A Blackhawks-Stars Showdown to Kick Off the Season. Game On!

It's almost here.

The 2011-12 Blackhawks season will be officially underway Friday, Oct. 7 when our team faces off against the Dallas Stars.

Dallas must feel like they have a score to settle with the Hawks, even though it wasn’t us that kept them out of the playoffs last year. They choked against a lesser team (Minnesota) knowing all they had to do was win to get in. The Stars likely believe they should have been the team to match up against Vancouver in the first round. But they weren't. We were. Tonight is Dallas’ chance to say “See, we’re the better team.”

But enough about the Stars. Aside from this weekend’s home series, the Blackhawks are again going to have a target on their backs every time they go on the road. Many experts are picking them to have a strong bounce-back season, including reclaiming the Central Division title they relinquished last season to the Red Wings. Some are picking Duncan Keith to win the Norris and for captain Jonathan Toews to garner Hart (MVP) consideration. It’s hard to argue that there is a more complete player in the game right now than Toews—though Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk is right there with him.

EA Sports recently ran an entire virtual season and they have the Blackhawks making it back to the Stanley Cup Finals. Though this time around, they lose to the Penguins.

While pre-season predictions are nice to read about, it doesn’t matter once the puck drops for game one. So what should we be looking for tonight?

Having Patrick Sharp back is going to be a big boost for the team, both from an offensive standpoint and that of morale. He’s a team leader both on the ice and in the locker room.

An even bigger key would be to have Dave Bolland return from the injury he suffered during the pre-season. He showed how critical he is to the success of this team in last year’s playoffs against the Canucks. Having him healthy and able to contribute will be crucial in helping the Blackhawks get off to a solid start this season.

Two focal points, offensively? How Patrick Kane adjusts to life at center and how 18-year-old rookie Brandon Saad fits in on a line with Sharp and Toews. Saad's impressive pre-season performance earned his spot on the team. But how will up against the opponent’s top defensive pairing? We’ll know pretty quickly how these experiments go, as we know Coach Q changes up lines without hesitation.

The biggest concern I have right now is on the penalty kill. It almost cost the Blackhawks their playoff spot last year and it wasn’t much better this pre-season. It’s a given that when you don’t have your key guys for every game during the pre-season, your numbers aren’t going to be great. But they have to dramatically improve if they want to stay competitive, especially knowing that with the extra grit they brought in during the off season, they may be spending more time short-handed than they did last year.

Goal tending shouldn’t be a concern assuming Corey Crawford has a solid sophomore season in the net. Ray Emery won the backup job during pre-season, despite looking really shaky. I think his NHL experience is what tipped the scales in his direction over candidate Alexander Salak.

All in all, our Hawks look like they have the ingredients for a really special season. We’ll see if they can live up to the excitement when the puck drops at 7:30 p.m. tonight.