Blackhawks Roster Breakdown: Forwards

by Gatekeeper
Yell at Gatekeeper

With opening night less than a week away, the Blackhawks are down to some tough decisions with their roster. We talked at length about the options on Tuesday night's Shoutcast, but there are some real questions. I'm going to break down some of the upcoming roster decisions or at least try to lay them out in a logical manner. This doesn't mean Joel Quenneville will decide to use the logical method. Lastly, we look at the offense:

Brandon Saad - Jonathan Toews - Richard Panik

This is your first line, and it has been since the day the Blackhawks traded Artemi Panarin for Brandon Saad back in June. We all know what we are going to get from Saad and Jonathan Toews. Richard Panik is a bit more of a wild card. No one believed me when I predicted that Panik could easily replace the 34 points that were sent to Montreal with Andrew Shaw. No only did Panik replace the points, but he eclipsed it. By a decent margin. He played all 82 games, and contributed 22 goals, 22 assists for 44 points. These are all better than Andrew Shaw has ever reached in his career. I don't expect that Panik will have 22 goals again, but it's really not all that unreasonable. With Saad on the other wing, Panik will have more room to work. As long as he is in the right place, he will have every opportunity to equal that 44 points. This line is light years better now than it was in April. Expect Jonathan Toews to have a bounceback typical Jonny Toews year, and for Brandon Saad to have a career year. Saad is coming off three straight 50+ point seasons, and this year will be no different. 60 points is not unfathomable.

Alex Debrincat - Nick Schmaltz - Patrick Kane

I know, the Debrincat hater has him not only making the team, but playing in the top 6. If you look at the alternatives, there really aren't any. Unless they move Nick Schmaltz back to wing, no one else fits the position, and they certainly haven't been playing Schmaltz at center all preseason only to dump him back at the wing. I think Debrincat will hit the wall in ten games and they will need to re-adjust but, for the moment, it won't hurt to try this combo out to open the season. Speaking of Nick Schmaltz, this kid has impressed me. He was a pouty little brat, last season, once he was sent to Rockford and it rubbed me the wrong way. Granted he still has that pouty look on his face all the time, but his play has grow leaps and bounds. He was “good” last season, after he came back from Rockford, but this preseason he has been excellent. I would have never placed him at second line center, but that is where he has been the entire preseason. He has not looked out of place either. This makes you wonder what the future holds for new third line $4.55 million center Artem Anisimov. Patrick Kane is; Patrick Kane. I don’t want to say too much or the PC Police will come after me.

Patrick Sharp - Artem Anisimov - Ryan Hartman

If we didn’t expect to have Debrincat or Schmaltz on the second line, we certainly didn’t expect to see Artem Anisimov on the third line. If Debrincat makes the team, I’m fine with Sharp on the third line, and if Debrincat doesn’t, then someone like Wingels or Hayden can slide up. Ryan Hartman is a perfect third line player and will have a solid year once again there. Anisimov is a perfectly fine third line center, but I have my reservations about paying a player $4.55 million for the next 4 years to play on the third line. At some point they have to investigate getting him to waive that no trade clause and clear that cap room. For the near future, he is perfectly fine in the third line role. Even if he can’t win a faceoff to save his life. Circling back to Debrincat, Quenneville toyed with playing him on this third line with Anisimov and Hartman, and I’m not a fan whatsoever. He is not really responsible defensively, yet, and he is not a player that drives possession by himself. He needs to be set up for his chances, by skill players. Anisimov and Hartman are good, but they are good straight line players. They are not going to set Debrincat up with beautiful passes, or dazzling moves. I cannot see this experiment working, and you are not putting him in a position to succeed based on his skillset.

