Much has been said and will continue to be said about the dismantling of our mighty Hawks and how this team won't be the same threat next year. I'm a little tired of hearing it.

Yeah, we'll lose some decent players, but not our best players. We could still have: Kane, Toews, Hossa, Sharp, Boland, Brower, Keith, Seabs, Hammer, Campbell and Niemi, give or take 1 or 2 of those.

The assumption out there is that when we make the playoffs next year, we won't be able to succeed in the same way because we'll be less of a team after losing some players that helped us win the Cup. But for some reason, no one seems to be factoring in the fact that our youngest players (who are incredibly skilled) haven't even peaked yet. In fact, these are the years where we will likely see the most growth. I think we'll be MORE of a team during the playoffs next year.

Hossa will be Hossa next year. Campbell will be Campbell. Sharp (if we have him) will be Sharp.

On the other hand, Kane, Toews, Boland, Brower, Keith, Seabs, Hammer and Niemi are very likely to be BETTER, in some cases, much better. And, they are now all veterans of winning a Stanley Cup. Whatever youth joins the team full time (Beach, Bickel, Hendry, etc.) are now developing next to some unbelievable talent, where the organization is now fertile ground to foster limitless talent. This has the makings of a Scum-like dynasty (sorry, but I wouldn't mind being compared to that franchise).

I just don't think we've seen the best of this team yet.