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It’s been a question that started being asked the moment the Chicago Blackhawks were knocked out of the playoffs last month in the first round for the second consecutive season. Should they trade from their core group that helped them win a Stanley Cup in 2010?

Before addressing that question a definition of the core group is needed. It consists of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Patrick Sharp and Dave Bolland on offense. Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook are part of the core on defense while Niklas Hjalmarsson is on the edges as well.

These are mostly popular players who helped end a 49-year championship drought in Chicago. But when Wayne Gretzky can be traded it means no one in sports is untouchable, especially from a team that underachieved.

General manager Stan Bowman said after the season he wasn’t “fixated” on trading from that core group, but that doesn’t mean he won’t or shouldn’t. He would be foolish not to consider any avenue which might improve his team.

So to be clear, you don’t trade from the core group just to make a trade. You do it to get better, knowing that as magical as they were two years ago, they haven’t been able to repeat that magic.
So who goes?

Bowman was mostly right about at least one thing in shooting down the idea of trading from the core.

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CHICAGO – With the Hawks entering an offseason of uncertainty, the team’s situation at second-line center looms as one of its biggest question marks.

A hole since last summer, the Hawks never really filled it to anyone’s liking.

Two in-house players emerged as possible candidates moving forward, Patrick Kane and Marcus Kruger. Kane was a first time center and Kruger is just 21 years old, so there is room for improvement for both.

Kruger did his best playing in a position he might not be ready for until a year or two from now. The Hawks asked too much of him, yet he did more than an admirable job. But it wasn’t long into the playoff series against the Phoenix Coyotes that he was replaced by Kane, who also had some good moments during the season.

“I like playing center,” Kane said as the team cleaned out its lockers on Wednesday. “You come up the ice with a lot of speed in the middle. It’s kind of natural for me to do that anyway. When I was playing wing I was kind of playing like a center anyway, coming back and getting the puck and trying to come up the ice. I’m fine with it. Sometimes it’s exciting to play some new positions whether it’s wing or center. You look at it, this year the team was successful when I was at center.”

The Hawks did get off to a good start with Kane in the middle, surprising many observers with his play. He finished the season there as well after Jonathan Toews went down with a concussion.

“Our team’s best record, and it coincided with Patrick’s best performance, was when he was in the middle,” general manager Stan Bowman explained. “Patrick carried our team the last month or five weeks of the season. He kind of put us on his back and got us into the playoffs. He stepped up and was our No.1 center for all those weeks…I think the notion that he can’t play center or isn’t good at center has been dispelled. Not only did our team play well when he was in the middle he played well. He had his most productive time when he was there.”

Both Kane and Bowman are forgetting about the middle portion of the season. Why was Kane ever moved back to wing if his time at center was so productive? In November, when the Hawks hit the road both before and during the annual circus trip, Kane was moved out from the middle. He struggled with road matchups in which opposing coaches can match up a bigger, stronger player against Kane. And his face-off percentage wasn’t very good. But it takes nothing away from how he finished the season without Toews in the lineup. Except he went back to wing when the playoffs started, until Kruger faltered. So which is better for him?

Joel Quenneville’s highest praise came for Kruger.

“Kane started off the year and did a nice job for us,” Quenneville said. “He did again at the end of the year but I think Kruger came in and did a real strong job as far as filling that need or that void or that niche…Is he qualified to put up the numbers a second line center would produce at? Hopefully he continues to get better. You like his upside as a player, you like his competitiveness, you think he has great instincts, intelligence as well. Offensively gifted, I don’t know if its high end second line center, but as an organization, you have some young centers.”

So Bowman likes Kane there and Quenneville kind of likes Kruger. The question for the Hawks is , are either qualified for that position on a championship caliber team? It sounds like Bowman already believes he knows the answer.

“Having him in the middle, he’s [Kane] certainly better than any other center that’s available,” Bowman declared.

That statement might be one of those defining ones for Bowman. If he’s right, the Hawks can allocate their resources elsewhere, possibly to improve an under-sized defense. If he’s wrong, they might end up back at square one a year from now. Or else an improving Kruger might have to give it a try again.

CHICAGO -- Anytime a team underachieves as the Chicago Blackhawks did this season, the blame game undoubtedly gets played. And for the Hawks, plenty can be assigned to the players.

But what about the men in charge?

There will be an offseason-long debate about who deserves more, general manager Stan Bowman or coach Joel Quenneville? Even for them there is enough to go around:

Stan Bowman: 65 percent

Second-line center: The moment Bowman traded Brian Campbell he was on the clock. He had newfound money and needed a second-line center. It was plausible a good one wasn’t an available via free-agency last summer, after Brad Richards’ mega deal in New York, but that doesn’t mean a trade couldn’t be pulled off either before the season or in season. The New York Islanders’ Frans Nielsen could have been had, but it would have cost Dylan Olsen. Antoine Vermette had a glorious playoff series against the Hawks but Bowman didn’t want or couldn’t get him from Columbus. The Coyotes did. The addition of a center would have had a trickle up and down effect on the entire team. It’s still a need.

