The Chicago Blackhawks make no bones about the fact that the success of the organization runs along the blue line.
The strength of the 'Hawks lies in a solid defensive corps. As Chicago prepares for camp, the team will be welcoming new faces to the mix. This begs the question of whether the current gang on the back end will be more effective than the group that took the ice a year ago.
To answer that question, let's look at the current makeup of the current defense compared to that which hit the ice a year ago.
The constants in the lineup are the first pairing of Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook, along with Niklas Hjalmarsson. All three should be playing similar roles to the ones they played the past two seasons.
Keith should have every reason to come to camp ready to erase memories of an uninspired performance last season that was a notch below his Norris Trophy-winning level of two seasons ago. He and Seabrook have a reputation as one of the best young blue-line pairings in the game. It is time to live up to that billing again.
Hjalmarsson shook off a difficult start to the season to play decent hockey, but needs to raise ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Jon Fromi
Chicago Blackhawks Countdown to Camp: Sorting Through the Defense
August 12th, 2011 by Jon Fromi Leave a reply »
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