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The Hawks gathered in South Bend, IN on the storied campus of Notre Dame yesterday for their 2013 training camp.

Rested? Ready? Well, we probably really won't know that until the regular season begins.

As often noted here, there really wasn't a lot of turnover on the roster this past summer. There are some jobs open on the lower forward lines. That's it. And that's probably the biggest potential story right now.

Because in truth, we know who most of the forwards will be:

Jonathan Toews
Patrick Kane
Patrick Sharp
Marian Hossa
Bryan Bickell
Andrew Shaw
Marcus Kruger
Michal Handzus
Brandon Saad

But that leaves 4 jobs open, with no shortage of candidates.

Those with fairly measurable NHL experience: Brad Winchester, Brandon Bollig.

Those who've had some NHL experience: Ben Smith, Jimmy Hayes, Jeremy Morin, Brandon Pirri.

No NHL experience, but real promise: Joakim Nordstrom, Philip Danault, Mark McNeill, Maxim Shalunov.

And how about an off the radar surprise like 2008 1st round draft choice Kyle Beach—who is rumored to be ready to make a real push for an NHL job?

Ten guys, four jobs. Personally, due to the jobs they've done at the NHL level, I think you will see Winchester and/or Bollig on the opening night roster.

So that really leaves 2-3 jobs open. Certainly, the next group (Hayes, Morin, Pirri, Smith) would be the most logical choices due to their experience. But I'm not sure. Maybe 1-2 of those guys makes it. Most likely Pirri, Smith or Morin.

But I would not completely rule out Nordstrom or Danault making a surprise push for a job.

Then the other stories, both out of Finland: Teuvo Teravainen and Antti Raanta.

Raanta is going to be in Rockford, the offseason signing of Nikolai Khabibulin almost assures that. But what do the Hawks have in this somewhat unknown (outside of Europe) netminder?

And if Raanta shows himself to be as good as some believe he might be, could he, for example, force a deadline deal of Khabibulin to an Eastern Conference club in need of veteran goaltending for the playoffs?

As for Teravainen, he is almost certainly heading back to Finland to play with Jokerit. But, this camp will be Teravainen's first real showcase with NHL players on smaller North American ice surfaces. What it should tell us is how far away this enormous talent is.

All for now,


JJ

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