Anotha One - Dale Hawerchuk Review

Hey everyone, as part of my plan to review a bunch of different players on my team, I'll be reviewing Dale Hawerchuk today. I'll be basing my review on the five stats on the card and I'll be sharing his stats through 85 games on my team. Keep in mind that I have the following synergies active on my team: WW, OJ, NP, RF, DR, HH, IS, 1T, CG, TT, SB, T.

Skating: 9.5/10: Hawerchuk's skating was quite impressive. There have been many times where I was able to get a breakaway by catching defenseman flatfooted. His acceleration is excellent, especially with RF active. The only reason this isn't a 10 is because his top end speed doesn't blow you away like it would for Duchene or Mackinnon. His agility is quite impressive too, being able to turn on a dime.

Shooting: 10/10: First thing I have to say is WOW. His wrist shot is by far the best that I've used in this game. With WW active he has 99(!!!) accuracy and 97 power. If he is fresh off the bench, it is going in most of the time. I don't use slapper too much because of how deadly his wrist shot and snap shot are, but when I have let it rip with him, it has been outstanding.

Hands: 9.5/10: Hawerchuk has some silky mitts. He is probably the left handed player I enjoy deking with most because of how responsive he is. In addition to this, his passing is superb; being able to thread the needle both through traffic and over sticks.

Checking: 7/10: At 5'11, 185 lbs you shouldn't be expecting Hawerchuk to be knocking people over like he is Shanahan or Lindros. He can definitely knock people off the puck, but he needs to have some speed, and they need to be around his size. One positive for him is that he seems to be much sturdier on the puck than I thought he would have been.

Defense: 9/10: Hawerchuk is a forechecking and backchecking machine. His pokecheck is one of the best I've used, especially with T and RF active. His defensive positioning is superb and I've had him save multiple goals just because of where he was standing.

As you can probably tell I think Hawerchuk is an outstanding card. He is my top scorer and at around 170-180k, he is absolutely worth the price. Personally I love his synergies. WW makes his shot feel like a cheatcode and RF makes him a beast on the forecheck(personally I think RF is the most underrated synergy in the game). He is effective as both a centre and RW which definitely adds to his value.

Stats through 85 games: 38 goals, 26 assists, 64 points, +38, 18 PIM.

Let me know who you guys would like to see me review next.