BLACKHAWKS’ TOP LINES LOOKING FAMILIAR AGAIN

The coach Joel Quenneville said late last week that it was unwise to read too much Blackhawks' lines at that time.

On Monday, you can read more about them in rows, and two of the best looked quite familiar.

Marian Hossa was back Jonathan Toews Jersey, where Richard Panik on the left side, and the second line of Artemi Panarin, Artem Anisimov and Patrick Kane were together again as the Blackhawks prepped for Wednesday's regular season opener against St. Louis Blues.

Andrew Desjardins out 4-6 weeks of lower body injuries, the bottom two lines are young heavy. Tyler Motte, who wowed in training camp, is on the third line of Marcus Kruger and Ryan Hartman. Vinnie Hinostroza, Nick Schmaltz and Jordin Tootoo comprise the fourth line.

So Blackhawks starts from the top six players who know each other well.

"Right now we are talking about balance, and we believe that the balance and predictability is having four lines, where we have to know," Quenneville said. "It's probably the main reason why we are looking to start a couple of established lines in the front and we will continue that."

Andrew Desjardins out to ensure Blackhawks roster spot

When the Blackhawks practice, most of the team is red or blackhawks jerseys. Occasionally, coach Joel Quenneville the few players will wear white.

And like wearing white after Labor Day - you do not want if you can help.

Usually it is a sign that someone is at the bottom of the lineup rotation. There were no white jerseys in practice Friday, but there were a few out in Thursday's session. It was a surprise to see wearing one of them - versatile veteran striker Andrew Desjardins - given all the young prospects who are still here fighting for roster spots.

He looked like a figure entering the season Desjardins, 30, would have a safe place given its cap-friendly contract of $ 800,000 per season and his solid play for the Hawks as they traded for him in March 2015.

Desjardins was not sweating having to wear the white shirt, however.

Quenneville seeking balance with Blackhawks’ forwards

There will be new faces in Chicago this season - maybe a lot of them - but the Blackhawks could also be given some old faces a new look.
This comes with the usual qualifier at this time of the year - there are still nine more days until the regular NHL season opens, time to head coach Joel Quenneville change opinion, based on what he sees in the last week of training camp - but each of the first three lines of Chicago can get a facelift, as by breaking Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa and Patrick Kane Artemi Panarin, combos.
With many new young Hawks players pushing for positions, balance will be the watchword for Quenneville.
So, for now at least, it is likely that Panarin, the winner of the Calder Trophy last year, will skate on the left side Toews and Hossa taking place with two-way utility pivot Marcus Kruger to form the two third of an upscale potentially, check the line two-way.
That would leave Kane with the center Artem Anisimov and, of course, without Panarin on their left side, a trio that was mortal last season.
So if this pans, and until further notice is apparently the plan would Quenneville with all pairs on the first three lines: Toews-Panarin, Anisimov-Kane-Hossa and Kruger.
The idea is that the Panarin placed on the left side Toews will captain a much more dynamic offensive presence and the Hawks will receive an overall offensive momentum, the assumption being that the more magical than Kane had with Panarin, Kane is dynamic enough to lead a line almost alone. Hossa will stabilize and provide additional dimension to a third line with Kruger.
How Panarin and Kane then divided fare will obviously dictate how long and / or the success of this initiative can be, but that fills the holes on each of the first three lines of Hawks will also be critical.
Richard Panik, 25, a winger who played well at times last season when he was alongside Toews, may be the natural complement to Panarin and Toews.
Left winger with Anisimov and Kane will likely come from what young stages in the last week of training camp. There are no fewer than five legitimate candidates.
Two that really jumped so far in the camp are 21 years Tyler Motte, who signed with Chicago last spring to forgo his final year at the University of Michigan, and junior miners, 19, Alexandre Fortin, who was signed as an unrestricted free agent it a week ago.
One might think that the probability of return Fortin in Rouyn-Noranda in the Quebec League is extremely high, but the Hawks will undoubtedly their biggest surprise of the summer a real long, hard look this week because it was good.
Fortin was not taken in one of the 2015 or 2016 NHL draft. Chicago invited him to their summer prospects camp, where he was noticeable. Then he played well for the Hawks in Traverse City rookie tournament and came to the main camp, where the Hawks had seen enough and he signed a three-year entry-level contract.
If these children is proving to be a player, either now or down the road, it seems like a Chicago thing (GM Stan Bowman) to do - take a time two rejected projects and turn it into a player.
If Motte was skating with Kruger and Hossa on the third line, the candidates left alongside Anisimov and Kane include Fortin, 22, second year pro Vinnie Hinostroza, 22, third-year pro Ryan Hartman and 20, the first year pro and 2014 first-round pick Nick Schmaltz, who left the University of North Dakota after its second season. Schmaltz probably upside more offensive than others, but it may be best suited to play center, and could take longer to adjust the pro play.
In any case, many new faces in Chicago this season and potentially some fresh looks for returning players.

