A poor showing from Cristobal Huet proved costly for the Hawks Tuesday night, allowing the Dallas Stars to gain a 5-4 victory, their second straight over Chicago.  Huet allowed 4 goals on only 10 shots before being replaced by Antti Niemi early in the second period.

Steve Ott scored twice for the Stars, including the winning goal on a power-play breakaway early into the third.  Mike Modano, Loui Eriksson, and Mike Ribeiro also scored for Dallas.  Modano’s goal was his 549th career goal tying him with Ron Francis at 25th all time.

For Chicago Troy Brouwer and Colin Fraser scored one a piece and Patrick Kane added two.  Kane has 7 goals in his past 5 games.  Jonathan Toews and Dustin Byfuglien added two assists each.

Chicago opened the scoring 3:10 into the game when Brouwer buried a rebound past Marty Turco on an early power-play.  Dallas replied with a power-play tally of their own just over two minutes later.  Modano got a shot past Huet, who seemed to stumble on the play, leaving him unable to make the stop.  It was Dallas’ first shot of the game.  Ribeiro gave Dallas the lead at 15:37 with a wrap-around goal.  Chicago responded 1:13 later with a power-play goal from Kane.  Chicago took the lead before the period was out when Fraser took a beauty pass from Kris Versteeg and put it past Turco.

The second period started off poorly for the Blackhawks.  Dallas scored 57 seconds into the period when a Loui Eriksson shot trickled through Huets pads and into the net.  Only 35 seconds later Dallas scored again when Ott had an attempted pass take a strange bounce off a Blackhawk defenceman’s skate and into the net.  Although there was nothing Huet could have done on that particular goal, it spelled the end of his night.  Chicago was able to tie the game at 4’s with 4 seconds left in the second when Kane netted his second of the night.

Dallas scored the final goal of the game, via Ott, on the power-play, at 4:07 into the third.  Turco and the Stars held strong and were able to secure the victory.  Turco had 33 stops total, including 18 in the first alone thanks to 3 Blackhawk man-advantages.

Not to take anything away from Dallas, who played a good game Tuesday, but had Huet played well this game likely would have ended with a Chicago victory.  With the exception of the fluke fourth goal, all the goals Huet allowed were questionable for a starting goaltender in the NHL.  He clearly had an off night and Chicago fans expect him to rebound when the Hawks host the Devils on New Years Eve.

In 2005 the White Sox claimed the first World Series title for the city since 1917.

With the first decade of the 21st Century coming to a close, we look back at 10 memorable sports moments for Chicago area sports teams during the last 10 years.

(10) Cub –Yankee Game—June 7, 2003
In interleague play, the Yankees return to Wrigley Field for the first time since the 1938 World Series. The atmosphere at the ballpark is electric, as Kerry Wood outduels  Roger Clemens to secure a Cub victory.

(9) Bulls-Celtics Playoff Series-April -May, 2009
The Bulls surprise the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs with their tenacious play and amazing  shooting  accuracy. The teams set an NBA record playing four overtime games in a playoff round, but eventually Boston triumphs in game seven to win the series.

The Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks played in the 2009 Winter Classic at Wrigley Field.

(8)Blackhawks-Red Wings Winter Classic Game—January 1, 2009
It’s a magical setting, an outdoor rink in Wrigley Field, and the Blackhawks and Detroit Redwings play to a capacity crowd on New Year’s Day. Although the Red Wings win the hockey game,6-4,  the Chicago sports community experienced a truly memorable sporting event.

(7 ) Bulls-Heat Playoff Series—May, 2007
The Bulls, for the first time in the post-Jordan era, advance to the second playoff round with a four game sweep of the defending NBA champion Miami Heat. The Bulls fall to the Detroit Pistons in six games in the conference semifinals.

(6) Tiger Woods PGA Championship Win—August, 2006
In one of the most  dominant  golf exhibitions ever seen in the Chicago area, Tiger Woods shoots four consecutive rounds in the 60s, culminating in an 18 under par total at the difficult Medinah course,  to win the PGA Championship.

(5) Blackhawks-Red Wings Semifinal—May, 2009
The  rejuvenated  Blackhawk s are one Series win away from the Stanley Cup Finals. Chicago is excited by this young Blackhawk team as they play the defending NHL champions Detroit Red Wings in the semifinals. Unfortunately, the veteran Red Wings easily handle the Hawks, winning the Series 4-1.

(4) Mark Buehrle’s Perfect Game—-July 23, 2009
Mark Buehrle pitches only the eighteenth perfect game in the history of baseball, retiring twenty-seven straight Tampa Bay batters. The perfect game is saved by a spectacular catch in the ninth inning by reserve outfielder DeWayne Wise, who came into the game at the top of the inning as a defensive replacement.

The Bartman incident triggered a series of events that led to the collapse of the Cubs during the 2003 NLCS.

(3) Cubs-Marlins  NLCS Championship Series—October, 2003
It appears that the Cubs were on their way to their first World Series since 1945. The Cubs were up three games to two in the Series, and were ahead 3-0 in game six, with one out in the eighth and ace Mark Prior on the mound, when things collapsed.  Fan Steve Bartman goes after a foul fly which left-fielder Moises  Alou had a chance of catching. The ball is uncaught,  Prior and the Cubs unravel, and the Cubs lose that game and the next one, to lose the Series to the Marlins.

(2) Super Bowl XLI—February 4, 2007
Devin Hester runs back an opening kickoff return 92 yards to give the Bears an early lead in their second Super Bowl appearance and first in 21 years. However Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts outclass the Bears, and become NFL Champions in a 29-17 win.

(1) White Sox Win World Series—October, 2005
It had been a long wait, since 1917 in fact, but the White Sox finally win the World Series, sweeping the Houston Astros in four consecutive games.  The Sox were amazing throughout the playoffs, winning eleven out of twelve games.

The Hockey Goons were ready to take on Chicago.

The Journey

The only thing that beats a Bruins game on the road is a free Bruins game on the road. Being out of work, free tickets, free airfare, and a free hotel come in pretty handy.

My buddy Steiner and I(aka The Hockey Goons) took advantage of the opportunity at hand and headed to Chicago for an Original Six battle between our beloved Bruins and the Blackhawks.

Let the journey begin…

Pre-Game Activities

The only place to get pumped for the game is Rush Street. It’s the Chicago equivalent of Faneuil Hall but a million times better.

We visited one pub decked in our Bruins garb. One patron called us the worst name in the book. They called us Pittsburgh Penguins fans! UGH!

Sorry the Bruins are the “Original” Black and Gold team!

We then headed over to Tavern on Rush which was our hangout for the whole trip. Great atmosphere. Great beer. Great people.

The manager of the bar spent some time talking hockey with us. Nicest guy in the world. He even bought us a round! I am not sure how many other cities this would happen in!

We finished our grogs and headed to the United Center in the seedy part of Chicago.

After some confusion, heartburn, high blood pressure and Joe on Joe hate, we secured our tickets and put our game faces on.

Game On!

My former co-worker, Midnight Mills hooked us up in a freakin’ suite. Life was too good! After purchasing a $34 dollar six pack of Corona and some horrid “Chicago Deep Dish pizza”, Steiner and I settled in.

We heard that the National Anthem at the United Center was something you had to experience. It didn’t disappoint!

After Ex-Sox (Red and White) catcher, Carlton Fisk dropped the first puck, it was game time!

Original Six Battle

The Bruins-Blackhawks game was extremely entertaining.

This was one of the best games I have seen in person. It was intense from the opening face-off. The sold out crowd (largest attendance of the year) was in a frenzy. The beers were flowing and the bodies were flying.

One of the Blackhawks players compared the Bruins’ tenacity to a “tough girlfriend”.

The game went back and forth ending with a 4-4 tie at the end of regulation. The game went to the shootout where the young guns of the Blackhawks were too much for Bruins goalie, Tim Thomas.

We will take the point and the memories with us.

As the team captain, Jonathan Toews provides important leadership for the Blackhawks.

Blackhawks fans may have felt an equal measure of relief and trepidation when the team held a press conference December 3rd to announce that Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith had been secured for the next five years, and in Keith’s case, for thirteen years, presumably the balance of his career.

