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Hawks petition to include Mayers on Cup
September, 26, 2013
Sep 26
5:16
PM CT
By
Scott Powers | ESPNChicago.com
CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks were granted permission to have Jamal Mayers' name engraved on the Stanley Cup as part of their 2012-13 championship team despite not meeting eligibility requirements after players and management filed a petition.
During a full 82-game season, players are required to play in half of the regular-season games or appear in one Stanley Cup finals game to be eligible to be on the Stanley Cup. Last season, due to the shortened 48-game season, the requirements were to either play in 23 regular-season game or one Stanley Cup finals game.
Mayers fell short of those requirements after playing in 19 regular-season games and no playoff games.
The Blackhawks unveiled the newly-engraved Stanley Cup on Thursday, and it included Mayers’ name.
“Good for Jammer; I’m happy for him,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said on Thursday. “He was a big part of our team. We loved what he brought. His experience, his leadership, his professionalism was in the right spot. I’m sure he had a great summer when he got to hoist the Cup and had it in St. Louis. It’s always a proud moment. I’m happy for him.”
During a full 82-game season, players are required to play in half of the regular-season games or appear in one Stanley Cup finals game to be eligible to be on the Stanley Cup. Last season, due to the shortened 48-game season, the requirements were to either play in 23 regular-season game or one Stanley Cup finals game.
Mayers fell short of those requirements after playing in 19 regular-season games and no playoff games.
The Blackhawks unveiled the newly-engraved Stanley Cup on Thursday, and it included Mayers’ name.
“Good for Jammer; I’m happy for him,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said on Thursday. “He was a big part of our team. We loved what he brought. His experience, his leadership, his professionalism was in the right spot. I’m sure he had a great summer when he got to hoist the Cup and had it in St. Louis. It’s always a proud moment. I’m happy for him.”
Bollig creates buzz with Kane parody video
September, 26, 2013
Sep 26
4:04
PM CT
By
Scott Powers | ESPNChicago.com
CHICAGO -- Chicago Blackhawks forward Brandon Bollig has given more interviews this preseason than probably all of last season.
Best known for knocking opponents around, Bollig has been a popular player among the media in the past few weeks for other reasons. First, he was being asked about his preseason knack for scoring. And now, he's been handling questions about a video he shot parodying Patrick Kane's Bauer video.
If you haven't seen Kane's video -- few haven't at this point with it up to nearly 2.4 million views -- he showcases his superior stickhandling skills by weaving one puck around many pucks. Here's the link.
After watching Kane's video, an idea popped into Bollig's head.
"I just saw Kaner's, and everyone's obviously impressed by that," Bollig said on Thursday. "That's something pretty special. I figured him being who he is and who I am and my role, and I thought it'd be funny to do a parody of it."
Bollig took that idea to Blackhawks TV and made it a reality. In the video, Bollig displays his own stickhandling skills, or lack thereof. Here's Bollig's video.
"It was a lot of fun," Bollig said. "There weren't too many times that this would happen, but it did happen. I was doing too good at it, and they'd say you got to kind of mess up a little bit to make it more funny. It wasn't too hard to do that obviously."
Bollig made sure Kane was among the first to see the finished product.
"We were watching it after practice on Monday, and I literally had tears coming out of my eyes watching it," Kane said.
Bollig said, "At least, he enjoyed it. It's cool to see people's reactions."
Bollig's video hasn't exactly gone viral yet, but it did have some buzz this week. Bollig's video had been seen more than 60,000 times on YouTube as of Thursday afternoon.
"Everyday since then people keep asking me about and talking about it and doing interviews about it, so it's been pretty cool," Bollig said.
Best known for knocking opponents around, Bollig has been a popular player among the media in the past few weeks for other reasons. First, he was being asked about his preseason knack for scoring. And now, he's been handling questions about a video he shot parodying Patrick Kane's Bauer video.
