CHICAGO – The Chicago Blackhawks look to contend and run deep into the playoffs as we enter this new season. Last season had the post Stanley Cup Championship blues as they were eliminated early by their conference rival Vancouver Canucks. Salary cap issues played a big part as the team tried to get a good balance with the cap and on the ice. As we start off the 2011-12 campaign on Friday, the team looks much stronger than the players that they have placed on the ice last season.
Training camp started with plenty of ifs. Another twist was added in net as NHL veteran goaltender Ray Emery was in camp for a chance to battle rookie Alexander Salak for the backup role to Corey Crawford. Patrick Kane underwent surgery to repair a scaphoid fracture in his left wrist in July and was expected to be out six to eight weeks. Patrick Sharp underwent an emergency appendectomy and his status for the beginning of the season was unknown. And these were a few of the highlights as camp was in progress.
One thing that the team missed last season was the aggressiveness in front of the net. To counteract that, they added forwards Jamal Mayers and Daniel Carcillo who was a pain to the Blackhawks side during the Stanley Cup Finals two years back. They also added left wing Andrew Brunette who brings in 15 years of veteran leadership to the team.
For the team that was known for its depth, Chicago was a little weak at the center position. Captain Jonathan Toews leads on the first line and it gets pretty jumbled up after that with Dave Bolland and Mayers moving into the middle position in the third and fourth lines. Bolland got a little banged up and his status to begin the season is unknown. For now Kane will move to the second line where he has played before with good results.
A nice surprise was the play of rookie Brandon Saad in the preseason. The Blackhawks second round pick in this past summer’s NHL Entry Draft has played well enough to be set on the first line with Toews and Sharp. The 18-year old right wing was elevated due to injuries to Viktor Stalberg and Ben Smith along with the suspension to Carcillo for the first two games of the season for an infraction at the end of last season.
Right wing Marian Hossa is starting to round out into form after having some time away from the team with a roller coaster of emotions with the birth of his daughter, and the death of good friend Pavol Demitra who perished along with his KHL Lokomotiv team in a tragic plane crash in Russia.
The defense is pretty stable with stalwarts Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook but the blueline added another level with the addition of a veteran third-line with Sami Lepisto and Steve Montador.
Just days before the start of the season, General Manager Stan Bowman decided to sign Emery to back up Crawford. His experience and leadership will only add more motivation to Crawford to elevate his game. Salak, who was sent to Rockford will see more playing time as he gets adjusted to the North American style of play.
Bowman himself was awarded a contract extension earlier in the week as the youngest GM in the league has taken the Chicago Blackhawks to another level.
The Chicago Blackhawks begin the season on the road on Friday with a home-at-home series against the Dallas Stars where they will come right back to the United Center under 24 hours later to start the first of hopefully 40-plus home games.
Contact the author at matt.chin@prohockeynews.com
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