THERE’S A DYNASTY TO DEFEND
The Chicago Blackhawks were going to be a remarkable story this season even before the giant, ugly, probably indelible stain that is the Patrick Kane alleged rape investigation.
The Kane story has taken more twists than a roller-coaster, and it’s churned the gut just as fully as the carnival ride.
Kane didn’t play Friday in Montreal in his team’s 5-1 romp over the Canadiens, but head coach Joel Quenneville said before the match that the forward’s exhibition-season debut was at hand.
“We haven’t put it together, but likely,” Quenneville said about whether Kane would be in Chicago’s lineup Saturday at home vs. St. Louis.
“There’s been a lot going on the last couple of days, but today we’re on the ice and travelling here today, so I think that’s where we’re at,” he added, asked whether he was aware of the latest developments in the Kane saga that currently is hockey’s great moving target.
“Guys have been good. We don’t talk about it; you hear things, but it’s business as usual,” Quenneville said of his players and the obvious distraction factor.
“You’ve got to commend (Kane) — his approach has been very businesslike. He’s trying to get his game in order like a lot of guys are.”
Deflecting sordid reports about the surreal case, the Blackhawks are bearing down as the superpower they have proven to be the past half-dozen years.
Three Stanley Cups in six years is a dynasty, no matter how you slice it — even with the rude interruptions of the Boston Bruins in 2011 and the Los Angeles Kings in 2012 and 2014.
Last June, Chicago became the first team to win three Cups in six seasons since Detroit’s run in 1997, ’98 and 2002.
But a championship doesn’t guarantee roster stability, not in the salary-cap era. With the bubbly still being rinsed out of Lord Stanley’s big sterling chalice, the Blackhawks were witnessing a handful of big names leave town largely because of the cap.
Gone were Patrick Sharp, Brandon Saad, Kris Versteeg and Johnny Oduya, winners of a combined nine Stanley Cups in Chicago. In all, more than a dozen packed up — retired, traded or signed elsewhere as free agents.
That’s not to say the Blackhawks will be bottom-feeders this season, stripped to the bone.
General manager Stan Bowman rolled up his sleeves, acquiring forwards Artem Anisimov, Marko Dano, Jeremy Morin and Corey Tropp from Columbus in the deal that dispatched Saad, centre Alex Broadhurst and defenceman Michael Paliotta.
Incoming, too, were centre Viktor Tikhonov, defenceman Cameron Schilling, and four players returned in two trades.
Is “dynasty,” Quenneville was asked, a four-letter word? After all, many teams hate having their tires pumped, no matter how dominant they might be.
“I don’t know what you mean by a four-letter word,” he replied, a grin spreading beneath his legendary moustache. “Certainly we’ve had a good stretch. We’ve had a lot of fun knowing how tough that last Cup was — as tough as any one we’ve had to win.
“But we’ve got a real competitive group that finds different ways of having some success. It’s going to be challenging here for us right from the outset with a lot of new guys coming in here.
“Certainly (there will be a) lot of opportunity within our team, trying to grab spots or grab quality ice time along the way. But that will be our challenge going into it, knowing teams will be ready for us.”
Quenneville trotted out the pre-season maxim that’s on every coach’s top-three list: his Blackhawks need to get off to a great start “and try to get into the playoffs,” speaking respectfully about a tough Western Conference and Central Division.
“When we start the playoffs,” he said, “our team really likes to raise their level and find ways. It’s always exciting to work with this group.
“We’ve been hunted in the past. We welcome that challenge. There are no easy nights in our conference, in our division, but we anticipate probably a different level going into it, particularly at the start of this year.”
The Blackhawks didn’t exactly bring a blockbuster lineup to the Bell Centre on Friday. Anyone watching Châteauguay native Corey Crawford in goal, or popular captain Jonathan Toews weaving his magic, or forward Marian Hossa or blue-line studs Duncan Keith or Brent Seabrook in action, was at home playing a video game.
Fans had to be content with the likes of gilt-edged prospect Marko Dano, young forward Teuvo Teravainen, former NHL first-round pick Tikhonov and goaltender Scott Darling.
Yes, the pre-cut pre-season is a time to study everyone you have in camp. But you’d also think that if the Blackhawks agreed to play in a historic hockey market like Montreal, they’d bring at least a couple of stars, the Washington Capitals having done much better than that a night earlier.
Then again, you’d also think that the Blackhawks knew exactly what they were doing, racing out to a 3-0 first-period lead with a squad that barely met the league minimum of “veterans” for a pre-season game lineup.
Zack Kassian put a little life into the Bell Centre with his nice goal 25 seconds into the second period, but Chicago’s Kyle Baun, grandson of Toronto Maple Leafs legend Bobby Baun and the game’s first star, made it 4-1 with a deflected knuckler that eluded Canadiens goalie Carey Price.
No way the Habs were coming back on this night, of course — last season, the Blackhawks went 33-0-0 when leading after 40 minutes, 25-0-0 in the regular season, 8-0 in the playoffs en route to the Stanley Cup.
An irrelevant statistic, as are many of the numbers crunched in the pre-season.
Down 4-1 and on the power play with less than two minutes to play, Canadiens coach Michel Therrien pulled Price for an extra skater. Chicago hit the yawning cage with 57 seconds remaining for the 5-1 final.
But save your angst, folks. Still seeking their first win of the preseason, the Habs are in Toronto Saturday night to face Canada’s Team.
And we’re not talking about the playoff-bound Blue Jays.