Comments on: PIB Blackhawks Report Card: First Midterm http://paintitblackhawks.com/2009/10/26/pib-blackhawks-report-card-first-midterm/ ...infiltrating, dissecting, and reporting on all maneuverings of the Chicago Blackhawks. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:42:58 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Christopher Ralph http://paintitblackhawks.com/2009/10/26/pib-blackhawks-report-card-first-midterm/#comment-34 Christopher Ralph Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:28:47 +0000 http://paintitblackhawks.com/?p=176#comment-34 The thing is - Sopel is the 6th dman making over $2million per yr...while he does contribute on some aspects - shotblocking, etc, He IS the worst dman on the squad - by default - the other 5 are simply head & shoulders above this guy. My main problem is that in today's NHL, team's can't be paying over 2 mil for what he brings to the table. GM Bowman, especially with Hawks cap issues, have to find bargain players to fil these spots. The thing is – Sopel is the 6th dman making over $2million per yr…while he does contribute on some aspects – shotblocking, etc, He IS the worst dman on the squad – by default – the other 5 are simply head & shoulders above this guy. My main problem is that in today’s NHL, team’s can’t be paying over 2 mil for what he brings to the table. GM Bowman, especially with Hawks cap issues, have to find bargain players to fil these spots.

]]> By: Capitalist Infidel http://paintitblackhawks.com/2009/10/26/pib-blackhawks-report-card-first-midterm/#comment-32 Capitalist Infidel Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:07:40 +0000 http://paintitblackhawks.com/?p=176#comment-32 Nick, I agree, Sopel has been a real bright spot! Is he overpaid? Of course but he's playing his role as best as we could possibly hope for. Blocking shots, logging minutes on the penalty kill, hitting, and playing exceptional positional hockey. I wonder if the author of the article has ever watched hockey before this year? He then complains that the average pp unit we faced is ranked 17th, I wonder if he knows that there are 30 NHL teams? At the end of the season the average (I know, it's skewed because we don't play each team the same amount of times) pp unit we face will be 15th. Nick, I agree, Sopel has been a real bright spot! Is he overpaid? Of course but he’s playing his role as best as we could possibly hope for. Blocking shots, logging minutes on the penalty kill, hitting, and playing exceptional positional hockey.

I wonder if the author of the article has ever watched hockey before this year? He then complains that the average pp unit we faced is ranked 17th, I wonder if he knows that there are 30 NHL teams? At the end of the season the average (I know, it’s skewed because we don’t play each team the same amount of times) pp unit we face will be 15th.

]]> By: Nick http://paintitblackhawks.com/2009/10/26/pib-blackhawks-report-card-first-midterm/#comment-31 Nick Wed, 28 Oct 2009 02:28:11 +0000 http://paintitblackhawks.com/?p=176#comment-31 I completely disagree with your idea of Sopel. While he has not been our best offensive defenseman this year he has been stellar in many other areas of the game. He has been phenomenal on the PK, which is a big reason we've won some of the games we have. Him and Madden on the PK are a big reason we are where we are. His shot-blocking ability is unrivaled by anyone else on the Hawks, and he's played well positionally in our own zone. Not every defenseman on the team has to be a powerhouse offensive player in order to contribute. He's played extremely well, as has all of the Hawks D. The only problems I see are Campbell has coughed it up a couple times, and in general some bad positional play in our zone that has led to some bad goals. I think there's a couple players on the Offense that are more suspect to the "Has to Step Up" category much more than Sopel does. The ironic thing is that Sopel is the Step up player because of his lack of offensive production. He's not back there to put up points. That's Keith's, Barker's, and Campbell's job. Sopel is a PK specialist, a shot block specialist, and a stay-at-home type of defenseman. Why you need his production on the line when you have so much firepower back there already is beyond me. I just think you were trying to come up with some bogus reason to throw Sopel under the bus. I completely disagree with your idea of Sopel. While he has not been our best offensive defenseman this year he has been stellar in many other areas of the game. He has been phenomenal on the PK, which is a big reason we’ve won some of the games we have. Him and Madden on the PK are a big reason we are where we are. His shot-blocking ability is unrivaled by anyone else on the Hawks, and he’s played well positionally in our own zone. Not every defenseman on the team has to be a powerhouse offensive player in order to contribute. He’s played extremely well, as has all of the Hawks D. The only problems I see are Campbell has coughed it up a couple times, and in general some bad positional play in our zone that has led to some bad goals. I think there’s a couple players on the Offense that are more suspect to the “Has to Step Up” category much more than Sopel does. The ironic thing is that Sopel is the Step up player because of his lack of offensive production. He’s not back there to put up points. That’s Keith’s, Barker’s, and Campbell’s job. Sopel is a PK specialist, a shot block specialist, and a stay-at-home type of defenseman. Why you need his production on the line when you have so much firepower back there already is beyond me. I just think you were trying to come up with some bogus reason to throw Sopel under the bus.

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