The Chicago Blackhawks made a bold move on Monday when they announced that they intended to walk away from goaltender Antti Niemi’s arbitration award of $2.75 million for next season and instead decided to sign unrestricted free agent netminder Marty Turco to a one-year, $1.3 million contract.

While the decision to sign Turco may come as a surprise, especially since the deal went down so soon after Chicago decided not to honor Niemi’s arbitration award, it will likely turn out to be the best possible scenario for the Blackhawks in the long run and help the team stay in decent shape for another shot at the Stanley Cup next season.

Turco is a seasoned professional who still has something to prove as he rounds the corner into the twilight of his career. The former Dallas Star spent nine years with the Star’s organization where he recorded several franchise records, including most wins, most shutouts and most games played. In fact, Turco was a work-horse for the Stars. He played in 60 or more games in four of his last five seasons as the starting goaltender for Dallas.

However, Turco’s numbers began to falter over the past two seasons and he struggled to regain his former All-Star form. Ultimately, the Stars decided to bring in former Atlanta Thrashers goalie Kari Lehtonen at the trade deadline this past season which all but signaled the end of Turco’s tenure in Dallas.The team opted not to offer Turco a contract extension when the free agent period began on July 1.

At the age of 34, Turco needed a change of scenery and a fresh start, and Chicago offered him just that. Turco also needs to prove that these last few seasons have been a fluke and that he is still one of the premier goaltenders in the NHL. For as much talent as the Blackhawks lost this offseason, the team still boasts a core of very talented young players who helped catapult them to success. Turco should thrive in net with players like Duncan Keith, Brian Campbell and Brent Seabrook playing defense in front of him. Young guns like Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane should help rejuvenate Turco with their youthful enthusiasm and hard work ethic.

The team hitting the ice to help raise the championship banner in October may not even closely resemble the one that captured the cup in June, but the team is still a definite threat and should not be underestimated. Much of their core is still in tact and that could prove to be overwhelming for many teams on many nights. By bringing Turco into the mix, the Blackhawks not only save some much-needed cap space, but the team also gets a proven netminder in need of a change of scenery that could benefit from what Chicago has to offer in terms of talent, energy and dedication. Keep an eye on Turco this season. He still has a desire to play a top-level game and, more importantly, to prove his critics wrong. Chicago will offer him the opportunity, but he needs to seize the reins and show the NHL that he hasn’t yet lost his stride.

Brian Campbell may be the smartest man in hockey.

It wasn’t too long ago that Campbell himself was a highly coveted free agent whose skills as a puck-moving defenseman were in demand by several organizations around the league. After spending most of his career early on with the Buffalo Sabres, indications were that Campbell had interest in testing the open market in July 2008 when he was scheduled to become a free agent. Opting not to take a chance on losing Campbell for nothing, the Sabres decided to trade him to the San Jose Sharks for the remainder of the 2007-08 season. San Jose became the favorite to resign Campbell after they were bounced from the playoffs by the Dallas Stars, but Campbell instead opted to sign a deal with the rebuilding Chicago Blackhawks for just over $7 million a season.

While Campbell helped the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup in only his second season with the club, his giant salary and cap hit are coming back to haunt the team in a big way. And there’s not a lot that Chicago can do about it. Why? Because Campbell made sure that there was a no-trade clause thrown into the contract with that hefty salary.

It’s a well-known fact that Chicago is currently in dire straights with their salary cap situation. The team needs at least one more forward and one more defenseman to adequately  round out their roster, but the team is already over the salary cap by about $400,000. And before the Blackhawks can look into signing two more players, they need to take care of another very urgent, pressing matter – goaltender Antti Niemi.

Niemi, who only made $800,000 last season, overtook the starting goaltender job from Cristobal Huet about halfway through last season and never looked back until he hoisted the cup in June. Niemi is scheduled to meet with the Blackhawks for a salary arbitration meeting tomorrow which will likely give the 26-year-old goaltender a significant raise. Some are speculating that Niemi could be awarded as little as $2 million a season or as much as $4 million a season during the arbitration hearing tomorrow. Regardless, the arbitration award will continue to put Chicago further over the salary cap.

Chicago always has the option of walking away from the Niemi award, which would probably be a big mistake. Unfortunately, it’s a numbers game at this point as the Blackhawks try to dump the water overboard to help keep the ship from sinking. The problem is that the Blackhawks have two very hefty dead-weight contracts to contend with. The first belongs to Campbell with his $7 million cap hit. But Chicago backed themselves into a wall when they agreed to the no-trade clause in the contract. Sure, Campbell could waive his no-trade clause, but he will most likely do that only for a select group of teams – most of which would be reluctant to bring on his $7 million a season cap hit. Needless to say, Chicago is stuck with Campbell.

