I don't think knees are supposed to bend that way.

There was a time when Blackhawks fans questioned the signing of Dan Carcillo, fearing his off-the-cuff antics would eventually lead to some potentially damaging incident that validated all the concerns.

After the man appropriately nicknamed CarBomb proved everyone right, Stan Bowman went ahead and re-upped him for two more years, putting fans back in the same worrisome position.

Oh, and he got a raise at that.

Carcillo managed to pack a season’s worth of drama into a mere 28 games – a number cut short by suspensions and a season-ending injury that came while making an illegal hit he’s bound to repeat down the road.

The knock on the 2010-11 Blackhawks was that they weren’t tough and gritty enough, getting pushed around while not having a true enforcer to drop the gloves when the stars got messed with. So Bowman went out and got one of the biggest agitators in the entire NHL, sending all of us befuddled fans into a state of panic.

Carcillo began his ‘Hawks career with a two-game suspension that carried over from the previous season when he was wasting Philadelphia’s time. Then in just his sixth game wearing the Indian head, he was given another two-game suspension for boarding Carolina’s Joni Pitkanen on Oct. 28.

It sure as hell didn’t take long for Carcillo to live up to his moniker, but the surprise came in the form of him, well, actually playing some decent hockey.

He began on the second line with Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa, showing some offensive skills few of us realized he even had. He was making timely passes, setting up his teammates and even tossing in the occasional goal. From Nov. 10-13, he had a goal and three assists in three games.

Suddenly, Carcillo’s presence didn’t seem all that terrible. He was providing a nice offensive game, playing decent in his own zone and even dropping the gloves. Still, Carcillo proved countless times that he’s not a top-six forward like how Coach Q was using him. I remember feeling mixed about his signing because I expected some third- and fourth-line contributions in limited minutes. Q decided he was much better than that.

He took himself out of the play at times while skating around searching for someone to hit, and some of his fights killed more momentum than he created. But those things we were able to deal with as long as he wasn’t completely fucking up.

Then came Jan. 2 against Edmonton. Carcillo laid a dirty hit on Tom Gilbert, tearing his ACL in the process. He earned himself a seven-game suspension that was served from his couch, and all the fears ‘Hawks fans had were justified.

Once news of Carcillo’s injury was released, most everyone figured we’d seen the last of him in a Blackhawks sweater.

Except, of course, for Bowman, who “rewarded” Carcillo with a two-year extension after two goals, nine assists and 82 penalty minutes. And here’s what Carcillo had to say after getting the contract:

“I don’t change anything I do on the ice. I just maybe have to hit a little less hard. Other than that, nothing is going to change.”

That just may be the problem with him, and we’ve got two more years of watching the same old shit.

The only reason it’s a full Indian head out of a possible four is because he did have a decent stretch that made everyone believe he was going to prove us wrong. Who knows, maybe we’ll see more of that. However, I’m not holding my breath.

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Part two of the dynamic duo called up in 2012 is Jimmy Hayes.  I had really high hopes for this kid this season, but his presence was merely a teaser of his future potential on the Blackhawks, as well as a potentially promising indication of what’s to come.

I have a soft-spot in my heart for the big guy.  For one thing, he’s American.  Secondly, he is 22 years old.  Lastly, and most importantly, Jimmy’s frame is built to bruise.  Standing 6’6″ tall and weighing in at over 220 lbs, Jimmy has the body to hit and hit hard.

Jimmy started the season strong, scoring 2 points in his first three professional games.  He netted 2 points in three different games for the Hawks.  Not bad for a kid playing just above 10:00 per game on the season.  Hayes started the season as a top line forward and netted 7 points in his first 10 NHL games.

Unfortunately, Hayes was a part of the player carousel that the Blackhawks had going this season, and it prevented him from developing any sort of offensive consistency, dropping in the depth chart towards the end of the season.

Jimmy played in 31 total games for the Hawks, but ended up 13th on the team in hits with 50.  Not bad for a guy paying less than half a season and averaging 10 minutes per game.  Not bad at all.

Perhaps the most impressive Jimmy Hayes stat is that he is the only Blackhawk other than Brandon Bollig to not give up a single giveaway.  ZERO.  Jimmy had 12 takeaways.

