Inside The Penalty Box 11.26.07: Rookies and Secondary Scorers Leading Blackhawks
Posted by Neil Borenstein on 11.26.2007
The Chicago Blackhawks finished last in their division last season, continuing the team’s disappointing performances in recent seasons. But by landing the first overall selection and combining him with their third overall pick from the year before, the Blackhawks have managed to find an offensive surge that is backed up by key sources of secondary scoring. In this edition of Inside The Penalty Box, Neil Borenstein highlights the five players potentially leading the Blackhawks to their first postseason appearance in five years.
Offense Key In Chicago
Rookies and Secondary Scorers Leading Blackhawks
Photo Credit: Yahoo! Sports/Getty Images
Patrick Kane, 19, leads all rookies in scoring with 22 points.
s we approach the completion of almost two months in the 2007-08 National Hockey League season, several rookies are making a quick name for themselves. On offense, defense and even in net, there a plenty of first-year players proving their worth in the NHL and coming out of the chute really strong for Calder Memorial Trophy contention as Rookie of the Year. Most of the more productive rookies come out of the Western Conference, but even the East has some strong names to offer. No team is seeing more out of its top rookies this season, though, than the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Blackhawks lead the charge with two incredible rookie scorers. After how they've played the last few seasons, it's about time they received a surge in scoring from some of their top youngsters. The Blackhawks are second in the Central Division and fourth in the Western Conference with 26 points. That's a huge improvement from the team's finish last year. In 2006-07, the Blackhawks finished with 71 points – bad enough for last place in the division and 13th in the conference. One good thing came out of that showing, though. Because of finishing within the bottom five of teams last year, they went into the draft lottery and scored the top pick in the 2007 NHL Draft. With the first overall selection, the Blackhawks drafted Buffalo-native Patrick Kane.
Kane has emerged as one of the best players in the entire NHL, not just the rookie class. Among rookies, though, he leads the class in points (22) and assists (15). He also has seven goals, which ranks tied for second among rookies, in 22 contests. Ten of his points have come on the power play. And he also has a minus-1 rating on a team that's 20th in the NHL in goals against average (2.88).
The 19-year old right wing has definitely taken the league by surprise. To literally come right out of the draft and play in the NHL is not an easy transition. It might have been smooth sailing for a player like Sidney Crosby, but he's in a class of his own. Other top picks tend to need some time for adjustment. Kane, thus far, has not. And though he hasn't produced as well in November (six points in 10 games) as he did in October (16 points in 12 games), Kane is one of the biggest reasons why the Blackhawks have been able to make such a big jump in the standings from last season.
For his production in October, which was the third best showing by a rookie since Teemu Selanne scored 20 with the Winnipeg Jets and Joe Juneau notched 17 with the Boston Bruins in 1992, Kane received Rookie of the Month honors.
Perhaps the one noticeable absence in his statistics is game-winning goals. Being an offensive stud for the Blackhawks and seeing about 18:40 in average ice time, having him put up those clutch scores to win hockey games would be a nice addition to his repertoire. He has seen a few of his assists come on game-winning goals. But I'd like to see him tally a few himself.
Playing alongside Kane is another phenomenal rookie, Jonathan Toews. Toews was just narrowly edged in that October Rookie of the Month race by Kane after putting up 10 points in 10 games. And it was obvious during that month that these two players were going to be key in their first season for whatever kind of success Chicago was going to have this year.
Toews was selected third overall by the Blackhawks in 2006. He is not only fifth on the Blackhawks in scoring, but he leads all rookies in goals with eight. He is also second behind Kane in points with 16 and is sixth in assists (eight) among rookies.
The 19-year old center needed one extra year after being drafted to hone his skills before entering the NHL. He returned to the University of North Dakota in 2006-07 to play some NCAA hockey and posted 46 points in 34 games for the Fighting Sioux. Included in his preparation for some NHL hockey was three gold medals in World Junior and World Championship competition with Team Canada. In 2006, he was part of Canada's gold medal winning team. In 2007, he led Team Canada in scoring and was on the all-tournament for the World Junior Championships gold medal winning squad. The same year, he skated with the big boys and became the second youngest player to participate in the Men's World Championships.
Together, Kane and Toews are going to provide years and years of excitement for Blackhawks fans. Much like the Pittsburgh Penguins' situation with Evgeni Malkin and Crosby, so long as Chicago can afford to keep its two 19-year olds, they are going to be a lethal combo.
They are not going at it alone, however, as the Blackhawks try to reverse their fortunes from recent seasons. Kane and Toews are helped by a very nice supporting case. With Martin Havlat seemingly a permanent fixture on injured reserves, there are not any real superstars in the Blackhawks' locker room. But the players they do have to backup Kane and Toews are tremendous sources of secondary scoring.
Robert Lang is an NHL veteran that can still put up great numbers. He might never repeat his 80-point season with the Penguins in 2000-01 or his 79-point season split between the Washington Capitals and Detroit Red Wings in 2003-04. But his ability to put up at least 50 points a season is still valuable as a source of secondary scoring. In 22 games, he has 19 points with six goals and 13 assists, putting him on pace for about 70 points over a full 82-game schedule.
Jason Williams might be having a career-year in his first full season away from Detroit. He is currently day-to-day with a sore groin. But in 19 games played, he scored seven goals and 11 assists for 18 points. He is a strong power play asset with 12 of his points coming on the man advantage.
Patrick Sharp is another man who's day-to-day. Sharp is out right now with the flu, and that hurts the Blackhawks quite a bit. He is the team's leading goal scorer (11) and he is the man who has come up in the clutch with four game-winning scores. So long as the flu doesn't keep him off the ice too long, Sharp will have a career season. He already has 17 points and owns a season high of only 35 – attained last season in 80 games with Chicago.
I think above all else, when you look at these three players who are by no means any less important to the Blackhawks' success than Kane and Toews, you see players who came from very solid systems. Though I question Washington's system from when he played there, Lang gained a great deal of good experience playing in Pittsburgh with big stars and even in Detroit for over two seasons. Williams came up with and played for Detroit for about four and a half years before being traded to Chicago last year. Sharp came from Philadelphia, where he never really provided the offense he is now, but at least played on a team that was always a contender. Having that kind of supporting cast really eases Kane and Toews into the NHL a lot more smoothly.
Defensively, the Blackhawks do need to improve a bit. I think it all really starts in goal. I'd like to say I'm surprised but I'm not at all shocked that Nikolai Khabibulin is not the clutch netminder he was when playing for the Tampa Bay Lightning. At $6.75 million a season, the "Bulin Wall" needs to patch up his holes and start performing better to give his offense some support. Patrick Lalime had a decent run in late-October, early-November and owns a 4-2 record this season. But Lalime has been rocky ever since being traded by the Ottawa Senators. His ability to remain clutch in between the pipes is very questionable.
If these two can tighten their games, I think the Blackhawks can provide enough defense for their offense to get the job done. Nobody will mistake Chicago for a team capable of outseeding the Red Wings as the top team in the division. But with their two rookie stars and three secondary scorers playing as well as they have been through a quarter of the season, Chicago should have no problem finding themselves in the playoffs for the first time since 2001-02.
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Until next week, you have just been Inside The Penalty Box!
s we approach the completion of almost two months in the 2007-08 National Hockey League season, several rookies are making a quick name for themselves. On offense, defense and even in net, there a plenty of first-year players proving their worth in the NHL and coming out of the chute really strong for Calder Memorial Trophy contention as Rookie of the Year. Most of the more productive rookies come out of the Western Conference, but even the East has some strong names to offer. No team is seeing more out of its top rookies this season, though, than the Chicago Blackhawks.
