2009-2010 Chicago Blackhawks Preview

The Blackhawks have begun to emerge from a long dry spell. For an extended period of time, the Hawks were the forgotten team in the Windy City due to poor performance and bad ownership. However, this Original Six Franchise has begun a resurgence and is now one of the most talented young teams in the NHL. Can the Hawks break the league’s longest Stanley Cup drought by winning their first title in 49 years?

Looking Back at 2008-2009

Last season was a magical year in Chicago. The extremely young Blackhawks rode the talents of captain Jonathan Toews (34 goals, 69 points) and diminutive playmaker Patrick Kane (25 goals, 70 points) to produce a high-powered attack and finished the regular season with a 46-24-12 record, good enough for the 4 th seed in the Western Conference. Behind solid goaltending, this young team grew up before the hockey world’s eyes before falling in the Western Conference Finals to the defending Stanley Cup Champion Red Wings. In short, it was a fantastic year from a team that began the season high on promise and little else.

The Offseason

The Blackhawks carried their momentum into the offseason by inking sniper Marian Hossa away from rival Detroit via free agency. Chicago furthered their team building by adding defensive dynamo John Madden at center, giving the Hawks a wealth of talent up front. However, there were some losses as goalie Nikolai Khabibulin left via free agency along with high powered sniper Martin Havlat and rugged Sami Pahlsson.

However, despite the solid offseason in terms of player acquisition, it got ugly fast when the Blackhawks misfiled a few restricted free agent offers, which cost the Blackhawks valuable cap space and earned GM Dale Tallon a reassignment within the organization for the blunder. Even worse, young star Kane was arrested in Buffalo for an ugly incident with a taxi cab driver and brought his maturity into serious question. The only bright spot was the he won’t face any criminal charges but his reputation as the face of the franchise was sullied.

Finally, the NHL opened an investigation into Hossa’s heavily front-loaded contract, the type of which is expected to be outlawed in the next collective bargaining agreement because it allows teams to somewhat circumvent the salary cap. This is because contracts count their average total against the cap instead of their actual yearly salary and Hossa’s 12 year deal included four years at the end which only paid him a million dollars a year, down from the 7-8 million that he’ll be receiving up front, giving him a much more manageable 4.5 million cap number. Safe to say, Chicago is really pleased to turn the conversation back to the product on the ice.

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2009-2010 Outlook

Chicago has more young talent than any team outside of the Pittsburgh Penguins up front. Toews, Kane and Hossa are lethal scorers but they’re not the only weapons. Youngsters Kris Versteeg, Andrew Ladd, Dustin Byfuglien and Dave Bolland all had strong seasons and center Patrick Sharp had a career year with 26 goals. There is enough talent to ice three strong lines and the Blackhawks are going to be one of the league’s highest scoring units.

But their defense is also quite stout. Veteran defender Brian Campbell was somehow considered a disappointment despite putting up 52 points and a positive +/- ratio. Along with rising stars Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook, there is a ton of two-way talent on hand. Don’t forget about Cam Barker either, who rounds out a great top four.

The big question is how Cristobal Huet responds after losing out on the starting job last season to the now-departed Nikolai Khabibulin. Huet certainly has the talent to perform as a #1 goaltender and if he can produce a strong season then Chicago should be one of the league’s best teams.

PREDICTION: The Blackhawks will have to wait a little while before they can play with their newest toy because Hossa isn’t expected to debut until November thanks to offseason surgery. However, the Blackhawks have a very deep and talented roster which should perform quite well until he arrives. Expect the Blackhawks to have another stellar season despite the summer’s off-ice distractions and finish 2 nd in the Central Division and earn another playoff bid.

While I think that the still-young Hawks are one of the most talented teams in the league, I worry that they’ll take a small step back this year. After their run to the Western Conference Finals, expectations are extremely high in the Windy City. Too high, in all honesty. There is no question that this team has a ton of talent but I think that they’ll struggle a bit with the burden of expectation. I don’t see the Hawks repeating their deep playoff run from a year ago but the future is bright so long as they keep their hypertalented core together.

By Matt Baxendall
DFN Sports & ProHockey-fans.com Staff Writer

Feel your team is underrated? Tell Matt Baxendell why at matt.baxendell@gmail.com

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