If you haven't seen Kane's video -- few haven't at this point with it up to nearly 2.4 million views -- he showcases his superior stickhandling skills by weaving one puck around many pucks. Here's the link.
After watching Kane's video, an idea popped into Bollig's head.
"I just saw Kaner's, and everyone's obviously impressed by that," Bollig said on Thursday. "That's something pretty special. I figured him being who he is and who I am and my role, and I thought it'd be funny to do a parody of it."
Bollig took that idea to Blackhawks TV and made it a reality. In the video, Bollig displays his own stickhandling skills, or lack thereof. Here's Bollig's video.
"It was a lot of fun," Bollig said. "There weren't too many times that this would happen, but it did happen. I was doing too good at it, and they'd say you got to kind of mess up a little bit to make it more funny. It wasn't too hard to do that obviously."
Bollig made sure Kane was among the first to see the finished product.
"We were watching it after practice on Monday, and I literally had tears coming out of my eyes watching it," Kane said.
Bollig said, "At least, he enjoyed it. It's cool to see people's reactions."
Bollig's video hasn't exactly gone viral yet, but it did have some buzz this week. Bollig's video had been seen more than 60,000 times on YouTube as of Thursday afternoon.
"Everyday since then people keep asking me about and talking about it and doing interviews about it, so it's been pretty cool," Bollig said.
Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville says he's fine with the Blackhawks being on the cover of Sports Illustrated and being picked to win the Stanley Cup again.
Hossa returns to ice, could play in opener
September, 26, 2013
Sep 26
1:38
PM CT
By
Scott Powers | ESPNChicago.com
CHICAGO -- Chicago Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa returned to the ice Thursday after sitting out about a week with an upper-body injury, and he could play in the season opener, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said on Thursday.
Hossa has not played in any of the Blackhawks’ five preseason games after aggravating a previous injury last week. Quenneville said Hossa will not play in the final preseason game on Saturday. The Blackhawks’ season opener is on Tuesday.
“He skated about 40 minutes,” Quenneville said after Thursday’s practice at Johnny’s IceHouse West. “He did pretty well. Hopefully, he’ll join our practice [Friday,] but he’ll skate anyway. But he felt good; he’s good.
“He’s not going to play Saturday, but we expect him, we’re hoping that he’s going to be playing on Tuesday.”
Hossa has not played in any of the Blackhawks’ five preseason games after aggravating a previous injury last week. Quenneville said Hossa will not play in the final preseason game on Saturday. The Blackhawks’ season opener is on Tuesday.
“He skated about 40 minutes,” Quenneville said after Thursday’s practice at Johnny’s IceHouse West. “He did pretty well. Hopefully, he’ll join our practice [Friday,] but he’ll skate anyway. But he felt good; he’s good.
“He’s not going to play Saturday, but we expect him, we’re hoping that he’s going to be playing on Tuesday.”
NHL preview: Hawks primed to repeat
September, 26, 2013
Sep 26
12:05
PM CT
By
Scott Burnside | ESPN.com
With two Stanley Cup championships in four years, the Chicago Blackhawks are flirting with terms like "dynasty." But history tells us that the ultimate feat, repeating as a Cup champion, remains very much a long shot. Not since 1997-98, when Detroit went 2-for-2 in Cup wins, has a team been able to repeat. Still, there is much to like about this Blackhawks team's chances of cashing in again next June, starting with a core of skilled veterans still in their prime, including captain Jonathan Toews, playoff MVP Patrick Kane, underappreciated forward Patrick Sharp, Marian Hossa and defensive anchors Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook.
Read the entire preview.
Read the entire preview.
Winning a second Stanely Cup with Chicago, Patrick Sharp has made a name for himself on a team loaded with stars.
Jonathan Toews talks about the difference of his second Stanley Cup and how defending this year in nothing like defending the Cup the first time.
