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.
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