Weekend Wrap-Up

When the Blackhawks took to the practice ice on Sunday, they did so without Dave Bolland.  The good news was Jonathan Toews was skating on a line between Patrick Sharp and Dustin Byfuglien.  Since Toews wasn’t skating on a regular line when he first came back to practice, it appears as though Toews will make his return on Monday night when the Kings come to town. 

Ben Eager skated on the fourth line with Colin Fraser and Andrew Ebbett. 

Kris Versteeg skated in Dave Bolland’s place as the second line center. 

Based on that evidence, it’s fairly obvious the Hawks don’t think very highly of Ebbett.  That’s fine, he hasn’t really given them much to think about.  Unfortunately, they’d probably be better off just giving him his flat-out release than asking him to play out of position and to skate on the fourth line.  There are plenty of guys in Rockford much more physically-suited to play the type of game the Hawks will be expecting out of their fourth line wing for a very similar cap hit.

As for Versteeg as a center, there shouldn’t be many surprises here.  Last year, Versteeg filled in admirably when Patrick Sharp was hurt and before Sammy Pahlsson was acquired.  Some games, he looked very good and others, he looked woefully out of position.  Expect more of the same on that front. 

The only thing I wonder is - Is Versteeg that big of an upgrade at center over Ebbett that the Hawks are willing to make themselves significantly weaker at the wing?  Let’s hope he is, otherwise it may get ugly until Marian Hossa makes his glorious debut.

As for making a trade to acquire a center, Tim Sassone says not to hold your breath.  

Would the Hawks go out and trade for another center if they lose Bolland? It’s not likely. Their bigger need is for a defenseman to run the power play.

This is starting to become a broken record, but why-oh-why would the Hawks need a defenseman to run the power play?  Whatever you think of him, when Brian Campbell was signed to a 7-year contract, the Hawks announced to the entire hockey world, ”We have a defenseman to run our power play for the better part of the next decade.”

Now after one year, they’re going to give up players for a position they just filled? 

That’s without taking into account, the only thing Cam Barker can do above-average (at this point in his career) is run a power play. 

I understand the Hawks power play has been less than stellar so far, but there is absolutely no reason to slam on the panic button and start giving up players (or draft picks) for a position where the Hawks are already relatively stacked.  If anything, someone needs to start asking harder questions for Coach Q and his staff about the personnel they’ve employed on their power play thus far.      

*On the Farm*

–The Rockford IceHogs went 1-1 this weekend in a Friday and Saturday showdown against the Abbotsford Heat. 

On Friday, they lost 4-2.  After falling behind 3-0, Peter MacArthur scored on the power play a minute into the second period.  Evan Brophey and Daryl Boyle were credited with assists.  Abbotsford responded with a goal just a minute later to cease any momentum for the IceHogs.  Corey Crawford was pulled after stopping only 10 of the 14 shots he faced.

Bracken Kearns scored six and a half minutes into the third to close the scoring for the night.  Joseph Fallon stopped all 27 of the shots he faced in relief.

Saturday night was much better.  Fallon got the nod in goal and responded by stopping nearly every shot he faced in a 2-1 victory.  Halfway through the second, Nathan Davis put Rockford on the board with his sixth goal of the season.  Matt Keith and Jake Dowell got the assists.  Seven minutes later, Evan Brophey scored on the power play with assists from Mark Cullen and Pete McArthur.

Fallon was one minute away from his first shutout of the season before the Heat snuck one past him.  He held on the rest of the way to give Rockford a weekend split against Abbotsford.

–Byron Froese had an assist in the Everett Silvertips 3-2 overtime loss to the Calgary Hitmen on Friday night. 

–Kyle Beach scored the first goal for the Spokane Chiefs in their 3-1 win over the Seattle Thunderbirds on Friday night.  On Saturday night, Beach assisted on the game-winning goal in a 2-1 win over the Vancouver Giants.  For the season, Beach has 14 goals and 4 assists in 15 games played.

–Shawn Lalonde didn’t get a point in Friday night’s 5-2 loss to the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors but he was on the ice for both of Belleville’s goals.  He was also held pointless in the Bulls’ exciting 3-2 comeback win on Saturday.  Trailing 2-0 with less than five minutes left in the game, the Bulls scored three goals in two and a half minutes to beat the Brampton Battalion. 

