Jonathan Toews, Cristobal Huet, Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa made the cover of ESPN the Magazine.
Do the Blackhawks deserve to be preseason favorites to win the Stanley Cup? ESPN the Magazine chose to adorn the cover of its NHL Preview issue with the Hawks quartet of Marian Hossa, Cristobal Huet, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, pegged to a feature about the team's tumultuous offseason. The mag picks the Hawks to meet the Bruins in the Cup finals, with the Boston given a slightly higher power rating.
Various Internet pundits already are declaring that the Hawks now must overcome a cover "jinx" (not that such a thing actually exists, even when it involves Sports Illustrated's cover). But given that ESPN has featured hockey on its cover only 12 times since 1998, it's fair to say the Hawks will have to deal with the pressure of being in the national spotlight's glare this season.
Of course, that's to be expected given the kind of turnaround this franchise has performed. After hosting the Winter Classic at Wrigley Field last New Year's Day, advancing to the Western Conference finals and then signing free-agent star Hossa, it's little wonder that nothing less than a Stanley Cup seems acceptable.
The Red Wings have been weakened by the loss of Hossa and others, making the Hawks the clear favorites in their conference. Although ESPN the Mag is touting Boston in the East, never discount Sidney Crosby and defending Cup champion Pittsburgh. (Stupid NHL Scheduling Note: The Penguins don't visit the United Center this season ... the only regular-season meeting between the Hawks and Pens will be Dec. 5 at Pittsburgh.)
Hard to believe the puck drops for real this Friday (in Finland, of all places). Seems like only yesterday that Huet was making spectacular saves in an ill-fated bid to keep the Hawks alive in Game 5 at Detroit. Perhaps the memory of that painful, season-ending 2-1 overtime loss will help propel the Hawks to new heights.
What are your expecations for the Hawks this season, and will anything less than a Stanley Cup (or at least a berth in the finals) be acceptable?
this house of cards will tumble. Where is Havlat? Signing injured
players from a team that beat you in the playoffs, is not the same as keeping perfectly healthy players who got you there. I can feel the 'ol Wirtz squeeze already. All they wanted was one good year to get
fans back. According to the Reinsdorfian theorem of penny pinching, the house will be full for at least another 7 years, before they
have to put together another 'good' team. Cubs season is only 5 1/2
months away. GOOOOOO CUBBIESSS!!!!!!! Good team not required.
A Guy named Marian who plays hockey.
Bubba's Mom is still trying to figure that out.
Stu are you KIDDING about the Penguins ????????? Chicago fans are ready to vanquish another Pittsburgh team, and the PIRATES DON'T COUNT.
It's a long season. HOssa doesn't even come back until the end of November. I'd say we'll know where this team is headed after they make their first big west coast trip which is usually some time in December.
I don't see how the Red Wings AREN'T the favorites. Yes they've lost players, but they are well-coached and still have a core of smart, powerful skaters. Plus they have Chelios. :)
It will be an interesting winter. I hope ESPN is right.
When I first saw this cover (my wife had given me a subscription), I thought "wow, this is a great photo!" This is now the second picture I've seen of Kane in which he appears as a classic artists' subject. I also thought "oh no, these kinds of cover expectations usually go south."
I agree that the Hawks should be the favorite in the West, but they certainly can't "just show up" in order to get it done. It has to be the same kind of "us against the world" mentality to achieve the ultimate success with every game--or else. They are now the hunted. Every team will give top effort. They'll be televised much more throughout the US and Canada. They'll also need to at least tread water until Hossa returns.
The magazine article also suggests that this could well be a "one year wonder" because of bad contractual management which has left Kane, Toews and their most talented all-around D-man Duncan Keith unrestricted free agents after this season with a diminishing salary cap and very little room. Very likely, the best hope for keeping all three--even just two--is getting rid of some other contracts (Versteeg?) that are perhaps more expensive than necessary. Dale Tallon's protege Stan Bowman will have his work cut out for him this season. It would be a crying shame to see us get to the mountaintop only to be forced back down due to just business and no other reason. Welcome to Chicago sports if that happens.
Go Hawks!
Love Stuck's sarcasm!
Love Bubba Mom's hope!
And Love Gig's sobering business forecast.
I hope the Hawk's win this year. That will answer all three and prevent us from losing top homegrown talent without anything to show for it. There is nothing worse than warming up the "slot machine" only to see someone else collect the jackpot! If Gig is right, that is exactly what will happen. That will also make STUCK right because that would mean the Hawks knew it all along. And then that would make Bubba's Mom like I am as a Bulls fan. And that is not a good place.
That photo looks fresh!!!! And it would be a shame to see two of those faces missing next year. Well - at least we have THIS YEAR! Go Hawks!!!
