'08-'09 Season Review - Ben Eager

by McClure on Jun 22, 2009 3:56 PM CDT

With the season now over after a return to the playoffs and the Western Conference Finals, we're looking back at each player who wore the Indian Head sweater for the 08-09 Season and grading their performance. We now turn our attention Gary Roberts' favorite whippersnapper, Ben Eager.

Ed Note: On March 25 against the Sharks, a column of mine appeared in the Indian detailing each and every one of both Ben Eager's flaws and assets and why they drove me nuts (Yarr!) in a very hastily and moronically titled piece. That 1,100-word Pulitzer winner can be found here.

Ben Eager

#55 / Left Wing / Chicago Blackhawks

Height: 6-2

Weight: 220

Born: Jan 22, 1984

Contract Status - RFA - 08-09 Cap Hit - 650K

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2008 - Ben Eager	75	11	4	15	1	161	0	0	0	0	80	13.8

The Good - In the 2008-2009 campaign, Ben Eager posted a career high 11 goals, and led the team with 161 penalty minutes, taking over the team's de-facto "enforcer" role from Adam Burish. (The argument for or against the Hawks' need for an enforcer can be made at a later date- short answer: they don't). He achieved these numbers while filling a fourth line role and averaging slightly less than 9:00 minutes of ice time a night. When asked, Eager did not look out of place on the rare occasions he filled in on the top two lines, because the guy never stops moving his feet. He uses his size quite effectively as well, finishing every single one of his checks, and shows a willingness to stick up for teammates using the pugilistic arts. He also beat the crap out of chatty-Cathy Kevin Bieksa during the infamous line brawl against Vancouver, so kudos for that as well.

The Bad - Aside from the Bieksa bout, I'm hard pressed to cite a fight he actually won- which is not good if you're trying to instill any sort of fear in the opposition for taking liberties with the Hawks' young guns. Not to mention that many of those 161 PIMs were as a result of stupid, cheap, retaliatory, selfish, and immature penalties. The most vicious of the bunch was a cheap shot elbow to Edmonton's Liam Reddox's head, which eared Eager 3 games of unpaid vacation, to borrow a Dan McNeilism. That immaturity also reared its ugly head at the tail end of the Detroit series, with Eager earning an impressive 3 misconduct penalties in two games. It's hard to be considered anything close to an asset to the team when you're off the ice that much in the two most important games of the Hawks' season.

Playoff Beard Stregth - A sufficient amount of grizzliness indicative of a trip to the conference finals.

Nicknames - Eags, Sunshine (?)

Related Photoshops - I don't even know what this means, but it's courtesy of mjthor, as usual

The Grade: We again have a case of a guy simply achieving, neither over nor under. The numbers prior to this year say that this is what Ben Eager was, and that's what the Hawks got from him. He brought just as much negative in his game as he did positive, and given his RFA status, and Aliu and Beach lurking on the horizon, it would not break my heart in the least to see the Hawks let him walk. He's a homeless man's Chris Neil, and I think Chris Neil sucks. But since we're grading partly on expectation, I'll give him a low-to-mid C. What say you?

Poll

The Final Judgement of Ben Eager

A

25 votes

B

130 votes

C

102 votes

D

20 votes

F

2 votes

279 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 20 comments | 0 recs |

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Comments

C

To paraphrase Dennis Green: He is who we thought he was. My grading is based on how well someone met expectations (my personal ones, not the general populous). If Eager was to put up 50 pts, he would get an A. If Kane were to get 50 pts, he might get a D or F.

You and I are gonna live forever

by Original Six on Jun 22, 2009 4:23 PM CDT reply actions

Solid C

I agree with the Original Six,A former 1rt rounder like Laddie, i think he will get better.Imo some of those stupid penalities were Q inspired,not as in go get a stupid one,but go start bangin some heads.11 goals are quite a few for a head-knocker and with some maturity possible 18-20 goal guy?

by idiot man on Jun 22, 2009 5:21 PM CDT reply actions

I went with a B.

