This recent era of Championship Chicago Blackhawks hockey all started in 2010, but the groundwork was really laid down between 2006-2009 when Dale Tallon made some very good free agent decisions, and made some sensational draft choices.
One of those free agents was Brian Campbell who the old Chicago Blackhawks GM signed in the summer of 2008 right before the Hawks took their giant lead into being one of the best teams in the NHL for a decade.
Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook were about to become household names and Niklas Hjalmarsson was just a young pup back then, but it was Campbell that solidified the defensive core back when the team was about to make its rise to becoming champions.