Wow. Another bonafide ass-whipping from our new look Hawks. Seriously folks, in two games at the UC back to back we put up TWELVE goals. That's fucking ridiculous. Not to mention the fact, that if Kipper wasn't such a mutant it likely would have been near nine goals last night. It's encouraging to watch a team gain it's confidence the way that the Hawks have early in the season. It's also nice that Q has come on to a success. No matter how you feel about Savvy's exit, (you know what side of that fence I stand on) you have to understand that a floundering transition doesn't behoove any of us. Q has taken the reins and structured our boys just enough, leaving certain areas of his coaching style on the mantle for now. I am surprised at how aggressive the team remains in the offensive and neutral zones, as in Colorado and St. Louis, Q played a much slower tempo of hockey to excellent results. Then again, he wasn't running a line of twenty year-olds out there as his top scoring line. Joel understands the strengths of his team and has been manipulating them brilliantly in a very short amount of time.
Also, I think it's time to go ahead and give a big high-five to Steeger. Kris has played his ass off every shift since being asked to join the big squad. Even in a short stint last year, I was impressed with his ability to play bigger than his size and am completely blown away by how far that has come in this new season. Will he win the rookie of the year? Probably not. But, seriously, who knows? Finally, youth has not only promise here, it is delivering. He will be in the Calder voting this year, i believe, and if he continues to see the ice and play as positionally sound as he has this month and last, he'll be at the top of it.
I guess we'll have to talk about this Marty rumor today too. Let me say, I think the rumor thing is a little out of control. The only thing is, we've never had a team that anyone gave a shit about to make a trade with unless they were taking our stars for garbage. The potential of being on the other end of that table makes me giddy. That being said, shut the fuck up about trading Marty Havlat. It's no secret Marty is one of my favorite players in the game today. He's electric with the puck and is one of the most gifted skaters in the NHL. If he can continue his dominance of teams this year he'd certainly get my vote for comeback player of the year. Recently on hockeybuzz.com, Eklund mentioned moving Marty and a young NHL ready center (Kontiola) and/or another prospect (Aliu or Skille) for Nathan Horton, a young fourth-year center from the Florida Panthers. Horton is a total stud. He's tough, he can score, he is younger than Marty, and he's less expensive. I know the Panthers got fleeced on the Olli Jokinen deal in the off-season, but can they really let that happen again? Marty would be a great rent-a-player if he stays healthy and could land some serious picks at the trade deadline. Isn't that kind of a risk though? As much as I love the guy, if the Panthers are to put Horton on the table the Hawks need to make that happen. Here's the thing though...
Havlat will remain a Hawk until the trade deadline at least.
Gonna be a great week if we can keep up this domination as we head into the circus road-trip at the end of the month.
Go Hawks.
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