Between the Circles

Winger Akim Aliu was one of the 14 players assigned to Rockford on Friday, which was no real surprise.
Aliu, a second-round draft pick in 2007 is still a long way away from being ready for the NHL. He was barely noticeable in the four days of scrimmages.
The seven other forwards sent to Rockford were Dan Bertram, Nathan Davis, Bryan Ewing, Adam Hobson, Bracken Kearns, Peter MacArthur and Derek Nesbitt.
The four defensemen sent down were Michael Brennan, Jonathan Carlsson, Simon Danis-Pepin and David Phillips.
The two goalie off to Rockford are Joe Fallon and Alec Richards.
That leaves 36 players in camp, including several that have impressed the coaching staff such as defensemen Brian Connolly and Shawn Lalonde.

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville is hoping center Dave Bolland can start practicing either Friday or Saturday.
Bolland has missed the first five days of training camp with a sore lower back, but nobody seems to be worried yet that the problem could carry over into the regular season, which starts in two weeks.
Tomas Kopecky has been playing center in the scrimmages and looked good again Thursday between Patrick Sharp and Dustin Byfuglien. The line scored 3 goals, all of them coming when matched up against Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook.
Quenneville said he expects to use an assortment of line combinations during the preseason. The lines during Thursday’s last full-squad scrimmage could have been an indication what Quenneville is thinking.

Sharp-Kopecky-Byfuglien

After three days of scrimmages one thing is clear when it comes to the Blackhawks: This is a very talented hockey team with a ton of skill. And Marian Hossa is not even around yet.
Here are a few observations.
- Don't count out Jack Skille winning a roster spot unless his $1.275 million cap number comes into play. He's had a good three days, but now let's see him keep it up in the exhibition games.
- Jordan Hendry has been very steady, looking a lot like he did 2007-08, when he played 40 solid games in the NHL before suffering a head injury at Rockford.
- The backup goalie battle is going right down to the wire. Antti Niemi and Corey Crawford each have impressed and have their own strengths. Niemi is extremely quick while Crawford is big and technically sound.

It’s pretty much a certainty the Blackhawks will take both Corey Crawford and Antti Niemi to Europe along with Cristobal Huet for the final two exhibition games and the regular-season openers against Florida.
“There’s a good chance we could be bringing three over there,” coach Joel Quenneville said Monday. “With the two exhibition games before that, I think we could use another one. I still think it will be a good process evaluating, watching them practice and in games.”
Quenneville has yet to announce his goalie rotation for this weekend’s exhibition openers against Washington and Minnesota, or if he plans to give Crawford and Niemi full games.
Niemi was sharp in Monday’s head-to-head scrimmage against Crawford, allowing no goals in 25 minutes to Crawford’s 1.

It was a mostly ho-hum first day of training camp for the Blackhawks.
Dave Bolland didn’t participate in the scrimmages because of a lower body injury that coach Joel Quenneville said would keep him off the ice for the next few days.
The scrimmages were played at a high tempo but were a little ragged. Nobody stood out. There were a few scraps between guys with big numbers looking to make an impression, which happens during every training camp scrimmage.
Quenneville and GM Stan Bowman tried to convince everyone there are jobs to be won even though the roster is all but set outside of the backup goalie competition between Corey Crawford and Antti Niemi.
Who is going to crack these four lines, assuming everyone stays healthy?
Patrick Sharp-Johnny Toews-Patrick Kane

Don't plan on heading out to the Edge Ice Arena in Bensenville to watch the Blackhawks in training camp starting Sunday.
For the most part, the Hawks are through with the Edge as their primary practice facility. There might be an odd practice here or there at the Edge, but all of training camp will be conducted at the United Center and Johnny's Ice House. Once the season begins, the Hawks still plan on practicing at the UC and Johnny's until their new practice facility, Johnny's Ice House II, is completed in about six weeks, according to GM Stan Bowman.
The new Johnny's, located near the intersection of Madison Street and Western Avenue on the West Side, will feature a full dressing room and upgraded training, weight and medical rooms from what the Hawks had at the Edge.

TSN.ca's Bob McKenzie reported the Blackhawks have traded a 2010 second-round draft pick that originally was Toronto's back to the Maple Leafs in exchange for a 2011 second-rounder (via Calgary) and a 2011 third-round pick.
There was no announcement from the Hawks as of Sunday morning.
The Maple Leafs now have back their own first-, second- and third-round picks for 2010, which the NHL requires in order for a team to submit an offer sheet for a restricted free agent.
McKenzie speculated the Maple Leafs now might be ready to put in an offer sheet for Boston Bruins RFA Phil Kessel.
As for the Hawks, rumors started Friday and into Saturday that they might be interested in trading for disgruntled Ottawa Senators winger Dany Heatley.

The lofty expectations for the Blackhawks have started.
The first preseason magazine is out, the Hockey News Yearbook, and the publication has picked the Hawks win the Central Division and finish second in the Western Conference behind the San Jose Sharks.
Saying the Hawks are "fully loaded for a Stanley Cup push," the Hockey News believes in goalie Cristobal Huet and apparently has no concerns about the defense after Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Brian Campbell.
The Hawks haven't won a division title since the 1992-93 season when it still was the great, old Norris. The Detroit Red Wings have won eight Central Division crowns in a row and nine of the last 10.

With the Vancouver Canucks announcing Wednesday they have signed goalie Roberto Luongo to a 12-year, $64 million contract extension, will the NHL look at this deal as closely as it is investigating Marian Hossa's contract with the Blackhawks?
I'm betting not.
The NHL didn't like the fact Hossa's 12-year, $62.8 million deal with the Hawks that is front-loaded took him past the age of 40.
Luongo's is 30, which means he'll be 42 - same as Hossa - when this contract expires.
And he's a goalie!
The Hawks don't think they have anything to worry about with regard to Hossa's contract, but who knows? This is the NHL and Gary Bettman we're talking about.

Paul Kelly’s firing early Monday morning as executive director of the NHL Players Association was hardly big news to hockey fans.
The only thing fans should care about is both the union and league start preparing soon for negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement following the 2010-11 season.
There cannot be a single day of a work stoppage, not after debacle of the missed season in 2004-05.
NHLPA ombudsman Buzz Hargrove told the TEAM 1040 radio station in Vancouver Monday that the union didn't believe Kelly was the right man to lead them in that next contract negotiations.