Blackhawks Preview: Jim (Jimmy) Waite Autographed Card

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This will likely be the preface to all of this year's Season Preview posts: Unlike in the distant past where I would post different texts on my personal blog (here) and my collectibles blog, I've been using a new format for the past couple of years, where I'll copy the same text on each one. As a father of two young kids, I just do not have enough time to write two separate posts per day on each blog. This year again, the entire scope of the analysis will take place first and the featured player will have a direct or perhaps indirect connection to what's written, below.

Caveats: At this point, despite training camp starting today, several players haven't found a team yet, (at least) three star players have active trade requests, and a few clubs are currently above the salary cap, which means there is much left to do.

Key Exits: André Burakovsky (LW), Louis Crevier (D), Sam Lafferty (C), Ilya Mikheyev (RW), Matt Grzelcyk (D)

Key Arrivals: Patrick Kane (LW), Bowen Byram (D), Jordan Greenway (LW), Ian Cole (D), Cole Smith (LW), Connor Mackey (D)

Top prospects: Anton Frondell (C, 19), Roman Kantserov (RW, 21), Sacha Boisvert (C, 20), Xavier Villeneuve (D, 18), Nick Lardis (C, 21), Vaclav Nestrasil (LW, 19), Drew Commesso (G, 24)

The Chicago Blackhawks have finished at the bottom of the NHL standings for the past five seasons, missing the playoffs in seven of the past eight years, with their only participation stemming from the play-in round during the Covid era.

What makes their odds look good:
The future looks good with the likes of Connor Bedard, Frank Nazar, Kantserov, Frondell, Boisvert, Byram and Alex Vlasic, but the odds of them making the playoffs this season are just about null, let alone competing for a Stanley Cup in the short term.

Question marks:
Can Byram fulfill his draft pedigree promise and become a #1 defenseman? Can Arvid Soderblom establish himself as the backup goalie, or is he just a stand-in before Commesso arrives in Chicago full-time? After starting the season on injured reserve, how long will Bedard take to catch up to the rest of the league who will be in mid-season form?

Outlook:
I see an improvement in play from the last three seasons, but not a climb in the standings quite yet. Head coach Jeff Blashill, who did not succeed during the Detroit Red Wings' rebuild, might be playing his head coaching future here - failure with the Hakws may forever relegate him to assistant-coaching jobs in the NHL, or see him return to College hockey.

Prediction:
8th in the Central Division.

There are parallels between the aforementioned Soderblom and Jimmy Waite, who was only the third goalie of all time to get drafted in the top-10 when the Hawks selected him 8th at the 1987 draft. And just like Soderblom has performed well for Team Sweden internationally, Waite was a standout for Team Canada, getting named the best goaltender at the 1988 World Junior Championships and also to the tournament All-Star Team as Canada won the gold medal.

In the NHL, however, he would never be able to steal the #1 goalie job and earn a fair share of starts, first behind Ed Belfour (and Dominik Hasek!) with the Hawks, then behind Nikolai Khabibulin with the Phoenix Coyotes.

By playing his final 9 seasons in Germany, he was able to have a professional career that lasted from the 1988-89 season until 2009-10, for a grand total of 22 years.

During this team, he was also often a guest coach at his older brother Stéphanie Waite's goaltending school, and so it was a natural fit that when the Hawks let Stéphane go as a goaltending coach (to the Montréal Canadiens) after the 2012-13 season, Jimmy would be called to fill in - and he's still in the position to this day. Here he is on card #443 from Upper Deck's 1991-92 Series 1 set and Star Rookie sub-set:

He signed it in blue sharpie around 2016-2018, adding the number "29", which is the number he wore the longest with the Hawks, but the picture shows him wearing a number that ends in "0"; he also wore #30, #60, #36 and #49 with Chicago. Of note, this may very well be his first (and, thus, "rookie") card with Upper Deck, but he had already played 16 NHL games through three seasons at this point, and already had rookie cards with Topps, O-Pee-Chee, and two Score sets in 1990-91. I love his mismatched gear in this picture: the Vaughn blocker and pads, Heaton glove, Cooper helmet, Brown pants and Sher-Wood stick, made in his hometown of Sherbrooke, Québec.