Relief, because their star center and Captain Toews, and flashy winger Kane, just 21 years old, are considered the driving forces of the Hawks; while Keith, at 26, is already seen as a Norris Trophy candidate defenseman, and plays more minutes than anyone on the squad.

Trepidation, because the questions about how the Hawks address the impact of these signings on their management of the salary cap loom larger than ever.

In effect, by ‘locking up their core’, as the jargon goes, the Blackhawks were doing what their longest-standing and most hated rivals, the Detroit Red Wings, had done before them, in signing their own stars to long term—in some cases, unprecedented—deals.

Toews and Kane are to the Hawks what forwards Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk are to the Wings. Keith is arguably the Hawks’ equivalent of multiple Norris winner Nicklas Lidström. Taking the parallel further, the signing of power forward Marian Hossa becomes the Blackhawks’ answer to Johan Franzen.

Former Wings guru, the man who has won more Stanley Cups as a hockey executive than anyone, William ‘Scotty Bowman’ has brought more than a little bit of Detroit’s organizational DNA with him to Chicago as Special Advisor Hockey Operations. His son, Stanley Glenn Bowman (named for the Stanley Cup and Cup Champion Hawk goalie Glenn Hall) is a Notre Dame finance and computer science Master whose life has been spent absorbing the father’s hockey expertise and applying it during his own rise to the top within the Chicago organization, culminating in his promotion from Assistant GM to General Manager in July 2009.

The reasoning for, and term of, the contracts for these three Hawks should not, then, come as a surprise.

But what is most significant about these signings, is that they represent the future of NHL hockey in the age of the salary cap.

Only 21-years-old, Patrick Kane could have a long future with the Blackhawks.

The cap was put in place after the 2004-05 NHL lockout, it was said, intended to create a level playing field while holding down the escalation of player salaries.

Nothing of the sort has occurred.

Elite forwards are now paid as much a nine million dollars a year; top defensemen command six and seven; and goaltenders are matching that number. The only way teams can control their costs, it is now argued, is to sign a small core of players to lengthy, lucrative agreements, and stock the rest of the squad with inexpensive youngsters and value-priced short term veteran talent.

The cap itself has risen dramatically, from an initial figure of $39 million USD to approximately $60 million, including bonus provisions. The NHL Players Association Collective Bargaining Agreement, a two hundred plus page document is a labyrinth of legalese, defying even the most dogged reader to decipher its clauses.

A number of hockey journalists, looking to chop complex issues down to crisp quips and digestible sound bites, have now resorted to the Cliff Notes version. This manifests itself in a barrage of manufactured drama over what is the accountant’s unglamorous job of making the numbers work. Fans are subjected to endless scenarios of speculation. Trades are supposedly ‘must get done’ in order to ‘free up’ room and avert the ongoing ‘cap crisis’—as if General Managers were shackled to their calculators, forced to eat bread and water and staring down the barrel of a gun. The deluge of fan commentary on Internet forums and message boards is enough to drown any human being who tries to swim in it.

The reality, however, is blunt. Hockey is a tough business; and as former GE Chairman Jack Welch once said, “Business is simple.”

The simplicity of W. Rockwell ‘Rocky’ Wirtz’s comments post-signing, underlines that.

“What the fans have got to realize is, if you have the nucleus you can fill in,” the Chairman of the Chicago Blackhawks since 2007, and whose family have owned the team since 1954, said in the Chicago Sun-Times. ”Now, if we let these three go to another team, then the fans would really be nervous.”

Rocky Wirtz and his brain trust have a blueprint for the Blackhawks that extends beyond the ice surface.

As Forbes noted in its October 2009 report, “The Business of Hockey”, the successful re-launch of the Chicago Blackhawks franchise is attributed not only to the rapid overhaul of the hockey team, but the all-encompassing marketing apparatus. The franchise leapt in value by 26 per cent over the previous year to $287 million, making it the NHL’s 7th most valuable.

Team President John McDonough, brought aboard by Wirtz in 2008, and who formerly worked marketing magic for baseball’s Cubs, has garnered much of the credit.

Management has been aggressively driven to mix pricey—some say overpriced—free agent talent with that developed within the system. The dollars have flowed, and the limits of the salary cap have been tested.

But the results have been unequivocal: a meteoric rise in the standings, ongoing sellouts and growing retail uptrend of Blackhawks merchandise.

With Toews, Kane and Keith now aboard long term, selling them to the hard-core hockey public and the new fan, can be ramped up full bore. Their marquee names in place for at least the next five years, the Hawks have defined their window of opportunity.

Whether purists agree or not, the Blackhawks are one of the most ‘consumable’ of NHL teams. According to surveys by established media like The Hockey News, the Hawks’ Indian Head logo and jersey rank as one of, if not the most, popular in hockey and all of professional sport.

The fresh-faced Toews and Kane are the buddy-buddy pair, one a serious, quiet Canadian from Winnipeg, the other a glib American bad boy from Buffalo. Their potential for endorsement deals is a sports agent’s dream. Of stout Scottish-Canadian stock, Duncan Keith is the blue collar counterpart who plies his trade along the blueline, the epitome of the everyman hockey player.

Already a standout defenseman, Duncan Keith's new contract should keep him with the Blackhawks for the bulk of his career.

Carefully groomed by the PR specialists, the innate charm of the three has now become a smooth blend of on-ice virtuosity and videogenic panache. The image of these bright, level-headed young men heading for the top, projects sophistication in a violent game.

This vision of a glowing future, however, does little to qualm the trepidation of fans who wonder which of their favorites may be obliged to leave Starship Blackhawk as it goes boldly where no team has gone before.

The sound of fingers crunching calculators and the spike in sales of worry beads accompany the chorus of voices who chant “Cup or Bust”.

Knowing the expectations of the Stanley Cup now are foremost in the minds of fans and the media, Toews, Kane and Keith have done their best to temper expectation. Toews and Kane still speak respectfully of their opponents, in particular the Red Wings, who they consider the main obstacle to the Hawks’ Cup aspirations. The collective memory of the reigning Champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins, and their Finals sweep of Chicago in 1992—the last time the Blackhawks made that round—is not lost on them.

The loyalists have waited since 1961 for another Champion Chicago hockey team. Disraeli’s maxim, “Patience is a necessary ingredient of genius”, does not necessarily resonate with the hockey fan.

All the buttons have been pushed to win now—and anything less than the return of Lord Stanley’s Cup to Chicago in the next few seasons will bear the brunt of fan frustration.

That in mind, the hiring last September of Joel Quenneville, whose 500 career wins confirm his pedigree as one of the league’s top coaches, was intended to impart discipline to what was the circuit’s youngest team. It took Quenneville a full campaign and the shock of a Conference Finals loss to the Red Wings, for his message to fully take hold with the sometimes impetuous players.

Signing premier forward Marian Hossa away from Detroit to a controversial 12-year contract, the Blackhawks were tasked this year with shedding their ‘cardiac kids’ tag and getting down to business. The swagger that once characterized the Blackhawks has given way to maturity and efficiency. The Hawks allow the fewest shots and fewest goals per game of any team in the NHL. Their puck possession skill and ability for almost any player to score at any time has made them, as the powerful San Jose Sharks and Calgary Flames recently discovered in respective 7-2 and 7-1 home ice defeats, one of the deadliest foes in the league.

The job facing General Manager Stan Bowman is, without question, Herculean. Making the pieces fit while balancing the books is complicated by contracts he inherited from his predecessor Dale Tallon. But Bowman appears unruffled—his critics say his demeanor is soporific—as he approaches the next eight months before the team must bring its budget and roster into line with the 2010-11 salary cap.

If the reported numbers of six million per year for Toews and Kane, and four million plus for Keith are correct, estimates maintain the Blackhawks are already committed to $60 million in salary, while the cap, though as yet undetermined for 2010-11, may be about that or less.

So that money covers only 15 players, with a roster of 22 or 23 to fill—and raises to be handed out.

The prognosis by several observers holds that Bowman must find a way to trim between seven and ten million dollars in salary to accommodate those needs.

And so the guessing game begins—who stays, who goes?

Bowman is, at least on the surface, sanguine about the challenge. His remarks, reported by the Chicago dailies, reinforce the confidence he consistently expresses in the assets assembled. “We can play with this team for the rest of the year, and may choose to do that.”