Tommy Wingels - Tanner Kero - Lance Bouma
Tomas Jurco, Jordin Tootoo, John Hayden,Vinnie Hinostroza

This fourth line is a complete mystery. You might as well just throw all the names in a hat and randomly pick them out. What you see above is not what I would select, rather what I think Quenneville and Bowman will decide. Tanner Kero is a fine, responsible fourth line center and should have that position locked down. Tommy Wingels, Lance Bouma and Jordin Tootoo are basically the same player in “small, medium, sort-of-large” sizes. If Quenneville wants to keep one of those three players as a 13th forward for the “grit”, that’s fine by me. Keeping all three is simply preposterous. My honest opinion is that they should keep Wingels and Hayden, waive Bouma or Tootoo, and launch Tomas Jurco into the sun. This is not the year to waste roster spots on players that you mistakenly signed or traded for. The problem with this entire scenario is that the Blackhawks rarely ever admit their mistakes, which means Wingels, Bouma, Tootoo, and Jurco will all make the roster. This leaves Hayden and Hinostroza heading due west to Rockford, even though John Hayden has done everything to make this opening night roster. We are only talking about 6-8 minutes a night for this line, but it is just not the best way to maximize your talent. There I go applying logic again. Please allow me to beat any logic out of my brain with a 2x4.

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Erie County District Attorney'sThree Part 30 Minute InterviewRegarding The Kane Investigation

Just wanted to post this in one spot, so you wouldn't have to click separate links. Stick tap to @ChiBDM for posting them up.

Part 1
Part 2 Part 3

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News And Views Leading Up To The 2014 NHL Draft

Welcome to the time in the NHL calendar year where fans and media alike lose their fucking minds. The summer transaction period and draft only pale slightly in comparison to the trade deadline and even that might be questionable. It has become a "trade everyone / sign everyone" war cry from fans, and everyone is an expert. The entertaining part is watching fans completely ignore things like the salary cap, which is what brings us to this glorious day. There are two main subjects at hand, other than the obvious Draft tomorrow night in Philadelphia. The first development was that Patrick Sharp was reported to be on the trading block, and then was reportedly promised the opposite, according to his agent (who is employed by said player). The second development is the extensions of Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. Both of which will determine the face of the franchise for the foreseeable future. Let me touch on both of these, if I may. If not, tough, because "This is my house, Eddie!"


Patrick Sharp. The most handsome athlete in Chicago. Sharp is coming off a career year; one where he completely disappeared off the face of the earth for the final 2 months. He is also quickly wheeling his chair towards 35, and has 3 years remaining on a deal that tows a $5.9 million cap hit which also has a modified no trade clause. Details on the rink aside, there have been several whispers that Sharp is having some personal issues, possibly domestic, and it was also floated that Sharp had physical confrontation with an other Hawks player that may or may not be mentioned in this piece. These off ice issues would certainly explain why sharp was invisible for this year's playoffs. I cannot even begin to knock a player that has personal drama tumbling around in his head. All this coupled with the rumors that he has used his handsomeness to gain the company of some willing young hussies, not named Mrs. Sharp, could be a very good reason to dangle the dangler. At almost 33, he will not be able to keep up this production, and based on his accomplishments in the last 14 months, he has value. The problem here is that Sharp would probably not be a desirable return for a player like Kesler. Ottawa may be willing to bring a veteran winner, so that is a possibility. The moral of the story is that if the Blackhawks CAN get something worthy for him, they need to. It's part of the business of the game and he is not going to be any more ripe for the picking.


The second development is that, as of July first, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are in the final year of their deals. The Blackhawks do not want either player starting the season without an extension in place. Reports today said that their agent Pat Brisson has requested $12 million a year per player. REQUESTED. If I had to guess, and I will, we might expect a $9.5 Million to $10.5 million hit for these two players. $12 million per year is just too much at this point, if they want to Blackhawks to stay competitive. $24 million in cap hits for two players would be 1/3rd of the entire Blackhawks payroll, but then again this was reportedly only a request. These deals WILL happen so there is no need to worry. The golden geese are not flying away under Stan Bowman and John McDonough's watch, if they want to be employed much longer.

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Please Hockey, Save Us From Boredom and Idiocy

Even though the weather is nice and hot in Chicago, hockey fans can't help but dream for September, so we can see a little puck-n-ice action. The summer is a great time for me, and most of the hockey reporting world to get some much needed down time. That time is quickly coming to a close, though. August is here, and training camp is right around the corner, but this leaves time to continue the silliness of the summer NHL rumor mill. Here are a few issues I haven't had a chance to weigh in on yet.

