Chicago Sun-Times

Favored Blackhawks ready to begin another Stanley Cup run

Tue, 01 Oct 2013 12:55:44 -0500

Patrick Kane is 24 years old. Only 24. Stop for a moment and consider that. A veteran entering his seventh season with his name hammered into the side of the Stanley Cup twice, he’s pretty much just a kid. Just getting started. It was back in 2007 that Kane arrived in Chicago as a wide-eyed 18-year-old, the top pick in the draft, the weight of a moribund franchise and a half-empty arena on his and fellow teen Jonathan Toews’ shoulders. And when that duo — with a bunch of other precocious 20-somethings — brought the Blackhawks their first championship in …

5 keys to Blackhawks’ season

Tue, 01 Oct 2013 12:55:35 -0500

If the Blackhawks are to repeat as Stanley Cup Champions, here are the five keys to their success:

NHL Award Predictions: It’s smart to choose Crosby to win Hart

Tue, 01 Oct 2013 02:20:01 -0500

1. Hart Trophy (MVP) — Sidney Crosby, Penguins If last season showed anything, it’s that Jonathan Toews might never win a Hart Trophy. He was the best player on a historically great team and is the total package — offense, defense, special teams, intangibles — yet he finished fourth behind Alex Ovechkin, Crosby and John Tavares. As good as he is, Toews might never produce the kind of video-game stats to sway voters. And this season will be no different. Crosby showed last season that he’s still a singular offensive talent when he’s healthy. If he plays anything close to …

NHL realignment and rules changes

Tue, 01 Oct 2013 02:19:50 -0500

1. Realignment Hawks fans might not be happy to lose the Red Wings (and Blue Jackets) to the Eastern Conference and get the Jets in return, but it certainly made the path back to the Stanley Cup Final a little easier. Expect the Blues — maybe the second-best team in the conference — to re-emerge as the Hawks’ biggest rival as the games against the Red Wings dwindle and the heat with the Canucks fades. The biggest difference with realignment is the postseason setup: The top three teams from each division advance, plus two wild cards. The second- and third-place …

Lazerus’ Stanley Cup prediction: Blues over Red Wings

Tue, 01 Oct 2013 02:20:11 -0500

Mark LAZERUS’ PREDICTION Stanley Cup Final: Blues over Red Wings. By any objective measure, the Hawks are the clear favorites to win the Stanley Cup. They have a deep and talented offense, the best defense in the league, a Cup-winning goalie and strong veteran leadership. And they’re largely intact after their magical season in 2013. But here’s the thing: Magic is hard to come by, and the Cup is even harder to come by. There’s a reason no team has repeated since 1998: It’s ridiculously difficult. Eventually, the short offseason, a second consecutive compressed regular season, the Olympics and another …

2013-14 NHL breakdown by division

Tue, 01 Oct 2013 02:19:40 -0500

Pacific Division Favorite: Los Angeles Kings. The Kings will go as far as goalie Jonathan Quick takes them. Quick also likely will be the U.S. goalie in the Olympics, which means he’ll have a heavy workload all season. But the Kings’ physical nature and Quick’s stellar ability should be enough to keep them in the hunt again. Contender: Vancouver Canucks. With Roberto Luongo back as the clear No. 1 goalie now that Cory Schneider is with the Devils and with the fiery (if tiresome) John Tortorella behind the bench, the Canucks should make for one heck of a seasonlong soap …

Examining the few who are new to Blackhawks

Sun, 29 Sep 2013 23:31:29 -0500

Three years ago, the Blackhawks opened their Stanley Cup defense with a roster that was half full of new names. This year, the Hawks return mostly intact. But with the final cuts now in the books — Brandon Pirri and Jeremy Morin were sent to Rockford late Saturday night, and Ryan Stanton was put on waivers Sunday — there are still five new faces in the dressing room. While Nikolai Khabibulin — not exactly a new face after spending four seasons in Chicago — has a clearly defined job as the backup goaltender, the four others are still fighting for …

Marian Hossa’s back is back in business

Sat, 28 Sep 2013 02:14:49 -0500

Marian Hossa took a few purposeful strides down the ice, reined in a cross-ice pass from Michal Handzus and slipped a slick little shot past Nikolai Khabibulin. Hossa hadn’t practiced in nearly two weeks. Yet he hadn’t missed a beat. “[Handzus] and I were talking how funny it is — he hasn’t practiced with the team, he puts his gear on a couple weeks later and there’s no rust at all,” linemate Patrick Sharp said. “He just steps out and is ready to go.” If only it really were that easy. Hossa’s all-world hands, vision, talent and hockey IQ are …

