Keith to Skip World Cup of Hockey
Not this time, fellas.
In a word, good. Keith and The Hawks revealed last week that #2 requires more time to heal some kind of knee injury and will not participate in The World Cup of Hockey this September.Toews Named Alternate Captain for Team Canada
Good times and noodle salad for Johnny.
I don't care. I don't care about The World Cup of Hockey, The Olympics or the World Championship and I sort of wish the players didn't either. Barring disaster, Toews can handle it, but do we really need Hossa playing those extra games? Is Rozsie on the Czech roster? I've no doubt that being named to one's national team is a huge honour and everything, but these tournaments are meaningless. Ask any player in the NHL today if they would rather have their name on The Stanley Cup or an Olympic Gold Medal and I'll wager that 96% of them will choose The Cup, and the other 4% are lying.Hawks "Miss" Out on Vesey and Hudler
Jimmy Vesey: so what? The Hawks do need forwards and this one would have been a fixed-cost pickup, but the lad is largely unproven and has the stink of complication rising from him. Drew LeBlanc was kind of a big deal in US College hockey and he couldn't even crack the IceHogs lineup. I've no doubt that Vesey has more potential than LeBlanc because many people that are much smarter than me say he does, but how much more? Also, while some may respect Vesey's decision to not sign with the team that drafted him (Nashville) and wait for their rights to him lapse before signing with any team he chooses, that whole gambit reeks of Eric Lindrosism, which makes me automatically not want anything to do with him.
Jiri Hudler: The Hawks stood by while arguably the best remaining free agent forward signed with division-rival Dallas. The pickings are mighty slim, now, and if The Hawks couldn't afford the $2 mil that Dallas ponied up I don''t expect Stan Bowman will be able to attract anyone of any actual value at this point. It could be, too, that Hudler did not wish to be thrust onto Toews' wing, 'cos you know that would have been his destination had he chose Chicago. At this point in his career Hudler will likely be just as happy in a lower pressure situation on Dallas' second or third line.
Good News Everyone, There's Bad News
Seriously.
What a mess. While The Hawks are believed to have loads of depth at forward, what passes for depth are a handful of journeymen and a clutch of entirely unproven prospects. Schmaltz and Motte will each get a long look in the preseason, and why shouldn't they? All they will be displacing are the likes of Hinostroza, Hartman, Kero & Baun, none of whom played with any particular distinction in their various auditions. Tootoo and Mashinter, it would seem, are not merely likely to be Hawks on opening night, they might need to be Hawks until something better comes along, a fact that hurts my heart and may be the source of this rash I've had, lately. I don't mind Dennis Rasmussen, in general, but when he's the absolute best option you have for 4-C things are dire, indeed.At this precise moment, it's looking as if The Hawks will ice one top line, two third lines and I-don't-know-what-to-call-the-four-remaining-forwards. If someone, any one of these "candidates" rise to the occasion and make some indication that they belong in the NHL, things may not be a complete disaster at forward. But they won't, and it will.
The Defence is as close to sorted as it's looked in a few years, but still beleaguered by Joel Quenneville's bizarre view of Trevor Van Riemsdyk, who will continue to log big minutes a full league over his head. Common sense suggests that TVR would, at least, be relegated to the third pairing, but I wouldn't count on that; don't be shocked if Q slots TVR onto the first or second pairing and slips Brian Campbell onto the third. While I have no beef with Campbell getting the opportunity to run riot against the oppositions' weaker units I'm not crazy about TVR being gifted far more responsibility than he's able to handle.
The Hawks will likely carry eight D to start the season, with the sixth position filled by committee with Rozsival, Gustafsson and Kempny, assuming the latter doesn't make a mess of training camp & the preseason games. If they go with seven D it's a push, money-wise, as to who among Goose and Kempny remains and it shouldn't really matter much in terms of performance as that guy isn't going to get a ton of ice time, anyway. Beyond these eight men there's not much to be had; one feels that The Hawks will have to fish or cut bait this season with Ville Pokka, as he becomes a Restricted Free Agent after this campaign, but his situation is complicated slightly by the fact that he earns more than any of the current bottom four. You can bet Stan Bowman will be counting every salary cap dollar on a daily basis this season and this is the sort of annoying reality that could keep Pokka in Rockford all season or, just as likely, flipped for a cheaper option, perhaps one with some NHL experience.
Well, this is another fine mess you've gotten us into, Stanley.
Back to the forward situation: inspecting the list of available forwards isn't very encouraging. What remains is a load of used-up guys or players who will require more than the ~$1 mil The Hawks will have to spend. Do you take a flyer on someone like Cody Hodgson who, at this point, could likely be signed to a two-way contract? Maybe Steve Bernier or Brad Boyes? Any of these guys would be complimentary scoring, at best, but that's all we're going to get at this stage of the game.
