PITTSBURGH -- When it comes to the Chicago Blackhawks, you already know all about Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa and Duncan Keith. They are the superstars, the foundation of a championship-caliber team.
But a lot of teams around the NHL have star power and an impressive core to build around. Almost none of them have been able to achieve the type of success the Blackhawks have had over the past six seasons, making four appearances in the Western Conference finals and two trips to the Stanley Cup Final, winning both of them.
What helps separate the Blackhawks from everybody else in the league is the supporting cast and the complementary players they have on the roster. No matter how great your core is and how much your star players produce over the course of a long season, they are not going to be on top of their game every night. There are going to be nights where your best defenseman struggles. There are going to be games where your top-line, highest-paid players don't score. When that happens, you need some sort of depth that can pick up the slack.
In Chicago, it's guys like defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson, an underrated defender who the team decided to keep after its 2010 Stanley Cup title at the expense of then-starting goaltender Antti Niemi (a player who would have been easier to replace). It's Andrew Shaw, a 23-year-old forward on an entry-level contract who scored 20 goals a season ago and makes his living causing chaos around the net.
But the best of the bunch is Brandon Saad, a 22-year-old forward who is quickly becoming the next core player for the Blackhawks (if he isn't already considered one).
He is finding his place on Chicago's top line alongside Toews and Hossa to form what might be one of the most intimidating and dominating lines in the league. With Toews and Hossa, you have two of the best two-way players in the NHL and a pair of likely Hall of Famers. Toews has already won a Selke Trophy as the best defensive forward in the league, while Hossa, one of the best defensive wingers of his era, probably should have already won one by now. Their skill with the puck is obvious any time it is on their stick.
On Wednesday night in Pittsburgh -- Saad's hometown -- the trio put on a show throughout the night, creating multiple scoring chances, including several prime opportunities for Saad around the net only to have them thwarted by Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, and a first-period goal that capped off a dominating shift against Pittsburgh's top line.
For much of the night after that Penguins coach Mike Johnston seemed to go out of his way to make sure his top line avoided the Saad-Toews-Hossa trio.
It's a great example of what that line is capable of when all of their skill is put together.
In an era where puck possession is king, the Blackhawks are the definitive possession team and have been for several years. Right now this line is the one driving the bus for them. It's like a nonstop game of keepaway where they are constantly holding the puck and making the opposing team chase them around the ice. And when they don't have the puck, it's only a matter of time until they get it back. After their 3-2 shootout win in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said their protection of the puck is as good as any line in the league, and it's leading to a ton of goals.
Since the unit has started playing regularly together over the past couple of months, they have outscored their opponents during even-strength play by an almost unbelievable 21-6 margin, and it's usually coming against the other team's best players.
It's not even competitive when they are on the ice together.
The benefit of players like Saad for teams like Chicago is that they are not only getting a top-line player who is still improving and yet to hit his peak, but they are also getting him on an entry level contract for dirt cheap against the salary cap. For a team that has huge contracts invested in its core (Toews, Kane, Hossa, Keith, Patrick Sharp, Brent Seabrook, Corey Crawford) it is a huge advantage to get guys like Saad (as well as Shaw, and others) at such a cheap price. This is where other teams with several big-money players tend to fail. They don't have guys like Saad to help fill out the roster and when the team inevitably comes up short, the core players end up taking the fall for what is probably a flawed, undermanned roster.
Saad, a second-round draft pick by the Blackhawks in 2011, is often held up as an example of great drafting by the Blackhawks organization, but what he really should be is an example of the good fortune teams sometimes need to piece together dominating teams like this.
In Pittsburgh, Saad is viewed as a prime example of the failings of the previous front office regime, not only because they passed him with their first-round pick (to take defenseman Joe Morrow, later traded to the Dallas Stars for the unrelated Brenden Morrow), but because of their inability to draft and develop any talent on the wings. The thing about Saad is, every team in the NHL passed on him once. Some teams passed on him twice. The Blackhawks themselves passed on him three times in the first 36 picks before selecting him 43rd overall.
Entering his draft year, when he would play his first year in the Ontario Hockey League with the Saginaw Spirit, he was projected to be one of the top picks in the 2011 draft. But an injury-plagued season significantly cut into his ability to produce and play at his expected level, which turned scouts off from him and sent him falling down the draft board until the Blackhawks finally snagged him with the 43rd overall pick (their fourth pick of the year).
It was the type of move and good fortune that can turn a great team into a championship team.