He did play his position, unlike certain Wiggums out there. I was disappointed with his showing in a certain not-to-be-mentioned game against detroit, but that holds true for almost every Hawk. I just didn’t find myself yelling under my breath, (5 year old in the house), at the TV as much as I thought I would.

SHOOOOOOOT IT!!!! Anon

by burpchelischili on Jun 22, 2009 9:17 PM CDT reply actions

B

going into this season I was not a fan of Eager at all, in any way shape or form. I have to say he one me over a bit this year. Compared to last year I don’t believe he took anywhere near as many truly stupid penalties, though when he did they sure seemed to come in bunches. He also seemed to me to be skating a lot harder. The fact that he keeps his feet moving and seems to give a damn puts him points ahead of guys like Byfuglien in my book. I’d rather have Eager taking the occasional dumbass penalties then see Big Buff enjoying the best seat in the house as someone drags his could-give-a-shit ass around the ice. (of course with our luck when these guys leave the Hawks they’ll turn into perennial all stars two years later).

by runningquicklynowhere on Jun 22, 2009 10:01 PM CDT reply actions

C

one thing is for certain…dude finishes his checks no matter what.

by Crease Monkey on Jun 22, 2009 10:32 PM CDT reply actions

Sunshine was a nickname I tried to force upon Eager.

Some people embraced it, but it never completely caught on.

NOW STOP IT RIGHT HERE

by mjthor on Jun 22, 2009 11:14 PM CDT reply actions

Those who attend the games

miss out on so much fun here in the game threads.

If I can't be a good example, I'll just be a horrible warning

by Trixietrx on Jun 23, 2009 4:16 PM CDT up reply actions

C minus minus.

And the C was for his overacheiving in the offensive end. As was pointed out, the boy never stops moving. There were times out there when I would watch Eags flying around creating pressure and getting shots on net. I’d think to myself: “No way this is a fourth line player”. Then 10 minutes later he would slash Steve Ott in the groin right in front of Denny LaRue and I would go: “sweet Christmas, never let this kid off the 4th line again.”

I was also a huge fan of Eager punching Bieksa until all his clothes fell off. Doesn’t make up for all the other shit, but was still awesome in it’s own right.

by AirTrafficAJ on Jun 23, 2009 12:12 AM CDT reply actions

Seriously

I want someone who voted “A” to justify his or herself.

by McClure on Jun 23, 2009 2:25 AM CDT reply actions

I’ve never understood the hate on Eager.

With that said, I love Chris Neil – there’s no guy I’d like more in a Hawks jersey.

FYI – I voted a B.

by wlittle on Jun 23, 2009 9:14 AM CDT reply actions

Then you're the guy I'm looking for in my previous post

Because I don’t get it.

by McClure on Jun 23, 2009 9:21 AM CDT up reply actions

I voted B as well

for justification purposes here’s why.

He was more than acceptable during the regular season. He’s a terrific forechecker and tireless skater. The entire 4th line was magnificent in this respect as well. He also seems to play according to what the team needs. When there were injuries and he was a top 6 guy he dropped some of the checking to be more of a playmaker and considering his real skill set, it was nice to see.

I think most of his non-fighting has to do with the concussion problem he has, which ended his season last year.

Obviously it’s hard to give him an A because of all the dumb penalties, but he was rarely out of position of defense. Besides, because of his second suspension we were graced with the presence of Pascal Pelltiier.

by Hawk is God on Jun 23, 2009 12:58 PM CDT reply actions

It seemed like the playoffs bumped Burish’s overall grade up a little bit, and it was well deserved. But in this case, Eager had a poor postseason and you seem to be disregarding that. He was absolutely useless in the playoffs. If there’s almost no foreseeable chance at a fight, what do we need Eager for? I would have been much happier dressing Fraser the entire playoffs. You wouldn’t be forcing Sharp or Burish to be out of position at center, and Fraser was pretty good on the penalty kill all season as well. All Eager offered was dumb penalties once the calendar turned to May.

by hawksfan21 on Jun 23, 2009 1:17 PM CDT up reply actions

the part where is said acceptable during the regular season

would imply that I thought differently of his postseason play.

