There will come a day in Blackhawks fans’ lives when there will be no Jonathan Toews, no Patrick Kane, no Corey Crawford, no Marian Hossa.
Oops, sorry, didn’t mean to freak out all of Chicago like that. Those guys aren’t going anywhere for years. But someday there will be new Hawks who ideally will have just as much success as they have.
To that end, the franchise drafted seven players this weekend: left wing Graham Knott, defenseman Dennis Gilbert, defenseman Ryan Shea, right wing Radovan Bondra, right wing Roy Radke, defenseman Joni Tuulola and right wing John Dahlstrom.
Here’s what you need to know, numbers-wise.
54
Knott was the first player taken by the Hawks in this year’s draft, with the 54th overall pick. The last player Chicago took No. 54? That would be reigning Conn Smythe winner, two-time Norris Trophy honoree and three-time Stanley Cup champion Duncan Keith. Gulp.
“That’s definitely going to be tough,” Knott said of trying to live up to Keith’s standard. “But hopefully I can make my name for myself and do what he can.”
18.1
The average age of the seven picks. Six of the players are 18 years old; Tuulola (181st overall) is the “old man” of the group at 19. But don’t worry about having to remember their names just yet. Most draftees spend several years in college and/or the minors before seeing time with the parent club.
2
Gilbert (91st overall) and Shea (121st) are set to play in college, with Gilbert committed to play at Notre Dame and Shea headed to Northeastern University in Massachusetts. For the time being, they will be rivals in the Hockey East conference.
“The competition [in college] is second to none, in my opinion,” Gilbert said. “I think it makes the jump [to the NHL] a lot easier.”
40
That’s about how many miles Radke (164th overall) would have to travel to get from his hometown of Geneva, Ill., to the United Center. The forward said he was hoping the Hawks would take him.
“It feels great,” Radke said. “It’s not [a] feeling like I’ve ever felt before. It was kind of a long process, but once I heard my name called everything just fell into place pretty much.”
6 feet, 2 inches and 194 pounds
The average size of the Hawks’ seven draftees. The shortest is Dahlstrom (5-11, 211th overall), and the tallest is Bondra (6-5, 151st). As many players their age are “growing into their bodies,” expect them to put on a few pounds after hitting the weight room the next few years.
–Tribune contributed
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