Practice makes perfect, but that logic can come to a halt once a player enters his sophomore year. The notorious “sophomore slump” can come as a shock for players that were outstanding their rookie year, but sometimes little blips are inevitable. Here are how the Chicago Blackhawks sophomores are standing up against the sophomore slump.
Chicago Blackhawks Sophomore Slumps?
Teuvo Teravainen
Despite not finding a permanent potion in the lineup during the 2014-2015 season, Teravainen proved to be a valuable asset come playoff time with 10 points in 18 games. In the regular season, on the other hand, he only produced nine points in 34 games. Although this could be considered inconsistent, Teravainen proved he could step up in big games, including scoring the first goal for the Blackhawks in the 2015 Stanley Cup Finals, starting off a two-goal spree in less than two minutes to win the game.
Ever since the playoffs, Teravainen has continued his impressive play. Although his numbers aren’t like Patrick Kane’s or Artemi Panarin’s despite similar playing styles and physique, his points per game average has almost doubled from 0.26 last year to 0.42 this year. Playing part of the year on the top line with players like Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa could help anyone’s play. But ever since Andrew Shaw decided to start playing again, Teravainen has been bumped down to the third line.
Although he has hit a rough patch of late, I believe this is only temporary. His numbers are up from last year and if last year is any indicator, come playoff time he will be a star once again. As for the rest of the regular season, Teravainen needs to find some level of comfort and chemistry with his line mates. He has the ability to be a 20+ goal scorer in the league but that shouldn’t be complete reliant on who he plays with. But as far as sophomore slumps go, I’d say he’s holding his own.
Trevor van Riemsdyk
It was unfortunate when the Blackhawks defenseman was injured in a game versus Dallas and had to miss 64 games. Before that, van Riemsdyk had one assist in 18 games. Although the offensive output wasn’t there, the strong defensive play from the youngster and the injury to Michal Rozsival gave van Riemsdyk the opportunity to come back in the playoffs, where he was a minus one with an average of 6:92 TOI; not bad for a rookie in the Stanley Cup Final who hadn’t play in over 60 games.
This regular season, he has managed to stay healthy and score eight points in 57 games played. He is averaging more than twice his TOI from last year, though being paired up with players like Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook would do that to a guy’s ice time. Van Riemsdyk’s points per game has also almost doubled from last year’s 0.06 to this year’s 0.14.
As nice as it is for the Blackhawks to get offensive contributions from the back end, it is equally as important for the team to have defensive defensemen as well. This is where van Riemsdyk can fit in the lineup going forward in a Niklas Hjalmarsson-type role. Van Riemsdyk currently leads the team in blocked shots at 108 and Hjalmarsson is right behind him at 107. Both players are in the top 20 in the NHL.
Going forward, his offensive game will improve by working with Keith and Seabrook and a team program that allows for the defensemen to be active. As for his “sophomore slump,” not getting hurt for more than half the year is enough improvement on its own.
Scott Darling
Last season, Darling was originally called up after starting goalie Corey Crawford got hurt to play back-up to Antti Raanta. After doing such an outstanding job, going 3-1 with a .939 SV%, coach Joel Quenneville decided to keep him as back-up instead of Raanta. He went 5-2 the rest of the regular season.
While those numbers for the 26-year-old were impressive, the real magic was during the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Nashville Predators. Darling came in relief of Crawford in game one after he allowed three goals in the first period. Darling then saved all 42 shots fired at him and forced the game to double overtime where Keith eventually got one past Predators goalie Pekka Rinne. Darling went on to win the next two games for the Blackhawks with a.969 SV%. Unfortunately for him, Darling could not keep up at this pace and Crawford eventually came in relief. But without Darling, the Blackhawks would have never made it out of the first round.
Even more unfortunate for Darling, he couldn’t start off the year on the same note he ended on in the playoffs, unless you count the last two games he played in. Darling is now 5-4-2 with a .911 SV%. Although these aren’t terrible number for a back-up, they are not what the fans are accustomed to from Darling. That and the fact he hasn’t been making those timely saves that are oh-so important has forced Crawford, who is having the best season of his career, to take most of the work load. Unless Darling can improve his game and give Crawford some rest before the post season, the Blackhawks are in trouble.
However, there is some hope. In the past five games, Darling has gone 3-1 with a .921 SV%, so this could be a turning point for him personally. In the meantime, Darling needs to learn from Crawford about rebound control and shaking off bad goals he lets in. All in all, Darling is not a bad back-up, he’s just not outstanding in his sophomore season like the team and its fans expect.
Main Photo:
