Chicago Blackhawks

The future is bright

April 7th, 2008 by Frank

Well after a valiant effort and an exciting end of the season the Chicago Blackhawks unfortunately will not be in the playoffs. 3 points out of the 8th spot with 88 total for the season is a drastic improvement over last season. I would have to say that injuries to Toews, Williams and other assorted players did contribute, and while I do not want to use them as an excuse, the injury to Toews did actually affect the Hawks performance.
On the other hand other reasons could have been too much youth, not enough leadership from a couple of the vets, and Khabibulin struggling.

All in all though, the future of this hockey club is brighter than it has been for years. Now Dale Tallon needs to take a long hard look at what he has and be very careful with free agency in the offseason. While it would make sense to add one or two, it’s best if he can get someone that is entering their prime, or still under 32 years old. Keeping Robert Lang is a possibility, however keeping Yanic Perrault is not.

The goaltending situation is also something that has to be looked at. Does he trade Khabibulin for a solid forward and something else, or do we stick with him for another year. If he’s traded then the question is does he go with Patrick Lalime, and or get someone via free agency or trade? The Blackhawks need to be solid defensively and while the defense itself is pretty solid it wouldn’t hurt to have a bigger, grittier defenseman back there. Someone who can log the minutes when needed, and not be a liability because of his toughness. Khabibulin could the the trade bait for that type of player.
They are solid with Keith, Seabrook, and Sopel. I am not sure if Cam Barker can play the physical role on a nightly basis.

So these questions are things that I am thinking about at this time. We’ll see how things progress in the offseason, but there is no way that the Hawks can sit tight. With so much positive energy coming from this year, and with the kids playing as well as they did, if the Hawks want to take the next step then my suggestion is to make some additions that will help to get them to the next level, which is the playoffs!

Thanks for reading.

Posted in Uncategorized

One Response to “The future is bright”
By mmafight on May 30, 2008

i agree. http://mmafight.ca they do have a great future in toews and kane. look at the pens, bottom-feeders for a few years, then reload with top 1-2 picks!

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