It’s different than the Foofaraw, as it’s actually about hockey. Just a couple things to clean up today before Outdoor weekend or whatever they’re calling it.
-I’d been meaning to get to this a few days ago, but my life’s inertia at the moment prevented me. Anyway, the idea of trading Teuvo Teravainen came up earlier in the week, and our friend Jay Zawaski addressed it on Twitter:
Teravainen is definitely "thinking" on the ice. Afraid to make a mistake. My source agrees. He needs to relax and dictate his possessions.
— Jay Zawaski (@JayZawaski670) February 17, 2016
JZ is pretty plugged in. Generally when he gets something from the inside it sticks. But the tweet after that was to enforce that the Hawks are not going to trade Teuvo unless someone blows their socks, shoes, and arch supports off with an offer. Obviously, everyone knows we agree with this.
I’d been thinking about Teuvo taking “control” of his shifts and games since Jay tweeted this. It seems to me that the Hawks haven’t put him in any position to do this. He’s gotten to play center for about four minutes this season, where he would. When he’s played on the top six, he’s played with players who dominate the puck, whether on Toews’s line or the brief time he was a winger with Kane. He’s been playing the point on the power play at times, when he should be on a half-wall. Teuvo has finally settled on a third line with a grunt in Desjardins and a young grunt-now in Danault.
That’s not to excuse Teuvo, who clearly has a learning curve in his first full season in the NHL. Teuvo hasn’t played a full 82-game slate, even if he split a full Cup-run between Rockford and the Hawks last year. He’s been hesitant at times, and it’s impossible to gauge how much all the lineup shuffling has affected him. As we know, Q doesn’t have time to wait for kids in return for points. Especially a season where he clearly does value finishing as high in the standings as possible.
Wednesday saw what Teuvo is capable of. And at least two players in Desjardins and Shaw figured out to get your ass to the net when Teuvo has the puck because he will find you.
Teuvo has become something of an odd fit on the roster. What’s clear to most, and why we love him, is that he sees the ice differently than most players. He sees passes and angles most don’t. He needs the puck to make those work, and he needs players to find open space and expect the puck at any time. The problem is the top two center spots for the Hawks are cemented for the next five years. While the Hawks at various times have tried to boast three scoring lines + one checking line, that requires a loaded roster that the Hawks probably aren’t going to have due to cap constraints.
I wonder where that leaves Teuvo. Playing center or wing with two forwards who just can’t get on his wavelength? Assigned checking line duties to keep Anisimov and Kane free from the toughest assignments? It seems like there’s a lot of mixed messages with him. We shall see.
-While I’ve spent all day dreaming of PK Subban wearing the red and black instead of the Bleu, Blanc, et Rouge, it’s not like I think it makes any sense. There’s no way it could happen. But sometimes you don’t think rationally, because you’re favorite player anywhere might be available.
What I do find funny is how the Bowman-Quenneville tree has produced a grouping of morons that haven’t accomplished anything that’s rivaling anyone off of Bill Belichik’s staff that couldn’t cut it on their own. Kevin Chevyldayoff was the assistant GM. He hasn’t managed a playoff win with the Jets, though the Jets do have something of a well-stocked system. Marc Bergevin was handed the best goalie on the planet and one of the best d-men of his generation in Subban and then basically fist-fucked it all by hiring a moron of a coach whom he refuses to can even though he’s clearly the biggest problem and the players hate his guts. A conference final is all he has to show for it.
Jamie Kompon is coaching the Portland Winterhawks. John Torchetti only just got his first NHL coaching gig filling in for Mike Yeo. Mike Haviland is at Colorado College. Mike Kitchen will never leave.
It’s kind of rich.