Jimmy Hayes has a good head on his shoulders too, with a work ethic that is truly admirable.  Although only playing two games in the series against the Coyotes, Hayes and former Icehog teammate Dylan Olsen stayed on the ice for 40 extra minutes in Phoenix practicing.  Ben Meyer-Abbott from the Sun-Times interviewed him after this practice session.  Hayes said the following, “You always got to be ready.  You have to make sure you’re mentally ready, and physically you want to push the pace a little bit when you do the extra work, so if you get in a game you’re not behind the playoff pace the other guys are at.”

This is the exact type of work ethic and attitude you want to see in young guys.  It’s the exact type of work ethic and attitude that Hayes has, which is why I think he has a great future in the NHL.

I won’t lie and say that I wasn’t disappointed that Jimmy didn’t get more playing time or produce more offensively at the end of the season.  That being said, I have a lot of faith in Jimmy’s potential for development.  His ability to use his body to screen and hit will be a huge plus for the Blackhawks down the road.  Combine that with the great attitude and work ethic he has, and my excitement is hard to hide.

Photo: Bill Smith/Getty Images

The 2012 NHL trade deadline was awash in armchair quarterbacking, as is usually the case; but this year, nobody could agree on what the Blackhawks needed to add to the mix. There were advocates for replacing nearly every position on the ice, including misinformed Moneyball disciples treating players like futures contracts and suggesting that “Jonathan Toews‘ trade value has never been higher!”

Please, go launch a hostile takeover or something. Come at me with that nonsense, I’ll implant your graphing calculator in your pancreas — the fun way.

As it turns out, Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman showed his impotence, failing to acquire the 2nd-line center that fans and media pundits had been unanimously clamoring for since 2010. He also added another “Who?” on the blue line, and unpleasant memories of The Chris Campoli Incident flashed before our eyes. Thank goodness Johnny Oduya turned out to be a far better bet, though his first 20 minutes in a Blackhawks uniform didn’t help to ease our fears one bit…

In his first game playing with Chicago when the Maple Leafs were in town, Oduya was on the ice for all 3 Toronto goals against in the first period. Seeing the minus-3 next to his name on the box score with the game barely one-third over gave ‘Hawks fans cause to smack their foreheads and curse Bowman’s name. But thankfully, things turned around.

That night was one of Corey Crawford’s epic meltdowns, and once Ray Emery took over at the start of the second period the Blackhawks got their game back on track. Oduya put in nearly 20 minutes of ice time that night, including over a minute each on the PP and PK, notching a shot on goal and ending the night with a flat plus-minus. Then we were all forced to re-think our unflattering first impression of the lad.

With Steve Montador suffering from a concussion, we saw a lot of Johnny Oduya over the last quarter of the season. He was frequently paired with Nick Leddy, and for some reason that combination had the effect of causing the bone-headed ideas Leddy sometimes gets to be squashed before taking hold. Though you would be hard-pressed to find stats to support it, Leddy’s play improved substantially with Oduya on the ice. Compare that with the Oduya/Niklas Hjalmarsson combination, which had the direct opposite effect on both players. Feast or famine, I suppose.

Oduya has two characteristics that make him quite noticeable on the ice: he’s deceptively fast, and he never has his head down. I mean, never. The end result is that it was hard to catch him out of position. His D partner needed an outlet pass, Oduya was there. Clearing attempt caused a strange bounce off the half-boards: Oduya kept it inside the blue line. He gets up-ice quickly, has good sense for the pass-or-dump decision, and knows his limitations on the point — namely, his shot.

His time with the Blackhawks wasn’t all wine and roses, and his performance in the playoffs wasn’t up to the standard we came to expect from him. He didn’t “Campoli” anything, but his giveaways in the defensive zone did lead to a couple of goals against. His best opportunity at winning battles along the boards is to not get into them; that proved to be a weak spot late in the season.

When all was said and done, Stan made up for last season’s trade deadline disaster by bringing in Oduya. There’s a lot to like there, and most Blackhawks fans would love to see him stay with the team — if it weren’t for one thing… his salary.

