Shantz My Pants
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I’ve seen a bit of a trend lately with posters and people among twitter who are upset when certain prospects get sent down to the AHL. Don’t get me wrong, I liked what Jimmy Hayes brought to the Hawks lineup. I’d like it even more if he played more than 11 minutes a game which is why precisely the Hawks sent him down to Rockford.
We (Hawk fans) have been spoiled the past few years. We’ve seen young prospects jump into the lineup and make some sort of immediate impact (Toews, Kane, Leddy, Seabs, Bolland) without spending a significant amount of time in the minor leagues. But for every Kane and Toews, players who make a straight jump to the pros, there are tons of prospects that need some seasoning in the minors. Some may have the skills and talent to compete in the NHL (Hayes, Olsen to name two) but because they are eligible to play in the minors many teams feel they are better off getting 17+ minutes in the AHL then less than 11 minutes in the NHL. Take a guy like Alexander Daigle who was drafted 1[sup]st[/sup] overall in the 1993 NHL draft by Ottawa. Daigle was once considered the next “can’t miss superstar’’, the kind of player that could be your franchise player. What happened next was poor player management and terrible development that saw Daigle out of hockey by 25. Daigle went straight from the QMJHL to the NHL and while he had a good rookie year (51 points in 84 games) he would never top that total again. He was passed soon by Alexei Yashin as the teams top center. Could better player development helped Daigle? Probably, but we will never know because he never got the ability to develop outside of getting thrown into the fire of the NHL and Ottawa hoping it worked out.
I realize I always talk about the Red Wings and how they are the ideal franchise when building teams, but it’s because it is true. It’s why they are always a top team in the league. They draft a prospect and let him finish his junior or college career. Then he starts of in the AHL and after a few seasons they move him up to the current roster where he will fill a need if he’s got nothing left for the minors. 8 of their current rostered skaters played at least a full year in the AHL, 9 if you count Jimmy Howard. Some even played 2-3 full seasons in the minors because getting regular duty in the NHL. Those 8 spots used to be filled by guys who had the same type of development and got to a point where they either didn’t fit the team’s plans or were too expensive. So once they moved on, the prospects who were developing got the call and took their new spot in the pro roster.
The Blackhawks are now in the same position and have been doing this for a few years. The spots that guys like Hayes, Olsen, Morin, Smith all were filling in at one point, are now filled by veteran players who don’t have much potential left to hit and are hurting any development by playing less than 12-13 minutes a game (Bruno, Mayers, Bickell, O’Donnell, Montador). Keith, Hammer, Buff, Versteeg, Burish, Fraser (when they were all here) for example all had the same type of slow development and this is exactly why they are still in the NHL doing their respected jobs.
While I know many of you are upset by Hayes getting sent down, and you very well can be upset because you won’t see him play for a while, instead be excited that he is going to get nothing but more of an opportunity to get better then he currently is and let him work on what will give him a better chance to get more ice time at the NHL level. It’s that type of patience and the ability to slowly develop these young prospects that makes the future of the Blackhawks exciting!
-TJD
Click here to view the article
We (Hawk fans) have been spoiled the past few years. We’ve seen young prospects jump into the lineup and make some sort of immediate impact (Toews, Kane, Leddy, Seabs, Bolland) without spending a significant amount of time in the minor leagues. But for every Kane and Toews, players who make a straight jump to the pros, there are tons of prospects that need some seasoning in the minors. Some may have the skills and talent to compete in the NHL (Hayes, Olsen to name two) but because they are eligible to play in the minors many teams feel they are better off getting 17+ minutes in the AHL then less than 11 minutes in the NHL. Take a guy like Alexander Daigle who was drafted 1[sup]st[/sup] overall in the 1993 NHL draft by Ottawa. Daigle was once considered the next “can’t miss superstar’’, the kind of player that could be your franchise player. What happened next was poor player management and terrible development that saw Daigle out of hockey by 25. Daigle went straight from the QMJHL to the NHL and while he had a good rookie year (51 points in 84 games) he would never top that total again. He was passed soon by Alexei Yashin as the teams top center. Could better player development helped Daigle? Probably, but we will never know because he never got the ability to develop outside of getting thrown into the fire of the NHL and Ottawa hoping it worked out.
I realize I always talk about the Red Wings and how they are the ideal franchise when building teams, but it’s because it is true. It’s why they are always a top team in the league. They draft a prospect and let him finish his junior or college career. Then he starts of in the AHL and after a few seasons they move him up to the current roster where he will fill a need if he’s got nothing left for the minors. 8 of their current rostered skaters played at least a full year in the AHL, 9 if you count Jimmy Howard. Some even played 2-3 full seasons in the minors because getting regular duty in the NHL. Those 8 spots used to be filled by guys who had the same type of development and got to a point where they either didn’t fit the team’s plans or were too expensive. So once they moved on, the prospects who were developing got the call and took their new spot in the pro roster.
The Blackhawks are now in the same position and have been doing this for a few years. The spots that guys like Hayes, Olsen, Morin, Smith all were filling in at one point, are now filled by veteran players who don’t have much potential left to hit and are hurting any development by playing less than 12-13 minutes a game (Bruno, Mayers, Bickell, O’Donnell, Montador). Keith, Hammer, Buff, Versteeg, Burish, Fraser (when they were all here) for example all had the same type of slow development and this is exactly why they are still in the NHL doing their respected jobs.
While I know many of you are upset by Hayes getting sent down, and you very well can be upset because you won’t see him play for a while, instead be excited that he is going to get nothing but more of an opportunity to get better then he currently is and let him work on what will give him a better chance to get more ice time at the NHL level. It’s that type of patience and the ability to slowly develop these young prospects that makes the future of the Blackhawks exciting!
-TJD
Click here to view the article