A rumor was brought to my attention late last week, regarding Patrick Kane going to rehab for drug abuse. This is some of the silliest crap I've heard in a long time. Look, we all know professional athletes like to party from time to time, and Kaner is a young kid having fun with life. There have been NO signs of anything out of the ordinary with young Patrick, and the only rehab he will be seeing is for his surgically repaired wrist. By all accounts, Kaner has put on some bulk, and is ready for the new season. Cut the kid some slack, because I'm sure what all of YOU were doing at 22 probably weren't your finer moments. Lets not get crazy with the rumors.

Who would have thought that inviting a guy to try out for your team would cause such discussion? Last Wednesday it was announced that the Blackhawks had invited former Senators, Flyers, and Ducks goalie Ray Emery to try out for a spot in camp. Immediately, there was an uproar from the Twitards about this move. I cannot stress enough how this move can do nothing but help the Blackhawks. They don't owe him a single cent for coming to camp, and if he looks good, they can offer him a contract. This said contract can either be to play behind Crawford or start in Rockford. Granted, he won't want to play in Rockford, but he's free to then walk away. If HE completely shits the bed, then the Hawks let him walk.

Not only that, but it creates some competition for Salak and even Crawford. Wouldn't it be NICE to have to make a tough decision between Emery and Salak? That's a problem Stan Bowman should be licking his lips at, and not to mention that there aren't many goalies willing to TRY OUT without a contract. Bowman should be lauded for getting Emery to agree to this situation, because most goalies would want SOME kind of monetary gain, even if they don't make the team. This guy has been to the Stanley Cup finals, AS A STARTER, WITH THE OTTAWA SENATORS. Yes, He was a bust in Philly because he had MAJOR hip problems that kept him out for roughly a year, and almost ended his career. This is the same injury that ended the career of one of the best athletes in the 90's, Bo Jackson. Bo didn't know hockey, but Ray does. He has rehabbed the injury after his surgery, he is back in the league, and he looked VERY WELL for the Ducks, last year, when Hiller went down with a foggy head. Remind me where ANY of this puts the Hawks at risk, please?

On a more personal note, I happen to really like Ray Emery's fire and attitude. He has had his issues, but has he really been any more of a handful than Dan Carcillo? I hope he does well for the Hawks, and I would gladly wear an Emery jersey. He's not going to win a Vezina trophy, but he's also not going to hurt the team as a backup. Welcome to Chicago, Ray Emery, and I hope to tell you that in person some day soon. Here is to healthy competition.

It was announced this week that former Blackhawks Chris Chelios and Gary Suter were elected to the United States Hockey Hall of Fame, along with Keith Tkachuk. None of this should be a surprise after the careers they both had, here in Chicago and elsewhere. They were the original Keith and Seabrook, or should I say Keith/Seabrook are Cheli/Suter version 2. Being a Calgary Flames fan back in the day, I was very familiar with Suter, and couldn't believe the Hawks were able to get him for Frantisek Kucera and Jocelyn Lemieux. That's STILL a steal. He played for the Hawks for 4 1/2 seasons and including 34 playoff games. He was the perfect compliment to Cheli's physical play, and it showed on the ice.

What needs to be said about Cheli? Maybe the BEST American born player to step on the ice, and one tough son of a bitch. He came in under fire, when the Hawks traded away fan favorite Denis Savard, but he quickly won his home town fans over. Before long, Savard was fading into the twilight of his career, and Cheli was at the top of his game. No matter how you feel about his departure here, he's still one of the best ever and deserves to be a first ballot inductee to Toronto, as well.

These two are still my favorite Hawks duo just ahead of #2 and #7. Congrats, Guys!

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Day Off Blues Clues

You people are really going to be sick of me, but I have topics to discuss and time to discuss them. So, lets dive right in, shall we?

• I'm not sure where they got this, but a friend messaged me last night to tell me that the NHL network was reporting that Kaner will be out 4-6 weeks with an ankle issue. If it is anything like I think it might be, he's going to be tender and ineffective for longer than that. Now, I didn't have the wonders of a multimillion dollar training and rehab staff, but I had a similar injury and I wasn't even close to normal for at least 8 weeks, and I'm just a goalie. Anyway, it's clear Kaner is out for a while, Boss 81 is probably at least a week away from being rushed back too soon, and Pisani...is talent deficient. This morning Quenneville said Kaner will only be out for 3 weeks but I strongly believe he's being conservative to keep the media at bay. When all is said and done, don't be surprised to see him out for closer to the original reported time.
  