Oduya made $3.5 million this year. That’s the same as Hjalmarsson, and though few would argue that he didn’t out-play Hjammer during the time he’s been here, few would argue that he’s worth $3.5 million either. (As we’ve seen, neither is Hjalmarsson!)

Oduya is an unrestricted free agent as of July 1st, so we’re not stuck with that salary. But he would be good to have on board for another year as a couple more of our young blueliners grow some hair on their oysters. That’s particularly true if Montador’s injury takes longer to recover from than he or the team expects. But at $3.5 million? Not happening.

His numbers over 18 games in a Blackhawks uniform wound up as a plus-3 with 1 goal, 4 assists, 10 hits, 0 PIM’s, and 42 blocked shots. He’s fast, versatile, and has shown signs of the kind of “wisdom,” if you will, that we lost when Brian Campbell headed to warmer climes. He was a great pick-up, and however brief, he was one the bright spots on an otherwise hit-and-miss defensive corps this year.

Now if only his agent will consider numbers in the under-$2 million range, we might see him back next year. Otherwise, I don’t see how that’s possible.

Follow Cheer The Anthem on Twitter @CheerTheAnthem and on Facebook
If you’re on your iPhone, save cheertheanthem.noticeorange.com to your bookmarks. Works like an app.

/kicks rock

Corey Crawford was a replacement level goaltender this year.

Any way you look at it, old stats, new stats, eye test or whatever, the Blackhawks goaltending was their area of greatest need in 2011-12. They had a pretty good back-up goaltender, but we’ll get to him later. The guy making starter money had a 2.76 GAA and a .903 SV%. His even-strength save percentage was .915. Crawford was in the bottom third of the league in just about every goalie stat out there and dead last in shutouts along with his partner. During the 9 game skid, when nothing was going right, the goalies were the most culpable sources for blame. Crawford looked like he needed to be chained to his net. We can use all the excuses and cliches like sophomore slump, but the fact is he didn’t have a good season. There’s also the chance he can find himself somewhere in the middle of his past two years in the coming season though, too.

Positives: Crawford’s playoff showing, save for the two overtime goals, was a pleasant surprise after such a tumultuous year. Mike Smith was the reason the Hawks exited early again, not Corey Crawford. At the end of the season when the Hawks were struggling to keep their heads above water in the playoff chase, Crawford did stabilize a bit and backstopped a few one goal victories. He also had a solid start to the year until right after the Minnesota game with Kane’s shootout showcase. Around the change of the calendar, Crawford’s season went off a cliff and there were even rumblings about Ray Emery getting the starter job full-time. He managed to keep his job and roll into the playoffs but there isn’t a win that immediately come to mind for that said “goalie win.” Subjective, yes, but can you come up with one?

Negatives: There’s a lot to tear apart for Crow’s season but it really only came in about 30% of the games played. Otherwise, Crawford gave the Hawks a chance to win his starts. His problems began to compound when he challenged skaters more by coming out of his crease near the circles. When Crawford would come away from his net, a pass behind the office would see him scrambling to get back. Wraparounds were there all day again Crow. Crawford was a major part of the penalty kill’s failure. His .829 SV% is well below the league average of .856. He ranked 65th among goalies with at least 10 starts in save percentage on the kill.

As the season progressed, Crawford stayed in his crease a bit more but the soft goals were still being surrendered. Crawford’s 2nd year as a starter can be, at best, deemed a disappointment.

Outlook: Crawford is going to be the starter for next year’s team. I don’t see the Hawks pursuing a free agent, maybe they’ll dip their feet in the trade talks. Still, Crawford is signed for two more years at a modest cap hit. His back-up will remain the same; a solid enough player for 20 or so starts but asking more is not recommended. He could very well rebound to his numbers from 2010-11 or even somewhere in between those and this year’s. His leash will be short, but he’ll be given the chance to secure the job. Quenneville is putting on the front of a team where playing time must be earned so only the people that had the Coyotes in the Conference Finals in your pools can forecast how Quenneville handles his goaltenders next year.

Money should be spent to help what is in front of Crawford, especially on the kill. Nick Leddy playing PK time of significance next year cannot be the norm. There won’t be 75+ games logged by the likes of John Scott and Sean O’Donnell. If Crawford plays like he did this year, it wouldn’t matter if Bobby Orr and Nick Lidstrom were anchoring the Hawks D.