In answer to the sceptics, he preaches calm; while chiding those who chide the Blackhawks for being spendthrifts. “We’re no different than any other team. People fall in love with this team and we do, too, but this is not a phenomenon that just the Blackhawks face. We’re playing under the same rules as Pittsburgh, Detroit and Washington, so when you say we’re going to have tough decisions this summer, that’s correct, but last summer we saw teams let players go.

“I’m sure they weren’t thrilled about it, but those are the rules and we’re all playing under this system. Decisions have to be made and we’ll make the right ones at the right time, but we don’t need to get ahead of ourselves now.

“We’ve been saying all along that we’ll have some work to do in the summer, and we’ll have to make some tough decisions. By the summer we’ll know more. We don’t have the full picture yet.”

One of Bowman’s tenets has been to ensure the development of the team’s prospects and their gradual integration in the Blackhawks’ “system-first” philosophy.

The resemblance to the process perfected by Scotty Bowman and New Jersey Devils General Manager Lamoriello is striking. Just, as there is “Red Wings Hockey” and “Devils Hockey”, there is “Blackhawks Hockey”: a style based on continuous puck possession and attack—with a decided physical edge.

This style evokes the ’61 Champions, the powerhouse clubs of the 60s and 70s, and the hard-nosed teams of the 1980s and early 90s with Denis Savard, Steve Larmer and Doug Wilson—to whom Kane, Toews and Keith have been compared by the Chicago Tribune’s Steve Rosenbloom.

The draft choices made under Dale Tallon have already paid dividends, and the pipeline looks rich. Highly-ranked juniors like defensemen Dylan Olsen and Shawn Lalonde are invited to the Team Canada camp at the World Junior Championships. Minor-league forwards like Bryan Bickell, Jack Skille, Kyle Beach and Akim Aliu are seemingly on the verge of their shot at the big time.

With turnover being inevitable, Blackhawks fans may see these youngsters in the near future.

Rocky Wirtz also appears to have sent a message to fan base: enjoy the ride.

“We’re lucky to have players that want to play for us. Any other team in this league would have taken these players off our hands. They would have no problem doing that.”

In a sense, what the Blackhawks have done is go against the grain. In an age where the hockey player can choose to be a mercenary—and many have—they have offered star athletes, who have traditionally been chattels exchanged like trading cards, a tangible personal and professional stability.

Watching Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith in their press conference, one thing became clear. These young men have been given the opportunity of their lives—and they know it.

Duncan Keith, quoted in the Chicago Daily Herald, said it simply. “It’s great knowing I’m going to be a Blackhawk for the rest of my career.”

“I can’t envision playing anywhere else,” Kane was quoted in The Herald as well.

Captain Jonathan Toews’ perspectives were perhaps the most emotional. “To be blessed to be in this city, I can’t think of any better place to be drafted to when I was 18 years old,” Toews told The Herald. “To me, it’s not about the business side and all that stuff. I’m just happy to know I’m going to be part of this organization for a while longer and hopefully a lot longer after that.”

So what’s next for the Blackhawks? The answer seems clear to them, and their statements in the press conference were identical to a man: “To help this organization win a Championship.”

Marian Hossa and the Blackhawks are off to a hot start.

It’s almost impossible to win a football game in the first quarter. There’s too much time to come back, adjust to the other team, get lucky. A team can lose a game in the first quarter though. They can put themselves in such a deep physical and psychological hole that they won’t be able to climb.

The NHL season is a little like that. Everyone has played at least 21 games out of a total of 82. The early favorites have been established, but who is the best team? That title is still up for grabs. Who is likely to make the playoffs? Well in the new NHL where there’s a point given out every time a team completes their pre-game warm-up that’s still undecided yet.

Who has played themselves out of the playoffs and are likely to be lottery pick drafters, well that I can tell you. The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Carolina Hurricanes and their five wins respectively are out of the playoffs, in November. It’s a neat trick.

How have the teams in the NHL done this first quarter? Lets’ take a look at teams in the Western Conference in the order they’re in now.

San Jose Sharks
GP: 26 W: 16 L: 6 OT: 4 PTS: 36 WPCT: .692 GF:87 GA: 69

The Sharks are off to a great start. They’re tied with Washington as the best offensive team in the league.

The revamped line-up featuring a first class sniper, Dany Heatley, and the leagues best set-up man, Joe Thornton, is thriving. Patrick Marleau had a great season last year and is looking to do better this year. The injury to Devin Setoguchi hasn’t slowed the team at all. Evgeny Nabokov is shouldering the goaltending load in San Jose and doing it well with a 2.19 goals against average and a .926 save percentage. Throw in Canadian Olympian point man Dan Boyle and all seems rosy in Sharktown.

There are some danger signs though. The sharks dealt away some defensive depth in the offseason and called upon forty year old Rob Blake to play over twenty minutes a game. He’s too old to be playing that many minutes. He’s -4 on a shark team that scores so much the zamboni driver is +3. Youngsters Derek Joslin and Jason Demers are being asked to fill the void.

Last year the Sharks gave up the fewest shots on goal in the league. Right now they’re 18th in the league and giving up almost an extra fours shots on goal per game. So far Nabokov has been up to it. If he cracks or gets hurt there is no experienced back-up to go to.

The Sharks will likely give up more goals per game then the 2.43 they managed last year. Their record should suffer accordingly. Last nights 7-2 drubbing at the hands of western rival Chicago highlights the staggeringly different talent depths the two teams have.

2/Chicago Blackhawks
GP: 23 W: 15 L: 5 OT: 2 PTS: 34 WPCT: .739 GF: 77 GA: 51

The Blackhawks have three games in hand on San Jose and after slaughtering them 7-2 Wednesday night look poised to catch and pass them.

Chicago is giving up by far the fewest goals and the fewest shots in the league. This is probably because their talented line-up never gives up the puck. An embarrassment of young talent allows the Hawks to laugh at injury. They just plug in another great player.

They’ve been able to wait until late November for perennial 40 goal scorer Marian Hossa to be healthy enough to play. He scored two in his first game back. Their starting goalie Cristobel Huet has a .909 save percentage which is average among starters in the NHL and historically has been erratic at best. He’s terrific and horrific and pressure tends to crack him. Better goaltending would make this team more of a Stanley Cup favorite.

The only thing likely to slow them down this year will be cap related salary dumps. Poor talented young Jack Skille may never get a chance to play in the NHL while in this organization. Kane, Sharp, Toews, Keith, Versteeg, Barker, Brouwer, Seabrook and Byfuglien represent a significant percentage of the good young talent in the game today. Throw in offensive veterans Hossa and Campbell and this group is impossible to deal with.

The trade rumors swirl and Chicago is trying to dump weak-links or big contracts like Ladd, Sopel and Campbell. The rest of the NHL though is looking to steal some of the bright young talent like Sharp, Barker or Versteeg. Chicago will have to make some moves so they can resign their big young RFA’s Kane, Toews and Keith. How they do these deals will dictate how good this team will be and how long they’ll stay good.

3/Colorado Avalanche
GP: 25 W: 14 L: 7 OT: 4 PTS: 32 WPCT: .640 GF: 77 GA: 75

Colorado has bounced back from the worst season in the team’s history in Colorado. A string of 90 point plus seasons was interrupted with a horrible 65-point season and a worst place finish in the west.

The Avalanche addressed their gaping weakness in nets by signing former Florida puck glutton Craig Anderson. They drafted Brampton Battalion center Matt Duchene third overall and Erie Otter center Ryan O’Reilly thirty third. Duchene has ten points so far and O’Reilly has seventeen. 24-year-old Paul Stasny is the veteran center on this team and is leading the way with a point a game.

Colorado also dealt expensive, slowing power forward Ryan Smyth to LA for a couple of defenseman who could skate. Smyth has been explosive in LA and Preissing has been hurt most of the season. Kyle Quincey though is quarterbacking the power play and taking the offensive load off John-Michael Lilles. This young team can be expected to fall back as the season goes on and some of the youngsters wear down or have their weaknesses exposed.

Still it’s a nice testament to how quickly a good hockey organization can turn things around simply by identifying and addressing a team’s obvious weaknesses. They bit the bullet trading one of their few assets, which again takes courage and the willingness to be wrong. That’s a good first quarter for the Avalanche.