Handzus getting another shot at center
September, 25, 2013
Sep 25
3:53
PM CT
By
Scott Powers | ESPNChicago.com
CHICAGO -- Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville has known throughout training camp what he has in Michal Handzus as a second-line center.
Handzus showed during the team’s Stanley Cup run last season he could be reliable and produce in that role. He had three goals, eight assists and a plus-7 rating in 23 playoff games.
But heading into this season, Quenneville was open to experimenting with Brandon Saad in that spot to keep him a top-6 forward, and also to giving Brandon Pirri, who led the AHL in scoring last season, a shot there. After two weeks of training camp, the Saad experiment failed and Pirri missed four preseason games due to injury.
And now, Quenneville is again turning to Handzus to be the Blackhawks’ second-line center.
Handzus showed during the team’s Stanley Cup run last season he could be reliable and produce in that role. He had three goals, eight assists and a plus-7 rating in 23 playoff games.
But heading into this season, Quenneville was open to experimenting with Brandon Saad in that spot to keep him a top-6 forward, and also to giving Brandon Pirri, who led the AHL in scoring last season, a shot there. After two weeks of training camp, the Saad experiment failed and Pirri missed four preseason games due to injury.
And now, Quenneville is again turning to Handzus to be the Blackhawks’ second-line center.
Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane said Wednesday he can improve his game this season and called it "pretty exciting" to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
Hossa still out; expected back Thursday
September, 25, 2013
Sep 25
1:18
PM CT
By
Scott Powers | ESPNChicago.com
CHICAGO -- Chicago Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa is expected to return to the ice Thursday after sitting out practice Wednesday because of an upper-body injury, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said.
Hossa has not played in any of the Blackhawks’ five preseason games. Quenneville said on Sept. 19 that Hossa had aggravated an injury and would miss the team’s last four preseason games. Hossa could still play in the team’s final preseason game Saturday. The Blackhawks’ season opener is on Oct. 1.
“He’s likely to get on the ice [Thursday],” Quenneville said after practice at Johnny’s IceHouse West on Wednesday. “He’s feeling better every day, so we like the progress. He’s excited about getting on the ice.”
Blackhawks forwards Andrew Shaw and Michal Handzus participated in Wednesday's practice. Neither has played in the preseason.
Hossa suffered a back injury during the Stanley Cup finals last season. He said one of the discs in his back was shooting into his nerves and he couldn't feel his right foot. He was scratched from Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals and returned for the remainder of the series, but he wasn’t as effective in the final three games. Hossa said surgery was a possibility after the season, but he was able to avoid it.
Hossa said on Sept. 12 that his back was feeling better. He played in three days of scrimmages at Notre Dame but hasn’t played since Sept. 15.
Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman said last week he wasn’t concerned that Hossa’s injury would be a lingering problem.
“I think injuries are part of the game,” Bowman said. “Marian’s been a very durable player over the years. Things come up now and then, but I’m not worried long term for that.”
Hossa has dealt with a variety of injuries since joining the Blackhawks in 2009. He had lower-body injuries in the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons, suffered a severe head injury during the 2012 playoffs and missed time with upper- and lower-body injuries last season.
Hossa had 17 goals and 14 assists in 40 regular-season games and seven goals and nine assists in 22 playoff games last season.
Hossa has not played in any of the Blackhawks’ five preseason games. Quenneville said on Sept. 19 that Hossa had aggravated an injury and would miss the team’s last four preseason games. Hossa could still play in the team’s final preseason game Saturday. The Blackhawks’ season opener is on Oct. 1.
“He’s likely to get on the ice [Thursday],” Quenneville said after practice at Johnny’s IceHouse West on Wednesday. “He’s feeling better every day, so we like the progress. He’s excited about getting on the ice.”
Blackhawks forwards Andrew Shaw and Michal Handzus participated in Wednesday's practice. Neither has played in the preseason.
