Weekly Blackhawks Update
As anticipated, the Chicago Blackhawks have successfully clinched the first playoff berth of the NHL this 2012-13 Season. The Playoff berth was clinched after the Hawks beat the Nashville Predators on Sunday evening, 5-3.
The Blackhawks currently, as of 4/8/2013, lead the NHL with a total of 62 points and an overall record of 29-5-4.
With only several games left in the season, and if they keep up their success, the Blackhawks have a legit shot at keeping the No.1 seed in the West for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
This will be a huge advantage for the Hawks being that they will play the No.8 seeded team in the West.
Although it is too far away to be certain, the No.8 seeded team can range from Detroit, Phoenix, Dallas, Edmonton, St. Louis, or even Columbus.
All these teams are less than 4 points apart from one another and will all be fighting to earn the No.8 spot in the West.
The Hawks have a solid chance at beating any of these teams, so if they want to have the potentially easiest path to the Stanley Cup Finals, they better lock down on all levels and keep winning games to maintain the No.1 position.
On another note, the Blackhawks have looked better over this past week of games. The defense has somewhat tightened up and played better overall, more goal scoring has been a huge factor, and solid goaltending has kept the Hawks afloat in tight scoring games.
Also, the trade deadline additions for the Hawks have panned out thus far.
Aside from swapping AHL players and prospects, the Hawks have acquired a center from San Jose, Michal Handzus.
Michal Handzus has not only added depth to the center position, which the Hawks have been in dire needs of, but also an overall addition to the offensive dynamics of the Blackhawks.
Handzus has proved to be a solid center and has even contributed an assist and a Plus/Minus of +3 in his only 3 games with the Hawks.
I hope to see Handzus Improve and continue contributing to for the Hawks.
Needed Improvements
Goaltending for the Blackhawks has been pretty solid so far. However, I am concerned with goaltender Corey Crawford’s play as of late.
Corey is a great goaltender without a doubt and has done a lot for the Hawks these past several seasons. But, lately he has been a little off beat, so it seems, to me at least.
It seems to me that “Crawdaddy” (a nickname I have referred to Crawford as since he has been in net for the Hawks) can stop significant scoring chances pretty well.
However, the only problem in his play, is the stoppage of mediocre goals. For example, Crawford has let up several terrible goals as of late that completely fall on him, not the defense.
Crawford needs to improve on these ugly goals and solidify his play in net so that he can maintain the starting position once again for the Hawks.
Aside from goaltending and players staying as healthy as possible, there are no specific improvements that need to be made other than the basic improvements that any team needs to work on.
Frank’s Three Stars of the Week
1st: Brandon Saad
2nd: Bryan Bickell
3rd: Ray Emery
Saad: Brandon “Manchild” Saad has once again made my 1st star of the week. He has been a consistent scorer for the Hawks since he scored his first goal against the Sharks months ago. Saad now has 9 goals, 14 assists, and a plus/minus of +14. He needs to keep this up and carry his success through the upcoming playoffs to help the Hawks.
Bickell: Bryan Bickell has snapped his point drought recently by scoring several goals this past week and a half. He now has 8 goals, 12 assists, and a plus/minus of +8. His 20 points has carried the Hawks far, especially with his goal that put the Hawks over the Predators last Saturday in a 1-0 game. Good to see him scoring again!
Emery: “Sugar Ray” Emery has been playing awesome for the Hawks as of late, not to mention the whole season! He has helped the Hawks in numerous games and has an amazing record of 14-1-0 with a GAA of 2.02 (behind Crawford’s 2.01) and a SV% of .920 (behind Crawford’s .922. Emery has really come alive for the Hawks and may even earn the starting goaltending position over Crawford if Corey does not improve.
Frank Markasovic
Sports Editor