–In a WCHA weekend showdown involving three Blackhawk prospects, Colorado College and Minnesota-Duluth split the two-game set.  Friday night, UMD won 4-3.  Dylan Olsen had an assist while Dan DeLisle was held scoreless.  Billy Sweatt had an assist and three shots on goal in the losing effort. 

Saturday, the Tigers came back with a 6-2 win.  Sweatt scored six and a half minutes into the second period to give Colorado College a lead they’d never relinquish.  He added his second goal of the night with four minutes left in the game.  He also had an assist.  Dylan Olsen assisted on both of the Bulldog goals.  Dan DeLisle did not dress.

–Brandon Pirri had a goal and assist in RPI’s 5-2 victory over Yale on Friday night.  He scored RPI’s first goal on Saturday in their 3-1 win over Brown.  Pirri is currently second on the team in scoring with 6 goals and 4 assists in 10 games played.  He’s also second on the team in penalty minutes with 20.

Getting High in the Desert

While the internet finally cools off after nearly burning down from a napalm storm of make-believe Blackhawk trade rumors (I wonder if Brian Burke woke up on Wednesday morning and thought he’d have to answer questions regarding a rumor from Hockey Buzz.  And another thing, if any person with half of a brain cell knows any post from that site is about 10% fact, 90% fantasy, how do their blog posts become an international story?) let’s take a look at some of the reality facing the Hawks in the next two games:

-Jonathan Toews returned to practice on Wednesday.  The ‘meh’ news was that Toews didn’t skate with a regular line so it appears as though the Hawks still aren’t counting on him just yet.  At this point, though, it’s encouraging for him just to return to the ice.  To get the go-ahead from the medical staff would mean his concussion symptoms are finally subsiding. 

-It’s kind of surprising how shocked people are about the Phoenix Coyotes start to the season.  I suppose all the off-season drama plays into it.  What people forget is Phoenix was in the hunt for a playoff spot last year until early February.  Once they reached their high water mark of 5 games over .500, that’s when the wheels came apart.

Getting superb goaltending is certainly helping their cause in the early going.  Ilya Bryzgalov and Jason LaBarbera have combined to stop 93% of the shots they’ve faced.  With Bryzgalov getting the start against Colorado on Wednesday night, it will be interesting  to see who Dave Tippett turns to in the Thursday night match-up with the Hawks. 

Other than Shane Doan and Ed Jovanovski, the Coyotes are a mish-mosh of veteran players.  Some familar names you’ll see- Robert Lang, Adrian Aucoin, Jim Vandermeer, Radim Vrbata, Vernon Fiddler, and Matthew Lombardi. 

They won’t be raising the Cup in June, but they could prove to be a formidable opponent for teams taking them lightly.

-As for Colorado, back-up goalie Peter Budaj got his first start of the season on Wednesday night.  At this point, it’s not a matter of if Craig Anderson reverts to his career numbers, but when.  A heavy workload combined with having no defense in front of him isn’t exactly the key to surviving the grueling regular season.

Going into this week, the Avalanche were tied with the Edmonton Oilers for the worst shot differential in the entire NHL.  Puck Prospectus uses this statistical measure to help figure who the lucky teams are and who the good ones are.  I’ll let you try and figure where they think Colorado stands.

-Another bizarre thought from Tim Sassone today.  After unmerciful spanking to the blogger who started the rumor firestorm, Sassone offers this:

 Who wouldn’t want Kaberle, a terrific defenseman and a power-play quarterback? The Hawks need both.

Um, come again. 

Two Julys ago, the Hawks gave Brian Campbell the richest and longest contract in team history to fill the role of power-play quarterback.  Not to mention, power-play quarterback is the only thing Cam Barker can say he actually does.  So no, the Hawks don’t need a power-play quarterback and probably won’t need one as long as those two guys are wearing an Indian head.

-As for the rumor mongerers among us, I just have one request: Is it asking too much to start throwing some other names out there?  The ’Tomas Kaberle, Anze Kopitar, and Alexander Frolov to the Hawks’ rumors have officially entered the ‘Chone Figgins to the White Sox’ and ‘Brian Roberts to the Cubs’ zone.  

If we’re going to wildly speculate about players, why is it always the same three guys?  Give us someone new to make fun of you about.  I’m not asking for much. 

