Chicago Blackhawks: The Team to Beat In The West?

In 2008-09, the Chicago Blackhawks left its recent history in the garbage can and jumped into the class of the NHL's elite teams.

Led by two young studs, neither of whom could drink on New Year's Day when they hosted the Detroit Red Wings at Wrigley Field, the Hawks are a Cinderella story of Bill Murray-proportions.

On the start of the free agency period, the Hawks made a big splash in the league when they signed Marian Hossa to a 12-year contract.

What's scary is that Hossa, at just 30-years-old, is one of the oldest players on the Hawks roster.

But what does this move, and others that have already taken place, mean to the landscape of the Western Conference? Let's look at my way-too-early power rankings in the Western Conference.

1. Chicago Blackhawks

Look at their roster. Toews, Kane, Patrick Sharp, Kris Versteeg, and now Hossa are all legitimate scorers, with quality role players like Dustin Byfuglien, Dave Bolland, and Andrew Ladd next to them. Their blue line will be solid again, with Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith establishing itself as one of the top pairings in the league, and Brian Campbell being a 50-point guy.

The big question for Chicago: goal. Can Cristobal Huet support this potent offense enough to win the conference?

2. Detroit Red Wings

I would be kidding everyone if I ranked the two-time defending conference champions any lower than two. They felt a couple serious defections on Wednesday, though, as Hossa and goalie Ty Conklin, as well as Tomas Kopecky, left as free agents.

That doesn't change names like Datysuk, Zetterberg, Cleary, and Osgood, though. They're still a force to be dealt with, and there's no doubt that they'll reload quickly.

The big question for Detroit: goal. Conklin played in 40 regular season games last year and won 25 of them. The team had the luxury of keeping Osgood fresh for April, May and June last year because of their great depth.

3. Columbus Blue Jackets

Yes, I'm going with a color theme... Black, Red, and now Blue. Almost patriotic, right?

But seriously, the Jackets made a strong run last season and, unlike lots of the teams that finished ahead of them in the West last year, haven't had a significant exodus this summer.

On Wednesday, they added former-Blackhawks and Ducks center Samuel Pahlsson to a team that features last year's rookie of the year in net, Steve Mason. The only major free agent on their roster is Jason Williams, who became expendable when they traded for Antoine Vermette during the season.

The big question for Columbus: who cares? Until January, when the Ohio State Buckeyes are done, Columbus is a one-team town. The person the Jackets management needs to care about, however, is Rick Nash, who could be a free agent next summer.

4. Vancouver Canucks

Their summer goal was to keep the Sedin twins in town, and they accomplished that on Wednesday. Though they lost Mattias Ohlund to Tampa Bay, they still have a solid team with Roberto Luongo in net.

The big question in Vancouver: how do they compete? In their second-round loss to the Blackhawks, the Canucks were shown to be slow and vulnerable to fast skating and passing. The Sedins are good headliners, but Vancouver needs to get faster to win the West.

The Rest

Calgary is a wild card in the West. While they successfully turned the trade for defender Jay Bouwmeester into signing the young star, they lost Mike Cammalleri to Montreal. Much like Vancouver, their issues were exposed by the Blackhawks in the playoffs and they haven't signed Mikka Kiprusoff yet.

San Jose, the team with the best record in the West last year, forgot to show up in the playoffs and were an enormous disappointment. Their roster is loaded with older players, many of whom are either overpaid or free agents. How they adjust to a younger, faster game is yet to be seen.

St Louis made a splash by taking Conklin away from Detroit. They add him to a team that had a strong run late last season. Brad Boyes was a solid scorer last year (72 points, 33 goals), but the Blues need to surround him with someone else that can find the net.

Edmonton, a lot like Calgary, could be an intriguing team this summer and moving forward. They've been linked to Dany Heatley in the last couple days and made a bold move by adding Khabibulin on Wednesday. They figure to be very active this summer.

Minnesota hasn't been as active as other teams in free agency this summer, but made a nice trade on draft day when they acquired Kyle Brodziak from Edmonton for picks. They had six players over 40 points last year, but just one, Mikko Koivu, had over 65. They finished just two points out of the playoffs last year.

Everyone else figures to be chasing these teams, both in their pursuit of free agents this summer and on the ice this coming season.

As the Fourth of July approaches, it's great to have ice on the brain!