TRADE: Blackhawks Acquire F Tomas Jurco from Detroit Red Wings

CHICAGO, IL -- Well, this one was unexpected.

Only sort of, though. I at least was right in that the Hawks would look to get some sort of forward, either for the top line or bottom six, but I thought it'd be Patrick Eaves. Nope, he's headed to Anaheim (on a very *ahem* interesting trade, but that's neither here nor there).

With only 15 goals in 159 games, a -8 rating over 16 games this season with no goals and a handful of healthy scratches, I think a lot of people are probably questioning him off the bat. But, I'm telling you, hang on.

The Hawks eat this crap up.

Remember Richard Panik last year? I'm not sure anyone really knew who he was, or knew why we got him of all forwards. But, look. He's paid dividends for the team this year and last, for that matter.

Who's to say Jurco just wasn't in the right place in Detroit? He might prove himself in the last leg of the season.

And, if he doesn't, he's a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

So, I say, give the guy a chance, take him for what he is, and don't get too caught up. Sending Vinnie Hinostroza down to Rockford kind of sucks, but the Hawks will test the waters with Jurco. If he doesn't live up to what Stan Bowman and Coach Q want, he'll get sent down to Rockford.

Comments

If You Like This Team, You Might Like... (Part II)

RALEIGH, NC -- Here's the second part to my 'If You Like This Team..." series! Same rules apply, and sound off in the comments if you agree or have other ideas! If you like the LA Kings, you might like... the Pittsburgh Penguins! This one was actually one of the first ones I thought of--the teams seem to kind of be two sides of the same coin. Both teams have a clear winning culture in the past ten or so years (the Penguins have won the Cup in 2009/2016/2017, and the Kings won in 2012/2014), and because of that, most fans don't like either team, or are just sick of seeing them win. However, both teams are also kind of struggling with older core groups of players, and both are likely going to start rebuilding a little over the summer. Even though the Penguins made it to the playoffs this season, with a sweep by the New York Islanders, it's clear something's not quite right with that team, and it'll be interesting to see what the organization deci

Checking In - Breaking Down the Blackhawks' Play Over a Month

CHICAGO, IL — I’m going to be absolutely real with you—I had no idea what to write about for the blog this week. I’ve written about the Blackhawks being good, bad, and everything in between, I’ve written about Patrick Kane a couple times now (#Kane4Hart), and I’ve even written about the best goal celebrations from the Hawks this season. The idea tank is running dry, my friends. So, I thought we could throw it back to a post I made a while back about what the Hawks really needed to do to make the playoffs, and grade them on how well they're meeting all three of those items a couple of weeks later. Let's just get right on into it, shall we? 1) With 27 games left, you have to go 18-9 to get to the 88-90-point range that would potentially get them into the playoffs. So, the Hawks currently sit at 71 points through 70 games, and since the date of this article (February 8th), the Hawks have gone 9-6, which is not terrible, but also only gives them a b

Out for the Count - Blackhawks Miss Playoffs for Second Straight Season

CHICAGO, IL -- Well, we've reached the end of the road, boys. If you haven't heard, the Blackhawks were eliminated from playoff contention with the Colorado Avalanche's win over the Oilers on Tuesday. I'm not going to lie, it's been a fun season. There have been definite highs and lows this season, and at the end of the day, the Hawks are ending on a higher note than they expected to. This season really has been a whirlwind for this team--there was a relatively big group of new guys at the start of the season (Brandon Manning, Chris Kunitz, Cam Ward, Henri Jokiharju, Andreas Martinsen, to name a few), and while some of them didn't stick around, they all left a mark on the team--good or bad, that's for you to decide. Coach Quenneville was fired fairly abruptly in the midst of what would be an eight-game losing streak in early November, and the Hawks brought in rookie coach Jeremy Colliton to replace him. Colliton really has grown on me this season

Sports with Megs

Search This Blog