Blackhawks' Tallon still has work to do
Despite the success the Blackhawks enjoyed last season, the fact remains that this still is a young hockey team.
And it got even younger last week when general manager Dale Tallon traded 37-year-old center Robert Lang to the Montreal Canadiens.
Determining if the Hawks are too young will be perhaps the biggest thing Tallon will have to an eye on when training camp opens today at the United Center.
Tallon is particularly interested to see if rookie Petri Kontiola and Dave Bolland, now in his second year, can handle the duties at center behind Jonathan Toews with Lang gone.
Four other rookies expected to challenge for key roles on the club are wingers Jack Skille, Troy Brouwer and Kyle Beach and defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson.
"I want to see how we match up with the rest of the West and if we really do need to get a little more experience or not," Tallon said. "I'm anxious to see how these kids respond to the opportunity to make a roster spot here."
It remains a real possibility that Tallon will trade for a veteran center to play behind Toews, but that won't happen until he sees Kontiola and Bolland in the preseason games.
"That's basically how we want to approach it," Tallon said. "We obviously need a couple of players, and I'm hopeful they're our guys, the young guys, because nothing would be more satisfying than to have our own group of young players that we've developed and drafted make our team and take us where we need to go.
"Whether we need another veteran player or not, that will tell after three weeks of training camp."
The Hawks have the look of a playoff team right now. They've added high scoring defenseman Brian Campbell and top-end goaltender Cristobal Huet to a strong nucleus that includes Toews, Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp, Martin Havlat, Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook.
"Our power play is going to be better, we've got more depth on the back end, the kids are a year older and more experienced that played a lot last year, and Marty Havlat is coming back probably healthier than he's been in the last three or four years," Tallon said.
"We made a good (playoff) run without Marty, and if Marty's healthy, that will open up more room for the other guys to get more offense."
Tallon sees two holes up front that need to be plugged before the Oct. 10 season opener in New York against the Rangers.
"We need a left winger to play with (Toews and Kane), and obviously at center now we need one of those kids to make that spot, whoever it it," Tallon said. "We think it can be Kontiola. On the left side it could Brouwer, Skille, (Akim) Aliu, (Kris) Versteeg, or even Beach."
Sharp is the wild card because of his versatility. He can play left wing with Toews and Kane, second-line center, or wing on the second line to spread the scoring.
Early indications are coach Denis Savard will experiment with Toews and Havlat on a line, while Kane and Sharp comprise two-thirds of another.
"I'm sure we'll be seeing all kinds of combinations," Kane said.
On defense, Tallon thinks Cam Barker and Hjalmarsson will push hard to make the top six with Campbell, Keith, Seabrook and Brent Sopel.
James Wisniewski is still rehabbing from knee surgery and not expected to play until November at the earliest.
"We're more anxious than we've been in a long time because of the way we finished and what happened in the off-season and the growth of our young players," Tallon said. "I think everybody is excited to see what we have and how good we can be."