*On the Farm* 

–The IceHogs took out a weekend of frustration on the San Antonio Rampage with a 5-3 win.  Rob Klinkhammer, Akim Aliu, Bryan Bickell, Mark Cullen, and Jassen Cullimore were the goal scorers.  Cullen added two assists and Klinkhammer had an assist as well.  Corey Crawford stopped 30 of the 33 shots to nab third star honors. 

–Byron Froese scored his second goal in as many nights in Everett’s 3-2 loss to the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

–Kyle Beach continues to leave behind a trail of scorched Earth.  He scored two goals in a 5-1 win over the Chilliwack Bruins.  The goals were just over 30 seconds apart.  He scored his first goal with 15 seconds left in the first period.  Then he scored again 18 seconds into the second period on the power play.  Beach leads the Chiefs with 13 goals.

Going Farming

Before I cover the weekend happenings of Blackhawk prospects, the Hawks, once again, took to the practice ice on Monday without Jonathan Toews. 

I was told by someone with far better medical knowledge than me that for serious concussions, the recovery time is usually around 30 days without symptoms before medical clearance is given.  After 11 days and seemingly being no closer to returning to the ice, you don’t have to be a brain surgeon to realize that Toews may have suffered a pretty serious concussion.

I’m not saying Toews is going to be out for a month; I’m just saying he’ll probably need to have more than a few days in a row without symptoms before the medical staff dreams of giving him the ok to come back.  That’s what Joel Quenneville means when he says someone with a concussion isn’t making progress or suffers a setback (i.e. the Ben Eager situation).

Or like he said about Toews before last Friday’s game.

“Progress hasn’t been exactly where we wanted it,” Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “Some of that is going to take some time. Every day there has been some progress, but at the same time, we’re just waiting to see. We have the weekend here and a couple of days next week.”

After missing practice on Monday, I would venture to guess Toews will not be playing come Thursday night against Phoenix.

As for Ben Eager, without having any inside info and going strictly by what Joel Quenneville has been saying, it certainly seems like he tried to play through a mild concussion without notifying the team and likely made it worse than it already was.

Let’s just hope for Eager’s sake Joel Quenneville isn’t as salty as Ozzie Guillen is when his players try to hide injuries from him.

–The Rockford IceHogs had a particularly tough weekend.  A three game stretch on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday against the Milwaukee Admirals (on Friday and Saturday) and Chicago Wolves (on Sunday) saw the IceHogs drop all three tilts scoring a combined three goals.

On Friday night, the Admirals won 2-1.  Rob Klinkhammer opened the scoring with six and a half minutes left in the first period.  Corey Crawford picked up the lone assist.  The Admirals responded with two goals in the second period and that was all they’d need.  Crawford turned away 33 of the 35 shots in a losing effort.

The score remained the same on Saturday in Rockford.  This time, the Hogs entered the third period trailing 1-0.  Matt Keith scored the equalizer two minutes into the frame with helpers from Bryan Bickell and Bracken Kearns.  Four minutes later, Cal O’ Reilly scored the game-winner for the Admirals.  Corey Crawford got the start again and stopped 23 of 25 shots.

In Chicago on Sunday night, the IceHogs could only muster 1 goal again in a 3-1 loss to the Wolves.  Bryan Bickell scored for the Hogs halfway through the second period with assists from Bryan Ewing and Jake Dowell.  With the score tied 1-1 and less than five minutes left in the game, Chris Chelios scored his first goal as a member of the Wolves.  An empty netter with less than 15 seconds left cinched up the win for Chicago.  Joseph Fallon got the start for Rockford and was named third star of the game after turning away 22 of 24 shots.

Rockford Tidbits- The Wolves have now won 3 of the 4 meetings against the IceHogs thus far.  The Admirals have beaten the IceHogs in 2 of their 3 meetings.  Rockford’s power play went 0-for-12 over the weekend.  Don’t know when this happened, but Rockford now has Jassen Cullimore playing on its backline.  Let’s pray we never see him in a Blackhawk uniform again.

–The Everett Silvertips won both their games this weekend.  Saturday night, they beat Red Deer 3-0.  Sunday, they beat the Edmonton Oil Kings 2-1 in a shootout.  Byron Froese didn’t show up on the scoresheet in either of the games but was a +1 on the weekend.

–Kyle Beach is on a tear for the Spokane Chiefs.  Beach followed up his hat trick on Wednesday night with two goals and an assist in a 4-3 Friday night win over the Kelowna Rockets.  Saturday night, he didn’t do anything along with the rest of his teammates in a 2-0 loss to the Portland Winterhawks.  Then on Sunday, he scored a goal in Spokane’s 3-0 win over Portland.

