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My last blog outlined a fairly compelling argument as to why the Hawks could—not will—repeat as Stanley Cup Champs.

Today, I explore how the Hawks could take a step back to the pack and have another disappointing season like the one they had they year after their last Cup, in 2010-11.


1) Injuries

There are four guys who really stir the Hawks' drink: Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith and Marian Hossa. If one of those three forwards gets hurt for any length of time, the Hawks move a bit closer to being a one-line team. Or, well, a bit closer to being like a lot of other average to good NHL teams.

If they lose Keith on defense—a guy who gives you 25+ minutes a night of exceptional puck-moving and positional defense—there is a nasty ripple effect. Then, Johnny Oduya really has to assume much of Keith's role. Oduya has been great as far as taking pressure off of Keith at times and for stretches. But you do not want Keith's pressure put on him for any length of time.

2) Crawford Minus Waite=Trouble

I'm no goalie expert. But I will say it strikes me that the butterfly technique is so much more mental than physical in terms of how it's coached. It always seems that a butterfly coach is doing most of his work getting his goalie in the right mental space to block pucks, as opposed to working hard on technique etc. Maybe I'm wrong. But I saw how Cristobal Huet gradually melted down in Chicago under Stephane Waite after 3 years of brilliant play under Rollie "The Goalie" Melanson in Montreal. And I saw how Roberto Luongo had a mini-revival a couple of years ago when the Canucks brought Melanson in to replace Ian Clark.

So now another Joel Quenneville crony, Steve Weeks, comes in to Chicago to replace Waite. We'll see. But if you see Nikolai Khabibulin pushing for a healthy Crawford's job in December or January, that might not be a good sign.

3) Hammer Goes Soft

The Hawks will be well-served if Niklas Hjalmarsson remains at the level he reached last season, when for long stretches, he was the Hawks' best defenseman. Is Hjalmarsson a budding star or a one-season wonder?

4) Special Teams

A scary possibility is the Hawk power play remains dreadful because of a lack of a true QB and no faceoff depth, not to mention a lack of flair in the scheme. But what could compound matters is if the penalty kill—now minus Michal Frolik—takes a step back.

5) The "H" Word

The Hawks seem to be saying and doing all the right things this summer in order to avoid the excess and arrogance after the 2010 Cup—that ultimately led to a disappointing follow-up season. But the proof will be in the pudding.



All for now.

As most of you know, single game tickets went on sale today. Training camp fast approaches.

By the way, I worked on the Ultimate Arena Playlist and will start actually pulling it together on Spotify this week.



JJ

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