Monday, Nov. 15, 2010
6:45 p.m.
By Chris Boden
CSNChicago.com
For as busy as the Blackhawks' schedule has been with a season-high 20 games played, last year's schedule had them at the 19-game mark on November 15th, heading into their Circus Trip. Remember it began in Finland, as well, and was condensed for all teams due to the Olympic break. Once they won at Calgary last November 19th, the champs-to-be were 13-5-2, putting them eight points ahead of this season's pace at the approximate quarter-pole.
Since so much has been made of how overall team stats have compared between this Hawks team and the one a year ago at the same stage, I wondered how the Hawks' returnees were faring stastically at the same number of personal games-played this year versus last year. It's not just simply at the 20-game mark, but at the same number of games those players have played at this point this season compared to their same stats at that number of games a year ago. It takes into account the fact Toews, Bolland, Seabrook, and Hossa, among others, missed time during the first 20 a year ago, while others have missed time this season due to injury or suspension. Where these players' stats are now, opposite their production at a comparable number of games in 2009-10:
GP
G
A
Pts.
-
Keith
'10-11:
20
1
12
13
-6
Hjalmarsson
'10-11:
'09-10:
18
18
0
1
0
3
0
4
-9
5
Seabrook
'10-11:
'09-10:
20
20
2
2
8
8
10
10
1
11
Sharp
'10-11:
'09-10:
19
19
10
6
8
10
18
16
-11
5
Toews
'10-11:
'09-10:
20
20
5
6
9
10
14
16
4
11
Brouwer
'10-11:
'09-10:
20
20
1
6
8
4
9
10
0
-1
Bolland
'10-11:
'09-10:
14
14
1
2
2
4
3
6
0
2
Campbell
'10-11:
'09-10:
7
7
1
1
3
6
4
7
2
4
Hossa
'10-11:
'09-10:
15
15
8
6
5
7
13
13
0
4
Kopecky
'10-11:
'09-10:
19
19
2
1
7
1
9
2
-10
-7
Kane
'10-11:
'09-10:
19
19
7
7
10
12
17
19
-7
5
And that brings us to numbers compiled so far from The News Guys (The Replacements?) versus the production of those from last season's roster now gone, and the numbers they put up a year ago at the same amount of games-played for the eventual champs. It's obviously an inexact science, but I tried to line the stats up against their comparable "replacement."
GP
G
A
Pts.
-
Boynton '10-11:
Sopel '09-10:
18
18
0
1
3
1
3
2
-2
-4
Pisani '10-11:
Ladd '09-10:
20
20
2
4
2
5
4
9
-2
6
Stalberg '10-11:
Versteeg '09-10:
19
19
6
6
4
8
10
14
-3
4
Dowell '10-11:
Madden '09-10:
20
20
3
3
3
4
6
7
2
-2
Bickell '10-11:
Byfuglien '09-10:
17
17
3
6
4
2
7
8
1
-4
Skille '10-11:
Eager '09-10:
19
19
2
2
4
1
6
3
1
2
NHL
How much did the players' familiarity with each other a year ago factor into these numbers and their success? How has the unfamiliarity this year contribute to where they are, statistically, in addition to being at .500 overall? Different players bring different things to the table and it's not all about the stats above. Make whatever conclusions you'd like.
This team's leadership -- from Joel Quenneville to Jonathan Toews -- spent the three-loss week between victories against Atlanta and Anaheim talking about getting better, progress, and building this team's game back up. The captain echoes the mindset by insisting it's a phase every team goes through during the course of a long season, theirs is coming early, and they'll be better for all this in the long run. We're about to see if these western road trips the Hawks of the last two years seemed to enjoy and thrive on provides more stepping stones, on top of the one they believe Sunday night's victory established.
Chris Boden is the host of Blackhawks Pre and Postgame Live on Comcast SportsNet.