John Madden (Hockey)

The Vancouver Canucks didn’t make a big splash in the free agent market this offseason, but then again, they didn’t need to.

When you have a team that was only one win away from winning the Stanley Cup, you shouldn’t need to make many changes. Instead, GM Mike Gillis focused on keeping several key pieces of the team in Vancouver in order to re-load for another run at the Stanley Cup in 2012.

This year's free agency crop has dwindled tremendously since the beginning of free agency on July 1.

Even before that, there were really only a couple of high-profile names set to become UFAs this summer. In the goal scoring forward department there was Brad Richards first and foremost and few other big names.

On defense, the most high-profile defensemen were quickly re-signed before they could hit the free agent market (Andrei Markov, Kevin Bieksa, Joni Pitkanen).

There is no denying that the recent injury to Evgeni Malkin is a huge blow to the championship hopes of the Pittsburgh Penguins. With Malkin tearing his ACL and MCL it has become clear that he is out for the rest of the season. Malkin's injury, coupled with Sidney Crosby's status being up in the air, means the Penguins have very tough choices to make.

While the Blackhawks are on their annual circus trip around the "Wild West" it is again time to see how the cast-offs of the defending Stanley Cup champions are doing.

It could be expected that some of these talented and dynamic players would go onto having some great years this season. None of the teams including the Blackhawks and the other teams that these players play for are among the best teams in the league right now.

The Minnesota Wild, the state's seemingly only competitive team this year (I mean, let's be honest, who actually didn't expect the Twins to not break our hearts like they do every October) is off to an expected solid start at 10-6-2 and third place in the Northwest division.

Expected start? Yes, it was highly publicized that the normally good home team would have eight of their first eleven contests in the friendly confines of St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center, where they typically win 60% of their games or more.

This past summer NHL experts, fans and casual bloggers typed away on the Blackhawks losing half their team.

As nine remarkable contributors parted ways with the reigning Stanley Cup Champions, people began to move on from the Blackhawks to find the next best team.

“Losing” depth was a crucial concern, but the new members seem to be meshing incredibly fine.

They actually, are almost identical to last year’s team.

In June, the Chicago Blackhawks ended a 49-year drought between Stanley Cup championships. Patrick Kane scored an overtime game-winner that wasn't seen by the officials, so the celebration had to be reserved for roughly 60 seconds until video replay confirmed the goal.

The celebration was far from reserved when the Hawks came home and held their championship parade through the streets of Chicago. Chicago Police estimates are that over two million fans showed up to let their heroes know how much they appreciated the effort.

But the parade ended.

In the first part of our series previewing the 2010-11 Chicago Blackhawks defense of the Stanley Cup, we’re going to begin by looking down the middle: the centers.

Fernando Pisani (LW) has always been a favorite player of mine. Ever since he entered the league in the 2002-03 NHL season, I've always followed him closely. As an avid fan of Pisani, I can say that he will do wonders for the Blackhawks who have a good chance at winning the cup again.

Just watch what Fernando can do.

Some very interesting rumors going around the NHL, so I'll just get down to it.

Multiple teams, including the Toronto Maple Leafs, were attempting to sign forward John Madden. He has signed with the Minnesota Wild. Interesting signing to say the least, he is old and would be a solid bottom six forward for a competing team. The Wild did not even make the playoffs this year. It works well for the Wild as he is a proven veteran, but Madden could have had a shot with a Stanley Cup contender.