Here come the Hawks

    Are the Hawks destined for another lengthy playoff run? The original six hockey club is off to the best start in decades at 4-0. For the first time since their Stanley Cup Championship a few years ago, the Hawks appear to be loads of depth not just up front but for the first time in years also on the backend.

    They've got the speed, skill, size and toughness more so this year than in years past. The good news if anything, is they wouldn't need to offload salaries like they did back in 2010. The only question mark regarding the Hawks, is the same one they had when they won the Cup; that of course is goaltending. But the good news if anything is that starting netminder Corey Crawford has only allowed 6 goals in three games, and has yet to allow that weak goal per game. Backup Ray Emery maybe the only unstable part of the team, he looked rather horrible Sunday against Phoenix.

    The other advantage is they've got the same core that won the Cup, so they know the work involved in order to get back to the final.

Expect minor tweaks come trade deadline

    Chicago has got shockingly lots of cap space, estimated at 3.2 (cap space), but if you don’t count Steve Montador (long term injured reserved 2.5 million cap hit) & Rostislav Olesz (3.5) not with the team, they have much more space available than other contending teams. The Hawks have allot of prospects who could be with the big team, I would suggest the Markus Kruger’s or Jimmy Hayes could be movable at the trade deadline to get some an insurance third line center, another depth defenseman and/or a better quality backup goalie.

Scarier than in years past

    Three reasons why teams should pay attention to the Hawks compared to years past. Reason one & two; are Patrick Kane & Marian Hossa. Kane is having thus far a outstanding bounce back season. Seven points in four games; compared to his 67 points last season, good for him. Hossa has now recovered 100% from the cheap shot from Raffi Torres. Both Hossa & Kane appear to be in midseason form; what’s more unreal is how both are on separate lines when playing 5 on 5.

    The third reason why Chicago is looking so good; is the emergence of Nick Leddy, and the consistency of Johhny Oduya, Nik Hjalmarrsson, Michael Roszival. The backend 1 through 6 have very little if no flaws at all. On top of that; they've got a seventh de-man in Sheldon Brookbank who provides the nastiness when needed.