Hendry in, Sopel out on defense
Antti Niemi for Cristobal Huet won’t be the only change in the Blackhawks’ lineup for tonight's game against Vancouver at the United Center.
Jordan Hendry gets to play on defense for the first time this season, replacing Brent Sopel, who is minus-4 after eight games.
"We want to get Jordan in here; it's game nine now,” coach Joel Quenneville said. "We were looking to see him get in earlier than this, but you don't want to change a winning lineup. He had a good camp and I like the way he skates."
Andrew Ebbett makes his Hawks debut after being acquired from Anaheim on waivers last Saturday.
Ebbett will play left wing on the fourth line with Colin Fraser and Tomas Kopecky, but Quenneville didn't rule out using the skilled forward in other situations on the top two lines.
Don Lever, named the new head coach of the Chicago Wolves on Wednesday, had been working as a pro scout with the Hawks.
Patrick Kane was only happy to provide a scouting report on Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo.
“Last year, I don’t know if you remember the (playoff) series, but sometimes he kind of over commits on plays,” Kane said. “If it’s a pass off a pad or one of the passes back door when you can get him moving, you usually have a pretty good chance on him.
“He’s a big goalie so it’s going to be tough to come straight down on him and beat him one on one. I know a couple of my goals last year I got him moving side to side. You try to get a lot of point shots and some rebounds on him because he kind of scrambles when he’s down a little bit.”
This post and recent prior ones were used to dig at Marty Havlat. The fact is he was our best forward last year, both offensively and defensively, and his key goals in both the Calgary and Vancouver series got our Hawks into the conference finals.
After his pasting from Kronwall the team fell apart and followed with their worst game in the playoffs. The fact is, Havlat returned tonight and played 22 minutes for the Wild. Meanwhile, Burish and Eager are out, Toews got pasted tonight, and Marian Hossa is skating figure eights for now. Plus Hossa was injured and a major bomb in his '09 playoffs.
The point is, players do get injured, Havlat provided the '09 momentum and deserved to be here again, so enough with rehashing your own crybaby news.
Best to Marty and hope Hossa proves out as the answer.
Don't get me wrong I appreciate the spirit of the action Versteeg took. But next time if your going to take the 2 minute Instigator for a Clean Hit make it worth it and crack the guys skull. Not sure tying the guy(was at game and missed the name on jersey) up and landing on bottom proved any points.
I'm going to lose it at some point this month...I just don't know what game will put me over the edge...
-Niemi: Great game. Huge saves. Not sure how he got beat from a bad angle, and since I called out Huet on it it's only fair. HOwever, he made HUGE save after HUGE save. He deserves to play again against Nashville, in a game YOU MUST WIN. Right now he's the Hawks best option to do so. Q starts Huet and he lets in a soft goal....there may be a riot.
-Power play: Are you kidding me? how does a team with this much skill, look horrid on the PP? 0-4 with 2 men advantages this year? Last pp goal anyone? Nobody wants the puck, guys blasting shots into shin pads,. IT's pathetic. Get back to basics and get this fixed ASAP. Stop rolling out the same lines for he PP that you do during the game. How about actually playing YOUR MOST TALENTED top 5 players? How about that?
-Stupid Pentalies: It has to stop. Cam Barker and dave Bolland have taken just assinine late pentalies lately, and it finally cost them a game. Almost did against Edmonton, but tonight the Hawks got the message. People need to start havng their ice time cut because of this. Q did it to Sharp and Kane last year vs Phoenix, needs to happen again.
-Late in games: Can we stop playing Brian Campbell and Molases (Cam Barker)? Barker is stupid, and slow. Both kill him, and the team. He's the Forest Gump of the Hawks. Keep this guy on the bench in 1 goal games late, unless you get a PP. Otherwise he sits and talks to the back up goalie. Campbell might want to stop getting into routines. Everyone watches tape, and it wasn't a surprise that a smart player like Samuelsson picked Kane clean after another drop pass.
