ESPN

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.

Here are six observations from the Chicago Blackhawks' training camp and preseason games:

1. The durability of the Blackhawks’ older players has to be a concern. Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville has been very cautious with players’ injuries in the preseason. There is no reason to risk anything. Yet, the fact 34-year-old Marian Hossa and 36-year-old Michal Handzus didn’t play in a single preseason game and haven’t been 100 percent healthy in the preseason has to be somewhat alarming. Both players are getting up in age, and both are coming off a season where they suffered severe injuries. With Hossa, there’s a lot at stake for the present, but even more so for the future. Back injuries aren’t anything to mess with, and the Blackhawks are depending on Hossa for years to come. As for Handzus, his injury wouldn’t be as much of an immediate concern if Brandon Saad or Brandon Pirri had worked out at the second-line center. But with Handzus being that option now, the Blackhawks are looking for him to duplicate what he did in the playoffs.

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CHICAGO -- NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was unsure of the future of the league’s outdoor games after this season, but the Blackhawks said they’d be interested in having more games in Chicago, including one at U.S. Cellular Field.

The Blackhawks will host the Pittsburgh Penguins at Soldier Field on March 1, 2014 as part of the Coors Light NHL Stadium Series. The series will also include games at Dodger Stadium and Yankee Stadium. The NHL will also hold the Winter Classic at Michigan Stadium and the Heritage Classic at BC Place in Vancouver.

The Blackhawks previously held a home outdoor game at Wrigley Field in 2009. Soldier Field was home to a college hockey doubleheader in February.
Bettman thought six outdoor games in the 2013-14 season was the perfect number, but he didn’t know if the NHL would consider making the stadium series an annual event.

“Six [outdoor games], we don’t think it’s too many,” Bettman said at Soldier Field on Thursday. “We think it’s very responsible to our fans, but logistically it’s a huge undertaking. We’ll see how well we do with the weather, and we’ll take a deep breath when we get to mid-March and say, ‘Okay, what worked well? Is this is the right number? Should we do more? Do less?’ This will be an important and exciting year in terms of the evolution of outdoor games.”

Blackhawks president and CEO John McDonough was hopeful the NHL would have more outdoor games in Chicago and would be open to having an outdoor game at U.S. Cellular Field.

“I think we’d like to have one wherever they’d have us,” McDonough said. “I think this outdoor game concept is brilliant. Certainly, wherever they’d allow us to play, this is great. To be playing in a historic, iconic Solider Field is great. But it would be great to play everywhere.”

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SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Here are some observations from the four days of the Chicago Blackhawks training camp at Notre Dame:

Brandon Saad looked more comfortable playing center as the week went along. Early in the week he often glided to the left side of the rink and was getting ahead of the play. By Sunday he was waiting for the puck and skating down the middle of the ice. He’s also looking to distribute more and had a couple impressive passes. Faceoffs will be a work in progress for him, and he has to get more repetitions in.

Duncan Keith appeared to have some aggression to get out the past few days. He went all out on Ben Smith in a fight on Saturday. He was on the verge of another fight with Jimmy Hayes on Sunday. He knocked Hayes in the face wearing his glove, and the two had to be separated. Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville downplayed both incidents, but they did seem out of the ordinary.

Hayes had to put himself in a good position for a roster spot with his play over the last three days. He’s got a big frame, but he also has a lot of speed and quickness. He was often around the puck and created a number of scoring chances. He scored goals on Saturday and Sunday.

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SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Ben Smith is looking to do anything to earn a roster spot on the Chicago Blackhawks.

Duncan Keith isn’t going to back down from anyone.

Driven by those mentalities, neither Smith nor Keith stepped away from a fight Saturday and exchanged a handful of punches before being separated in the final minute of a scrimmage at Notre Dame.

Neither player explained what triggered the fight, but they didn’t think it was a big deal.

“Nothing [got into me,]” Keith said. “I’m just a competitive person. That’s how I play the game. … I don’t know what to tell you. It’s just part of the game. I’ll do anything. I don’t care.”

Smith saw the fight in the same way.

