Well , what a happy little online community we’re going to be tonight. The Hawks open the preseason in the Hinterlands against the collection of nippy young forwards who can’t get into bars south of the 49th known as the Edmonton Oilers. This won’t be a full out preview, but with the roster the Hawks are taking up there there are a couple interesting notes:
-Both Phillip Danault and Brandon Saad are making the trip, and based on prospects camp, the rookie tournament, and what I’ve read about practices, both these kids are ahead of Jesse Rogers’s new crush Mark McNeil. None of these three are going to make the team this year and are headed back to junior, but it’ll be nice to get a look at them at real-ish competition.
–Kyle Beach is still alive. He’s fallen so far out of the Hawks plans, he simply must have a good camp and then start inserting foot in asses at Rockford this year to get himself back in anyone’s consciousness. Proving there’s more than a couple flies and a turkey sandwich between his ears might help.
-Rusty Olesz gets to stretch out what everyone says has been impressive practice form into an actual game, and if he does he’ll probably scare the shit out of Viktor Stalberg, who also makes the trip.
-Might be cool to see how aggressive Sami Lepisto is, giving us an idea of what game he and the Hawks want him to play.
-McNeil, Marcus Kruger, and Jonathan Toews are the only centers coming, which makes me wonder if Ben Smith isn’t going to play there some tonight. Worth a look.
Consider this your thread. Go.