Despite the expectations of the veterans who were brought in and the excitement about the crop of rookies, the Blackhawks’ success this season was pinned on the core of players already in place.
Mark Bell, Tyler Arnason, Kyle Calder, Eric Daze and Tuomo Ruutu were to anchor the team.
That foundation was weakened with the injuries and uncertain status of Ruutu and Daze early in the season. The inconsistent play of the other three also has been a problem.
Arnason’s limitations and inconsistencies always may be a factor no matter how many points he scores.
Calder is a favorite of every coach, but through the first 15 games is a minus-7.
But while Arnason and Calder have shown flashes of what they can be, neither came into the NHL with the expectations that surrounded Bell.
Arnason and Calder were late draft picks–183rd and 130th, respectively. Bell was the eighth selection in the 1998 draft after a stellar junior career.
“I’ve felt [expectations] since I’ve been a first-round pick,” Bell said. “That’s just the way things are. It’s not that I’ve turned a blind eye to that.”
Coming into this season, Bell had 47 goals in 257 NHL games. This season he has just one goal and six points in 15 games, though he is a plus-2, one of just five Hawks with plus ratings.
Bell had his best season in 2003-04, with 21 goals and 45 points while playing all 82 games.
Hawks coach Trent Yawney said Bell’s slow start is understandable. Yawney has been shuttling him back and forth from wing to center, partly because of the injuries but also in an attempt to get Bell’s game on track.
Lately, Yawney has had Bell centering a line with Calder and Rene Bourque.
“At center he gets more battling down low, and that’s good for his game” because it forces him to skate and be physical, Yawney said. Bell’s biggest problem, however, may be the battles he has with himself.
“I’m hard on myself,” Bell said. “I’ve always been hard on myself. I’m fighting the puck sometimes and get down on myself, and in the end you’re not doing anything.”
The phrase “paralysis by analysis” applies to Bell, Yawney said.
“He puts so much heat on himself, and as a result he gets too tight,” Yawney said. “When he gets tight, he stands around. But when he’s playing loose and running into people, everything flows for him.”
Yawney said Bell dwells too much on mistakes instead of letting them go and concentrating on the next shift, a trait that Yawney admires in rookie defenseman Duncan Keith.
“When I complicate the game, bad things happen,” Bell said.
Bell isn’t trying to diminish the expectations people have for him.
“I know how good I can be and what people think of me–people in the organization and fans–and what they expect,” Bell said. “This year I haven’t showed it yet, but I’m still trying to get there.”
———-
rfoltman@tribune.com
