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The 2009-10 Season is the Chicago Blackhawks' 84th season in the NHL.

The season began on October 2, 2009 (with a pair of games in Helsinki, Finland against the Florida Panthers) and ended on June 9, 2010 (when the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup, beating the Philadelphia Flyers four games to two in the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals).

At the time, the Blackhawks winning the Stanley Cup gave the organization its first NHl championship since 1961.

The Blackhawks also made the playoffs in back to back seasons for the first time since the 1996-1997 season.

Offseason[]

At the time, the Blackhawks were coming off one of their best years in recent history during the 2008-09 NHL season, going 46-24-12 and finishing with 104 points.

They finished 2nd in the Central Division and 4th in the Western Conference. The team's 46 wins were their most since winning 47 in the 1992–93 NHL season.

The Blackhawks’ reached the 100-point mark for the first time since the 1992–93 season and improved by 16 points over the past season when their 88-point total left them three points away of a playoff berth. They were the only NHL team to improve on its record in each of the previous four seasons.

The Blackhawks made it to the playoffs for the first time since 2002 and it was their second playoff appearance in the previous eleven years.

In the playoffs, the Blackhawks defeated the Calgary Flames and the Vancouver Canucks before losing to the Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference Finals. It was the Blackhawks first appearance in the Western Conference Finals since 1995.

However, the team had a turbulent offseason.

The Blackhawks saw assistant General Manager Rick Dudley resign from his position and join the Atlanta Thrashers as associate General Manager.

On July 1, 2009, the Blackhawks made a significant acquisition to the team when they signed five-time all-star Marian Hossa to a twelve-year contract with the Chicago Blackhawks worth $62.8 million. At the time, it was the most lucrative deal in team history.

The signing of Hossa by the Blackhawks coincided with the departure of the team's leading scorer from the previous season Martin Havlat to the Minnesota Wild.

The other key additions for the Blackhawks were John Madden and Tomas Kopecky.

Along with Martin Havlat, Nikolai Khabibulin, Samuel Pahlsson and Matt Walker were notable losses for the team.

Shortly after signing Hossa, the team disclosed that he was still rehabilitating a shoulder injury he sustained during the previous postseason. Marian underwent shoulder surgery and ended up missing the first 22 games of the season.

During the offseason, The NHL Players' Association filed a grievance, saying that the Blackhawks missed the deadline for giving qualifying offers to restricted free agents which caused General Manager Dale Tallon to quickly sign eight players to make sure that they didn't end up as unrestricted free agents.

The mistake proved to be a large influence in the removing of Dale as General Manager. He was replaced with Stan Bowman (the assistant General Manager and son of Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman).

The NHL also investigated Marian Hossa's contract as well.

The Blackhawks named Kevin Cheveldayoff (who was the General Manager of the Chicago Wolves of the AHL) as the assistant General Manager. The team also promoted assistant coach Marc Bergevin to the position of director of player personnel.

In August of 2009, the Blackhawks saw star player Patrick Kane embroiled in controversy when he and his cousin were arrested in Buffalo, New York.

Kane was apprehended in the early morning hours after allegedly punching a cab driver when he claimed to not have proper change for their trip fare. He was charged with second-degree robbery (which is a Class C felony) and fourth-degree criminal mischief & theft-of-services (both of which were Class A misdemeanors).

Kane pleaded not guilty to the charges and on August 17, 2009, he apologized for the arrest.

On August 19, 2009, Kane and his cousin appeared before a grand jury. While they were cleared of any felony charges, they were still indicted on misdemeanor assault, theft and harassment charges. The next day, Kane and his cousin reiterated their not guilty pleas when appearing in court.

On August 27, 2009, Kane and his cousin pleaded guilty to noncriminal disorderly conduct charges and were both given conditional discharges.

The Blackhawks entered the 2009-10 NHL season with high expectations.

Bob Duff of NBC Sports predicted that the Blackhawks would finish with 101 points, finish 2nd in the division and be a 4th seed in the Western Conference.

Jim Neveau of "The Hockey Writer's" wrote that the Blackhawks would win the division and be a second seed in the conference.

Regular Season Facts[]

  • On October 12, 2009, the Calgary Flames scored the first five goals in the 1st period, but the Blackhawks rallied to win 6–5 in overtime.
  • On November 25, 2009, the Blackhawks scored three short-handed goals in a 7–2 win over the San Jose Sharks
  • On April 6, 2010, the Blackhawks won their 50th game of the season against the Dallas Stars, setting a new franchise record for wins in a season.
  • On April 7, 2010, the Hawks notched their 109th point of the season against the St. Louis Blues, setting another franchise record.
  • On April 9, 2010, the Hawks won their 23rd game of the season on the road against the Colorado Avalanche, setting yet another franchise record.
  • The Blackhawks had solid goaltending during the regular season, finishing first in the League in shutouts (with 11). They also led the NHL in shorthanded goals scored (with 13).