I think expectations for the Blackhawks should at least be Playoffs, maybe as past the first round even, but Stanley Cup? You're just setting yourself up for disappointment to expect Stanley Cup or bust. The "kids" are still too young with much room to develop and the Hawks still have to wait for Hossa for several months. They'll need chemistry again and losing Havlat won't help any. Adam Burish is also out for 6 months and Patrick Kane has yet to blossom into a Crosby or Ovechkin. Hey, he's a former #1 overall, so my expectations are high with him to make that leap into stardom like I am with Derrick Rose of the Bulls. We can't have the Patrick Kane of the Red Wings playoff series where he played at a minus 9. Not good. As long as there is progress is all that I ask for, not regression.
Good stuff Edgar! Thanks for putting it in context/perspective for me. I haven't any idea how good Kane or Toews really are. I just know they are like Beatles in Chicago. I have been watching that wrap around goal from Kane almost non-stop on Comcast.
I'm just glad Hockey is back in Chicago...I can't watch the nba...boring Sidney, Boring Boring.....
Yo Keith! Head on back to John Jackson's Inside Bulls blog... he's calling us diehard Bulls fans out for all the bashing on Luol Deng! I already posted back to him, but he hasn't posted my comments yet. Come join in on the debate! I gave JJ an earful/eyeful! ;)
Believe it Blackhawks fans. This team is a SERIOUS Stanley Cup contender, and will be for a looooong time! True, they do have questions to answer, like can Cristobal Huet carry the load, and are they good enough defensively, but they're still collectively a young bunch which gave the Red Wings all they could handle in last years playoffs. They'll be even better when they get a healthy Hossa back. Just give the guy time to get "right."
As a transplanted Skokiean who has lived here in Vegas for over a decade, I can tell you also that money has showed up on them in the sportsbooks too, as they're co-favored at 3-1 with the Wings to win the Western Conference. They opened at 12-1 in some locations to win the Cup, but are now holding steady at 6-1 or 7-1 at most properties.
Are they good enough to beat "Syd the Kid," the Bruins & Tim Thomas, 'Habs or 'Caps from the rugged East? Maybe.
They WILL have a very good year, and are the closest team in the Windy City to winning a major sports championship!
Burt in Las Vegas
The Hawks weren't a physically tough team to begin with, and with the loss of Burish they're even weaker.
The way I see it, they aren't going to intimidate anyone, and it's awfully hard to finess your way to a Stanley Cup.
This game still requires a little muscle, and a willingness to lose some teeth, and knock a few out in the process.
But ..... GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I guess it is nice to see Kane in a picture that isn't a mug shot!
I guess I'll have to give pro hockey another chance. I quit watching or caring about it because I think boxing and wrestling matches should be resticted to roped rings and because intimidation was taking precedence over skating skills, positionig and superior stick handling. As a youth hockey coach for ten years, I was always struggling to get the players to learn the rules regarding penalties and that they were not helping their team when sitting in the penalty box.Villano, how intimidating were the great Russian Olympic teams? They skated, passed, stick-handled, set up plays, and did not sweat the petty, chippy crap. The U.S. finally won when they also got their priorities straight and skipped the macho b.s.
Paul:
I'll stick to my guns on this one. Although I'm not in favor of "Goon Hockey", it's still a rough and tumble sport, with a great deal of physical contact; some of it rather violent. A team needs to be able to stand up to the rigors of getting pounded against the boards every night, and also be able to dish out some of the same medicine in return.
Sorry, but I don't see a willingness to mix it up in the clinches with this team, and the ability to do so is a prerequisite to winning the Stanley Cup.
And this ain't the Olympics, it's the NHL.
Bubba's Mom:
There once was a man named Marion Robert Morrison who played one helluve tough guy in the movies.
Villy - I searched that name and came up with John Wayne!!! I DID NOT KNOW THAT!!!
I cannot believe we played the Redwings and not one post??? I think the Redwings are going to be the Hawk's nemesis like the Pistons were to Michael's Bulls. We have to start beating them. It took the Bulls too long to overcome the Pistons.
Ricky responds: Working on it haha.
Keith, while the Wings won Game 1, the better team was clearly the Hawks overall. It was ten minutes of questionable play that did them in while Detroit capitalized including a lucky ricochet off a skate. However, that's part of what they need to learn to overcome. There were such similarities towards the end of the Pistons dynasty and the beginning of our beloved's. People could see that the Bulls were more talented, but still didn't quite know how to win. This should be the year for the Blackhawks. Moreover, they get Marian Hossa, a superstar player, back around Thanksgiving. How appropriate!
By the way, he'll be the first male "Marian" or "Marion" that I'll be rooting for since Marion Morrison AKA John Wayne.