ESPN

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks recorded five total hits against the Minnesota Wild when they met in the regular season on April 9.

Blackhawks forward Andrew Shaw, alone, had seven hits against the Wild in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series on Tuesday. As a team, the Blackhawks had 40 hits, four more than the Wild.

The Blackhawks may not have been the most physical team during the regular season, but they’re out to prove differently now the playoffs have arrived.

“I think it goes up a notch for everybody,” Blackhawks defenseman Johnny Oduya said. “You’re trying to wear the opposition down as much as you can. Every little thing you do in a series, in the end you’re going to benefit from doing it. I think it goes for us and the other team, too. They’re trying to do the same thing.”

(Read full post)

CHICAGO -- Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville wasn’t pleased with forward Bryan Bickell after a shift during the third period Tuesday, and Bickell heard all about it when he returned to the bench.

Bickell sat there and accepted the criticism. He knew he’d get another chance on the ice and planned to redeem himself.

“I know Q wasn’t happy with me on one shift in the third and gave me a little wrist slap, but he threw me back out there,” Bickell said. “He has confidence in our line and knows what we can do.”

Bickell and the third line rewarded that confidence by putting together the game-winning goal, which was finished by Bickell, to defeat the Minnesota Wild 2-1 in overtime in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.

(Read full post)

DALLAS -- Here’s on overview of the Chicago Blackhawks’ 8-1 win over the Dallas Stars on Saturday night at the American Airlines Center.

How it happened: The Blackhawks dominated right from the start, outshooting the Stars 11-3 in the first period and receiving two goals from Jonathan Toews just 1:35 apart en route to a 3-0 lead. Nick Leddy notched a goal and an assist in the period, as well. Two goals from Marian Hossa in the second period, along with one from Johnny Oduya for the second straight game, pushed the lead to 6-0 entering the final period. Goals from Duncan Keith and Patrick Kane in the third made this the biggest offensive output of the season, as eight different players earned multiple points. Goaltender Corey Crawford made 18 saves, including just eight through the first two periods, to improve his record to 13-2-3.

Player of the game: Toews scored the first two goals in rapid succession to quickly establish Chicago’s dominance. With an assist on Hossa’s second goal, Toews now has 11 points (six goals, five assists) in his past nine outings.

What it means: After a slight lull when they lost twice in a row in regulation and needed a shootout to defeat Columbus on Thursday, the Blackhawks looked as good as or better than at any point during their record 24-game point streak to open the season. Chicago remains four points ahead of Anaheim for the NHL lead with 49 points (23-2-3).

What’s next: The Blackhawks return to Denver, where their record 24-game point streak ended on March 8, to battle the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night.

Here's a quick look at the Chicago Blackhawks' 2-1 shootout win over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio on Thursday.

How it happened: Shootout goals by Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane and two stops by goaltender Corey Crawford gave the Blackhawks the shootout win. Kane also set up the Blackhawks' goal. He delivered a pass through traffic to Johnny Oduya, and Oduya scored with a shot to the top shelf to put the Blackhawks ahead 1-0 in the second period. The Blue Jackets responded later in the period with a power-play goal by Jack Johnson. Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made a number of highly difficult saves and finished with 39 saves. Crawford was strong, too. He made 29 saves and improved to 12-2-3 on the season.

Player of the game: Kane provided another highlight shootout goal and dished out the assist on Oduya's goal. It was Kane’s 400th career point.

What it means: The Blackhawks had three days off since their last game and bounced back after two consecutive regulation losses. The Blackhawks are now 22-2-3 with an NHL-best 47 points. Thursday's victory marked the fourth one-goal win the Blackhawks have had over the Blue Jackets this season. Columbus is 5-0-4 in its past nine games.

What's next: The Blackhawks' four-game trip continues with a visit to the Dallas Stars on Saturday. The Blackhawks defeated the Stars 3-2 in overtime in Dallas on Jan. 24.

The puck scored by Patrick Kane to win the Chicago Blackhawks the 2010 Stanley Cup may have gone missing, but at least they didn't lose the trophy itself.

That's the issue the Flying Farangs of Bangkok, Thailand encountered after winning their own tournament for the first time in 18 years on Oct. 27. At some point in the early hours of the following day after the team took pictures with the trophy, drank beer out of it and even accidentally broke one of its handles, the Farangs misplaced the Land of Smiles Ice Hockey Classic trophy.

Farangs general manager/coach/player Scott Murray believes Blackhawks defenseman Johnny Oduya, then a Farang playing in Thailand because of the NHL lockout, may be responsible for the missing trophy. Oduya, like the rest of the team, says he doesn't know where it is.