4/Calgary Flames
GP: 23 W: 14 L: 6 OT: 3 PTS: 31 WPCT: .674 GF: 71 GA: 63

Calgary signed one of the prestige free agents in the off-season when they picked up Jay Bouwmeester. At the same time they lost sniper Mike Cammalleri. They’ve had a good quarter. The defense while more mobile then last year is still giving up a lot of shots.

Miikka Kiprusoff

Miikka Kiprusoff

has had a good season to date but he’s again been forced to play over 85% of his team’s minutes. Fear of wearing down has him making the Roy-like declaration that he won’t play for Finland at the Olympics unless they guarantee him the starting goalie slot. Flames fans have to hope he rests over the Olympic weeks but Finnish hockey fans are no doubt very upset.

What has been a great start to their season is offset by a 3-2 to loss to Colorado in a game that could have moved them into first place and a 7-1 destruction suffered at the hands of the aforementioned Chicago Blackhawks.

There’s a two tier system developing in the western conference; everyone else and Chicago. Calgary has two games in hand on Colorado and is likely to take over the Northwest division lead soon.

5/Los Angeles Kings
GP: 25 W: 14 L: 9 OT: 2 PTS: 30 WPCT: .600 GF: 76 GA: 76

Los Angeles came out of blocks scoring this year. Anze Kopitar is still tied for the league lead in points.

The loss of Ryan Smith seems to be impacting the offense already and he’s out until the middle of December. The defense was strong last year and again is giving up the second fewest shots against in the league.

Jack Johnson is playing 23 minutes a game for LA but his -11 has to be worrisome. Drew Doughty on the other hand has .8 points per game and is +5 for LA. He may have played himself onto the Canadian Olympic team. The goaltending has been subpar again.

If LA could make a move for a goalie or if Jonathon Bernier were ready to bring his 1.73 GAA and .949 save percentage up from the AHL this team could go places.

As it is LA has apparently solved their defensive woes and this year they seem able to score. Now if they can just get the goaltending figured out…

6/Nashville Predators
GP: 23 W: 14 L: 8 OT: 1 PTS: 29 WPCT: .630 GF: 57 GA: 60

Nashville is still having trouble scoring goals this year. They had nine in their first seven games. They’ve since picked up the scoring and racked up some wins against some impressive competition including Chicago, Detroit, Colorado, San Jose and New Jersey. They’ve currently won seven games in a row. That’s the second best current winning streak behind Chicago’s eight in a row.

Pekka Rinne has won his last six starts including a shutout and has bumped his save percentage up to a respectable .915. Dan Ellis hasn’t done well yet this year. The talented net-minder would be a marketable asset if he’d just play better.

Dan Hamhuis

The team is led by their core of young great defenseman Dan Hamhuis, Shea Weber and Ryan Suter. Their aging and injury prone forwards need some young talent to play with. David Legwand and Martin Erat are both half a point a game minus players so far this year. They have to improve. The first line of Steve Sullivan, Jason Arnott and JP Dumont is skilled but too prone to break at any moment. Another talented young forward or two could really help this team. The loss of Alexander Radulov to Russia is still felt

7/Dallas Stars
GP: 24 W: 11 L: 6 OT: 7 PTS: 29 WPCT: .604 GF: 73 GA: 69

Dallas is having a bounce back year from last season’s injury ridden performance.

Marty Turco is generating numbers that are closer to what he’s shown in the rest of his career. Last year’s Osgood-like .898 save percentage has been replaced with a sparkling .919 save percentage this year. Alex Auld was brought in to be a competent veteran NHL backup. He has started a quarter of Dallas’s games so far and while his performances aren’t as good as Turco’s he’s providing relief and support in a cramped NHL schedule strewn with back to back hockey games. He appears to be helping Turco now and this workload should leave Turco much fresher for the playoffs, especially if he isn’t picked for Canada’s Olympic team.

Captain Brenden Morrow is back and contributing though he doesn’t seem quite as fast as he was before last years injury. Brad Richards has rebounded from a season where he missed 26 games and recorded less then a point a game. He’s leading the team with 30 in 22 games. He’s threatening to eclipse his career numbers that he had in 2005-06 with Tampa Bay. Youngsters Neil and Eriksson are contributing. The cost effective Dallas D seems weaker then in past years but if Turco and Auld can handle the work it might not matter.

8/Columbus Blue Jackets
GP: 23 W: 12 L: 8 OT: 3 PTS: 27 WPCT: .587 GF: 72 GA: 84

The Blue Jackets made it to their first post season last year and they’re playing like they want to get back.

Rick Nash

Last years success relied on Rick Nash, rookie goaltending phenomenon Steve Mason and Ken Hitchcock’s tight defensive system. Hitchcock has insisted on always having defensively responsible forwards in his line-up. He currently has three centers, Antoine Vermette, RJ Umberger, and Samuel Pahlsson who earned their spots in the NHL as checkers. Yet this team is currently full of minus players. Umberger le

d the team last year with a -10. Star Rick Nash is -11 so far this year.

The team has scored a third of their goals on the power play and only Carolina and Toronto have given up more goals. Vermette has produced, Brassard is healthy, Stralman is helping on the point and Huselius is having a stronger campaign this year. All these factors are helping fuel a good power play.

Columbus could desperately use a real first line offensive center. The defense is looking much more vulnerable this year as Columbus is giving up 31.9 shots per game. Mason has suffered from this four shot a game increase from last year. He’s riding an .885 save percentage and 3.59 GAA. Mathieu Garon is currently outplaying Mason. Probably a top end defensive defenseman is required as well.

9/Phoenix Coyotes
GP: 25 W: 13 L: 11 OT: 1 PTS: 27 WPCT: .540 GF: 60 GA: 61

Phoenix suffered through one of the worst off-seasons I can remember a team having and still existing at the end of. Yet they’ve started well. Can having a legitimate professional NHL coach make this big a difference? Well Dave Tippett is to be congratulated.

The Coyotes started strong and are getting the kind of goaltending they got of Bryzgalof when he first got picked up on waivers from Anaheim. Jason Labarbera is proving to be a competent backup. Scoring seems to be coming slowly but mostly from the aging veterans, Lang, Aucouin, Vrbata, Jovanovski and Doan.

All that great drafted talent seems to be withering. Peter Mueller was one of the better young players I’d seen in the game two years ago. Now he’s got four points in 23 games. I watched him score a hat-trick and singlehandedly demolish Calgary two years ago. What has happened? Martin Hanzal has less then a half point a game. Mikkel Boedker has played six games and has nothing. Tikhonov is in the minors.

Hopefully the long term development of these players will be improved by this slowing of the rush to get them into the NHL but right now it looks like there’s nobody ready to replace the Jovanovski’s , the Aucoins, the Vrbata’s and the Lang’s who will be gone all too soon.

10/ Detroit Red Wings
GP: 23 W: 11 L: 8 OT: 4 PTS: 26 WPCT: .565 GF: 68 GA: 66

Detroit dominated the toughest division in hockey last year. Then cap problems lost them Hossa, Hudler, Kopecky and Samuelsson. Suddenly the depth that allowed them to laugh at injuries last year has left them susceptible.

An early injury to Johan Franzen, games lost by Pavel Datsyuk and newcomer Jason Williams, and the new injury to Niklas Kronwall has dropped Detroit from leading the league in scoring last year to a much more pedestrian 15th in scoring overall in the NHL.

Their defense last year gave up the second fewest shots on goal in the league. They’re currently fifth which is still pretty darned good. Their goaltending is, again below average. Osgood and Howard have .900 and .901 save percentages in a league where the average among goalies who start at least a third of their teams games is .910. This doesn’t fly on a team that doesn’t dominate offensively.

Detroit could improve quickly if they could simply slot in a better goaltender. Unfortunately they have no cap room, they know Osgood and are comfortable with him, and he’s cost effective. Detroit as they get healthy can be expected to improve. I don’t know that anyone can catch Chicago but I think Detroit will finish second in the central and thus fourth in the west. The goaltending though is their Achilles heel. Eventually it’ll have to be addressed.

11/Vancouver Canucks
GP: 23 W: 12 L: 11 OT: 0 PTS: 24 WPCT: .522 GF: 67 GA: 60

Vancouver has weathered some devastating injuries with a thin line-up that I felt couldn’t compete with key members missing.

