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End Of Season Reviews: Michael Frolik
May 9th
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…
Blackhawks fire Mike Haviland
May 8th
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.
End of Season Reviews: Patrick Sharp
May 8th
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?
End of Season Reviews: Andrew Brunette
May 7th
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.
End of Season Reviews: Andrew Shaw
May 4th
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.
End of Season Reviews : Bryan Bickell
May 2nd
The likelihood of President Obama ever attending a hockey game did not increase after meeting Bryan Bickell at the White House last season.
Ahh, Bryan Bickell. If you’re the type of fan who has bemoaned the ‘Hawks lack of grit and toughness the past two seasons, you probably fucking hate Bryan Bickell. You tell anyone who will listen what a softy he is – ugly too!
There is little question that through two full seasons, Bickell has been a disappointment in a few categories. As a young 6’4 forward with a decent shot, the Blackhawks envisioned Bickell being a big part of replacing what players like Andrew Ladd and Ben Eager brought to the ‘Hawks forecheck in the years leading up to the Cup victory. It hasn’t quite worked out that way, even though I would argue that he hasn’t been exactly been a flop either.
End of Season Reviews: Jamal Mayers
May 1st
Photo: Chicago Tribune
When the Blackhawks signed veteran winger Jamal Mayers in the off-season, I thought it was the best acquisition they made. 12-year veteran, decent size, decent speed, enough grit and gristle to be useful. Sure, past his prime. But for the price we signed him at, he might chip in for 10 goals and 15 assists and provide some veteran leadership on the 3rd or 4th lines.
Those totals didn’t materialize (6G + 9A, and zippo in the playoffs), but we got a healthy dose of what Mayers was made of in the first 15 games of the season. Before the campaign was a month old he had 2 goals, including a game-winner, plus 2 helpers; and was getting an average of one shot on goal each night. He also took it upon himself to beat the crap out of no fewer than 5 guys. He was the only Blackhawk who registered a fighting major until Daniel “CarBomb” Carcillo went nuts during the Vancouver game on November 6th. Mayers was doing all of this while logging an average of only 10 minutes of ice time a night.
So now the season is over, and Mayers is a free agent. He was, arguably, the best investment Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman made — dollar for dollar — in the 2011 off-season. Hard not to pass on that kind of success again…
End of Season Reviews: Duncan Keith
Apr 30th
Over the next few weeks the CtA staff will be looking back at the 2011-12 campaign and doing our personal evaluations of individuals players. We begin with one of the guys who wears a letter for this team and generally spends about half the game on the ice, Duncan Keith.
Unfortunately what he'll be most remembered for in 2011-12
26:53.
That’s the first number that I went and researched because it’s probably the most obvious place to start. For three seasons we’ve monitored Duncan Keith’s ice time because the Blackhawks have been unable to field a third pairing that can skate 10-12 minutes a game. Twenty six minutes and fifty three seconds is the average amount of time that Duncan Keith spent on the ice for the Blackhawks this past season. He did that in just under 31 shifts a game at about 50 seconds each. Only former Blackhawk Brian Campbell was in that range. In fact, the number is exactly the same for Campbell. It’s unfortunate that Duncan Keith will be remembered for what is pictured above because there’s far more to talk about with #2′s season than that. Much of the discussion will take the same tone though.
Things are Gonna Get Easier
Apr 28th
Adrian Aucoin participating in second-round playoff hockey for a team that resides in the desert seems about as likely as him being captain for the Blackhawks. Unfoturnely, both have happened.
Well, maybe they won’t. I don’t know. They’re definitely going to be different, though. Right?
Basically, there are a lot of questions marks for Stan Bowman and the Blackhawks’ roster in the offseason, and with hockey still being played in places like Hollywood, the desert and whatever the hell you want to call New Jersey, attempting to make sense of it all seems futile.
What we will do, however, is discuss the good and the bad among last season’s contributors and disappointments who donned the Indian head on a player-by-player basis.
Each week we’ll bring you five player reviews and maybe some random discussion. Here’s what you can look forward to for the first week, as myself, Jim, Tim and JMH breakdown your 2011-12 Blackhawks – who will be playing as much playoff hockey as I will the rest of this season.
Monday — Duncan Keith
Tuesday — Jamal Mayers
Wednesday — Bryan Bickell
Thursday — Andrew Shaw
Friday — Patrick Sharp
We’re going to try and mix in stars and role players each week, with these recaps taking you through the Stanley Cup finals. And if St. Louis ends up playing for the Cup, you’ll likely need your hockey fix since you won’t be watching those assholes.
So, even though the Blackhawks’ season is over, ours isn’t quite yet. Keep checking back.
Detour On The Road To Dynasty
Apr 24th
( Scott Strazzante, Chicago Tribune)
Well, it’s not the way we had it scripted, but the 2011-2012 Chicago Blackhawks season ends not with a bang, but a whimper.
It was supposed to be a lot different (better), of course. This particular ‘Hawks team was going to be the one to restore all the glory after a mostly forgettable 2010-2011 season. That season was written off fairly early by many fans who understand how contracts and the CBA worked. Hey, they would be back with a vengeance the next season, reloaded and rested, right? We heard a lot about how much that loss to Vancouver pissed them off. We heard about how hungry they were to prove the critics wrong. We were told the ‘Hawks finally had some money to spend. We had reason to be optimistic.
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