THe sky is not falling but a depleted Vancouver team should never beat you at home. I don't know what's going on, but this team better realize they need to bring their A game more often then not. Too many times they are starting out awfuly slow in the first minutes of periods, and it's costing them.
Clean hit on Toews, great response by Versteeg. I love this kid. Yes, he stickhandles a bit too much, but the skill is there, and the fire is there. Somebody had to send that message, and kudos to Versteeg for doing so.
What is the deal with the Sylvania ad on the glass? Is McDonaugh going to squeeze every penny he can? Can we stop with the spotlight after every goal? Never needed it before, why now? Also, how about waiting for a whistle before Gene Honda starts bellowing out who scored? It's loud, the organ goes off, the play is going on....it's chaos.
This team can't play 60 minutes.....but the gadgets wearing black and white totally killed us tonight How does Dustin get a roughing penalty by taking 5 straight facewashes....these refs should have been fired for this sequence alone.....in the 3rd Buff gets a 4 minute major and Bitch*eska gets an Oscar for his acting job....the limp wristed zebras totally f'd us tonight. Soupy Campbell with another soft clear inside his own zone.....we lose 2 points. Between O-Lay and Campbell Soup....we've lost 5-7 points....not bad for $13 mil in committed salary....plus the refs are a bunch of f'n flamers..........peace out
Philco- keep posting b/c that made me laugh loudly. Totally agree but these guys were missing a step from the 1st period on. More efforts like this and it'll be a struggle in the Spring. Hopefully they'll respond the goalie sit. will develop and it'll be a less stressful and more fun season to watch.
You're totally right....these boyz had better get their sh*t together asap or their golf clubs will be out a lot earlier than last year.
Havlat, god bless him, is on the 15-day DL. What's strange is though he has a PPG pace (goal and 4 assists) he's minus-6 on a defensive team like the Wild.
But on the Hendry/Sopel thing, you've gotta play Sopel if someone's gonna trade for him. Doesn't Philly have a soft spot for slow D-men? Dallas? I can't believe the career Robidas carved out for himself. I always felt he was underrated, but weren't we supposedly getting the short end of the Klemm stick on that one?
Hey Rookie GM....with nothing to your resume but a famous surname....DON'T MESS....with something if ain't broke. Huet was the problem......you start Niemi and he plays well....but don't mess with chemistry by dressing two stiffs Ebbet and Hendry.....they did F ALL......and once again the $8 million dollar mushroom campbell stones us with a soft giftaway that leads to the winning goal......F*********************************CK.
Sh*tty GM....sh****tty result.
Go back to KG Blowman.
Ebbet and Hendry back to the Rock. Niemi deserves to start against Nashville. Barker blows as did Campbell last night. Bolland is not a top six forward and might never be. Hawks got outworked by the Canucks and did not deserve to win this one. Kane is a great player but may never reach his potential unless his attitude changes, still appears cocky and self centered. He is one guy I just do not like that much even though his hockey skills are off the charts. Would love to see Ladd hook up with Toews and Kane at even strength. Buff got robbed by officials tonite but players with a reputation are always going to get the bad calls. Good night!
Hey Rookie GM....with nothing to your resume but a famous surname....DON'T MESS....with something if ain't broke. Huet was the problem......you start Niemi and he plays well....but don't mess with chemistry by dressing two stiffs Ebbet and Hendry.....they did F ALL......and once again the $8 million dollar mushroom campbell stones us with a soft giftaway that leads to the winning goal......F*********************************CK.
Sh*tty GM....sh****tty result.
Go back to KG Blowman.
I'm merely suggesting we keep an eye on developments regarding goaltenders that may be available. Part two is...exactly whom could we even afford in a trade. As for anyone at Rockford, they are exactly what you've said all along -- fill in and insurance for any cap related issues SHOULD a trade go down...and yes, any trade of significance is likely made later, not any time soon. I do get excited about Blackhawk prospects and I'm sure some fans may, too, after Pulford's poor job for so long. And Tallon had too many misses in the first round. So heck yes, I am cheering for a prospect whose credentials looked very good. He has been injured so much since his glorious collegiate days, that there is something for him to prove that he can produce first at the AHL level. It would be a bonus (how I look at it) if down the road a Makarov or a Davis turn up here and produce. Makarov probably could produce -- he's improving in his situation in Russia. Don't know about Davis yet, but he is the best skill forward at Rockford -- not counting the skill/toughness combination Aliu brings. Hey, thanks for the update on the Mitera kid. Thanks, too, for the information on Mikelson. I'm sure to be either e-mail or posting soon about some other prospect that has been under the radar.