  
• The Hawks announced, apparently only to columnist Tim Sassone, that Morin will be back for the Wednesday game. Yeah, yeah, Salary cap, blabbity, blah, blah. For those of you hoping to see Kyle Beach anytime this year, you're high. He makes $250K more than Morin and they have to send HIM back to Rock-beria on off days to save some cabbage. Unless they drop some salary though trades, you will see Potulny, Pirri, Smith and/or Makarov before Kyle Beach steps on the ice at the United Center. Welcome to Hawk-onomics, folks, I'll be your instructor, Stan Bowman.
  
  
• The Second City Hockey/Committed Indian guys have touched on it. We don't really have the goalie controversy of last year, and quite frankly, this is how last year should have been handled, early on. The only problem was that they had to somehow justify almost $6 million of suck. It's all water under the bridge, because they won, but they are in a similar position this year and I feel Quenneville is handling it right. Stick with the hot hand, whoever that may be. I agree, completely, with the SCH/Committed Indian guys about the fact that the Hawks owe Marty Turco nothing. He practically begged to play here, and they needed an insurance policy, if Crawford wasn't ready. Well, Crawford IS ready and Turco has been average. Even on his bad days the Hawks seem to play better in front of Crawford, for whatever reason. It's about time we started getting use to Corey Crawford as our starting netminder, as he will be tomorrow night. Where is my #50 jersey?
  
  
  
• Today it was announced that prospects Jeremy Morin and Nick Leddy were named to preliminary roster for U.S. National Junior team. That will take them off our hands for a little bit. Should be interesting with Kaner out for a while, Hossa recovering, and Morin playing for the WJC. The options for goal scoring are getting thinner by the day. Get ready to have Tomas Kopecky and Troy Brouwer jammed down our throats, nightly. Just what we wanted for Christmas, Santa.
  
  
• If you don't want to weed through the drivel of this Adam Jahn's article, let me highlight a few points. He is suggesting a few options to alleviate the recent player losses. Shorten the Bench, Find some ripe players on the Rock-beria Icehogs bush, and finally, my FAVORITE; More Hendry and Big Show at wing. First of all, they have been playing with a short bench, BECAUSE Big Show only makes appearances for 300 seconds a game and Skille hasn't exactly been leaving a cold seat on the bench, himself. Second, The Icehogs aren't exactly tearing up the AHL (9-11-3), and they top prospects aren't really lighting the lamp either. Defenseman Brian Connolly is leading the team in scoring with 16 points and Ryan Potulny is behind him with 13. Lastly, more Big Show and Hendry? That's tremendous a waste of my Oxygen, and we all know Quenneville drowned Hendry and buried him in a vacant west side lot. Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids.
  
  
• At this morning's practice the team was skating with only three lines. Skillington, Pick-To-Click Vik and Toews; TomoKop, Shooter and Jake the Snake; and Brouwer, Bickell, and Invisi-Bolland. Of course, this is all without Morin, Hossa, Pisani, or Kane. This makes me wonder though...since Morin can't practice with the team, does this mean he's in protective custody at some undisclosed location, or does he really have to drive all the way out to Rock-beria to report? I hope he's looking to invest in one of those new hybrid cars because the gas alone is going to bankrupt him. Junkfood for thought.
  

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Carnac the Magnificent : 2010/11 Blackhawks Predictions

The day of reckoning is finally here. Opening night in the NHL, and the first Blackhawks title defense in almost half a century. All summer long, whether it was the dopey bandwagon fans or the idiot interweb wise asses with their "haterade", not many people have given the team a chance to repeat. Lets face it, repeating in ANY sport is difficult, and with roughly 30% of your roster playing elsewhere this year, it will be a battle. Since every other person with a keyboard or a 3G phone is giving their prediction, I figure that I'd be the odd asshole out, if I didn't give mine. So without further ado, drumroll please...

The answer is: 45-28-9...45-28-9
The question is: What will the Blackhawks record be on April 11th, 2011?
The view is that the team had an excellent year last year, but there will be many more periods of struggling this season. They open up without the person that was their best powerplay quarterback, Brian Campbell. There will be chemistry problems, and more lineup shifting than we're accustomed to, but Quenneville will find a way to make things work. Making the playoffs is the goal, and they will do that easily.

