Another taste of what we are missing
November 24, 2011 Leave a comment
Another rematch against the goalie that was a large part of the Blackhawks 2010 Stanley Cup run, another loss against said goalie. Antti Niemi said no all 34 times the Hawks put a shot on him in his most impressive performance against his former team.
And yes, it bears repeating: THE CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS LET NIEMI WALK AFTER SALARY ARBITRATION TO SIGN FOR LESS MONEY ELSEWHERE. However, this was set in motion when San Jose posted a 4-year offer sheet to defenceman Niklas Hjalmarsson, forcing the Hawks to show their hand. In a salary cap bind, they went with a D-man who wouldn’t crack the top D line…over the goalie who in his ROOKIE season posted a very solid .912 SV% during the regular season and a .910 SV% in the postseason making all 22 starts.
I’ll admit, savvy move by Sharks GM Doug Wilson. In my relatively moderate NHL knowledge, I do know enough that great goalies don’t come around too often, and when the opportunity presents itself, you have to act on it. Last I checked Martin Brodeur enjoys a long storied career as the Devils netminder. Let me be clear, I’m not expecting Niemi to end his career with 600 career wins, 10 All Star Games and 3 Stanley Cups, but I’m not putting it out of the question.
And yeah, let drag it down all the way. Here’s a game log of the 5 times Niemi has faced the Blackhawks:
|
Date |
Site |
SV |
Shots |
SV% |
Dec |
|
11/24/10 |
SJ |
30 |
32 |
.938 |
W |
|
12/11/10 |
SJ |
28 |
29 |
.966 |
W |
|
12/30/10 |
CHI |
26 |
29 |
.897 |
W |
|
3/4/11 |
CHI |
14 |
18 |
.778 |
L |
|
11/23/11 |
SJ |
34 |
34 |
1.000 |
W |
I would take that 5-game stretch at any point in a season. Pause….ok. I’ll stop now before I run myself into a deeper depression. What are the positives from tonight? This was way different that the previous two losses on the west coast (5-2 and 9-2 thrashings by the Flames and Oilers respectively). The offense is put in a good position when the defense only allows 1 goal. Chicago won the shot differential–what I think is one of the more influential keys to a win–34-21.
So there’s positives. Up next the Blackhawks head to The Pond to face to Anaheim Ducks. In their first meeting this season, the Hawks won a 3-2 shootout decision (their first shootout win of the season), with goals coming from Hossa and Sharp, and Kane notching the shootout clincher.
PS: Once I have more time to devote to research, I’ll be looking at exactly how influential shot differential is on the outcome of NHL games.