Blackhawks poised for a Cup run?

Its an overused hockey expression, putting together the pieces of the puzzle that will bring a Stanley Cup championship. GM's use it all the time, coaches too, even the players have gotten in on the act (see: Rob Scuderi).

Its an apt description though, the Stanley Cup is arguably the toughest trophy to win in all of sports. In order to hoist Lord Stanley's Mug, you need it all: skating, scoring, hitting, checking, goaltending, and penalty-killing to name a few. Not to mention intangibles like: grit, determination and heart. While we're at it, lets toss in a dash of luck because it never hurts to have a bounce go your way at a critical time. Nothing quite like those lively end boards at the 'Joe', eh Red Wings fans?

For our beloved Blackhawks, last seasons run to the Western Conference Finals was amazing. It was, however, a stepping stone towards the ultimate goal, the Stanley Cup!

Make no mistake about it we are close, last season proved that, but are we ready to take the next step? That remains to be seen.

So far the off season has been kind to long suffering Hawks fans. We made the biggest splash on July 1st landing the most coveted free agent available in Marian Hossa and followed that up with the signings of Tomas Kopecky and John Madden. In Hossa, we nabbed a world class winger who plays all over the ice; slick up front and solid in the defensive zone.

Madden is a workhorse, quick, and deadly on the PK. Plus he brings championship experience to the young Hawks while Kopecky has potential and gives us depth on the wing and can play some center as well.

Picking up Hossa, signalled the end for Marty Havlat. In the salary cap era, there was no way we would be able to sign both of them and Hossa should be an upgrade anyhow. Still, Havlat played his heart out for us and he will be missed. Good luck in Minny!

On the back end, there have been rumblings about a deal for a stay-at-home type defenseman, but as of yet no moves have been made other than to re-sign RFA D-man Cam Barker, a wise move because this guy is special and he showed flashes of it in the playoffs.

Goaltending remains a concern, Khabibulin left for Edmonton leaving us with Cristobal Huet as the incumbent in net. Don't get me wrong I think he is an OK goalie, a solid backup no doubt, but he's inconsistent as the numero uno. He plays well at times, but often lets in a couple of softies which always seem to come at the worst possible moment. This is an area in need of an upgrade, but Huet's contract will make it difficult to deal him or to keep him and add someone else. Right now it looks as though, Corey Crawford and Antti Niemi will duke it out for playing time behind Huet.

We also had plenty of our own RFA's to sign up front and after that little flap about qualifying offers, we managed to get them all signed. Albeit for more than they may have earned had they got their notices on time, but I digress.

All in all, nice additions so far, I think we are definitely closer. I'm not sure we're there yet but, I think we are heading in the right direction, now find a true No.1 goalie and we may just have all the pieces in place.