Blackhawks Post-Deadline: Cup Or Bust?

April 17, 1961: Bobby Hull, Reg Fleming and Pierre Pilote with the Stanley Cup they have just won. Can today's Hawks team repeat the feat? (Photo: Chicago Herald archive)

Blackhawks fans were holding their breath, waiting for the big deal that never came. Now that Deadline Day has passed, many wonder about the Hawks’ Cup chances, especially as rivals have upgraded their personnel.

Instead of the move pundits predicted–for a goalie– Stan Bowman made some minor deals. So, was he right to stand pat, or has he missed the window of opportunity?

Leading up to March 3rd, the chatter presuming netminders Tomas Vokoun, Dwayne Roloson, Jaroslav Halak, Dan Ellis and Marty Turco were all on Bowman’s shopping list, grew louder.

As the clock ticked down to 3 p.m. Eastern Time, fifty-three players in thirty separate trades—a Deadline Day record—changed addresses, but none made their way out of, or into, Chicago.

Nor were big names involved. Interviewed on NHL Network’s ‘Power Play’ that afternoon, Sabres GM Darcy Regier noted the transactions were really more about depth players. He observed that teams chose to retain most of the impending UFAs who might help them keep pace, as playoff spots in both conferences are tightly contested.

When asked Wednesday afternoon by reporters in Chicago about whether or not he was ‘disappointed’ about the Hawks’ lack of activity, Stan Bowman replied: “No, not really. You go in there hoping to improve your team, and sometimes there are things that work out, and sometimes not. But we’ve come a long way with the group we have, and we didn’t want to do anything just to make a trade. Because that, could disrupt our group.”

Video of the interview from Blackhawks TV here:

http://blackhawks.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp?catid=690&id=61613

Here’s a segment-by-segment snapshot of what Stan Bowman didn’t do:

Goaltending
After the collapse in Long Island Tuesday night, the howls of anguish over Cristobal Huet and Antti Niemi’ s qualifications, or lack thereof, might have convinced even the most stoic Hawks loyalist that something had to give.

Nothing did, and Cristobal Huet was picked to start against the Oilers Wednesday night in Chicago against the Oilers.

But if the Hawks were talking, what were the asking prices for the potential replacements, and what would the consequences of a transaction have been?

In the case of Vokoun, his 5.7 million dollar cap hit made such a deal impractical unless Florida took Huet’s contract in return. For all the talk about ‘sweeteners’, the reality is simple. Randy Sexton had no compelling reason to trade an Olympic starting goaltender with just one year left on his deal. And according to ESPN Chicago, trying to waive Huet to take his cap hit off the books would have created other impediments, related to ‘tagging’—the arcane term given to the NHL’s procedure of calculating how existing salaries impact cap space. In other words, a deal couldn’t be made.

Dwayne Roloson might have been available. But with Rick DiPietro being out indefinitely, Garth Snow evidently didn’t want to let his best goaltender go, the other assumption being he did not want Huet’s fiscal burden.

Indications are that none of the other potential partners, Nashville, Montreal or Dallas, with playoff spots in the balance, wanted to make a change on the goaltending front enough, to barter with Bowman.

Defense:
After the trade for Kim Johnsson, who helps alleviate the workload for Keith and Seabrook, the prevailing wisdom was that a depth defenseman was the next logical requirement. To address that, ex-Duck Nick Boynton, a tenacious and genuinely nasty blueliner, has been obtained for future considerations. He’ll stay parked in Rockford until the elasticity of playoff rosters allows him to be brought up to Chicago. In this case, Bowman may have scored another win.

With hulking battle-scarred veteran Jassen Cullimore also waiting in the wings as an Ice Hog, the Blackhawks hope they have enough truculence in their 7/8/9 defense reserve to weather the playoff wars.

The uncertain status of Brent Sopel, sitting with a ‘lower body injury’, may test those reserves early.

Forward:
The Blackhawks may finally be able to ice a full line up as March unfolds. While John Madden is nursing a knee, Ben Eager is ready to resume hostilities. Dave Bolland, who says he feels better than he did before his surgery, is re-gaining his form. Agitator par excellence, Adam Burish, fresh from rehab, is chomping at the bit.

While questions have been asked about depth at the forward position, it seems that management has determined that the Hawks have a full complement.

The fact that a quality player like Colin Fraser was designated a healthy scratch on Tuesday, indicates there may be a rotating taxi squad from now until season’s end as players compete for spots. Additionally, the Boys of Rockford, like Bickell, Dowell, Brophy and Klinkhammer—and perhaps some younger prospects like Aliu and Beach, might just sport the Indian Head as the playoffs open.

Key Stats:
With a winning percentage of .701, the Hawks are on course for 114 points, best total in franchise history. Their fourteen-point lead in the Central Division appears secure, and they have a legitimate shot at the President’s Trophy.

The Blackhawks have nine players with more than ten goals so far, and eight with plus/minus numbers better than +10. Their team GAA of 2.36 is second best in the league. Their offense ranks fourth; power play and penalty kill rank 8th and 6th respectively. Their ten short-handed goals are best in the NHL.

Intangibles:
The Hawks’ six Olympians, Toews, Keith, Seabrook, Kane, Hossa and Kopecky all raised their play to new levels on the international stage. Can they do that going forward? If so, the Blackhawks have a key element working in their favor.

How good are the Hawks’ Cup chances?
The controversy surrounding Chicago’s perceived weakness—its goaltending—persists. However, the panel on TSN’s Trade Deadline Show, an unforgiving array of experienced observers including Mike Keenan, Matthew Barnaby, Craig McTavish, Bob McKenzie, Pierre McGuire, Darren Pang, and Ray Ferraro, all concurred that the Hawks are strong enough to be Cup favorites—along with the Washington Capitals, who have, in their view, equally questionable netminding.

Furthermore, in their review of the competition, no team has a combination of goalies and overall talent which is clearly superior to Chicago’s.

The Las Vegas line seems to support this perspective. As of this writing, Belmont Sports Betting lists the Hawks and Caps as 4-1 favorites; the Sharks and Penguins are right behind at 5-1. Which only means, that Chicago’s chances are as good as anyone’s.

Summary:
Stan Bowman and the Hawks Executive have decided to put their trust in the players they have. Every one of the players—with the exception of those signed to ‘core deals’—is also on notice: those who fail to deliver performance-wise may find themselves packaged up and shipped off come the summer trading period in June.

Because when millions of dollars—perhaps hundreds of millions, depending how many rounds a team can go—in playoff and ancillary revenue are on the line, hockey isn’t a game anymore. It’s an unforgiving business.

And if Blackhawks management has demonstrated anything in the past year, it’s that they aren’t sentimental when it comes to making business decisions.