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CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks officially turned the page on their 2013 Stanley Cup championship season on Tuesday.

The Blackhawks soaked in every second of the nearly 30-minute banner-raising ceremony before Tuesday's game against the Washington Capitals, but then quickly got down to the business of the new season.

As special as winning the Stanley Cup was and all of the celebration that followed, Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa was happy for the team's concentration to be on something else finally.

"We had so many things around the Stanley Cup, so many presentations with the Cup, the rings, raising the banner," Hossa said after the Blackhawks' 6-4 win. "Now it's over. Now we can focus about a new beginning. Everything was great, but now we can just focus on game, which is great, too."

Blackhawks defenseman Johnny Oduya had a similar feeling.

"I think it's been a tremendous summer where you have some memories that you'll never forget," Oduya said. "It's a good way to kind of finish it off and start the new year."

Blackhawks forward Brandon Bollig held onto the 2013 season until the banner reached its destination.

"You kind of watch it go up the entire time," Bollig said. "You don’t take your eyes off it. That was an unbelievable feeling knowing [what we did]. The type of year we had last season was a storybook year.

"With seeing the Cup and then seeing your name engraved on the Cup for the first time in person and then getting the rings and then finally seeing the banner going up in the rafters and knowing it'll be up there forever and you're a part of it, it was an amazing feeling. A lot of emotions run through your head. Obviously we had to switch the emotions off and get ready for the first period. Luckily, we came out hot."

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CHICAGO -- Here's a quick look at the Chicago Blackhawks' 6-4 win over the Washington Capitals in the season opener at the United Center on Tuesday.

How it happened: If a banner-raising ceremony wasn't enough entertainment on opening night in Chicago, the Blackhawks and Capitals followed that up with an offensive display on the ice. After squandering a 3-2 lead in the third period and going down 4-3, the Blackhawks answered with three goals in the final 13 minutes. Blackhawks forward Brandon Saad tied the score off a pass from Michal Handzus at 7:55 of the third period, and Johnny Oduya put the Blackhawks ahead at 13:53. Marian Hossa added an empty-net goal in the final minute. Brandon Bollig, Patrick Kane and Brent Seabrook also scored for the Blackhawks. Mikhail Grabovski scored three goals for the Capitals. Alex Ovechkin had the other goal. The Capitals scored three times on the power play. Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford had 28 saves.

What it means: The Blackhawks became only the second team in the past six years to win on their banner-raising night. The Blackhawks' penalty kill was a strength all of last season but that unit struggled Tuesday. The Hawks didn't allow their third power-play goal of the season until the 11th game last season.

Player of the game: Oduya scored the winner and had a plus-4 rating in the win.

What's next: The Blackhawks get three days off before their second game of the season. They host the Tampa Bay Lightning at the United Center on Saturday.

The Chicago Blackhawks will move on from their 2013 Stanley Cup season after their championship banner is raised on Tuesday night.

Before they do that, a number of the Blackhawks shared their favorite memories from their day with the Stanley Cup this past summer.

Bryan Bickell
"For me, my passion in the offseason is fishing. So a friend of mine has his own TV show; it's called 'Facts of Fishing,' and his name is David Mercer. It's a big TV show in Canada. I had the opportunity to bring the Cup on the show and fish with the Cup, which was special because I know all the guys around the room would say if I wasn't playing hockey I'd be fishing. There were two parts. The first day we caught fish, but there weren't any with size. We had a Part 2 the next day, and we got big ones."

Brandon Bollig
"I think being from St. Louis and taking it back there and having the Blues being a big rival with the Blackhawks, people were on the fence as to whether to come out. I got a lot of tweets from people that they weren't going to come see it until the Blues won. Then again, you get a lot people saying that's awesome, and they're going to support someone from their hometown and come. I had a lot of people with Blues jerseys and shirts at my public event. It was cool. It was all in good fun. I understand. I'd probably do the same if I was in their position."

Corey Crawford
"I think just spending it with my family. It was special to me because I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them. They pretty much gave up their lives not only for me, but for me and my brother both so we could play hockey and do that. My parents, they pretty much paid the way for me. Not just me, but my brother and sister have been really supportive throughout my career. It was pretty special."

