The Blackhawks have made it all the way to the Western Conference finals and are tied with the Anaheim Ducks going into Game 3.
A lot of the Blackhawks player have stepped up in this postseason besides a couple. Grantland NHL writer Sean McIndoe thinks Antoine Vermette has been the biggest bust for the Blackhawks during this postseason.
It’s risky to pick a player whose team is still playing — when Vermette scores his inevitable hat trick tonight to make me look bad, Chicago fans will know who to thank — but it’s hard not to find a spot for the Hawks’ costly deadline pickup. They thought they were getting some crucial secondary scoring to take the pressure off the big names, and they coughed up a first-round pick and a prospect to get Vermette in a rental deal. But he looked like an awful fit in Chicago during the regular season (just three assists in 19 games), and he was a healthy scratch for the team’s first two playoff games. He did have a big goal against the Predators in a Game 4 Hawks win, but that’s been pretty much it for the score sheet. He’s still been OK defensively, but you don’t give up a high pick for OK defensively.
McIndoe is right, Vermette only has two points this whole postseason – one goal against the Nashville Predators and one assist against the Minnesota Wild. Vermette has yet to make in impact in the Western Conference finals and holds a minus-one player rating against the Ducks.
Vermette has a total of 32 minutes in the third round and has plenty of shot attempts, but nothing is going in for him.
He will try to redeem himself in Game 3 on Thursday.
