Hawks fans knew there was going to be a bad break-up after winning the Stanley Cup. It happened the last time and it was going to happen again. The Hawks parted ways with fan favorites Dave Bolland, who scored the winning goal in Game 6 of the Cup Final and Michael Frolik, the only NHL player to score two penalty shots in the NHL Playoffs. Luckily this time, the break-up won't be as bad 2010 and it looks like the Hawks will be poised for another run in 2014.
However, Bolland and Frolik will have holes to fill. Still, the Hawks have plenty of talent among their prospects to fill the gaps. One name being tossed around is Brand Pirri. The Toronto native scored the most points out of any player in the American Hockey League last season, scoring 75 out of 76 total points for the Rockford IceHogs. GM Stan Bowman has been saying multiple times that Pirri's time is due, so I won't be surprised if he shows up as the second line center for the Hawks next season.
Also important is the Hawks draft picks and non-draft picks like Drew LeBlanc. It'll be interesting to see if LeBlanc gets a chance next year. Also available is winger Ben Smith whose coming out party happened to be Game 3 of the Cup Final filling in for Marian Hossa. However, the young winger showed he's more than capable of playing for the big team, especially considering he score the winning goal of Game 6 against the Canucks in the 2011 Quarterfinals.
I'm not scared about the Hawks next season because I know that they have plenty of talent to repeat. After a rough couple of seasons, GM Stan Bowman has redeemed himself and has shown he knows how to build a winning team. We'll just have to wait and see what happens next year.
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