Good news for the Chicago Blackhawks as Patrick Kane’s rehab of his injured left wrist. Kane threw out the first pitch at the Cubs game yesterday and said he expects to have his splint off by Sept. 15, which means he’ll be most likely be able to play in a few preseason games. Up until now he’s been working out and skating but is only able to take backhanders until the splint fully comes off.
The Hawks are once again, a fascinating team this season. Last year’s salary cap sell-off taught them a lesson as they got rid of too many of the players who brought sandpaper to the squad. This summer, GM Stan Bowman brought in more muscle to compliment the high skill this team already boasts.
On a side note, I still think the player they missed most was Andrew Ladd.
Daniel Carcillo has already made things interesting by lipping off about the Canucks, Steve Montador and Sean O’Donnell bring vet presence to the backend, Jamal Mayers provides toughness up front and what’s not to like about Andrew Brunette? He still has game left in him and should greatly help the Hawks on the wing.
Where the Hawks were left wanting last season was depth, which they boasted in spades during their Stanley Cup run of two seasons ago.
I like the Hawks again this year.
I love the way Jonathan Toews dug in when his team was down 3-0 against the Vancouver Canucks in the opening round of the playoffs. That’s leadership and it will likely prove to be a seminal moment in the evolution of this team.
Look — are there questions about the Hawks? Certainly. Can Duncan Keith rebound? By his standards, which are lofty, he had a very average regular season but in the playoffs he was back to being a beast.
Can Dave Bolland take the next step and become a 60-point guy? Plagued by injuries (including a concussion) he was limited him to 61 games last season. Bolland’s performances in the playoffs where he rang up six points in four games including a four-point night was cause for great optimism. He also played a key role in shutting down the Sedins but Bolland just needs to keep the band-aids off his body.
Is Cory Crawford the real deal? I think so, but give me one more season. I usually don’t pass judgment on goalers until all the shooters in the league get a look at him and the book gets written. We’ll know this year if he’s the player we saw breakout last season who garnered some Calder Trophy love.
And one of the big ones: Can they improve on their penalty-kill which ranked 25th last season?
With this improved roster, some are calling for the Hawks to come out of the West with the Canucks taking a small step back and the Wings getting a year older. I’m not sure about Chicago getting to the final next season, but I do know they are still very much in the top mix in the Western Conference.
Just a question: How many in the hockey media who used to delight in blasting former Hawks owner Bill Wirtz for not embracing and using the technology that was television, treat Twitter the same way Wirtz did with the tube?
This day in hockey history
1964: Todd Okerlund born in Burnsville, MN. Okerlund played four games for the New York Islanders in the ’87-’88 season before retiring at the age of 24 due to a chronic knee injury just before training camp in 1988. He’ss the son of former pro wrestling announcer “Mean” Gene Okerlund, and after his retirement Todd voiced a number of “Best of the AWA” videotapes.
1972: Canada and the Soviet Union tie 4-4 in game three of the Summit Series at Winnipeg. Canada gave up a pair of two-goal leads in the game.
1978: Mike Polich left the Montreal Canadiens to sign a free-agent contract with the Minnesota North Stars. The Habs received Jerry Engele as compensation. Polich, who signed with Montreal out of the University of Minnesota played primarily with the Habs farm team in Nova Scotia but in 1977 did get his name on the Cup after playing five games with the big team. When he got to Minnesota he earned himself the nickname “The Shawdow” as he re-invented himself as a defensive forward and usually drew the assignment against the other team’s top lines.
1978: The Atlanta Flames trade Dick Redmond (Mickey’s younger brother) to the Boston Bruins for Gregg Sheppard then shipped Sheppard to Pittsburgh for Jean Pronovost. Sheppard was unhappy with the trade (and more specifically the contract offer from the Pens) and refused to report to Pittsburgh but relented in late November.
1983: Calgary trades Guy Chouinard to St Louis for future considerations. Chouinard was nicknamed “Gramps” since he always looked much older than he was. This was ironic as when Chouinard turned pro in 1974, he was the youngest professional player in the game, suiting up for his first game before he even turned 18.
1988: Calgary trades Steve Bozek and Paul Reinhart to Vancouver for their third-round pick, Veli-Pekka Kautonen. This was one day after Bozek was involved in a seven-player swap from St Louis to Calgary (Bozek, Mark Hunter, Doug Gilmour and Mike Dark in exchange for Mike Bullard, Craig Coxe and Tim Corkey).
1990: San Jose’s hockey team was officially named the “Sharks”. Other names considered included the Blades, Breakers, Breeze, Condors, Fog, Gold, Golden Gaters, Golden Skaters, Grizzlies, Icebreakers, Knights, Redwoods, Sea Lions and Waves.
1990: New Jersey Devils trade Bob Brooke to the Winnipeg Jets for Laurie Boschman. Brooke refused to report to the ‘Peg and opted to retire instead. As compensation the Jets received the Devils fifth-round pick, Yan Kaminsky, who played all of one game for the Jets before being traded to the Islanders for Wayne McBean. Leafs fans will probably always remember Brooke for getting thumped by Wendel Clark during a Maple Leafs/North Stars brawl (for those MMA fans in the crowd this is called full mount/ ground + pound).