Pavol Demitra, theoretically the center of Canucks second scoring line has yet to play. Daniel Sedin, the good Sedin, the scoring Sedin has missed eighteen games with a broken foot. Roberto Luongo has missed a couple games due to injury and his numbers so far this year have been average. He’ll probably play for Canada at the Olympics and his backup in Vancouver Andrew Raycroft has played well but can’t be counted on the carry the load.

Henrik Sedin

Through all this Henrik Sedin , the passing Sedin, has fourteen goals. He’s on pace to score 47. The checker Ryan Kesler has been solid and will probably play that third line role for the USA at the Olympics.

Christian Ehrhoff picked up from San Jose has provided a nice offensive presence on the point of the power play. Mason Raymond looks good and the Canucks have figured out that Wellwood is useless.

The team isn’t blowing anyone away but they seem solid and the defense is giving up fewer shots then last year. This team might just have the character to challenge Calgary and Colorado for the northwest division crown.

12/Edmonton Oilers
GP: 25 W: 10 L: 12 OT: 3 PTS: 23 WPCT: .460 GF: 73 GA: 78

Edmonton is another team giving up way too many goals.

Dustin Penner seems to have found his power forward niche despite his geologically slow skating. Hemsky is a great talented kid who’s been good since they signed him. Lubomir Vishnovsky has had another great quarter as the team’s prime offensive defenseman, especially with Souray out with concussion. Still with Souray, Vishnovsky, Gilbert and Grebeshkov Edmonton has four offensively talented defenseman.

Edmonton needs to trade one of those assets to try to get a first line center. Edmonton’s current line-up features Shawn Horcoff, Patrick O’Sullivan, Sam Gagner, Mike Comrie and Gilbert Brule’ perhaps the worlds biggest collection of second line (at best) centers in the league. Vishnovsky is currently the best offensive defenseman they have and he’s also the oldest.

As long as Souray stays healthy they can probably afford to trade Lubomir and he’s the one most likely to garner a good return. The power play time will benefit the young offensive defensemen as well. Nikolai Khabibulin was brought in to replace the departing Dwayne Roloson. He’s been good but he hasn’t matched Dwayne’s great performance from last year. The team needs to make changes to step forward. If not they’re probably stuck where they are.

13/St Louis Blues
GP: 22 W: 9 L: 9 OT: 4 PTS: 22 WPCT: .500 GF: 54 GA: 57

Here was a team showing great offensive depth last year. They looked perhaps capable of having eight 20-goal scorers this year. They currently have two players projecting to score as many as twenty.

The health and ice time of Paul Kariya and Andy Macdonald seem to have eaten into the minutes and scoring of younger developing players like David Backes, Patrick Berglund and TJ Oshie. Even Brad Boyes is slipping back from his 72-point, 33-goal season last year. He’s on pace this year to score 15. Kariya has played 22 games and his sixteen plus minutes a night have realized eight points.

Erik Johnson is back from his freak golf cart accident last year and is leading the team with sixteen points and his plus seven.

This team isn’t scoring and yet the defense is giving up significantly more shots on goal. The goaltending tandem of Chris Mason and Ty Conklin is holding them in games and is perhaps the only reason St Louis is only five points out of a playoff spot. The offense needs to ignite and the defense needs to tighten up for this team to go back to the playoffs again this year.

14/Anaheim Ducks
GP: 23 W: 9 L: 11 OT: 3 PTS: 21 WPCT: .456 GF: 66 GA: 77

The Ducks seemed to have smoothly transitioned from aging declining team to young star laden team on the rise. Their playoff run last year was thought to herald great things to come. Instead it seems to more accurately reflect the old team’s last gasp. Anaheim seems to have officially graded into rebuilding mode and they may need to wait till some of the draft picks they’ve gleaned through deals join the team before they regain their spot at the top of the league.

The loss of Chris Pronger and Francois Beauchemin is being felt acutely on the Anaheim defense. The Ducks gave up a not inconsiderable 30.5 shots per game last year. This year they’re 27th in the league and giving up 33.3 shots per game.

The goaltending is not bailing them out. Anaheim has the fourth worst goals against average in the league as well. Jonas Hiller and JS Giguere are providing average netminding and Giguere is complaining bitterly while he does it. Bob Murray’s call for him to shut-up and play better is not without it’s virtue. Giguere’s attitude, play and six million dollar salary make him an unfortunately untradeable asset. Getzlaf and Perry are dominant offensive players and Selanne, Ryan and the big three on defense are all contributing offensively.

Unfortunately after them there is a huge drop-off in the offense provided. Lupul and Koivu are providing less then half a point a game and veteran checker Todd Marchant is -10. I can’t believe this team won’t improve their standing. They have a lot of teams to get through to get back in playoff contention. They came on strong at the end of last year and could do the same again.

15/Minnesota Wild
GP: 23 W: 8 L: 12 OT: 3 PTS: 19 WPCT: .413 GF: 55 GA: 70

The Wild continue to be offensively challenged but they don’t seem able to manage a league leading goals against average to balance that out. They gave up a surprisingly high shot count last year. They’ve improved that by two shots per game so far this year and are ninth in the league giving up 28.5 shots per game.

Niklas Backstrom is again carrying the load in Minnesota but he’s been only fair rather then generating the vezina worthy numbers he managed last year (.923 sv pct, 2.33GAA, 37 W, 8 SO, 4088 min). Josh Harding who was once a partner in this teams goaltending has regressed.

This team is still desperate for a sniper. Martin Havlat picked up in the off-season has two goals and is -14. Former fourth over-all pick Pouliot was dealt for Canadien disappointment Guillaume Latendresse. Pierre-Marc Bouchard is still dealing with concussion symptoms and he needs a sniper to play with as well. Petr Sykora has not proven to be that much needed sniper.

The defense of Burns, Zidlicky, Schultz and Johnsson is still good. The Wild has the advantage of playing in one of the weaker divisions in hockey. They need to start beating those division mates consistently to climb out of the basement. It’s not too late yet, but it at the halfway point it just might be.

Toews may be young but he is a true leader.

Some hockey fans were looking forward to drama and revenge when the Chicago Blackhawks met the Vancouver Canucks for the first time since the Canucks’ Willie Mitchell knocked out Hawks Captain Jonathan Toews with a concussion.

Some may have been disappointed.

After a two-week absence, Toews’ return to the Blackhawks kept them on a winning streak that reached seven as Chicago delivered another kind of message at Vancouver’s GM Place. The 1-0 score left the Canucks and their fans slack-jawed. An overeager goal horn operator even jumped the gun, mistakenly signaling a score for the home side just seconds before the final buzzer.

The only revenge was the result, and the only drama was the battle between two skilled clubs.

The victory gave the Blackhawks sole possession of second place overall in the National Hockey League, and the best winning percentage among all thirty teams.

There has been much talk about the resurgence of the Blackhawks, and more than one pundit predicting a serious run for the Stanley Cup. While the kerfuffle over the Hawks’ salary cap management continues, the critics grudgingly concede the team has the talent to contend.

But if there is any player who represents the revival of Cup aspirations in Chicago, it is Jonathan Toews.

Unlike his mercurial team-mate Kane, there are no questions about Toews’ ego. And unlike seven million dollar d-man Brian Campbell, there are no arguments about his value to the Blackhawks. When the much-rumored contract extension for Jonathan Toews is finally revealed, no one will begrudge him every penny he makes.

Toews may be to the Blackhawks now, what Steve Yzerman once was to the Detroit Red Wings: the player who makes the difference no matter how much or how little he does every game. For like Yzerman—who wore the same number 19—Toews is the heart of his team. And no one argues that Jonathan Toews has, to borrow from the popular phrase, “got a little Captain in him”.

While the Hawks, still the league’s youngest team, dazzled everyone last year with their unexpected emergence, there were questions as to whether they could withstand the pressure of expectations this year. With some of the best clubs in the powerful Western Conference becoming even better, some suggested the Hawks would flutter.

Jonathan Toews’s maturity as the league’s youngest captain, and his ability to transmit that to his team, are considered keys to the Blackhawks’ success. In the six games without him between October 21st and November 9th, they managed only a 3-2-1 record.

Since Toews’ comeback, the Blackhawks are showing that maturity. They rallied from 3-1 deficit to beat the league-leading San Jose Sharks in overtime, the first defeat for the Sharks in ten games. That night, during the “NHL On The Fly” roundup, Wings TV analyst, ex-Red Wings d-man and Cup Champion Larry Murphy paid Toews the ultimate compliment.