–Dylan Olsen had an assist and 3 shots on goal in UMD’s 4-1 Friday night win over Clarkson.  Dan DeLisle had two shots on goal.  Saturday night, Olsen and DeLisle were held scoreless in a 4-2 win over Clarkson.  This weekend, UMD will face-off against WCHA rival Colorado College led by Billy Sweatt. 

–Brandon Pirri scored a goal for RPI in their win Friday night 4-3 over Union.  He was scoreless in their 2-1 loss to Army on Saturday night.  RPI outshot Army 40-16 in the loss.

Weekend Wrap-Up

The Rockford IceHogs and Peoria Rivermen met for the third time within a week on Saturday night.  With the two teams splitting the first two games, the rubber match was tied 2-2 going into the third period.  The teams traded goals with Mark Cullen and Jack Skille scoring for Rockford.  The goal for Skille was his second in as many games.  Cullen and Skille also assisted on each other’s goals. 

In the third, Peoria threw 14 shots to the net.  3 of them got past Corey Crawford and the Rivermen won 5-2.  Richard Petiot and Kyle Greentree also registered assists on the IceHogs only two goals.

–Kyle Beach was held pointless in Spokane’s 4-3 loss to the Tri-City Americans.  However, he did manage to rack up 6 minutes in penalties getting called for diving, roughing, and hooking.  Spokane had a 3-2 lead with six minutes left and managed to give up two goals within 45 seconds.  Beach was on the ice for Tri-City’s game winner.

–Byron Froese scored Everett’s first goal on the power play.  It wasn’t enough, however, as the Silvertips fell to the Brandon Wheat Kings 5-2.

–Dylan Olsen came back from his illness and played in Minnesota-Duluth’s 4-2 loss to St. Cloud State.  He had 4 shots on goal.  Dan DeLisle, once again, was not a factor.

–Brandon Pirri had two assists for RPI in their 3-2 win over American International (Isn’t that where Prince Akeem claimed he went to college in ‘Coming to America’?).  Pirri had two goals and two assists for RPI this weekend.

–Billy Sweatt continued his assault on Michigan Tech Saturday night.  After scoring a goal and three assists the night before, Sweatt notched three more assists in the Tigers 8-5 win over Michigan Tech.

On Sunday evening, Bobby and I had the pleasure of joining ForkLift and CT for their 50th Puckcast.  Apparently, we are now tied with Chris Block for most appearances as this was our fifth time on. 

Many topics are broached including what a friend and I have dubbed Kopecky, when the meatballs will complain about Huet next, the difference in salaries for guys like Jack Skille and Jake Dowell when they play in Chicago as opposed to Rockford, and it wouldn’t be a Puckcast if we didn’t discuss Kane, Toews, and Keith’s upcoming contract situation.  Enjoy.

Friday Night Farm Update

Rockford put the smack down on the Milwaukee Admirals on Friday night beating them 6-1 in front of 3,200 fanatics at the Rockford Metro Centre.  The IceHogs jumped out to 2-0 in the first period with goals by Evan Brophey and Jack Skille.  In the second, Danny Bois extended the lead with his fourth goal of the year.

After Milwaukee cut the deficit to two, Rockford put the game away with three more goals.  Mark Cullen and Brian Connelly scored on the power play while Akim Aliu added his third goal of the season.

Kyle Greentree, Rob Klinkhammer, and Cullen each had two assists.  Connelly had an assist to go with his goal as did Evan Brophey.

Corey Crawford was named the number one star of the game stopping 33 of the 34 shots he faced.

–Byron Froese was held scoreless in Everett’s 4-2 loss to the Vancouver Giants.  He was sent off, however for a 5-minute fighting major so the night wasn’t a total loss.

–Dylan Olsen did not play in Minnesota-Duluth’s 3-3 tie with St. Cloud State due to an illness.  He’s questionable for tonight’s game.  Dan DeLisle was not a factor in the outcome.

–Brandon Pirri scored two goals in RPI’s 4-3 win over Sacred Heart including the game-winner in overtime.  He’s scored three goals in his last two games.

–Colorado College’s Billy Sweatt played a part in every goal for the Tigers in their 4-1 win over Michigan Tech.  Sweatt opened the scoring with a power play goal in the first.  Then he assisted on their next three goals including an empty-netter to clinch the victory.