Hossa suffered a back injury during the Stanley Cup finals last season. He said one of the discs in his back was shooting into his nerves and he couldn't feel his right foot. He was scratched from Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals and returned for the remainder of the series, but he wasn’t as effective in the final three games. Hossa said surgery was a possibility after the season, but he was able to avoid it.
Hossa said on Sept. 12 that his back was feeling better. He played in three days of scrimmages at Notre Dame but hasn’t played since Sept. 15.
Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman said last week he wasn’t concerned that Hossa’s injury would be a lingering problem.
“I think injuries are part of the game,” Bowman said. “Marian’s been a very durable player over the years. Things come up now and then, but I’m not worried long term for that.”
Hossa has dealt with a variety of injuries since joining the Blackhawks in 2009. He had lower-body injuries in the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons, suffered a severe head injury during the 2012 playoffs and missed time with upper- and lower-body injuries last season.
Hossa had 17 goals and 14 assists in 40 regular-season games and seven goals and nine assists in 22 playoff games last season.
Fresh off signing a one-year deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs, forward Mason Raymond is favored to play a top-six role to start the season. The speedy and versatile skater is pegged to fill in on the right side of center Nazem Kadri on the Leafs' second line in place of David Clarkson (suspended 10 regular-season games for leaving the bench during Sunday's brawl between the Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres). Clarkson is still eligible to compete through the remainder of September. Meanwhile, the league has suspended Leafs forward Phil Kessel three preseason games for taking a few hacks at John Scott with his stick during Sunday's brouhaha.
After cracking Sam Gagner's jaw, Zack Kassian won't have much opportunity to take it easy during his eight-game suspension. The Vancouver Canucks plan to whip the young winger into shape in the gym during his recess from competitive play ("... gives us the chance to really nail him as far as conditioning ..." -- coach John Tortorella). Alex Burrows fills in for Kassian on the top line with the Sedins in the meantime.
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Hawks down to 28 after latest cuts
September, 24, 2013
Sep 24
12:51
PM CT
By
Scott Powers | ESPNChicago.com
The Chicago Blackhawks continued to trim their roster Tuesday, making eight more cuts.
Forwards Drew LeBlanc, Terry Broadhurst, Phillip Danault, Byron Froese and Kyle Beach and goaltender Antti Raanta were assigned to the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL.
Forwards Brad Mills and Maxim Shalunov were released from training camp, and both will report to the IceHogs’ training camp. Mills is on an AHL contract and Shalunov is on a tryout agreement.
The Blackhawks’ active roster now includes 28 players. Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville recently said he expected to keep 23 players.
The Blackhawks will play their final preseason game Saturday before the season opener Oct. 1.
Forwards Drew LeBlanc, Terry Broadhurst, Phillip Danault, Byron Froese and Kyle Beach and goaltender Antti Raanta were assigned to the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL.
Forwards Brad Mills and Maxim Shalunov were released from training camp, and both will report to the IceHogs’ training camp. Mills is on an AHL contract and Shalunov is on a tryout agreement.
The Blackhawks’ active roster now includes 28 players. Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville recently said he expected to keep 23 players.
The Blackhawks will play their final preseason game Saturday before the season opener Oct. 1.
NHL's top goal scorers for 2013-14
September, 24, 2013
Sep 24
9:57
AM CT
By Adam Gretz | Hockey Prospectus
One of the most disappointing aspects of the recent NHL lockout is that it robbed hockey fans of the opportunity to see whether Tampa Bay Lightning standout Steven Stamkos could come close to duplicating his 60-goal performance from the previous season. He was just the ninth player since 1990-91 to reach that mark, and in a 48-game season, there was obviously no chance that he would reach it again.
Perhaps the most intriguing statistic to watch in 2013 was whether or not anybody could match the 34 goals that Jaromir Jagr scored during the last lockout-shortened campaign back in 1994-95. If anybody in the league had a chance to chase that number down, Stamkos seemed like as good a bet as any, especially since he scored 32 goals in the first 48 games of the 2011-12 season.
