It's a Tough Job But Somebody Has to do it: Wednesday's Big Boy

Despite sleepwalking through half the game as well some other challenges, such as Coach Q benching Clendenning which, in turn, had Rozsival on the ice waaaay too much, The Hawks walked out of Denver with another two points.  

Despite the chancy victory all indicators point to this young fella deserving The Belt, yet again.

                                            What the....are those Canucks colours?

Oops, course I meant this guy, The Hawks' own One Man Gang, on merit of three helpies in a 3-2 win.

What I really wanted to do was post some photos of Andrew Shaw's and Dan Carcillo's wretched Movember mustaches, but it would seem that no photographers have bothered recording these "efforts".  Seriously, those two look like they're planning to do bad things to a cabin boy or something.  Instead, how about a few classic Hawks Movember pics?

                                                     Live, from the Press Box!

                                The chipped tooth and single-Windsor really set this off.

                      Let's get this over with, my shift at the paper mill starts in 20 minutes.

Well, That Was Fun: Hawks vs. Oilers Big Boy

Okay, so it was against The Oilers and all that comes with (or fails to come with) that, but it was still mighty good and fun to see an offensive explosion for a change.  Looking at the boxscore many aspects of this game were close run; The Hawks outshot The Oilers by only five shots, and scoring chances were nearly even.  What made the difference, though were these:
- The Oilers goaltenders were not great.  That may be too kind, as Ben Scrivens was horrible, actually.
- Scrivens and his replacement, Viktor Fasth received no favours from their defence who failed to keep up with The Hawks' forwards, failed to clear many (any?) rebounds and provided virtually no front-of-the-net presence.
- The Oil's forwards fared little better in the keeping up department, as juggernauts such as Versteeg and Carcillo were too much for the likes of Aulie and Nugent-Hopkins and The Hawks hit for two power play goals on seven chances.
- The early lead allowed Coach Q to "rest" his top players a little.  Rozsival and Clendenning played north of 19 minutes and Kane, Toews and Hossa all played less than 17 minutes.
- Phillip Danault looked just fine, albeit against The Oilers.
- All but four Hawks players registered at least one point.
- Marian Hossa.

A sneaky four-point-night gets Hoss The Belt for a day.  I say sneaky because he was just doing what he always does and in no way appeared to be playing better or differently than usual.  After not getting the bounces so many times this season Hoss seemed to get all the bounces last night, and he may finally be regressing to his own mean. The eight points he's notched in his last five games represent more than half of his fifteen points to date, so maybe he's overcome his dreadfully slow start, points-wise, anyway.

Canucks tonight.  More, please.

One Down, Five to Go: Circus Trip Game One Big Boy

Didn't see any of the game apart from the highlight pack but it sure feels like The Hawks stole one tonight.  I guess this makes up for those games in late October when they outshot the opposition 382 - 16 over three or four games and came away with, what, a single point.

I kinda wanted to go with Clendenning tonight after not even expecting him to dress until at least Saturday and then potting one on his very first shot on net.  As cool as that is it fails to match Patrick Kane's efforts tonight.

Kaner's game-winner was just so....Kane, grabbing a puck in a crowd, slipping it between some guy's skates and wiring a quick wrister in for the win.  Add to that the sweet, soft pass to Seabrook to set up the third goal and we have reason to believe he hasn't given up.  Kane seemed kind of asea there for a week or two but these last two games he's been terrific, simply magical in close-quarters like he can be when he's fully dialed in.

And the Winner is...

....Adam Clendenning.  Although it took a bit of effort and a fair amount of salary-cap manipulation before it got done.
This comes as a bit of a surprise to most observers, as the odds-on favourite to replace the injured Trevor Van Riemsdyk (out 2-3 months, LBI) seemed to be Klas Dahlbeck.  While Dahlbeck has been described as the steadiest of the defence group in Rockford, Clendenning has certainly waited around long enough to get his NHL looks.
Promoting Clendenning may fill a rather large gap in The Hawks' lineup, as well, since Michal Rozsival has been working on the second power play unit.  Say that out loud.  Anyway, Clendenning is a prototypical offensive defenceman and is quite accustomed to quarterbacking a power play and should see some PP time straight away on the upcoming western road trip.  I would expect to see Clendenning debut on Saturday or Sunday; Saturday if Rozsival is a disaster on Thursday, Sunday otherwise.
With TVR being unavailable for 2-3 months, though, The Hawks will have the opportunity to give their other defence prospects a spin and I fully expect to see Stephen Johns and Klas Dahlbeck play some games before the New Year.  Once Sharp returns from his own injury, still as long as week or two from now, The Hawks' first-unit PP guy will be back and, unless Clendenning sets the world on fire in the interim, that would be the time to give Johns and Dahlbeck their respective shots.

Joakim Nordstrom will join The Hawks on the road trip, as well, presumably alternating with Jeremy Morin alongside Kruger and Smith.

Holding Pattern

With training camp now underway I'd really like to pop in my predictions on which lineup The Hawks will bring to bear in a few months time, but the picture is still not clear enough.  One or more of the incumbent players still have to be moved or, in what would be a slightly shady manoeuvre, someone would have to be placed on Long Term Injury Reserve while The Hawks' administration figures out an actual solution to being $2.2 Million over the salary cap. The Hawks do not currently have any players on the Injury List but, if pressed, there are a few guys that they could semi-legitimately place on LTIR to obtain some salary cap relief and buy a little more time to make some informed decisions.  Johnny Oduya broke his foot in the final game of the Western Conference Final last spring, a "fact" I had learned only recently, and no one would bat an eye if Marian Hossa was ailing from a back or shoulder injury when training camp concludes.