By the way, why does Nashville need to commit that money to R Ellis now as opposed to in March or after his junior season ends? Anyone can see -- you've agreed with me on this -- Nashville could trade from their stockpile of good young defensemen. The question becomes: when is the best time to trade whatever defenseman. Recall when they moved Zidlicky/they foresaw Suter and S Weber. They lost a couple of 3rd pair guys over the summer. Even if they traded a d-man, I say they are still short talent wise up front. I wouldn't count on C Wilson breaking through THIS season. Well, they have Blum and Ellis and a couple of more seasoned AHL defensemen to keep an eye on(Franson rates better than Sulzer for NHL success?). Jacukel: so are you sure Sullivan is finished? Still good in his declining years? I haven't watched him closely this year.
NOTE: Columbus winning without Brassard back in form yet. Calgary Flames: a team with lots of talent and loaded on the backend, yet they don't inspire confidane going by their defensive effort. No matter the goals against, they give up leads and don't look like they can lock down defensively. They've been that way for a few years, yet this season they have their deepest, best roster (on paper at least). Right now I would take a healthy Vanc over Calgary. That could change; B Sutter and D Sutter may have something to say. I would try to find someone to make the Inginla line impossible to stop. Jokinen a bad trade? LOL all you want, but Bourque is a dangerous secondary scorer. Good all around player. They do have this Backlund kid (#1) who was very good with Inginla in training camp. He's a rookie in the AHL.
BARKER! For all you Sopel haters out there, put that in a closet and watch some games. Mark down when HE/other make a good/bad play. I'm sure he's not the worst. If he sucked so much Y does Q use him on the PK and at the end of games? Yeah he's not going to win a Norris but he's not THE WORST.
Noticed that Sopel was -4 the other day and was a bit surprised. As a sixth defenseman he really hasn't seemed to be caught out of position a bunch of times or coughed the puck up much. Been pretty quiet thus far which was actually the surprising part. I noticed Hendry at the pregame skate on Saturday and figured he was going in soon somewhere. I haven't seen him play much so I'll be curious to see how he does with Barker. Unlike Sopel, Barker has coughed the puck up a few times this year so maybe a Hendry/Barker marriage will settle Barker down some.
Speaking of Sopel and Barker, a nice front page story arrived today in the newest "Hockey News" issue about how the Blackhawks should manage the cap.
If we can somehow part ways with just Sopel, Barker and Huet, that's a huge improvement right there to resigning Kane, Toews and Keith.
yeah, it arrived here today, and it is spot on, but you cannot possibly expect the players they project to walk in and replace the ones they had the hawks traded.
jjaeckel, they had Duncan Keith projected at contracted at and going at 100,000 less than the Toews Kane duo signing at....
I'm not a Sopel fan....far from it....but he hasn't been the worst d-man to this point. That distinction goes to Cam 'Minus Machine' Barker who is surprisingly only a -1 to this point compared to Sopel's -4.
But Sopel's demotion leaves the Hawks with only one right hand point shot, that being Brent Seabrook. Bowman needs to act to get more a of balance here. It's an often overlooked factor but one that makes chemistry between defense partners much more likely...i.e. Keith and Seabrook.
When there was an original six, you would have to look hard and long to find ANY defenseman not shooting left.
Guys learn to play the other side and some PREFER it with the shot leaving their blade Euro style.
...Doug Barkley (before his injury)
right handed shot.
yeah i know more kids are not being forced to write right handed, the President is left-handed, and more youngster shoot from the right.
but really not an issue...compared to the ones the teams will be facing.