackhawks outshot the Los Angeles Kings 10-2 in the third period, scoring three goals to win the game 4-1. Wednesday, the Blackhawks outshot the Avalanche 15-3, but were only able to score one goal.

That one goal was scored on a one-man breakout by defenseman Cam Barker. Barker made a pass off the boards to himself in the neutral zone, allowing him to get around his mark, Kyle Quincey. Barker, channeling Bobby Orr, took the puck to the net, brought the puck to his backhand and roofed the shot over Anderson. Like with the goal scored by Kane, Anderson was crouched to prevent a cross-crease pass. The score would remain 2-2 despite several late chances for each team. The most dangerous of those chances came from Colorado rookie Matt Duchene, who panged a shot off the post in the period’s final minute.

Duchene’s bad luck would continue: early in the overtime period, he missed another chance to end the game, despite beating Huet, as he could not beat cold steel with red paint.

In the final minute of the overtime period Colorado winger Wojtek Wolski was called for cross checking on Brent Seabrook. The Blackhawks went to a four on three advantage with half a minute left, but the unit of Kane, Dustin Byfuglien, Jonathan Toews and Barker couldn’t capitalize on their good fortune, as they came up empty on their rushed advantage.

Wolski, the Avalanche’s shootout ace and the NHL’s all-time leader in shootout conversion percentage, started the tie breaking skills competition. Starting out wide left, Wolski cut right, bringing Huet with him. Huet did leave his jock behind, and perhaps that was what caused Wolski’s drag move shot to hit the post. It was the last bit of good fortune the Blackhawks would get, and the last bit they would need.

Toews led off for the Blackhawks and crossed up Anderson, who was beaten by Toews’ five-hole wristshot. Marek Svatos was stoned by Huet and Kane attempted, and failed, to recreate Toews’ goal. Darcy Tucker was unable to keep possession of the puck on his turn for Colorado, leaving the snakebitten Patrick Sharp with a chance to win the game.

If Sharp, who has hit everything but the net in his recent games, needed a confidence booster, beating one of the strongest goalkeepers in the NHL one-on-one, for a win might be that confidence booster. Sharp, skating directly at Anderson, quickly brought the puck to his backhand, but made a head deke when bringing the puck back to his forehand. Anderson fell for the fake, and Sharp calmly deposited the puck over the sprawling goaltender.

The win was the Blackhawks’ fifth straight at the United Center. The Blackhawks also regained first place in the Central division, as Columbus lost 9-1 to Detroit effectively losing two points in the standings in the process. The Blackhawks will take on Original Six foes Toronto Friday night in Chicago.

Feathers in the Headdress:
Third Star: Patrick Kane
Working with Andrew Ebbett on center, the Avalanche were always able to match up against Kane with size. That didn’t matter much. Kane’s skill with the puck was on full display on Wednesday, no more so than with his first period goal and the four on three advantage the Blackhawks held late in overtime. Give Kane space to work, and he will burn you. Kudos to the Avalanche for not allowing Kane to go gangbusters, as 88 certainly had on his fancy pants tonight. But even a contained Kane is a dangerous Kane. He was the third star tonight, but against a lesser opponent, there is little doubt he would have won the game singlehandedly.

Second Star: Cristobal Huet
Huet wasn’t outstanding tonight, but he was tested with very dangerous shots and proved his recent play is not a standing-on-his-head bender Huet is prone to have each year. This is the real deal, and his big saves are made with a quiet confidence that Blackhawks fans should be very happy about.

First Star: Duncan Keith
Keith had no points, but he was always the best player on the ice. Keith led the Blackhawks in icetime, with 26+ minutes, blocked a shot, had a hit and was a force the Avalanche could not account for. It’s remarkable he was not rewarded with a point in this game, because he was as good offensively Wednesday as he was defensively – and he was defensively flawless. The hockey gods will reward him with a fluke point or two down the road, and everyone will know those points came because of Keith’s performance on Wednesday night.

The Blackhawks entered Monday night’s game against the upstart Los Angeles Kings with many questions: Would Ben Eager or Jonathan Toews play? How about Dave Bolland? Is Cristobal Huet for real? And ultimately, What the hell is the matter with the powerplay?

Two of those questions were answered when the starting lineups were announced. The Blackhawks’ captain, Toews, and resident goon, Eager, were back after missing time with concussions. Kris Versteeg would play centerman in the stead of Dave Bolland, who’s back incapacitated him for play.

