Rolling right along into the bottom pairing. Oh, I’ve ignored David Rundblad because he played like three games so who knows? And Michael Kostka isn’t here anymore.
Regular Season: 42 games, 1 goal, 7 assists, 8 points, +7, -0.53 Behind The Net, 17.83 Corsi/60 (+3.4 Corsi Relative)
Playoffs: 17 games, 1 goal, 5 assists, 6 points, -2, -0.32 Behind The Net, 5.62 Corsi/60 (+11.9 Corsi Relative)
What We Liked: You know what’s funny? Before we get too deep into the players, it’s odd what a small Corsi number in the playoffs ends up being a plus number in the relative category. It shows you just how much the Hawks struggled in the playoffs and maybe were a bit fortunate to get where they were. Anywho…
Rozie was the sneak signing of 2012. We thought he might be, and though he started the Cup-winning season behind Brookbank in the depth chart, it wasn’t too long before he had move ahead of him and then Leddy in the playoff when the Hawks basically went with five at the back. So we weren’t shocked when he got re-signed last summer, though getting two years was a little strange.
It wasn’t a huge shock when his level dropped off his season. Early it was a bit rough, but as the season he went on he eventually smoothed out. It wasn’t anything spectacular or even noticeable as it was at times last season, but it was solid enough. Certainly he had a hand in the penalty kill not being so rocky. That’s the thing about the bottom pairing. When it’s going well, you don’t notice it.
What We Didn’t Like: It was a rough start to the year for Rozie. Perhaps it was the short summer. He looked as slow as he actually is, which he didn’t much in the previous campaign. He was certainly outplayed early in the year by Brookbank. In the playoffs, Rozsival looked even slower, and there were some rocky damn moments in all three rounds. Once switched to Oduya in the very end it looked a little better. But that doesn’t mean it looked great. Culpable as any for the Hawks’ penalty kill getting inhaled by the Kings there for a hot minute.
What Is It, You Would Say, You Do Here: Rozie has one more year left, and unless he retires he’ll be around again. You could do worse for a #7 who plays about half the games. It’s just hard to figure out who he’ll play ahead of. Spot duty for Johns? Rundbland is going to get a serious look you’d have to imagine. As long as he isn’t asked too much, that’s all right with us.
