Lost in the shootout nonsense of Sunday was perhaps a significant event for the Blackhawks.
Sunday may have been the beginning of the Cam Barker era.
Barker, the third overall pick in the 2004 draft, played his first game of the season and just second NHL contest in Sunday’s 4-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild. He picked up his first NHL goal during a Hawks power play and squeezed off five shots in 21 minutes 38 seconds of ice time.
“I was impressed,” coach Denis Savard said.
Savard was so impressed, he said he anticipates increasing Barker’s minutes and eventually sees him playing around 25 minutes a game.
Even though he won’t turn 21 until April, it seems as though the Hawks have been waiting a long time for Barker’s arrival. Part of that is because the two players taken before him–Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin–have already established themselves as stars in the NHL.
“Obviously, I would have liked to have been here from the start,” Barker said. “But I’m still young and learning.”
It’s also more difficult for a defenseman to make the transition from juniors straight to the NHL than it is for a forward.
“He’s young, and that’s a tough position to come in and play,” Savard said.
Until the Hawks selected Jonathan Toews with the third pick last summer, Barker was the highest selection for the Hawks since they took Eddie Olczyk third in 1984. Savard was also the third pick in 1980.
Teams can’t afford to make a mistake with a top-five pick, a potential franchise-type player. Add the fact that Hawks general manager Dale Tallon has compared him to Hall of Fame defenseman Denis Potvin and Barker has some lofty expectations.
“The pressure I put on myself is more than what anyone else puts on me,” Barker said.
With 37 games remaining and the Hawks closer to another top-five draft pick than the postseason, it’s likely Barker will get every opportunity to prove himself the rest of the season. The Hawks are hoping he becomes the stud No. 1 defenseman they haven’t had since trading Chris Chelios.
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“He has everything he needs to be here,” Savard said. “We’re going to give him that opportunity.”
One-timers
Goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin didn’t practice Monday–ordered to stay off the ice and rest by Savard, who told Khabibulin, “If I have to, I’ll take your pads away.” . . . Defenseman Jim Vandermeer, who played last weekend despite a severely sore ankle, also didn’t practice, but defenseman Jassen Cullimore, nursing a sore shoulder, did. . . . Karl Stewart, out since Dec. 22 with a sprained knee, will be back in the lineup Tuesday against Columbus. . . . Peter Bondra, still feeling the effects of the hit he took from Boston’s Brad Stuart on Dec. 29, didn’t practice Monday and will not play Tuesday because of a sore neck and shoulder. . . . Savard said that with Barker up, defenseman Lasse Kukkonen was the “odd-man out” Sunday as a healthy scratch.
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