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CHICAGO -- Washington Capitals forward Troy Brouwer is happy for his old Chicago Blackhawks teammates as they raise another Stanley Cup championship banner on Tuesday, but he isn't going to do them any favors when the puck drops.

"We want to rain on their parade as it's said," Brouwer said after the Capitals' morning skate at the United Center on Tuesday.

Brouwer was drafted by the Blackhawks in 2004 and was part of their Stanley Cup championship in 2010. They traded him to the Capitals after the 2010-11 season.

"It's always fun to come back where you started in the NHL, where I was able to win a Cup," Brouwer said. "A lot of ties here, a lot of good memories here, but mixed emotions you want to play hard against your old team, but at the same point sometimes it's tough to leave."

Brouwer hopes the Capitals benefit from experiencing the Blackhawks' ceremony on Tuesday.

"[There's] mixed emotions, obviously," Brouwer said. "I'm happy for the guys I played with, happy for the city, but at the same point, jealous. I want to be raising the banner in Washington.

"Hopefully with the Cup being in here tonight and the guys being able to see what the celebration is like and how it is to win and how your city embraces you, hopefully that can light a fire under us to have a good start and hopefully win it ourselves this year."

Here are 10 things to know about the Chicago Blackhawks before they raise the banner Tuesday night and begin the 2013-14 NHL season:

1. The Blackhawks won't discuss a Stanley Cup repeat, but they have constantly emphasized getting off to a positive start to the season. The previous time the Blackhawks tried to defend the Cup, their season was derailed by some early woes. They aren't likely to match last season's 24-game points streak to begin the season, but they would like to do better than the 9-9-2 record they had after 20 games in the 2010-11 season. The Blackhawks do have the advantage this time around of returning nearly everyone from last season's team.

2. The Blackhawks found magic in a top line of Bryan Bickell-Jonathan Toews-Patrick Kane in the playoffs last season, and Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville will be rolling that out again to start this season. The major change that occurred since the trio last played in a real game together is that Bickell is now making about $3.4 million more than he was last season. With that money comes higher expectations, and Bickell understands that. The line only played together once in the preseason, but it looked dangerous.

3. The other Blackhawks' lines likely will be Patrick Sharp-Michal Handzus-Marian Hossa; Brandon Saad-Andrew Shaw-Jimmy Hayes; and Brandon Bollig-Marcus Kruger-Joakim Nordstrom. Ben Smith likely will rotate in on the third and fourth lines.

Just some quick notes on the lines: Sharp stood out in the preseason. Playing on the third line should take some pressure off Saad. Hayes was impressive offensively with his size and quickness at times. Bollig had a solid preseason, but he needs to be more than an enforcer to keep his spot.

4. The defensive pairings likely will be Duncan Keith-Brent Seabrook; Johnny Oduya-Niklas Hjalmarsson; and Nick Leddy-Michal Rozsival. Michael Kostka and Sheldon Brookbank likely will rotate with Rozsival throughout the season. Having an eighth defenseman will allow Quenneville to sit players when they need some time off or are consistently struggling.

5. You can always hold a special place in your heart for Dave Bolland, Michael Frolik and Viktor Stalberg because they helped win last season's Stanley Cup, but they were role players and replaceable. Hayes, Nordstrom and Smith should have no trouble filling in those spots. Nordstrom is expected to replace Frolik on the penalty kill.

6. The Blackhawks didn't really answer the second-line center issue in the preseason. The plan to use Saad barely got off the ground. Brandon Pirri was the second option, but an injury set him back, and he never got a chance to show off his game. That brought Quenneville to his backup option, Handzus. Handzus was recovering from his offseason surgeries during training camp and was held out of all six preseason games. It will be interesting to see how his body holds up over 82 games, especially in such a vital role. As a side note, the Blackhawks' power play didn't look any better in the preseason, either.

