Duncan Keith and Patrick Sharp have been named the assistant captains for this season by the Hawks:

"Duncs and Sharpy are going to wear [the 'A'] all year long," Savard said. "But we have a group of six core leaders for us -- Sharp, Duncs and Tayzer, obviously, plus Brian Campbell, Brent Seabrook and Brent Sopel."

Sharp, 26, led the Blackhawks last season with a career-high 36 goals and paced the NHL this preseason with six tallies.

"It feels great," Sharp said. "It's a great honor to wear a letter in the National Hockey League, especially an organization like the Hawks. I know Duncs is thrilled about it as well, but there are more than just three leaders in this room. We've got a number of guys who are going to provide leadership both on and off the ice."

Anyone else surprised to not see Brent Seabrook given an A? He's seemed like a leader on and off the ice, but I'm sure he will still have that role even if there isn't an A on his sweater.