2010–11 Chicago Blackhawks season
professional ice hockey team season of play
The 2010–11 Chicago Blackhawks season was the 85th season for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established on September 25, 1926. The team was nicknamed the "Hangover 'Hawks" for having to recover from paying the price of winning the franchise's first Stanley Cup in 49 years with adapting to the loss of several players from that team due to salary cap restrictions.
The defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks narrowly made the playoffs as the eighth and final seed in the Western Conference having clinched their playoff berth on the last day of the season. The Blackhawks lost their season finale 4–3 in regulation against the Detroit Red Wings on April 10, but still barely managed to clinch the last spot because of the Dallas Stars losing their finale later the same day 5–3 against the Minnesota Wild, and avoiding becoming the first Stanley Cup defending team since the 2006–07 Carolina Hurricanes to miss the playoffs after winning the championship. Had the Stars won their finale against the Wild in regulation or overtime, the Stars would’ve overtaken the defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks to the last playoff spot, which would’ve resulted in the Blackhawks dropping to ninth place in the West and missing the playoffs entirely by one point in the standings. In the opening round of the 2011 playoffs against the Presidents' Trophy-winning Vancouver Canucks, the Blackhawks lost the first three games of the series before winning the next three and were eventually succumbed to the Canucks in seven games in the first round, losing the seventh game 2–1 in overtime.
Off-season
Under pressure to fit the team's player salaries under the salary cap for the 2010–11 season, the team began making trades shortly after winning the Stanley Cup. On June 24, the club traded Dustin Byfuglien, Ben Eager, Brent Sopel and Akim Aliu to the Atlanta Thrashers for Marty Reasoner, Joey Crabb, Jeremy Morin, a first-round pick (#24 overall) in 2010 and a second-round pick (#54 overall) in 2010. Later that same day, restricted free agent Colin Fraser was traded to the Edmonton Oilers for a sixth-round pick in 2010.
On June 30, the Toronto Maple Leafs traded for right winger Kris Versteeg from Chicago in a five-player trade.
The public source identifies “2010–11 Chicago Blackhawks season” as professional ice hockey team season of play. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Chicago, Blackhawks and season.
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