7. Hossa also didn't play in any preseason games, and there has to be some concern about his health. Hossa looked great while at Notre Dame to start training camp, but he apparently aggravated his back injury sometime in that first week and has been dealing with some issues again. Hossa missed a Stanley Cup finals game due a back problem and wasn't the same player in the last three games of the season. If he's affected again by it early, it might be in the Blackhawks' best interests to sit him for an extended period to get him healthy. As of now, he said he's fine and will play in the season opener.

8. The NHL has re-aligned its conferences and is back to two divisions per conference. That means the Blackhawks are now joined in the Central Division by the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, St. Louis Blues and Winnipeg Jets. The Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets are now in the Eastern Conference. The new playoff format will include the top three teams from each division receiving spots and then two wild cards. The first two rounds will be within the division, but with the possibility of the final wild-card team having to cross over divisions to play.

9. Nikolai Khabibulin is back with the Blackhawks and has looked reliable enough in the preseason. If Khabibulin's age (40) catches up to him, the Blackhawks will probably turn to Antti Raanta to be Corey Crawford's backup. Raanta, who is from Finland, is getting accustomed to the smaller North American rink in AHL Rockford to start the season. Either way, Crawford will see a bulk of the workload.

10. Oddsmakers have made the Blackhawks the favorites to win the 2014 Stanley Cup. Most have them at 5-1 or 6-1. They're followed by the Pittsburgh Penguins, Boston Bruins, Los Angeles Kings, Blues, Red Wings and Vancouver Canucks. The Penguins were favored by most to win the Cup last season.

CHICAGO -- The Vancouver Canucks claimed defenseman Ryan Stanton off waivers from the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday, coach Joel Quenneville confirmed.

Stanton was among the Blackhawks' final training camp roster cuts and was placed on waivers on Sunday. He was beat out by Michael Kostka for the Blackhawks' final defenseman spot.

"We had eight [defensemen] here, and we were concerned he might get picked up on waivers," Quenneville said after practice on Monday. "We liked the depth he gave us, and he played well for us. It's good for him to actually get the chance to play at this level right off the bat. We wish him well. You can always use extra defensemen in your organization, and he definitely gave us that."

The 24-year-old Stanton was originally signed by the Blackhawks as a free agent on March 12, 2010. He was a restricted free agent after the 2012-13 season and re-signed for a one-year deal in July.

Stanton has played in the AHL for the Rockford IceHogs for most of the past three seasons. He had three goals, 22 assists and a plus-16 rating in 73 regular season games with the IceHogs last season. He played in one game for the Blackhawks last season and practiced with the team throughout the playoffs.

CHICAGO -- Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Nick Leddy’s thought process begins with passing.

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville has been working to change it to shooting first.

On Saturday, Leddy listened to Quenneville ... and it paid off with two goals in the Blackhawks’ 4-3 overtime win over the Washington Capitals in the Blackhawks’ final preseason game.

“I think just growing up and playing that way your whole life,” Leddy said of his tendency to pass. “I think that’s the way my mind kind of goes. That’s the first instinct. I have to get over that. That will be nice.

“I think there are opportunities in the past where I’ve passed up on shots. Now I’m trying to get the shooter’s mentality and try to shoot the more.”

Leddy’s first goal was set up when Patrick Sharp skated around two defenders on the right side, Leddy skated up into the slot and Sharp found him. Leddy beat Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby with a shot into the top right corner of the net in the first period.

On the second goal, Sharp again delivered the pass and Leddy fired a shot from near the blue line that found its way into the bottom right corner in the second period.

Quenneville was hopeful Leddy would remember Saturday’s results going forward.

“You got a night like tonight where they start going in and maybe tells you more, ‘Let’s think shot, shot, shot,’” Quenneville said.

Capitals again: The Blackhawks and Capitals will meet again on Tuesday in the season opener, but with different lineups.

The Capitals were without Alex Ovechkin on Saturday, and the Blackhawks also sat a number of their key players, including Marian Hossa, Brent Seabrook and Corey Crawford.

“They had some guys out of their lineup and so did we,” Blackhawks forward Andrew Shaw said. “I think it’s going to be a different game come Tuesday.”