Steady center Michal Handzus finds himself back on second line

Sun, 29 Sep 2013 02:44:08 -0500

When Michal Handzus signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the Blackhawks this summer, he harbored no illusions that he was going to continue to play every day, let alone in a top-six role. Handzus had a memorable and surprising run as the Hawks’ second-line center in the Stanley Cup playoffs in the spring, but it was made clear to him that his role this season would be a modest one, with limited minutes and plenty of healthy scratches likely in his future. So Handzus knew what he was getting into. At least, he thought he did. It turns out …

Kostka, Stanton — friends and rivals — battle for Blackhawks’ last defenseman spot

Thu, 26 Sep 2013 21:48:10 -0500

When he’s out on the ice, Michael Kostka isn’t wondering if one bad pass, one wrong stride or one lost opponent is going to be the one that costs him a spot in the NHL this season. He’s not constantly looking over his shoulder to see if Joel Quenneville’s glare has found him. He’s not sweating every little detail. He’s just out there playing hockey. But when he’s sitting around the hotel with nothing to keep his mind occupied? That’s a different story. “I’ve gotten to a point where I feel I can relax out there and just play my …

Blackhawks’ power play needs more shots

Thu, 26 Sep 2013 21:51:29 -0500

Yes. Naturally. Duh. Of course, the Blackhawks would like to improve their power-play percentage.

Nordstrom has made ‘big jump,’ improving odds of making Hawks

Thu, 26 Sep 2013 21:51:29 -0500

Unheralded Joakim Nordstrom could be on the verge of making the Blackhawks’ opening-night roster. “He’s had a good camp,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “I like his speed. For a young guy, he’s got good instincts on both sides of the puck. He’s really progressed from where he was about a year ago. He looks like he’s made a big jump.” The Hawks are looking for someone to replace Michael Frolik as Marcus Kruger’s penalty-killing partner. Nordstrom, a third-round pick in the 2010 draft, killed penalties in the Swedish Elite League for two years before joining Rockford late last season. Nordstrom …

Pressure’s on Bryan Bickell, the Blackhawks’ $16 million man

Thu, 26 Sep 2013 15:13:37 -0500

It wasn’t the biggest fish Blackhawks winger Bryan Bickell had caught, but as he learned last spring, it’s all about timing. And that 5-pound largemouth bass was just about perfect for Bickell’s boating companion late last month: the Stanley Cup. ‘‘Put a bigger fish in the Cup this year,’’ Bickell said. ‘‘I was happy about that. It was a good day.’’ There have been a lot of good days for Bickell recently. The 27-year-old entered the playoffs last spring as a relatively anonymous third-line left wing. He entered this camp as a playoff hero, the left wing on one of …

Brandon Pirri has one week to impress the Hawks

Tue, 24 Sep 2013 02:20:28 -0500

PITTSBURGH — Brandon Pirri believes his time is now — that he’s NHL-ready, that he can be the Blackhawks’ answer at second-line center, that his record in Rockford speaks for itself. So he’s not worried that the lower-body injury that kept him out of the preseason until Monday night has left him with too deep a hole to climb out of and staring at another season opener in the minors. “I’ve been here three years,” Pirri said before tallying an assist against the Penguins. “I think they know what I can do.” He’s right. And the Hawks are still plenty …

Bickell scores first power-play goal of preseason in 3-2 shootout loss

Tue, 24 Sep 2013 02:20:41 -0500

PITTSBURGH — In an actual hockey game, the Blackhawks’ rookies and roster hopefuls had a lot more to play for than the Penguins’ stars, and it showed. In a shootout, though, pure talent usually wins. James Neal and Sidney Crosby scored in the shootout to give the Penguins a comeback 3-2 victory over a game Hawks squad devoid of most of its stars. Without Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp, Marian Hossa and Brandon Saad, among others, the Hawks hung with a team with Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Chris Kunitz and Neal, among others. Bryan Bickell scored shorthanded and on a …

Blackhawks’ Brandon Saad back at wing vs. Wings

Tue, 24 Sep 2013 23:16:32 -0500

DETROIT — Brandon Saad has all the tools to play center in the NHL. He’s a big body, he’s strong on the puck, he’s savvy beyond his years and he’s defensively sound. At just 20 years old, and with a long-standing hole in the middle of the Blackhawks’ second line, Saad was an intriguing possibility. Except for one thing. “I’m a born winger,” he said. And so coach Joel Quenneville put an end — for now, at least — to the Saad experiment, moving him back to his natural spot at left wing for Sunday’s 4-3 preseason victory over the …