Early into the first period, the third question was answered. The Blackhawks early play was sloppy and Huet was tested.  He stood strong in the crease, making it very apparent his swagger came with him to the game. He would finish with 17 saves.

After a scoreless first period, the Blackhawks started the middle frame quickly. Duncan Keith picked up a turnover in the Blackhawk defensive zone and made a tape to tape outlet pass to Troy Brouwer at center ice,  who moved the puck up to John Madden. Madden cut into the zone and at the bottom of the right wing circle put a deft backhand shot between the pads of Kings’ goaltender Jonathan Quick as Andrew Ladd stormed the crease. Madden’s goal came on a manageable shot for Quick, but Ladd’s unmarked presence altered the goalie’s positioning and allowed Madden’s shot to exploit the newfound vulnerability.

The Kings went on the powerplay soon there after and the NHL’s leading scorer, Anze Kopitar, showed why he is such a potent scoring threat. On the powerplay, Kopitar slipped in behind the defense, skated into the crease and put home a Drew Doughty slapshot rebound just as fast as Huet made the pad save. Kopitar, the silent assassin, tied the inactive Alexander Ovechkin for the NHL lead in goals with that, his 14th tally of the year.

For two high flying offenses, the first two periods offered only two goals and enough turnovers to overload a bakesale. The Blackhawks started the third period with 1:55 remaining of their first man advantage of the game. With all the questions surrounding the powerplay, coach Joel Quenneville and the Blackhawks found an answer – Troy Brouwer.

With just over 20 seconds remaining on the powerplay, Patrick Sharp, working uncontested at the top of the left wing circle, shot for Brouwer’s stick. As Brouwer battled for positioning in front of the Kings net, he was able to tip the puck past Quick, shortside, for his fourth goal of the season. It was  his second tally of the year on the powerplay.

The Blackhawks had another man advantage minutes later, when Brouwer drew a hooking penalty from Kopitar. On the Blackhawks’ second powerplay, a battle for the puck in the Blackhawks’ offensive zone was won by Brouwer. The power-forward tipped the puck to Jonathan Toews, who went to his backhand as he crossed the crease in front of Quick, tucking the puck in behind the goalie.

The Blackhawks put a fourth on the board, and like the two other third period goals, the play emanated from the left wing circle. Andrew Ebbett scored his first goal as a Blackhawk when Brian Cambpell caught Quick being too aggressive. Campbell’s shot went wide right of the right goalpost, but hit Ebbett directly in the chest, and the puck deflected in.

The Kings stood no chance to come back. The game was tied heading into the third period, but the Blackhawks utterly dominated every facet of those 20 minutes- scoring three goals and only allowing the Kings to fire off two shots.

Feathers in the Headdress
Third Star – Andrew Ebbett
The diminutive Ebbett played his tail off on Monday and was rewarded with his first goal as a Blackhawk. All 5-foot-9 of Ebbett is being asked to play a fourth-line winger role for the Blackhawks, a role few expected him to be able to perform at. Ebbett’s stats might not be showing it, but he is proving that hard work is still the most important asset in the NHL, and it is very apparent that no one on the ice is working harder than Andrew Ebbett.

Second Star – Brian Campbell
Last season the Blackhawks seemed to go as Brian Campbell’s play went. As a team that wins games with their neutral zone breakout and powerplay, the Blackhawks needed Brian Campbell to lead the way. Tonight was the first night of the season that Campbell has taken over the offensive pace of the game. Back and forth, back and forth – it was right in Campbell’s wheelhouse, and he made the Kings pay for giving him room to skate. Campbell had an assist, two blocked shots and 24:37 of total ice time, which lead the team.

First Star – Troy “Truck” Brouwer
TRADE WATCH 2010!!! Has a new front-runner, and it’s Dustin Byfuglien. Why? Because Troy Brouwer has taken over as the team’s preeminent power forward. After the Blackhawks loss to the Predators on the 29th, I questioned why Troy Brouwer was not lining up on the powerplay. That’s because he had scored against Minnesota on the 26th, and a month of Tomas Kopecky not finishing left Blackhawks fans, and myself, looking for an answer. Brouwer sees one shift and scores. It sounded like a winning formula to me. It took Joel Quenneville four games,  but he went back to the successful formula and it worked again – the Blackhawks had three powerplays, Brouwer scored points on two. Add in his primary assist on Madden’s goal in the second, and Troy Brouwer is your first star of the game. In this season of questions, one thing has proven to be true: Troy Brouwer=powerplay success.