“Yeah, it happens,” Smith said. “We’re competitors. We’re out there to compete and work hard. I know for me I’m trying to win a spot here. Just one of those things, part of the game, just happy neither of us got hurt there.”

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ESPNChicago.com's Blackhawks reporter Scott Powers is counting down this season's top-50 storylines leading into this week's training camp. Here's the final installment:

10. Defensive stability
Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman has made it a priority in the past few seasons to have veteran defensemen. He's willing to gamble with young forwards, but he doesn't like to rush young defensemen. That's why one of the Blackhawks' greatest strengths this season should be its defensive depth again. The Blackhawks return all seven defensemen -- Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Johnny Oduya, Nick Leddy, Michal Rozsival and Sheldon Brookbank -- from last year's Stanley Cup team, and all of those players except Brookbank are signed through the following season as well. ESPN recently ranked the Blackhawks' defensive group No. 1 in the league.

9. Captain consistent
Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews is still 25 years old and has room to grow, but the Blackhawks wouldn't complain if he just kept doing on what he has done. He can be expected to produce 70-plus points, be among the league's leaders in faceoffs and takeways, be around a plus-20 rating, contribute on the power play and penalty kill and still be the team leader. The Blackhawks will be banking on similar numbers from Toews again this season.

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ESPNChicago.com's Blackhawks reporter Scott Powers is counting down this season's top-50 storylines leading into this week's training camp. Here's the fourth installment:

20. Getting Leddy back to form
Blackhawks defenseman Nick Leddy had a postseason to forget with a minus-8 rating in 23 games and was limited to a career-low 2:37 of ice time in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals. Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville's lack of confidence in Leddy isn't expected to carry over into this season, but it would help both sides for Leddy to have a strong start to the season. He is still just 22, but he's now entering his fourth NHL season and will be expected to be more consistent. He signed a two-year, $5.4 million deal in the offseason.

19. Keeping Shaw on the right side of the line
Andrew Shaw thrived last season in the role of agitator and third-line center for the Blackhawks. On the third line, he was reliable enough defensively, was able to set up his wingers and could chip in the occasional goal. He has also been known to mix it up with opposing players and get under their skin. His post-whistle activities have at times worked against the Blackhawks and led to unnecessary penalties. Michal Handzus had a talk with Shaw during the playoffs about utilizing that additional energy, but also being smart about it. Shaw did a better job of doing that as the playoffs progressed. It will be important again for Shaw to find the right side of that line this season.

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The Chicago Blackhawks have their team and they’re making a run at becoming a dynasty with it.

After having to dissolve a large portion of the 2010 Stanley Cup team due to salary cap restraints, Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman is doing his best to keep nearly everyone together for years to come after their latest Cup win.

The Blackhawks will now have at least 14 players, including seven forwards, six defensemen and one goaltender, from last season’s Stanley Cup roster together over the next two seasons, and that number will likely grow with Andrew Shaw and Ben Smith among the group of upcoming restricted free agents.

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Now that NHL players are officially allowed to play in the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia, the Chicago Blackhawks may find themselves as well represented as any team come February.

Here’s a look at the Blackhawks who could participate in the 2014 Olympics:

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We might be more than a win away from using dynasty to describe the Chicago Blackhawks organization.

But it certainly would be a tempting proposition now that the Hawks are within one victory of earning their second Stanley Cup championship in four years, following a 3-1 win over the Boston Bruins in Game 5 of their best-of-seven series on Saturday.

The Hawks lead the series 3-2 with Game 6 in Boston on Monday.

“I’m not even thinking about that right now,” defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson said after a frantic finish to Game 5. “It’s going to be really tough.”

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BOSTON -- The Chicago Blackhawks can point to plenty of reasons for their 2-0 loss Monday to the Boston Bruins in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals, but coach Joel Quenneville put his finger on two specific areas -- faceoffs and power plays.

The Blackhawks wasted all five of their power-play chances in Game 3 and extended their goal-less streak to 20 consecutive power plays, including all 11 in the finals.

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BOSTON -- Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Johnny Oduya wanted to be clear that he wasn’t knocking fellow defenseman Duncan Keith's training.