These votes to me seem to be an accumulation of both regular season play and postseason play. If the postseason was all that matters we should trade Keith, Toews, and Kane because all underperformed to some/large degree.

To imply that Fraser is better than Eager is not true. Fraser is Troy Brouwer with worse hands. Burish has been a center before and so has Sharp so neither of those points carry much weight.
If being a fighter is not relevant for postseason play, then why use Fraser in the first place. Call up Tim Brent or some bullshit.

by Hawk is God on Jun 23, 2009 1:38 PM CDT up reply actions

I’ll say that I jumped the gun on Fraser, we haven’t yet taken the time to dissect his play. But focusing only on Eager, I have to say I was never much of a fan. I didn’t think he had the skill to skate on a top 2 line- he didn’t look horribly out of place there, but it was clear he didn’t fit in. I’d love to be able to see how his numbers compared between skating on the 4th line and skating with Kane, etc. He was good for a goal every now and then, and there’s no denying that his physical presence was needed at many times in the regular season, and he provided it when called upon. But to have such a lack of discipline in the playoffs to pick up 3 misconduct penalties in two games ostensibly for what he said alone speaks to a bigger problem that reared its head several times in the regular season as well.

To call Eager a “tireless skater” is a bit of a stretch for a guy who’s skating less than 10 minutes per game. I understand he brings a necessary element of grit and sandpaper to his game, but at the same time do we need a guy who spends more time in the box than on the ice? (Obviously exaggerating).

Yes, Sharp and Burish have been centers before. But it was noted here, and in the Indian, and several other places that Sharp’s production dipped significantly while he played center. Is it worth not getting everything you can out of Sharp, at times one of our most productive forwards, simply to get Eager in the lineup to get under somebody’s skin and deliver a few big hits?

by hawksfan21 on Jun 23, 2009 3:57 PM CDT up reply actions

Nor is it sound management of assets to be paying someone $3.9 mildo to center an energy line. I think the grouping of these three together was just Q trying to find a spark somewhere, which paid off. I have little fear that Sharp will find himself somewhere in the top 6, preferably on a wing.

by McClure on Jun 23, 2009 4:08 PM CDT up reply actions

Ask... Recieve

Sunshine had 5 points when paired with Burish and Fraser

With Ladd and Bolland – 2

and 1 point each when paired with:
Buff-Fraser
Kane-Toews
Dowell-Ladd
Kane-Sharp
Bolland-Brouwer
Bolland-Havlat
Fraser-Kane
and
Adams-Fraser

So he had the most points with Burish and Fraser but that’s because he played 946 shifts with them and the next most was 389 with Adams and Fraser..

You know.. there might be a further post in this… I’ll let you know.

Second City Hockey

by Killion on Jun 23, 2009 10:24 PM CDT up reply actions

Excellent, thanks Matt. Not entirely sure what to make of them, but at least now I have them, and will use my recently acquired college degree to twist them into the favor of whatever hallucenogenic argument I choose to make

by hawksfan21 on Jun 24, 2009 12:54 AM CDT up reply actions

that’s the idea i had for a full post… i just haven’t decided the argument yet.

Second City Hockey

by Killion on Jun 24, 2009 8:41 AM CDT up reply actions

I love Eager as an 4th-liner energy guy, not as a semi-enforcer. But he’ll need to trim down on the dumb penalties to gain a B from me. In the main, he’s a great yapper and seems to be a fantastic energy guy alongside Burish. We’re not looking for that line to contribute any more than they already do in terms of offense; no 4th line is going to score even moderately consistently, and I think if we can keep him for league minimum or, say, in the 600,000-750,000 range, then he’s a good deal and I’d like to see him back. I still feel his upside hasn’t been fully tapped. I kinda doubt it ever will be, but I’d hate to let him go and see some other team sign him for 700,000. I like him here for that salary.

by ChicoMaki on Jun 24, 2009 12:20 PM CDT reply actions