“There’s a reason he wears the C, because he provides that leadership. At times he reminds me of Henrik Zetterberg. These are two guys, when they get the puck they always do the right thing.”

His teammates understand exactly what Toews means to them. As veteran center John Madden said, “It was good to get our captain back in the line-up. He brings a presence regardless if he scores or not. He competes so hard, and you can feed off that and it becomes contagious out there.”

Toews was sanguine about his return: “I’m going to go right back in traffic.  It’s something I won’t think about at all. I’m looking to improve on a lot of things I did, but it was a good first game back. It was nice to score a goal, so hopefully I can keep building on that and helping my line mates offensively a little bit more.”

Former Hawk stalwart, Frank Selke trophy recipient and Stanley Cup Champion Troy Murray provides color commentary for the Blackhawks games on WGN Radio Chicago. “Jonathan is a winner,” Murray observes. “You can’t teach someone how to be a winner. It’s just something you have. And you can see that in Toews, because he’s never satisfied.”

Like Toews, Murray played for the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux. It may be no coincidence that both these men approach the game with the focus and quiet intensity of warrior chieftains—as they both have worn ‘the Indian Head’ not once, but twice, at parallel stages in their hockey lives. Remarkably, they were both Captains of Canadian national junior teams and led their squads to championships.

Jonathan Toews has some of the same qualities as Wings great captain, Steve Yzerman.

Lest one assumes the praise for Toews is merely Hawk-centric, the accolades come from varied sources. Sports Illustrated’s respected hockey chronicler Michael Farber, in his October 2009 article “Captain Serious”, named for the moniker Toews is tagged with by his playful teammates, summed up his perspective:

“If it’s hijinks you want, forget it. But at 21 Jonathan Toews has the skill, the grit and the determined demeanor to lead the Blackhawks to the Cup. When you are Captain Serious, you leave nothing to chance. When you are called on to perform before a pumped-up crowd in your hometown, you owe it to yourself and your franchise to prepare properly and do the job. Jonathan Toews brings it every day.  Now the 21-year-old is turning his voice to the Blackhawks’ dressing room as the captain of one of the NHL’s most dynamic teams. With Chicago at the precipice of greatness, can another precocious center carry the once woeful Blackhawks to a Cup?”

From a statistical perspective, Toews’ versatility and game-changing abilities are reflected in things other than score sheet. Chicago being a puck possession and puck management team, Toews’ faceoff skill has made its impact. His percentages have been among the league leaders, hovering around sixty per cent.

The effect on the power play and penalty kills has been evident. They had been 3 for 33 during his absence, but shortly after Toews’ return, the Hawks went 2 for 3 on man advantage situations against the L.A. Kings, and the team scored four power play goals in a 7-1 rout of the Calgary Flames. Their penalty kill has become tops in the NHL.

Mike Kiley, the iconoclast who writes the witty and incisive blog “Blackhawks Confidential” for the Chicago Tribune, has been covering Chicago sports for four decades.  He celebrates Toews as a hero worthy of the city’s sports legends, not only for his talent, but for his character.

“Toews is comfort food. He’s fried chicken. He’s popcorn. He’s chocolate cake. Feeling stressed about the Blackhawks’ prospects? Here’s Johnnnny! For a guy who everyone claims doesn’t have much to say, that joy of life moment of Toews wiping the glass behind the net Monday night against Los Angeles with unrestrained vigor can sell untold tickets and earn this city’s respect and enduring love for the way he goes about his business.

“Toews copies Walter Payton’s body language. That tells you the rose-strewn path he is traveling into Chicago history. Just like Payton, Toews exudes ease of effort in everything he does, as well as exuberance, discipline, steely grit and a merry twinkle in the eye that promises innocent mischief when the time is right. Toews has the knack to know what feels right and do it properly, whether he is winning a faceoff, hanging loose in his free time or defining a moment for the masses. No one will make a bigger statement over the next several months in Chicago than Toews. It bears repeating that like Payton, Toews speaks best by how he plays and how he handles the ebb and flow of hockey and its passing parade.”

Hawks General Manager Stan Bowman, who exercises evident restraint in his statements, is unequivocal about Jonathan Toews. After the team made him their first pick in 2006, Bowman said, “Typically, highly-regarded kids are very good offensively but are not very developed defensively.  But Jonathan is the exception. He’s well-rounded, intelligent and has a good hockey sense. Overall, he has those qualities that can’t be taught. You either have them or you don’t—and he’s got them.”

The Chicago Blackhawks affirm their culture as being founded on intensity and pride. Examining the roll call of Captains who have led them, the names Tony Amonte, Doug Gilmour, Chris Chelios, Denis Savard, Dirk Graham, Darryl Sutter, Terry Ruskowski, Keith Magnuson, Pat Stapleton, Stan Mikita, Pierre Pilote, Bill Gadsby, Earl Seibert and Dick Irvin all evoke those emotions. As the 34th Captain in Hawks history, the hopes vested in young Mr. Toews could scarcely be greater.

But whether it’s being asked about his prospects, as a native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, of being selected to Canada’s 2010 Olympic Team by Olympic GM Steve Yzerman, the controversial issue of headshots, or about the Blackhawks’ Cup chances, Jonathan Toews keeps a steady hand on the emotional tiller.

Like a good Captain should, one might say. And one might say Toews has more than just a little Captain in him.

Patrick Sharp (foreground) is one reason the Hawks are winning without Captain Jonathan Toews (background).

When Patrick Sharp scored the game winner with just four and a half minutes left in the Blackhawks’ last game for the month of October, Coach Joel Quenneville’s knuckles might have been as white as his hair.

Four regulars—grinders Adam Burish and Ben Eager, Hawk Captain Jonathan Toews, newcomer Marian Hossa—are missing from the lineup. Top defenseman Brent Seabrook just returned after being out for a pair of games with ‘concussion-like symptoms’.

So Quenneville and his men have been finding ways to win, that contrast with the explosive style fans now expect from Chicago Blackhawks hockey.

Part of that is, as Center Dave Bolland said, “playing conservative.” Another is goals at critical moments from the supporting cast.

David Bolland credits "conservative play" with the Hawks' success.

“Sharpie scored our biggest goal of the year, very timely,” Quenneville said after the win over Montreal. “It’s 2-2 late in the game and anything can happen. We needed 2 points; and we would have had a whole week to think about today’s game.”

The absence of Toews was reflected in a Hawks’ record that was noticeably worse the last time he suffered a significant injury.  Chicago went 5-10-2 when Toews sprained a knee in March 2008, and their narrow failure to reach the postseason was the result.

When a frightening hit October 21st by Vancouver’s Willie Mitchell leveled Toews, old fears were stirred. So far, Chicago’s leader and number one centerman has missed four straight games with a concussion.

While Ben Eager’s contribution may be more modest, the robust winger made his impact during last year’s run to the Conference Finals. Eager has already missed 11 games with a concussion. It was reported that he had “moved a step closer to returning to the lineup”, skating at the end of last week. Given this was Eager’s first time on the ice since his injury, there are questions—given his history of concussions—about when and even if he will return.

Agitator and checking center Adam Burish’s torn MCL sidelines him until March, so the current version of the ‘Big Bad Black Hawks’ is not quite as big and bad.

The departure of Martin Havlat was to be filled by Marian Hossa, but after rotator cuff surgery, the Slovak star is not expected until December.

Yet, the Blackhawks are ahead of where they were at this time last year. Sitting atop the Central Division, with an 8-4-1 record (a .653 percentage that would see them equal their previous 104-point finish), the Hawks are doing it with defense. They are third best in the West with a GAA of just 2.31.

More importantly, the Hawks seem to have gained the maturity necessary to win close games. With the exception of their 4-0 win over the Panthers during their Helsinki opening twin bill, and their 2-0 victory over Nashville, every contest has been decided by a single goal.

Ex-Devil John Madden has brought discipline and maturity to the team.

The losses have been addressed with a sober attitude that contradicts last year’s swagger. Voices like those of Brian Campbell, Patrick Sharp and Kris Versteeg have bluntness in their post-game comments. They seem to know it won’t come easy this year, and that every point gained and lost can be meaningful down the road.

