Thursday, July 10, 2014

Time for camp!

Draft complete - Check
Free agency dust settling - Check
Toews and Kane locked in - Double check

While we wait see how Bowman solves his financial woes we prepare for prospect camp.

The Blackhawks will hold prospect camp from July 13 to July 18 at Johnny's Icehouse. I am thinking security might be a little tighter this year but do know that this is open to the public. If you missed Tuevo flashing through a couple of games last year, this could be your opportunity see him showing off a little. He bedazzled a bit last year at camp. This will also be an opportunity to see Schmaltz before they send him to where ever they will send him. Back to Ohio state?

Here are the official lists of prospects invited to camp this year. I'll be packaging up some of the information I get from the beats next week.


Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Bye bye Jamie

I have been working on my analysis on the Hawks defensive depth and then again, like yesterday's news on Jimmy Waite, more interesting news breaks. Originally reported  in a blog I now have it from reliable sources that Jamie Kompon will be leaving the Blackhawks. At 2:00 tomorrow the Portland Winterhawks if the WHL will be announcing their new head coach. That new head coach, barring any major complications, will be Jamie Kompon. Now I am seeing this pitched as promotion for Jamie and yes it is a move from assistant coach to head coach. But really now, going from assistant coach of an elite NHL team to the the head coach of a team in the Western Hockey League (WHL). While the Winterhawks are an elite team in the WHL and a strong feeder team to the NHL, its not the NHL, baby. And their logo while similar to that of the Blackhawks lacks the vibrant color contrasts of the Chicago Blackhawks. (OK, I just had to take a cheap shot at their logo.) So Jamie moves from asst coach in LA, winning a Stanley cup, to the Chicago Blackhawks, winning a Stanley Cup and now to the WHL.Jamie probably was not going up any further in the NHL and this was the only way for him to get a job at the top.

Many of those who know me also know that I was never a fan of Kompon. Let's go back to the 2011-12 season. The LA Kings won the Stanley cup with one of the strongest power plays in the league. The Hawk between 2010 and 2012 had one of the worst power plays. Enter Jamie Kompon. The savior of the Hawks power play? Under Jamie, the power play went from ugh, oh my god, to OK, to ugh and around and around. Never really showing much improvement and nowhere near the Kings power play. I was also frustrated when Jamie would be charting up a play late in the game only to have the Hawks fail in the waning minutes of a game. In fact I would dread Jamie grabbing a white board and and erasable marker. I have put Jamie in the same category as Khabibulin: "Waste of money." Now he is gone and will soon be forgotten.

I am guessing that the Hawks did not have too much notice abut this change and therefore it will take some time for them to find a suitable replacement. But I am sure they will be looking for someone that can run a decent power play. And I am confident that whoever that will be will do a better job for the team. From my perspective, this is good for the Blackhawks.

Monday, July 7, 2014

Weeks end (and other goaltending notes)

As I was researching the Hawks system for goalies, news broke that Jimmy Waite has been hired as the Blackhawks goal tending coach. So much for Steve Weeks who leaves after a one year tour with the Hawks. If the name Waites is familiar, that would be for two reasons. For you younger folk, Jimmy is the brother of former Hawks goalie coach Stephane Waite. Stephan was with the organization from 2003 through 2013. He helped both Niemi and Corey Crawford to Stanley Cup championships. He now is with the Montreal Canadians. For the older folks out there we will remember Jimmy as our very own goal tender. Jimmy was in and out of our net from 1988 until 1997. He played 16 games with the 'Yotes the next season and worked his way down through the AHL, the IHL and out to Germany from '99-'09.

Sharing DNA with Stephane might make Jimmy a pretty good coach on the back end. I always say that the great players make bad coaches. They are so natural that they cannot even tell you how they do the things they do. It is the mediocre players that make great coaches. Take Q for instance. Mediocre players are constantly learning and striving to improve. That learning process translates well into the instruction process. So maybe Jimmy's mediocrity will be good for the Hawks. We'll know by the end of next season.

Now on to the goalie situation. We all know Crawford and Raanta. They are the top two in that order. As I mentioned in an earlier blog Jason Labarbera is now a Duck. But there are 5 other goalies in the Hawks system. Let me start from the bottom up. At least this is my opinion of the bottom up.

