Sorry to the "woe-is-me" crowd, however, provided that the 2011 D can remain adequately healthy ... I see little chance that the 2011 Hawks do any worse than 8-4 during the regular season.
While the 2011 squad might not look as good as the 2010 squad "on paper" ... the 2010 squad also got hammered by adversity. With a little luck swinging in the direction of our Hawks ... a very nice season is pretty darn possible for our Hawks.
Folks may not "get it" however it's possible for the 2011 squad to technically be the "inferior" team, at least on paper, and still end up having the better record. It wasn't that long ago when Ferentz stated that the '09 team could be better than the '08 squad but not have the record reflect that fact. The same logic an also apply in the opposite context.
Anyhow, the more I break down the 2011 squad, the more cautiously optimistic I get about or chances.