Bowman excited for season to start
On the eve of the eve of the regular-season opener in Dallas, general manager Stan Bowman gave his state of the Blackhawks address.
While the rest of the organization's bigwigs were in full marketing mode Tuesday as they helped christen their flagship retail store on Michigan Avenue, Bowman focused on the product on the ice.
And from the trade of Nick Leddy to the arrival of Daniel Carcillo and everything in between, it's fair to say the Hawks' GM is in full confidence mode heading into the 2014-15 season.
Here's what he had to say on a variety of topics:
Starting the season:
"We're all pretty excited. Hopefully this is the start of something big. Hopefully. It's a long season, but you have to start on a good note. Our training camp's been good, we've prepared ourselves well, but this is where the real fun starts. You want to see how everything you've planned out comes to be."
Trading Nick Leddy:
"It's always tough when you have to trade young players. Nick's been a great Blackhawk, and we certainly wish him well in New York. He's got a lot of good years ahead of him. But it's a situation where we had to make a move.
"We've got some good depth on defense. Looking at the roster, it's become an area of strength for us where maybe a year or two ago we wouldn't have said that."
Barely under cap:
"We're very close. Probably within $100,000 of the cap."
Cumiskey and van Riemsdyk:
"It's a good surprise (that they made the team). We were hoping Trevor would fit into our plans at some point, but we didn't put a timetable on it. He's come in and played very well. He didn't probably get as much attention as some of the other guys who've been here, so that's a great story for Trevor.
"Kyle's played a lot of games in the NHL. He hasn't been in the NHL the last couple of seasons, but he's been playing at a high level, so it's not a big surprise from that perspective."
The Teuvo plan:
"He had a great camp. The plan for Teuvo (Teravainen) is for him to continue his progression into an everyday NHL player. He's got incredible talent, and we saw some of it in the exhibition games.
"I give him credit for coming to Chicago and training hard. It's a process for him. We don't know when he'll be here, but I know when he does get here he'll be able to help himself out."
Brad Richards:
"I've heard from some of our players who have been here how it's really nice to have someone of his stature come in. In some ways he wanted to come here and just be a hockey player.
"He wants to win. That was clear this summer when I talked to him. We have a lot of star players here and he's one of them, but he doesn't have to be the focal point, so let's go have some fun."
Carcillo redux:
"(Daniel) brings that element. He's a good hockey player and on top of that he's hard to play against. He can stand up for his teammates, play a physical game, but he can also play just beyond a fourth-line player.
"That's what (coach) Joel (Quenneville) likes. Last time he was here we had a couple guys who played the same way, so it was tough for him to get a lot of ice time. Now he's probably the only guy who plays that style."
Cup-worthy roster?
"Yeah, that's the goal, right? We need the guys who were here last year to raise their level of play.
"A lot of our guys are still in the prime of their career or haven't reached their best games yet, so we expect them to come out of the gate strong. Of the new faces we have, we want them to fit in and contribute."
mspellman@dailyherald.com