As far as games closer to home, Cristobal Huet will be getting the start tonight for the Hawks against the Predators.  Jonathan Toews and Brent Seabrook will be both out of action as they recover from ‘concussion-like’ symptoms.  Jake Dowell was recalled from Rockford and will skate on the fourth line.  Andrew Ebbett will take Toews’ spot at center.

If you’re lucky enough to attend the game, be sure to pick up a “Committed Indian” and say hi to Sam.  It should be required reading for all Hawk fans.  Our column will be found towards the back of tonight’s issue.

Better Late Than Never

Perhaps it was because I became jaded after the Hawks previous waiver claim (Radek Smolenak) or maybe it was because I spent most of the weekend contemplating whether to stick my fingers into electrical sockets because of the ‘Great Huet Debate’, but I barely flinched on Saturday afternoon when word broke about the Hawks picking up Anaheim center Andrew Ebbett off a waiver claim.

It wasn’t until early Monday morning when I finally realized what the Hawks got their hands on.

Anytime you can pick up a guy who has legitimate top-6 forward experience on a playoff team for the bargain basement price of $475,000, that’s a good deal.  Ebbett brings just that. 

Last year, Ebbett was called up at Christmas time.  Like most small players, he is a solid skater with good speed and has the ability to be a decent playmaker. 

He eventually took over for Brendan Morrison as Anaheim’s second line center and finished the year with 8 goals and 24 assists in 48 games.  Ebbett built the reputation as being a pretty streaky scorer.  At the end of the year with Anaheim battling for a playoff spot, he had 10 points in Anaheim’s last 12 games. 

Then in the playoffs, he, kind of, sort of, disappeared.  He suited up in all 13 games but only registered a goal and 2 assists.

So what happened since then?

Well, for one, Ebbett’s size won’t do him any favors with any talent evaluators in the NHL.  Standing at a mere 5′9″ and 182 lbs, Patrick Kane won’t be the only one in the Blackhawks locker room now sitting on telephone books.  

Anaheim also had a logjam at center with youngster Petteri Nokelainen and Erik Christensen pushing for more playing time.  It wasn’t until they called up 22-year old defenseman Brendan Mikkelson to fill in for the injured James Wisniewski, though, that someone on the roster had to go.  Ebbett was the guy.

So with his arrival, Jack Skille’s daily commute to Rockford is officially over.  Skille will remain in Rockford and Ebbett will assume his spot on the fourth line wing.  I’m sure Colin Fraser was seen somewhere today praising his teammates’ salaries because if it weren’t for the Hawks’ precarious cap situation, Skille would be the one staying and Fraser would be getting acclimated to Rockford.

Whether it’s the best spot for Ebbett remains to be seen.  The Hawks will be asking him to play a position he’s never played at, save for a couple preseason games this fall.  Playing next to Fraser, the Hawks will most likely have the smallest 4th line in the league, regardless of who the other winger is.

Not to mention, his skill set may not be conducive to that of a 4th line player.  Small, shifty, playmaking centers don’t often double as grinding, hard-checking wingers.     

Either way, his presence immediately gives the Hawks an actual insurance plan in case Dave Bolland’s back troubles keep recurring.  While it was nice to talk about Tomas Kopecky’s ability to play center on any line, there’s nothing to indicate he can actually do it and John Madden is far more valuable when he’s a checking center than when he’s asked to try and carry the load as a number two center.

Getting Ebbett’s versatility at the price tag of a mere $475,000 is an absolute no-brainer for a cap-strapped team like the Hawks.

A lot of times, the unheralded moves a general manager makes turn out to be the best ones.  This just might turn into one of those.

Friday Night Farm Report

Rockford avenged their Wednesday night loss to the Chicago Wolves by beating them in their home opener 4-1.  Goal scorers for the Ice Hogs were Danny Bois, Mark Cullen, and Nathan Davis who potted two of them. 

Defenseman and 2006 2nd round pick Simon Danis-Papin picked up his first professional point when he assisted on Cullen’s goal.  Bois added an assist to go along with his goal and Jake Dowell assisted on both of Davis’ goals.  Corey Crawford stopped 27 of the 28 shots the Wolves threw his way.  Jack Skille was a healthy scratch for Rockford.

–Shawn Lalonde did not play in Belleville’s 4-2 loss to the Guelph Storm.  They have a game again tonight against the Kitchener Rangers so we should know more tomorrow.

