Well, the first Blackhawks game of the year did not disappoint. They beat the Penguins on the road, and the rook looked good. All that hype… crazy, but… he didn’t looked phased out there. And, the other guys on the Hawks played good too, including our goalie Mrazek, who stood on his head, to help us get these first 2 points of the season. And away we go…
Bedard looked great out there; he wasn’t shy either, firing away on net. That’s good. I don’t want him to be the basketball equivalent of a ball hog, but he IS the guy, and very soon, WILL be the man, so fire away young buck. He’s quick, he has the handles, and he can definitely get a shot off; I thought that one was in where he dragged it back and fired towards the side of the net. He did get hit; I’m sure all the teams throughout the NHL will try to do exactly that. He’s not the biggest guy yet, remember he’s only 18; I would do the same thing if I was playing against him. Get physical. It will be one of the lessons he learns early on, that and learning how to do face offs. Crosby dominated him in the circle, which makes perfect sense. He’ll get better; he should get better at all facets of his game over time. This is what the great ones do. If he truly is destined to be great, we’re only scratching the surface here; I’m still very pleased with this first exhibit of his NHL talents.
How about Mrazek? Guess this Arvid Soderblum kid is supposed to be our future in the crease, but let’s not jump the gun that quick. This Petr dude… man did he make some amazing saves against the Pens. If there was one guy to thank for this victory, it would be him. Hopefully the other goalie will be just as good; remember when we had Crawford and Emery going that one year? From the early looks of it, our goalies will need to be strong; certainly can’t give up as many good scoring chances that we did and expect to win a whole lot. I know our defenders are young, and that’s good, but there will be a learning curve. Still, I like the fact that the Hawks are running all the young boys out there; let them play. Let them make mistakes and learn. They will get better.
The first W was nice; not sure how I feel about visiting Boston tonight after they got rammed out of the playoffs last year. The Hawks will be better this year; I think that’s safe to say. How good? More to come, but I love the first impression. I know it will take some time for this team to get better, but if they stick with it, and the young guys collectively improve along with Bedard… watch out; the rest of the NHL has officially been put on the clock. When will Connor get his first goal? Go Hawks!!!
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