Power Rankings: Youth, speed have Blackhawks flying early

Updated Oct. 22

At the beginning of the decade, the Chicago Blackhawks assembled a talented group of high draft picks they hoped would lead the floundering once-great Original Six franchise back to its glory days.

Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane give Chicago reason to celebrate early on this season. (AP)

Unfortunately, things didn't quite work out when they pinned their rebuilding plans on the likes of Mark Bell, Kyle Calder and Steve McCarthy, players who are all long gone.

Still, being once bitten hasn't made Chicago twice shy. The Blackhawks are again using a similar formula in an attempt to get themselves back to respectability.

This time it seems to be working. The Blackhawks reinforced themselves by adding some quality veterans over the summer, but the story in the Windy City so far has been kids like teenage rookie forward sensations Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, and only slightly more experienced defensemen Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith.

Chicago suffered an early setback when top scorer Martin Havlat injured his shoulder. But there is enough overall depth on the roster, and more important, enough team speed to take advantage of the aggressive style coach Denis Savard has been trying to implement since he took over in midseason last year.

The Blackhawks have already beaten Central Division rival Detroit twice and scored 11 goals in winning consecutive games over the weekend, including four on penalties the Maple Leafs had to take because it was the only way to slow Chicago down. Looks like that could be a problem many other teams will face against the Blackhawks this season.

"You feel good, but we have a long way to go," Chicago general manager Dale Tallon told the Chicago Tribune. "We're trying to get the pieces of the puzzle to make us right for a long time. This is just the beginning, but we're excited."

They should be.

Here are this week's Power Rankings:

Power Rankings
Current		Team	Previous
	1	Bruins · Trends	1
	Boston hit its stride early and rarely stumbled under the smart coaching of Claude Julien. The Bruins can score and enter the playoffs as the only team with fewer than 200 goals allowed.
	2	Sharks · Trends	2
	A first Presidents' Trophy will only mean something to the league's best home team if it turns out to be a stepping stone for a first deep playoff run.
	3	Red Wings · Trends	3
	Detroit often looked like the reigning Cup champs this season, but not lately. Maybe they can flip the switch, but both goalies have sub-.900 save percentages.
	4	Penguins · Trends	7
	Everything about Pittsburgh's season before the coaching change and the deadline acquisitions is irrelevant. These Penguins are a fine-tuned version of last spring's Stanley Cup finalists.
	5	Capitals · Trends	4
	Ovechkin and company will have to provide enough fireworks to overcome a defense that is vulnerable. Can a team run and gun its way to a Stanley Cup in this day and age?
	6	Canucks · Trends	10
	No one out West has played better over the past few months than the Canucks, who will ride a very hot Roberto Luongo into the playoffs. Vancouver won the Northwest after being 13 points back in January.
	7	Blackhawks · Trends	8
	Nikolai Khabibulin is playing like someone in his contract year should and the kids are alright again after going through a rough stretch last month. Starting the playoffs at home is a bonus.
	8	Ducks · Trends	6
	A strong finish got them to the playoffs, and with Francois Beauchemin back, they've got the best blue line in the business. This is the dark-horse team in the West.
	9	Hurricanes · Trends	5
	A sloppy finish cost Carolina a shot at the fourth seed, but the Hurricanes' late-season surge wasn't a fluke and Cam Ward is playing like a Conn Smythe winner again.
	10	Flyers · Trends	11
	At one point this season, the Flyers had a 13-1-3 stretch, but they've been a .500 team since the trade deadline. So they're an enigma heading to the playoffs, a team that could get to the Finals or get bounced in Round 1.
	11	Devils · Trends	9
	The wheels seemed to come off after Martin Brodeur set his wins record in March. A couple of meaningless late wins won't convince anyone the Devils have fixed things.
	12	Blue Jackets · Trends	14
	They have the league's worst power play and allowed more goals than they scored, yet the Jackets still found a way into the playoffs because rookie sensation Steve Mason always gives them a chance to win.
	13	Rangers · Trends	18
	The Rangers earned their playoff spot by winning the games they had to, mainly because Henrik Lundqvist came up very big. But he'll need help for New York to make any kind of run.
	14	Blues · Trends	15
	The Blues officially claimed the feel-good story of the year title last week by grabbing a playoff spot with their roster full of fuzzy-faced kids. St. Louis could be dangerous playing without the pressure of expectations.
	15	Flames · Trends	13
	The impact of Calgary's implosion hasn't muted because the Flames are in the playoffs. But the Flames have been borderline awful for the past six weeks and they are pretty banged up heading into the playoffs.
	16	Canadiens · Trends	12
	Montreal backed into the playoffs last week, which temporarily saved the organization from another major embarrassment in a season that has already gone down in flames.
	17	Sabres · Trends	19
	A second consecutive season without the playoffs. Buffalo was competitive but was done in by Ryan Miller's untimely injury.
	18	Panthers · Trends	17
	Much progress this season under rookie coach Peter DeBoer, but not enough to overcome a punchless offense and too many bad goals against Tomas Vokoun.
	19	Wild · Trends	20
	Things would have probably been different had Marian Gaborik been there all season. At least Minnesota got an idea about what it will be like next season.
	20	Predators · Trends	16
	The Predators stayed in the playoff race longer than they should have and seemed to have set themselves up in goal for the next few seasons with Pekka Rinne.
	21	Oilers · Trends	21
	Edmonton placed a lot of hope -- probably too much -- on several young players and it backfired this season. Long-time coach Craig MacTavish could pay the price.
	22	Senators · Trends	23
	Here is a microcosm of how Ottawa's season went: Sniper Dany Heatley scored four times in his first three games, stayed healthy and still finished one shy of a fourth straight 40-goal season.
	23	Thrashers · Trends	22
	A strong finish and some good young pieces give the Thrashers some hope, although that's getting a bid old for a franchise that has been in only four playoff games.
	24	Kings · Trends	25
	Their development process got a lot further than expected this season and the Kings have the cap space to add big pieces over this summer. They could produce a quick turnaround next year.
	25	Coyotes · Trends	26
	Can we say Phoenix took a step forward this season? Not really, but the bigger concern surrounds the team's future in the desert.
	26	Stars · Trends	24
	Too many key injuries to deal with, especially in a season that had off-ice distractions and Marty Turco far from his best.
	27	Maple Leafs · Trends	27
	Now that the season is over the Brian Burke era will really begin.
	28	Lightning · Trends	28
	All kinds of questions for the Bolts heading into the summer, but the biggest is whether Vincent Lecavalier will be back.
	29	Avalanche · Trends	29
	All signs are pointing to Patrick Roy becoming coach of the Avs after their worst season in Colorado.
	30	Islanders · Trends	30
	The prize for an awful season will come at the draft when New York gets either John Tavares or Victor Hedman.