Now that the imagination time is over, back to the real world. The Blackhawks are coming off of a much needed win against the offensively challenged Nashville Predators. In the Blackhawks’ two games against the Preds this year, the maligned Cristobal Huet has been in net, and has only allowed one goal on 40 total shots. Those two games are significantly helping his numbers, which would be dreadful without the padding.

The Wild have been nothing short of disappointing this year. They rank 27th in the league in goals scored per game, while allowing the ninth most goals per game. The combination has resulted in only three wins. The change in hockey culture that followed the firing of trap artist Jacques Lemaire has left the Minnesota defense in shambles, and the offense was never built to pick up that much slack.

Martin Havlat, the Blackhawks’ leading scorer last year, will return to Chicago after being signed by the Wild this off-season. Havlat has showed his old form early-on for his new team, missing two games with a strained groin. The injury to Havlat woke up more than a few Wild fans, as they realized their replacement for Marian Gaborink would play just as much as his predecessor.

The Wild will start Niklas Backstrom between the pipes as they try to earn their first point on the road this season (0-7-0).

The Wild have a few players worth noting during the game. Cal Clutterbuck is one of the most prolific hitters in the NHL and is developing into a well rounded power-forward; he’s the Milan Lucic of the Western Conference. Brent Burns, who is a team worst -11 on a roster with no plus ratings, might be waking up. The young, 6-foot-5, powerplay quarterback had two points in the Wild’s last game and might be ready to go on a long points streak. Chuck Kobasew was just acquired from Boston, where he scored 81 points in two years. The Wild are hoping that bringing Kobasew in to play with Mikko Koivu will awake both of their scoring potentials – and soon.

The Blackhawks will start Cristobal Huet on Monday. Huet was aggressive on Saturday night and that worked to his advantage, as he notched his 21st career shutout. The game was a confidence builder, but Huet is certainly not back to top form just yet. The anemic offense offense of the Wild shouldn’t be a strong challenge to Huet or the Blackhawks’ defense, even without Brent Seabrook. If Huet can string together two solid starts in a row, regardless of the opponent, it will go a long way into rebuilding his confidence and the fans’ confidence in him.

After the first game of the season, against Florida, I noted that Huet was playing very aggressively and was flopping around more than usual. Huet played decently in that game, but never seemed to return to that form of aggressive play. He found that form again on Saturday, and it should be no coincidence that success followed his aggressiveness.

Obviously, Huet’s performance on Saturday was much needed. Huet was aggressive, and it came off as confidence. He played the puck, and wasn’t letting the puck play him, and that’s the biggest change from his terrible form to his shutout form. Whether or not he was truely confident is unimportant. If he continues to play confident, he will continue to be successful, and that’s the formula for real confidence. At no point in NHL history, I feel it is fair to say, has an unconfident goaltender been successful, so Huet needs to keep up the act.

The Blackhawks will likely be without both Jonathan Toews and Brent Seabrook on Monday. Both players have upper body injuries, which can only be assumed to be concussion-like symptoms. Andrew Ebbett and Jake Dowell will play center for the Blackhawks along with Dave Bolland and John Madde. Jordan Hendry will skate in place of Seabrook.

The Blackhawks are deep enough that the loss of Toews shouldn’t adversely affect the Blackhawks’ goal scoring in the short term, but the loss of Seabrook puts far more pressure on the defensemen to have their best games. Brent Sopel received most of Seabrook’s minutes on Saturday, but Niklas Hjalmarsson should be carrying more of that load instead. Hjalmarsson isn’t the flashiest player, but has been outstanding in teh season’s first ten games. With Hendry and Cam Barker proving they are incapable of significant ice-time because of their defensive shortcomings, the defensive burden, sans-Seabrook, will fall upon the Hjalmarsson, Duncan Keith and Sopel. Those three will need to play the role of four defensemen if the Blackhawks are to win on Monday.

The game starts at 7 p.m. CST and will be televised on Versus. If you are a DirecTv customer and do not receive Versus, but would like to watch the game, send me a direct message on Twitter (@dkurtenbach) and I’ll see what I can do to help you out.

I have maintained that Antti Niemi will be the Blackhawks No.1 goaltender by mid-season. Five games into the 2009-2010 campaign, and Blackhawks fans believe the change has already been made.

