On my way down to the rink last night, I had two players that I wanted to keep an eye on; Clarke MacArthur and Scott Hartnell. MacArthur made an appearance in a previous ICU article, so I was excited for the opportunity to witness his game in person. I am not that familiar with him, but I was interested to see if he could live up to early numbers he is producing. Hartnell, on the other hand, is off to a slow start, registering only one assist and no goals going into Saturday night’s game. Hartnell’s line is slowly rebuilding the chemistry they found during last years playoff run, but Ville Leino’s off season surgery appears to be hampering Ville production. Mainly I just wanted to see how Hartnell would play after his first haircut in over three years.
It didn’t take Clarke MacArthur long to impress me. Two minutes into the game MacArthur, on his first shift of the game, was on the ice with the Leafs second power play unit when he took a shot from the top of the right circle that was blocked, he chased down the rebound and then made a nice pass around Darroll Powe at the blue line that set up a nice slap shot from Luke Schenn. Less than 30 seconds later, MacArthur forced Brian Boucher, who was attempting to play the puck behind his net, into a turn over and almost banked the puck into the net off of Matt Carle.
Hartnell got off to a sluggish start with a few ill-advised passes at center ice that should have been dumped into the zone. As the game progressed, Hartnell and his line, got into a rhythm. They began to have success at cycling the puck in their zone which lead to shots on goal; Hartnell and Leino had three shots a piece while Danny Briere lead the team with five shots on goal. Although the line was unable to pick up a goal from their aggressive cycling and fore checking, Briere scored a goal on a break away and Hartnell scored on an odd man rush. As the game progressed, it was obvious that this line was the best line from either team.
MacArthur’s game appears to be a pretty simple one, hustle your ass off and take advantage of opportunities. Even though he was leveled by Mike Richards late in the first period, it didn’t stop MacArthur from chasing down pucks and going to the tough areas of the ice to fight for pucks and score goals. MacArthur was able to pick up a goal late in the second period by going to the front of the net and scoring off a rebound. He showed off his hands by backhanding a pass to himself to ensure himself the easy goal around a sprawling Boucher.
I don’t expect MacArthur to produce too many highlight goals this season, but I do believe that he will continue to be rewarded for his style of play and could easily have a career year in Toronto this season. His most productive year was for the Sabres in 08-09 when he scored 17 goals and registered 31 points in 71 games, and he already has six goals and eight points through seven games.
Although Hartnell might not have a career year, I think he will play a pivotal role in the Flyers’ success this season. He appears to be returning to the style that produced a 30 goal 30 assist campaign back in 08-09, the same style that is working wonders for MacArthur’s point production. His line looks poised to regain the chemistry they enjoyed in the playoffs last year, which is great for the Flyers.
As the season unfolds, I will be interested to see if Hartnell can prove that his 30 goal season wasn’t an anomaly and to see if MacArthur can continue his hot streak and prove to the Thrashers that they should have resigned him.
So who do you think will end the season with more points, MacArthur or Hartnell?
