The Blackhawks Open Training Camp In 9 Days, So Lets Cobble Together A Lineup WIthout Patrick Kane
With the season officially less than a month away I think it’s time for Blackhawks to prepare for life without Patrick Kane. This has nothing to do with presume guilt or innocence, but rather the time frame now that the Grand Jury has been postponed. I don’t want to get into any trade speculation because that seems way too premature and borderline impossible at this point. However, with training camp set to open at Notre Dame in just nine short days there remains so much uncertainty around the Patrick Kane investigation that it is entirely possible that he will be suspended by the League. Something outlined in the NHL/NHLPA CBA Article 18-A
If the NHL decides to suspend Patrick Kane I think it’s safe to assume that the NHL would allow the Blackhawks to use the Bona Fide Long-Term Injury Exception to clear his cap hit of $10.5M. That is the precedent they set last year with Slava Voynov. At that point, the Blackhawks would no longer be over the cap and wouldn’t have to continue the purge of their championship team with a trade of Bickell or Versteeg.
My opening night lineup would be:
Forwards:
Versteeg-Toews-Hossa
Dano-Anisimov-Teravainen
Bickell-Shaw-Panarin
Garbutt-Kruger-Tikohonov/Morin/Desjardins/Nordstrom/Hartman
Defense:
Keith-Hjalmarsson
Seabrook-Daley
TVR-Rundblad/Pokka/Gustaffson
Goalies
Crawford-Darling
Obviously on paper the 2015-16 Blackhawks don’t look nearly as strong as the team that won the Stanley Cup just 3 months ago. I believe that any team with Toews, Keith, Seabrook, Hossa, and Hjalmarsson will make the playoffs, but whether or not the Blackhawks are a contender depends on the growth of young stars like Dano, Turbo, and Paranin. If those guys are legit NHL guys ready to chip in 40-50 points a piece the Blackhawks will be in good shape down the stretch.
I’ve also decided that I love Artie Panarin. Kid was a tour de force on twitter this summer. He’s an affable foreigner that just puts a smile on my face. I like him the same way I like Starlin.
PS: I’m going to do a hockey podcast this year. I think I want to do short episodes like 15-20 minutes a piece, and do it twice a week to start. Just a little hockey talk for the commute because hockey coverage is seriously lacking on sports talk radio and even in podcast world. Now, the biggest obstacle is that I don’t know anything about podcasting or how to do a show. So I would love to hear any and all ideas from the stoolies. Leave it in the comment section, tweet it, or email me BarstoolChief@gmail.com