2006 Chicago Blackhawks Preview

2006 Chicago Blackhawks Preview from Maddux Sports. With the NHL Hockey Season opening up, now is the time to get aquatinted with the 2006 teams and players. Remember if you are NHL hockey betting look no further, as we offer hockey picks and can help you turn a profit betting on the NHL this season.

2006 Chicago Blackhawks Hockey Season Preview

The Chicago Blackhawks lack just about everything that a good hockey team requires—strong shooters, fast skaters, incredible goalies. Once again, this was one of the worst teams in the league last season.

On offense, winger Tuomo Ruutu (2 G, 3 A, 5 Pts in 15 games) has a lot of promise but can’t seem to stay healthy. Left winger Kyle Calder (26 G, 33 A, 59 Pts) was the point scoring highlight. Winger Martin Havlat (9 G, 7 A, 16 Pts in 18 games) and center Bryan Smolinski (17 G, 31 A, 48 Pts), both acquired from Ottawa in the post season, may be able to help on the scoring end. Chicago’s offense was rated 29th and the power play 30th.

The defense, which was 27th in the league, wasn’t much better than the offense. Two young guys, Brent Seabrook (5 G, 27 A, 32 Pts) and Duncan Keith (9 G, 12 A, 21 Pts) showed a lot of promise. Cam Barker (5 G, 13 A, 18 Pts in 26 games at Medicine Hat/WHL) is seen by many as a potential star and will get a chance to show his stuff this season.

The lone highlight on this team that was 29th in penalties (with an average of 18.8 minutes per game) was it’s excellent penalty kill. One positive aspect is the fact that three-quarters of the defensemen are young prospects with professional potential. There’s going to be good days, bad days and a lot of learning on the job on this team.

Nikolai Khabibulin (50 GP, 17 W, 26 L, 6 OT, 3.35 GAA, .886 SP) spent his first season in Chicago playing well below his potential. He was unable to make the tough save and sometimes even the easy save. Hopefully he’ll regain his former form this season.

This is a young team that’ll need plenty of time to develop and improve. Don’t expect the Blackhawks to make it to the playoffs this year.

For more information on the 2006 Chicago Hockey Club check out the Blackhawks team website.