FanHouse PatrickKane

FanHouse's Adam Gretz takes a look at his top 50 players in the NHL. No. 47 is Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane.

It's not going to take long for Patrick Kane to move up these rankings. He's the youngest player, 20, to make my list, and he's the future of American hockey and some lucky team in the NHL. But will it be Chicago? During the NHL playoffs, Detroit head coach Mike Babcock talked about how he was patiently waiting for the salary cap to break up the Blackhawks' young core (and he wasn't joking). At the time, I argued that Chicago should be in good shape when it comes to keeping it's core in place, but a lot has changed since then. Could Kane be the odd man out in the future?

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Dale Tallon made a tremendous blunder this offseason when the qualifying offers for Cam Barker, Kris Versteeg and the team's other restricted free agents didn't get sent out in time. Tallon admitted it was his responsibility, admitted he screwed up, and in the end, worked out contract extensions with the key players (Barker, Versteeg), assuring that they wouldn't hit the open market as unrestricted free agents, free to sign with the highest bidder with no compensation coming back to Chicago.

In the end, it appears that blunder cost him his job, as reports out of Chicago early Tuesday morning indicated that Tallon was removed from his position, and replaced by Stan Bowman.

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One of the more confusing story lines in this year's playoffs has been the sudden disappearance of Pavel Datsyuk's offensive production. In Detroit's 13 postseason games, the Hart Trophy finalist has recorded just one goal to go with six assists after putting up his second consecutive 97-point performance in the regular season.

During the Red Wings' overtime win in Game 2, Datsyuk was reportedly injured when he was hit in the foot by a puck, which leaves his availability for Game 3 on Friday up in the air. The 30-year-old forward sat out practice on Thursday, while Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press reports that Datsyuk will be a game-time decision in Chicago. Could this be the break the Blackhawks need to get back in the series?

While the NHL is sure to welcome any and all new or returning fans, they're not out implicitly begging for them. As much as the league would love to get more coverage from mainstream media outlets, they understand that they hold little control over such matters.

However, the league had to smile a bit Monday, when a well-known sports columnist (one who didn't ever hide his changed feelings about hockey) made it clear he was back on the bandwagon.

After jumping out to a 1-0 series lead in the Western Conference Final, Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock held a press conference on Monday and fielded a variety of questions from the media. For the most part, it was your typical, run-of-the-mill press conference.

About half way through, a reporter started asking Babcock about how he once joked that he was ready for the salary cap to break up the young talent the Chicago Blackhawks have assembled over the years. In Babcock's mind, he wasn't joking.

The Western Conference Finals brings us one of the classic Original Six rivalries in the NHL, as Detroit and Chicago square off with a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals on the line. The Red Wings are looking to become the first team to repeat as champions since they did it during the 1997 and 1998 seasons, while Chicago is looking to return to the finals for the first time since 1992.

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There was a time when my favorite sport was, without hesitation, baseball. Recently, however, my interest in the game has been lost. Not because of a steroid scandal or the incompetence of Bud Selig, but mostly because the team I grew up cheering for, the Pittsburgh Pirates, has been a Major League Baseball team in name only and is currently working on its 17th consecutive losing season with no end in sight.

You might argue that makes me a fair-weather fan, but I disagree. My interest is so low that if, by some perfect storm -- like the rest of the National League halting operations and disbanding from the league -- the Pirates actually won something, I still probably wouldn't care as much as I should. I just don't care about baseball anymore, but I certainly don't begrudge those who still do. It's still a great game, even if my interest is at an all-time low.

When the Detroit Red Wings signed Johan Franzen to an 11-year contract extension back in April, reactions were mixed. Some folks, like a number of the commenters at the Hockey's Future boards, thought the Red Wings were out of their minds for signing a soon-to-be 30-year-old forward to an 11-year contract. Others, like the good people at Abel to Yzerman, applauded general manager Ken Holland for not messing around when it comes to keeping the guys he wants.

We're only a month into the new deal, but the early results are stellar. Franzen has continued to excel as one of the better power forwards in the NHL, and has proven himself to be one of the best playoff, big-game goal-scorers the NHL has seen in quite some time.

Winning on the road is so very important in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Chicago Blackhawks seemed to be a good candidate for road success, being that they set a franchise record for it in the regular season.

That performance has indeed carried over. Chicago improved to 3-3 in road games during this postseason, and 2-1 in this series, as they bested Vancouver 4-2 Saturday night at GM Place.

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When you watch the Vancouver Canucks, you have to be impressed with their ability to take over a game they're hardly dominant in. Sometimes, it just works that way for you.

If you're a Canuck fan, you ride it as long as you can. The opportunistic Canucks started right where they left off after their sweep of St. Louis, taking a big lead through two periods while being outshot. They then proceeded to blow the lead, and needed a late Sami Salo goal to beat Chicago 5-3.

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