The thing is Murray nor anyone else on the team really cares if they see the trophy again. Without Oduya, the Farangs, an amateur team with players of various ages and hockey backgrounds, understand they would never have won the tournament or been given the priceless experience of skating beside an NHL player. That's all that matters to them.

"It was just cool," Murray, a Canadian native, said by phone recently from Thailand. "We had been there so many times and never won it. We felt like idiots. It was euphoric. We had Oduya. We had a professional on the team. Here, he was (Wayne) Gretzky. In the arena, it was Johnny this and Johnny that."

(Read full post)

CHICAGO -- Blackhawks defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson recently described the penalty kill this season as one seeking “revenge” against opponents’ power plays.

The Blackhawks’ penalty kill wasn’t something the team was proud of last season. They ranked 27th in the league with a 78.1 penalty-kill percentage and allowed 51 goals on 233 short-handed chances. It was sometimes embarrassing as opponents scored multiple power-play goals in nine games, including five by the Vancouver Canucks on Nov. 6, 2011.

Heading into this season, the Blackhawks understood their penalty kill had to improve if they were going to improve. Through 17 games, it has, and they have.

The Blackhawks can attribute their record-setting 14-0-3 start to the season to plenty of factors, but none has been more important than their penalty-kill success. The Blackhawks rank third with an 88.7 penalty-kill percentage and have given up seven goals on 62 chances this season.

After the Blackhawks set the NHL record for consecutive points to start a season with Friday’s 2-1 win over the San Jose Sharks -- a game that included a Blackhawks’ short-handed goal and killing off all four power plays -- coach Joel Quenneville proudly spoke of how far his penalty kill has come in a season.

“Special teams on a lot of nights can be the difference,” Quenneville said. “[Friday], definitely, you can say the key factor was our PK. Everybody takes a part of that, goaltending as well. But it was certainly an area we wanted to make sure we improved upon this year, and the guys have been very diligent in doing the right thing.”

The Blackhawks’ penalty kill has especially been vital because they’ve played in so many close games. One goal has decided 11 of their 17 games. A power-play goal here or there and the Blackhawks could have seen their streak stopped anywhere in the season’s first five weeks.

They weren't as fortunate last season. Chicago allowed 13 power-play goals on 53 chances for a 75.5 percent penalty-kill rate last season through 17 games.

“There’s a lot of things, probably a combination of things, that have helped,” Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith said. “I think getting key contributions from a lot of different players has helped. When you have that depth, everything is easy. It doesn’t come down to one or two guys. It’s a group effort; it’s a team effort.”

Defensemen Keith, Hjalmarsson, Brent Seabrook and Johnny Oduya and forwards Jonathan Toews, Dave Bolland, Patrick Sharp, Marcus Kruger, Michael Frolik and Marian Hossa have all been essential on the penalty kill. Rookie Brandon Saad has also been given more time on it recently, and he scored the team’s first short-handed goal of the season Friday.

Kruger and Frolik, who also play together on the fourth line, have been penalty-kill superstars this season.

“Certainly Kruges and Fro carved out a niche for us,” Quenneville said. "That's helped us in other areas as well."

The Blackhawks’ penalty kill has also proved more important this season because they’ve been allowing opponents more power plays. Chicago allowed an average of 2.8 power plays a game last season, and that’s up to 3.7 this season.

Chicago is bouncing back on the penalty kill after allowing a power-play goal. Just once this year has an opponent scored more than one power-play goal. Opponents have been shut out on the power play in 11 games.

All in all, Hjalmarsson feels like the Blackhawks have turned a weakness from last season into a strength.

“Just being in shooting lanes, having a good structure, get pucks out, goaltending has been unbelievable so far -- it’s a lot of elements that affect the penalty kill,” Hjalmarsson said. “If you have a good specials team, it’s going to win a lot of games for you during a season. So far, it’s been [going] really well. Hopefully, we can keep it rolling.”

A lot of numbers, especially nearly every final score, have gone in the Chicago Blackhawks' favor this season. Here's a look at some numbers of note for the Blackhawks:

0: The number of regulation losses the Blackhawks have through 11 games. No other team has that distinction.

(Read full post)

The Chicago Blackhawks finally lost for the first time of the 2013 season on Wednesday.

It was likely a relief to some.

With Wednesday’s 3-2 road shootout loss to the Minnesota Wild, the Blackhawks can put aside all of the talk that comes with a winning streak, especially one to begin a season.

