group of intriguing prospects waiting in the

CHICAGO - All those talented forwards are back. Same for Duncan Keith and the bulk of Chicagos solid defence. There is even a group of intriguing prospects waiting in the wings.The Blackhawks are one confident bunch of the eve of a new NHL season.We feel were deep in a lot of areas, coach Joel Quenneville said. Our guys are at a relatively young age and they should be getting better in their individual games and collectively we should be looking to be better than we were.And they have been really good for years.Led by Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in 2010 and again in 2013. They made it all the way to the Western Conference final a year ago, where they dropped a classic seven-game series to the eventual champion Los Angeles Kings.The price of that success reached a new level in July, when Toews and Kane each finalized an $84 million, eight-year contract extension that kicks in for the 2015-16 season. The twin deals could force general manager Stan Bowman to make some difficult decisions down the road, adding to the pressure on the current group of Blackhawks for this year.Bowman still has to make at least one more move to pare about $2 million from this years payroll before the Oct. 9 season opener at Dallas.Even with the sticky salary-cap situation, the Blackhawks did manage to sign veteran Brad Richards to a $2 million, one-year contract over the summer. The team is hoping Richards can centre the second line a€” a longtime issue for Chicago a€” and the combination of Richards, Kane and Brandon Saad looked good in the preseason.Here are other things to watch this year for the Blackhawks:THAT THIRD LINE: The top two lines should be among the best in the league, but its the third line that really could separate the Blackhawks from the rest of the NHL. Bryan Bickell was noticeably lighter when he showed up to training camp this year. The bruising winger is hoping for a better start than last season, when he had just one assist in his first seven games and finished with 11 goals and four assists for the year. Kris Versteeg also looked sharp in the preseason, and pesky centre Andrew Shaw set career highs with 20 goals and 19 assists last season. Versteeg prepared himself for this year to get back on track where hes a top forward, Quenneville said. Hes been good for us.THAT POWER PLAY: Chicago converted 19.5 per cent of its power-play opportunities last season, an improvement from 16.7 per cent for the shortened 2012-13 campaign and good enough for 10th in the NHL. New assistant coach Kevin Dineen, who played with Quenneville on the Hartford Whalers and was hired to replace Jamie Kompon in July, is expected to play a prominent role in this years power play. Richards also could help the efficiency of the unit, where any increase in scoring for the already potent Blackhawks could pay huge dividends.FORK IN THE ROAD: Its a pivotal year for defenceman Nick Leddy, who begins the season with 258 regular-season games and another 54 post-season appearances a€” at just 23 years old. Leddy is one of the fastest skating defencemen on the team, but hes also an occasional visitor to Quennevilles doghouse. He was benched for a playoff game last season against Minnesota. The Kings winning goal in Game 7 in June went off Leddys upper body and then past goaltender Corey Crawford. Leddy could blossom into one of the teams top defencemen, or the Blackhawks could decide to trade him away for salary-cap space.BOSS HOSS: Marian Hossa shows no signs of slowing down heading into his 17th NHL season. The rugged winger had 30 goals and 30 assists in 72 games last season, in addition to his terrific defence. But Hossa missed a couple weeks in March with an upper-body injury and turns 36 in January. Any significant injury for the forward could hurt the Blackhawks in the competitive Central Division.ANTTI MATTERS: Backup goaltender Antti Raanta is heading into his first full NHL season. He made his debut last November and went 13-5 with a 2.71 goals-against average in 25 games, including 22 starts. Raanta played sparingly in the last part of the season, and Crawford figures to get the lions share of the action once again. How Quenneville divides the time in goal will provide an indication of how he feels about the 25-year-old Raantas development.___AP freelancer Matt Carlson contributed to this report.___Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap Josh Sweat Jersey . So he and his Toronto FC teammates say they will have no problem getting up for their Amway Canadian Championship final against rival Montreal Impact, even if the result doesnt count toward Major League Soccer standings. Markus Wheaton Jersey . Cleveland has won the first two of this set and has won six straight games since losing back-to-back tilts to open the year. Seattle, on the other hand, has now lost six in a row following consecutive wins to kick off its campaign. http://www.authenticfootballshopeagles.com/authentic-avonte-maddox-jersey.html . But San Diego had even more trouble against right-hander Tanner Roark, who pitched a three-hitter for the first complete game of his career as the Nationals shut out the Padres 4-0. The 27-year-old set down the first 16 batters before San Diego catcher Rene Rivera, an . Custom Philadelphia Eagles Jerseys . The Calgary Stampeders announced both moves on Wednesday. Parker played 17 regular season games with the Stampeders in 2013, setting career-highs in catches (21) and yards (217). Michael Bennett Jersey .com) - Patrik Elias registered the winner in the shootout as New Jersey nipped Toronto 2-1 at Prudential Center on Wednesday.NEW YORK -- Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira will be sidelined for at least three games because of a strained muscle in his back, the latest injury to slow the teams leading run producer. Teixeira has been hampered by a left lower lat injury that was causing spasms in his back for about a month. The pain escalated during New Yorks weekend sweep of the Cincinnati Reds immediately following the All-Star break. "Throwing, hitting -- anything with any type of rotation, its been pretty painful," Teixeira said Monday before the Yankees played the Texas Rangers. "The spasms, unfortunately, have gone from my neck to my lower back, up and down the whole time. We just kind of put the fires out, and finally when the pain ratcheted up, it was one spot." An MRI administered Sunday showed a mild strain of the muscle. Teixeira was set to have a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection Monday night and will most likely sit out the entire four-game series against Texas.dddddddddddd The Yankees will reevaluate Teixeira in a few days but manager Joe Girardi didnt think the injury would send Teixeira to the disabled list. "I think if we were concerned, really concerned, wed put him on the DL right away," Girardi said. After missing all but 15 games last season because of a wrist injury that needed surgery, Teixeira was looking forward to playing a full season. Its hardly gone as planned for the 34-year-old switch-hitter. He already has missed 21 games this year because of hamstring, back, knee and wrist problems. But he still leads the Yankees with 17 homers and 48 RBIs in 76 games. He is hitless in his last 13 at-bats. "I thought the year off last year would kind of give me a fountain of youth and its just made me rusty," Teixeira said. "Thats the way it feels. Its been something. Every game, its something. Im still happy with the way Ive played when Im healthy." 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