Stanley Cup Playoffs Facts[]

  • The Chicago Blackhawks have qualified for the playoffs in back-to-back years for the first time since 1996 and 1997.
  • The Blackhawks have won their division for the first time since the 1992–93 season.
  • The Blackhawks have reached the Western Conference Finals for the 2nd year in a row.
  • On May 18, 2010, the Blackhawks tied an NHL playoff record of 7 straight wins on the road.
  • Jonathan Toews set a franchise playoff record on May 21 by earning a point in 12 consecutive games, breaking Stan Mikita's record. His streak ended at 13 games after failing to register a point in game one of the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals.
  • On May 23, 2010, the Blackhawks won their first Conference Final since the 1991–92 season.
  • Marian Hossa became the first player in history to make three consecutive Stanley Cup Finals with three different teams after accomplishing the feat with the 2008 Pittsburgh Penguins and the 2009 Detroit Red Wings.
  • Jonathan Toews became the 25th member of hockey's prestigious Triple Gold Club after winning the Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks, an Olympic gold medal with Canada earlier in the year and a World Championship (also with Canada in 2007).
  • The Stanley Cup win gave the city of Chicago the distinction of being the only city to have at least a championship in each of the four professional sports leagues since 1985, following championships by the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XX, the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s, (in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997 & 1998) and the Chicago White Sox in 2005.

Team Leaders[]

  • Goals: Patrick Kane (30)
  • Assists Patrick Kane (58)
  • Points: Patrick Kane (88)
  • Penalties in minutes (PIM): Ben Eager (120)
  • Plus/minus: (+) Patrick Sharp & Marian Hossa (+24) (–) Dustin Byfuglien (–7)
  • Wins: Cristobal Huet & Antti Niemi (26)
  • Goals against average: Antti Niemi (2.25)

Roster[]

Player Statistics[]

Skaters[]

  • (GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes)
Regular season
Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM
Patrick Kane 82 30 58 88 16 20
Duncan Keith 82 14 55 69 21 51
Jonathan Toews 76 25 43 68 22 47
Patrick Sharp 82 25 41 66 24 28
Marian Hossa 57 24 27 51 24 18
Kris Versteeg 79 20 24 44 8 35
Troy Brouwer 78 22 18 40 9 66
Brian Campbell 68 7 31 38 18 18
Andrew Ladd 82 17 21 38 2 67
Dustin Byfuglien 82 17 17 34 -7 94
Brent Seabrook 78 4 26 30 20 59
John Madden 79 10 13 23 -2 12
Tomas Kopecky 74 10 11 21 0 28
Colin Fraser 70 7 12 19 6 44
Niklas Hjalmarsson 77 2 15 17 9 20
Ben Eager 60 7 9 16 9 120
Dave Bolland 39 6 10 16 5 28
Cam Barker 51 4 10 14 7 58
Brent Sopel 73 1 7 8 3 34
Jordan Hendry 43 2 6 8 5 10
Adam Burish 13 1 3 4 2 14
Bryan Bickell 16 3 1 4 4 5
Kim Johnsson 8 1 2 3 7 4
Jake Dowell 3 1 1 2 1 5
Jack Skille 6 1 1 2 -3 0
Nick Boynton 7 0 1 1 4 12
Andrew Ebbett 10 1 0 1 1 2
Radek Smolenak 1 0 0 0 0 5
Playoffs
Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM
Jonathan Toews 22 7 22 29 -1 4
Patrick Kane 22 10 18 28 -2 6
Patrick Sharp 22 11 11 22 10 16
Duncan Keith 22 2 15 17 2 10
Dave Bolland 22 8 8 16 6 30
Dustin Byfuglien 22 11 5 16 -4 20
Marian Hossa 22 3 12 15 7 25
Kris Versteeg 22 6 8 14 4 14
Brent Seabrook 22 4 7 11 8 14
Niklas Hjalmarsson 22 1 7 8 9 6
Troy Brouwer 19 4 4 8 -1 8
Brent Sopel 22 1 5 6 7 8
Tomas Kopecky 17 4 2 6 2 8
Andrew Ladd 19 3 3 6 4 12
Brian Campbell 19 1 4 5 11 2
Ben Eager 18 1 2 3 2 20
John Madden 22 1 1 2 -2 2
Bryan Bickell 4 0 1 1 3 2
Colin Fraser 3 0 0 0 0 0
Nick Boynton 3 0 0 0 2 2
Adam Burish 15 0 0 0 -1 2
Jordan Hendry 15 0 0 0 -4 2

Notes[]

  • †Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Blackhawks. Stats reflect time with the Blackhawks only.
  • ‡Traded mid-season

Goaltenders[]

  • (Note: GP = Games Played; TOI = Time On Ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime Losses; GA = Goals Against; GAA= Goals Against Average; SA= Shots Against; SV= Saves; Sv% = Save Percentage; SO= Shutouts)
Regular season
Player GP TOI W L OT GA GAA SA Sv% SO G A PIM
Cristobal Huet 48 2731 26 14 4 114 2.50 1083 .895 4 0 0 4
Antti Niemi 39 2190 26 7 4 82 2.25 936 .912 7 0 1 0
Corey Crawford 1 59 0 1 0 3 3.05 35 .914 0 0 0 0
Playoffs
Player GP TOI W L GA GAA SA Sv% SO G A PIM
Antti Niemi 22 1322 16 6 58 2.63 645 .910 2 0 0 2
Cristobal Huet 1 20 0 0 0 0.00 3 1.000 0 0 0 0

