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It Doesn’t Matter Much to Me

By 1525

And so with that, another preseason of hockey is in the books. Wasn’t that fun? Without getting into the off ice hysterics that followed the Hawks these past few weeks (and much by their own doing), it was kind of uneventful.

Well, save for the demotion of Marko Dano, Bryan Bickell clearing waivers, Viktor Svedberg making the team (for now) and maybe a few other things.

Because I love you, the reader, and I’m a masochist, I probably watched more preseason hockey than normal. Here are a few things that jumped out to me.

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Something In The Way – C.I.’s Season Preview: The 4th Line Rotation

By 1280

Marcus Kruger and Andrew Desjardins probably deserve their own posts, but to be honest and fair with you I’m pretty sick of writing these and we’ve got other fish to fry next week. So let’s wrap it all up, take the weekend, and get ready for the season next week (whatever the hell it’s gonna be).

Marcus Kruger – Poor guy has been in a holding pattern all summer. It took until the eve of camp for Kruger even to get a contract for this year, even though he’s more than earned a multi-year deal that he’s watched pretty much all his other core teammates get. Then he had to wait for visa problems to clear before he could arrive at camp late. Good thing he’s a good soldier, huh?

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Roster A-Go Go

By 1707

When I opened up this post it was going to be Marcus Kruger’s season preview, but then the roster news started spurting out like… well, I’ll just let you fill in your own naughty metaphor there. It’s very cold in my apartment and hence I’m not in the mood.

First it was the news that Marko Dano has been sent down to Rockford. Then right behind it came that Bryan Bickell is on waivers, I’m guessing with the intention of sending him down as well.

So let’s try and parse this out as best we can.

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Something In The Way – C.I.’s Season Preview: Patrick Kane

By 1343

Oh goody, the best for last.

While the temptation or urge to go off the deep end here exists, I’ll keep this to on the ice as much as I can. Obviously, there’s still a chance he’s going to miss some time for something, so we’ll factor that in. But don’t worry, there won’t be any preaching here. At least I hope not. And figuring out what he’ll do on the ice is a pretty big mystery in itself.

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Something In The Way – C.I.’s Season Preview: Bryan Bickell

By 1451

Did you forget he was on the team? I kind of forgot he was on the team. We’ve all assumed he’d be traded for so long, and the Hawks clearly have tried to trade him hard, that now that we’re here you kind of just assumed it already happened. But it hasn’t, he’s still here, and one has to assume if he’s here by now he’s probably not going anywhere. Bickell has become one of the least liked Hawks, and it’s basically because he signed a contract he was offered (whether Stan Bowman was actually the one offer him that contract has been up for debate, but it doesn’t matter now). Bickell’s been just about what he’s always been, except now he’s got even balkier knees and a brain that might slowly be turning into oatmeal.

So what’s in store of Bicks?

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If You Smell What The Hawks Are Cooking…

By 1260

So our friend Greg Boysen, who works for about 45 different sites now, tweeted out this little nugget from EJ Hradek on MSG last night. Well, actually Hradek was on MSG on Monday but we got it yesterday anyway you get it shut up. It’s a quick story, but basically Hradek reported that the Hawks didn’t want Patrick Kane to attend camp and did try and actively keep him from attending.

That’s nice… except if you think about it for more than four consecutive seconds it pretty much seems like utter bullshit.

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Something In The Way – C.I.’s Season Preview: Andrew Shaw

By 1155

Should I add “if he’s here?” We’ll get to that.

We know that there are fewer, if any, more made men than Andrew Shaw when it comes to Joel Quenneville. Because the Hawks value versatility and grit pretty highly, as long as that grit comes with skill, Shaw is basically the light of their eyes. Shaw has been deployed in every forward spot on every line in his three seasons here (two full and two half-seasons), and while we scoff when he’s deployed at center up the lineup, it’s not like he’s a total embarrassment there. At least not all the time. It’s just that there’s generally been better alternatives around. And there will be when Shaw is playing third center instead of Teuvo or is on the top line left wing instead of Dano or something this season.