Bring Some Boys Up From Rockford, Like Yesterday!
Tim Sassone, my favorite writer over there at The Hockey News was spot on in his blog yesterday when he mentioned the ‘R’ word — Rockford. But why bring up just one forward? (And if it has to be just one, it should be Jack Skille, no question. Looking at Andrew Ebbett, you have to ask why Jack Skille was ever sent back down.) I believe it was a commenter on Sassone’s blog that said that bringing up some boys (that’s plural) from Rockford might shake some of these guys just collecting paychecks from their collective reveries.
Indeed, look how conspicuous some of these underperformers are when Jonathan Toews is off the ice. For instance, Brian Campbell has always been a bumbler (at least with the Hawks), but how much more so now that Tazer isn’t there to pick up the slack of his teammates’ bad passes, turnovers, and other bumblings? How much more apparent is Dustin Byfuglien’s bad skating when on an opponent’s breakaway, big, bumbling Buff is left in the dust, which, in last night’s loss to the Avalanche at least, resulted in an avoidable goal.
And Ben Eager. Well, clearly we haven’t been giving this boy his due. In Eager’s absence is Colin Fraser seriously expected to act as enforcer??? I give Fraser snaps for trying, but please Ben Eager, eat your spinach, take your vitamins, and get back soon! (Or better yet, let’s travel back in time and re-sign Matt Walker who was an excellent, if uncredited, enforcer.)
Additionally, and as Sassone alluded to — Jordan Hendry, John Madden, Andrew Ebbett, Tomas Kopecky, and Jake Dowell — ain’t cuttin’ it. The only newbie I see hustling out there is Niklas Hjalmarsson. He’s so busy, he’s running circles, literally, around other defensemen like Brian Campbell and Cam Barker. The Hammer is going to hammer himself out if he doesn’t get some help out there, and soon!
And the power-play unit. Just the mere mention of it makes my stomach turn. While the Hawks scored once on the power play last night, I think it is obvious even to the most casual hockey fan that there needs to be some vast improvement there.
The Hawks have had a fairly light schedule so far. So does anyone really see them staying atop the division if they continue on like this? Everyone knows the boys from Rockford are hungrier because they don’t have cushy multi-million dollar contracts to fall back on. It’s play well or get out. So, bringing up some eager beavers from Rockford might wake some of these Hawks up and make them realize their jobs aren’t guaranteed.
November 22nd, 2009 at 2:20 am
Okay now.
This one is a little outdated.
Most of the guys you mentioned have done a 180, for the good, so it’s time for you to print a retraction. (please)
November 22nd, 2009 at 4:23 am
When I first published this on Nov. 7, what I said was true about those guys. Clearly the Hawks’ management thought so too and had a little talk with those guys, b/c they did start to improve (except Ebbett) after that.
As for the Rockford thing, I have two words for you: Bryan Bickell. I think he proved very well tonight how much he’s willing to risk for this team. When you have to be helped off the ice by two guys (in this case Hjalmarsson and Brouwer) b/c *you* hit someone so hard on an open-ice check that *you* got hurt, I think that speaks volumes!
AND I did take back what I said about Colin Fraser not being a good choice for enforcer. Boy did he prove me wrong! I will also take back what I said about John Madden (Sorry Mad Dog!), but NOT what I said about Jordan Hendry, Tomas Kopecky, or Jake Dowell. Hey, if those guys don’t like people sayin’ that stuff about them, then prove us wrong. I will happily eat crow!