The Dawn of a New Era Begins

I could only tune into the Colorado at Chicago game for the 3rd period last night. I turned it on, went to do something, came back and Chi had just scored to make it 3-1. I contemplated doing something else completely, but then Hejduk scored to make it 3-2.

What happened after that had me glued to the TV. The Hawks gave their very best impression of the Harlem Globetrotters. They played keepaway in the Avs zone for literally 2 minutes. And I'm not just talking about cycling the puck in the corner, I'm talking full-fledged, cross-ice, D-splitting passes that made all of the Avs players look like monkeys.

Then they scored.

Then they played keepaway again for a solid 70 seconds.

Then they scored.

Repeat.

It was unreal. Ladies and gentlemen: the obvious thing to say is that Kane is the best player on the Hawks by a large margin (Toews is no slouch either, but in my mind Kane is better). But the real beauty of seeing last night's action was that a truly good guy went from being a star to a SUPERstar. Patrick Sharp is that guy.

whoa! I really should have checked that game out... SON OF A...

I REALLY think the Hawks will be a fun team to watch this year and I don't think they'll miss the post-season this time around. IN fact, I would LOVe to see a first-round match up of the Hawks and Yotes! What a fun series that could be.

Cronenbergfan wrote:whoa! I really should have checked that game out... SON OF A...

I REALLY think the Hawks will be a fun team to watch this year and I don't think they'll miss the post-season this time around. IN fact, I would LOVe to see a first-round match up of the Hawks and Yotes! What a fun series that could be.

They are gonna upset a couple of teams in the playoffs for sure. They have things clicking very well right now.

Yeah, Alex Semin's not kidding when he talks about Pat Kane. He's unreal.

Don't write off Toews though, he's going through a sophomore slump but I'd attribute that to adjusting to the captaincy.

good point Asq2.
Toews will regain his step and then once that happens, LOOK OUT!

asq2 wrote:Yeah, Alex Semin's not kidding when he talks about Pat Kane. He's unreal.

Don't write off Toews though, he's going through a sophomore slump but I'd attribute that to adjusting to the captaincy.

Thing is though, could they run into the same problems as Pitts is having now...

Problems? Which ones, specifically, are you referring to Smash?

Cronenbergfan wrote:Problems? Which ones, specifically, are you referring to Smash?

Contract problems... Toews, Kane, Sharp, the whole goalie mess, Keith, Campbell, Seabrooke... There's no way they keep all those guys...

Sharp is locked up for years at a very reasonable cap-hit.

Havlat is coming off the books, as is 'Bulin.

I think they'll be fine. The Campbell contract will hurt, but it's not a huge dealbreaker.

I'm not entirely sure they'll be a dynasty, though, simply because of how strong the division is shaping up to be.

Detroit is Detroit.

St. Louis looks great. They'll match Kane and Toews with Johnson and Pietrangelo, and can throw out a top-6 of Berglund, Boyes, Oshie, Eller, Backes and Perron.

Nashville, even without Radulov, is well off. Weber is turning into the franchise d-man he was pegged to be, and he's joined by Suter, Hamhuis, Blum and Franson on the blue-line. Chet Pickard will be there once Ellis is gone, and up front they'll have some firepower in the likes of Wilson, Hornqvist, O'Reilly, Erat etc.

Nashville has a great goaltending situation with Mason and Leclaire, and a potentially very powerful offence with Nash, Voracek, Brassard, Filatov and Picard.

asq2 wrote:I'm not entirely sure they'll be a dynasty, though, simply because of how strong the division is shaping up to be.

Detroit is Detroit.

St. Louis looks great. They'll match Kane and Toews with Johnson and Pietrangelo, and can throw out a top-6 of Berglund, Boyes, Oshie, Eller, Backes and Perron.

Nashville, even without Radulov, is well off. Weber is turning into the franchise d-man he was pegged to be, and he's joined by Suter, Hamhuis, Blum and Franson on the blue-line. Chet Pickard will be there once Ellis is gone, and up front they'll have some firepower in the likes of Wilson, Hornqvist, O'Reilly, Erat etc.

Nashville has a great goaltending situation with Mason and Leclaire, and a potentially very powerful offence with Nash, Voracek, Brassard, Filatov and Picard.

St.Louis is definitely gonna be really, really strong. I'm not stunned by their forward prospects, but I like Berglund (imagine if he gained 20 pounds!!!) and Oshie. Nice D shaping up there if the young bucks can keep their bodies healthy.

Isn't Weber something else to watch right now as well? Wow, this kid is just dynamite.

I dunno...Detroit once Lidstrom finally calls it quits is going to find itself outclassed by the Hawks as a unit - IF they develop the way they should and shed the expensive 'fluff'. The Sophie's Choice for them will be who to get rid of as well in 2 years time. Barker and Keith? Byfuglian (sp) and Barker, something's definitely gonna give salary cap wise. And can these guys be turned into a stud goalie - or will Crawford/Huet hold the fort?

Interesting times coming in the Central.

EDIT: I don't like Nashville's forwards, they'd be well served to begin exploring options in terms of moving some D or moving one of their older forwards for perhaps a prospect of high regard.

St Louis is stacked.

We've got all those forward prospects you mentioned, Erik Johnsson and Pietrangelo on the back end, plus some other decent defensive prospects.

Add in Ben Bishop (a solid goaltending prospect), and this team is going to be a contender.