November 19, 2008 Hawks' young studs coming into
their own
[PHOENIX, AZ] -- Following a young
NHL hockey team is like following the Disney Channel's prime time
lineup. You can see which players a team thinks are going to be the
breakout stars... like a Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus type. You can watch
certain other players get the most, best and varied opportunities to
show their stuff, even though they continually fail to show that they
can do more than any one thing competently. The analogy here is to
Brenda Songm, who has nailed the dumb spoiled rich girl character of
London Tipton, but continually gets movie roles that she bombs
because she doesn't have the substance to handle them.
The most fun
comes from watching the background in these shows, to see which
supporting characters have the gumption to take their little
supporting roles and then blow up huge when given the opportunity to
carry a movie.
The best example of this is the actress Ashley Tisdale,
who had a minor role as Maddie on "The Suite Life of Zach and Cody",
then exploded with her show-stealing performances as
Sharpay Evans in the "High School Musical" trilogy. In the last season
of "Suite Life" you could practically see Song doing a slow burn in
every scene with Tisdale, knowing Tisdale had made it big, while Song
either passed on, or was passed over for, roles in "High School
Musical".
It is this last role which has the best comparisons to the NHL,
because 20 or so games into the season, we can begin to see players
defining the arc of their seasons.
The Chicago Blackhawks have their obvious
young Hannah Montana-type horses, though Jonathan Toews and Patrick
Kane will certainly bristle at the comparison (though they did meet
her last year, when the young and precocious starlet visited the
locker room after a Hawks-Ducks game at the United Center). And they
have their share of young players who can excel at one trait, but
don't really have the package of skills to develop into anything more
than significant role players. The fun is seeing which players are
going to go from relative obscurity to big name players.
It says here the Hawks best candidate to pull a Tisdale (and yes, I'm
inventing that term) is Dave Bolland.
Bolland broke through with his
first two goals of the season against the Blues, on a night when his
line was dominant in a home game at the United Center. He has
been quiet in part because he has routinely been assigned to a
checking line role, which he fulfilled very well in Chicago's last
homestand. He's been a dominant penalty killer in a pair with Kris
Versteeg (the two each scored a shortie in Chicago's last 2 home
games). And he's helped wake up his two regular wingers, Dustin
Byfuglien and Andrew Ladd, both of whom had excellent homestands.
You probably won't hear much from Bolland -- he's at best a mediocre
sound-bite who prefers to let his teammates talk for him. And he may
be more of a follower than a leader type in his clubhouse. But he
reminds me of the way Curtis Brown played at his peak in the late
90's, when Ken Hitchcock used to say (correctly, I might add) that
Brown, and not the more-hyped Michael Peca, was the key to the Buffalo
Sabres' strong defensive presence during their Stanley Cup run. Brown
had three 20-goal seasons and two outstanding playoff runs, and was a key
cog for those Sabres' teams. Bolland has more skill and a longer
on-ice mean streak than Brown (a good thing), and he has a chance to
be an excellent #2 center. If he is, the 'Hawks should be "fabulous" (Sharpay
joke) up the middle for a long time to come.
*The Hawks failed to win the last 3 games of their homestand, turning
what had been a dominant run at the United Center into something of a
mystery. Somehow, the 'Hawks are a miserable 1-7 in 1-goal games,
including 4 shootout losses and an overtime loss. 4 of those
extra-time losses have come at home.
Despite the record, however, the
Hawks proved they are a capable team. Several of the San Jose writers
and players were extremely impressed with the way the Hawks dominated
the Sharks through stretches of a game when the Sharks were clearly
playing well. Twice Chicago battled back from two-goal deficits,
including taking the lead at 5-4 before losing at home for the first
time in regulation. Even a year ago, when the Hawks almost rallied to
the playoffs, they had some fluky wins where they were badly outshot
and never controlled the play. This year's team has that capability,
and they will eventually win some of the close ones.
*If you're looking for a unique gift for the holidays, check out the
website
Wizwear43.com. James Wisniewski is following Sean Avery into
the fashion world. The Hawks' defenseman is in the early stages of
developing a casual wear company. Some of his products, for both men
and women, are now available on the site. He reports that the most
popular item are the boy-shorts for girls. Many of the clothes have a
military-theme. Wiz is a Michigander, and comes from a family with a
strong military background. He has his grandfather's dogtag numbers in
a rather large tattoo down his side. Many of the proceeds will go
towards benefitting veterans' causes. Wisniewski has been out since he
tore his ACL (for the 3rd time) during off-season workouts. He plans
to practice with the team again before the Hawks head on the 2nd leg
of their circus road trip, and is targeting a return to game action
on December 12.
Josh
Mora,
a Columnist with TheFourthPeriod.com, is an Anchor and
Blackhawks Reporter with Comcast Sportsnet Chicago.
