Shaw Fact: Andrew Shaw Is Here To Stay

Published: 22^nd Mar 12 12:13 am

Randy Holt
NHL Network Manager

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Rob Grabowski-US PRESSWIRE

If you follow me on Twitter, (@RandallPnkFloyd) you know that I haven’t exactly been Andrew Shaw‘s biggest fan.

When Shaw was sent back to Rockford, in order to get Jimmy Hayes back into the lineup, my response was “finally”. And I wondered when I was in the lineup when he was either invisible or popped up to commit a dumb penalty.

Well, it’s time for me to eat a little bit of crow. After Wednesday’s game I’m jumping on the Andrew Shaw bandwagon, and I’m happy to be here. At this point in the season, I’m finally realizing that this guy isn’t going anywhere.

Shaw burst onto the scene with the Chicago Blackhawks with goals in five of his first eight games. One of those proved to be the game winner against the San Jose Sharks back on January 15th.

After about a month up with the club, the 2011 draft pick was sent back to Rockford, but it would be barely a week before we would see him again. And he’s made the most of every opportunity to make sure he doesn’t return to the Icehogs.

Shaw has been on the ice for some of the big goals during this recent stretch where the Hawks have found some big success. He scored a key goal against the New York Rangers a couple of weeks ago, after coming back to the game after getting some stitches when he took a stick to the face.

Against the Washington Capitals just a few nights ago, Shaw had one of his biggest games of his young career. He notched three points, including a pair of goals, and was a nuisance for Alex Ovechkin to deal with all night.

With his overtime winner against the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday night, Shaw now has four goals in his last three games, and has a nice little four-game point streak going. But obviously there’s more to his game than what he’s doing on the stat sheet.

Shaw has assumed some of that role as a “rat” that has made Dave Bolland so infamous. At just 5’10″ and 180, Shaw isn’t the biggest guy on the ice, but he plays much bigger than his size. He can bring a physical presence to the lineup, like we saw against the LA Kings lately, in a game in which he recorded seven hits. He’s a nice sparkplug in the lineup for the Blackhawks.

At this point, it’s easy to say that Shaw isn’t going anywhere. He brings a sort of instigating presence to the lineup that throws the opposing team off of it’s game, not unlike Bolland. He’s stepped up at big times and has proven that he belongs with this team right now.