2012-2013 Chicago Blackhawks News, Updates, and Rumors Thread

[Captain Iago]

I know plenty of non-Hawks fans and one former player who think the Blackhawks are a contender. A top 4 team in the Western Conference. A lot of teams in the Western Conference have gotten weaker this offseason and the Blackhawks were 10 points out of first last year. Nashville, Detroit, Vancouver and Phoenix - all teams ahead of the Blackhawks last year in standings - have all on paper (that is all we have to go by at the current time) gotten worse this offseason. Dallas and Minnesota are the teams behind that have gotten noticeably stronger and are within striking distance but I still don't have either as a top 4 team. I have the Blackhawks as a top 4 team in the Western Conference where there isn't an overly dominant team. The favorites would probably be the LA Kings or St. Louis Blues who have changed very, very little. After that I think there is a clump of teams that you have the Sharks, Canucks, and Blackhawks in a group. I believe that these 5 teams will be contending in the West.

The East should have the more dominant teams this year. NY Rangers, Pittsburgh, Boston (goalie change which is important to note), and Philadelphia are probably all up there with the two top teams in the West.

Hitch is right, the Blues will not be able to sneak up on teams..causing them to take a step back. I'm stunned others think they are favorites. They'll regress before progressing, I think.

 

[Captain Iago]

Oh my is that Rosey column posted by Hog absolutely laughable.

 

[HawkWriter]

Hitch is right, the Blues will not be able to sneak up on teams..causing them to take a step back. I'm stunned others think they are favorites. They'll regress before progressing, I think.

I still think they are a top team. A relatively young team, sound defensively, and two real solid goalies. They may have a target on their back, and I do expect them to drop some, but overall still a top team in the West I believe.

 

[Captain Iago]

I still think they are a top team. A relatively young team, sound defensively, and two real solid goalies. They may have a target on their back, and I do expect them to drop some, but overall still a top team in the West I believe.

We'll have to wait and see - Hitch is a good coach, but I don't see it going as well for them as it did last year.

 

[HawkWriter]

We'll have to wait and see - Hitch is a good coach, but I don't see it going as well for them as it did last year.

Hitch seems to have an immediate impact on teams and then it wears off. Will have to see what happens. I like the tandem of Halak/Elliot to get them through it though.

 

[Capt. Serious]

LOL at HawkPoster thinking the Hawks are a top 4 team in the West.

Wow, sip the kool aid much brah? :rofl:

 

[nwfisch]

LOL at HawkPoster thinking the Hawks are a top 4 team in the West.

Wow, sip the kool aid much brah? :rofl:

Who's better?

LA and ???

 

[HawkWriter]

LOL at HawkPoster thinking the Hawks are a top 4 team in the West.

Wow, sip the kool aid much brah? :rofl:

Try giving an intelligent response back. Give it a try.

Blackhawks were 5th in points in the WC last year. Two teams (just a couple points away) ahead of them were Nashville and Detroit who lost big time players this offseason. So is top 4 really that big of a stretch?

Maybe they don't finish top four, but atleast I put thought behind my posts and give reasonable explanations behind my opinion.

 

[Jntg4]

I'm pretty sure we are a top four team in the conference, and most projections I've found recently have us 4th.

http://www.thefourthperiod.com/news/van130106.html says that rumor has it that Vancouver is reluctant to trade Luongo to Edmonton or Chicago (and obviously other less interested teams in their division). I mean, I get the rivalry thing, but really? We aren't even in their division (though other interested parties are mostly in other conference, still!).

 

[Captain Iago]

I'm pretty sure we are a top four team in the conference, and most projections I've found recently have us 4th.

http://www.thefourthperiod.com/news/van130106.html says that rumor has it that Vancouver is reluctant to trade Luongo to Edmonton or Chicago (and obviously other less interested teams in their division). I mean, I get the rivalry thing, but really? We aren't even in their division (though other interested parties are mostly in other conference, still!).

Divisions don't mean as much as they used to (or like they do in other sports). Conference means much more. MG would be asinine to help out the Hawks (even though the proof is in the pudding when it comes to Luongo's playoff prowess).

 

[Capt. Serious]

fisch: Who's better? Really need to answer that?

Kings
Blues
Canucks
Predators (because they have this guy named Pekka Rinne)
Sharks

Time for HawkPoster to stop living in a fucking fantasy land & kissing the Hawks ass like they're gods gift to hockey.

 

[Captain Iago]

Hitch seems to have an immediate impact on teams and then it wears off. Will have to see what happens. I like the tandem of Halak/Elliot to get them through it though.

I want to ensure I'm understanding you correctly - you're meaning that Halak and Elliott will get the Blues through the inevitable Hitch downward spiral and they'll finish top two in the West? Do I have this right?

 

[HawkWriter]

fisch: Who's better? Really need to answer that?

Kings
Blues
Canucks
Predators (because they have this guy named Pekka Rinne)
Sharks

Time for HawkPoster to stop living in a fucking fantasy land & kissing the Hawks ass like they're gods gift to hockey.

Preds had three more points than the Blackhawks last year and they lost Suter this summer. They lost a few other nice pieces on offense as well. Sure they have Rinne but he would need to stand on his head every damn game. I see the Preds taking a big fall back.

I have the Kings, Canucks, and Blues ahead of the Blackhawks. The Canucks are still a question mark to me though with going with Schneider (most likely) and Kesler looking like he will miss significant time.

After the Kings and Blues I have it pretty wide open for the next tier of teams that I place the Hawks in. Also important to note with a heavy divisional schedule is that the Central is much weaker than in years past.

You really need a hug.

