Thank you again to Tyler Cameron for contacting me last summer to present me with opportunities to be a periodic guest on his blog during this past season to provide IceHogs coverage. And thank you again for asking me in the late winter whether I would consider taking the reins.

I enjoy being a part of our online community to talk with you all about the team we love and to have an escape from the daily grind of our personal and professional lives, especially given all that is happening in the world.

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Before I share my first official blog, I want to share a little about myself again for those who are relatively new to HockeyBuzz. Feel free to skip ahead if you’ve heard this tale before.

My background with the Chicago Blackhawks stems from being a diehard fan for 35 years and being an avid reader of hockey journalism (magazines, yearbooks, almanacs, websites).

While the Chicago team is one passion, I am also passionate about hockey prospects of all teams, tracking them before, during, and after the draft. I love to prognosticate on how they may project at the NHL level.

As to my approach to writing about hockey, this is what you can expect from me:

* I will be fair by sharing an honest analysis with you and being up front with what I know and don't know while actively learning more about a subject area where I am unfamiliar.
* I will be researched by taking time to review content before posting so that I am knowledgeable and trustworthy.
* I will be insightful by going the extra mile in my writing to bring depth and analysis rather than share stats and info that any fan could easily look up or read from daily news sources.

On a personal note, I grew up playing baseball from little league through the end of high school but then started playing hockey in college and afterward in rec leagues.

My 15 seconds of fame was during my freshman year of college when I was recruited to be in a Gatorade commercial featuring hockey players but wasn't able to make it to the filming.

Professionally, my day job is working with college students, particularly managing the things they pursue outside of the classroom with some occasional teaching of leadership and life skills classes.

I was born and raised in Illinois, first in a small farm town near St. Louis then mainly in Chicago and the suburbs.

Lastly, some of you may have noticed already, but I recently updated my handle from AEL_Fox to Theo Fox. Didn’t want to confuse anyone by thinking that there’s a pack of foxes running amuck now on HockeyBuzz.

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Let’s start with a fun blog today, then get to more serious business in the next one later this week.

Tyler’s second to last blog was about his favorite Blackhawks team. His general criteria for player selection was “nothing scientific or wasn't exactly driven from their statistics with the Blackhawks, more just how [he] felt, who did [he] truly enjoy the most.”

So in this blog, I am going to do a riff off of that theme by presenting you with a team of former Blackhawks who either never got far in the NHL, was mediocre during their time in Chicago, or hit potential with another team.

The players I selected are based on my gut feeling at the time when each was in the Blackhawks system. While sometimes that gut feeling was logical, other times that gut feeling was just weird as it stems from that irrational part of fandom where we all have our favorite prospects for XYZ reason that can’t be explained.

Then again, many argue fandom in and of itself is never a rational phenomenon.

As you will see, some of the players will make you cringe -- maybe vomit -- because of how bad they were. Some of the players will make you curse and scream why I even thought this player was even remotely noteworthy. And some of the players will make you want to kick me for reopening a wound.

I began with the 1988-89 season and worked my way to present day in order to scour rosters to build this team. Why 1988-89? That was when I first started following the Blackhawks. This season also happened to be Jeremy Roenick’s first year where he played 20 games scoring 18 points.

However, I started watching hockey a few years prior but didn’t really pay attention to players’ names. I actually watched more Blues games since I grew up on the Illinois side of St. Louis before moving up to the Chicago suburbs for high school and beyond.

Although I never became a Blues fan, I became a Blackhawks fan because of Roenick. I had posters of him on my bedroom wall plus tried to collect as many hockey cards I could of him like this gem by Upper Deck that was my favorite:



A few observations reviewing rosters from 1988-89 to 2019-20:

* The Blackhawks had 28 different forwards in 2007-08, the most in that span.
* The Hawks had 16 different defensemen in 1998-99, again, the most in that span.
* The most goalies was 6 in 2003-04 (Craig Anderson, Michael Leighton, Adam Munro, Steve Passmore, Jocelyn Thibault, and Matt Underhill).
* And Chicago had a staggering 17 picks in the 2004 draft which included the Killer B’s (Cam Barker, Dave Bolland, Bryan Bickell, Troy Brouwer) plus Jake Dowell and Petri Kontiola.

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Now for the team I selected. It’s an eclectic lineup but I will describe each player in a second.

Tuomo Ruutu - Brandon Pirri - Michael Frolik
Teuvo Teravainen - Phillip Danault - J.P. Dumont
Patrick Poulin - Jeffrey Hamilton - Rene Bourque
Ethan Moreau - Tyler Motte - Mark Bell
Matt Ellison

Cam Barker - Henri Jokiharju
Chris Campoli - Stephen Johns
Karl Dykhuis - Shawn Lalonde
Aaron Johnson

Jocelyn Thibault
Michael Leighton

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Explain yourself! A bit of explanation of why I chose each player:

* Tuomo Ruutu was considered one of the best players in the world not playing in the NHL for the few seasons before his Blackhawks debut. Unfortunately, his career was hampered by injuries that limited his true impact as a hard-hitting power winger.

* Brandon Pirri was a high-end playmaking center during his first few seasons in Rockford who I felt could have been a better skating version of what we have today in Dylan Strome, i.e. a 2C with great vision and passing ability but can’t defend worth a darn.

