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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 Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping . Case in point: LeBron James vs. Ben McLemore. James was driving to the rim in the first quarter and McLemore decided to try to take the charge, which was quite admirable and predictably futile. Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping . Kyle Shanahan was hired as offensive co-ordinator Monday after spending the previous four years in the same role with the Washington Redskins. http://www.nflcheapjerseysfreeshipping.com/. The 33-year-old defender has spent his entire career at Chelsea, scoring 57 goals in 621 appearances. He regained his regular starting place under Jose Mourinho in the season that ended at the weekend without Chelsea winning a trophy. NFL Jerseys China .com) - Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh called Joe Flacco the NFLs best quarterback last week. Cheap Football Jerseys . Napoli hit two home runs, Jonny Gomes and prized rookie Xander Bogaerts also connected, and the Red Sox kept up their dizzying scoring spree at Yankee Stadium by bashing New York 13-9 Saturday for a fifth straight win.Mark Buehrle goes after his third win in as many starts on Sunday when the Toronto Blue Jays close out a three-game series with the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards. After striking out 11 and coming within an out of a shutout his first time out, Buehrle defeated the Houston Astros on Tuesday, but admittedly wasnt as sharp, despite holding them to a run and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings. "I was up in the zone and everything, wasnt getting ahead in the count like I was last start. Im fortunate to get away with one run in 5 1/3 innings. That could have been a game where I gave out eight to 10 runs." Buehrle has faced the Orioles 21 times (19 starts) and is 7-8 with a 3.42 ERA. Baltimore, meanwhile, relies on righty Ubaldo Jimenez, who is still searching for his first win as a member of the Orioles. Jimenez fell to 0-2 on Monday against the New York Yankees, as he allowed four runs and walked five batters in just 4 2/3 innings, while upping his ERA to 6.75 on the year. "He went through some really good sequences and then just got out of whack," Os manager Buck Showalter said of Jimenez. "He was just missing a lot of pitches, but he had the type of stuff that gets you a lot deeper in the game. Hed just go through spurts where he couldnt command it. It was a cold day and he was trying to get a feel for the baseball, but you guys watched it.dddddddddddd It wasnt like they banged him around all over the ballpark. He just couldnt get consistent with it. I know hes frustrated because there was a lot longer (of an) outing there potentially today." Jimenez is 2-1 in five starts versus the Blue Jays with a 4.61 ERA. Baltimore won in thrilling fashion on Saturday, as David Loughs RBI single in the bottom of the 12th inning propelled the Os to a 2-1 win. Jonathan Schoop knocked in the other run for the Orioles, who shook off a loss in Fridays opener to win for the fourth time in six overall. After J.J. Hardy flied out against Todd Redmond (0-1), Steve Lombardozzi stroked a ball into the gap in right center and raced all the way to third. Lough followed by slicing a pitch to left field to plate the winning run. "It was one of those games where we kept our heads up," Lough said. "I looked in the dugout and we still had energy." The hit made a winner of Zach Britton (2-0), who tossed two scoreless relief frames. Colby Rasmus two-out, homer in the ninth stood as the lone production for the Blue Jays, who have lost two of three. Baltimore won last years season series with the Blue Jays by a slim 10-9 margin. ' ' '