In the end, he never reached the 30-goal mark (only Washington's Alex Ovechkin did) and he narrowly missed out on what would have been the third Rocket Richard trophy (for the league's goal-scoring title) of his young career, finishing just three behind the Washington Capitals star.
Heading into the 2013-14 season, VUKOTA projects Stamkos to reclaim his goal-scoring crown, and likes five of last season's top-six scorers to finish in the Top 10. The rest of the list features some of the usual suspects, but VUKOTA also likes a couple of young stars to quickly climb the leaderboard.
1. Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning: 46.8 goals
After scoring 60 goals during his most recent 82-game season, Stamkos came back after the lockout and picked right up where he left off as one of the most lethal shooters in the league. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of his production is how little came on the power play, where he was once an unstoppable force on one-timers from the top of the circle. He is now doing almost all of his damage at even strength. Stamkos has scored a league-best 67 even-strength goals over the past two seasons.
For some perspective on that, only seven other players have scored more than 40 over that stretch, while nobody has more than 43. He is simply on a different level than anybody else.
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Blackhawks reduce roster by 10
September, 23, 2013
Sep 23
4:12
PM CT
By
Scott Powers | ESPNChicago.com
The Chicago Blackhawks announced 10 more cuts to their roster on Monday.
Forwards Mark McNeil, Garret Ross and Alex Broadhurst, defensemen Dylan Olsen, Klas Dahlbeck and Adam Clendening and goaltender Kent Simpson were assigned to the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL. Forward Teuvo Teravainen was assigned to Jokerit of the SM-liiga in Finland, and forward Ryan Hartman was assigned to the Plymouth Whalers of the OHL.
Defenseman Viktor Svedberg was also released from training camp. He is under contract with the IceHogs and will report to their camp.
The Blackhawks have 36 players on their active roster, including 23 forwards, 10 defensemen and three goaltenders.
The Blackhawks will have two more preseason games before opening the regular season on Oct. 1.
Forwards Mark McNeil, Garret Ross and Alex Broadhurst, defensemen Dylan Olsen, Klas Dahlbeck and Adam Clendening and goaltender Kent Simpson were assigned to the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL. Forward Teuvo Teravainen was assigned to Jokerit of the SM-liiga in Finland, and forward Ryan Hartman was assigned to the Plymouth Whalers of the OHL.
Defenseman Viktor Svedberg was also released from training camp. He is under contract with the IceHogs and will report to their camp.
The Blackhawks have 36 players on their active roster, including 23 forwards, 10 defensemen and three goaltenders.
The Blackhawks will have two more preseason games before opening the regular season on Oct. 1.
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Scott Powers
Powers is an award-winning journalist and has been reporting on preps, colleges and pros for publications throughout the Midwest since 1997. He has been a reporter for ESPNChicago.com since 2009.
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UPCOMING GAMES
| W-L | PF | PA | HM | AW | STK | L10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TAM | 0-0 | .0 | .0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | W0 | |
| CHI | 1-0 | 6.0 | 4.0 | 1-0 | 0-0 | W1 |
| W-L | PF | PA | HM | AW | STK | L10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHI | 1-0 | 6.0 | 4.0 | 1-0 | 0-0 | W1 | |
| STL | 0-0 | .0 | .0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | W0 |
| W-L | PF | PA | HM | AW | STK | L10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYI | 0-0 | .0 | .0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | W0 | |
| CHI | 1-0 | 6.0 | 4.0 | 1-0 | 0-0 | W1 |
TEAM LEADERS
| POINTS | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Brandon Saad
|
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| OTHER LEADERS | ||||||||||||
| Goals | B. Saad | 1 | ||||||||||
| Assists | B. Saad | 2 | ||||||||||
| +/- | N. Hjalma... | 4 | ||||||||||
| GAA | C. Crawford | 4.00 | ||||||||||