Was Havlat on the trip?
LOS ANGELES - Paging Marty Havlet. Paging Marty Havlat. Please report to the front of the net.
OK, maybe that's a bit harsh. And I like Marty, but where the heck was he on the six-game road trip that ended with a thud Saturday afternoon at Staples Center?
Havlat had a goal at Dallas and an assist on Dave Bolland's OT winner at Toronto. That's it. Other than that he was pretty much a non-factor, especially in tough games at San Jose and Anaheim.
Heck, Ben Eager had 2 goals on the trip.
Havlat is frustrating the Hawks and don't be surprised if GM Dale Tallon starts shopping the winger, who is making $6 million to not be a difference maker. Havlat is going to be an unrestricted free agent after the season and there's no way he will be asked back. No chance. None.
Up until now I thought the Hawks needed Havlat to make the playoffs, but now I don't think they do. Maybe there's a team out there that wants to take a chance on him and would offer a player in return. You just can't give Havlat away at this point.
A lot of teams could change their thinking when free agent Mats Sundin finally signs somewhere. What if the Canadiens don't get Sundin? Would they want Havlat? It's possible. Or the Penguins.
But Havlat wasn't the only Hawks forward to leave the scoring to Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp on the trip. Andrew Ladd and Troy Brouwer went without a goal. Bolland had 1. Jonathan Toews had 2 - in the same game - and Dustin Byfuglien skated through the three games he played nearly invisible.
What were the Hawks thinking when they gave Byfuglien a three-year, $9 million contract anyway.
The outcomes in San Jose and Anaheim could have been different with Havlat, Ladd, Bolland or Brouwer stepping up.
It only Tallon could make a deal for another top-six forward, but he can't, not being about $300,000 under the cap. That's the result of the big contracts he gave to Byfuglien, Brent Sopel and Cristobal Huet. Dale's hands are tied, but he helped tie them himself.
Tim,
I also think Brent Seabrook's play has tailed off. He lost Frolov yesterday when the Hawks were just about out of that 5-on-3 successfully, then O'Sullivan jocked him on a 50/50 puck in the corner. Seabrook then not only got beaten to the puck but made a feeble attempt to block the pass that resulted in a goal. Against San Jose in Overtime he gave Keith a grenade pass that directly resulted in the winning goal and ultimately a complete negative turn-around in what had been a very very good trip to that point.
I'm starting to think Seabrook is a second pairing #4-type d-man at best.
I was once a huge Havlat fan but I realized about three years ago that this guy will never stay healthy for a full season. He should be moved if possible as the clock is ticking towards another serious injury. I like the way he has played this year for the most part but he is not going to high risk areas and is no way the explosive breakaway player he once was. He could be but he knows that if he attacks the net the way he used to he will be injured again. I really like the Hawks even though I am in Canada. Dale Tallon has frustrated me ever since he was a Canuck flop back in 1970. He is a terrible judge of talent and has no business running this team. Some of his signings really have to make you wonder. Khabibulin has never been the Hawks problem now or in the past. For example if Habby played in Detroit he would probably win the Vezina and rack up a dozen shutouts. Huet will never be as good as Habby and was a huge waste of money. In my opinion even when Habby is moved Huet will then lose the number one job to Niemi or Crawford. I say package Havlat and Huet but I know this is not possible with the ridiculous salaries they are making. Go Hawks go and love that Kane Kid!
Look, Dale Tallon is a horrific GM who will drive up hockey salaries for years to come with his unwarranated rewarding of contracts for guys like Buff. He has a decent stretch last year, and then gets a huge contract. Brent Sopel was I HOPE an insurance policy if they couldn't get a top 4 defenseman this past summer. The only extension that is paying off was Sharp. Meanwhile his young guys like Brouwer, Bolland, Burish, Barker, and Frazer look comfortable and need a wake up call. Frazer is a very good 4th line player. The others need their cages rattled or need to be replaced by somebody at Rockford who is willing to get the job done.
What next? What about Aaron Johnson? He has a nice plus minus, why not extend him as well Dale? How about a guy put a numbers for at least 2 seasons before we reward him with a contract? Maybe then, I can justify you maxing out the cap with extensions.
Couldn't agree more on Ladd. Tallon said that his leadership after winning a cup with Carolina would pay off huge. Please. Another bust. At least Ruutu was a pest, and played physical. Ladd is in a daze.
Lastly, please stop everyone with the love for Dave Bolland. The man has zero skill. He gets set up non stop on Friday by Havlat and everyone else and can't cash in on any of the 4 prime scoring chances. Then he takes a stupid pentaly yesterday that resulted in a goal. Enough is enough. Stan Mikita, like Tallon proclaimed? Please.