Perhaps the presence of former Devil, Frank Selke and Stanley Cup winner John Madden has tempered the exuberance of youth. With Madden, the Blackhawks have improved their two-way game, including a previous weakness on face-offs, thus improving their puck possession time and control of the play. Madden knows all about ‘The System’ being more important than the individual, and having ‘been there’, he can transmit his hockey wisdom to his teammates. While no Blackhawk is tearing up the score sheet, the record shows that everyone is contributing. Rather ‘Devilish’ of them.

Patrick Kane has also undergone a transformation. The glib kid who embellishes the cover of EA Sports’ NHL computer game is stronger and smarter. Cutting down on giveaways, he is still making slick plays, and scoring sick goals; and has set close to a point-per-game pace so far.

Joel Quenneville, a tough, effective if unspectacular defenseman in his playing days, seems to have continued his education of the Hawks d-corps. Brent Sopel, injured last year and castigated by critics, is delivering solid games, whether stepping in to partner Keith in Seabrook’s absence, or in his regular spot with Cam Barker.

The big story, though, may be how goaltender Cristobal Huet has turned his performance around. Vilified early in the season for the dreaded ‘soft’ goals and perceived lapses in concentration at opportune times, Huet has exemplified Nietzsche’s adage, “what does not kill me makes me stronger.” He now sports a 2.29 goals against average and has allowed only four goals while winning three of his last four starts.

After a rough start, Cristobal Huet is playing like a Number One.

November does not promise any ‘gimmes’ for the Blackhawks, as they embark on a schedule which has them playing eight of the next dozen on the road. Including an extended, western trip, the next four weeks feature a pair of battles against the Kings, Sharks, and Conference-leading Colorado with former Hawks ‘tender Craig Anderson; grudge matches with the Flames and the Canucks; the surprising Coyotes; and the always challenging Anaheim Ducks. Their Original Six rivalry with the Maple Leafs sees them hosting Toronto mid-month.

Can the Hawks hold serve until their stars return? This is a test of character for Chicago’s hockey heroes. But if they see themselves as the contenders everyone else seems to, ‘winning ugly’ will be beautiful for the Blackhawks.

David Morris covers the Chicago Blackhawks for Sports Then and Now.

The jacket notes for Harvey Wittenberg’s Tales from the Chicago Blackhawks have a simplicity and substance that mirror the book itself: “A collection of stories that come straight from the source-players, coaches, and managers, to name a just a few. Intended to be informative and, above all, entertaining, these tales are not only for fans of the Blackhawks, but for all fans of hockey.”

Harvey Wittenberg has been covering the Blackhawks since 1959, when he was sports director for Chicago radio station WLS-AM. He became the second-string public address announcer at the old Chicago Stadium that fall; and began to do the radio color commentary for the Hawks the following March. When he took over as full time public address announcer in 1961, his tenure lasted 40 seasons; so there may be no one more qualified to tell the stories he relates here.

Hockey is a universe replete with legends, folk tales, heroic deeds, mischief and sometimes tragedy. The Blackhawks have a mystique that exceeds their Championship status. After all, with just three Stanley Cups since the franchise’s 1926 entry into the league, the mere compilation of winning statistics would not explain the passion and devotions Hawks fans have for their favorite team.

Former Hawk star and coach Denis Savard once said, it is really about the mantra, “Commit To The Indian”. The stalwart profile of the warrior the players wear on their chest, the crossed tomahawks on their shoulders, and the battle colors of red, white and black are symbols of pride. Win or lose, the Blackhawks send a message to their foes: we will fight you to the last breath.

That pride—some might call it cockiness, arrogance, and the current buzzword, swagger. The sight of Bobby Hull, ‘The Golden Jet’, picking up the puck in his own end, winding up, swooping down the ice and unleashing his missile of a slap shot, often almost taking a goalie’s head off in the process—is an icon not only for Hawks loyalists, but all hockey fans. The image of “the Big Bad Blackhawks” was confirmed in a headline of a 1964 cover of Sports Illustrated, a gap toothed Hull the furious warrior squaring off against the Red Wing enemy.

But the view offered by Harvey Wittenberg is one of whimsy, nostalgia and eccentricity: a view of hockey as a sport where the comical exists alongside the confrontational.

His album of memories makes for a read that moves as swiftly as the Hawks teams he chronicles. From the infamous “Curse of the Muldoon” to the pipe organ of Chicago Stadium that exhorted the throng to cheer their Hawks, the book is a deep dish of flavors simmered for decades.

The club having become, in late 1940’s, a ‘dumping ground’ for players unwanted by the Norris family who also owned the Red Wings, Wittenberg considers the turnaround and the birth of the modern Black Hawks to be the hiring of Tommy Ivan as General Manager in 1952. Ironically, this was engineered by James Norris Jr., a rebel in the family who was also an important boxing promoter. ‘Jimmy’ Norris was partnered in his purchase of the Hawks by Chicago liquor magnate Arthur Wirtz, whose progeny still own the franchise today.

Swiping Ivan, who had constructed the dominant Red Wings teams of the era, was a coup for Norris and the satisfaction of one-upmanship he felt towards his siblings was transmitted to the Hawks-Wings rivalry. Norris was to get satisfaction with the Cup win in 1961 and the deciding victory on Detroit ice.

Wittenberg recounts all of this first-hand with a verve that puts the reader into a time machine and takes them to these moments, both on and off the ice, and even behind the scenes where sportswriters do not go.

Long before the days of players’ unions and megadollars, the scrap to get paid a decent wage could be as heated as the fights on the ice. When forward Cliff Koroll decided he was due a $500 raise on an $8000 salary, the curt response from GM Ivan was, “If you don’t like what I’m offering you, go out and get a job!”

Amusing tales abound: former coach ‘Iron Mike’ Keenan punishing his defensive stars who broke curfew in Montreal by forcing them to play forty minutes virtually without a chance to catch their breath; and star defenseman Doug Wilson, injured with a broken jaw, being served pizza and beer in a blender; and many more.

His kaleidoscope of Hawkey includes portrait after portrait. They include an in-depth look at Bobby Hull; his brother Dennis, ‘The Silver Jet’, whose magic tricks and jokes played with teammate Doug Jarrett earned them the nickname “Gold Dust Twins”; Bill “Don’t call me Red!” Hay; Eric Nesterenko, the intellectual; the tight-fisted Stan Mikita; the stylish Denis Savard; Steve ‘Superman’ Larmer; and El Olczyk, the local boy drafted first who wanted to do so well.The chapters are brief, yet filled with information, have electric titles like “The Strangest Goal Ever at Chicago Stadium” and “Remember the Roar”, and a sprinkling of photos that highlight Wittenberg’s text.

Wittenberg knows the pride of those who wore the Indian Head, and the passion of those who have followed them. In his final speech to the audience during the last game at Chicago Stadium in April, 1994, he evokes every ounce of that pride in all of Black Hawk Nation: “Remember your favorite players whether they are Bobby Hull, Jeremy Roenick. Tony Esposito, Eddie Belfour, Stan Mikita, Denis Savard, Keith Magnuson, and Chris Chelios—remember the feeling you have, right now!”

The Chicago Stadium may be gone, and it may be almost half a century since the Blackhawks’ last Stanley Cup, but Tales from the Chicago Blackhawks roars with remembrance.

“Hockey is my game—and it sure has been good to me.” Thus Robert Marvin “Bobby” Hull, ‘The Golden Jet’, the first player to equal and break Maurice ‘Rocket’ Richard’s then seemingly unbreakable single-season goal scoring record; the first hockey player to earn a million dollars a year; perhaps the most famous hockey player ever, begins his 1967 biography.

While out of print for many years, hardcover editions like the original Longmans Canada hardcover can still be found online at Amazon and Alibris, by the assiduous hockey book hound.

It is worth the search. Hull’s book startles the reader with an elegant, gracious style that contrasts with the magnum force of Hull’s play. But it is not difficult to hear Bobby’s voice in the words, as he tells the story of his rise to the NHL and his eventual decision to abandon it for the unknown quantity that was the World Hockey Association.

Hull’s stated objective in the introduction is as powerful as his legendary slap shot. “Thinking about my game, and what I have learned about it, has helped make it much easier for me to write this book. I hope it will help many young players and add excitement to the game for fans of all ages.”

