How core Blackhawks plan to keep amazing run going

Motivation in professional sports is a funny thing.

Some guys work hard just to make a team. Others work hard for that big, fat contract. Still others work hard to win a title.

Then there is the rare athlete who continues to work hard to leave a legacy behind that will resonate for years and decades to come.

Fortunately for Blackhawks fans, they get to watch and root for a core group of players who have a passion for winning each and every night, each and every season.

Jonathan Toews. Marian Hossa. Patrick Kane. Duncan Keith. Brent Seabrook. Niklas Hjalmarsson. Each makes enough money to last a lifetime, and all of them have earned three Stanley Cup titles.

Yet each wants to build upon this amazing run and keep it going as long as possible.

“I'm obviously going to be more than happy with my career having three rings,” Hjalmarsson said. “But at the same time, going into every single season when you step on the ice you want to win every game. It's that competitiveness that we have in our team that is pretty special with what we've been doing here.”

Said Keith: “There's no better feeling than winning the Stanley Cup. Once you've won one, you want to just keep doing it again and again.”

Icy road ahead

Motivation to win and hockey skills aside, this still figures to be a challenging season for the Blackhawks.

As they try to become the first team to repeat as champs since the 1997-98 Detroit Red Wings, the Hawks will attempt to overcome these obstacles:

• New faces: Artemi Panarin, Artem Anisimov, Trevor Daley, Ryan Garbutt, Kyle Baun and (eventually) Marko Dano must figure out what it means to play Blackhawks hockey as quickly as possible, all the while learning the tendencies of their new teammates.

Panarin's transition will be the most interesting to watch. Can he play the NHL game and adjust to life in America while speaking almost no English?

• Western shootout: As we saw last season, the Western Conference is stacked. With 11 or 12 teams having at least a shot at reaching the postseason, there will be few easy victories.

“We can't think about winning the Cup,” Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “We want to get off to a strong start and look to try to make the playoffs because I know how good and tough our division and conference is.

“It's going to be a great achievement making the playoffs. Sounds simple, but it's not going to be easy.”

• Target practice: As has been the case for years, the Hawks will continue to have a big, fat bull's-eye on their backs. Teams such as Edmonton, Arizona, Buffalo, Toronto and Carolina may not have a chance to make the playoffs, but beating Toews, Kane and Co. once or twice would make their season.

Said Toews: “We all talked earlier about this … at training camp — we're going to have new challenges come our way this year. Nothing's going to ever be really easy.”

• Kane: The sooner the investigation surrounding Kane resolves itself, the better for the Hawks. The question is, if the district attorney in Hamburg, New York, decides not to bring the case to a grand jury, would the Hawks entertain trading Kane?

Perhaps. But if they do, the corresponding upheaval could be cataclysmic to both the talent level on the ice and the chemistry in the locker room.

Going FOUR it

Toews, Keith, Hjalmarsson and Kane all said they feel extremely fortunate to have won three Stanley Cups. They also don't feel like they're finished yet.

“A lot of us probably think the same way — that it would be a shame if we didn't win another one while we're all here,” Kane said.

Toews feels the same way.

“(For) the individuals at least that have been here for three championships — these are the best years for us,” he said. “We ought to enjoy them while they last.

“We always know what's at stake. You don't get to play this game forever.”

Toews' leadership — from what he does on the ice to how he prepares off it — filters down to each player on the roster. That's one huge reason for the Hawks' success.

But another is simply that these guys don't want to let each other down. They've become good friends away from the rink, and that resonates in so many ways when they step on the ice.

“When you kind of grow up in life (with these guys) you get a special bond,” Hjalmarsson said. “You always want to be that guy that they can count on when there's two minutes left in the game or whatever.

“We hold each other accountable for what we're doing out there.”

By playoff time, that experience and camaraderie plays as big a role as their talent.

“The best part about our team is we enjoy the process,” Kane said. “We enjoy playing in those big games, playing in the playoffs, being counted on when the time comes and being able to step up when you're called upon.”

So while plenty of hurdles will have to be cleared this season — and general manager Stan Bowman must continue to do his best navigating the salary cap in the years to come — a motivated core marches on.

They march into the new season having endured three long playoff runs in a row. They march on after yet another short summer.

And that's just fine with Toews.

“Not to get arrogant or overconfident, but that's the way we want it, and if we can have that as the thing that we're used to every summer, that's a good thing,” Toews said. “It's something we can use as experience going into the next season. (If we) keep that going the few years, why not?

“In the end, you're almost kind of like a schoolteacher — you get the two summer months off … and away you go.

“We'll keep it simple; we're here and we're ready to go back to work.”

• Follow John's reports on Twitter@DHjohndietz.

Milestones in reach

With the regular season starting, here's a quick look at some Blackhawks' milestones in reach this season.

<b>Marian Hossa</b>• Needs 14 goals for 500 in career. To date, 42 players have accomplished the feat.

• Needs 44 points for 1,100 in career. Fifty-eight players have accomplished the feat.

<b>Jonathan Toews</b>• Needs 27 goals for 250 in career.

• Needs 21 goals to move into top 10 on Blackhawks all-time list.

<b>Patrick Kane</b>• Needs 43 points for 600 in career.

<b>Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook</b>• Keith needs 3 goals and Seabrook 7 to pass Pierre Pilote on Blackhawks all-time list for most goals scored by a defenseman. The top three are Doug Wilson (225), Robert Murray (132) and Chris Chelios (92).

<b>Corey Crawford</b>• Needs 3 victories for 150 regular-season wins.

<b>Coach Joel Quenneville</b>• Needs 29 victories for 783, which would move him into second place all-time among all NHL coaches. He would pass Al Arbour. Scotty Bowman is No. 1 with 1,244 victories.

Source: Chicago Blackhawks