The Madmen of the Madhouse on Madison are back

When the Blackhawks skated off the ice at Joe Louis Arena last May, having lost to the Red Wings in the Western Conference finals, they did so with mixed emotions.

While the Hawks could feel proud of themselves for advancing further than many people expected, capping what had been a storybook season, they also felt an opportunity to win the Stanley Cup had been missed.

The Hawks will try to finish what they started last season beginning Friday when they open their 2009-10 NHL schedule against the Florida Panthers in Helsinki, Finland.

"We're ready to pick up where we left off and there's not much left to be said," captain Jonathan Toews said.

"There's always unfinished business when you get to the conference finals and lose," center Dave Bolland said. "We learned a lot last year. We played some big pressure games and scored some big goals in those games.

"There are some things we still need to work on here to get to the Finals. We've added (Tomas) Kopecky and (Marian) Hossa and (John) Madden, three guys that have been to the Cup before that can help this team go further and hopefully go to the Stanley Cup. That's what we want on this team, Stanley Cup winners."

The Hawks believe they are as deep as any team in the league at forward, even if Hossa won't play until at least late November because of shoulder surgery and Adam Burish is out until likely April with a torn ACL in his knee.

If there are question marks they are on defense behind the big three of Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Brian Campbell, and in goal where Cristobal Huet enters the season with as much pressure on his shoulders as any goaltender in the league.

Huet played mostly in Nikolai Khabibulin's shadow last season but now is the clear-cut No. 1 guy on a team expected to contend for the Stanley Cup.

"We think Huet is capable of stepping in and doing an even better job than Khabby did," winger Dustin Byfuglien said.

Hawks coach Joel Quenneville likes his team from front to back.

"We have a lot of pieces," Quenneville said. "We have a lot of options and versatility in our forward position, and our defense is very quick and mobile, and we're solid in net.

"We should be looking to take off where we left off last year, but we just know the challenge this year is going to be much more severe and steady. Everybody is going to be hungry to play us game in and game out. Every game teams are going to be ready to play us. I thought we responded well to that last year as the season went on."

The Hawks still are young, but this is a group that matured before everyone's eyes in the playoffs when they knocked off Calgary and Vancouver, and then stood up to Detroit in five tough games that could have gone either way.

"We're approaching this season like we don't expect it to be easy," Quenneville said. "This year is going to be more challenging than it was in the past, but we have a group of guys who are competitive and want to be successful. We should expect our team to get better. We have a lot of young guys that should keep improving."

First-year general manager Stan Bowman believes there is plenty of offense up front to offset Hossa's injury in Toews, Bolland, Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp, Kris Versteeg and Byfuglien.

Toews led the team with 34 goals despite a poor start. Kane had 25 goals but showed up to training camp bigger and stronger and looking primed for a huge year.

"Nothing's for sure, but we were a pretty good offensive team last year, and for the most part we have the same components back," Bowman said. "We've got some guys who can play a bigger role and I think special teams is going to be a big part of goal scoring because if your power play's good you're going to have a pretty good offensive team.

"We were pretty good on the power play for most of the year. You take little dips here and there, but we were a pretty consistent threat on the power play so I would expect us to pick up where we left off."

The Hawks' goal is to win the Central Division and earn one of the top three seeds in the West for the playoffs. Getting off to a fast start is vital, particularly with a favorable home schedule of 12 of 17 at home following the first two games in Europe.

Winning what might be the league's best division won't be easy. The real test of the season figures to come in January when the Hawks play 11 of 15 games on the road.

"We know what we can do and we're a confident group," Huet said. "Teams are going to respect us more and we have to be humble and know it's not going to be easy for us."

<p class="factboxheadblack">Blackhawks game day</p> <p class="News">Florida Panthers at Hartwall Arena, Helsinki, Finland, 11:15 a.m. Friday</p> <p class="News"><b>TV:</b> Comcast SportsNet</p> <p class="News"><b>Radio:</b> WIND 560-AM</p> <p class="News"><b>What to watch:</b> Cristobal Huet makes his first start as the Hawks' No. 1 goaltender. Panthers first-line center Stephen Weiss (groin) is questionable.</p> <p class="News"><b>Last season:</b> The Hawks beat the Panthers in their only meeting 4-0 in Florida on Feb. 19 behind Huet's 31 saves and 2 goals from Jonathan Toews.</p> <p class="News"><b>Next:</b> Florida Panthers at Hartwall Arena, Helsinki, Finland, 11:15 a.m. Saturday.</p> <div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=325765">Don't miss these key games for Hawks<span class="date"> [10/2/09]</span></a></li> </ul> <h2>Related links</h2> <ul class="moreWeb"> <li><a href="http://blackhawks.nhl.com/club/schedule.htm">Blackhawks' 2009-2010 season schedule </a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>