So let's start with Matt Tomkins. Drafted this year in the 7th round, number 199 overall. He is 20 years old and has played mostly in Alberta but played last season in the big 10 at Ohio state. There he played 17 games had a 2.78 GA and .911 SP. Hawks may just leave him in Ohio to see if he develops.

Also drafted this year was Ivan Nalimov. Drafted 6th round at 179. He is a 19 year old Russian who went pro last year playing in St. Petersburg, Russia. He played for Russia in the Subway Series in Canada and was 3-1 in four games with a 2.25 GA and .945 SP.

In the middle of this pack is Scott Darling from Lemont, IL. He is a 25 year old that was originally drafted by Phoenix (now Arizona) in 2007 at #153 in the 6th round. Bowman signed him right out of the free agent box on July 1. Scott played 26 games for the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL last season and is 2.00 and .933.

Making a decision on the last two is tough but here it goes:

I am going to put Kent Simpson as the #2 goalie in Rockford. Kent is 22 and was drafted in 2010 in the 2nd round at number 58. He played for the Walleyes in Toledo in 2012-13. He played 31 games for the Hogs last year and is 3.64 and .801. If his name sounds familiar he played 20 minutes for the Hawks last year giving up 2 goals in 20 minutes. Remember when Corey was out and Raanta was getting pulverized? I think I saw Kent once last season and was not very impressed.

The best current G-man prospect is Mac Carruth. Mac was drafted 191st in the 7th round in 2010.  He is a 22year old from Minnesota that played mostly for Portland in the WHL before being called back to the Icehogs when Raanta moved up. Last year he played 25 games in Toledo where he was 3.36 and .898. He then played 7 games for the Hogs behind Simpson and was 3.36 and .880. His stats are better than Simpson and the one time I saw him play he was bombarded when the Hogs defense  seemed to be playing for the Wolves. It was an ugly game.

My bottom line on all this, we better hope Crawford and Raanta stay healthy this year. With the current cap problems there is no way we see another goalie come along. Let's see if Bowman can prove me wrong.

All is quiet

It was a quiet 4th of July weekend from a Blackhawks media perspective. Bowman out enjoying the holiday? Maybe a bit but you can bet he has been busy. I suspect we will see some movement this week now that the dust is settling on the free agency front, at least from that initial thrust.

Tomorrow I will review the goalie situation beyond Crawford and Raanta.

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Who is going?

According to capgeek the Hawks are about $2.2M over the cap limit. But I think they are more like $3M over based on other figures that I have seen. Before signing Richards they were $500k over. So add Brad's $2M and we're at 2.5 right there. Then there is Kyle Comisky that was signed on Wednesday but I'm not seeing his salary. I am guessing in the $100-$200k range, so no big deal.

Speaking of deal, what is Bowman going to do to get under the cap? I already miss Bollig and the playoffs haven't started yet. Rumors abound. First Sharp, now Oduya, I have even heard Hammer's name brought up. I am surprised I have not heard Leddy's name. We all know how Q felt about him toward the end last year. When the deal is finally cut it will be a sad moment for many Hawks fans. I can't think of anyone with a current contract that I would want to lose. One option might be Versteeg ($2.2M) and Rundbland ($785k). Those two add up quite nicely to about the right number. But who is interested? I'm not sure Versteeg has that much value.

We also need to consider that Handzus and Brookbank are both RFAs. I'm assuming that Brookbank is waiting for Bowman to do something for him once things are sorted out. Other teams have to be courting him. I expect Handzus will land somewhere but not with any of the big contenders.

By the way, if you have not heard, the Ducks picked up Labarbera. Raanta now sitting fat at #2. Not that there was really any doubt.

Welcome to Blackhawks Insights

I have created this blog to share my insights and create enthusiasm around the Chicago Blackhawks. Not that the Hawks have not generated enough of their own over the past few years. I have been a fan since...well, let's just say that I have been alive for 3 Blackhawks Stanley cup championships. Most of what I will be writing will be based on my personal opinion (duh, its a blog) which may or may not have some factual backing.

My mission for the blog is to provide insights to the Blackhawks on a daily basis, at least during the regular and post-seasons, or when there is breaking news. I hope to bring thoughts, notes and insights that are not readily available through your daily newspaper articles.

During the 2014 off season I plan to take a look within the Hawks "system" to provide insights on names you may be hearing in the future.

I look forward to any feedback whether you agree or disagree with me does not matter. What matters is that we care and enjoy the great team that Rocky has resurrected for our benefit.