Blackhawks Bring Business-Like Approach To Camp
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Jerad Shaw-
For the second year in a row, the Chicago Blackhawks brought their training camp to Compton Family Ice Arena on the campus of Notre Dame. After winning the Stanley Cup during the 2012-13 season, their training camp felt like more of a festival and celebration of what they had accomplished the previous year.
The same couldn’t be said this season, as the Blackhawks had a much more business-like approach to camp. A loss in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals will do that to a team, especially with the high expectations they had heading into last season.
With all of the main pieces back this season, those expectations won’t change as the Hawks are the favorites to win the Stanley Cup for the third time in five seasons.
Leading the way is the captain, Jonathan Toews. Toews will begin his eighth professional season on Oct. 9, all of them being with the Blackhawks and with the C on his sweater.
Toews and his counterpart, Patrick Kane, are fresh off of an 8-year contract extension that will pay them each $10.5M starting next season.
Joining them this season will be Brad Richards, who will bring a much-needed faceoff presence for the second line and penalty kill. Richards will be in his 16th season after spending his last three with the Stanley Cup finalist New York Rangers. He found himself on the back end of the depth chart heading into the postseason even after a regular season where he netted 20 goals and 31 assists.
When it comes to regular season performances, all eyes will be on powerful forward Bryan Bickell. After an outstanding run two seasons ago through the playoffs, the Blackhawks rewarded him with a 4-year, $16M dollar contract. Bickell’s regular season last year didn’t live up to that contract after only scoring 11 goals while playing at a -6. If Bickell can realize his role on this team prior to the playoffs, look for him to have a breakout regular season.
The real questions for the Blackhawks lie on defense and the ability to get the team under the salary cap prior to the opener on Oct. 9.
While the Hawks have two of the better pairings anchoring their defense, the only spot where depth is a concern would be at the blue line. Nick Leddy and Michael Rozsival had Hawks fans pulling out their hair throughout much of the postseason last year. The Hawks will look for Leddy to take the next step as he is a restricted free agent at the end of the year.
With few roster changes from last year, the product on the ice will remain pretty much the same, for now. Before opening night, the Blackhawks have to trim $2M off of their active roster. While I believe fully in Stan Bowman, the Hawks haven’t shown their cards on how they are going to pull this one off. Many people, including myself, believe goal scorer Patrick Sharp will be traded. One thing we have learned is to always believe in Bowman when it comes to making moves for the better of the organization.
At the end of the day, the Hawks will find themselves battling for a conference title. Barring major injuries, they have every opportunity to win the most prestigious piece of hardware in all of sports, the Stanley Cup.
Should the Hawks pull it off, the talk of dynasty would have to come into play. With the expectations of the salary cap being raised after this season, the Hawks seem to be in position to have success for years to come.
But let’s take it one step at a time. Not like I’m already trying to rename Chicago Hockeytown USA or anything. Let’s face it, Detroit doesn’t need that title anymore![[In-content Ad]]
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For the second year in a row, the Chicago Blackhawks brought their training camp to Compton Family Ice Arena on the campus of Notre Dame. After winning the Stanley Cup during the 2012-13 season, their training camp felt like more of a festival and celebration of what they had accomplished the previous year.
The same couldn’t be said this season, as the Blackhawks had a much more business-like approach to camp. A loss in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals will do that to a team, especially with the high expectations they had heading into last season.
With all of the main pieces back this season, those expectations won’t change as the Hawks are the favorites to win the Stanley Cup for the third time in five seasons.
Leading the way is the captain, Jonathan Toews. Toews will begin his eighth professional season on Oct. 9, all of them being with the Blackhawks and with the C on his sweater.
Toews and his counterpart, Patrick Kane, are fresh off of an 8-year contract extension that will pay them each $10.5M starting next season.
Joining them this season will be Brad Richards, who will bring a much-needed faceoff presence for the second line and penalty kill. Richards will be in his 16th season after spending his last three with the Stanley Cup finalist New York Rangers. He found himself on the back end of the depth chart heading into the postseason even after a regular season where he netted 20 goals and 31 assists.
When it comes to regular season performances, all eyes will be on powerful forward Bryan Bickell. After an outstanding run two seasons ago through the playoffs, the Blackhawks rewarded him with a 4-year, $16M dollar contract. Bickell’s regular season last year didn’t live up to that contract after only scoring 11 goals while playing at a -6. If Bickell can realize his role on this team prior to the playoffs, look for him to have a breakout regular season.
The real questions for the Blackhawks lie on defense and the ability to get the team under the salary cap prior to the opener on Oct. 9.
While the Hawks have two of the better pairings anchoring their defense, the only spot where depth is a concern would be at the blue line. Nick Leddy and Michael Rozsival had Hawks fans pulling out their hair throughout much of the postseason last year. The Hawks will look for Leddy to take the next step as he is a restricted free agent at the end of the year.
With few roster changes from last year, the product on the ice will remain pretty much the same, for now. Before opening night, the Blackhawks have to trim $2M off of their active roster. While I believe fully in Stan Bowman, the Hawks haven’t shown their cards on how they are going to pull this one off. Many people, including myself, believe goal scorer Patrick Sharp will be traded. One thing we have learned is to always believe in Bowman when it comes to making moves for the better of the organization.
At the end of the day, the Hawks will find themselves battling for a conference title. Barring major injuries, they have every opportunity to win the most prestigious piece of hardware in all of sports, the Stanley Cup.
Should the Hawks pull it off, the talk of dynasty would have to come into play. With the expectations of the salary cap being raised after this season, the Hawks seem to be in position to have success for years to come.
But let’s take it one step at a time. Not like I’m already trying to rename Chicago Hockeytown USA or anything. Let’s face it, Detroit doesn’t need that title anymore![[In-content Ad]]
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