An Artist's Perspective of the Blackhawks

That’s the most obvious change I’ve observed since the beginning of the ‘Q” continuum (I love that I get to say that now…big Star Trek fan!). Practice is more physically difficult (which will help in those tough OT games of which we seem to have too many of lately) and also more structured, but two things seem to really stand out.

What does that say about the current Blackhawk team? It says a lot! Its easy to point out the flaws in this young team, but the positives to take away from Saturday’s game say even more.

I’m gonna have to give Pat Foley a hard time about that. I replayed the end of last night’s win and never heard his trademark shout-maybe I missed it? At any rate, the first win is in the books, but not without another bombshell. The Hawks have been purging the remnants of the past and I hear Savvy is about to be the next victim.

In some ways it seemed like last season never ended. After the playoffs, my own attention was turned to preparation for the inaugural Blackhawks Convention. After the Convention I began to prepare for the first Training Camp Festival. The one thing missing during the summer was interaction with the actual Blackhawks-the guys who make what I do so much fun.

There are plenty of other folks who will tell you how the players and coaching staff performed at Saturday’s Festival. This blog will just be my personal experiences from yet another Blackhawk’s ‘first’ event.

The Blackhawks announced the trade of Robert Lang this past week. Personally, I’ll miss Langer, he has a dry sense of humor and was one of the elder statesmen on a team populated with youth-all of whom make me feel very old!

Since my contract's arrived today, I guess it's public info that the Hawk's will be hosting the first annual 'Streetfest' to coincide with the opening day of training camp, Saturday, September 20. I hope the Chicago Bears take notice because I think it's a pretty cool thing! The Bears training camp has always been a great and inexpensive way to meet the team and generate excitement, but combining the other activities of the 'Streetfest' would make it even better- so way to go again, Blackhawks! Another first for the new management and PR team!

What a difference a year makes at Prospects Camp! I could tell you what I observed about the players on the ice, but folks on the Blackhawks Message Boards with much deeper knowledge than mine have already done so. I’d like to give a little insight into a different aspect of Camp.

Campbell, Huet and Walker-not the name combination I expected the Hawks to post during the first week of the UFA signing frenzy, but then the draft pick was a bit of a shock as well. Everyone knew the Hawks were lusting after Campbell because it was obvious and that made him expensive. My only concern with the cost involves players like Keith, Tazer and Kaner who will rightfully expect similar or better compensation in the next two years. I don’t see how the Hawks will arrange things to stay within the salary cap, but then its not my problem either.