We're in deep poop if Rozi skates a regular shift on the third pair.

Lets see what cards we show when we use the Hossa money after game 1.

I think you make a great point. Anisimov could make a good 3rd line center ... just wish he was better at faceoofs .... maybe he will improve. Hinostroza and Hartman have been working out this off season with Kane, so hopefully that will payoff.
- chuckdahammer

Hino and Hartzy are both locals so naturally they train here. Kane stays in Chicago now given his last offseason in Buffalo didn't go so well. Not sure how you're hoping training with Kane pays off for either. Might get them extra poosee I guess

I'd like to see ...

Saad - Toews - Hartman
Sharp - Anisimov - Kane
Jurco - Schmaltz - Panik
Hayden - Kero - Wingels

Keith - Murphy
Kempny - Seabrook
Oesterle - Rutta

Crawford
Forsberg
- TommyHawk

Not a bad lineup especially if Jurco finally realizes his potential. If so, then that could be a really nice 3rd line with a playmaking Schmaltz centering a power winger in Panik and a finesse winger in Jurco. And if Jurco can turn it on, then that gives Q some flexibility to put him up with Kane and Sharp down with Schmaltz and Panik. Hartman and Panik are also interchangeable, IMHO.

Also, I think Hayden starts in Rockford and eventually works his way to the Hawks roster later in the season, so slot Bouma at 4LW to begin the year. However, your projected 4th line could be what it looks like say by December or so.

I think he can make for a decent third pairing d-man. He just needs a chance. I think he's got a great chance of securing a third pairing position in training camp. I really don't think Q likes Forsling very much. Especially with how scared he plays in his own zone. I expect him to be packaged in a deal at some point this season.
- TommyHawk

I don't think it's Forsling playing scared as much as it is that he's over confident in his zone and should make the safer plays instead to get the puck going the other way. Whether he is scared or over confident, I agree that this doesn't sit well with Q and reason for Forsling to ride the bench or get sent to Rockford for more seasoning.

Bucs, Lightning, Rays call for removal of Confederate monument from Tampa
https://www.thescore.com/news/1352844
(via http://thesco.re/theScore_app )

Told ya there was more coming.

Shut up and play hockey. Idiots.

Uggh. Line 3 is a player that was a scratch for most playoff games last year, a castoff from Detroit and a soft center who barely wins 30% in the dot. Fourth line is no better. Better set our expectations accordingly and hold tight to those 3 Cups.

Bucs, Lightning, Rays call for removal of Confederate monument from Tampa
https://www.thescore.com/news/1352844
(via http://thesco.re/theScore_app )

Told ya there was more coming.

Shut up and play hockey. Idiots.
- hocktock

Freedom got you down? Maybe they are exercising their rights to speak freely. Piss off to people like Lauara Ingaram who say "Shut up and Sing"...NO ONE ever says, "Shut up and just be an accountant or shut up enjoy being a hedge fund manager"

Confederate monuments are a crock. Frankly I don't care that they exist, but I wonder why we celebrate such mediocrity, idiocy and overt racism. But hell....it's heritage I guess. If these public blights go the way of the DoDo bird it won't set civilization back...perhaps it may even allow it to progress.

Great article JJ
Really like the 4th line with speed , Hawks lacked speed last year
Out of the bottom 6 hopefully we find some PK's , can't burn out Saad and Toews with that .
Also I see us get maybe another 5th or 6th D later , I can't see what we would give up for a 4th type D? Just hope we keep our draft picks ?

Great article JJ
Really like the 4th line with speed , Hawks lacked speed last year
Out of the bottom 6 hopefully we find some PK's , can't burn out Saad and Toews with that .
Also I see us get maybe another 5th or 6th D later , I can't see what we would give up for a 4th type D? Just hope we keep our draft picks ?


- CTblackhawkfan

You make what I consider to be the most important point for the Blackhawks. Their PK needs to be totally revamped. The remaining PK mainstays, except for Saad, are all of the age where they shouldn't be playing PK minutes anymore.

The following goes back to the point about demand softening, etc

I saw this today, from the other side of the world, and my thought was that the marketing guys need to really be careful because from this old Hawk fan's point of view -the marketing guys are coming perilously close to becoming a parody of themselves.

http://www.nbcchicago.com...aley-plaza-440929773.html

An 'impromptu flash mod'? Seriously - what's next -see who can plank the longest for a game ticket?

I keep reading (Hockey News et. al.) and hearing (NHL TV) that Vegas will need to deal from their glut of remaining defensemen.