He knows Keith puts in serious endurance work before and during a season. But when it comes to Keith’s ability to log major minutes and remain playing at a consistently elite level, Oduya believes that has to do with more than just how many sprints or miles a player can compile in the offseason.

Oduya’s hypothesis: Keith is just one of those rare athletes.

“I would say genetics,” Oduya said after a recent practice. “I think he has superior genetics. He’s obviously a hard-working guy. I’m not taking that away from him. He has something where he’s explosive and still he can go on forever. He, like, never stops.”

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CHICAGO -- OK, they got their day of rest and then got back on the ice. The Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins say the effects of their triple-overtime thriller in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals is in the past.

Yes, some legs felt like "jelly" -- as Dave Bolland put it -- during Friday's practices but by Saturday night the scene should be set for another great ride.

"It was a great start," Duncan Keith said. "I think we're looking for the same kind of start in the second game. We want to put the pressure on them, hit them hard."

Who remembers the start to Game 1?

But Keith is right, the Hawks came out with a good pace to their game which provided a chance at a few hits. It got everyone involved and at least set the tone for a decent first period. But the Bruins were the ones to take the lead after one although we know they gave it back rather quickly in the third period. Back and forth things went until Bolland and Andrew Shaw's heroics.

So what adjustments will be made for Saturday?

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CHICAGO -- Who took the "power" out of power play?

The man advantage sure hasn't lived up to its name the past few years, at least when it comes to having an impact for championship teams.

The past two Stanley Cup winners, the Boston Bruins in 2011 and Los Angeles Kings in 2012, struggled on the power play, but it didn't at all prevent them from winning it all.

And regardless of whether the Bruins or the Chicago Blackhawks win this season, it sure won't be because of their power play.

So what gives?

"I really think the penalty-killing units have improved a lot," star Bruins center Patrice Bergeron, a key cog on both the penalty kill and power play, said in French on Thursday. "And honestly, I just think there's less room out there. I also think it's more than just one thing, there's a number of reasons why it's happened.

"But in the playoffs, the focus is really on defense. It's a cliché, but teams that win championships know how to play defensively and teams continue to improve in that area."

To wit:

The Bruins right now are at a 16.7 percent success rate (8-for-48), ninth best out of the 16 playoff teams; the Hawks have struggled even more, going 7-for-54 (13 percent).

It just follows the recent trend. That 2011 Bruins team was a woeful 11.4 percent (10-for-88), while last year's Kings checked in at 12.8 percent (12-for-94), 14th among playoff teams.

"But you know what? In the deciding game last year we scored three goals on it, so believe me it can still score big goals for you at important times," Kings head coach Darryl Sutter told ESPN.com over the phone Thursday. "But there's a few things. One, fewer penalties called in the playoffs so therefore fewer chances.

"The other thing is, you practice the power play so much during the regular season, and then you get to the playoffs and your top players need some time off between games, so you don't practice the power play quite as much. That's a factor."

By not practicing it as much, perhaps the power play gets out of rhythm. What matters the most, though, is that the Kings last year still won the special-teams battle when it mattered most, just as Boston did against Vancouver in 2011.

It's not how many power-play goals you score, it’s whether you score more than the other team.

The numbers don’t tell the whole story, either. Some power plays still generate momentum even if there’s no goal scored, as long as the team threatened on them. Players can feed off that when 5-on-5 play resumes.

"Yes, you talk a lot about that as a team, just making sure you get as many good looks as possible so that it carries over,” said Sutter. "We almost talk more about that than actually scoring."

On the flip side, a power play that doesn't generate anything at all, sort of like what Chicago has struggled with recently, can deflate a team for a few shifts.

Ray Ferraro made his living on the power play during his NHL playing career, and the TSN analyst said the concern is that if you go too long struggling on the man advantage it may affect you mentally.

"You have to be careful not to let an ineffective power play seep into the rest of your game and frustrate you," Ferraro said Thursday.

And for the Hawks, that’s the danger right now if they let their power-play woes continue. Their 5-on-3 power play in Game 1 versus Boston was as bad as we've seen in a while in that situation. No creativity, the players way too stationary.