* Michael Frolik was a former Panthers 1st rounder who had pretty good rookie and sophomore seasons that got me excited when he was acquired for the infamous Jack Skille. Frolik never reached potential as a top-line scoring winger but did become a stellar 3rd liner for several seasons mainly with the Flames and Jets.

* Teuvo Teravainen was a cap casualty who I knew the Hawks would regret trading in the Bryan Bickell deal with Carolina. It was a matter of time and being in the right system to nurture his top-shelf talent that he would emerge as a 1st liner. It helps that he added muscle to his once slight frame.

* Phillip Danault was supposed to be the future high-end shutdown center for Chicago but an infinitely unforgivable trade not only has him playing that role in Montreal but also at an even better level as a top 6 pivot with awesome advanced metrics.

* J.P. Dumont was the 3rd overall pick in 1996 by the Isles, so -- like the Frolik for Skille trade -- I was excited to have him in a Blackhawks sweater by trading away former 1st rounder Dmitri Nabokov. Dumont was okay in Chicago for a season and a half but his career took off in Buffalo and Nashville.

* Patrick Poulin was another former 1st rounder by the Whalers who I was hoping would grow into a middle 6 power forward for the Hawks. He seemed on his way to fulfill that destiny after breaking out in the strike-shortened 1994-95 season (15 goals and 30 points in 45 games) but he ended up being a bottom 6 grinder for the duration of his career in Tampa Bay and Montreal.

* Jeffrey Hamilton was killer on the PP during his lone season in Chicago but that was really it as far as what he brought to the ice. I was hoping his 18 goals and 39 points in 70 games was a prelude for things to come but he played just 2 more short seasons in the NHL with the Canes and Leafs before heading to Europe.

* Rene Bourque was never drafted yet had a standout rookie year in the AHL when the farm team was in Norfolk and had good chemistry with Patrick Sharp during his first few NHL seasons. I was for certain they would be the cornerstones for the young, growing Hawks. I was half right. Bourque did have really solid seasons with the Flames before degrading to a grinder.

* Ethan Moreau was another 1st rounder who struggled to find his niche in Chicago but blossomed into a stellar bottom 6 role player and captain for the Oilers. His leadership and compete level would have been nice to have on the Blackhawks 4th line.

* Tyler Motte was part of the Artermi Panarin trade that brought Brandon Saad back to Chicago. While I wasn’t happy to see Panarin go, I also wasn’t pleased either that Motte was shipped out as well. After a few seasons of struggling, he has found his groove as a highly effective 4th liner and penalty killer.

* Mark Bell was destined to be a star power forward for Chicago -- especially after consecutive 20/20 seasons in his 3rd and 4th years -- yet personal issues really hurt his potential. His story has a happy ending as he is healthy and now Director of Player Development for the Coyotes.

* Matt Ellison was one of those draftees who I was oddly rooting for to make his mark on the Blackhawks as a goal scorer. Now, he is a footnote as the guy who was traded for some other guy named Sharp. Ellison actually had a solid career in the KHL before retiring a year ago.

* Cam Barker was tantalizing on the man advantage -- but like Hamilton -- couldn’t put together an all-around game with defense as a cornerstone. Hamilton at least had speed. Barker had... not sure what else he had. He had a wicked shot but so did David Rundblad. And so did Hamilton.

* Henri Jokiharju was always penciled in as a future top 3 defender for the Chicago blueline on my lineup card ever since he was drafted. Alas, he’s a Sabre now but I still believe he can reach potential to either pair with Rasmus Dahlin or anchor the 2nd pair.

* Chris Campoli was decent in his short stint with Chicago and I was hoping he would re-sign as a 4/5/6 D-man. Too bad his sentence was punctuated with the costly turnover where the hated Alex Burrows scored the OT GWG in Game 7 of the opening round of the 2011 playoffs.

* Stephen Johns was who I tabbed as the future defensive defenseman who would play a punishing style on the Chicago backline. Like the Motte trade, I was disappointed to see Johns as part of the Sharp deal to Dallas. Severe head injuries derailed his trajectory but thankfully he is healthy again.

* Karl Dykhuis was another 1st rounder who failed to live up to his scouting report yet turned in a 13-year NHL career as a bottom-pair defender for the Flyers, Lightning, and Canadiens.

* Shawn Lalonde was a physical puck-mover in juniors and minors but could never translate his game to the NHL. After his lone game for the Blackhawks, he packed up his gear and has had a strong career in Germany’s DEL.

* Aaron Johnson was a physical stay-at-home defender with a short resume in Chicago who -- like Campoli -- I wish would have been given an extension to play the 5/6/7 role. For Johnson, though, his Hawks tenure was truncated by injury and he became a journeyman thereafter.

* Jocelyn Thibault was the goalie I wish had a better defense in front of him to see if that would have helped elevate his game. Didn’t help that he was tiny by goalie standards so it was easy to overwork him.

* Michael Leighton was the goalie I was rooting for between him and Craig Anderson when Thibault went down with injury for much of the 2003-04 season and these two rookies platooned. Putting aside Leighton being the starting goalie for the Flyers in the 2010 playoffs, Anderson ended up having the better career notching close to 300 wins.

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After you are done puking and drinking Gatorade to replenish those electrolytes you lost, let me know who would be on your team of miscasts, misfits, and missed opportunities.

See you on the boards!



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