Chicago Blackhawks-Detroit Redwings: Who Has a Brighter Future?

(Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)

When it comes to rivalries in hockey, the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings have one of the biggest. This past season we saw the Red Wings do what they do best, while the Blackhawks gave them a run, finishing in second place in the Central Division.

As the 2009-2010 season is approaching us and both teams have made some changes, there is always a question of who will be better?

Both Chicago and Detroit have a positive future ahead, but who has an edge in the long run?

Offense

The offensive core of both teams are excellent and they will both be explosive next season. The Blackhawks are certainly a younger team, but the experience of Detroit is a lot to handle as we saw in the Conference Finals last season.

Chicago now has an offensive lineup that will make other teams play a lot differently when playing against them. Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews are two of the best young guns in the game, combining for 59 goals and 139 points last season.

Of course, the Red Wings can counter with the feared duo of Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg who brought a little more offense to the table totaling 63 goals and 170 points together in the 08-09 season.

Although Detroit has an edge over Chicago when we compare Datsyuk and Zetterberg to Kane and Toews, the two Blackhawk forwards together are 17 years younger than the two Red Wing forwards and have not hit their primes yet. Regardless, all four players still have a lot left in their tanks.

Detroit has not done much this offseason except lose players. Most notably, Marian Hossa is now a Blackhawk. Hossa will make an immediate impact in Chicago's young lineup as he will most likely play with Kane, Toews, or Sharp. With Hossa gone, Detroit will look to Jiri Hudler and Johan Franzen to step up.

Franzen is a big guy at 6'2", 210 pounds, and was a force on the ice scoring 34 goals last season. Hudler is coming off his best season yet scoring over 20 goals for the first time while adding 34 assists for 57 points.

On the other hand, Chicago has Patrick Sharp and Kris Versteeg.

Sharp is almost the same type of player as Franzen, except a little less physical. Sharp is coming of an injury-ruined season where he only played 61 games, but still scored 26 goals and had 44 points.

Kris Versteeg is also a player who makes defensemen stay more aware when they are on the ice with him because his speed and agility could cost the opposing teams. Just like Kane and Toews, Sharp and Versteeg together are younger than Hudler and Franzen, but by just 4 years.

Underdogs

Alongside all the big name players both teams have, Detroit and Chicago also both have incredible players that are not recognized as they should be.

Andrew Ladd, Dave Bolland, Dustin Byfuglien, and Troy Brouwer are all coming off their best NHL seasons and were not mentioned much during Chicago's success despite playing a huge role.

Ladd and Bolland are both capable of being top six forwards and are both great two-way forwards. Bolland (+19) and Ladd (+26) have a great defensive sense for the game and combine for a +45 rating last year.

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