Do new Blackhawks have Stanley Cup winning mentality?
The Chicago Blackhawks had this certain inability to lose big and tough games last playoff on their way to the Stanley Cup.
Why? It was sort of a simplicity that crept into their game at the right moment. This seemed to permeate up and down Chicago’s lineup from superstars to role players.
With all the changes to the roster this offseason, will the Blackhawks have those same victorious instincts?
The band was back together this weekend for the Blackhawks Convention in Chicago where they tried to at least put some positive spin on new acquisitions Trevor Daley, Ryan Garbutt, Artem Anisimov and Marko Dano amongst others. Gone are Patrick (the face) Sharp, Brandon Saad and Johnny (the stomach) Oduya thanks to that new NHL mechanism called the salary cap.
Likely gone is Bryan Bickell, despite what he says.
All those Hawks have won multiple Cups. The new guys? A big zero.
Check out the above photo of Daley. It just looks … weird. Mostly because it has barely been a month since Chicago last won the Cup, oh and look — there he is in red.
How did the P.A. announcer explain this grand entrance. “Here are your Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks and … Trevor Daley.”
Captain Jonathan Toews seemed a big nostalgic for the old guard via the Chicago Tribune:
“There’s confidence that we’ll always find way to come back from deficits that are created,” captain Jonathan Toews said. “The number we’ve lost this summer so far doesn’t compare to 2010, but I think the quality and what those players have meant to our locker room (is more), considering that a guy like (Patrick) Sharp has been here pretty much his whole career.
“It’s tough to lose those guys. There’s no doubt we’re going to feel that.”
As the Chicago Sun-Times notes, the Hawks know what they’re getting from a skill perspective from the newbies. But what about that weird ability to just figure out a way to blend into Chicago’s winning culture?
The Hawks have lost plenty of talent this summer. But they’ve gained plenty, too. On the ice, they should be fine.
But talent alone doesn’t win Stanley Cups.
If that was the case, the Anaheim Ducks should have beat Chicago in the Western Conference Final. They were healthy. They rolled four lines and three defensive pairs. And the Hawks came back from a 3-2 deficit to make the Stanley Cup Final. The last two games of the Western Conference Final, the Hawks outscored the Ducks 10-5. Chicago won three straight games in the Stanley Cup Final to win the franchise’s third Cup since 2010. Three of their four wins in the Cup Final against Tampa were by one goal.
Interestingly this is not really a rebuild. That would involve prospects. Most of these guys have played in the NHL before. Daley has 756 games of NHL experience. Anisimov is one season removed from scoring 22 goals. Dano had 21 points in 35 games as a 20-year-old for Columbus last season.
Said CSN Chicago:
Change was bound to come during the summer of 2015, much like it did in the summer of 2010. This time around, however, the new faces are just new to the Blackhawks, not the NHL stage.
“We’ve added some different pieces and tried to replace as best we could,” Quenneville said. “Stan has done a great job in a tight market. That’s today’s game. [There are] certainly a little bit more NHL ready players than we’ve seen in the past. That can help us.”
In other words the 2010 salary cap related purge after that Cup mostly netted Chicago prospects. This is very different.
Said the Sun-Times:
But once the lineup is set, and the chemistry is built, and the new guys find their roles on and off the ice — however long that takes — the Hawks hope the revamped cast can produce a championship encore.
For example, Daley has been a meh puck possession player in his career. Put him on the same defense with the amazing Duncan Keith and he’ll get better? Perhaps.
The Blackhawks have their core. They’re still full of NHL experience. But do they still have that winning ability?
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
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