First, let me clarify my position on Niemi. At mid-season, I believe that Antti Niemi will have played his way into the starting goaltending position for the Chicago Blackhawks, much the way Jonas Hiller did last season in Anaheim. I don’t believe that the current No.1, Cristobal Huet, will be forced out, I just believe that he will be outplayed. My position is not an indictment on Huet, but a endorsement of Antti Niemi.

So with news today that Antti Niemi will start Wednesday’s contest against the Edmonton Oilers, the twitterverse and certain reactionary bloggers have begun the fire for Cristobal Huet’s official stake burning.

Why? Because Niemi is starting the first game of a two-game-two-day stretch. For any other backup goaltender, this would be commonplace, but coming off a bad game, this ordinary start is becoming the definitive statement on Cristobal Huet.

I’m not here to let Huet off the hook for the Calgary game. Some say that all three Huet allowed goals were “soft” others say he had no chance on all three. The truth lies somewhere in the middle. Huet had a bad game, he needed to be pulled. It happens to every goaltender, but Huet isn’t any other goaltender when it comes to criticism.

One of the biggest league-wide questions heading into the NHL season was if Huet could be the No.1 for the Blackhawks. More than anything else, Huet needed to start the season strong to quiet the critics. Huet has not, and the critics have only become louder.

It would be naive to believe that Cristobal Huet will not have his 10-game stretch of outstanding play. He is a slow starter, posting his lowest save percentages in October, over the span of his career. Last season he wasn’t outstanding out of the gate, but with Nikolai Khabibulin there as a safety net, no one complained too much. If Corey Crawford was with Huet last season, the reaction to last year’s start, I assure you, would have been the same as it is now.

Huet has a lot of questions towards his play, but he has more doubters than he deserves. The grass is always greener on the other side, and while Huet isn’t the league elite goaltender Hawks fans would like to have, neither is Antti Niemi. Niemi is the backup goaltender now, though he could play his way to No.1, and he was going to start one of the next two games. Read into Niemi’s start all you want, but don’t exclaim “hip hip Huet” when 39 is standing on his head and keeping the Hawks in games.

For ‘Hawks fans, it shouldn’t be a choice between Niemi or Huet, but rather pro-Huet / anti-Huet. Many have already made their decision, and most will rue such premature choice making. As the season progresses, things may change, but the sample size is far to small to make a decision of this magnitude now.

The short tempered but supremely talented Kyle Beach will play in the WHL in 2009-2010.

The Chicago Blackhawks sent top prospects Kyle Beach and Shawn Lalonde back to their junior teams on Tuesday. The Blackhawks also reassigned Rob Klinkhammer, Mark Cullen, Bryan Bickell, Daryl Boyle and Brian Connelly to the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League.

Beach, who will play for the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the Western Hockey League, is considered by many to be the best prospect in the Blackhawks’ system. Beach was competing for the starting roster spot vacated by the injured Marian Hossa in training camp, but the strong play of Jack Skille, who was competing for the same spot, made Beach a long shot to start in the NHL this season. Despite the odds, it is surprising the Blackhawks have opted to not use the 9-game trial period NHL teams are granted with junior prospects. If the Blackhawks were to have used that trial period, Beach could have played nine games and still have returned to Lethbridge, without having to use a year of eligibility on his three year entry-level contract.

Lalonde will be returned to the Belleville Bulls of the Ontario Hockey League. Lalonde played well in camp, but has not physically matured to an NHL level. The assignment of Lalonde to juniors is no surprise, and the powerplay quarterback of the future for the Blackhawks will look to improve upon his 53 point season (66 games) and his six-foot-one, 195 pound frame.

Klinkhammer, besides having the coolest hockey name this side of Cal Clutterbuck, has come out of nowhere to become a legitimate Blackhawks prospect. I considered him a darkhorse to win the final roster spot, and with the loss of Adam Burish, a grinding player like Klinkhammer could have been valued a bit higher by the coaching staff. Klinkhammer will instead wait for his chance at the AHL level. If injuries strike, Klinkhammer could see some time at the NHL level this season.

The Blackhawks’ training camp roster now stands at 28 after the injury to Adam Burish – five more cuts will be made in the next week. Of those 28 players, five are prospects and there will presumably be one cut of either Corey Crawford or Antti Niemi. This means that one prospect will make the NHL team this season.

