Last April was not a banner time for Chicago Blackhawks hockey. They backed into the playoffs on the last day of the regular season despite losing to the Detroit Red Wings, and not only did they lose in the first round, but to rub salt in the wound they lost to the rival Vancouver Canucks. It was a disappointing end to what had largely been a disappointing Stanley Cup defense, which saw fans rail on the internet and talk radio about the team’s apparent lack of drive and determination.
Those criticisms must have been taken seriously by the Hawks, because they have arrived in Chicago before training camp ready to get going. A bunch of the guys have been hitting the ice hard in voluntary workouts before the official start of camp, and there seems to be a collective desire amongst the players to put the sour taste of last season behind them and focus on getting back to hockey’s promised land.
Unfortunately for Chicago, that road back to glory seems to be as pothole-filled as I-294. While there have been lots of off-ice successes, such as the re-signing of Patrick Sharp and the team’s savvy free agency moves in early July, the team’s recent run of bad luck has been noteworthy on the other side of the ledger. In mid-July, star winger Patrick Kane had surgery to repair a scaphoid fracture in his left wrist, a procedure that hampered his ability to do any strenuous off-season training. He still has the cast on the wrist, but told reporters today that he will be ready for the beginning of the season.
As if having one of their players injured wasn’t bad enough, the Hawks were dealt another blow yesterday as the freshly signed Sharp was admitted to the hospital, undergoing an emergency appendectomy that will likely cost him most or all of training camp and could jeopardize his status for Opening Night, which is October 7th in Dallas. Having an appendix removed is a very tough thing to predict a return date on, as players like Matt Holliday of the St. Louis Cardinals came back after missing only seven games, while others have taken much longer to fully heal up. In a contact sport like hockey, the Hawks will likely be more cautious and wait until Patrick is completely healthy before getting him back into practice and game action.
The real question that arises with these health issues is a simple one: is Chicago likely to get off to a sluggish start with Kane and Sharp either inactive or still getting their legs under them when the season kicks off in less than a month? It isn’t out of the question, especially considering the team’s recent issues at the beginning of their previous two campaigns. In their Cup winning year of 2009-10, the Hawks were without free agent signee Marian Hossa until late November, and their offense was inconsistent to say the least. In fact, they only scored four or more goals in seven of their 22 games before Hossa’s debut in San Jose, and they scored two or fewer goals seven times as well. Hossa’s presence in the lineup didn’t necessarily end all of that, but his defensive intelligence and ability to make big plays certainly helped alleviate the issues the team was facing, and the results spoke for themselves.
Last season, the Hawks weren’t dealing with injury issues so much as sheer chemistry issues. With a sizable chunk of their vaunted depth that led them to the championship being gutted through off-season trades, the Hawks had to try to integrate new players like Viktor Stalberg and Jack Skille into their system, while also relying heavily on defensemen Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook to log big minutes. They had some bad early losses, including two to the lowly Edmonton Oilers on United Center ice, and the tone was set for what would largely be an underwhelming season for the defending champs.
With a nice long summer to relax and unwind from what has truly been a whirlwind time for this young team, things were looking up until the recent spate of health concerns. Sharp and Kane certainly will not be skating at 100% even if they are both on the ice in 24 days, but considering the amount of setbacks the team suffered last year, will their absence or lowered effectiveness spell trouble for this team early on?
While those two guys may not be at 100%, this team is in a much better position to absorb any slump that either player would find himself mired in. They are much stronger on their blue line this season with the addition of Steve Montador, which means that Keith and Seabrook will have to play fewer minutes and will be much less burnt out than they were much of last year. The additions of Daniel Carcillo, Andrew Brunette, and Jamal Mayers may not have the makings for a long term solution if either player suffers a setback, but at the very least it gives this team options in the short-term while they wait for youngsters like Ben Smith and Stalberg to get into the swing of things.
Another advantage the Hawks have in this situation is their easy schedule early on in the season. They only play 11 games in October, and out of those only four are against teams that made the postseason last year. In fact, this team’s only real stern tests in the season’s opening month are a date with the defending champion Boston Bruins on 15th and a Halloween showdown with the Nashville Predators, and they are both home games.
Obviously the schedule will get harder for this team, and if Kane and Sharp struggle long-term to regain their effectiveness, this team will need to make some moves. Fortunately for them, General Manager Stan Bowman addressed the possibility of having to add pieces when he cleared even more salary cap room this off-season. He jettisoned Brian Campbell’s albatross contract to Florida, and he also let Troy Brouwer and Tomas Kopecky hit the road. Those moves of course mean that a young team lost a couple of solid grinders and veterans, but with the additions made in July, this team is in a much better position both financially and depth-wise to deal with any issues.
This year’s Blackhawks team will be a difficult one to figure, especially with so many of the 2010 championship team members in other places. The squad’s nucleus is strong, however, and if there is one team that can handle bumps in the road, it will be this one. We’ll know as training camp opens in the next few days, but one thing is certain: this team has both the will and the ability to erase last year and put a better product on the ice moving forward.