I was motivated by this post by Scott Reynolds over at the outstanding Oilers blog The Copper & Blue, to take a look at the Blackhawks' shot differential this season.  

First of all, the Hawks are limiting their opponents to an absurd 22.7 shots per game through the first month of the season, which is 3.5 shots better than their closest competitor (LA). They're also firing an average of 33.3 shots at the opponents' net per game, which is good for 5th in the league.  Add (or subtract, I guess) it all up, and the Hawks are leading the NHL in shot differential so far this season, at +10.5 shots per game.

So, how many teams since the lockout have maintained that type of differential for an entire season?  And how have the best shot-differential teams performed?

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This is nothing more than thinking out loud as Camp gets closer, and closer...but not fast enough.

Big Bobby Luongo is locked up long-term in Vancouver (which should shoot down all the NHL buzzards circling Hossa's contract for further scrutiny), which means goaltending prospect Cory Schneider is more-or-less redundant in the organization.  

Considering Schneider has put up far better numbers than either Crawford or Niemi at a younger age (he's 23) in the AHL, with an All-Star appearance under his belt, is this somebody the Hawks should target in a potential trade?  Yes, Huet is the goaltender here right now, but everyone knows he's going to have to split time with somebody and I don't think anyone here is jumping at the opportunity to put AN/CC between the pipes.

Vancouver needs forwards, the Hawks currently have an abundance.  What they DON'T have right now is cap space.  There would have to be some creativity involved there.

But that's irrelevant at the moment.  The question here is should the Blackhawks try to make a move to bring in Cory Schneider and make him the goaltender of the future?  Who would you move?