Chicago Blackhawks: Six Questions To Be Answered In November

The Chicago Blackhawks closed out October with a Jekyll and Hyde weekend, raising questions that will likely be answered in the next 30 days.

Chicago served up a stinker for the home fans at United Center on Friday night against Edmonton before rebounding with what was probably their best defensive effort of the young season in Minnesota.  So which Blackhawks squad are we going to see this month?

That depends on how the Blackhawks address these six questions.

1.  How does Chicago combat the injury bug? 

We all saw how mid-season injuries crippled the Red Wings last season; it appears that the Blackhawks may have to fight through the same losses of key players. 

We may be seeing Dave Bolland joining Marian Hossa and Brian Campbell in missing substantial time with an upper-body injury.

The Blackhawks are saying that Bolland's injury is not related to his prior back problems.  However, the center did not practice on Thursday or Friday, left the Edmonton debacle early, and was scratched on Saturday. 

He will be missing "at least two games" according to the club.  Ryan Potulny is now up with the Blackhawks to go along with Friday's call up of Ben Smith.

Unlike last season, this team isn't built to absorb a lot of injury time.  Last season, Chicago was able to battle through injuries to Toews, Hossa, Bolland, Campbell and Adam Burish. 

That will be tougher to pull off; coach Joel Quenneville will be keeping his fingers crossed until Hossa and Bolland are healthy and ready to contribute.

2.  Will Brian Campbell's return ignite the team?

Quenneville hinted that Campbell may hit the ice Monday night in New York;  if not, he will likely take his first shift of the regular season this week.

Campbell in the lineup should ease up on the heavy minutes Nick Boynton has been logging and should make the third line more effective by not asking them to carry as much of the defensive load. 

The less the Blackhawks have to depend on Jassen Cullimore, Jordan Hendry, or John Scott, the better.

Campbell's return lit a fire under the team in last season's playoffs.  Let's hope he brings that same spark with him this month.

3.  Who is the odd man out on defense?

With Campbell back, someone will be heading to Rockford.  Who's it gonna be?

The candidates would seem to be the aforementioned trio of Cullimore, Hendry and Scott.

I say jettison Scott.  He is not a guy who should be playing big minutes at forward or defense.  He is an enforcer that we got along without last season and is not a luxury we can carry right now with our injury situation.

Cullimore has waivers, and can be brought back up in case of injury.  Because of this, I think he may be the one on whom the axe falls. 

He's been logging 12-15 minutes a game and filled in when we needed the help.  Good guy to have in the system just in case.

Hendry is a catch-22; he needs to be confident to be effective.  He's not getting a lot of ice time because he hasn't played well, but to play well, he needs some consistent ice time.

If he's always going to be in Quenneville's doghouse, he needs to be in Rockford or with whomever puts in a claim on him.

4.  Can Troy Brouwer build on his first goal?

Brouwer stuck in a nice little put-back to give the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead against the Wild, and also chipped in with an assist.  I think a big November from Brouwer is a key.

I figured that Brouwer was ready to take on more of the scoring load this year; so far that hasn't happened so much in the goals department.  Brouwer described the pressure of that first goal was a "gorilla on my back."

Hopefully, the Hawks left that gorilla back on the tarmac in Minneapolis and Brouwer finds the net five or six times this month.

5.  Can the third and fourth lines step up and provide some scoring?

One of the things that made the Blackhawks so tough to play last year was that there was so much depth to the scoring.  Kane, Toews and Hossa might get shut out, but the third and fourth line would pick up the slack. 

Jake Dowell has started to answer the call.  If guys like Potulny, Jack Skille and Ben Smith start chipping in, our top-six forwards won't feel the need to press.  Right away, this makes Brouwer a better player.

6.  What kind of defense are we going to see this month?

Are we going to see the group that employs the matador defense, can't clear the puck, and allowed a less-talented squad jump in the Hot Tub Time Machine and look like the mid-80's Oilers?

Or, will the blue line tighten up with the addition of Campbell, allowing Chicago to limit scoring opportunities and play sound team defense like we saw Saturday night?

The answer to this question, and the others above, will determine the fate of the Blackhawks for the next month.