–Kyle Beach was held off the scoresheet in Spokane’s 4-3 loss to the Kootenay Ice.  That doesn’t mean he didn’t factor into the outcome.  Beach racked up 9 penalty minutes.  In the first period, he received a five minute fighting major to go along with two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct.  Then in the third with score tied 3-3, Beach was sent off for tripping.  Kootenay scored the game-winning goal a minute and a half into the penalty. 

–Byron Froese scored the game winning goal for the Everett Silvertips with twenty-seconds left in the first period in their 3-1 win over the Seattle Thunderbirds.  He’s currently third on the team in points with 4 goals and 5 assists in 7 games played. 

–In their WCHA opener, Minnesota-Duluth beat Minnesota State 5-2.  Dylan Olsen added an assist on a power play goal in the second period.  He also had 4 shots on goal.  Dan DeLisle was held scoreless with two shots on net.

My Nose, My Nose, My Kingdom for a Nose

Stan Bowman sure does love his big, dopey, fourth line players.  This time, he sent Aaron Johnson to Calgary on Wednesday evening in exchange for Kyle Greentree. 

Greentree scored 39 goals for the Quad City Mallards last year in the AHL and was also one of the first players re-assigned to the Flames’ minor league camp at this year’s training camp.  Upon completion of the trade, Greentree was immediately assigned to Rockford.

I’m not sure how this trade provides any kind of salary cap relief like some have speculated.  Johnson is playing under a one-year contract at $540,000.  With Burish already on Long Term Injured Reserve and Hossa able to be put on at any time, the Hawks potentially have nearly $6 million in cap space. 

No, this trade was made for a very boring reason.  Rockford depth.  The Ice Hogs completed their first game with household names like Danny Bois, Mark Cullen, and Derek Nesbitt playing big minutes for them.  So yeah, they needed a bit of help and the Hawks want to give themselves some insurance just in case more bad things keep happening to their players. 

Speaking of, Dave Bolland and Ben Eager were ruled out Thursday night’s tilt against the Red Wings due to injuries.  Or is it because of routine maintenance.  I’m confused. 

So Radek Smolenak will make his Blackhawks debut and Jordan Hendry will most likely skate on the 4th line wing in Detroit.  At least it’s still early in the year, so when the Hawks top three lines are playing the majority of the game, they should be pretty fresh.

What I really wanted to discuss, though, was the premiere of “Kings Ransom“, an ESPN documentary film that debuted on Wednesday Tuesday night.  It’s a look back at how the trade of Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings all went down.  The movie was directed by Peter Berg, the creator and director of the movie ’Friday Night Lights’ and the subsequent show with the same name.

The editing in the movie is top notch, as is the archived footage.  Before I get into what I really liked though, let’s talk about what was wrong with the movie.

Gretzky and Berg hitting golf balls together was essentially boring and pointless.  I really thought it slowed down the whole film.  Everything they discuss was pretty much already talked about by the other key players in the trade (Bruce McNall, Glen Sather, Peter Pocklington). 

While it was kind of neat to see original footage of Wayne and Janet’s wedding and the reaction from the locals outside, I’m not sure it really fit into the story they were trying to tell.  With only an hour to get a lot of information out, this sequence chewed up a lot of time and didn’t really advance the story. 

There were also two enormous elephants in the room that weren’t covered or merely glossed over for whatever reason.

1. Wayne Gretzky was sold for $15 million.  Former Oiler Owner Peter Pocklington was adamant he needed the money for his team.  It’s too bad no one bothered to ask what he really did with the money because with that kind of money, he easily could have re-signed Mark Messier and kept the core of the team together.  Instead, selling off Gretzky was the first brick to fall in his destruction of the team.  I’d really like to know what he did with all that money.
2. The Oilers won the Stanley Cup in 1990 without Gretzky!!!  They made such a point to show how devastating this trade was to the residents of Edmonton, but I guarantee you the same guy who was lighting his Oiler jersey on fire was the first guy in line for the parade when the Oilers brought home the Cup two years later.  It’s a testament to just how loaded that franchise was.  Here they shipped off the greatest player to ever live and two years later, they won it all again.  The film made it seem like the Oilers never recovered.  Only a sentence at the end of the film tells the viewer otherwise.

The film did have it’s bright spots. 

