Min-Chi: Bourque rising, Babchuk shaky

Chicago prospects Adam Munro and Rene Bourque improved their odds of cracking the NHL according to McKeen's correspondent Rich Dillon, who took in Thursday's preseason tilt at the Xcel Energy Center. Brent Burns and Mikko Koivu made good impressions for the Minnesota Wild.

Adam Munro (Chi) - played all 65 minutes plus the shootout and was rock-solid all game .. played his angles effectively and showed good quickness and recovery skills .. turned in a stellar effort in the shootout, stopping all five Minnesota shots .. surprisingly, just may have established himself as the frontrunner to win the backup job in Chicago with this performance.

Duncan Keith (Chi) - an excellent skater with superb speed and lateral ability .. jumped in to the rush at appropriate times and used his speed to get back into position effectively .. looks small comparatively speaking, however he plays an aggressive game that belies his size .. could contribute offensively if he can somehow manage to crack the top six.

Anton Babchuk (Chi) - turned in a very shaky performance, especially in the defensive zone .. received considerable time on the powerplay, yet only managed to get his big slapshot off once and it was wide of the net .. also failed to assert himself physically at all despite being blessed with that huge imposing frame.

Rene Bourque (Chi) - played a very solid two-way game and has likely booked an opening night spot unless the wheels fall off .. consistently creates scoring chances with his quick thinking and anticipation .. always hustles and backchecks hard .. showed off a hard, accurate shot with a quick release .. shaping into a good late sleeper pick, especially if he sticks on the second line.

Pavel Vorobiev (Chi) - after hearing raves about his performance at camp so far, this was a disappointing effort on the whole from this slick Russian .. though he did flash his excellent offensive skill-set, he was also out of position at times and appeared almost lost on the ice .. did leave a good final impression however by winning the shootout on a wristshot after making a nice move on the goalie.

Tyler Arnason (Chi) - easily one of the best players on the ice tonight .. appears quicker and faster than he was back in '03-4 .. displayed good puckhandling and playmaking ability .. seems to fixate on trying to set up teammates at times, which could be a boon for his winger Eric Daze in the regular season.

Brent Burns (Min) - demonstrated good poise and positioned himself well all night except for the opening play of the game when he and partner Alex Henry allowed Kyle Calder to snake through .. received a ton of time on the powerplay where he showed off a low, hard shot from the point .. seems to have bulked up his lanky 6-foot-4 frame considerably since last season.

Mikko Koivu (Min) - utilized in a support-line role and didn't get a lot of icetime, however he didn't look at all out of place either when he was out there .. proved himself to be quite responsible defensively .. failed to show much offensively, albeit didn't really have a chance to.

Benoit Pouliot (Min) - accelerates exceptionally well for a big man and showed very good top-end speed .. somewhat understandably appeared quite nervous on this evening and experienced a bit of trouble handling the puck as a result .. was given an opportunity during the shootout, but lost control of the puck and didn't get a shot away.