There’s no more discussion of how long the streak will last and when their first loss will come. It has arrived, and it’s time to move on.

The 2013 team did put itself into the record books by becoming the first in franchise history to win six consecutive games to start a season. But the Blackhawks can now focus on what’s truly important: trying to get into that same record book for winning another Stanley Cup.

While the wins added up over the past week and a half, they were secondary to what the Blackhawks were really showing the NHL. With each penalty killed off, successful power play, Corey Crawford save, Marian Hossa goal, Patrick Kane assist and so on down the line, the Blackhawks were proving to the league they might just have what it takes to be a Stanley Cup contender again.

What the Blackhawks must do now is find ways over the remaining 41 regular-season games to be consistent in those areas. Winning steaks will come and go in the NHL, but consistent play is what prevails -- at least in the regular season.

Even in Wednesday’s loss, the Blackhawks were nearly on par with how they’ve played most of the season and were just a goal away from pulling off another victory. Despite the shootout loss, they still took a point out of Minnesota and upped their total to a NHL-best 13 points.

“That’s a great start,” Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said. “The best thing about that is we’re doing a great job of putting the last game behind us and getting ready for the next one. That’s what we got to keep doing: Keep it one game at a time.”

The Blackhawks’ penalty kill has to be the most impressive aspect to their season’s start. Last season, the penalty kill was near the bottom of the league. Now it’s the reason why the Blackhawks have had a chance to win every game so far. A lot of players deserve credit for that early success, but Michael Frolik and Marcus Kruger have noticeably stepped up.

The penalty kill units were clicking again on Wednesday. The Blackhawks killed off all four Wild power plays, including one during which Kruger, Johnny Oduya and Niklas Hjalmarsson were on the ice for 1:23 to battle off a five-on-three chance. They also killed off in the final three minutes of the third period.

All together, the Blackhawks have given up just one power-play goal on 27 opportunities this season.

“If we happen to be going to the box every once in a while, we have a lot of confidence if the game is on the line we can get the job done,” Toews said of the penalty kill.

The Blackhawks’ power play has also turned itself around this season. It was shut out on two power-play chances Wednesday, but the Blackhawks are still among the league leaders with seven power-play goals.

Crawford’s play also stood out again on Wednesday. He allowed the first goal only after the Wild took three consecutive shots on him, and the second one was off a redirected shot. He was sharp otherwise and made one highlight-worthy save during the 5-on-3 penalty kill, during which he threw his body at a shot and the puck deflected off his shoulder.

If anything, the Blackhawks would like to score more often. They were held to two goals the past two games and haven’t scored more than three goals since their second game of the season.

The Blackhawks’ attention will quickly turn to facing the Vancouver Canucks on Friday. With five more road games ahead of them, the Blackhawks are aware their great start can be equalized with a rocky two weeks away from home.

“We’re on a long road trip now,” Toews said. “Can’t look too far ahead. We especially can’t get satisfied if we win a game or two.

“We’ve put ourselves in a good spot at the top of the standings after seven games. We got to make it even tougher for team to catch us, I guess.”

The Chicago Blackhawks announced their training camp roster on Sunday, and it included 15 forwards, nine defensemen and two goaltenders.

Twenty-three of the 26 players on the training roster played for the Blackhawks last season. The Blackhawks acquired defensemen Sheldon Brookbank and Michal Rozsival as free agents in the offseason and defenseman Ryan Stanton played for the Rockford IceHogs last season.

The Blackhawks will begin practice at Johnny’s IceHouse West in Chicago at noon on Sunday. The practice is open to the public.

(Read full post)

CHICAGO — The Chicago Blackhawks’ offseason plans appeared to become even simpler this week when they re-signed two restricted free agents, Brandon Bollig and Ben Smith, who contributed at the NHL level over the past couple seasons. It means for the first time in several years, the Hawks have locked up their own early in the summer and actually could go to training camp with the team they have.

“We have a lot of these guys taken care of before we hit July,” general manager Stan Bowman said in a conference call with reporters on Tuesday. “I know there are a lot of teams around the league looking to find players so I think we’re kind of dealing from a position of strength if we choose to make moves. We don’t have to make moves. We can kind of be selective in doing things to improve our team going forward. It’s hard to say at this point if our team is going to be the same as it stands right now.”

Two years ago, the Hawks endured a partial roster purge in June due to salary-cap constraints. They didn’t have a complete roster in place until August when Antti Niemi’s arbitration award was rejected and Marty Turco was subsequently signed. Prior to that, defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson was allowed to linger into July, earning a big payday when the San Jose Sharks offered him a mega-deal that the Hawks matched.