The second contract belongs to goaltender Cristobal Huet. The former Montreal Canadiens goaltender came over the same summer as Brian Campbell when Chicago offered him a $5.625 million per season contract. However, Huet found himself on the bench more often than not during his first season with the Blackhawks as veteran netminder Nikolai Khabibulin consistently  outplayed Huet. This past year the starting job was Huet’s to lose, which he managed to do  with ease to Niemi, who officially took over the starting job about halfway through the season. Now Chicago is pretty much stuck with an overpaid backup goaltender for another two seasons with no chance of a trade because no team wants to take on that type of salary for a career underachiever.

The Chicago Blackhawks have some very touch decisions to make, and with Niemi’s arbitration hearing coming up tomorrow, those decisions are quite imminent. Chicago will have a better idea of their predicament after the arbitration hearing with Niemi tomorrow. There is a very real possibility that Chicago will decide not to honor the arbitrator’s decision and instead opt to walk away from the contract. In that case, Niemi will likely sign with another team in the next day or two because young goaltenders with Stanley Cup rings are hot commodities right now. Rumors place San Jose and Philadelphia as the front-runners for Niemi should Chicago choose not to sign him. Don’t count out Tampa Bay or Dallas either.

What organizations all around the NHL right now are beginning to realize is that they can’t overpay for talent. It’s just part of the rules in a salary cap era. When you overpay for talent you risk getting yourself into a situation similar to that of the Chicago Blackhawks right now. But can you really blame players like Cristobal Huet or Brian Campbell for accepting big paydays? Heck no. If a general manager is willing to offer that type of contract, then why not take it and cash in while you can? Besides, the team got a championship ring out of the situation. That has to count for something, right?

The Stanley Cup Finals are set to begin tonight with the number seven-seeded Philadelphia Flyers visiting the second-seeded Chicago Blackhawks in what should prove to be an immensely physical and entertaining series.

Both teams are incredible deep and offensively talented. Chicago’s strength comes from their roster depth, their speed and their mobility from the blue line forward. Philadelphia also has strong depth but plays a more physical, brash style of hockey that the Blackhawks will need to contend with and outplay if they intend to win the Cup. The story of this series could be those unlikely heroes who rise to the occasion and lead their team to victory – much like Maxim Talbot did for the Pittsburgh Penguins last year in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. While the numbers don’t always represent the whole truth, I wanted to see how each team matches up side by side, so I decided to research the stats of some of the key players on each side to see how they compare.

Mike Richards and Jonathan Toews

Richards:

• 21 Points
• 6 Goals
• 15 Assists
• +6

Toews:

• 26 Points
• 7 Goals
• 19 Assists
• +4

Chicago captain Jonathan Toews has beein linked to the Conn Smythe Trophy since as early as the second round with his intense performances every game. But for as good as Toews has been, Richards has been right there working hard to ensure victory for his own team. But as you can see, Toews outscores Richards in every offensive category, and Toews has played one less game overall than Richards as well. The question here is whether Toews can outplay Richards in this series or if the two will eventually cancel each other out.

Jeff Carter and Patrick Kane

Carter:

• 5 Points
• 4 Goals
• 1 Assist
• +1

Kane:

• 20 Points
• 7 Goals
• 13 Assists
• +2

While Kane significantly outscores Carter in every category, bear in mind that Carter has only played in six games to Kane’s 16. So in roughly a third of the games, Carter has only three less goals than Kane – including two in two games played against the Montreal Canadiens compared to zero goals posted by Kane in the last round against San Jose. It will be interesting to see how much of a factor Carter’s goal scoring capabilities become in this series – especially if Kane keeps dropping beach balls on the score sheet in the goals category.

Claude Giroux and Patrick Sharp

Giroux:

• 17 Points
• 8 Goals
• 9 Assists
• +10

Sharp:

• 16 Points
• 7 Goals
• 9 Assists
• +3

Both of these players have had incredible postseasons, but are relatively unknown outside of their respective cities. Still, as their numbers show, they have been incredible assets to their respective clubs. Giroux slightly edges Sharp in most categories, but the glaring difference between the two is in their plus/minus stats. Seemingly, Giroux is a better all-around player with the ability to backcheck effectively and keep the puck out of his own net while scoring at the other end. Again, the numbers don’t tell the whole story, but if these two get matched up in the series, Giroux could prove to be a difference maker in the series.

Daniel Briere and Marian Hossa

Briere:

• 18 Points
• 9 Goals
• 9 Assists
• +4

Hossa:

• 11 Points
• 2 Goals
• 9 Assists
• +8

The story here is Hossa’s two goals in 16 games, especially after the star forward posted nearly a goal every other game during the regular season. With the amount of talent surrounding him in Chicago, it’s hard to fathom why Hossa only put the puck in the net twice. But his plus-8 is a testament to his work ethic and his ability to back check. Still, Briere outscores Hossa in each of the offensive categories and only lacks in plus-minus. As Hossa makes a bid to get his name on the Stanley Cup for the third time in three years, it will be interesting to see if his lacking playoff performance is an indication to how this story will end. He very well could be the X-factor in this series.

