Put Down That Mouse!
What are you doing? It's probably a beautiful day out there. If
you're in the northern part of this continent, then you should be
out skiing, playing tackle football in the snow, or shoveling off
the nearest pond for some pickup hockey. If you live nearer the
equator, you should be enjoying that warm sunny weather we wish we
had up here.
But no. You're languishing in front of a computer monitor, reading.
And reading about what? The crisis in the Middle East? How to make
your Nano-Pet Y2K-ready? Irregular protein synthesis in Drosophila
Melanogaster?
No, you're spending valuable time reading about the worst team in
the National Hockey League. You should be ashamed of yourself.
At least you have a choice. I, on the other hand, am forced to
spend countless hours viewing and researching the listless exercise
that passes for professional hockey in this city. I'd quit, but
how else would I support my $1,000-a-week beanie baby habit? Plus
the editors have pictures . . . .
But if you insist, I guess we might as well get down to the dirty
business of analyzing the Blackhawks' continuing slide into
oblivion.
First of all we must dispense with any notion of the Hawks' being a
good team in a slump, or a young team ready to break out. A quick
look at the recent slate of games shows that this team is
fundamentally bad.
In the nine games since the last LCS Hockey issue, the Hawks have
garnered six points. Seems sort of on the low side of mediocre
until you notice that five of those points came in games where the
Hawks were significantly outshot and benefited either from great
goaltending on their end (Jocelyn Thibault stopped 68 of 69 shots
in two games with the Islanders) or shoddy goaltending by the
opponent (ex-Hawk Jimmy Waite gave up four goals on nine shots in
the second period in the 4-3 win over Phoenix). The other point
came in a tie with Nashville in which the expansion Predators blew
a 3-0 lead.
The losses, on the other hand, were all well deserved. The Flyers
tallied twice before the Hawks' third shot on goal. Detroit scored
four goals in a minute and a half to win in their building then gave
the Hawks more of the same the next night in the United Center. All
of which was merely buildup to the loss in St. Louis during which the
Hawks managed no shots in five power-play tries and played such a
passive, uninspired brand of hockey that my dad vowed not to waste
any more time this year watching Blackhawk hockey (and he's
retired!).
And while the Blackhawks do have many youngsters logging significant
ice time, none of them look ready to break out anytime soon (except
Eric Daze whose face breaks out in pimples on a regular basis). The
lack of contribution from the younger Hawks has been especially
evident in the offensive end, where only Daze and Chad Kilger have
scored more than five goals this year.
Blackhawks management had hoped that the pool of Daze, Kilger and
Ethan Moreau would yield at least one legitimate power forward, but
the Hawks have instead been forced to trade for little speedy guys
like Nelson Emerson and Mike Maneluk to add scoring punch. This is
precisely the type of player the team has moved away from recently,
letting Greg Johnson and Sergei Krivokrasov go to Nashville in the
offseason.
The slow development of the Blackhawks' top prospects makes a future
without Chris Chelios, Doug Gilmour, and Bob Probert (all well into
their second decade in the NHL) a very cloudy one.
Perhaps more disturbing than the idea of a future Hawks team with no
talent to speak of is the sight of the present Hawks squad,
possessed of some very talented players including the NHL's top
goal scorer, playing like the worst team in the NHL.
Exactly why the Blackhawks play so poorly is unclear, but certain
trends arise.
For one, the Hawks seem incapable of placing a pass on a teammate's
stick. Whether moving through the neutral zone or setting up the
power play, the Hawks constantly turn the puck over by passing
poorly.
Another constant in Hawks games has been the illusion that they are
permanently shorthanded, not because they're taking penalties
(though they are, in bunches) but because the other team is always
quicker to the puck carrier or the loose puck along the boards.
Finally, the Hawks have a unique talent for turning harmless plays
into prime scoring chances against. This may be the only team
against whom a three-on-three is an odd-man situation, because a
simple criss-cross move often results in a man open in front of the
net.
