More on the Blackhawks
	Team page '00-01 Schedule '99-00 Results '99-00 Roster '99-00 Team stats Message board

Another season with coaching turmoil was just one of many reasons the Blackhawks missed the playoffs again. Now, there's a new management team and coach. Although the Hawks remain a well behind the elite teams in the West, there's hope for improvement -- or at least the optimism that the offseason engenders.

ESPN.com takes a Closer Look at the Blackhawks' '99-00 season and what to look for next year.

Season Review: Coaching carousel
When your head coach becomes the associate coach in the middle of a season, things can't be good. In fact, for hockey, that kind of scenario borders on a soap opera. But Lorne Molleken handled a difficult situation with dignity. Molleken, who took over for deposed Dirk Graham the season before, was replaced by Bob Pulford in early December. Molleken retained much of the rinkside responsibility, but it was an odd situation, only exacerbated when Mike Smith was named head of hockey operations later that month.

	Amonte

The shakeup didn't address one major problem on the team. Depth. After Tony Amonte (43 goals), no one on the team had more than 23 goals. There were a few players, namely Steve Sullivan (22), Michael Nylander (23) Alexei Zhamnov (23), who had decent years, but the whole team was inconsistent.

Defenseman Anders Eriksson is an example of how the team played poorly when the season mattered but picked it up when the Hawks were out of contention. Eriksson was a minus-8, to go along with one goal, in the first 53 games of his season but was a plus-12 with two goals and nine assists the final 20 contests. The major exception, of course, was Amonte who scored 10 goals in November, well before the Hawks were out of contention. In addition, he was a plus-10 for the season.

In goal, Jocelyn Thibault and Steve Passmore weren't exactly spectacular, but both had solid save percentages (.904 and .906 respectively), implying that the team's problems don't start with the goalies.

The Open Market: Build from within first

	FREE AGENCY
	Key unsigned free agents: Anders Ericksson, Dean McAmmond, Bryan McCabe Signings/offseason acquisitions: Michal Grosek, Valeri Zelepukin, Michael Nylander, Kevin Dean, Reto Von Arx, Chris McAlpine, Steve Poapst

Eriksson, Dean McAmmond, Bryan McCabe are three restricted free agents currently not under contract. None of them are exactly All-Star caliber, but they are core players the Hawks need in camp.

Signing Michal Grosek and Michael Nylander is positive. Grosek is big and contributes at both ends of the ice. Meanwhile, Nylander had his best goal-scoring year last season. The only major addition has been Valeri Zelepukin, who played for Philly last season. He's a solid, tough player but not necessarily a difference maker, although he certainly will help.

Don't expect Smith to make a splash in the free-agent market. The team isn't good enough for that. He'll focus on his property and try to to give new coach Alpo Suhonen a full roster for training camp next month.

How to improve: Up is the only direction
The hope is that Smith and Suhonen stabilize the once-proud franchise. With them and the current roster, the Blackhawks will be hard-pressed to be a playoff team; however they should be a lot closer. The key is to remain competitive through the holidays, so at least the fans get to see some games that matter after the All-Star break. A playoff push will also allow the young players experience the NHL at its highest level.

In general, the team needs to defend better and score with more consistency. Only San Jose (251) and Calgary (256) allowed more goals in the Western Conference than Chicago. Allow 30 fewer goals, and the Blackhawks will win the four more games necessary to get over the .500 mark from last season's 33-39-10 record.

Brian A. Shactman is the NHL Editor for ESPN.com.