"Our power play in the last series and last night hasn't shown the production that's needed or is going to be necessary going forward," Chicago head coach Joel Quenneville said Thursday. "We're still going to have to rely on it at some point to ignite us. That's what we're talking about.

"We're disappointed with the 5-on-3 last night. Want to make sure you don't lose the momentum of the game."

When you have a lineup that boasts the likes of Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp and Duncan Keith, not being able to score on the power play is a real head-scratcher.

"I know in 2010, we had a great power play, it was huge to helping us win," Kane said Thursday. "We've had stretches throughout the postseason where we've moved it around pretty well. Sometimes you just can't find the back of the net. I think maybe another reason is it seems power plays are down throughout the year and in the postseason for whatever reason. When you do get the man advantage, you're not in a complete rhythm when you get out there.

"For whatever reason, the past two teams to win, even us and Boston this year, haven't had great power plays. It's something we want to improve and feel we can help our game even more if we can keep it going."

Quenneville is in the same frame of mind as Bergeron. Give credit where credit is due, said the Hawks coach.

"I don't know if it's the power plays that are struggling or the penalty killing has been more effective or efficient," Quenneville said. "You look at teams, Boston when they won it, their penalty killing was outstanding. Special teams are always critical. I think they can make the difference."

Indeed, another trend linking the 2011 Bruins, 2012 Kings and both Boston and Chicago clubs this year is an excellent penalty kill.

• The Hawks are first in the playoffs at a remarkable 93.4 percent rate, having killed 57 of 61 power plays
• The Bruins are fifth at 87.3 percent, killing 48 of 55 PPs
• The 2012 Kings tied for tops in the playoffs at 92.1 percent, killing 70 of 76 PPs
• The 2011 Bruins were at 84.4 percent, killing 81 of 96 power plays, but noticeably improved in that area as the playoffs went along, famously capping their year by shutting down a loaded Vancouver power play in the Cup finals.

I vividly recall a conversation with Ken Hitchcock before last season’s playoffs in which the St. Louis Blues head coach made the point that he has always believed the power play was overrated in terms of its impact on postseason games. Hitchcock felt 5-on-5 and the penalty kill were what really mattered.

The rest of the coaching fraternity is clearly on the same page.

When I asked Bruins coach Claude Julien about this topic Thursday at his off-day news conference, he sounded like a man capable of teaching a university class on the subject.

"I think if you look at teams sometimes that have great power-play percentages in the playoffs, they get them early in the playoffs," began Julien. "But as the playoffs move on, you do so much homework on the other team's power play. Like for us, we could go back three rounds, looking at Chicago's power play, and vice versa. Plus, the more you play them, the more you make adjustments as you go on.

"I think it's a normal trend, has absolutely nothing to do with the team not being able to score more than the penalty kill doing a great job," he continued. "When you see guys like [injured center Gregory] Campbell throwing himself in front of a shot
like he did, you're seeing guys go above and beyond what they do in the regular season to prevent a goal.

"To me, it's a normal thing. Even when we played Vancouver, they had such a good power play. By the time they got to the final, they couldn't score either. Yeah, you give your team credit. But also the fact that you've been able to scout them and play them, and just as the game goes on is another thing. To me, I've always been one of those proponents, that more often your 5-on-5 play is what is going to decide a game.

"When you play 50 minutes or so 5-on-5, that should be more of a determining factor than six minutes on a power play," Julien concluded.

Amen to that.

CHICAGO -- The chess game for Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville has begun as he prepares his team for the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup finals, which begins here Wednesday.

Due to the lockout, the teams didn't meet in the regular season.

"I think everybody was speculating that at the beginning of the year, how was that going to play out?" Quenneville said on Saturday.

And so scouts and video examination will be the norm for both sides over the next few days. How will the Hawks stop a Bruins attack that outscored the Pittsburgh Penguins 12-2 in sweeping the East's top seed out of the playoffs?

"We've seen some of their games, especially the last series there," Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith said. "Sweeping Pittsburgh, I think, says it all right there with the amount of firepower Pittsburgh had, what they were able to do to a team like that."

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