Jan 16, 2016
Thumbs to Blackhawks, mid-season surprises and disappointments
TSN's Dave Hodge gives a thumbs up to the Chicago Blackhawks for earning their 10th straight win, and extends his thumbs - both up and down - to the mid-season "surprises" and "disappointments."
By Dave Hodge
“Thumbs up” to the Chicago Blackhawks for 10 straight wins. I could have said “Stanley Cup champion” Chicago Blackhawks, but I didn’t. That suggests a shrug of the shoulders for a routine hot streak belonging to the mighty Hawks.
This 2015-16 version of a team that has won three of the last six Stanley Cups isn’t really a juggernaut. And why should it be?
Players who have helped the Blackhawks win one or more of those Stanley Cups and are now wearing different NHL uniforms make up the equivalent of an entire roster.
Put them all together and they could do pretty well. Patrick Sharp, Brandon Saad and Andrew Ladd are three excellent forwards, backed up by Antoine Vermette, Troy Brouwer and Kris Versteeg. On defence could be the pair of Dustin Byfuglien and Brian Campbell, or, if you prefer, Johnny Oduya and Nick Leddy. The goalie is Antti Niemi.
The point of this is to praise Chicago for carrying on and winning regularly despite losing so many good players. Sure, it helps to have the six-man nucleus that has powered the three championship teams - captain Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa up front, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Niklas Hjalmarsson on the blueline. And this year’s team benefits greatly from the impact made by the likely winner of the Calder Trophy, Artemi Panarin.
Otherwise, and unless there’s a way around the salary cap to bolster the team at the trade deadline, this Chicago team will enter the playoffs with less experience, talent and depth than the preceding championship squads.
The Blackhawks will be Stanley Cup contenders, but probably not Stanley Cup favourites. Then again, they have just won 10 straight games.
Mid-season surprises and disappointments
There aren’t NHL trophies marked “surprise” and “disappointment,” but mid-season reviews aren’t complete without addressing both.
For “most pleasant surprise” by a player, the choice here is Evgeny Kuznetsov of Washington. We knew he’d be good, but we didn’t know he’d be this good so soon.
Kuznetsov is one of the NHL’s best forwards this season and if he’s got bonus money in his contract, he should send some of it to the league’s loudest voice in favour of 3-on-3 overtime. Kuznetsov might be able to get the Capitals the extra point playing 1-on-3, with Braden Holtby’s help, if needed, of course.
For “most pleasant surprise” by a team, the early favourite was Dallas, but 12 straight wins made it “thumbs up” to the Florida Panthers. Hardly an argument there.
Now, to the “biggest disappointments.” Individually, it’s a tie between Philadelphia’s Jake Voracek, Jiri Hudler of Calgary and Ryan Getzlaf of Anaheim. The first two were top-10 scorers last season and they have exactly 10 goals between them this season.
Hudler has missed, and continues to miss time with an injury, so there’s something of an explanation. Voracek does have 24 assists so, it could be worse. And 24 assists is the only saving grace for Getzlaf, next to the grand total of three goals.
The most disappointing team? Well, here’s where the real debate starts.
I give you seven candidates - Pittsburgh, Ottawa, Anaheim, Nashville, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Calgary. Edmonton, too, perhaps, although the Oilers are such perennial losers they’re beyond the “disappointment” stage. Connor McDavid’s injury is this season’s letdown, thus far.
The interesting thing about the seven legitimately-disappointing teams is that they all made the playoffs last season and not one of them is currently in a playoff spot. The good thing is that any or all of them can be post-season teams again. The largest playoff deficit, belonging to the Flames, is only four points.