There's common thread in these trends. I'm not sure whether to call
it "organization" or "preparedness" or "team sense" but it has to do
with coaching. After almost a half season, the Hawks still don't
seem to know where they're supposed to be on the ice or what they're
supposed to do when they get there.
Both Darryl Sutter and Craig Hartsburg had limited success with a
similar talent level by imposing a strict system in which every
on-ice situation had a mandated response. Dirk Graham's opinion of
that coaching style became evident very early when he interrupted
assistant Denis Savard's blackboard session before the opener
against New Jersey, erased what Savard had written and said (I'm
paraphrasing here):
"Screw it, just go out there and kick butt."
It's the middle of January now, and nary a butt has been kicked. It
may be time to try a different approach. Oh, and it's also time for
the...
Team Report Card
Team Grade: D-.
Coaches: F.
Forwards
Overall: D.
Tony Amonte: A. Tough to give anything else to a guy leading the league
in goals with no offensive support.
Dan Cleary: B-. Despite a trip to the minors, Cleary has been one of
the more consistent young Hawks
Eric Daze: D. Only ten goals, a team-worst -18, and a semi-permanent
residence in Graham's doghouse.
Nelson Emerson: Inc. Has showed some offensive spark in first few games.
Doug Gilmour: B-. Some nights he's the only Hawk with anything, other
nights he's invisible.
Mark Janssens: C. OK, they didn't get him for scoring, but a few more
faceoff wins and good penalty kills would be nice.
Chad Kilger: D. Shows spark then disappears. Doesn't play his size.
Jean-Yves Leroux: Inc. Hasn't played a shift.
Mike Maneluk: C-. Him they did get for scoring.
Craig Mills: Inc. One of Coach Graham's faceless, interchangeable goons.
Ethan Moreau: C+. I have a soft spot for Ethan 'cause he's always
hitting people. One day he'll start crashing the net.
Ed Olczyk: D. Graham was right when he cut him loose the first time.
Bob Probert: B+. The only consistent forechecking threat on the team.
Whatever line he's on sustains offensive pressure.
Reid Simpson: Inc. See Craig Mills.
Todd White: B. Another guy on the IHL shuttle who plays well
whenever he's up.
Alexei Zhamnov: C-. The flashes of brilliance followed by five games of
nothing are getting real old.
Defense:
Overall: C.
Jamie Allison: Inc. Didn't see enough before he got hurt.
Brad Brown: B-. Was awful early on, but has started to crush opposing
forwards (legally, too).
Chris Chelios: C-. Standards are higher for a multiple Norris trophy
winner, and Cheli just makes too many mistakes.
Christian Laflamme: B-. Struggled early but may be coming around after a
stint in Portland.
Dave Manson: C+. Hard to figure. Rock-steady one night, blind
passes up the middle the next. And he's SO slow.
Bryan Muir: B-. Graham sees great things in this guy's future. So
far he looks quietly mediocre.
Trent Yawney: Inc. Spent a lot of time on the bench, now his season's
over.
Doug Zmolek: Inc. Plays little, makes no impact when he does.
Goalies:
Mark Fitzpatrick: B-. Played better in his brief stint as #1 than in his
present backup role.
Jocelyn Thibault: B. If his present pace of improvement continues, the
Hackett/Weinrich/Nasreddine for Thibault/Manson/Brown
deal will be one for the books.
Conspiracy Theory
If you're like Coach Graham and me, you think there's one
ingredient in the Blackhawks' downfall that's beyond their control:
horrible officiating. Repeating the complaint that's as familiar to
Hawks fans as Frank Pellico's version of Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song",
Graham publicly questioned officials twice last week.
"It seems to be the same every game", Graham said after the Hawks'
second loss to Detroit in as many nights. "Either we're the
dirtiest team that has ever played the game or there's something
else going on."
"I don't think we're that dirty," he added.