Assessment: A disappointment but not a player to give up on. Likely not someone the Hawks will look to on a consistent basis as a reason they win games but capable of keeping them in most.

• Special Teams: 1 Indian Head. Our penalty kill was atrocious and Crawford was on the ice for a lot of it.
• Even Strength: 2 Indian Heads. And barely. He was decidedly average.
• Overall I give him 1.5 Indian Heads and a big Needs Improvement going into next season.

The Rat doesn’t need any introduction. Let’s get right to it!

The Good:

After Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook, you’d be hard pressed to find a Blackhawk who is asked to do more than Dave Bolland (okay, maybe Jonathan Toews) night in and night out. Whether it’s anchoring their most important line, killing penalties or playing on the power play, he does it all, and he does it all pretty damn well. This season, Bolland was once again asked to shoulder the burden of shutting down other teams top lines, and as usual, he delivered. The 200 ft game Bolland (he played tougher minuets than anyone) can and does bring to the table is a major factor in the success of this hockey team – especially in the playoffs. As usual, Bolland was a mainstay on the penalty kill (which was awful) and led the team with 3 shorthanded goals, which really wasn’t a surprise. What was a surprise was the fact that he ended up tied for 2nd on the team with 7 power play goals. His 10 special teams goals were 2nd on the Blackhawks behind Marian Hossa. Another reason everyone loves Bolland : the playoffs! His performance was criticized in some quarters, but I thought that line was the most consistent and effective the Blackhawks had. I shudder to think what the Phoenix series would have ended up looking like without Bolland, along with Bickell (which probably says something about the ‘Hawks).

The Bad:

Bolland is liable to disappear on any given night of the regular season. For whatever reason, he seems to shut down over certain stretches, and when he goes, the 3rd line goes with him. Of the 19 goals he scored, 7 were on the power play and  2 were empty netters. While his 3 shorties were great, the ‘Hawks need more than 7 goals at even strength when a goaltender is present. His 37 points were certainly a bit underwhelming, but considering he played with the criminally negligent Bryan Bickell and a Michael Frolik who simply disappeared off the face of the earth, it doesn’t look so bad. He has always excelled with skilled winger (Havlat and Versteeg) skating beside him. Hopefully he will have one next season.

As usual, he could also stand to become a little more consistent at the dot. Somehow he ended winning almost half (48.8%) of his draws, but it sure didn’t feel that way.

The Outlook:

Some have speculated that Dave Bolland may be on his way out of town. I cannot stress enough how much I fear this development. Many believe that our dear Rat could be replaced with Marcus Kruger. If you believe that Kruger can survive on the 3rd line while trying to bring what Bolland did to this team, I think you’re nuts. Yes, Bolland gets paid like a 2nd line center, and no, he didn’t put up that kind of production this season. But with Joel Quenneville affirming that he will be the coach of the ‘Hawks next season, I don’t see how Stan can take away his safety blanket and hand the reigns to a Kruger, who one gets the feeling could literally be destroyed on the ice at any minute. You thought Bolland was injury prone? Wait ’till you see what happens to Kruger over the long haul.

You’d have to get a king’s ransom in return for Bolland to make a deal worth happening. A completely established 2nd line center and probably another defenseman would have to be on their way to Chicago. It’s hard to see that sort of package developing. I think he stays.

Season Grade:

Bolland earned himself 2.5 Indian Heads this season. While we would have liked to have seen more offense, he was Old Reliable defensively and was one of the only guys on the power play worth a shit.  Hope to see you next year, Mr. Bolland.

Ever seen them in the same room together?

We should have seen this coming. Specifically, we should have taken Florida Panthers’ fans seriously when they echoed our, “Ha-ha, you got Skille!” chants with, “Ha-ha, you got Frolik!” Apparently the scouts on both teams had mad cow disease when doing the assessments on these guys. Like just watching them play wasn’t enough to make them walk away for good.

