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Help Could Be Coming Soon For Hawks Defense And It's Not Schneider |
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It’s funny how we all interpret things differently and how a hockey game is played is not an exception. I caught the last 2 minutes of the Hawks- Kings game on a monitor at the UC. I was able to hear the L.A. announcers say that the Kings missed their chance to take control and that basically the game was theirs to win. Well my feelings are far different from that assessment as only a couple of sloppy defensive turnovers and 3 breakaway saves by King net minders stopped this game from being a bigger route in favor of the Hawks.
One element that needs to improve for the Hawks to have a chance at Post Season play is their 5 on 5 goal production. If they played the Kings more often I would think that stat would be more respectable. The Hawks scored 5 even strength goals to lift their season total to 50 goals for and 53 against. The Kings went the other way and padded their poor 5 on 5 record to 48 for, with 66 against. I could understand now how the Kings have such a poor 5 on 5 record as they seldom put 2 passes together last night. The Hawks didn’t play their best game but the score was indicative of the better team last night.
Brad Stuart wanted to stand up for a fallen teammate, which is somewhat admirable. Ruutu crushed the King’s Visnovsky as he was admiring his own outlet pass. The Hawk winger was called for a Charge on the play but it wasn't dirty hit, although I am sure King fans feel differently. Stuart took it upon himself to skate 100 feet out from his zone to retaliate against Ruutu, not too smart. The hit was not an elbow to the head or a Charge to the back of a player facing the boards; Visnovsky was clobbered while he faced the oncoming Ruutu. After all that drama Stuart made Ruutu look like the 2nd coming of Dave Schultz as he whacked away repeatedly at the Kings defenseman's head. Stuart kept his shield and helmet on, as that is also a penalty but maybe it was good that he did. There was really no need for Stuart to do anything as the Kings dressed all their tough boys last night and Koci was a scratch, sooner or later they could have evened the score against Ruutu if they chose to. Maybe Savard showed a lot of faith in his own players to stand up against the Kings boppers as he kept Koci out of the Lineup. I think Denis was very happy with what he saw. Enough about the fortunes or lack there of concerning the Kings.
What the Hawks did last night was take care of an opponent that they should beat more often then not. Samsonov was back in action but once again didn’t accomplish very much. He is a perimeter player period. He can skate and dangle but seldom is there any benefit from his efforts. While Sammy and Lapointe were given slightly over 6 minutes and 4 minutes of playing time respectively, Perreault saw a lot more action. Once Burish was tossed during the Ruutu melee Perreault assumed his ice time as he saw about 14 minutes of work against the Kings. Yanic tried to go into the corners and had a couple of rushes up ice but he was held off the score sheet also as he managed 1 shot on goal.
The Ruutu, Bolland and Burish Line did well in the First Period. Ruutu provides some grit and also skill to that group. Ruutu gets as much criticism as he does credit from many Hawk fans. When he was drafted Ruutu was touted as being a tough high scorer ala Peter Forsberg. Well that expectation by some including myself was far too lofty. Once Ruutu hurt his knees, shoulder and foot in his first few seasons he was not going to be the elusive scorer he was promoted to be. I still believe he should score at least 20 goals a season but that probably won’t happen this year. He gets shuffled from line to line now and for the most part he would have to play with skilled forwards to be a good goal scorer. The Hawks wrestle a bit with his role but one thing is certain he is an honest player who can give his team decent top 6 minutes or be used with the grinders on 3rd line. He will never be Forsberg but his career may more resemble Claude Lemieux and in any event he is a player that the Hawks should covet. Tuomo will be an RFA after this year and if he could get his goal total up into the high teens he will garner some interest by more then a few teams.
Most won’t know how to spell his name and many will not know how to pronounce it either but everyone in the NHL well soon know who Dustin Byfuglien is. Make no mistake he is the real deal, as I have never seen a player with his same skill set in a Hawks uniform. I am not saying he will score like Rick Nash or be a force like Ryan Getzlaf, but honestly there is no limit as to how effective of an offensive player he will become. I would think that the Hawks will let him stay up at forward as he got another assist last night. Also on Havlat’s first tally Buff started the play although he didn’t deserve credit for a helper. As soon as he learns where to find space on the ice when he doesn’t have the puck in the offensive zone his goal production will increase. I don’t see any defensemen who are now able to handle Dustin in the corners because he is very strong on his skates. The hit he delivered on the Kings Ivanans had to big the hardest open ice check of the year. Ivanans who is also a very big boy was rocked, as his insides were shaken no doubt by the force of Dustins check. Toews and Kane are going to be special players with great NHL careers. I think it would be wise not to doubt the ability or limit the expectations of Byfuglien becoming a valuable offensive player too.