I loved how Gretzky’s exit interview from Edmonton was uncut and completely raw.  Nothing fancy, just the precise way it went down.  Going along with that same theme, the news coverage at the time was really fascinating to see.  The Canadian press covered the trade as though it was a funeral and the American media was curious about what they just stole from their neighbors to the north.

The footage of John Candy, Michael J. Fox, Kevin Kostner, Sly Stallone, Tom Hanks, Magic Johnson and Kurt Russell attending Kings games at the Forum is entertaining beyond words.

The contrast at the beginning of the movie with Gretzky skating around in warm-ups as a Oiler, and then at the end as a King is really quite masterful.  He’s skating the exact same way as he once did at the same venue, yet everything is completely different.

Its awkward now to watch Gretzky put on the Kings uniform for the first time; I can’t even imagine how weird it must have been at the time. 

To film a one-hour documentary on a topic that has endless amounts of information and viewpoints is really quite ambitious.  The impossibility of it all is frustrating and charming at the same time.  If you remember that era fondly, then the film will be a nice refresher course.  If you’re like me and have very little memory of the trade going down, then I highly recommend watching this at least one time.

Back to the Grind

The Hawks returned to the ice on Tuesday after having two days off since returning from Finland.  (Although I’m still trying to figure out if Kris Versteeg participated in a rat time at Johnny’s Ice House on Monday night.  I’m pretty sure it wasn’t him, but I’m not certain.)  The Tribune’s Chris Kuc has injury updates from practice: 

Dave Bolland, Troy Brouwer and Ben Eager all missed practice. Coach Joel Quenneville said Bolland was off for “maintenance” but is “going to be fine.” He along with Brouwer (lower body) will likely be in the lineup when the Hawks take on the Red Wings in Detroit on Thursday night. Eager (upper body) is going to be evaluated in the next day or two and is questionable.

I’m fascinated as to what kind of “maintenance” Dave Bolland needed.  Perhaps he needed new brake pads or maybe his transmission was shot.  

The Eager injury doesn’t sound as promising.  When the Hawks re-evaluate injuries, it usually results in missed time.  Kris Versteeg went from having a minor injury in the first pre-season game to missing the majority of the pre-season.  

Eager’s injury should also remind everyone how quickly the Hawks situation can turn perilous.  Well, at least until Marian Hossa finally comes back.  They are simply not in a position to lose regulars for extended periods of time without their roster taking a big hit. 

If you disagree, just take one look at those line combinations the Hawks used at practice today.  Yuck.

–In other news, Patrick Kane’s one minute and two seconds of penalty killing time is apparently all the rage.  I suppose this is kind of a big deal especially when you take into consideration Kane had a whopping 4:14 of penalty killing time all of last season.  Unfortunately, it’s not the most startling development about the Hawks special teams after the first two games.

What nobody is talking about thus far (and it’s still relatively early but still) is how much time Duncan Keith has seen on the power play.  In two games, Keith has seen a whole 46 seconds with the man advantage.  On the second power play unit, the Hawks have felt more comfortable using Patrick Sharp or Dave Bolland on the point than Keith.

Unless this drastically changes, then the ‘Duncan Keith as a Norris Trophy candidate’  talk will probably cool off fairly quickly.  Take a look at the list of Norris Trophy winners.    Since Bobby Orr’s reign of terror ended, the only defensemen to win it who wasn’t considered to be a top power play quarterback was Rod Langway in 1982-83 and 1983-84.

Again, it’s still incredibly early but it is something to keep a close eye on as the season progresses.

–I found this kind of humorous.  Dominic Moore signed a one-year deal with the Florida Panthers.  The same Dominic Moore who asked Brian Burke (with a straight face) for a 3-year, $12 million deal extension last year.  The same Dominic Moore who nearly caused a riot at the United Center last trade deadline when the Hawks didn’t acquire him.  The same Dominic Moore who cost Buffalo a 2nd round pick last year to acquire. 

You couldn’t make something like this up.

Your 2009-2010 Chicago Blackhawks

The opening roster for the Blackhawks has officially been set.  Somehow, Radek Smolenak made such an amazing impression in two games that the Hawks couldn’t start the season without him.  Another peculiar development was the Hawks decision to carry three goalies to start the season.  That certainly gives off an odor they don’t feel that great about Niemi or Crawford.  

All this being said, the roster will probably look a bit different in just a couple months so this is nothing to get too upset or worked up over.