With Toews leading way, how far can Hawks go?

Only a few days remain before the opener, and there is no shortage of folks picking the Blackhawks to win the Western Conference this season.

And I might be among them, if they only had a goaltender in whom you could believe.

Not to put it all on Cristobal Huet, because the Hawks have some other questions to answer.

After Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook, you wonder who's going to play defense.

Niklas Hjalmarsson showed potential during the postseason, but Cam Barker and Brent Sopel can't move their feet with the NHL's best skill players, and Brian Campbell would have to radically alter his play from a year ago to suggest he has any interest in the defensive end of the ice.

The most dangerous aspect of what the Hawks accomplished a few short months ago is that young NHL teams that reach into the third and fourth rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs - ahead of schedule - tend to take a step back the following season.

It's certainly not a rule, but it occurs.

It could be the short summer, the inability to get up for regular-season games after playing important matches at a young age, or the grand expectations of another long playoff run, but sometimes the result is a short playoff run.

It will be up to head coach Joel Quenneville to keep his players dialed in, and it will be up to GM Stan Bowman to make certain he gets what Quenneville needs if the energy isn't there come November or December.

On the flip side are all the positives coming out of last season that the Hawks can take into this one.

They now have playoff experience, both the winning and the losing, and, even more important, they went through the growing pains of a late-season slump before emerging stronger and more confident.

You can't put a price on surviving the misery and coming out on the other side with an invaluable coaching and learning opportunity.

They also have Quenneville for an entire season, so there won't be any growing pains for the coach or the players.

They've had their first real training camp run by pros, which should be a huge benefit throughout the season.

They have three very important players - Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Keith - competing with each other and against the league to prove who is most worthy of a monster contract.

Toews is an absolute lock to get his, but if the Hawks can't afford all three - and remember they'll have huge payroll problems next summer - the other two will have a lot on the line.

Keith was spectacular last season, and barring a shockingly bad season, he will get his big contract from the Hawks.

Kane, on the other hand, might have to show the Hawks that he can be a responsible citizen off the ice and a responsible teammate on it.

There's no questioning his immense offensive ability, but he has yet to prove a consistent willingness to play defense, avoid selfish penalties and find room to score and make plays in high traffic areas at difficult times.

His big games, including in a series clincher vs. Vancouver, shows how good he can be when he's comfortable, but his comfort zone generally involves a situation where he doesn't expect to get bulldozed.

That's frequent in the regular season, much less so in the postseason.

Toews, on the other hand, is a man among men, possessing the presence and maturity of a 10-year veteran disguised in a child's face and a youngster's build.

He has overcome a lot, being handed the captaincy and the No. 1 center position much too early in his career, and has become a brilliant two-way player.

After a slow start, Toews poured in 32 goals in his final 63 contests last season, and you could easily see him stepping up to 40 this year on his way to 50 somewhere down the road.

With a chance to make the Canadian Olympic team, expect Toews to pick up where he left off last spring, when Team Canada (and Detroit) coach Mike Babcock spoke of Toews in glowing terms usually reserved for his own children.

Keith and Seabrook have an outside shot at the Team Canada roster, so quick starts are very important for them. For Seabrook in particular, making that team could mark a turning point in his career.

Last season he went from an average player to a serious physical performer in the final month of the season, and he carried that into the postseason.

If he continues that play, it would be huge for the Hawks, who still lack that big, prototypical, No. 1 defenseman.

The Hawks should be better defensively up front than they've been in awhile, and Andrew Ladd, one of the best defensive Hawks a year ago, could take a step forward offensively.

Yeah, there are some holes, but there's plenty going in their favor, including a summer of transition for many of the traditional Western Conference powers that has opened a window of opportunity for the Hawks.

Back in the day, the season didn't officially begin until my second-balcony mates threw out the first bed sheet painted with the words, "Thank The Lord For Al Secord."

These days, we'll settle for knowing it's almost time to drop the puck.

Let us rejoice.

brozner@dailyherald.com