Hearing anything about anything happening between the Hawks and Golden Knights? And, any Knight D-man you'd be interested in the Hawks acquiring?
- scottak

Oh, I can definitely see it based on the totality of what I heard, especially earlier in the summer.

JJ if you want chime in these would be my lines:

saad towes panic maybe repeat of when hossa was on that line

sharp AA kane hopefully sharp a place holder until tdl get top 6 lw (evander kane)

wingles smaltz Hartman speed size skill lot to like about that line

bouma daupin jurco/tooto could be surprisingly really solid line

extra forwards kero hino mabe hayden but maybe some time in Rockford to help his skating

kieth murphy kieth will make murphy better
merril from vegas seabrook if it is merril solid 2nd pairing d
kempney rutta/ osteral / rosie /pto d man(franson/polka) an on going puzzle throughout the year Q will have his blender going high speed with this d paring

Crawford solid
Forsberg could emerge as the next darling or not seen him play lots of upside and with jimmy waite could take a lot of strides forward
- Scott1977

Yes

Read an article that Oesterle can play both LD and RD as well.

I think that versatility is a big reason he was signed so quickly.
- TyCamScore

Yes

Imagine what Kesler and Getzlaf would do to Schmaltz in a 7 game series....UGLY
- glennjpawlak22

Yes

high-end college players? you do realize Butcher is under 6 feet and slow? The other guy is basically a Tanner Kero type, only worse?
- TTtime

Ya, college guys are not the answer for the Hawks this year.

People can say what they want about this roster, I see a lot more NHL experience than I did at this time last year, and a lot less rookies being counted on to be something they weren't ready to be.

I think we will need to give this roster some time to gel. More on this in my blog later today and especially tomorrow.

high-end college players? you do realize Butcher is under 6 feet and slow? The other guy is basically a Tanner Kero type, only worse?
- TTtime

Unrelated to this comment I feel the loop hole should be closed. It makes no sense that some players can play elsewhere and be FA, where others cannot, i.e. EU players.

Uggh. Line 3 is a player that was a scratch for most playoff games last year, a castoff from Detroit and a soft center who barely wins 30% in the dot. Fourth line is no better. Better set our expectations accordingly and hold tight to those 3 Cups.
- kwolf68

I also don't get the love for Jurco (at this point anyway) but he's there and they're going to give him a shot and hope he can be what they thought he was going to be after he was drafted/before he got hurt.

I think the "healthy scratch" ding on Wingels is a little unfair and taken way out of the Guy Boucher context.

Point taken on Schmaltz as a C. And maybe Kero is the center there.

I also think a lot of people are going to be pleasantly surprised by Dauphin. Not by the "mad scoring skillz" that some need to see, but his competitiveness, speed, and effectiveness up and down the ice.

The bottom six sucked balls last year because it was a grab bag of pugs, injured guys and rookies who were playing in the wrong roles—when they should have been playing top 6 in Rockford.

Really difficult start of the season for the Blackhawks.
The core certainly will be much fresher and rested with one summer where they were in an extended campaign and no early summer World Cup money grab for the owners and NHLPA that called upon a large number of the core to be participants.

If my memory serves, many a year that good start in the first dozen is what propelled them and cushioned all the things that happen along the 84 game schedule.

So?

How many of those first ten do they win?

I think that rests strongly on Hartman and Schmatlz beginning to show a bit more dominance in their roles...it is nice to think Nick is ready for prime time as a greasy area scorer, wall-worker, and Hartman can keep an even keel to the shenanigans and continue to be a player teams worry will incite scoring.

Tomas Jurco has the puck handling skill, lateral; fluidity, and gun to vie for a chance with more ice time with the cohesive linemates and you have to think the staff's instruction and repetitive drilling has him in complete understanding of how to play in all zones-it now becomes a matter of him executing...or he will be one of the first executed.

I think they will start at 6 -3- 1 otL

Unrelated to this comment I feel the loop hole should be closed. It makes no sense that some players can play elsewhere and be FA, where others cannot, i.e. EU players.
- riozzo

You are calling for full NHL slavery of every North American drafted prospect.

My bruised ego had me thinking how unfair the idea of the Kevin Hayes compensation being a pick 31 slots later than the original...or that if you lose a third or 6th rounder like Vesey or Sikura to UFA status, then the team should get compensation even though they were picked after the first round.

But I totally understand if your first rounder from a weak draft looks mediocre, far from ready to play, that IF compensation was replacement pick at that SAME slot, teams would do back flips. But it also impacts the teams who just got knocked down one slot for your poor drafting in the past....you pick a guy not interested in teaming with your team.

(Hey, maybe it is to a teams advantage then to roll the dice on a college kid, and hope he tells his story walking just so they get a replacement pick....)