The five prospects are Danny Bois, evan brophey, Jake Dowell, Jordan Hendry and Richard Petoit. One of these players will be a Chicago Blackhawk in Helsinki. As of right now, it’s anyone’s guess on which prospect makes the team, but Hendry’s NHL experience should help him get a longer look.

Bois is a goon. He reminds many of Tie Domi, which for a goon, is a compliment. He averaged nearly three penalty minutes a game while playing for Binghamton Senators of the AHL. So far in exhibitions, he has looked the the part of a fourth line winger. He is strong on the puck and had some nice moves in open ice against Washington last Saturday. If the Blackhawks are looking to fill the void in physical play left by Burish’s absence, Bois is more than eager to hit somebody.

Jake Dowell is a player similar to Colin Fraser. He can do the little things, help shorthanded, and drop the gloves if need be. With Fraser nearly assured a roster spot, another center, in this case Dowell, seems unlikely to be retained by the team.

That bodes poorly for Evan Brophey as well. Brophey figures into the long term goals of the Blackhawks, but he is yet to see any icetime this preseason, and as a center, he would really have to stand out to make the team. Another year of maturation in the AHL and Brophey could make the Blackhawks. As it stands now, the deck of cards is stacked against him.

Defense prospect Richard Petiot is huge. At six-foot-four, Petiot is a physical presence on the ice, and he might be putting it all together at age 27. Always highly touted, Petiot played 11 games for Tampa Bay last season and has battled injuries his entire career. Last season, he was part of a trade from Toronto to Tampa Bay, which was more or less new Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke proving that he could circumvent the collective bargaining agreement. Petiot signed with the Blackhawks in the offseason. Even if he doesn’t make the team, he will help Rockford in their goal to win the Calder Cup.

With the Blackhawks having to chose from this group (unless they go with three goalies, which is inexplicably possible,) it seems unlikely that a defenseman would be the pick. So with no more room for centers and no more room for defensemen, by the process of elimination, Danny Bois, the Ogie Ogilthorpe of the Ontario Hockey League, looks to be the 23rd man on the Blackhawks roster. And while a lot can change in the next week or so, I’m sure that Bois’ long time rival, Cam Janssen of the St. Louis Blues, is licking his chops for another go with the Blackhawks’ newest enforcer.

Adam Burish will be out until March

Chicago Blackhawks’ fourth-liner Adam Burish will be out for six months with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. Burish sustained the knee injury colliding with the boards at the Xcel Energy Center on Sunday night during a pre-season exhibition game against the Minnesota Wild in St. Paul.

Burish, who has only 17 career points in 156 NHL games, might seem to be a pedestrian presence on the Blackhawks, but he was anything but. An emotional leader of the young club, Burish has racked up 309 penalty minutes in three seasons with the Blackhawks. Hardly a heavyweight, the six-foot-tall Burish would regularly stand up to larger players in defense of his team mates. This fearless attitude was rewarded when Burish was named an alternate captain in the 2007-2008 season.

The loss of Burish will open another roster spot on the Blackhawks’ opening day lineup. This bodes well for Jack Skille and Kyle Beach, who were the favorites to fill the winger postition vacated by the injured Marian Hossa. Troy Brouwer will also benefit from the loss of Burish, as he is now all but guaranteed a roster spot. Colin Frasier, who played 81 games with the Blackhawks last year, but is now fighting to earn a roster spot, could supplant Tomas Kopecky at center with strong play. That would send the newly signed Slovak to the wing. Kopecky plays both positions. The Blackhawks have two more North American pre-season games, in Washington and home against the Wild, before traveling to Europe in preparation for the season opener in Helsinki, Finland.

As I handicap it now, the Blackhawks will likely line up like this:

Brouwer – Toews – Kane

Ladd – Bolland – Versteeg

Byfuglien – Kopecky – Sharp

Skille – Madden – Eager

Keith – Seabrook

Cambell – Hjalmarsson

Sopel – Barker

Huet > Crawford

Again, Skille and Brouwer’s roster spots can be snagged by solid play in the final two pre-season games. But as it currently stands, those players have the best chances, due to their play.

The loss of Burish will also put pressure on players like Patrick Sharp, Kris Versteeg, Dave Bolland and Jonathan Toews. Those players will have to step up their play on the penalty kill. Burish’s unselfish demeanor was a major component of the Blackhawks’ short handed unit, and those players will have to match his energy when they see shorthanded time in his stead.

