Here Come the Hawks

About a week ago Noffke asked me to write a Blackhawks post, so I decided to end my vacation from the golf season early (Hey Noffke the Masters is coming up soon). With the NHL season just a bit over a quarter of the way done, we are beginning to see the identity of each team.

The Blackhawks are on a tear right now. They are riding a 7 game winning streak going into tonight’s game in San Jose. The Hawks are half way through their circus trip and are perfect so far. They enter tonight’s game with a record of 15-5-2 with 32 points, 4 points behind the sharks in the Western Conference. Marion Hossa is set to make his Blackhawks and season debut tonight.

The Blackhawks big 3 (Towes, Kane, and Keith) are set to get extensions that I have been hearing are close to being done but have to work out some cap issues, i.e. trade someone first. With that news out of the way here is what I think about the Blackhawks so far.

Goalies:

Cristobal Huet and Antti Niemi have been solid, but I’m still not sold on them yet. Huet has played better his last few games. Well better is an understatement, he has played exceptional. After the rocky start to the season many were calling for Huet's head and were ready to appoint Niemi as the number 1.

The problem with Huet if you watch is he goes down so early that it leaves the top corners open. If players wait a bit longer with their shot they would be able to put the puck right where Grandma keeps the peanut butter. Huet has been doing better with this recently, but whether or not he can play like this all season I’m not sure yet.

Niemi has played well as the number 2. He got the shutout Sunday night in Vancouver and has some other good games. Niemi though is still a number 2 as of right now. Can he be a number 1? Yeah, he might be able to one day, but to think he can be the number 1 now is asking too much. He is still a rookie and don’t know is can handle the game load of a number 1 goalie let alone a playoff just yet.

Defense:

Part of the reason the goalies have played well is because they have the defense in front of them. Keith and Seabrook have become top blue liners in the league. There are some who think they could be starting for team Canada in the Olympics this February.

As for the others, Nikolas Hjalmarsson has become a decent defenseman for the Hawks. Cam Barker and Brian Campbell are more offensive defenseman with Barker being a sniper and Campbell being able to move the puck up the ice. These two aren’t the best defenseman, but they are still good enough to make this a solid defense group for the Hawks.

Offense:

With the return of Marion Hossa tonight he will only add to an offense that already has no trouble scoring (like the massacre they put on Calgary last Thursday). Hossa could join the line of Toews and Kane which could already make a talented first line even better.

Speaking of Toews, it is blatantly obvious how much he means to this team. With him out of the lineup with a concussion a couple of weeks ago we saw the Hawks offense struggle more often than not. They still scored but not as much as they were. After Toews returned they went on this current 7 win streak.

Kane is an electric playmaker that has good hands. My friend and I always comment on how well he moves the puck and you can notice it more in shutouts. The Hawks offense also includes Kris Versteeg, Patrick Sharp, and Big Dustin Byfuglien. This core group on the offense provides the Hawks with enough scoring.

Overall I think the Hawks are one of the better teams in the West and maybe even the league. They are playing the best hockey right now and I see them making a deep run in the playoffs. It’s still early, but this is a solid team stocked with talent.

Since everyone will be going out tonight since Thanksgiving is tomorrow, watch the Hawks. It will be an exciting game tonight. Most of you will be at a bar anyways, so it will most likely be on already. The Blackhawks are really the only positive thing in Chicago sports these days.