The Blackhawks are currently constructed as an extremely front-loaded team, with 16 players with NHL time last season vying for 12 spots. They retooled their forwards, saying goodbye to Martin Havlat and Sammi Pahlsson, and saying hello to Marian Hossa, Tomas Kopecky and John Madden. They also have Kyle Beach and Akim Aliu looming on the horizon, and Jake Dowell and Jack Skille trying to make a case for a roster spot.

Back on defense, they've essentially stood pat, with Matt Walker getting good money from Tampa Bay, and hoping Brent Sopel can play more like the 2007-08 model they bought.


Why no changes?

When you look at the first pair, you see Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith. Seabrook started the season playing the way we had grown accustomed to, not always making good decisions, and not always taking the body like we hoped he would. When Keith and Patrick Sharp got hurt, and Coach Joel Quenneville put the "A" on his sweater, something in him woke up.

While his hit on Dan Cleary in the Winter Classic in and of itself wasn't too instrumental to anything (it was in the first period of a game the Hawks would eventually lose), it seemed to bring a realization to Seabrook that he could body up with pretty much any non-mutant in the league, which is to say everyone but Zdeno Chara.

Both Seabrook's size and willingness to hit and Keith's speed and ability to take away lanes from pretty much anyone in the league, make them one of the better pairs in the NHL.

Keith is no longer "The Best Defenseman You've Never Heard Of". He finished the season with a robust +33, which makes him +63 over the last two seasons. He also finished 6th in Norris Trophy voting, which means he's being recognized around the league as a top defenseman.

Keith is also the bellwether for the team. As he went last season, so went the Hawks. After his concussion, the Hawks went into a slide, and at the end of the regular season, he looked tired. Again the Hawks slid. He's more of a vital cog than even Jonathan Toews, especially since he spends more time on the ice than anyone, 25:34/game.

The second pair is sizing up to be Brian Campbell and Niklas Hjalmarsson. Campbell is getting over $7 million a year pretty much until the end of time, and has some huge flaws in his game. Of course, this is something we knew coming in. Still, while we weren't exactly expecting Bobby Orr, some of his decision making seemed a little spurious at best. The Red Wings exploited Campbell throughout the Western Conference Finals.

Now, to be fair to Campbell, most of the season he was paired with Walker, a player for whom the phrase "stinks on ice" was coined. He played some Gawd-awful hockey, only occasionally throwing a decent hit, and kicking Ed Jovanoski's ass. Yay?

This season, it'll be Soupy and the Hammer. Hjalmarsson has shown himself to be a good, solid defenseman. He actually made the roster out of training camp last season, before getting injured on Opening Night. By the time he was healthy, Coach Q had a raging boner for Walker, and there was nothing Hammer could do but play in Rockford and wait his chance.

With Hammer paired with Campbell, hopefully Campbell understands he has a partner who actually has a clue out there, and might not feel the need to cover the entire rink. This will lead to less instances of him being caught so far out of position that even his impressive speed couldn't compensate for his screw-ups.

The third pair, as of now, is Cam Barker with either Brent Sopel or Aaron Johnson. Johnson had one of those classic last-minute pickup D-man seasons, where he came out for about 15 games looking like the Steal of the Century, before reminding everyone why he's, well, Aaron Johnson. Not a great player, maybe not even a good one. Passable for a #7. If Jordan Hendry is healthy, you'd rather see him in this role, since there's still room for improvement...with Johnson, you pretty much are getting what you see.

Cam Barker...here's a dilemma. Which Barker will show up this season? By the end of the year, he actually looked like the first-rounder we all hoped he would be. But early on, he looked slow, and took some bad angles. He can actually take the body once and a while, and certainly can add to the offense. When he's on. When he's off, guh.

Last, and certainly least, we have Brent Sopel. When bad Hawks contracts are discussed, Sopel is the first name to pop up. Plucked from the Red Wings' training camp, Dale Tallon used his new-found green light for spending on Sopel. He was playing some solid hockey up to that point, but certainly nothing to merit a three-year deal worth $7 million. If Sopel comes out and plays the way he did when he got that contract, the Hawks actually roll three pairs deep as well as anyone, including Detroit.

What's worth mentioning is, aside from Sopel (32) and Campbell (30), every defenseman is in their twenties. In the next two or three years, we might see prospects Dylan Olsen, a stay-at-home banger, and Shawn Lalonde, a burner.

Make no mistake - these players are the ones upon whose shoulders the Hawks' success rests. This team will score a lot of goals - in fact, leading the NHL in goals scored is not an unrealistic expectation. How many pucks stay out of the Hawks' net is what is key to this team rising to the next, and ultimate, level.