ESPNChicago.com's Scott Powers takes your Blackhawks questions during a live chat at 1:30 p.m. CT Friday. Click here to submit your questions.

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.

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.

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CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks have cut their roster to 26 players after assigning forward Brad Winchester and defenseman Theo Peckham to the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL on Wednesday.

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville recently said he plans to keep 23 players for the season opener. He said Wednesday he likely will keep eight defensemen on the roster and is unsure when the final cuts will happen.

The final three spots are assumed to be between forwards Jeremy Morin, Joakim Nordstrom and Brandon Pirri and defensemen Michael Kostka and Ryan Stanton. Two roster spots are expected to go to forwards and one to a defenseman.

Forwards Ben Smith and Jimmy Hayes appear to have earned spots on the team after productive training camps. Hayes skated with the second line and Smith was with the third line during practice at Johnny’s IceHouse West on Wednesday.

The Blackhawks’ roster now includes 15 forwards, nine defensemen and two goaltenders.

The Blackhawks will have their final preseason game on Saturday and their season opener is Tuesday.

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.

CHICAGO -- Chicago Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa will miss the next four preseason games due to an upper-body injury, coach Joel Quenneville said on Thursday.

"He aggravated an injury there," Quenneville said after Thursday's morning skate. "We're going to keep him off. I wouldn't expect him in the next four games here in the next five nights. We'll see how he progresses after that."

Quenneville said Hossa could play in the final preseason game on Sept. 28 and is expected to play in the season opener on Oct. 1.

"Whether we're talking seriousness of it or not, we feel he'll be back and he'll be fine," Quenneville said.

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CHICAGO -- Here's a quick look at the Chicago Blackhawks' 2-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings in a preseason game at the United Center on Tuesday.

How it happened: The Blackhawks' defense starred in the team's preseason opener. The Blackhawks limited the Red Wings to five shots in the first period, eight shots in the second period and six shots in the third period. Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford wasn't challenged much, but he still kept the Red Wings off the board and made 19 saves. Blackhawks forward Patrick Sharp broke a scoreless tie when he tallied a goal from the right circle at 16:37 of the second period. One minute and nine seconds later, Ben Smith put the Blackhawks ahead 2-0 when he tipped in a shot from Jimmy Hayes. The Red Wings' Teemu Pulkkinen and Mitch Callahan both received game misconducts. Pulkkinen received his for boarding Blackhawks defenseman Michael Kostka in the first period. Kostka suffered an injury on the hit and did not return to the game.

What it means: Some of the Blackhawks battling for a roster spot got on the score sheet in the win. Hayes and Smith hooked up for the second goal, and Jeremy Morin set up Sharp for the first one. Blackhawks forwards Brandon Saad and Teuvo Teravainen are both learning to play center and gained some game experience Tuesday. Saad and Teravainen struggled on the faceoff in the first period, but their numbers improved as the game went on.

Player of the game: Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook had an assist, a plus-2 rating and two blocked shots.

What's next: The Blackhawks will play six preseason games before their season opener on Oct. 1. They will host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday.

CHICAGO -- Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Michael Kostka left Tuesday's preseason game in the first period and did not return against the Detroit Red Wings after being illegally checked into the boards by Red Wings forward Teemu Pulkkinen.

Kostka laid face down on the ice for a few minutes and was attended to by the team's training staff. He was eventually able to skate off the ice under his power and went into the locker room.

Pulkkinen was given a game misconduct and a five-minute major boarding penalty at 2:16 of the first period.

After the game, the Blackhawks said Kostka suffered an upper-body injury.

"I thought [the hit] was very dangerous," coach Joel Quenneville said. "[Kostka's] not bad, but he couldn't play. We'll see a little bit better assessment [on Wednesday.]

"I think he's had a real good camp. We like what he brings to our team. He defends real well, real active in the attack, off the point. He wants the puck, make plays, sees plays. I think he's going to be useful."

The Blackhawks signed Kostka to a one-year deal in July. He was previously in the Toronto Maple Leafs' organization and spent time with the Maple Leafs and their AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, last season. He played in 35 regular-season games and one playoff game with the Maple Leafs last season.