Last offseason, defenseman Chris Campoli was in limbo until the Hawks convention in July before being cut loose.

(Read full post)

CHICAGO -- Free agency came about a month early for the Chicago Blackhawks as they locked up two of their own on Tuesday -- Jamal Mayers and Johnny Oduya -- well before they could hit the open market.

The money for which Oduya signed -- three years at an average of $3.3 million per -- is essentially the money the Hawks had to spend on one good free agent come July 1. Instead, they used the money in-house further cementing the notion that the Hawks aren’t going to make big changes despite a first-round exit from the playoffs.

“It was pretty evident early on his style of hockey complimented our style and made our players better,” general manager Stan Bowman said of Oduya in a conference call Tuesday afternoon. “Anytime you can get a player like that, who makes the other players around him better…and he wanted to come back and he helped us and accentuated the things we had here, made it a simple decision for us.”

The Hawks' strategy is also simple. They choose mobile, puck-moving defensemen over any other kind because Hawks’ brass wants its blue line to get the puck to their star forwards.

“I do think that defense is an important position not just in preventing goals but generating offense,” Bowman explained. “We need defensemen that can handle the puck and get the puck to our forwards. If we were to play a different style or (have) less talented forwards then we could probably have different style defensemen.”

It’s a good thought except they still have to prevent some goals, which the Hawks didn’t do very well last season. And if they are so valuable in generating offense, why was this defense so light on point production in 2011-2012?

“I don’t know if there is one way to win in terms of if you need “X” production,” Bowman said of his blue-line. “It’s not a linear formula that way.”

That may be true, maybe there is no exact number of points a defense needs to attain, but there has to be some minimum, right?

The biggest issue comes from the bottom end of the group and the amount of money the Hawks now have invested in Niklas Hjalmarsson ($3.5 million per year, 15 points, 81 games), Oduya ($3.3 million, 18 points, 81 games) and Steve Montador ($2.7 million, 14 points, 52 games). That’s a lot of money for very little production. And none are stalwarts in the defensive part of the game, though Hjalmarsson can hold his own against second and third offensive lines most of the time.

Then the question of size came up. Though the Hawks like smaller, quicker defensemen, they have been exposed in the past when either on the penalty kill or when stuck in their own zone. Essentially, they aren’t big enough to win puck battles. Only Brent Seabrook possesses good, NHL size for a defenseman. It sounds like Bowman knows that and isn’t ruling out addressing it later in the summer.

“If we had chosen not to sign Johnny we would be looking for that (puck moving) element in addition to some size,” Bowman said. “One doesn’t necessarily rule the other one out.”

But if the Hawks truly want to get bigger on the back end now, they’ll have to spend some money. Sean O’Donnell was their answer last year, proving size without foot speed is meaningless. So how will they get it done this time around?

Despite the signing of Oduya, Bowman admitted the Hawks won’t have the same team back, and he sounded like he meant more than just saying goodbye to Andrew Brunette. But to make further changes -- and to get bigger on defense -- the Hawks will need to do so via the trade market. If they do make a move it will have to happen one of two ways: by dumping salary then signing a free agent or simply by trading offense for defense (or defense for defense).

If a trade is to be made this summer, Hjalmarsson seems most likely to be dangled. He finished the season on the third pair after Oduya’s performance down the stretch, and he simply doesn’t fit Bowman’s description of what the Hawks like or need. He’s clearly not a point producer, and he doesn’t “play big” and when you think of puck-moving defensemen his name isn’t the first that comes to mind.

The bottom line is, as of now, there will be no splash come free agency, and the Hawks have a lot of money tied up in a less than perfect defense. In fact, it was an overrated defense a year ago and unless Bowman pulls the trigger on something big, it might just be more of the same in 2012-2013.

If there isn’t additions, Bowman and the Hawks are going to need some younger pieces to take steps forward. Nick Leddy needs to be at the top of that list, and Duncan Keith could use a return to 2010 form. And it wouldn’t hurt for a guy like Oduya to reach a career high in points. He has never reached 30 in any one season of his career. Next year would be a good time.

So a defense that is questionable in killing enough power plays and one that doesn’t produce enough points is essentially locked in for another year unless a trade is made. Bowman liked Oduya enough to give him money a different free agent could have had. Now he needs to produce like a $3 million player or else he joins a list of others that haven’t lived up to their contracts as well.

There were moments during the first-round playoff series last year against the Vancouver Canucks when Patrick Sharp noticed something about goalie Corey Crawford, other than that he was playing extremely well.