Hossa would be tapped for the LTIR only if he was actually hurt, I think; I cannot imagine The Hawks wanting to do without Hoss if they can avoid it.  If things do come down to LTIR shenanigans Oduya would be a likely, somewhat legitimate and pretty convenient option.  If Oduya, or any of the top seven defensemen, were sheltered in this way The Hawks would have their chance to evaluate one (or more?) of the young d-men waiting for their chance get some NHL minutes.  The organization seems hell-bent on persisting with David Rundblad, so there's that, and Adam Clendenning, Klas Dahlbeck and Stephen Johns could/should get a look before the All-Star break, if The Hawks know what's good for them.  Terrifyingly, The Hawks acquired one of Joel Quenneville's footsoldiers from Q's Colorado days, Kyle Cumiskey, who could already be assured a spot as the seventh or eighth d-man based on his history with Coach Q.  I'll note that Cumiskey has not played in the NHL in over three years, but one cannot help thinking that he was obtained with some "purpose" in mind, especially with the boatload of defense prospects waiting in Rockford and beyond.

The salary dump is still a possibility but the how, who and when questions persist.  The expectation was that someone would be dealt, dispatched or given away during the Draft weekend, which of course did not happen and makes one wonder if no team is interested in the likes of Oduya or Kris Versteeg.  That possibility aside, I see a few other potential storylines here.
- Kris Versteeg: moving this forward clears up the salary cap nuisance at least temporarily, as his salary is precisely $2.2 Million, the same amount The Hawks are exceeding the cap.  I'm not sure what to think about Versteeg not already being dealt; either GM Stan Bowman had no takers for the backsliding winger or there is still some vain hope that Versteeg will return to some sort of form or, at least, play with greater discipline than he did in 2013-14.
- Johnny Oduya: possibly hurt, coming off a so-so playoffs and in the final year of a $3.3 Million contract.  If ANY of the young d-men are remotely ready to play in the NHL dealing Oduya makes the most sense as his sell-before date is rapidly approaching and, if he were to remain with The Hawks into the season, it will be increasingly difficult to trade him as he approaches Unrestricted Free Agency next spring.  Dealing Oduya would solve the salary cap problem and leave room to spare to carry another young forward on the roster, as well.
- Michal Rozsival: dumping Rozsie's $2.2 Million salary would also ensure short term cap relief, but this is a player who is consistent, has actually performed better in the playoffs than in the regular season and seems content to share the seventh d-man spot with another player.  It may also be tougher to get anything of worth for the 36-year-old Czech.
- Bryan Bickell: he gets a lot of grief about not being good value for the $4 Million he earns, especially given that he saw his icetime decrease to a career low last season.  One hopes that he has not lost the trust of the coach and that he was just being allowed to play lighter minutes as he continued to recover from two significant injuries sustained the previous year.  I really don't see another player on the roster who has Bickell's attributes; size, aggression and some scoring touch.  A lot of fans are frustrated by his inconsistent play, which might be due to lingering injuries, but I feel he deserves at least one more opportunity to do his thing.  I have a queasy feeling, though, that the slightest hint of Brandon Mashinter being able to fill Bickell's role may lead to Big Bick's departure.
- Nick Leddy: Bob McKenzie from TSN has been talking up this possibility, citing Adam Clendenning as a ready successor and Coach Q's lack of confidence in Leddy as catalysts toward the young puck-moving d-man being the odd man out.  I don't see this as a particularly viable option except in that The Hawks can expect excellent return in a trade involving Leddy.  Whether or not Clendenning is, in fact, prepared for the NHL will be a big determining factor here.  Also, Bob McKenzie is an idiot who loves the sound of his own voice.

Of course, training camp will determine who earns a spot on the team and who the first call-ups will be in the event of an injury.  Any of players mentioned above, apart from Leddy or Bickell, fall into the camp of guys who may be expendable if any of the prospect players are determined to be a better (and less expensive) option.

Additionally, Bowman may be playing a potentially very smart or very risky game here, lurking in the weeds with several experienced assets, waiting to see if a deal can be made to a team that, after their own training camps, realize they have holes in their lineups.  Training camp injuries, young players not being ready for the jump to the NHL or contract holdout hassles could all contribute to a position such as this.  

Finally, let me mention the hiring of Kevin Dineen as an assistant coach.  On the surface it appears that Quenneville is continuing to surround himself with assistants he knows and presumes to work well with; Q and Dineen have never coached together but were teammates in Hartford some decades ago.  Let me be the first to say that it's possible that Stan Bowman has inserted an agent in the coaching staff, a sort of fox in the henhouse, that could serve as a back up plan if Quenneville is dispatched for lack of results, recalcitrance, insanity...whatever.  My conspiratorial side wonders if Bowman and Dineen have an arrangement in which, as coach, Dineen will defer more readily to Bowman's vision, which may include a whole raft of things that Quenneville is unwilling to accommodate, such as including Bickell on special teams, pairing Leddy with Hjalmarsson, not insisting on a lineup spot being sucked up by the likes of Eager/Burish/Bollig/Mashinter and, for the love of God, allowing Jeremy Morin the chance to succeed.

More later, after the salary cap thing is sorted out.