Shout Out To Dave Bolland, Officially A Hawk For Life After Tonight
Please play this song before continuing to read to set the proper mood
“All my friends are getting older, I guess I must be too”–Chief–Jack Johnson
Dave Bolland is skating “one last shift” as the Blackhawks honor him before the game tonight. This is a weird one for me because it seems way too early for Bolly to be done. Bolland and I are the same age. Same draft class. He went 32 overall in the 2004 draft and I went undrafted. When he came up in that 2007-08 season he instantly became one of my favorite players on the team. It was Toews and Kane’s rookie year and they were obviously great right away. Seabrook and Keith had kind of established themselves along with Patrick Sharp as really good NHL players. It was Dave Bolland being added to that mix that made me feel like we actually might be on to something great in Chicago. Every good team needed a Dave Bolland. A guy who could do a little bit of eveything. A guy who played fearless and a little reckless. A guy who was a pain in the fucking ass. That was Bolland. A guy who could play against anyone and you’d feel comfortable. A guy who was on the power play, on the PK, took important draws, and did anything Joel Quenneville would ask of him. The perfect complimentary player to the super star level guys the Hawks had on the team.
Obviously the first thing people think of when they hear the name “Dave Bolland” was the Stanley Cup game-winner for the greatest 17 seconds any franchise has ever had. Right place, right time, and in a big situation where Joel put out 5 guys who he knew he could absolutely trust to get the game to OT…but then they did more.
As great as that was I still think my favorite Dave Bolland memory came in a series the Blackhawks ultimately lost in 7 games. 2010-11 vs Vancouver. Hawks backed into the playoffs after the Salary Cap gutted the 2010 Cup team. Bolland was injured to start the playoffs and missed the first three games. Hawks were down 3-0. Game 4. Sweep coming around the corner. Bolland comes back and flipped the entire series
The Hawks won Game 4 7-2, they won game 5 5-0, and in the pivotal game 6 back at the UC Bolland had a goal and an assist and the Hawks forced game 7. That’s how valuable he was to the team. He was the sparkplug, the swiss army knife, the rat. If you didn’t love Dave Bolland then you just don’t love hockey because he’s everything special about the game. A guy who isn’t overly, big, skilled, or fast who just became an impact player through guts. He was fearless. He’s one of my all-time favorite guys who the early years. Love that he’s back in the Indian Head sweater tonight. Bolland forever