He was also absolutely thriving in the experience. Crawford was a rookie goalie who seemed to enjoy it more when the pressure was raised to its highest.

It was no more apparent than Game 7 in Vancouver, when Crawford made 36 saves in an overtime losing effort.

"They had a ton of chances there," Sharp said. "We were chasing all game long, and Corey was making save after save. He was just locked in, enjoying the loud building and the atmosphere of the arena."

Read the entire scouting report here.

CHICAGO -- With the Chicago Blackhawks a virtual lock for the postseason, here are three things they need to shore up over the final four regular season games.

Power play

Ranking: 25. It belongs at the top of the list. Power-play goals in the playoffs are difference makers. Right now, the Hawks have very little going because they refuse to shoot the puck. They haven’t scored a goal in 15 attempts over four games while managing just a single shot on net over their last 11 attempts. That’s unheard of. They’re not shooting because they aren’t moving their feet to find lanes. That’s where they do miss Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith. The power play had its problems with them in the lineup, but at least there was some action toward the net. Patrick Sharp, Brent Seabrook, Dave Bolland and Keith are the Hawks’ best options to shoot the puck from the point. Johnny Oduya and Nick Leddy are not natural shooters, though Oduya has shown some abilities in that department. He could take Bolland’s place if he isn’t working out. And it’s hard to imagine a scenario where Viktor Stalberg doesn’t see some time on the power play. All he does is get chances. Those lead to goals.

D-zone awareness

Goals-against ranking: 22. Hawks’ blue-liners could learn a thing or two from 40-year-old Sean O’Donnell. He may have his quickness/speed issues, but he’s about the only defender who will at least try to push people out of the slot. It’s so important for goalies to see pucks, but the Hawks have given up too many tipped, re-directed or screened goals this season. And they do it with the opposition setting up in front of Corey Crawford like it’s their crease. O’Donnell will lay a body without taking a penalty. It doesn’t take much to slightly and slyly move a guy in order for the net-minder to make the save. If the Hawks tweak their play around the net, Crawford’s numbers will get better. The Hawks have played the puck possession game much better since the arrival of Johnny Oduya, limiting the opposition’s chances and shots on net. But the other team is going to get some looks. If Crawford sees them he should stop them. But first he has to see them.

Goaltending

Crawford save percentage: 39 out of 46. Crawford is playing fine, but he’ll need to do more than just fine to win in the playoffs. Even the most diehard of Hawks fans can’t deny just about all the other Western Conference playoff goalies have had better seasons. That’s proven statistically as well as by watching them and then watching Crawford. Having said that, the Blues’ Jaroslav Halak wasn’t perfect against the Hawks on Thursday. Bryan Bickell’s first-period goal was save-able -- but Halak faced 40 shots. Crawford faced 18 and let three in. By his own admission, Jason Arnott’s little wrap-around chance in the third period needed to be stopped. One or two weak goals in a series are understandable, but one or two a game are unacceptable. Not in the playoffs. Opponents’ shots totals have been lower lately, if they shoot up will the weak goals increase as well? The Hawks have gone 78 games without a shutout. Imagine what it would do to Crawford’s confidence if he earned one in the final games of regular season. Even he said recently getting one “once in a while would be nice.” Now is as good a time as any -- except for the postseason of course.

CHICAGO -- Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews is on pace to return from a concussion before the end of the season, but at least one Hawk is confident they can keep winning -- if they have to -- without him.

"You're talking about a guy that led us there before," Sharp said on "The Waddle and Silvy Show" on ESPN 1000 on Friday. "He's a great player. He plays in a lot of different situations. There is no question he is going to help us.

"I can't sit here and tell you our hopes rest on Jonathan Toews. We've done a good job without him. We've rallied behind each other ... I'd like to think we can win without him. We have to play as if he's not coming back. We can't sit around and wait for him to come back and save us."

The Hawks are 12-5-2 without Toews in the lineup. He's been out since a Feb. 19 game against St. Louis but is close to returning. His final hurdle is taking contact. He's been ruled out for games this weekend.

"Absolutely he's a great player and we welcome him back whenever he's ready," Sharp said.

It wasn't long after Toews' injury the Hawks acquired defenseman Johnny Oduya at the trade deadline and their defensive play improved. With Oduya in the lineup the Hawks are 10-2-2.

(Read full post)

Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Johnny Oduya talks about the impact he's had on his new team and how they can turn things around on the power play. Oduya also describes the team's mindset as they close in on a playoff berth.



Click here for more audio from ESPN Chicago.