Rookie Makarov makes good first impression
It was only the first day of training camp, but winger Igor Makarov stamped himself as one of the Blackhawks' rookies to watch closely in the preseason games.
Makarov, who owns the type of speed and skill coach Joel Quenneville would surely find a way to fit on his roster, had 2 goals and an assist in one of Saturday's scrimmages.
Makarov was coming off a hat trick Tuesday against Pittsburgh for the Hawks in a rookie tournament in London, Ontario.
"I think Makarov had a noticeable game," Quenneville said. "He kind of picked up where he left off Tuesday in London, where he had 3 goals. He seemed to be around the puck a lot and you like his tenacity and his quickness. He wants the puck."
Might there be room on the roster for a rookie with potentially difference-making skill?
"We like consistency and predictability in players, that's always the measuring stick for how we evaluate players," Quenneville said. "I just think we'll see how he progresses, but certainly we like the way he began here.
"Speed and skill is a great ingredient. I think that was one of the things when you looked down our roster last year that we had right through. There was some tough decisions who would and would not play, and it was skill."
Another skilled rookie having a good first scrimmage Saturday was right wing Jeremy Morin, who made a pretty behind-the-back pass on a goal by Brandon Pirri.
Wait and see: Defenseman Brent Seabrook said it was fine with him if general manager Stan Bowman wanted to start talking about a new contract.
Bowman said on Friday that getting started on a new contract for Seabrook was one of the next things on his agenda.
This is the final year of Seabrook's contract that would see him become a restricted free agent next summer.
"It's whatever those guys want to do," Seabrook said Saturday. "I'm not too worried about it or not thinking about it. I just want to get this season started. For the most part everybody signs at the end of the season going into the next one and I'm comfortable with that. I'm comfortable with anything that comes my way."
Turco should be tough: Maybe there will be a drawback to goalie Marty Turco's ability to handle the puck.
"I'm just hoping that Kaner doesn't think that he doesn't have to come back over the red line, that he can kind of cherry pick out there and get a couple breakaways," Jonathan Toews joked about teammate Patrick Kane.
Seriously, however, Toews agrees that Turco should be a great help to the Hawks defensively.
"It's really annoying to play against a guy like that, especially if you're a forward forechecking where he's always out of his net," Toews said. "If you don't dump the puck right or come into the zone right he's throwing it back the other way and it's tough to defend against."