Now for a bit of criticism, once again the Hawks defenders got abused in front of their own net. Khabibulin has shown his frustration as he is still being pushed around in his own crease. The Kings benefited with 2 goals last night from those types of scrambles. The Hawks continue to hit their opponents from behind while in the crease which results in Habby getting knocked out of the play. This has to stop soon, as even Ruutu brought up the same point in a post game interview. The Hawks have to get tougher down low and ideally bigger. If that could be accomplished without using Buff on defense all the better. The other point to be made concerning the defenders is once gain they turned pucks over and failed to clear the zone on too many occasions last night. The bad clearing attempts have to be corrected soon too.
Now there appears to be a potential answer on the horizon for their defensive needs. No, it is not the Ducks’ Mathieu Schneider, even though he would help the Hawks in some ways. I believe that Schneider’s salary and size makes him not the answer for the Hawks. Tallon will be very reluctant to pay anyone an enormous salary and beyond that Schneider is 38 years old. He will also make 5.5 million this year and 5.75 for next season so there is only one plausible way he could become a Hawk. That would be if Burke would take back about 2.5 to 3 million in salary, then and only then there might be a chance Tallon would bite. In reality that has little if any chance of happening as the Ducks need to create Cap Space. Now as I also have said Francois Beauchemin at 27 years old and with an annual salary of 1.65 million makes a lot more sense. The problem is that the majority of teams in the NHL would also like to acquire Beauchemin. He probably is a player that Burke would be able to trade for some very good prospects. Beauchemin is also most likely a player the Duck’s would like to keep so it will be interesting to see how things shake out for Mr. Burke. More importantly what will the Hawks do soon to strengthen their team?
The first answer may come from the forgotten man on the IceHogs Cam Barker. I heard comments yesterday on XM from Marc Bergevin the Hawks Chief Pro Scout. He was asked if any Icehog players would be ready to help the Hawks in the next couple of months. He didn’t hesitate and said only one name, Cam Barker. Bergevin went on to say that he feels Barker is very close to coming up and playing in Chicago. What would happen if he is healed from injuries and can contribute along a similar fashion, as Buff has been able to do? Bergevin went on to say that Buff was the best player in then AHL before his call up in the beginning of November. Barker is the whole package as has also scored well this season in Rockford. If he can bring the size and physical play that is lacking now on the Blueline the Hawks could improve much further.
For now the Hawks will have to hope that the Bourque and Williams injuries will not last too much longer. I wouldn’t be surprised if Bourque is back right after the New Year but Williams could be out a lot longer. If the Hawks can stay at their current pace of winning efforts until they return Tallon will have no choice but to make a trade to further improve the chances of Post Season play. Once again injuries are key, but if Barker can come to Chicago and be the talent that he was thought to be when Drafted the Hawks will be far better off. They also will have a defenseman that could be used in a trade. If William and Bourque return to form by mid January or sooner Tallon will have time to beat the rush at the Trade Deadline. It might be in his best interest to look for additions sooner then later as the Western Conference continues to be comprised of many tightly bunched teams.
Schneider won’t be coming to Chicago but Barker might be here before most of us imagined. If that is the case Tallon will have another chip in his stack. The problem is that he has a nice stack of chips now but their value really hasn’t been determined. As always there are more questions then answers here, the difference now is that this season has been a lot more fun.
Al’s Shots
The Hawks have a tough weekend of games as Pat Kane goes back home to Buffalo. I hope playing in his hometown on Saturday doesn’t overwhelm him. Both he and Toews have played much better in the last 4 games. I think Kane has been snake bit around the net, as he had 4 shots on goal last night with no lamplighters as a result once again. He is still one of the best passers in the NHL. Next year and beyond as he gets stronger his goal production will increase also.
After the Sabres the Hawks will play the Panthers at the UC Sunday and that won’t be easy either.
The Hawks were a great 71% at the Faceoff Dot last night. Lang and Toews were winners 86% and 80% of the time respectively, which was a great job from each of them.
I want to extend congratulations to a big Hawks fan and Hockey Buzzer Chicago Steve and his wife Stephanie. They were just blessed with the birth of their first child a healthy baby boy, Jay Maxwell.
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