The Madhouse on Madison will be rocking during the inaugural season of BEARD Hockey and Chelsea Dagger will be flowing often from the loudspeakers.
The Chicago Blackhawks went into the Dispersal Draft landing their targeted franchise player at 8th overall after a spot trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Elias Pettersson will be the face of the Blackhawks, if not all of BEARD Hockey for a long, long time.
What the Hawks brass did not expect to happen, was to be able to draft the top defenseman on our entire board at 57th overall in John Carlson.
In the swing to the third round, the Hawks decided to double up with defensemen at this point by taking future superstar Adam Fox. From there, the Hawks added a good mix of youth and veterans throughout the draft.
The one guy the Hawks were most upset with not being able to draft was their main goalie target from the jump in Robin Lehner. GM Daniel Bacon was able to right that wrong once trading was opened during the draft and acquired Lehner from the Buffalo Sabres along with Eric Staal.
The Entry Draft came and went, but not without Bacon making some noise and acquiring the 3rd overall pick from the Vegas Golden Knights which allowed them to add Tim Stuetzle to the organizational pipeline.
Already armed with their own 7th overall selection, the Blackhawks could not get to the podium quick enough to announce Lucas Raymond as that pick after a short unforeseen fall down the draft board.
Raymond and Stuetzle, along with drafted players such as Alexandre Texier, Libor Hajek, and Spencer Knight, definitely make a formidable youthful core for the Blackhawks franchise in BEARD Hockey.
Oh yeah, and that Elias, too.
And now, time for a very in-depth analysis of divisional foes.
Arizona Coyotes - Chupar Colorado Avalanche - Suck
Dallas Stars - Des Ordures
Minnesota Wild - Crappy
Nashville Predators - Who?
St. Louis Blues - Crybabies
Winnipeg Jets - Bad
The Blackhawks organization is very much looking forward to the inaugural season of BEARD Hockey and wish all teams good luck in the quest for the most prestigious title in all of sim hockey.