Notes[]

  • †Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Blackhawks. Stats reflect time with the Blackhawks only.
  • ‡Traded mid-season

Awards & Records[]

Awards[]

Regular Season
Player Award Reached
Cristobal Huet NHL First Star of the Week December 21, 2009
Patrick Kane NHL Second Star of the Week December 28, 2009
Patrick Kane NHL Third Star of the Month December 2009
Duncan Keith James Norris Memorial Trophy winner June 23, 2010
Playoffs
Player Award Reached
Jonathan Toews Conn Smythe Trophy June 9, 2010

Transactions[]

Trades[]

Date
Details
June 27, 2009 To Atlanta Thrashers
5th-round pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft
To Chicago Blackhawks
6th-round pick (#177 overall) in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft
September 6, 2009 To Toronto Maple Leafs
2nd-round pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft
To Chicago Blackhawks
2nd and 3rd-round pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft
October 7, 2009< To Calgary Flames
Aaron Johnson
To Chicago Blackhawks
Kyle Greentree
February 12, 2010 To Minnesota Wild
Cam Barker
To Chicago Blackhawks
Kim Johnsson
Nick Leddy
March 1, 2010 To St. Louis Blues
Joe Fallon
To Chicago Blackhawks
Hannu Toivonen
Danny Richmond
March 2, 2010 To Anaheim Ducks
Future Considerations
To Chicago Blackhawks
Nick Boynton

Free Agents Acquired[]

Player Former team Contract terms
Rob Klinkhammer Rockford IceHogs undisclosed
Jonathan Carlsson Brynas IF undisclosed
Alec Richards Yale University undisclosed
Marian Hossa Detroit Red Wings 12 years, $62.8 million
Tomas Kopecky Detroit Red Wings 2 years, $2.4 million
John Madden New Jersey Devils 1 year, $2.75 million
Richard Petiot Tampa Bay Lightning 1 year
Mark Cullen Manitoba Moose 1 year
Danny Bois Binghamton Senators 1 year
Jassen Cullimore Florida Panthers undisclosed
Ryan Stanton Moose Jaw Warriors 3 year entry-level contract
Brandon Bollig St. Lawrence University 2-year entry-level contract

Free Agents Lost[]

Player New team Contract terms
Matt Walker Tampa Bay Lightning 4 years, $6.8 million
Nikolai Khabibulin Edmonton Oilers 4 years, $15 million
Samuel Pahlsson Columbus Blue Jackets 3 years, $7.95 million
Martin Havlat Minnesota Wild 6 years, $30 million
Tim Brent Toronto Maple Leafs 1 year
Pascal Pelletier Columbus Blue Jackets 1 year, 2-way contract

Players Claimed From Waivers[]

Player Former team Date claimed off waivers
Radek Smolenak Tampa Bay Lightning September 25, 2009
Andrew Ebbett Anaheim Ducks October 17, 2009

Players Lost From Waivers[]

Player New team Date claimed off waivers
Radek Smolenak Tampa Bay Lightning October 10, 2009
Andrew Ebbett Minnesota Wild November 21, 2009

Player Signings[]

Player Contract terms
Kyle Beach 3 years
Dave Bolland 5 years, $16.875 million
Jake Dowell 2 years
Antti Niemi 1 year
Troy Brouwer 2 years, $2 million
Corey Crawford 2 years
Ben Eager 1 year, $965,000
Colin Fraser 1 year, $700,000
Aaron Johnson 1 year, $540,000
Brian Connelly undisclosed
Cam Barker 3 years, $9.25 million
Simon Danis-Pepin 3 years
Kris Versteeg 3 years, $9.2 million
Bryan Bickell 1 year
Peter MacArthur 1 year
Jonathan Toews 5 year, $31.5 million contract extension
Duncan Keith 13 year, $72 million contract extension
Patrick Kane 5 year, $31.5 million contract extension
Ben Smith 2 years

Draft Picks[]

In the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, the Chcago Blackhawks made a total of six picks.

Round # Player Position Nationality College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1 28 Dylan Olsen (D) Template:CAN Camrose Kodiaks (AJHL)
2 59 Brandon Pirri (C) Template:CAN Georgetown Raiders (OJHL)
3 89 Daniel Delisle (C/LW) Template:USA Totino-Grace High School (United States High School)
4 119 Byron Froese (C) Template:CAN Everett Silvertips (WHL)
5 149 Marcus Kruger (C) Template:SWE Djurgardens IF (Elitserien)
6 177 (from San Jose via Columbus and Atlanta) David Pacan (C) Template:CAN Cumberland Grads (CCHL)
7 195 (from Florida) Paul Phillips (D) Template:USA Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (USHL)
7 209 David Gilbert (C) Template:CAN Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
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