But at least Florida regained its common sense in the off-season. Whereas Jack Skille got re-signed at $825K, our intrepid StanBow somehow thought Michael Frolik was worth nearly double his salary from the previous two years, and on a 3-year contract to boot. Once the ink dried on that deal, it was very obvious who got the better of this trade.

And then the 2011-12 season started…

The beginning of the 2011-12 season was when we were actually thinking that the $2.3 million we had thrown at Frolik was worth it. Head Coach Joel Quenneville had kept him on the line with Bryan Bickell and Dave Bolland that had shown such promise during the late part of the prior season. Sure enough, the chemistry was still there: before the kids had eaten even half of their Hallowe’en candy that line had combined for 10 goals and 8 assists. Frolik tallied 6 of his eventual 15 points during that stretch.

Then, for whatever reason, everything went south. The next 3 games that line was a combined minus-10. Following that, both Bickell and Frolik were healthy scratches, Bolland hurt his foot and was out several games, and whatever cohesion those three may have had evaporated into thin air.

With the rash of injuries during the season turning the roster into Swiss cheese, you would think that Frolik would have seen ample playing time to fill in for his fallen comrades. But quite the opposite was true: the team chose to bring up rookies to fill the void, while handing Frolik a box of Sno-Caps. During the busiest stretch of the year in February and March, Frolik played in only 12 games — and was a healthy scratch for 16 — while rookies Jimmy Hayes and Andrew Shaw were dressed. The only forward who was a healthy scratch for a higher percentage of games during February and March was Brendan Morrison. That says a lot.

If there is a “strength” to Frolik’s game, it was found in his penalty killing this year. But since stats on individual players’ performances while on the PK are difficult to find, I have merely anecdotal evidence to support that. The only other positive to report is that he averages just under one shot on goal per game. The rest of his game, the numbers speak for themselves: 5 goals, 10 assists, minus-10, 56 hits, 32 blocked shots.

Or, by means of comparison, we would have been better off (and saved $1.6 million) with Mark Letestu from the Columbus Blue Jackets.

What’s to become of Michael Frolik? Nobody is going to take that contract with that level of performance in a trade, so we’re stuck with him. I’m praying that management sees the flow of young talent that is ready for big-league action, and lets Mr. Frolik join his former-Panther colleague Rusty Olesz up in Rockford. Only time will tell.

Oh, and I’m saving the best for last: 2 of Frolik’s 5 goals were empty-netters.

Follow Cheer The Anthem on Twitter @CheerTheAnthem and on Facebook
If you’re on your iPhone, save cheertheanthem.noticeorange.com to your bookmarks. Works like an app.

A Blackhawks coach is leaving Chicago, but it’s not Joel Quenneville – yet.

The ‘Hawks fired assistant coach Mike Haviland on Tuesday in a surprising move few saw coming. It’s pretty safe to assume the first head on the chopping block would have been Mike Kitchen, given his responsibilities with the horribly bad special teams.

Al Cimaglia wrote recently he heard Haviland had an “unwritten promise” to succeed Coach Q, but that sure doesn’t seem to be the case now. I’m assuming Haviland was just as surprised as we are.

Then again, the Blackhawks needed a fall guy for another disappointing playoff “run,” and rather than Kitchen, Q decided to let go of supposedly his right-hand man.

So, in a matter of months Haviland went from being a finalist for the Winnipeg job to unemployed. Seems like a tough break.

We’ll be back with an update once we hear from those who made the decision.

There’s plenty of discussions regarding the Blackhawks’ financial situation and the money tied up in either under-performing players or long contracts currently on the roster.

But along with Jonathan Toews, some of the Blackhawks’ most wisely spent money is being given to Patrick Sharp – and he proved it once again with another solid season.

The Handsome One underwent an emergency appendectomy in the offseason, welcomed his first child into the world Dec. 10 – then scored the next night against San Jose – missed eight games because of a broken wrist suffered against Detroit on Jan. 8, played through the break the rest of the season, and still finished with a team-leading 33 goals.

He may have had a rough playoff series, but what Blackhawk didn’t?

Sharp’s drama-filled season would’ve made for one hell of a documentary, overcoming injury and off-ice distractions (celebrations?) to be the team’s most productive offensive player. It’s no small task, and it may have gotten lost simply because he stayed so consistent throughout the season.