Philadelphia’s Secondary Scoring

Gagne, Leino and Hartnell:

• 30 Points
• 14 Goals
• 16 Assists
• +10

Chicago’s Secondary Scoring

Byfuglien, Bolland and Versteeg:

• 29 Points
• 17 Goals
• 12 Assists
• +1

These are the depth players who could help make-or-break this series. Byfuglien was a hero for his performances against the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference Finals, but both teams are very close in terms of offensive production. The interesting stat here is the plus/minus of each respective group. Granted, these players aren’t playing together night in and night out, but there is still heavy differential between the two groups of “secondary” scorers. Offense gets the glory but defense wins the game. Will that be the story of this years Stanley Cup Finals?

Michael Leighton and Antti Niemi

Leighton:

• 1.45 Goals Against Average
• .948 Save %
• 3 Shutouts

Niemi:

• 2.33 Goals Against Average
• .921 Save %
• 2 Shutouts

Is anyone else asking themselves where these guys came from? Because neither goalie was the starting goaltender for their respective club at the beginning of the season, yet both have had superb playoff runs and both are capable of leading their team to victory. In stat comparisons, Leighton wins by a landslide. His 1.45 goals against average is incredible, but Niemi has been more than capable in net for Chicago. This series very well could come down to a dual between Niemi and Leighton between the pipes.

Again, for the tenth time or so, the numbers don’t paint the entire picture. There are plenty of variables in this series that could turn the tides either way. Philadelphia plays a very rough, very physical blue-collar style of hockey. Chicago plays a very speedy game with a lot of mobility and puck-possession. But with two very deep squads who are capable of getting offense from all four of their effective lines, it might come down to who wants it more and who works the hardest to get it. With how similar these teams look on the stat sheet, I’m hoping for nothing less than an a thoroughly entertaining series.

After disposing of the Colorado Avalanche in 6 games in the opening round of the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the San Jose Sharks know they have a tough test ahead of themselves when they meet the Detroit Red Wings in the opening game of their second-round series tonight.

“They have tremendous puck possession and they don’t seem to get too rattled ever,” said Sharks defenseman Rob Blake.

San Jose has a history of being “choke artists” in the playoffs. Last year the Sharks came into the playoffs as the top seeded team in the West, much like they did this year, only to lose in the first round to a very tough Anaheim Ducks opponent. While the Sharks were able to breath a sigh of relief after getting out of the first round, they may have a much bigger hurdle to jump in the Red Wings if they intend to make their way to the Stanley Cup Finals. Detroit has an arsenal of tools at their disposal, but their experience in the postseason may be their best asset against San Jose, and the Sharks know they can’t take Detroit too lightly.

“(Detroit is) a veteran squad that has been there before,” said Manny Maholtra. “They have experience and that always counts for something.”

Does San Jose Have What it Takes?

As one of the best line combinations during the regular season, Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Dany Heatley were notably absent in most games of the opening series against Colorado. The trio of superstars only managed ten points combined in the first round – and only one of those points was a goal. This is the story of the Sharks in recent years. One of the best teams in the regular season fails to elevate their game to the next level needed for a long playoff run. Pavelski, Setoguchi and Clowe were able to take the reigns and lead San Jose to victory in the first round, but how long will that trend last? Especially against Detroit’s deep defense? San Jose is offensively deep and talented in their own right with similar players on defense who are more than capable of chipping in offensively, but Detroit could have their way with San Jose if the Sharks’ top players fail to appear again.

Does Detroit Have What it Takes?

Phoenix took Detroit to seven games in a hard-hitting, physical series. Not to mention the travel that Detroit had to endure as part of the series. At times the Red Wings looked old and rusted, while at other times the team looked incredibly hungry for another shot at the Cup. Game seven was one of the best performances by the Red Wings in recent memory. They were quick to get on Phoenix players on the boards, they got in shooting lanes and Jimmy Howard stood on his head as a bonafide NHL superstar. So which Detroit Red Wings team made the trip to San Jose? Game seven Red Wings who looked poised for a long playoff run or Game 6 Red Wings who needed wheelchairs to get them around on the ice? Jimmy Howard needs to be the better netminder in this series, which is a daunting task when his opponent is none other than Evgeni Nabokov – a player that only had 44 wins and a 2.43 goals against average in the regular season. Detroit needs to be strong on their special teams as well. Their penalty kill was up and down during the Phoenix series and their power play proved to be a difference maker in the end. Detroit’s best players like Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg need to be their best at both ends of the ice of Detroit wants to advance to the Conference Finals.