Blackhawks set roster for rookie tourney
The Chicago Blackhawks will send a team to compete in the 2011 Toronto Maple Leafs Rookie Tournament, which begins Saturday at General Motors Centre in Oshawa, Ontario.
The Hawks roster features four first-round draft picks and nine players selected in the first two rounds of the National Hockey League Entry Draft. The team will compete in three games against rookie squads from the Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators and Pittsburgh Penguins.
Heading the Blackhawks squad will be 2011 firs- round selections Mark McNeill and Phillip Danault. McNeill paced the Western Hockey League's Prince Albert Raiders with a career-high 49 assists and ranked second on the team with a career-best 32 goals last season, and Danault captained the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's Victoriaville Tigres, notching a career-best 67 points (23G, 44A) and a +17 plus/minus rating.
They will be joined by forwards Jeremy Morin, who made his NHL debut with Hawks last season, Jimmy Hayes, Brandon Saad and Andrew Shaw, defensemen Dylan Olsen, Shawn Lalonde and Joe Lavin, and goaltenders Mac Carruth and Johan Mattsson.
Toronto Rookie Tournament schedule
Saturday: Chicago vs. Toronto, 6 p.m.
Sunday: Chicago vs. Ottawa, 1 p.m.
Tuesday: Chicago vs. Pittsburgh, 1 p.m.
All times CST and all games at General Motors Centre