Since the Blackhawks' playoff hopes came down to the final day of the season last year, they will look to improve as they open the season tonight against the New York Rangers.
Chicago is returning a plethora of starters including young stand-out Patrick Kane and star center, Patrick Sharp.
One of the biggest keys for the Blackhawks will be for Martin Havlat's shoulder to withstand the grind of an entire NHL season. The other key will be productivity by new goalie Cristobal Huet.
Their first test will be to slow down the New York Rangers who will look to improve to 3-0 this season.
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Shutting down the Rangers will be difficult, although not impossible.
If the defensemen—especially younger standouts Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith—come out hitting hard and don't let the Rangers pepper Huet with a large number of shots on goal, the Hawks could come away with the win.
The key for the Hawks offensively will be Sharp, who posted career-highs last season in both goals and assists. The quicker he gets off to a good start, the quicker the Blackhawks' start will be.
All of these are very reasonable expectations and should all come true.
It will be an exciting year for Blackhawks hockey with a Stanley Cup hopefully on the horizon.
Ray Bogusz can be reached by posting a comment on his profile or at raybogusz@yahoo.com.
He always has trouble writing previews so he hopes you reserve judgement on him until later, once he's written more (and had more to write with).
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about 1 month ago
Just a minor correction I would have is that Patrick Sharp is no a star center, last season he posted career highs at the wing. He has been moved back to center because a lack of depth.
Other than that is was a very concise preview, I've also done one...check it out if you like.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/67183-blackhawks-rangers-preview-the-one-goal-campaign-begins
Well done.
from about 1 month ago
Not in the grand scheme of things, I meant he's our star center.
Thanks for not being too harsh. btw I read that article and enjoyed it immensely.
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