Thanks For Playing: Chicago Blackhawks

Each spring 16 NHL teams play for Lord Stanley's Cup. At the end one team is left holding the cup while the other 15 teams can only think of what could of what might have been. 

This is about one of the 15 teams who wasn't so lucky.  
 
Chicago Blackhawks:

How They Finished: 44-29-9 95 points
3rd in Central Division, 8th in Western Conference.


What Went Wrong:

The Blackhawks lost too many of their role players from last seasons Stanley Cup Championship team.

Dustin Byfuglien, Andrew Ladd, Ben Eager, & Brent Sopel were sent to Atlanta in the off-season while Kris Versteeg was traded to Toronto. Adam Burish (Dallas) & John Madden (Minnesota) signed elsewhere as free agents.

Antti Niemi won his arbitration case and became a free agent when the Blackhawks decided to walk away from the deal. Marty Turco was signed to replace Niemi and went 11-11-3 in 29 games with a  GAA of 3.02 and a save percentage of .897 before being replaced in net by Corey Crawford.

The Blackhawks weren't bad this season but the turnover of players on the roster along with a Stanley Cup hangover added up to a slow start where Chicago was fighting for a playoff spot all season, not clinching until the final day of the season when Dallas lost to Minnesota.

The Blackhawks opened up against Vancouver and fell behind in the series 3 games to none before rallying to force a Game 7 by winning the next three games.

However a comeback wasn't meant to be when Alexandre Burrows scored in overtime to give the Canucks a 2-1 win and a 4-3 series win.

Where Do They Go From Here:

They say in hockey one of the hardest things to do in this era is repeat as Stanley Cup Champions. That ended up being the case this year for Chicago.

The Blackhawks still have a talented roster led by Jonathan Toews & Patrick Kane but they still have salary cap issues that need to be dealt with.

Corey Crawford emerged as a number one goalie this season but he is a restricted free agent and will command a raise from the $800,000 he was making this season. Chicgao also has to decide if they want to extend qualifying offers to Michael Frolik, Viktor Stahlberg, Jake Dowell, Troy Brouwer, & Chris Campoli.

The Blackhawks have just a little over $8 million available in cap space so how they decide to handle their restricted free agents plays a huge factor in how the roster shapes up for next season. Because of that I think that next year Chicago will be a talented team that is once again fighting for a playoff spot.