The most conspicuous target of excessive attention from the refs was
Bob Probert. Sure, he's a bruiser, but a call he drew from Don
Koharski in the first Detroit game led ESPN commentator Barry
Melrose to exclaim:
"You've got to let these guys play the game. Otherwise we might as
well all be out there wearing dresses."
That was nothing compared to the call made by Terry Gregson five
nights later in St. Louis. Probie caught the Blues' Terry Yake
with his head down and landed a solid shoulder that flattened Yake,
and Gregson whistled him for elbowing. Probert described the
situation accurately:
"It's a joke. He called an elbow on me, and my elbow was down by my
waist. It was the cleanest hit of the year."
All in all, the Hawks have been out-power-played this year by a
margin of about 4-3 (204 times short versus 158 power plays). So
far the league has tolerated Graham's outbursts, but if he's
expecting an apology or a promise of future compensation he's in
for a long wait.
Addition By Subtraction. And Addition Too. Except That If You
Subtract A Negative Number, It's Actually Just Addition And, . . .
. Oh Dammit Never Mind...
A Good Trade
Blackhawks' GM Bob Murray had the good fortune to transact business
recently with the team with the shortest memory in the NHL, the
Carolina Hurricanes.
The Hawks unloaded Paul Coffey and the portion of his salary not
paid by his former employers the Philadelphia Flyers. While this
move alone would have been cause for celebration, Murray also
grabbed a halfway decent player from the Hurricanes in Nelson
Emerson.
Perhaps the tap water in Greensboro is drawn from the River Lethe.
Or maybe the euphoria induced by 6,000 screaming fans has numbed
the painful memories from Hartford. But didn't Paul Coffey
essentially refuse to play for this organization a few short years
ago. Wasn't he acquired (along with Keith Primeau) at the cost of
the franchise's only real talent, Brendan Shanahan and then let go
for next to nothing?
At any rate, Nelson Emerson had a three-point night in his fifth
game with the Hawks, and Coffey and his "drop foot" are someone
else's problem.
Silver Lining?
One bright spot in the recent gloom has been the play of Jocelyn
Thibault. I know, just last issue I was voicing concerns about his
play, but in the last two weeks Thibault has played brilliantly for
stretches of longer than a period or two.
For those of us who never saw much of the young netminder (Thibault
will turn 24 this Friday) in Montreal, he has demonstrated great
quickness and agility -- and a tendency to give long and ill-placed
rebounds. But he seems to be responding well to the coaching of
Vladislav Tretiak and has also shown a trait unusual in a goalie --
a great clubhouse demeanor.
In light of the fact that this Hawks' season is going nowhere anyway,
here's hoping that Thibault is given every opportunity to develop
into a legitimate number one goalie.
News and Notes
Unlike his predecessors, Dirk Graham hasn't had the injury excuse to
fall back on this year. Except for Paul Coffey, the only projected
starter to miss significant ice time this year was Jean-Yves Leroux.
Now however, the injured list is starting to grow. The blue line
corps was weakened when Trent Yawney was lost for the season to a
broken elbow against Nashville and Doug Zmolek went out with a groin
injury. Then the news came that Eric Daze's "day-to-day" groin
injury will keep the young scorer out for at least two weeks . . . .
Tony Amonte is stuck on 23 goals as teams have finally begun to
shadow him. So far no Blackhawk has picked up the scoring slack . .
. . The Hawks' tough-guy image took a bit of a hit as Dennis Bonvie
was sent packing to Philadelphia. Bonvie wasn't the greatest of
fighters, but his obvious mental instability was useful in
intimidating opponents. "D.B." is one of the few members of the
hockey profession (or, hopefully, the human race), who appears to
actively enjoyed getting his head pummeled. In Bonvie's last bout as
a Blackhawk, Tony Twist landed eight or 10 solid rights to his head,
and as usual Bonvie skated off grinning ear to ear.
