BLOG: Questions Remaining as Camp Enters Second Week

Monday saw the start of the second and final week of Chicago-based training camp as the Blackhawks gear up for their Qualifying Round series against the Edmonton Oilers in the first week of August.

On Sunday, the team will depart for Edmonton and the confines of the Western Conference hub city with a 31-player roster and five days left to prepare for Game 1. What's left to sort out in the coming days at Fifth Third Arena?

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In the sprint to playoff hockey, the opening week was largely about getting the legs back for the players. Day 1 saw a lengthy conditioning skate to wrap up the session with several similar stamina-building skates throughout the week, including two scrimmages that had a high tempo and few stoppages.

"I think we all know it's a necessity right now, especially with such a short camp that we've got to be ready to go come the first game," Duncan Keith said after the opening day. "All those little things that we just did, that skate at the end, is going to help us and make sure we're ready to go."

The second week, according to head coach Jeremy Colliton, will be all about extending that capacity. Scrimmages will be stretched out longer than the 20-25 minutes the opening three have seen, working to carry that conditioning over longer stretches of time to simulate more of a game setting.

Colliton also said he will start more heavily introducing the team's tactical game plan agasint Edmonton as the days go, moving from more a broad focus on being in shape to preparing for Game 1.

"We're going to try and extend them out a little bit further playing two periods instead of one," he said. "We've been doing a lot of skating, as we go probably pull back on that as we get closer, but just continuing to touch on all of the things tactically that we want to do.

"Also as we get closer, zeroing in on Edmonton more and more. We've been doing some special teams more regularly over the past few days but also 5-on-5, exactly what we're looking for with relation to how they're playing. There's still a lot we've got to cover and we're trying to make use of every day and every minute. That's the challenge going forward.

It's all part of the delicate process to get players back in the swing of things and playing at their peak when the puck drops in just 12 days. Whichever team can reach that peak faster will have the definitive upper hand.

BETWEEN THE PIPES

Perhaps the largest looming question to date has surrounded the absence of Corey Crawford during the first seven practices. The Blackhawks netminder has been deemed "unfit to participate" -- the all-encompassing term the NHL and NHLPA agreed to for Phases 3 and 4 to explain a variety of reasons a player could miss time: injury, illness, maintenance day or otherwise. The team has not ruled out the possibility that Crawford can still return and join the team at some point, but like the players that occupy the ice outside the blue paint, every second counts during the three-week span to get fully up to speed.

In the meantime, Malcolm Subban, Collin Delia and Kevin Lankinen seem to have the upper hand in goal, though Matt Tomkins is also getting a fair shake to show what he can bring. All four are getting an equal chance to prove himself in an open competition for a gamenight roster role -- either backing up a healthy Crawford or starting in his absence.

"I think all three of them have played well, and obviously Tompkins too. It's been a great opportunity for him," Colliton said of the opening week. "I think there's a lot to choose from right now between the three of them … The competition has been good and they're making it tough on us. We're going to have a few more scrimmages and hopefully that will help us to make a decision but it's going to be tough no matter how things shake out. Very happy with how they played so far."

NOT-SO-SEASON-ENDING

The pause in the season allowed Brent Seabrook and Calvin de Haan to rejoin their teammates in time for the start of camp -- each having been previously considered done for the season due to injury before play halted in March. Seabrook has worked back from a pair of hip surgeries and a right shoulder operation in a two-month span, while de Haan recovered from a right shoulder surgery of his own in time to skate at length in Phase 2.

Is one or both fully healthy and ready to make an impact when games start? de Haan stood perhaps the best chance to do so, but hasn't skated with the group since the opening day of camp after leaving to attend to a family emergency. There has been no timeline put on his return, but time is of the essence on both fronts.

A lot will be decided this week as the roster is set to be trimmed to 31 names that get to enter the "bubble" in Edmonton on Sunday.

MAKING THE CUT

While the mainstays of the roster are focused on preparing for Aug. 1, a few members of the training camp roster are fighting to get the invite to Edmonton as part of that 31-man roster. The previously mentioned goaltender battle seems to set up for one or two names to be left behind, while prospects like Alec Regula, Philipp Kurashev, MacKenzie Entwistle, Nicolas Beaudin and Chad Krys all are trying to showcase what they can bring to the table as depth options should their numbers be called.

"They set themselves apart over the past 9-12 months to be guys that we think can help our team," Senior Vice President/General Manager Stan Bowman said of the expanded roster group. "They're not here to start, probably, unless we have some injuries, but they're going to be ready to go and up to speed -- they're in all the meetings as far as game plan and tactical things. We do think that they are future players and the future could be as early as a couple weeks."