Marian Hossa, the Blackhawks’ big off-season signing, will not be ready for the Blackhawks’ season opening trip to Helsinki, or the first two months of the season. Without him, the Blackhawks will be missing a key piece of this uber-talented roster. But, having Hossa out could improve the Blackhawks and show off the team’s depth. But how should the Blackhawks line up for the season opener?

He hasn't played a minute in preseason yet. Is the job already his?

After the Blackhawks’ first preseason game, the line of Byfuglien- Kopecky – Sharp looks great. Though there is plenty of time for things to change, I wouldn’t be surprised if that line sees plenty of ice time together. I stated before that Byfuglien had to continue to play like he did in the playoffs when the season starts – and in the preseason Byfuglien delivered. I have supreme confidence that he’ll continue to play well in the 2009-2010 season. And confidence is usually the second to last word that comes to mind when I think of Dustin Byfuglien. Consistency would be the rarest of terms when it comes to number 33. Perhaps I hope, more than expect, that to change, but when it comes to question marks, Dustin Byfuglien is not on my current list.

There are three major question marks in training camp: backup goalie, sixth defenseman, and final winger. Two of the three questions have been answered through two preseason games.

The sixth defenseman is Brent Sopel. Sopel was appallingly bad last year, but looks spry on the ice so far this preseason. His veteran leadership has always been a plus, and likely would have won Sopel the job, but Sopel has looked better than his counterparts through two games. With a short preseason, two games is as large of a case study as the Blackhawks will get. Sopel will get the nod over Aaron Johnson and Shawn Lalonde.

The backup goalie position is almost certainly Corey Crawford’s after Antti Niemi’s performance in Minnesota. Niemi had a telling .823 save percentage in that game, against a majority NHL Minnesota Wild. Crawford will likely get the next preseason start in net, but Niemi has given him a very large head start in the race to be backup goalie.  Many favored Crawford heading into camp, and Niemi has done nothing to change minds thusfar. If Crawford can show a solid presence, he’ll be the number two in Helsinki.

The final race is the best race. With Hossa out, there is a roster spot open, and the spot will likely see plenty of ice time in the first two months of the season. Jack Skille impressed in Saturday night’s exhibition opener, using his great speed to score a goal. He followed up that performance with 20 minutes of ice time, seeing action in all situations. Kyle Beach, the Blackhawks prospect that is short on temper and long on talent, looked good in his only exhibition game, but didn’t see any powerplay or penalty kill time. Troy Brouwer will make the team, but has looked the part of a starter thus far in the preseason, and has played a bit of center as well. A darkhorse to make the team is Rob Klinkhammer. Klinkhammer, besides possessing a totally boss hockey name, has a set of skills similar to Andrew Ladd. If Joel Quenneville feels that Beach is too much like all three of the Hanson brothers combined, but wants to keep a physical presence in the lineup, Klinkhammer could get the call. It’s a longshot, but not out of the realm of possibility. The final preseason games will decide who wins this battle, and it should be hotly contested going into the homestretch.

2. Detroit Red Wings
The difference between the Wings and the Blackhawks is Marian Hossa. With Hossa out for the Hawks, the Wings take the perch as the king of the central. Valtteri Filppula becomes a superstar in 2009-2010.

3. Chicago Blackhawks
Again, no Hossa, no improvement. For the Blackhawks improvement means beating the Red Wings. Corey Crawford and Antti Niemi will battle it out for the backup goaltender spot. Both have #1 potential.

4. Philadelphia Flyers
All Chris Pronger does is push teams towards the Stanley Cup. Just ask the Blues, Oilers, or Ducks. Is Emery enough in net? Just.

5. Pittsburgh Penguins
The defending Cup champions started last year slow. With the personnel attained at the trading deadline last year intact, the Pens look to reverse that trend.

6. Anaheim Ducks
This could be the breakout team of the year. Ryan Getzlaf is on the verge of being the best two-way player in the game. The rebuilding-on-the-fly move of last season will pay dividends this year. With Saku Koivu on board, this team not can, but will, make a run for the Cup.

7. Carolina Hurricanes
This team is the cream of the crop in the Southwest division. Staal is ready to enter the elite of the NHL If the no name defense can keep their 2008-2009 form, a final four appearance will be proven not to be a fluke. Ray Whitney is the most under appreciated player in the game.

