For the last three games now, the Chicago Blackhawks have played like the stuff you leave in your toilet immediately after you’ve had your morning coffee.
The Hawks have lost five straight games and are 3-5 in their last 10. Their goal differential has dropped to -10 and now find themselves in 10th place in the Western Conference standings.
For a team that has tried to play faster to start the year, they look like they are trying to run faster on the ice and instead fall on their tight backsides.
But if there is a bright spot to pay attention to with all of this hot garbage going on, it is that forward Brandon Saad has found his way back to being an actually good player again.
Yes you read that right. Brandon Saad may actually be good again.
Saad scored his first goal of the season against the Anaheim Ducks by playing like this year’s version of Jonathan Toews.
Toews has five goals in nine games so far this season and he has scored by doing parking his big enough body in the deep slot and waiting for his petite linemates in Alex DeBrincat and Dominik Kahun to shoot in the hopes for a rebound.
“Captain Serious” is not big by any measurable hockey standard, but he is large and tough enough at 6 feet 2 inches tall to be grind and wait for his chances in the offensive zone in the prime scoring areas.
To see Toews not only show speed but toughness and will to drive in front of the opposing goaltender and try to return to the playmaker he once was has been so exciting and relieving to watch. It is about damn time that Toews has been returning to the 22 year old Hall of Fame caliber center he was. This better keep up for him otherwise the Blackhawk hockey universe will continue to perish into dust.
But this style of play for Toews was seemingly copied by his teammate Brandon Saad in a 3-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks last Tuesday night at the United Center.
That is Brandon Saad. What he was, what he can be and what he should be. Just play like that Saad, won’t you?
“When they’re not going in, you kind of grip a little tight, but when they’re going in they seem to open the floodgates,” Saad said after the win. “The last game I had some chances. It was only a matter of time before they go in.”
For Saad to have scored his first two goals of the season against Anaheim, he had to play like Marian Hossa and this season’s version of Toews.
On the first goal, the Hawks were on a powerplay with Saad standing in front of Ducks goalie John Gibson. DeBrincat was drifting in with the puck at the right faceoff circle. DeBrincat passed it to Saad and within two whacks, Saad records his first goal of the year. You could hear a sigh of relief for the Pittsburgh native, as well as all of us extremely patient Saad observers.
On the third and final goal for the Hawks, it was an empty-netter for Saad but he, along with Toews, showed great awareness, speed and defensive skill to force a Ducks turnover at the blue line.
Saad finished the game with a Corsi rating of 56.8 percent, meaning he and his linemates were shooting and possessing the puck on the ice at a higher percentage than their opponents.
Saad has continued to score by being a man-child in the loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Halloween and in another loss to the Calgary Flames. Now it may seem that Saad scoring does not bode well for win-loss column, but I’m trying to remain positive here. Believe me, at this point, it is not easy.
However, if the games against Anaheim, Vancouver and Calgary have showed anything, it is a hopeful glimpse in to what Saad needs to be for this team to become a playoff team again.
Head coach Joel Quennville was obviously not happy with Saad’s game to start the year. And can you really blame him?
Saad was playing too passively. Too many moments in games when he tried to look like a beefier version of Patrick Kane, in which he would want to carry the puck and score with speed. As a result, Saad would turnover the puck way too often and would be forced to play defense the majority of the time he was on the ice.
That is not who Saad is.
Can he win with speed? Of course. Can he excel with skill? You bet.
But for him to score, and return to Stanley Cup winner Brandon Saad, he must be aggressive and play more like the power forward that made him successful in the first place.
Saad should know his hockey identity, let it power his way for the Hawks who so desperately need him now more than ever.