The answer is: 69 minus 10...69 minus 10
The question is: How many games will Marty Turco start?
The view is that Turco is the old, and by old I do still mean younger than me, mule that "Q" will ride into the sunset. Age or injuries aside, that's what Marty the Midget is use to. He took his benching last year in stride, but he knew he was leaving. He didn't sign a one year deal at a highly discounted rate here to watch Corey Crawford eat up minutes, and because Turco the anti-Huet, Crawford will be required to play less.

The answer is: 33-20-6...33...20...and 6
The question is: What will Marty the Midget's record, at season's end?
The view is that Marty is the man, and there is no need to crowbar Corey Crawford in there. Marty will be fine, and he will set the regular season assist record for Blackhawks goaltenders.

The answer is: Shooter's McDreamy understudy, The Swedish Rocket
The question is: Who is Carnac's pick as biggest surprise Blackhawk player?
The view is that there is a new gunfighter in town ,and his name is Victor Stalberg. By gunfighter I don't mean sniper, although I have a sneaking suspicion that he'll score quite a few. I mean resident panty dropper. Once the puck bunnies get a load of this guy, Sharpie's woman can finally breathe a sigh of relief. On the ice, he has all the tools to be a solid power forward, he just needs to apply himself. He had a slow preseason, but showed flashes of blazing speed and soft hands. I'm sticking by my pre-preseason pick.

The answer is: Big Hoss, and Patrick the Pimp
The question is: Who will lead the team in goals, and points?
The view is that Hossa has looked, far and away, the most dominant Hawk since February of last season. When he has the puck, it doesn't leave his stick until he wants someone else to have it. Chuck Norris will be wearing a Marian Hossa costume for Halloween. The Hoss, not to be confused with the Hoff, will probably eclipse 40 goals, and could net somewhere in the high 40's. Not a bold prediction, I know, but a safe one. Kaner will lead the team in points, because he is simply a point producing dynamo, as well as a drunken bar slut magnet. The only thing that will slow him down is the women hanging on his pant legs. When Kaner is done beating the women off with his Stanley Cup ring wearing pimp hand, he'll be a scoring and passing machine. Look for 35 goals and 60 assists. He's improved his goal scoring every year, and not even hot tubs full of champagne and Wrigleyville hussies can slow him down.

The answer is: Drew "Dont You" Doughty
The question is: Who will unseat Keith as the Norris Trophy winner?
The view is that the NHL has been hyping Doughty since the day after Keith won it. If it were up to me, Keith would get a 5 year lease of it, but the league is pushing younger stars to bring in the youth. It's quite amusing that at 27, anyone would be considered old, but Keith will continue to be a candidate for years to come. Keith would gladly let Doughty borrow it for a year while he wins another cup, I'm sure.

The answer is: Vancouver CaFucks
The question is: Who is Carnac's pick to win the Western Conference?
The view is that I hope I'm proven wrong, but I see the CaFucks finally making a move to the next level. They stocked up on defense and Luongo doesn't have to deal with the Big Fluff this year. Tomax and Xamot are a fierce ginger duo with some crazy telepathic powers. The LA Kings are also going to make a run, but they are a few years away. The popular pick is Detoilet, but they are another year older, and more fragile, and I refuse to believe that they defy nature. I hope I'm proven wrong, and the Hawks repeat, but it's a competitive league.

The answer is: Philly Cheesesteaks and Pittsburgh Black Lung
The question is: What teams will be teams to beat in the East?
The view is that the two Pennsylvania teams are powerhouses. Philly's defense got BETTER, if you can imagine that, and Pittsburgh is an offensive juggernaut. If Philly can figure out their goaltending sitiation, they'll be just fine. War-shing-ton and Bawston will have something to say, but the road to the Eastern Conf is Route 76, and it goes from Philly to Pittsburgh. With the Capitals goaltending situation, they are better playing without one and putting an extra defenseman out there. Boston has some promise, and a talented young goalie, but I still don't see a great deal of offense from them.


There you have it. Those are my random predictions. If anyone wants my opinion on other subjects, feel free to email them to me at PuckinHostile@gmail.com.

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