Hawks face goalie issues in quest for Stanley Cup
So Denis Savard believes the Blackhawks are going to win the Stanley Cup in the next few years.
You can't blame the Hawks' coach for thinking big even if Savard did make his Stanley Cup prediction a few days before he jokingly told reporters they should call him Mr. Positive.
My only question is this: On that glorious night when NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman places the Stanley Cup into Hawks captain Jonathan Toews' arms, who is going to be the goalie?
The point is, the Hawks would appear to have goalie issues that reach beyond the struggles of Nikolai Khabiublin.
It's likely not going to be Khabibulin who leads the Hawks to that Cup predicted by Savard.
Khabibulin might not even be around when this season ends if the whispers going around the league are true that the Hawks are trying to deal him.
Assuming Khabibulin sticks around next season to play out the fourth and final year of the franchise-record four-year, $27 million contract he signed in 2005, he would be 36 years old and hardly a candidate to be brought back by the Hawks.
Patrick Lalime is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent after this season, and he may or may not be re-signed to be the Hawks' backup. In his favor, Lalime is an experienced veteran who comes cheap at $950,000 per season, but he is not the guy who will take the Hawks to the next level.
That would leave Corey Crawford, the Hawks' so-called goaltender of the future. Crawford is 23 and enjoying another good season in the American Hockey League, his third.
But Crawford has appeared in only seven AHL playoff games with a goals-against average well over 3. Is he the kind of special goalie who can win a Stanley Cup -- using Savard's timeline -- in the next three seasons? It would appear doubtful.
The Hawks have a bright future; I won't argue that point. All I'm saying is that when it comes to the most important position on the ice, goaltender, there are questions to be answered both now and into that future.
Learning curve: Dustin Byfuglien wasn't benched by Denis Savard for the third period at Nashville on Sunday for making a mistake. He sat for a series of poor decisions made that night and over the previous week, including one in overtime at Montreal that led to the Canadiens scoring the winning goal.
Savard hasn't ripped Byfuglien once to the media, nor did he tell the entire world that Troy Brouwer couldn't skate.
Anyone who saw Brouwer's one game against Detroit on Jan. 6, it was obvious the kid couldn't keep up. Savard was asked about it and said simply that Brouwer needed to improve his skating -- just as honestly as when he said Jack Skille needed to be better along the wall and Jonathan Toews needed to improve his faceoffs.
Power couple: Further proof that the Hawks are being recognized as a franchise on the move is this year's list by The Hockey News of the 100 people of power and influence.
Hawks chairman Rocky Wirtz was No. 34 and Patrick Kane No. 51. It's the first time any Hawks made the list in three years.
Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby was No. 1, ahead of Gary Bettman.
tsassone@dailyherald.com