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Put on your caring hats, because the NHL really wants Chicago-Minnesota to be a big rivalry in lieu of Chicago-Detroit. After pretty much a month of good-to-get-points games against the East, these are two big games with big implications for the division standings, which, remember, are more important than conference standings now. 7 on 9, it being a weekend and all, and probably the last Saturday night home game for a while.
Minnesota is in a weird place, organizationally, as they seem to want to be big-time with the Parise/Suter signings and the Jason Pominville trade, but are still relying on what appears to be a great deal of youngsters. Some of them are fully-formed prodigies, like Jonas Brodin, while others, like Nino Niederreiter, Charlie Coyle, and Mikael Granlund, still have a way to go. They're also schlepping Dany Heatley around, who is just about as done as done can be these days. They've played well in the early going, though, mostly because their defense/goaltending has been top-notch and accounted for the fact that no one's scoring. The Goaltending Niklas Backstrom is back just in time for Josh Harding to be hurt, and Brodin just broke his jaw, so let's see how that affects them. Cal Clutterbuck went to Long Island in exchange for Niederreiter, so that's nice, but Zenon Konopka is still there and still a hotheaded lunk, and Matt Cooke is there now, too. Mikko Koivu has been a pain in the ass for years now.
Kostka has been put on injured reserve and there's still that Nordstrom spot to fill, so we get two callups!
Jeremy Morin has successfully played himself out of Rockford with a point-per-game pace through his first eight games. Let's hope this is the time he's here to stay. The biggest thing the Hawks seem to be missing from last year is the aggression and tenacity on the penalty kill that they got from the luxury of a high-ceiling skill player in Michael Frolik logging those minutes. Morin fits that same profile, but unlike Frolik, there's still a faint glimmer of hope that he can move up the ranks. I've been excited about this guy since he came over in the megatrade with Atlanta, but he's had bad luck with injuries and has been lapped on the depth chart by younger guys in Saad and Shaw. I'll be rooting for him. He's still only 22.
The Hawks also signed 30-year-old forward Brad Mills off the Rockford roster and onto their 50-man roster, and then assigned him to the Blackhawks. Sorry, guys. I know fuck-all about Brad Mills. I just know that was the name of the Astros' old manager. I have no earthly clue what he could possibly be doing here, but if he dresses over Morin tonight, I'm going to construct a Joel Quenneville voodoo mustache and set it on fire.
RECORDS
Hawks: 6-1-3, adjusted 4-2-4, 11.607 points expected
Wild: 5-3-3, adjusted 5-4-2, 12.593 points expected
GOALS
Hawks: 2.900 scored (12th), 2.500 allowed (8th) -- quite the bump; thanks, Khabi
Wild: 2.182 scored (24th) 1.909 allowed (4th)
UNEVEN STRENGTH
Hawks: 8/38, 21.0% (11th) on the power play; 22/31, 71.0% (30th) on the penalty kill and again, I'm alarmed that 31 times shorthanded isn't even that many
Wild: 12/45, 26.7% (4th) on the power play, 33/44, 75.0% (27th) on the penalty kill
_________________ Molly Lambert wrote: The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.
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