8. Washington Capitals
Their top 5 is the best in the Eastern Conference. Ovie, Green, Poti, Backstrom, Semin – yes. The rest of the team – I’m not so sure. Is Varlamov ready to be the full time?

9. New Jersey Devils
This team could be a complete bust, as Jacques Lemaire will reinstall his neutral zone trap in NJ, and it could stymie the high powered offense of the Devils. But the strong Devil’s blueline could make this a grand success. Anytime a team has Brodeur in net, there is a chance for a win.

10. Boston Bruins
I’ll keep it simple. I don’t think Tim Thomas can do it again. Tuukka Rask, Claude Julien is on line one.

11. Vancouver Canucks
Luongo is in net for the next decade, both Sedins are back. Now it’s time for Burrows and Kesler to take over the Canucks and move them to the next level.

12. Florida Panthers
Vokoun and Clemmensen in net, Bryan Allen and Keith Ballard on the blue line, Nathan Horton and David Booth up front. This team is deep, and unheralded. My surprise pick to make a run this year.

13. St. Louis Blues
Will they fall after exceeding expectations in 2008-2009? Perhaps a bit, but captain in the making TJ Oshie won’t let them slip too far. I don’t buy David Perron this season.

14. Columbus Blue Jackets
I’ll keep it simple. I don’t think Steve Mason can do it again. Pascal LeClaire 2.0? Derick Brassard and Nikita Filatov will turn some heads.

15. Toronto Maple Leafs
I have no idea how this team will score goals, but they are going to be fun to watch. Don’t anger anyone wearing white and blue. Also, Jonas Gustavsson will make every team in the NHL regret not signing him. Those who doubt Brian Burke will be shown no mercy in the rapture.

16. Calgary Flames
Kipprusoff’s age is catching up with him. Jarome Iginla is still unbelievable, but does Jay Bouwmeester really make them that much better? They will miss Cammalleri dearly. Dion Phaneuf is the most over-rated player in the NHL, he could be moved mid-season.

17. Los Angeles Kings
I like Jonathan Quick. I like Jack Johnson. I like Smyth and Brown next to Kopitar. I like the Kings’ chances in 09-10.

18. Tampa Bay Lightning.
Mike Smith is one of the best goaltenders in the NHL, does he have the defense in front of him to make a run this year?

19. Buffalo Sabres
Vanek – good. Miller – good. The team will go as far as both of those players take them.

20. Dallas Stars
With Morrow back, do the Stars come back into contention? Turco needs to find his form of old to make that move.

21. Minnesota Wild
Martin Havlat probably won’t stay healthy. If he does, he and Koivu will make great music. Brent Burns goes back to the blueline. Can Backstrom keep his numbers without Lemaire? It might be Josh Harding’s turn in net for the Wild.

22. Montreal Canadiens
Big moves, but the team still will rely on the play of Carey Price. The team will gel, but they might need time to do it. PK Subban is one of my top five favorite players.

23. Ottawa Senators
Pascal Leclaire tries to find is form again, but an attack of Alfredsson, Foligno, Heatley (?), Kovalev, and Spezza will put up numbers. Can it cover the goals they will give up?

24. Atlanta Thrashers
Ilya Kovalchuk, Bryan Little, Nik Antropov, Evander Kane. Explosive. If Kari Lehtonen cannot pull the best season of his career out of his pads, the Ondrej Pavelec era starts sooner than expected. This team could make a run for the final playoff spot.

25.Edmonton Oilers
A sophomore slump does not mean a junior year explosion. Edmonton’s season rests on Nikolai Khabibulin’s oft-injured body. Not a good idea.

26. Nashville Predators
Is Pekka Rinne a number one goaltender? We’ll find out. Joel Ward is a under the radar star. The Preds will scrap, and claw, and come close to a playoff spot, but they just don’t have the talent to pull it off this year.

27. New York Rangers
Every game the Rangers win this year is because of Henrik Lundqvist. How many is that this year? 30 or less.

28. Phoenix Coyotes
They have some young talent at forward, but he auction drama will carry over to the ice.

29. Colorado Avalanche
Kyle Quincey was a good pickup, but this team looks more like the Lake Erie Monsters. Craig Anderson, even after a great year, as the starting goaltender, i won’t sign up for that.

30. New York Islanders
Tavares should be interesting to watch. The problem is, he’s only going to be on the ice for 15-20 minutes a game. The rest of the time, it’s torture.