When you compare how the last two summers have gone for the Chicago Blackhawks, you’d start to wonder just how dramatic it is to play in the Windy City. You go from a summer filled with parades, parties, and cost-cutting moves last year to one that sees more in the way of additions and maintenance for major players in an effort to have another celebration-filled offseason in the near future.
While the Blackhawks had such a busy summer last year, this year it’s been more about adding support players (Steve Montador, Sean O’Donnell, Jamal Mayers, Sami Lepisto, and Dan Carcillo) and helping their stars get better through modern medicine. With Patrick Kane out of action for the next 6-8 weeks with a broken wrist, that part isn’t always so easy to pull off but for guys like former Norris Trophy winner Duncan Keith, the rest one can get after a disappointing first round playoff loss can be turned into a huge benefit.
As Keith tells CSN Chicago’s Tracey Myers, he’s hoping that the time off will be the sort of thing both he and the Blackhawks need to get back to winning the Stanley Cup next summer.“Looking at the minutes, they were a lot of minutes. I’m playing my best when they’re not as much as that,” he said. “I enjoy playing a lot of minutes. Everybody will tell you that. But there probably comes a point when you reach your peak and at a certain point, at a certain number where does the play drop off when you go over that?”
Keith said he’ll focus on taking shorter shifts this season, and the Blackhawks’ offseason acquisitions should help him do that. General manager Stan Bowman got deep on the blue line again, getting Steve Montador, Sean O’Donnell and Sami Lepisto before and during free agency.
“It’s been talked about a lot that you can never have too much depth on defense,” he said. “It’s tough when you get six defensemen, you’re missing one and have to plug someone in who isn’t as comfortable back there as they could be. We’ve got a lot of experience from top to bottom now.”
That depth on the blue line will be huge for Chicago as they were forced to press youngster Nick Leddy into action sooner than they’d hoped and also made Chicago rely more upon depth guys like Jordan Hendry, Nick Boynton, Jassen Cullimore, and John Scott. While those guys were useful when used sparingly, they each saw more than 30 games played last season cycling in and out of the third defensive pairing.
By adding veterans like O’Donnell, Montador, and Lepisto and cutting ties with Chris Campoli, a restricted free agent that GM Stan Bowman said he’s not bringing back, the Blackhawks are not just deeper, but tougher as well. That toughness is something Patrick Kane says he appreciates more than anything citing it as something last year’s team was lacking compared to their Stanley Cup team.
With the Blackhawks forward lines being essentially unchanged from last year and with high hopes that everyone can stay healthy, they shape up to be a more dangerous team with the defensive help. With Corey Crawford getting his second season under his belt as the #1 goalie in Chicago and having every assurance he’ll be “the man” going into the season, things are looking up once again for Chicago. While every team has it’s question marks heading into a new season, for Chicago they’ve gotten things patched up on their end.
If they can overcome the other beasts in the West in San Jose, Vancouver, and Detroit they’ll be right in the mix to challenge for the Stanley Cup once again and that’s say something considering all the gutting moves they had to make after winning the Cup. Having guys like Toews, Kane, Hossa, and Keith recharged for the new season, however, that might be the best thing to happen to them all summer.