In a time when we are bombarded with information and its endless dissection, the absence of pretense in Bobby Hull’s story is a refreshing dose of nostalgia. And the photographic instructions of how to shoot the puck like Hull, and play the way he did, both on offense and defense, will have you lacing up your skates and heading for the rink.

Tales from the Chicago Blackhawks, by Harvey Wittenberg, hardcover, 189pp, Sports Publishing LLC, 2003; $19.95. Available from www.SportsPublishingLLC.com; and www.Amazon.com.

Hockey Is My Game, by Bobby Hull, hardcover, 222pp, illustrated, Longmans Canada, 1967; prices will vary according to condition. Available from www.amazon.com and www.alibris.com.

The Blackhawks are hopeful that "The Madden Effect" will help them earn additional victories this season.

John Madden was in Zurich, watching his teammates play the European Champion Zurich Lions for the Victoria Cup, in the Blackhawks’ final exhibition game for 2009. He was in the broadcast booth, though, instead of on the ice, providing color commentary as Coach Joel Quenneville had decided to rest Madden for the season opener in Helsinki. But that wasn’t where Madden wanted to be.

As he saw the Lions stymie and take the lead from the Hawks, Madden remarked “We’ll get it back. We’ll win this one.” The Hawks did not, and one could sense Madden’s frustration, the fruit of the intensity and hunger to win that has been the backbone of his career. That hunger to succeed has characterized not only his accomplishments as a hockey player, but as a person.

Born in Barrie, Ontario, a small city of just over a hundred thousand on the shores of Simcoe Bay, John Madden took ‘the path less traveled’ to the National Hockey League. He grew up in a public housing project in Toronto, and though he played in house and minor leagues as a teenager, he never played major junior hockey, and was passed over in the NHL’s Entry Draft in 1993. But Madden persisted, playing college hockey for the University of Michigan Wolverines, where he set scoring records for short-handed goals and won an NCAA championship in 1996.

Like the wolverine, Madden has a tenacity that belies his relatively small—in hockey terms—stature, at 5’11” and 190 pounds. His physical solidity matching that of his psyche, he was noticed by New Jersey Devils General Manager Lou Lamoriello. Lamoriello has a tradition of choosing players for their character more than just their talent; and Madden was signed as a free agent in the summer of 1997.

As a Devil, Madden became one of the most respected defensive forwards in the NHL—earning the Frank Selke Trophy for his excellence in that role—and one of the most dangerous when defending against a power play. With his partner Jay Pandolfo, Madden was always a threat to score against the opponent even though his team was down a man. A member of the Devils’ 2000 and 2003 Cup teams, Madden was also one of New Jersey’s alternate captains during his tenure there.

After 10 seasons in Jersey, the inevitable cycle of change that takes place in professional sports saw John Madden as a free agent once again. When the Chicago Blackhawks came calling with a one-year deal, Madden saw another opportunity. Though he might not have the speed of his youth, he knew the young Hawks could benefit from his skill and experience.

“I know that I’m here to play a specific role,” he said in the interview during the Victoria Cup game in Zurich. “And I’m thrilled to be with an exciting, contending team like the Blackhawks.”

The Hawks hope Madden's arrival gives them both a chance to kiss the Stanley Cup again.

The Hawks seem to agree. “He can be a real useful player for us,” said Coach Joel Quenneville in a Chicago Tribune feature headlined, “Hawks Expect Newcomer Madden To Be A Steady Hand”.

Star defenseman Duncan Keith concurred: “He’s a great player, and he has a lot of experience with a team that has had a lot of success in a really sound system.”

One of the criticisms directed at the Hawks has been their tendency towards defensive lapses, and a lack of maturity—to be expected in the league’s youngest team—that has kept them from rising even higher than they did last year. Getting to the Western Conference Finals, as much as it surprised observers and delighted Hawk fans, means the mountain of expectation is even higher this year.

But history may have a lesson to teach here. When Chicago won its last Cup in 1961, it was powered by youngsters like Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita, who were quick to credit the work of older veterans like Ed Litzenberger and Jack Evans as being those steadying hands.

Already, the 2009-10 Blackhawks seem to be showing the benefits of “The Madden Effect”. In their first six games, the Hawks were the team allowing the fewest shots per game in the league, while making their way to the top of the Western Conference with a 4-1-1 record—a major improvement over last year’s 2-2-2 start.

Madden appears to have fit right in. Like Hawk legend the late Hubert ‘Pit’ Martin, his no-nonsense approach balances the flash and fire of the stars around him. “There’s a lot of talent here, a lot of character guys,” Madden commented to the Tribune. “They’re young, but they have won at other levels and they want to win here, and that’s what we’re working to achieve.”

Watching Madden play wearing the Indian Head jersey, he shows the intelligence that was fundamental to his years as a Devil, reading the play, disrupting the opponent, and ready to pounce on a puck from a turnover he helps create. His faceoff expertise seems to have been transmuted to his teammates as well; the Hawks’ success at the dot being noticeably higher. But what can also be noticed is the energy in Madden’s play. He wants another Cup—and he clearly thinks one with the Blackhawks is possible.

When the Hawks staged their franchise record-setting five-goal comeback against the Calgary Flames on October 12th—tying an NHL record as well—it was Madden’s goal that led the way.

One of hockey’s builders, Conn Smythe, believed in a formula that brought Championships to his clubs: “Put the kids in with a few old pappy guys who still like to win and the combination is unbeatable.”

At 36 years of age, ‘Old Pappy Guy’ John Madden still likes to win.

The Chicago Blackhawks hope they can apply Conn Smythe’s maxim and John Madden’s assets to Stanley Cup-winning effect.

David Morris covers the Chicago Blackhawks for Chicago Sports Then and Now.

Will Antti Niemi be the answer in goal for the Blackhawks? photo: ingoalmag.com

When the horn sounded to end Antti Niemi’s first game of the 2009-10 season, it began a whirlwind of wishful thinking from Chicago Blackhawks fans. Not only did the 26-year old ‘rookie’—actually a veteran of Finland’s top-flight SMLiiga—pitch a shutout, he did it while exuding the poise that Hawks fans are desperate for in a netminder.

The Blackhawk fan base decided some time last season that Dale Tallon’s signing of former Canadiens and Capitals goaltender Cristobal Huet was not only overpaid, but unwise. Huet’s positional style and tendency to go down to block shots leave him open to being beaten on what sportscasters and fans refer to as ‘soft goals’. Perception being nine-tenths of reality, that characterization quickly obscured the French-born goalie’s qualities. Despite being statistically among the top ten netminders in the past few years, Cristo can’t catch a break in Chicago, and was even booed by the hometown crowd during the exhibition season.

Enter ‘The Nieminator’.  The Finn’s performance had armchair GMs scrambling to concoct trade scenarios where Huet was spirited away in exchange for the ‘piece the Hawks need’ to end their almost half-century Cup drought.

Knowing the romance with goalies is as easily kindled as it is extinguished, Niemi is sanguine about the praise lavished upon him after just one game. Interviewed for the NHL’s website, he commented, “I’ll just try to do the little things right, make sure the foundation is there, and do my best at practices. That will then carry over to the game. Some days are better than others, sometimes I’m tired. It’s all mental.”

Niemi considers his year with the Hawks’ AHL farm team helped him gain the psychological toughness necessary to succeed in the big league. “There were times when it was really hard, and I’m sure I’ve matured and grown as a person. I haven’t made huge changes to my style; but maybe I’m calmer and don’t try to do too much anymore.”

A big man at 6’2”, 210 pounds, Niemi is showing agility and quickness to complement an imposing efficiency. Given the expectations in Chicago, and the challenges ahead, Niemi’s own expectations seem modest. “I’m not as interested in how many games I’ll play as I am in how well I play those games. As long as I can play at a level I’m happy with, it doesn’t matter whether I play 20 or 25 games.”

Pre-empting the chatter of ‘goalie controversy’, Antti Niemi appears to be a viable solution for the Chicago Blackhawks as they aim to get back to the Final Four. Is he The Nieminator yet? It remains to be seen, but more performances on the level he showed in Finland could make erasing doubts about the Blackhawks as easy as “Hasta la vista, baby.”

David Morris covers the Chicago Blackhawks for Chicago Sports Then and Now.