Blackhawks Season Preview: Part 4, Goalies

New Additions

Ray Emery- He was invited to camp to compete for the backup position. Depending on how he plays on Saturday, he might be the Blackhawks backup goalie.

The Young Ones

Alexander Salak- He was acquired along with Michael Frolik in a trade for Jack Skille last year. He is a feisty goalie and depending on whether or not he out-plays Emery he could be the backup goalie for the Hawks.

The Veterans

Corey Crawford- With one year under his belt, he should be better. He will be the undisputed starter this season unlike last season. He showed how good he can be during the playoffs last year and hopefully he can play that way throughout the season.

Breakout Player

I think Crawford will be a breakout player of sorts. He didn’t get to show his complete talent last year. He had a short time period to play. He will get a lot more starts this year and will show how good he really is.

Predictions

Crawford will help lead the Hawks on what could be a cup run during the playoffs. He is a solid goalie that will be trustable during the playoffs. Goaltending won’t be a problem like it was for part of the year last year.

Blackhawks Season Preview: Part 3, Defense

New Additions

Sean O’Donnell- He was signed this offseason and will probably used on the third pairing.

Steve Montador- He was also signed this offseason and will also be used on the third defensive pairing. He might switch off rolls with O’Donnell or both of them will be used at once.

Sami Lepisto- He was signed to solidify the fact that Chris Campoli would not be returning. He will probably play on the second or third pairing this season.

The Young Ones

Niklas Hjalmarsson- He has been with the Hawks for a couple years now and is looking to have a breakout season. Now that some players have moved on, Hjalmarsson will have a bigger role on the team and could have a breakout season this year.

Nick Leddy- He didn’t play the whole season last year, but he will this year. He showed that he has a lot of talent and can be a very good defenseman last year. He has some things to improve on, but will be very good in the future.

The Veterans

Brent Seabrook- He has been consistently good in the past few years. He will probably continue to be good as long as his linemate can be good too.

Duncan Keith- After winning the Norris trophy last year, he didn’t perform well the next season. Now that he is rested and doesn’t have the pressure of being the Norris winner, he should have another good season.

Breakout Player

I think it will be Hjlamarsson. He doesn’t have Campbell as his linemate anymore and will get more attention. He is more important to the team this year, so he will probably step up and have a good season.

Predictions

The defense will be one of the strong points for the Blackhawks this season. Seabrook and Keith are one of the best pairings in the NHL, but now the Hawks have depth at defense and will be much better in that area.

Blackhawks Season Preview: Part 2, Forwards

New Additions

Jamal Mayers- He will most likely play center on the 4th line. He was added in an attempt to make the Blackhawks fourth line a little stronger and grittier.

Dan Carcillo- He will be playing on the 4th line and was also part of the campaign to make the fourth line better. As long as he can stay disciplined, he should be a good addition to the team.

The Young Ones

Marcus Kruger- Last year, as a rookie, he showed that he had talent and could play the game. The Hawks are unsure about him as a second line center and also unsure about him as a fourth line center. He will probably be used on the fourth line and have the same position as Stalberg and start every few games.

Ben Smith- Also a rookie last year, who showed that he had some talent and could score goals. He scored 3 goals in one round of the playoffs. He might play on the second line or on the third or fourth line. As long as he does well in training camp, he will be on the team. He works hard, has talent, and has hockey smarts. He will be a great piece on the Hawks in the next few years.

Brian Bickell- He also played well in the playoffs last year and looks to have a breakout season this year. He has been good playing with Dave Bolland so far in his career and will probably stay on the left wing of the third line.

Michael Frolik- After being acquired in a trade from the Panthers for Jack Skille, it took him awhile to warm up to playing on the Hawks. Towards the end of the season and in the playoffs he was a helpful part of the team. He will probably play on the second or third line most of the year.

The Veterans

Patrick Sharp- He had an outstanding season last year, but looks to top that. He might have to play center for a good part of the season because the Hawks have nobody else that can play the second line center position. He is a better goal-scorer when he is on the wing, but is still a good asset when playing center.

Jonathan Toews- Year after year he is good and then gets better the next year. That trend will probably continue. As long as he stays healthy, he might be in Hart trophy/MVP talks. He is a great leader and will be centering the first line, as always.

Patrick Kane- He has bulked up this summer and looks forward to having a big season this year. He should be 100% healthy for the season opener after injuring his wrist during a workout this summer.

Marian Hossa- He is always a huge contributor on any team he plays for. He will be playing the right wing on the second line most of the year and looks to increase his points number that was lower than expected last season.

Breakout Player

I think the breakout player this year will be Michael Frolik. He wasn’t very successful in Florida, but it looks like he has better chemistry with the Blackhawks. He will either play on the second line with Hossa and Sharp who are both great forwards or with Bolland and Bickell on the third line. He will have chances and will probably take advantage of those chances.

Predictions

As long as Carcillo can keep himself from being suspended, the project of improving the fourth line should be a success. If the young players like Bickell, Smith, and Frolik all step up the Hawks will be a force to reckon with. With Selke runner-up, Jonathan Toews, and one of the best defensive forwards, Dave Bolland, on the team, the Hawks defense should be strengthened by some of the great defensive forwards. 

