Lets hope he is as good as his brother: SunTimes
Kneel before his statistical growth: Second City Hockey
In an all seriousness I love this dude…Keep him in your thoughts: TSN
What once was: Sportsnet.Ca
It’s been just about a week since the Hawks signed Brad Richards, and thanks to other commitments and the holiday I haven’t really had time to get in up to the elbow on what the Hawks have taken a flier on here. We’ve got time today. So roll up the sleeves, Hondo.
What they’ve gotten is clearly a player on the decline. Richards had 91 points with Dallas the year the Hawks won the Cup the firs time. He then went to 77, 66, a 60-point pace in the lockout year, and 51 points last year. So none of that is going to be encouraging, especially when he switched to the easier Eastern Conference and continued to put up less points.
Are there some mitigating factors? A few but hardly nothing major. He was bounced around the lineup a lot by John Tortorella, and Torts was allergic to offense. But the introduction of Alain Vigneault didn’t help much either.
Man-Child by the numbers by numbers I Mean Flippin FANCY STATS: NHL
Movement on the horizon? Chicago Tribune
Jim Nill..Heartbreaker: TSN
More central center depth: ESPN
Well it may be they just aren’t that good: PD
McClure took you through the local hockey club’s actions on the opening day of free agency, as I was too busy passing out from every Belgian attack (I passed out a lot). So I thought I’d clean up what went on around the league.
Central Matters
First, it’s probably best to look closer to home and that’s in the Central division. The big move was Jason Spezza going to the Stars for pretty much nothing. One aspect that didn’t get mentioned a whole lot is how this move slots The Ginger Ninja, Cody Eakin, down into the 3rd center role. That’s where he’s supposed to be and don’t be shocked if he becomes one of the better 3rd centers in the West.
Three years ago today I was in Vegas wanting Stan to sign this guy: SunTimes
Well they did for a perfect stopgap: Chicago Tribune
The Dane returns! ESPN
Big D could once again be a big problem: DMN
My contract sucks: TSN
No Paul, anywhere else….Sportsnet.ca
The beats will all have columns when the Hawks play the Panthers: MH
We think so too! Suntimes
Its pronounced Cal-Gary: Chicago Tribune
So the field is narrowed: TSN
We have seen it already: Globe and Mail
Draft recap: Hockeenight
Pretty glorious day, no?
Sure, we’re making too much of a deal of barely a fourth-liner (or barely an NHL-er). But at least we now know that Stan sees what all of us sees, or saw. And Stan is at least making attempts to re-jigger this team how he sees fit, with more speed and skill (thus the pumping and re-signing of Morin). And the fact that some team was dumb enough to give up not just a draft pick, but a 3rd rounder which could be somewhat valuable, I nearly plotzed! Watch what a difference actually having a 4th line could make next spring.
As for the picks today, well, who knows if any of these guys will come up for air. But we’ll do what we can to see what the Hawks have picked up.
It didn’t come with the fireworks we thought tonight. We all held out breath when it was reported that Hawks’ and Sharks’ reps were at the NHL table filing a trade, but in the end it just ended up being a swap of picks so the Hawks could move up. Which leads you to believe that Nick Schmaltz was a target of theirs and they went out of their way to get him.
What Schmaltz sounds like is basically a slightly bigger, American version of Teuvo Teravainen, with perhaps more finish. But Schmaltz’s game is definitely pass-first, and everyone raves about his vision and hands. He doesn’t have the size you might like, but is very strong on his skates and squirts out of traffic well.
Schmaltz has a rep for tacking a shift off or even a game off here and there, but I’m not going to dismiss a 17-year-old because his focus might waver at times. We’ll see what he does at North Dakota. He has to work on his defensive game, but who doesn’t at that age? Once again the Hawks have drafted for serious skill, which seems to be a habit of theirs. As we said, past Teuvo and Danault the Hawks looked a little short down the middle in the system. They addressed that tonight.
Tomorrow should be more interesting, as if they’re going to dump Oduya for picks and cap space it will be then.
Just as we did last night, we’ll give you a few names that should, or could, be around when the Hawks pick at #27. Though today Stan Bowman said he’s not averse to losing that pick for something else, so this all might be moot anyway.
Not that the Hawks tend to draft for need, they generally take the best player available, but the system is short on centers. Right now it’s only Teuvo and Danault, so I’m assuming all things being equal they’ll take a center. That said, they’ll probably just take the best player that’s on the board when it gets to them.
Let’s get to it, then:
Well that escalated quickly: Suntimes
I know several great Czech places: Sportsnet.Ca
I would like to see more friendly conversations like this: PD
Now that’s a cap friendly deal: CBS
I like players that frustrate the status quo…ESPN
