You Protect the Captain at all Costs......

So I just had the (dis) pleasure of reading an article about how Kris Versteeg shouldn’t have reacted after Willie Mitchell’s devastating hit on Jonathan Toews. This is the most ludicrous thing I have ever heard in my life.

While it may not have been the best instance to take a penalty, it honestly doesn’t matter. I like the fact that Versteeg was the one to step up, he saw his captain down and he reacted. Good for you Steeger!

Hits like that change the momentum of a game for obvious reasons, sometimes for the worse (as is the case here since this began the parade to the penalty box for the Hawks) or for the better (like during the Sabres Senators brawl in 2007). While these two examples are very, very different the principle is the same.

If you watch the video of the Sabres Senators brawl, Chris Drury was hit late and with an elbow. As soon as he hit the ice, Stafford was hitting Chris Neil. This was an excellent move given the situation and the fact that it was Stafford that went after Neil made it that much more impressive. After this little “fight” Murray was stupid enough to put his top line out against Buffalo’s bruising fourth line of Peters, Mair and Kaleta. As soon as the puck dropped Mair went after Spezza, Peters went after Heatley and even Marty Biron and Ray Emery went at it.

While obviously the situation in Chi-town didn’t escalate to the extent the fight in Buffalo did, but Chris Drury meant the same thing to the Sabres as Jonathan Toews does to the Blackhawks. Drury kept the Sabres balanced and was one of the best leaders this team has ever had, while Johnny isn’t quite there yet, he’s well on his way. There isn’t a player in the league that can match his intensity (he’s called Captain Serious for a reason right?) and his drive. All in all Jonathan Toews is a very important piece to the Blackhawks and you stand up for him NO MATTER WHAT!

The season (so far)...

Ok friends, I know its been a while, but things have been crazy.  Lets go through everything that has happened in the world of the Blackhawks since the start of the season…

Were going to start with the Blackhawks second game in Finland where Niemi made a very impressive case as to why he belongs with the big club.  I must say after watching that game I felt a lot more comfortable with the Hawks goaltending situation.  Cristobal Huet can be a good goaltender; he just tends not to be most of the time, the game against Calgary being an excellent example.  How do you let in 3 goals (that should have been easy and routine stops) in less than a minute?!  All I have to say about Huet, is he better watch his back otherwise Niemi is going to steal that starting job faster than he can flash his catching glove to an oncoming shooter.  As of this morning, Niemi has a 1.06 GAA and a .947 save percentage, while he let in 2 soft goals last night, his stats through those 2 games are impressive and I think Coach Q should consider giving him a few more starts than he may have originally intended.

Kane and Sharp have been very impressive to start the season.  I feel like Kane is really trying to prove that all the crap that happened over the summer isn’t effecting his game and he is truly coming into his own as a point producer on a high scoring, offensive minded team.  Sharpy is just stepping into a leadership role more and more with each passing game.  He is doing all the right things and leading by example, he scored the tying goal off a shot from Duncs in the Calgary game (his 4^th in 5 games).  Both of these players are acting as sparks for this team and their play is starting to rub off (take Big Buff for example).  I love Buff, I think he’s overpaid, but I love him anyway and I am super excited about the fact that he is playing a more important scoring role early in the season, it also helps that he is playing besides Kane and Bolland (who have also been impressive to start the season).  Another player that is really benefitting from the play of Sharpy is linemate Kris Versteeg.  Steeger has 6 point in 5 games and is a plus 2 (much to the delight of Cari), that lower body (upper body?) injury has clearly healed well.

This team, I feel, is very well balanced through the first 5 games, granted Toews is still without a goal and only has an assist, but he is winning a large portion of his face offs and is averaging right around 19 minutes of ice time through 5 games.  I am not worried about Toews at all, once he starts scoring its very difficult to stop him, if we have to wait a few more games, I can wait.

While it’s still a while off, I am intrigued to see where Hossa will fit in on this team.  Hossa will obviously provide a lot of offense and will add to the prolific scoring coming from the top 2 lines, but who do you take off those lines to put him in?  That will be a question addressed when the time comes, obviously, but how do you split up a line that puts up points on a consistent basis?  I guess when November rolls around we shall have an answer to this question.  This team is built to contend for a Cup, and if they can continue to roll 3 scoring lines, as well as a dominating checking line, that will hopefully have the success of the Havlat, Bolland, Ladd line of last season and a 4^th line that can add some scoring and energy, that dream of bringing a Cup to Chi-town maybe more of a reality as the season rolls.

All in all, this team is one of the most exciting young teams to watch, along with St. Louis, LA, Pittsburgh and Columbus, they are leading the way for the youth movement in the NHL.  It’s only a matter of time until these young guns come into their own and take over.  We should all be thankful we get to watch this team grow and watch as they continue to dominate.