It is kind of ironic that the Blackhawks will open up this weekend with a back-to-back series against the Dallas Stars. It was just about six months ago that Blackhawks fans and the players themselves were sitting on the edge of their seats hoping for the Stars to lose their final game so the Blackhawks could sneak through the back door into the playoffs. Well it happened and the Blackhawks got in, but lost what turned to be a dramatic series against the eventual Stanley Cup runner-up Vancouver Canucks. That was the end to a rather disappointing season.
With the Blackhawks winning the Stanley Cup in 2010 it was obvious the key players were tired at the start of the 2010-11 season. Sure they lost a lot of pieces from the Cup winning team, but the guys who logged the most minutes and played in the 2010 Olympics were not themselves most of last year. The early bounce from the playoffs may have been a good thing for the 2011-12 team. They should be fresh and ready to go from the start of the season.
Over the summer General Manager Stan Bowman did what looks to be a fine job filling some holes in the roster. Because of the hard salary cap in the NHL the Blackhawks were faced with some difficult choices after winning the Cup in 2010. A number of their younger stars were due salary increases so they had to let some guys go. That summer Bowman made a number of shrewd trades which has helped build the Blackhawks farm system to depths it has never seen before. Problem was that he traded away a lot of the tough gritty guys, and it was obviously lacking last year. Consider those holes filled with guys like Jamal Mayers, Daniel Carcillo, Steve Montador, Sean O’Donnell and Sami Lepisto. Also the addition of veteran forward Andrew Brunette will be a boost to the scoring.
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While Bowman did what many think to be a great job filling some holes, I think his best move may have been in the second round of the draft this summer. He drafted 18 year old Forward Brandon Saad. Believed to be a mid-first round talent Saad slid all the way to the Hawks at the 13th pick of the second round. Now it is not completely uncommon for an 18 year old to crack an NHL roster, but they are usually top picks in the first round. Saad looks to be the steal of the draft. As of opening night he is expected to play on the top line with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp. This could change by game 10 of the season. Because of roster rules if he plays 10 games or more with the Hawks he cannot be returned to his Junior team, and he does not meet the age requirement to play for the Hawks AHL team, the Rockford IceHogs. If he plays like he did in the preseason he will stick around for the whole year.
A new wrinkle coach Joel Quennville has experimented with this preseason is Patrick Kane at Center instead of Right Wing. I love this move for the fact that he can finally play on the same line as Right Wing Marian Hossa. They will be a force offensively together and this will give Kane the opportunity to carry the puck more and create more. Kane does have defensive lapses, but if he is flanked by Hossa and Andrew Brunette the defensive lapses will not be as obvious because both Hossa and Brunette play well at both ends of the ice.
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Defensively I expect the Blackhawks to be much better this year. Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook got off to terrible starts last year, and I would attribute most of that to fatigue from the Cup run. The loss of Brian Campbell was good and bad. It freed up a ton of cap space to make some of the necessary roster additions, but they also gave up a key guy as far as getting the puck up the ice. I would look for Keith and Nick Leddy to fill some of that role.
Goalie Corey Crawford was excellent last year. If he can avoid the dreaded sophomore slump he should expect the see the majority of the action, and be one of the top goalies in the Western Conference.
If the Blackhawks stay healthy they will win their division. Don’t count out the Red Wings, but the younger Blackhawks should take the division. I will take them second overall in the Western Conference behind the San Jose Sharks. Again, if health is on their side I think the Blackhawks have a serious shot to get back in the Cup Finals in 2012. Will it happen? Just have to sit back and watch.