 

[HawkWriter]

I want to ensure I'm understanding you correctly - you're meaning that Halak and Elliott will get the Blues through the inevitable Hitch downward spiral and they'll finish top two in the West? Do I have this right?

I do believe that they do. Really one of the few times where when you have two goalies it might help. I like their defense and well balanced offense. They struggled before Hitch and hit their stride when he showed up. I'm aware that he has faded in the past after an initial impact (last consistency was probably the Stars) but I like their team and think they finish top 2 again.

 

[Jntg4]

fisch: Who's better? Really need to answer that?

Kings
Blues
Canucks
Predators (because they have this guy named Pekka Rinne)
Sharks

Time for HawkPoster to stop living in a fucking fantasy land & kissing the Hawks ass like they're gods gift to hockey.

:lmao: :rofl: :lol:

Have you not paid attention to the fact that they were only slightly better than us last season and got significantly worse this offseason?

We are a top 4 or 5 in Conference on paper right now.

 

[HawkWriter]

Rumors out there are saying that the Blackhawks will open up the season at LA on Jan 19th.

 

[icehogfan08]

Daniel Carcillo

got plenty of extra time to recover form a torn ACL in his right knee due to the lockout. Carcillo underwent surgery in January 2012. "Everything feels good," he said. "It's been a long year and I'm definitely excited to get started. Getting back into game shape now is my big concern -- the stops, the starts, coming off the turns and that sort of thing." Carcillo, like all players, will only get a week of training camp with no exhibition games before the season starts. Consequently, he's likely to be one of the many players that's rusty at the start of the season.

Patrick Sharp

will have to adjust quickly after opting not to sign in Europe or elsewhere during the lockout. "It's going to be tough that there's no preseason games," Sharp said. "(It's) whoever can adjust the quickest and get off to a great start ... But once you get into the swing of things it's business as usual." Sharp is usually a reliable scorer, but he's one of the players should should feel a tad uncomfortable with going into the season. He should adjust quickly, but we wouldn't be surprised if he gets off to a cold start.

Duncan Keith

thinks it's important for the Blackhawks to run as many skates as possible before the lockout officially ends and training camp begins. "The one thing that sticks out in my mind about having success in a 48-game season is getting off to a good start," Keith said. "That goes back to making sure we're ready to play that first game. That's going to start in practice and training camp right away. It's looking for perfection at practice and bringing it over to a game." Chicago got off to a great start last season, but they also suffered a prolonged losing streak. Consistency will be important in the shortened season and that's one aspect they'll have to focus on as the campaign progresses.

Corey Crawford

doesn't feel any extra pressure going into the shortened season. "Pressure? You're talking about that already," Crawford said. "No, man, this is fun. This is fun what we do. I'm excited. We've got a great team, so I'm looking forward to what's coming up." Unless the Blackhawks get another goaltender, Crawford will get another shot at leading the Blackhawks. He shouldn't be regarded as a safe bet to bounce back after his horrendous sophomore season and it wouldn't be shocking if Ray Emery ends up stealing the starting job.

Bryan Bickell

asserted himself nicely for Czech team Orlo Znojmo. Bickell scored nine goals and 18 assists for 27 points in 28 games. He's generally only intriguing in extremely deep fantasy leagues, although he's obviously more interesting if he can generate at the 37-point level (as in 2010-11) than last season's 24 points.

Jonathan Toews

With the lockout about to end, Toews isn't convinced that it really had to go on this long. ``It's just more of a relief," said Toews. "We're excited to get back in front of our fans and just be together on a daily basis. But the realistic thing that sets in is: Did it really have to go this far? Did we really have to miss over three months? It's unfortunate. We know we've got a long road ahead of us to try and build this game back and earn the respect from the fans again." The good news is that the two sides were still able to salvage the season, so they won't have to recover from the stigma of yet another lost campaign. The shortened season should be exciting, with even game being critical to a team's chances of making the playoffs.

 

[icehogfan08]

From JJ

Heard from a well-placed source overnight that the Blackhawks, while not actively pursuing trades themselves, are listening to overtures from a number of teams, and have a fairly long list of available players and prospects.

And numerous teams have called.

None of the players available are "core" players. But 1-2 of the names available might mildly surprise some.

Make no mistake, the Hawks are sitting back and waiting for teams to come to them, and they will very likely deal a defenseman (or two) because of both NHL depth and the development of Ryan Stanton and Stephen Johns specifically. The club is also confident in the longer term prospects of Adam Clendening as a puck rusher.

Two players whose market values (and by contrast their expendability to the Hawks) are high are Niklas Hjalmarsson and Nick Leddy. And just as thousands of fans on message boards have figured out that the Hawk blueline is overcrowded—with the offseason signings of Johnny Oduya, Michal Rozsival and Sheldon Brookbank—so have NHL GMs.

My information is these GMs are calling the Hawks and asking about Leddy and/or Hjalmarsson in particular. Of the two, Leddy's age, salary, NHL experience and potential likely make him the most coveted player on the Hawk blueline—who might also be available.

It's nice to see that Stanton is getting recognized for his play. He's been solid all year and plays a good defensive game. Not afraid to mix things up either

 

[DewsSox79]

looks like the sheep are coming out in full force.

 

[Diehardfan]

I still see goaltending as the primary hole in the team with lack of of a PP closer being a close second.

Do we really know which Cory Crawford is playing on any given night? He can go from Jacques Plante to Jacques Strap in a heartbeat.

With all the skilled players available on the PP and with all the grandiose puck movement they do getting a good chance...have they yet found someone who can bury an open shot or go top shelf on a rebound?

If either of these things turn into a persistant problem....they will be in trouble.