Hawks add to scouting staff

The Chicago Blackhawks have appointed veteran scout Niklas Blomgren, formerly with the Florida Panthers, to head the club's scouting efforts in Europe.

"Niklas brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our organization," Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman said in a statement released Thursday. "We are excited to add him to our scouting department."

The 2009-10 season will mark Blomgren's 11th as a National Hockey League scout, which includes spending the previous seven years as the Florida Panthers' European scout. Prior to that, the 31-year-old served in the Tampa Bay Lightning's scouting department for three years.

In his new role with the Blackhawks, Blomgren will be in charge of the European amateur scouts, reporting directly to Mark Kelley, director of Amateur Scouting.

Blomgren, a native of Sodertalje, Sweden, played professionally in Europe for four years in Sweden, Russia and Norway before joining the Lightning's hockey operations department.