The only time Sharp slumped was in February as he adjusted to playing with that broken wrist mentioned earlier. He had nine goals and seven assists from March 4 in the regular season’s final 16 games, helping the ‘Hawks go 10-2-4 down the stretch.

Sharp finished with a team-high plus-28 rating that was good for seventh best in the NHL, and his eight game-winning goals also tied for seventh in the league. Both marks were career highs.

The playoffs? Well, that was a different story.

Sharp had only one goal – deflecting Brent Seabrook’s blast to tie up Game 2 with six seconds remaining – and that was it. Otherwise, he wasn’t heard from much. Given his stature on the team, it would’ve been nice to get more production from him, but we could sit here and say that about damn near everyone in that series.

Sharp’s offensive talent can’t be questioned, but his defense again came in spurts despite that gaudy plus-minus. Here’s a guy who finished fourth in the Selke voting in 2007-08, and just four years later – even the last two seasons, really – we’re discussing him as a defensive liability at times. Is he hesitant to be more physical and defensive minded due to his injuries following that season?

He missed 21 games in 2008-09 and eight games each of the past two seasons. Only Sharp will know the answer for why he’s become more of a one-way player than a two-way player, but that’s not to say he’s completely terrible in his own zone. It seems, though, the days of Sharp being discussed for a Selke trophy are long, long gone.

And I know I’m not the only one who can’t get over this, but the Blackhawks won a Stanley Cup with Sharp at center. At center. Sharp. At center. The ‘Hawks had many, many problems locking down that second-line spot, and the answer may have been on their roster all along. It’s been rumored Sharp simply doesn’t want to player there. But this is all a discussion for another day.

Bottom line, Sharp put up another fantastic offensive season despite playing through an episode of All My Children.

I think a grade of 3.5 Indians out of 4 is a nice solid ‘A’ for Sharp, which he deserves. Given all he dealt with, leading the team in goals scored and adding 36 assists with career highs in plus-minus and game-winning goals is a pretty solid accomplishment.

And Sharp is still going. He had a goal and four assists in Canada’s win at the world championships Monday.

Exactly.

I wanted to like you. Really, I did. But 27 points in 78 games isn’t anything to write home about. The Chicago Blackhawks paid Andrew Brunette just under $75K per point this season. I do recall hearing something of quite the winning ways for the Hawks when Brunette’s name showed up on the scoresheet. The problem was, it wasn’t showing up there nearly enough. This is the 2nd biggest lemon of Stan Bowman’s first offseason with the Blackhawks behind only Michael Frolik in my opinion. Brunette was supposed to supply powerplay net presence and we all know that the Chicago powerplay would have had to improve to be terrible this season. At even strength, he never really had a fit here because he wasn’t quick enough to keep up with the puck possession play of a fast moving team. He was the most frustrating player for me to watch this past year.

Positives: As mentioned, when Brunette managed to score the Blackhawks generally won. Other than that, Brunette held very little use. He did skate some of the tougher minutes among forwards (6th) though I’m not too sure how. Brunette was not a mainstay on the top line very long, skated the most with Hossa and Kane at even strength and never held a spot on the Hawks third line. That was the problem with Brunette: he never showed a logical fit among any combination of teammates. On the powerplay, he did contribute at times but more often than not he was part of the zone entry problems. Again, because of his lack of speed. He did play through injury and managed to appear in 78 of the Hawks 82 games. I’d almost prefer that he didn’t. Brunette didn’t add much and I’m not going to pretend like he did.

Negatives: More than anything for me it is actually his status as a veteran on a Joel Quenneville team so there was really no chance of him ever getting scratched. Q would trot him out there, try him with anyone and everyone. It was like watching that guy with the crinkled dollar bill stand at the vending machine for 15 minutes. He was slow, which I believe has been clearly stated to this point. His strength was to be winning board battles and getting pucks back into the slot for his teammates. He never did that particularly well once he made it to the corners. More often it was Brunette not even making it to the corners because two other forecheckers would get there first.

