The Ticket Chest

Blackhawks Back on Track with 3-1 Win over Flames; Is There a Goalie Controversey Brewing?

Friday, January 22nd, 2010 | Calgary Flames, Chicago Blackhawks, NHL, Sports, Vancouver Canucks | No Comments

The Chicago Blackhawks got back on track with a 3-1 win over the Flames in Calgary on Thursday night.  After a lackluster performance by the Blackhawks in a 4-1 loss to the Senators on Tuesday night in Ottawa, it was good to see the entire team skate well last night.  After a scoreless 1st period Patrick Kane got the Hawks on the board with his 21st goal of the season midway through the 2nd period.  The Flames tied the game at 2 right at the end of the 2nd period, but Ben Eager’s 5th goal of the season put the Hawks up for good.  Duncan Keith iced the game with an empty netter with less than a minute to play and the Blackhawks racked up their 35th win of the season.

Annti Niemi saved 19 of 20 shots on goal and improved to 13-3-1 overall in 17 games played.  Niemi has a sparkling 1.85 goal against average.  The Blackhawks starting goaltender Cristobal Huet performed poorly in the 4-1 loss to Senators.  The Hawks defense limited the Senators to just 18 shots on goal, but Huet let 4 of them go by.  Huet has started 36 games for the Hawks and is 22-9-3 with a 2.24 goals against average overall.  After the game, Hawks critics throughout the NHL indicated that Huet might not have what it takes to lead the Hawks to a Stanley Cup title.  Even former Hawks great Jeremy Roenick (now an NBC NHL analyst) echoed those sentiments on a local sports talk radio show with Tom Waddle and Marc Silverman on ESPN Radio 1000: “A lot of people say they are the best team in the NHL right now, I cannot argue that fact.  Their youth, their enthusiasm, the only thing that everybody says, and I’m going to have to agree with them, is the goaltending situation… Can Huet bring them 16 games? I say no, I think he can probably get you through two rounds.  To go 16 games, you need a goaltender that is going to stand on his head and is going to steal games… And Niemi is a good goaltender too, don’t get me wrong, they just need that one little extra boost in goal that I think that would make the guys more confident in front of him… They are still two good goaltenders, but I don’t know if they could do it for the full 16 wins.”  Ouch.

Now Blackhawks teammates came to the defense of both Huet and Niemi this week, but it does beg the question.  The Hawks have not brought a Stanley Cup trophy back to Chicago since 1961.  With the team so close to achieving the ultimate goal, it makes you wonder if the Hawks brass brings in a “hired gun goaltender” that could help bring home the Cup if Huet continues to struggle down the stretch here.  Huet will be back on goal against the Canucks in Vancouver on Saturday night.  Think there will be any pressure on him?!

Tags: Annti Niemi, Ben Eager, Cristobal Huet, Duncan Keith, Jeremy Roenick, Patrick Kane