CHICAGO - While Los Angeles and Anaheim prepare for Game 7 of their second-round series, the Chicago Blackhawks are resting and

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CHICAGO - While Los Angeles and Anaheim prepare for Game 7 of their second-round series, the Chicago Blackhawks are resting and looking for ways they can play even better in the Western Conference final. Custom Los Angeles Rams Jerseys . The Blackhawks practiced Thursday without ailing centre Andrew Shaw, but Brandon Bollig skated on the fourth line after he was suspended for the final two games of their second-round series against Minnesota. Shaw left Game 1 against the Wild with an apparent right leg injury, but he could return in Chicagos next series. "We expect to have him back on the ice this weekend and well get a better determination of when hell play," coach Joel Quenneville said. The Blackhawks missed Shaws net-front presence and pesky style in their six-game victory over Minnesota. The diminutive forward, listed at 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds, has two goals and two assists in the playoffs after he set career highs with 20 goals and 19 assists in the regular season. "He emphasizes his game being gritty and getting to the net and we need more of that," forward Bryan Bickell said. "And I know last series was, we needed a lot of it to be successful and come the next series, when he does come back, I know hell bring it and thats what you need out of him." Bollig was suspended by the NHL for boarding Minnesota defenceman Keith Ballard in Game 4 of their Western Conference semifinal. It was a rough series for Bollig, who had played in every game this season for the Blackhawks until he was a healthy scratch for Game 2 against the Wild. For Thursdays practice, he was reunited with Marcus Kruger and Ben Smith in a line combination that was very successful for the Blackhawks during the regular season. "Ive sure missed it," Bollig said. "Obviously we played together a good portion of the season and we had a nice roll there where we kind of found our niche together. So the fact that we were out there together today and hopefully it stays that way for the game and thats what gets us good quality minutes and playing a quality role." Bolligs role in the next series likely depends on Chicagos opponent. The Kings and Ducks close out the second round when they play on Friday night in Anaheim. The Western Conference final begins Sunday regardless of who wins. The Blackhawks will have home-ice advantage if Los Angeles advances, and will open on the road if top-seeded Anaheim moves on. "Theyre both physical. They both got a lot of skill," forward Brandon Saad said. "Theres a lot of similarities in a lot of teams in the NHL these days, play that tight checking game. Were not going to prepare for anyone yet obviously. We dont know who were playing. Were looking forward to see how Friday goes." ___ Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap Connor Barwin Jersey . -- During Kansas shootaround on Wednesday before the Jayhawks faced Oklahoma, coach Bill Self told Wayne Selden Jr. Jack Youngblood Jersey . Colorado came up big against Chicago last spring, and repeated that performance Tuesday night. Varlamov stopped 36 shots and Paul Stastny had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche in a 5-1 victory over the Blackhawks. http://www.ramsauthenticshop.com/Youth-Cory-Littleton-Rams-Jersey/ . -- Michael Bennett gambled last off-season that playing on a one-year deal in Seattle would pay off in the future with the long-term contract he always wanted.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 himsself for this year to get back on track where hes a top forward, Quenneville said. Greg Zuerlein Jersey. 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 Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys Disocunt Football Jerseys White NFL Jerseys Cheap Discount Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys 2020 Wholesale NFL T-shirts NFL Jerseys China ' ' '