Lets hold off printing playoff tickets. You just saw 3 teams shut down the only 4 skill guys we had and when they didn't score, this team couldn't muster anything in 3 games. If this team is still within a playoff spot on Valentine's day, they will be ok, with 19 of 30 remaining games at home.
It's time for Tallon to get off his @ss and get a LEGIT top 6 forward. IF he can't. Fire him, and get somebody who can. Competing won't be good enough this year.
It is painfully obvious that there are players not living up to what they're being paid. The bottom line with all of these guys is have they earned what they're being paid?
As a GM you have to ask all of these questions prior to offering up hefty contracts.
With Havlat you have a history of injuries and floating not consistently bringing his top game to the ice every night. Is that worthy of 6m per year?
With Byfuglien you have a tremendous upside with a player who has a booming shot and great hands in front of the net. However, he's also a player with great size who plays extremely small. If you can't get him to play with grit like a power forward should, do you give him 3m per year?
Then you have Barker who also has tremendous upside. But at his age and with his limited years of experience is he worth 2.5m?
And Sopel, cast away by the Wings and cast away by the Canucks and has only scored double digit goals once in his career (10 with the Canucks) on top of being slow. Is he really worth 2.5m???
When these deals are offered you've got to wonder what the other GM's around the league think when Tallon is making these deals.
Then he trades away a player with grit, heart and character (Ruutu) for a guy like Ladd who has basically been invisible all year.
If Havlat had anyone on the ice who could finish a scoring chance he'd have 20 assists. Okay, maybe not 20 but c'mon! Convenient how is defensive play gets no mention. Patrick Kane wishes he could play on the other side of the puck as well as Havlat.
That being said I'd like to see Havlat try and take over a shift like we all saw in '06-07. It's painfully obvious setting his team mates up to score isn't working. Maybe if he had a center who actually controlled play in the offensive zone....hmm?
The most frustrating thing about Havlat is you know he has the talent, skill, ability whatever you want to call it to be a difference maker, a top end player, a scoring machine in this league but it has to be when he wants to be one. If he just played night in and night out the way he has shown he can we'd be screaming to keep this guy but instead he just goes about his buisness and then one night he'll grab 3 points and score a great goal then disappear for a week again. He did make some nice passes to set up what should have been easy goals but it didn't happen, it wasn't his fault but what did he show us the rest of those games then? He's paid like an elite player and he should play like one because he has the ability to be that. He'll probably sign with Detroit next year and then rack up 40-50 goals a season for the next 3 years. He just doesn't seem to be motivated on a nightly basis to play on this team and wear the Indian Head sweater. Time to cut him loose and get whatever you can for him before he walks away for nothing. If this was a bad team I wouldn't blame him for playing the way he does but this is team on the up, a decent team that could use his offensive talent and he could be a superstar in this town but he just doesn't get it. I'm tired of watching him coast along the boards, flip the puck in the zone, never go to the front of the net and don't even mention his lack of backchecking.
Martin, I have not done enough for my 6 Million per year, is probably mad because during his point streak some games back, everyone was giving all the pub to Khabby-Tazer-Kaner-and Versteeg. There are times when Marty shows up and times he doesn't. It's nice that he made a few passes, that led to scoring opp's for other guys who failed on them. But that's not what the Hawks are paying 6 million for, at times Marty reminds me of Ken Yaremchuk or Michael Nylander. Guys who belong at the UC during early Feb. with the Ice Capades in town. Khabby has played like a guy who is in a contract year, with no guarenteed money for next year. Most of the time Havlat has not, and his style of play probably wont help in the playoff's should the Hawks get there. If we are waiting for coach Q to get on him, hopefully it wont take as long as it does for Q to say anything when the game is on the line. Notice how Q stands off to side and adds nothing at timeouts, when he has his assistants drawing up the plays and doing all the talking to
the players.
Tallon needs to get a center, either a Madden or some point producing center. If not, Tallon should be axed when the team doesn't go far. "Q" has to have the guts to make players do what he wants out of them, even if it may conflict with Tallon's ideas. I don't believe "Q" is afraid to find out or deal with anything that is a collision with Tallon's point-of-view. Tallon needs to rectify his grandiose spending ways; he needs to show he has learned from his mistakes. Then we'll find out if he is on good enough terms with McDonough to retain his job.
Well, if Bolland had been able to put the puck into a gaping wide open net vs. anaheim after havlat set him up with a nice pass, I doubt this blog headline appears...
