Could Blackhawks still be team to beat in West?
If the Blackhawks are going to repeat as Stanley Cup champions they're going to have to get through the tough Western Conference once again.
While the Hawks won't be as deep as they were last season when they won their first Cup in 49 years, there's no reason to believe they won't be one of the teams to beat again in the West - maybe the team to beat.
None of their chief rivals in the West made dramatic improvements over the summer while the Hawks return their top four defensemen, five of their six 20-goal scorers and shut-down center Dave Bolland. They also believe goalie Marty Turco can pick up where Antti Niemi left off.
"I think you can look at our team compared to a lot of teams in our conference and we still have to be considered the favorites," Hawks center Patrick Sharp said during the recent fan convention.
The San Jose Sharks might have upgraded themselves in goal by signing free-agent Niemi and cutting ties with playoff failure Evgeni Nabokov, but defensman Rob Blake retired and replacing his 22 minutes of ice time a night will be a challenge.
The Vancouver Canucks improved their defense by adding free-agent Dan Hamhuis and trading for Keith Ballard. They also brought in gritty forwards Raffi Torres and Manny Malhotra, but this is a team that still needs to prove it can beat the Hawks in a seven-game series after being ousted the last two springs.
Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo gave up his captaincy this week to eliminate what he believed was a distraction.
"I want to put my whole focus on goaltending," Luongo said.
And then there are the Detroit Red Wings, who might be the Hawks' biggest challenge to the West title.
Detroit defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom might be 40, but Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Tomas Holmstrom, Johan Franzen, Dan Cleary and Niklas Kronwall are still in their prime, and Jiri Hudler returns from a year in Russia.
The Red Wings also signed former all-star center Mike Modano as a free agent hoping there's still some gas in the 40-year-old's tank.
It's not just going to be San Jose, Vancouver and Detroit gunning for the Hawks, who as Stanley Cup champs will have teams coming at them with their best efforts every night.
"We know everyone is going to be gunning and looking for us right off the get-go, but we should welcome that challenge," coach Joel Quenneville said.
As for the rest of the Western Conference, the St. Louis Blues could be a team to watch now after trading for a top-end goaltender in Jaroslav Halak.
With Halak, the Blues could easily challenge the big four in the West if some of their good, young players such as defenseman Erik Johnson and forwards David Backes, David Perron, Patrik Berglund and T.J. Oshie take their games to the next level.
The Phoenix Coyotes will be hard pressed to duplicate their surprising 107-point finish of a year ago, but that doesn't mean they won't be challenging for a top-four finish.
The Coyotes are well coached by Dave Tippett, work hard, have a top goaltender in Ilya Bryzgalov, and added sniper Ryan Whitney to help boost the league's seventh-worst offense.
The Los Angeles Kings tried but missed getting prized free-agent Ilya Kovalchuk and would up making no significant additions to a team that had 101 points.
It could be the Kings battling Colorado, Calgary, Nashville, Anaheim, Dallas and Minnesota for the final playoff spots.
If there's a sleeper team it is the Edmonton Oilers, who hope to be energized by youth led by first overall draft pick Taylor Hall at center. But they need 37-year-old goalie Nikolai Khabibulin to stay healthy, which is asking a lot.