Khabibulin's status up in the air as convention begins
The Blackhawks' first fan convention begins today at the Chicago Hilton, and one of the more interesting aspects will be seeing if goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin is among the players attending.
Khabibulin's name has surfaced in several trade rumors the last few weeks, most recently the Wednesday report in the Ottawa Sun claiming the Senators were interested in the Hawks' veteran.
The signing of free-agent goalie Cristobal Huet to a four-year, $22.54 million contract on July 1 has left Khabibulin's status in doubt despite general manager Dale Tallon's insistence he wants both veterans to share the duties.
Trading the 35-year-old Khabibulin would pave the way for Huet to start 50-60 games and give the Hawks some much-needed salary cap relief. The Hawks are about $2 million over the cap with Khabibulin scheduled to earn $6.75 million in the final year of the deal he signed as a free agent in 2005.
The Hawks could be looking to deal Khabibulin and defenseman Cam Barker, whose contract as the third pick in the 2004 draft counts as a $2.8 million cap hit.
Ottawa GM Bryan Murray tried to acquire Khabibulin at the trade deadline in February but decided to stick with Martin Gerber and Ray Emery, a gamble that failed miserably with a first-round playoff exit. Since then, the Senators have waived Emery.
The Ottawa Sun reported a potential three-way trade between the Hawks, Senators and Los Angeles Kings. The report had Kings center Anze Kopitar coming to the Hawks, which seems unlikely considering Kopitar had 32 goals and 77 points last season.
"We have a couple things we're working on," Tallon said at last week's prospects camp.
Hawks coach Denis Savard has sidestepped questions about how he might use Khabibulin and Huet, and whether Khabibulin would be happy with the shared duties.
"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it," Savard said. "I don't anticipate any problems because this is a team. You have to have depth at that position. It could happen that they rotate."
Schedule released: The Hawks announced their 2008-09 schedule Thursday with the season opener set for Friday, Oct. 10, on one of hockey's biggest stages -- Madison Square Garden against the New York Rangers.
After playing in Washington the next night against Alexander Ovechkin and the Capitals, the Hawks return for their home opener on Monday, Oct. 13, against the Nashville Predators.
The Hawks play 11 of their first 16 games at the United Center, then finish the season with 16 of 23 at home.
But an eight-game road trip looms starting Jan. 28, beginning a stretch of 11 of 12 away from the UC.
The Hawks play each of their Central Division rivals six times, including the Jan. 1 Winter Classic against the Detroit Red Wings outdoors at Wrigley Field.
There will be at least one game against each team from the Eastern Conference with Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins coming to Chicago on Feb. 27.
Richmond traded: The Hawks acquired 24-year-old center Tim Brent from the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday in exchange for defenseman Danny Richmond, the Buffalo Grove native.
Brent has 1 goal in 16 NHL games, but he helped lead Wilkes-Barre Scranton to the Calder Cup finals last month with 12 goals and 27 points in 23 playoff games.
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