Defensively, he was a liability. While he did play some reasonably tough minutes only Andrew Shaw held a higher GA/60 on the team. Shaw’s a rookie and his game sample size was much smaller. Brunette constantly left his linemates out to dry in the Hawks end. Brunnete will not be missed and his $2M in cap will undoubtedly be better used in 2012-13. It’s hard to believe $2M going to less use.

Outlook: Brunette has no future with the Blackhawks but I can see a team that mucks it up and plays a very systematic offense game giving him a one year, low risk deal. Brunette would be wise to take any money an NHL team gives him but I wouldn’t be shocked if he hung it up for good.

Assessment: Brunette was never a fit at any point of the season for the Blackhawks at even strength. He provided some benefit on the powerplay but not enough to justify his existence in the lineup. The Blackhawks powerplay was dreadful as a whole. Brunette was a part of that. I would think that Stan Bowman has learned his lesson with how players like Brunette up front and Sean O’Donnell on the blue line work, or don’t work, on this team. Speed is a prerequisite for the style of hockey they play under Joel Quenneville. The current roster’s make up has just as much to do with that as the head coach.

• Offense: 1.5 Indian Heads out of 4
• Defense: I’m just going to say he got scalped here.
• Special Teams: 2 Indian Heads out of 4
• Intangibles: 2.5 Indian Heads out of 4
• Overall: He just wasn’t a fit here. One Indian Head rating for me on Bruno.

With 2012 just five days old and #ShawFacts unborn, the Blackhawks’ fan base sounded like a group of owls, collectively yelling “Who?!” after hearing  Andrew Shaw was being called up from Rockford.

The little-known fifth-round draft pick wasn’t expected to be in the Blackhawks’ plans this season or even next season, depending on who you ask. Hell, I challenge most of you to even recall the ‘Hawks drafting him.

But there was Shaw, a 180-pound ball of energy unexpectedly ready to make an impact.

And from his first game, that’s exactly what he did. Shaw provided the grit and tenacity we’d hoped to see from more experienced players while also packing a scoring punch. Sure, there are deficiencies in his game. He has plenty to learn, and that aggressiveness he showed ended up costing him in the playoffs, but Shaw provided a pleasant surprise for the ‘Hawks by getting an early jump on his career.

It’s pretty amazing how Shaw went from an unknown to being a key player the ‘Hawks seemed to miss during his three-game ban in the postseason. He fought in one of his first NHL shifts and scored a goal in his first career game – a 5-4 loss to Philadelphia on Jan. 5. Shaw then added a four-game goal streak from Jan. 12-18, earning himself a bit of a cult following among fans who couldn’t get enough of the unexpected explosion from the rookie.

Forklift of HockeeNight started #ShawFacts on Twitter, and the damn thing exploded while Fork sat at home getting little credit for his creation the Blackhawks and Shaw himself ran with.

Five goals in your first eight career games will get you that attention.

Then, Shaw became human. He went 12 games without a goal and was basically invisible during the nine-game losing streak. He got caught being overly aggressive, was out of position and seemed lost at times in his own zone. He played five minutes in the win over the Rangers on Feb. 16, taking a bad penalty and missing his assignment that led to a goal. He was sent down and seemed destined to remain in Rockford.

His demotion lasted only two weeks, though, and just like his first call-up, Shaw came back and scored in a win over Toronto on Feb. 29 and was here to stay for the rest of the season. He finished with 23 points in 37 games and provided a lift for the Blackhawks that no one saw coming.

Despite his small stature, he provided a presence in front of the net and caused some disruption with physical play – sometimes smart, other times reckless.

That recklessness showed at times in his three playoff games, eventually feeling the brunt of the Shanahammer to the tune of a three-game suspension for allegedly running over Mike Smith, who can be credited with a flop even the Sedins could envy. Nevertheless, Shaw’s ban stemmed from being overly aggressive before that play, and that got him – and the ‘Hawks – in trouble at times this season.

For a rookie few heard of before the season began, Shaw exploded onto the scene and provided a spark while cementing a spot with the 2012-13 Blackhawks. While his aggressiveness and energy are welcome assets, he needs to tone it down at times to put himself and the team in better situations. There was definitely some inconsistency that comes with growing pains, and he’s got an offseason to go over that. He got to learn on the job this year, and he’ll likely get a crack at a full 82 next season.