I just don't know how easy closing that loophole would be...because they are older.

The draft age will never rise back up to 19-20, or have a 1-2 round 18 exception clause like it did in the past, but the college UFA gets buzz from many fans of teams, and always leaves a bad taste in the fan's mouths of the team that drafted him and were rejected...

I also don't get the love for Jurco (at this point anyway) but he's there and they're going to give him a shot and hope he can be what they thought he was going to be after he was drafted/before he got hurt.

I think the "healthy scratch" ding on Wingels is a little unfair and taken way out of the Guy Boucher context.

Point taken on Schmaltz as a C. And maybe Kero is the center there.

I also think a lot of people are going to be pleasantly surprised by Dauphin. Not by the "mad scoring skillz" that some need to see, but his competitiveness, speed, and effectiveness up and down the ice.

The bottom six sucked balls last year because it was a grab bag of pugs, injured guys and rookies who were playing in the wrong roles—when they should have been playing top 6 in Rockford.
- John Jaeckel

Agree wit dis

Hino and Hartzy are both locals so naturally they train here. Kane stays in Chicago now given his last offseason in Buffalo didn't go so well. Not sure how you're hoping training with Kane pays off for either. Might get them extra poosee I guess
- Assman22

I am well aware they are local. In fact, Hinostroza's parents are from my old hood. My point is Kane is taking more of a leadership role, which is good. Does not mean that Hartman and Hinostroza will be as good as Kane ... obviously ...... but all three of them are taking the off season seriously - GOOD SIGN ! I read this in a CSN article and Hinostroza working on his skating even more. If he can use his speed and become a regular, score about 15 goals, more or less, that would be great. Hawks want balance in production with lines ..... that is the key. Bunch of guys in double digits in goals

Let me throw this into the mix ..... PENALTY KILLERS. Toews and Saad have done it in the past but the PK guys usually come from the lower lines, because you want to save guys like that for PP and more minutes throughout the game. Anisimov and Kero have worked the Pk but who else ? This is where Bouma will find his niche on the fourth line. He is PK guy, who is shot blocker and plays with an edge. Also would like to see what Ulf Samuelson has in mind for the penalty killers.

I also don't get the love for Jurco (at this point anyway) but he's there and they're going to give him a shot and hope he can be what they thought he was going to be after he was drafted/before he got hurt.

I think the "healthy scratch" ding on Wingels is a little unfair and taken way out of the Guy Boucher context.

Point taken on Schmaltz as a C. And maybe Kero is the center there.

I also think a lot of people are going to be pleasantly surprised by Dauphin. Not by the "mad scoring skillz" that some need to see, but his competitiveness, speed, and effectiveness up and down the ice.

The bottom six sucked balls last year because it was a grab bag of pugs, injured guys and rookies who were playing in the wrong roles—when they should have been playing top 6 in Rockford.
- John Jaeckel

Jurco is an athlete with some technical skill so they probably thin Panik 2.0

Another guy Babcock grew sour on. And similar to Panik, probably not very good off the puck but if he can get up and down the ice with pace and disrupt some plays in the neutral zone (like Panik did last year) then its probably a win.

Certainly not a first line type player but they may be able to squeeze something there and it doesn't cost them a whole lot salary wise.

Unrelated to this comment I feel the loop hole should be closed. It makes no sense that some players can play elsewhere and be FA, where others cannot, i.e. EU players.
- riozzo

European players' rights are also held for 4 years, after which they can go FA, as long as they had been drafted at age 18/19. If a European or NCAA player is drafted at age 20, his rights will expire in 2 years. The latter is why the Hawks were able to sign Gustafsson after his rights expired with Edmonton. One small difference is that European players' have their rights with their drafted club expire after June 1st 2/4 years after their draft while NCAA players who had to wait 4 years do not have their rights expire until after August 15th. NCAA players who were drafted at 20 and waited are like European players and have their rights expire after June 1st.

All of this is in section 8.6 of the CBA - NCAA = 8.6(c) and Europe = 8.6(d). This also isn't really a loophole - it's was a deliberate inclusion by the NHLPA. What made it possible for Fortin to be signed is more of a loophole than this.

Bucs, Lightning, Rays call for removal of Confederate monument from Tampa
https://www.thescore.com/news/1352844
(via http://thesco.re/theScore_app )

Told ya there was more coming.

Shut up and play hockey. Idiots.
- hocktock

CONFEDERATE MONUMENTS REPRESENT SLAVE OWNING TRAITORS WHO FOUGHT A WAR TO KEEP HUMAN BEINGS IN CHAINS! WAKE UP YOU FRANKING CLOWN!