It’s odd, I should be writing far more “I was wrong” posts than I do, considering the rate at which i whiff at the plate of logic and correctness. Maybe that’s something we’ll aim to do more this season.
When doing this, even though it’s supposed to be a voice of the fan and not a journalistic type endeavor, you at times do have to leave your passions out of it. Or at least greatly reduce them. I didn’t do that when news of the Dan Carcillo signing broke. To me at the time, he was still the guy who my father referred to as “that evil little thing on the Flyers” and who greatly annoyed us during the ’10 Final. He was that grinning dope who ran around and was basically a smaller Cam Janssen.
But he isn’t, is he? After actually looking something up (weird, I know), taking a couple days to reflect and enjoy the holiday, and of course a thoroughly logical and sober post today over at The Fifth Feather (as is their infuriating yet genius way), I’m warming up to Carcillo in the red and black. Slowly.
First of all, he hardly costs anything. A one year deal for less than a mildo? Whatever. Secondly, as I looked more and more on it, Carcillo is an actually annoying and actually somewhat skilled Adam Burish, who was really neither. Carcillo genuinely does get a rise out of opponents, and has two 10-goal seasons to his name. It’s such a huge lift for a team like the Hawks when their 4th line can take a regular shift, create energy, and chip in goals. Fourth line goals always seem to be big ones, and give the building and team a jump. If it is indeed Carcillo and Smith on the 4th line, the Hawks will get that a lot.
Another thing I got wrong is the scripted fights I thought we would be treated to more regularly. I find nothing more stupid than one team’s goon fights another simply because they’re on the ice at the same time and can’t really figure out what to do with that curved wood they’re holding (by crackee!). That sort of encounter does nothing to benefit either team, doesn’t protect anybody, doesn’t intimidate anybody, and about the only good it does is keep those goofs off the ice for five minutes. While Scott turning Westgarth’s face into endangered wetland (by crackee!) was good for the comedy, did it really serve any other purpose?
Carbomb doesn’t do that. Judging from his fight card on Hockey Fights.com, of his 13 scraps last year only bouts with Zenon Konopka and Brandon Prust would be considered tussles with droolers. Perhaps it’s because Carcillo isn’t all that big.
And having bemoaned at times the Hawks lack of snarl, I can’t have it both ways when they try and address it. It might not always be in the way we want, but Carcillo makes the Hawks harder to play against. I can’t argue against that. As the Feather said, opponents during the pregame meeting will have to take a second to say, “Don’t let Carcillo’s crap get in your way.” That’s not a bad thing.
While not over the moon still, i get it. And am starting to warm up to it.