The Blackhawks play their first preseason game tonight vs. Washington. They are on the road today… and tomorrow (vs. Detroit) and then back home for their 3rd game in 3 nights (vs. Detroit again).
I'm always interested to see what the line combinations are when training camp begins because you know Jeremy Colliton and Co. have been thinking about this for the last 3 months or so.
The Hawks played a lively scrimmage yesterday in front of fans at the UC and here's how the teams looked:
Team Red lineup:
Wedin-Toews-Nylander
DeBrincat-Strome-Saarela
Saad-Kampf-Kubalik
Soderlund-Nilsson-Fortin
Maatta-Seabrook
Dahlstrom-Boqvist
Gilbert-Murphy
Crawford
Gravel
Team White lineup:
Caggiula-Shaw-Kane
Smith-Carpenter-Versteeg
Sikura-Highmore-Perlini
Hagel-Entwistle-Quenneville
Keith-Krys
Koekkoek-Gustafsson
Holm-Carlsson
Lehner
Tomkins
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My early takeaways from these lines/pairings are this:
* Alex Nylander – he's going to get a real shot with good players. He was very noticeable yesterday and you get the feeling that he is gunning for a top 6 spot. He's been with Toews so far, could there be a Nylander-Toews-Kane line in our future?
* Andrew Shaw – while most of us had him on the wing (myself included as I think he's strongest there), Shaw was used up the middle on a line with Kane yesterday. Keep an eye on this as Shaw could very well be the 3C if Dach can't play or doesn't make the team.
* Kirby Dach – speaking of Dach, he's an obvious omission in the lines above due to him being in concussion protocol. Unfortunately, this could really make or break his entire season. We'll see if he can get into that first home game on Wednesday because I doubt he flies with the team.
* Olli Maatta – the Finnish dman was paired with Brent Seabrook and looked really good. He's never going to impress you with speed but is a very smart defender and could be the partner Seabrook has been needing for years.
* Saad-Kampf-Kubalik – when I saw this line, I could envision this actually being the line that Colliton goes with come game #1. I feel Kampf is better suited for the 4th line, however, we all know how much JC likes him. We'll see, but something to keep an eye on.
* Tim Soderlund – he's fast… really, really fast. I can see him being used a lot in Rockford and eventually getting a look with the Blackhawks this year.
* Corey Crawford – his demeanour and play is like he's out to save his job. Honestly, he probably is and that's a really good thing. Can you imagine a lights out Crow all year with Lenher coming in playing strong for 30-35 games? If the goaltending is consistently above-average this year between this duo, the Hawks will make the playoffs.
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This is all I have for now. I will be back throughout the week with more thoughts on these games.
See ya out there!
TC
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Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • 
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