Coaches Take Contrasting Styles Into World Cup of Hockey Finals

TORONTO - Mike Babcock, coach of the Canadian team at the World Cup of Hockey Jersey, runs a tight ship. He knows where he is going and how to get there.

Coach Ralph Krueger Team Europe, on the other hand, is free to the bar for course corrections.

Babcock is cold technician. Krueger is the calming force.

"Ralph Ralph should be, and I should be me," said Babcock, who is also the coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Passionate and intelligent, Babcock, 53, and Krueger, 57, found success through their contrasting styles. Some of these differences will play in the best-of-three finals of the World Cup, which began Tuesday with Canada defeating Europe, 3-1.

Canadians have watched their scrappy 4-1 win outsiders of Europe during the preliminaries.

"We are very angry right now, which is a good thing," said Krueger after the game. "A little bit too much risk at the wrong time. What we can get out of it is a lot of courage."

Team Europe Upsets Sweden in World Cup of Hockey Semifinal

TORONTO - Canada is in the final of the World Cup of Hockey Jersey, which is a surprise.

The shock is that his opponent is not Sweden or Russia, which are major powers of hockey, but the team Scrappy Europe.

Team Europe was an experiment by the N.H.L. and N.H.L. Players Association, the merger of the players from Slovakia, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Slovenia, Austria, Norway and France.

Although more excitement in the tournament was created by the North American team of American and Canadian players 23 years and under, this team did not pass the group stage. In the absence of pressure to win, Team Europe has found success playing loose and relaxed.

Tatar scored the winner on the threshold of 3 minutes Henrik Lundqvist 43 seconds into overtime. He was a thorn in the side of Lundqvist after beating 12 seconds of the third period to put Europe up 2-1 after Lundqvist, the Rangers goalie, mismanaged original photograph of Tatar.

"I took the puck very late, and it handcuffed me," said Lundqvist, adding that the shot had crossed the legs of a teammate.

Captain Los Angeles Kings Anze Kopitar, who contributed two assists, said the team face another challenge against Canada, who is undefeated.

"We will try to change that," said Kopitar. "Do we think it is feasible? Yes of course."

North America didn't advance but stole show in preliminary round

TORONTO - Team North America and her breathing style games are gone after three thrilling games at the World Cup of Hockey, their 2-1-0 record on the missing semifinal berth by a whisker.

It seems so unfair that, first and foremost among those North American children, who surpassed all expectations defeated Sweden and Finland and losing just one goal to Russia - a loss that has returned to haunt. And it is equally unfair to fans of this sport who are transported back to the Edmonton Oilers in 1980 in the style of hockey this week.

"Yeah, no matter what happens this afternoon, I think we can be proud of ourselves," said North America star Connor McDavid Thursday before Russia's 3-0 victory over Finland sealed the fate of North America Team. "We can hold your head high and know that we've done almost everything we could do. ... It's so much fun. We really do not want it to be over."

Neither does anyone else.

But the memory of the children we have left.

"It's great. It's good for hockey. It's good for the future of hockey," said Team Canada veteran defender Shea Weber Thursday at the North American team. "You see all the young talent going through now. It's the future of our sport. They are a very competitive team. ... I had some success, and it was fun to watch."

But they will be back? Early indications are that the 23-and-down concept is one-and-done experiment for various reasons, one of them is that they do not think USA Hockey would reconfirm, not unless it can first choose which child wants to first team .

Canada dominates Team USA in World Cup of Hockey, 4-2

TORONTO - Without the talent to match them, without the will to oppose them and without direction - from management down - to hang with them, the US team It was unceremoniously dominated by Team Canada Hockey Jersey at the World Hockey Cup Group A match of the preliminary round Tuesday night, losing 4-2.

The win put Canada at 2-0-0 (4 points) in group play. The defeat left the Americans to 0-2-0 (0 points) in group play and ended any possibility that they could qualify for the semifinals. US team has left a game without importance against the Czech Republic on Thursday night as Team Canada and Europe - a hodgepodge of players from countries tournament "orphans" who gave Americans their other loss Saturday - both anticipated.

The Americans entered the game knowing their backs were against the wall, basically they need two regulation wins in their last two games to advance. They talked about matching the intensity of Canada, playing a "gritty" physical and outworking and his eternal rival game.

It ended up looking like a spin-off of hockey-centric "The Walking Dead".

But it did not start that way.