The past three days, we have defined unheralded.
We broke down the most unheralded players of the Metropolitan Division.
Then, we removed our East Coast Bias and broke down the Pacific Division.
We headed back East and explored the Atlantic Division.
Today, we take on the Conference of Death.
Chicago Blackhawks
Adam Hess, who writes for Second City Hockey, as well as at the Rock River Times, who got Teuvo Teravainen's autograph on 7/19/14 is here for the Chicago takes.
Playing for the Chicago Blackhawks in recent years, it has been difficult for many players to truly fly under the radar. However, when playing on a team with big name players such as Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, or Duncan Keith, many players can get overshadowed, and have their impact on the team’s success go unappreciated.
This is the plight of Niklas Hjalmarsson. Arguably the best "defensive" defenseman in the NHL, Hjalmarsson’s strong defensive play and incredible defensive impact for the Blackhawks tends to be unnoticed and unappreciated by the mass media, and therefore by many hockey fans as well.
In his nine years in the NHL, Hjalmarsson has blossomed into the premier shut down defenseman. He has finished with a positive Relative Offensive Zone Start percentage just once in his career. That was 2008-09, in which he played just 21 game. Since 2010-11, his Zone Starts % Rel has never been higher than -5.19. Despite being used in heavily defensive situations, he has consistently been dominant in controlling shot attempts at even strength. His 5v5 Corsi For% has been 52 or above in six of his nine seasons, and he’s never finished below 50.99.
Hjalmarsson is also one of the NHL’s best and toughest shot blockers. He has blocked 100 or more shot attempts (all situations) in six of his seven full years in the NHL. In the lockout shortened 2012-13 season he blocked 94 in 46 games, which paces out to 167 total blocks in an 82 game season. Watching Hjalmarsson block shots in a crash course in toughness, as well. It seems like at least once every three games, Hjalmarsson takes a shot to the leg that sends him collapsed to ice and hobbling desperately for the ice. However, he rarely misses a shift, and has missed just 23 regular season games in his seven full seasons.
Hjalmarsson’s ability and impact is not lost upon his teammates, nor on other NHL players and coaches. Prior to the 2014 Western Conference Final, Kings coach Darryl Sutter said the Blackhawks had three number one defenseman, referencing Keith, Hjalmarsson, and Brent Seabrook. Just last week, Lightning coach John Cooper said watching Hjalmarsson makes you ask how he isn’t an all-star every year.
However, that same effect has yet to sink in among the mass NHL media and the fans. Despite his strong defensive play, possession dominance, and impressive shot blocking, Hjalmarsson has never earned a single Norris Trophy vote or been an All-Star in his NHL career. Hjalmarsson’s play is invaluable to the Blackhawks, though. He has been on all three of their Stanley Cup winning teams since 2010, and his contract is among the best in the league. Due to the fact that he hardly receives the recognition he deserves from the national media, Niklas Hjlamarsson is definitely an unheralded hero for the Chicago Blackhawks.
Colorado Avalanche
Anthrax Jones is here, and three of the following four statements are true:
- He was a contestant on the final episode of $25,000 Pyramid
- Two specific breeds of muskrat are named for him
- He has never seen a woman naked, either in person or online
- He is banned from wearing running shoes in South America
Dallas Stars
Ann "Merrin" Atkinson is one half of the founding partners of Two Bearded Ladies and also writes for Defending Big D. She likes cozy fires by cold mountain lakes, candlelit dinners of red curry and tofu over white rice, and long walks around the concourse of the American Airlines Center. She can be found on twitter and making jokes about the Dallas Stars pin up calendar at twobeardedladies.wordpress.com
A lot has been made of the Dallas Stars meteoric rise early this season. (Their January flop, not quite as much.) In previous seasons, Jamie Benn could very well have qualified as an unsung hero on this team, but after the arrival of Tyler Seguin, his game winning goals in the Olympics, and his Art Ross last season, being overlooked is a thing far in his past. Deeper down our roster though, we have some likely candidates, and the Star I’m choosing to highlight is Colton Sceviour.
He’s got the stats to back this choice up too. I’m pulling all of these numbers from War On Ice, 5v5, living that score adjusted life. His Individual High Danger Scoring Chances per 60 is 3.98, which is good enough for 7th on the team, ahead of Tyler Seguin. His Individual Scoring Chances per 60 is 9.16, 6th on the team ahead of Jamie Benn. And he is a monster in shot generation at 15.13 Individual Shot Attempts per 60. Fifth on the team ahead of BOTH Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn. This is while playing 4th line minutes and averaging 13 minutes of all situations time a night.
Minnesota Wild
Tony Abbott is an editor at Hockey Wilderness as well as the host of the Hockey Wilderness Podcast. He’s known for both his irreverent takes on the Wild and his all-encompassing love for Mathew Dumba. His hobbies include sketch-comedy writing, Pokémon, and preventing his dog from eating rabbit poop. Follow him on Twitter @TonyWiseau
That pass by @MarcoScandella to @CharlieCoyle_3 though... pic.twitter.com/KJs9tct2Jt
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) January 22, 2016
Nashville Predators
St. Louis Blues
Laura Astorian, site manager at St. Louis Game Time, and associate editor at Puck Drunk Love, here to serve up some Blues takes
Winnipeg Jets
Garret Hohl, site manager for both Hockey Graphs, as well as Jets Nation
I want to nominate Mathieu Perreault as one of the least heralded players that deserve to be recognized. Perreault was underrated from the very start; he was drafted 177th overall in the 6th round by the Washington Capitals despite scoring nearly a point per game as a third line player in the QMJHL. The Acadie-Bathurst Titans lost a few players that summer, which thrust Perreault into a major role where he posted two 110+ point seasons in just over 60 games. Perreault then graduated into the AHL where he scored 168 points in 215 games between regulation and playoffs, including a 41 point in 40 games venture in 2010-11. The Capitals were not content though with Perreault’s development, trading him in 2013 to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for John Mitchell and a fourth round pick, apparently to make room for Tom Wilson. John Mitchell never saw a NHL game and the fourth round pick was traded back to Anaheim for 18 games of Dustin Penner. The Ducks enjoyed Perreault in a depth role, but not enough to extend a qualifying offer.
The Winnipeg Jets were able to then sign Perreault for a steal at three seasons for three million dollars. There were some concerns that Perreault’s results were inflated due to being severely sheltered in a bottom-six role in the NHL, but he has played moments on the Jets top lines without ever slowing down.
We'll see you tomorrow as I do a little round-up on all this and put together my thoughts and commentary on this.
Editor's note: Some stats listed may be outdated at the time of reading, as write-ups were submitted over the last 7 to 10 days.