Blackhawks Season Preview: Part 1, Introduction

In 2009-2010 the Blackhawks had an outstanding team that went on to win the Stanley Cup. After the celebration, the realization that the Blackhawks could not afford to pay all of those great players set in. They had to let go key players like Andrew Ladd, Dustin Byfuglien, Antti Niemi, Kris Versteeg, and Ben Eager. It was easy to see that the 2010-2011 team would not be as successful as the team from the year before. The Hawks battled through injuries and barely made it into the playoffs thanks to a Dallas Stars loss. The first three games of the playoffs were dead and sleepy, but the next 3 were the Blackhawks that all fans knew and loved. They had a reason to fight and were fighting with all they had. Game 7 was intense. The Canucks scored quickly and held the lead until Jonathan Toews scored a shorthanded goal with 3 minutes left that I think defines who the Blackhawks are. There was a look of determination in his eyes and he knew that he had to step up. He was going to make sure that puck went in no matter what, even if he had to shoot while he was on the ground. It showed the heart of the Blackhawks. Unfortunately, the Blackhawks didn’t win the game. Now the big question is whether or not the Blackhawks can return to glory.

Stan Bowman made a lot of moves this offseason to help the Hawks become a better team. He got rid of Troy Brouwer, Brian Campbell, Tomas Kopecky, and Jake Dowell. Using the freed up cap space, he signed some grit for the fourth line including Jamal Mayers and Dan Carcillo. He also added some defensive depth with O’Donnell, Lepisto, and Montador. He also added the veteran forward Andrew Brunette.

Over the next few days, I’ll be taking a look at each part of the team and then in the last part of this mini series, I will make some predictions.

Carcillo Talks About the Canucks

Today Andrew Brunette and Daniel Carcillo spoke about coming to the Blackhawks. When asked what he thought about the Canucks Carcillo said, "I watched that series and I'm actually pretty excited to play them because there's a few guys that played a little bit outside of their shoes. I think I can keep most of those guys in check when we play them this year so I'm pretty excited to play them."

I really like that Carcillo made a statement against the Canucks today. The reason that he was brought here was to add grit that the Hawks didn't really have last year. After they won the cup the Hawks lost Burish and Eager who were tough gritty guys. Now that they have Carcillo, maybe he can fill those shoes. 

At first I was unsure about the signing of Carcillo, but now that he has said all the right things I might be okay with him. As long as he doesn't get suspended too often and doesn't commit too many dumb penalties, he should be fine.

Patrick Sharp's contract extended 5 years

Today Patrick Sharp received a contract extension. He will be with the Blackhawks for 5 more years now. During the press conference after the signing he said, "I don't want to ever leave"

This is all good news for the Blackhawks. The offseason moves this summer will make a huge difference on the team during the season. Sharp wasn't a free agent, but he would be next summer and this gets rid of the distraction during the season.

Last year Sharp had probably his best season ever, but he says that he wants to continue to get better and he thinks that he can do that. When Toews, Kane, and Hossa had injury issues last year he was the guy that carried the team and continued to score goals. Hopefully this year the Blackhawks don't have to deal with as many injuries, but I also hope that the Sharp continues to be a goal scorer.

Offseason Moves

The Blackhawks made a lot of moves this offseason and I decided to talk about them all at once. The July 1st signings were all good in my opinion. Stan Bowman added some maturity to the locker room and added some toughness and grit to the team by adding Dan Carcillo. Granted, he also added penalty minutes to the team by adding Dan Carillo, but if Dave Bolland is healthy all year his badass penalty killing should make that a non-issue. There were other moves besides the initial unrestricted free agent signings that impacted the team.

The first is that Viktor Stalberg was re-signed. I'm not sure how I feel about this. He is a fast and smooth skater, but he doesn't have a great shot and seems to just skate around. I absolutely hated when he was on the top line with Kane and Toews during the playoffs. If he has a good season, I'll be happy about this signing. If he does what I expect him to do, I won't be very happy about this.

The second move is the Hawks re-signing Michael Frolik. Frolik came to the Blackhawks right before the trade deadline when Jack Skille was sent to Florida and the Hawks got Frolik and Alexander Salak who will probably be the backup goalie this year. Frolik started slow with the Blackhawks, but he seemed have the same problems as Skille. He couldn't finish at the net. He had chance after chance and couldn't score. Eventually, he got his first Blackhawks goal and after that he was a pretty good addition to the team. He scored a crucial goal in Game 6 of the playoffs this year and I think he has a lot of potential. I can't wait to see what he does this season.

The third move is the Hawks signing Sami Lepisto. He played for the Coyotes and Blue Jackets last season and was signed to a one year deal by the Blackhawks. From looking at his stats he seems like a good addition to the team. The Hawks have eight good defensemen that will be fighting to fit into the 6 defense positions. Yes, one of those guys is John Scott who probably won't see a lot of ice time this year, but he is still on the roster as a defensemen.

The signing of Lepisto lead to the finally move of the offseason to this point. That move was the decision to not re-sign Chris Campoli. He was acquired from Ottawa for some draft picks before the trade deadline last season. While he was with the Hawks he was a good addition to our defense, but he was going to be asking for too much in Stan Bowman's opinion. Stan decided to let him go and not re-sign him. I don't think this is in any way related to his turnover that lost Game 7 of the first round of the playoffs this year. He was asking for a raise and Bowman didn't want to give it to him.

Overall, I like what Bowman has done this offseason and this team looks very good going into the season. I like that he left cap space in case the Blackhawks needed to sign a center sometime during the season if Kruger or Sharp couldn't do the job. It is always good to have a little cap room and Bowman managed to have that and have a pretty good roster going into the season. Great job by Bowman this offseason.