Havlat set up another hawk in yesterday's game for another great scoring chance that might have also changed the outcome vs. LA, yet again, the hawks couldnt' finish.
Havlat has great skill and talent, but if you put him on a line with young guys still learning, the game, much less still learning the tendencies of their linemates, you won't get the optimal production out of him, but that will be as much the fault of others as it will be his.
so since guys didn't score, Havlat & the Hawks get robbed of a couple points...
His history of serious shoulder problems and sometimes inconsistent play was (or should have been) well known before Tallon acquired him, yet Tallon wanted to lock him up with a huge deal $18M 3 yr deal (probably so he wouldn't walk away as a UFA after the first year and make Tallon look even more foolish).
I've been calling for the hawks to move Havlat since Huet was signed, not because he isn't a good player, but because 1. it seems clear the hawks have no intention of re-signing him and 2. his oft injured status. The hawks can only blame themselves for overpaying Havlat in the first place so that his salary expectations are probably now too rich for them to re-sign him.
Trading him out of spite, since he hasn't performed up to expectations (after they essentially set him up to "fail") is all too typical of how the hawks operated for most of the past 40 years. Too bad the Hawks passed on Brian Burke - listening to the press conference yesterday announcing his hiring as Leafs GM - he made it clear what type of team he is going to build - and while the leafs might not win a cup in the next 3 years, they aren't going to be pushovers any longer. Burke, unlike Tallon, is a no-nonsense guy who knows what it takes and won't accept anything less.
This road trip spelled out exactly what needs fixing. The nice start was partly due to the team's ability to turn it on and win against foes whom had weaknesses exposed. Now we see clearly what weaknesses we have, which is exactly what I've and others have crowed about for a while now.
The Havlat issue is the focal point in Sassone's post. What it boils down to is this: Either get Havlat a center whom allows Havlat to score like he is capable of, or deal him ASAP before an injury knocks down his trade value. But do not think moving Havlat for as little as a draft choice will make enough difference vis-a-vis reducing the salary cap number Tallon would then be staring at. Tallon can get all giddy over that number. But Bowman will not allow Tallon to pay a n over the hill veteran. Can you imagine if such a player were signed for more than one year? With Sopel's contract still on the books, that is a recipe for disaster not as much this year, as it would be next year. If Tallon wants to recieve a better report card from Bowman (read: McDonough), then he must move Khabby sometime this year. He either trades what commodity of value that we could offer (Khabby, Havlat, Barker, Bufuglien, prospects) for a center, or merely does not renew the contract(s) of the high priced veterans. With Walker (toughness), Hjalmarsson, and Hendry (plus Wizniewski) available, Tallon is nuts not to give Sopel away for anything that is offered, no matter how less a value is offered.
I have one question for those whom have predicted playoffs for the Blackhawks: Without moving anyone, does this team make the playoffs? Is your answer the same after witnessing the latter half of the road trip? We have an opportunity to beat Anaheim in our next game. Will the same lineup prevail? If so, then a Brouwer, Bufuglien, Ladd had better produce. Bolland and Havlat I still give a pass to...they will be ok in the long run. Those big size forwards must use their size efficiently -- this doesn't have to mean fights, just make your presence known with physical play. I'll go as far as to keep Fraser around; he competes -- which too often is more than a Ladd & Brouwer will do outside of maybe relatively few scoring opportunities, i.e., they won't sacrifice their body in physical play.
Coach "Q" is on record with the rewards program as far as accountability for performance goes. Is Tallon on the same page? How much longer before he makes a decision about some prospects at Rockford? Time to use Blunden as a chip, since some forwards aren't contributing as they should. What irritates me most, is that Bufuglien is still too lost in the flow of the game. Can't the coaches teach him, or is it just a mental confidance & hard - headedness that he thinks he can play a certain way and be this huge goal scorer?
To all the Havlat lovers who only 2 weeks ago were saying how great he is, I hope this opens your eyes. And Tim, don't go saying why not go 6-0 after we started the trip 3-0. That was a certain kiss of death, not to mention a way off the wall prediction.
Stick with the facts. One day you write how great this team is, and today you write how some of their players are stinking up the joint and how Tallon has put this team in a funk.
Which is it ?
Hey, Hockeypuck, go back and read that post again. I didn't "PREDICT" a 6-0 trip. Maybe you need to get your facts straight. As for your other point, when did I ever write how "great" the team is?
...floating around, snow plowing into the corners and handling the puck like its on a string until someone gets near him.
It's only a matter of time until an injury happens...my guess it will be around the time when Q gets on him real good.
This is the guy that the Hawks should move at all costs!
Be nice to replace him with May from the Islanders.