Hello, Hawks fans! It's quite obvious that SCH has not been updated in quite a while, and I sincerely apologize for that, but now I am ready to go back to blogging about the Blackhawks. The reason I have been unable to blog for a long time is that in late March, I was involved in a pretty serious car accident that left me with a back injury, and just two weeks after the accident I had to have surgery on my back to relieve the pain. Since then, I have not been able to do very much, besides laying around and doing some physical therapy in order to get the back feeling a little better, and in that time I was not able to get on the internet much or really do much of anything. However, I am feeling better now and ready to talk about our Blackhawks as free agency comes upon us.

So, what exactly has happened in the time that I have been unable to blog here? Well, let's go through it:

- The Blackhawks were obviously unable to make the playoffs despite making a late push, unfortunately the Nashville Predators would grab the 8th spot in the Western conference. It was still a great effort down the stretch and another win or two would have gotten them in.

- Patrick Kane won the Calder trophy, which is not much of a surprise. Kane led all rookies with 72 points and it was already widely acknowledged that he was going to be the one who would come away with the award. Congrats to him, and also to Johnathan Toews, who finished 3rd in the voting and would have had a better shot had he not gotten injured.

- Dan Kelly was fired as the PBP announcer for TV, and Pat Foley was brought back to replace him. Absolutely love, love, love this move. Foley will always be the voice of the Blackhawks no matter what, and to have him back as we enter probably the most exciting season for this franchise that I can remember is just a great thing. Kudos to John McDonough for realizing how important this was and making it happen.

- There has been talk that there could be an outdoor game between the Blackhawks and Red Wings on New Year's Day 2009 at either Wrigley Field or Soldier Field. Nothing is official yet and apparently details are still being discussed, but from what I have heard, the Hawks have a good chance of making this happen. I think this would be a fantastic idea, helping to give more attention to the Blackhawks and the NHL.

- Kyle Beach was the Hawks' first pick in the 2008 NHL Draft. Although there have been questions about his attitude and some worried about his anger issues that have been reported, you can't argue with the fact that he has shown himself to be a good power forward type player, and he also recorded 124 points in 129 games in the Western Hockey League with the Everett Silvertips.

So, I look forward to getting back to talking about this team that we all love, and with July 1st and free agency right around the corner, it's an exciting time with the Blackhawks looking to have a big off-season and add some key players into the mix for 2008-2009.