Playoff built: Though Bryan Bickell led all skaters in the entire first round, through six games, with 32 hits, the Hawks weren’t built for a long, gritty postseason run. Even giving Bowman a pass for the moment on the goaltending situation -- though the regular season told enough there -- the team was constructed to win one way, with wide open offense. That doesn’t fly in the playoffs. At the end of the day the grit they picked up wasn’t good enough.

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CHICAGO -- If the Chicago Blackhawks were given a pass by fans and media a year ago after an early exit, they’ll get anything but this time around -- and they know it. After losing in six games to the Phoenix Coyotes in the opening round of the 2012 postseason, there are no excuses to be had.

“When you come in off a long offseason like we did last year, we had high hopes for this team this year,” Jonathan Toews said after the season-ending 4-0 defeat to Phoenix. “With the hopes comes a lot of pressure as well.”

Maybe the pressure got to them. It’s as good a reason as any for their underachieving season. The Stanley Cup championship from 2010 is beginning to become a distant memory after back-to-back first-round exits.

“You remember how long a playoff run it is, and how fun it is,” Duncan Keith said. “It’s disappointing when you don’t get a long playoff run.”

Keith and Toews are part of the Hawks’ core. And it’s that core that will be most scrutinized this summer. They failed to produce against the Coyotes, and at many key times, this year. Should it be broken up? That’s a question that will gain momentum.

Patrick Kane had no goals and four assists in the series, all in the first three games. He totaled six shots in Games 4, 5 and 6. Patrick Sharp scored once, on a tip-in at the end of regulation in Game 2. And he wasn’t his normal shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later type of player throughout. Dave Bolland had a few good moments, but finished with three helpers in six games. Brent Seabrook, who was so noticeable towards the end of the regular season, was less so as the series wore on.

Only Toews is above question. He scored in his return after missing 22 games due to a concussion and he slowly got better as the series went along. Yes, he admittedly dipped in Games 2 and 3 but started to find his legs as the series got more important. The rest of the core went backwards.

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Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane talks about Coyotes goalie Mike Smith, how the Phoenix defense is playing him so far this series and what Andrew Shaw will bring when he returns to the lineup in Game 6.



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A travel day for both teams on Sunday gives us a chance to look at the good, the bad and one surprise of the Chicago Blackhawks' thrilling 2-1 overtime win over the Phoenix Coyotes in Game 5 on Saturday. The Hawks now trail the Western Conference quarterfinal series 3-2.

The good

The reason Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville was so happy with his team in Game 5 was they followed his game plan: shoot the puck. The Hawks had 38 shots on net. They had 29 more blocked and 17 missed the net altogether. That’s 84 attempts all told. Phoenix had 32. No one likes to get their shot blocked -- Duncan Keith had eight attempts alone -- but it’s all part of a grander scheme. Along with those that missed the net, it simply creates action in the offensive zone. Yes, getting blocked up near the point can create a breakaway or odd-man rush, but the amount of time and chasing the Coyotes did in their own end took away from any offensive attack. It was puck-possession hockey at its finest and you’re supposed to be rewarded for it eventually, even if not every shot or attempt is a great one. Those blocks can hurt defenders and those shots wear down a defense and goaltender. More of the same is needed in Game 6.

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CHICAGO -- It’s not Blackhawks’ coach Joel Quenneville’s style to call out players individually, but he came close enough when asked about his team’s play in a 3-2 overtime loss on Thursday.

“There are certain guys that have to pick up their game,” he said after the defeat, which put Chicago in a 3-1 hole in its first-round series with the Coyotes.

It's hard to imagine those guys being any of the Hawks’ role players. A successful playoff team needs secondary scoring, the Hawks have gotten it from the most unlikely players on their roster.

Quenneville benched Jamal Mayers Thursday in favor of Brendan Morrison, and he tallied on a laser of a shot that deflected past goalie Mike Smith for the Hawks’ first goal. Then it was often-scratched forward Michael Frolik scoring late to tie the game. It was his second goal in as many playoff starts filling in for the suspended Andrew Shaw. Bryan Bickell and Brandon Bollig had big goals in the Hawks' lone win of the series.

But where are Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp, Jonathan Toews and Viktor Stalberg? That foursome has combined for two goals in the first four games of the series. And Brent Seabrook had his worst game of the series in Game 4 after playing stellar hockey for so long.

“Five on five whether it’s more zone time, we’re looking to beat guys and look for a better play,” Quenneville said. “We have more success when we just put it on the net as opposed to one more play.”

Toews, Kane and the normally shoot-first Sharp combined for six shots total. Stalberg had four but if anyone defined the tepid play of the stars it was him. On one shift, he started from his own end with the puck three different times only to get his pocket picked and have to circle back before a counter attack occurred.

“We had our opportunities to score, we had our opportunities to take advantage, whether it was on the power-play or whatever,” Toews said. “We didn’t work hard enough for that offense, and to try and go ahead in the game.”

The bottom line is getting goals from Bickell, Frolik and Morrison is nice, but it’s nothing to count on.

That’s what the Hawks' stars are there for. And now they may only have one game left to do it.

“For 40 minutes I didn’t mind the way we played,” Quenneville said. “Certain guys I think need to be better in our team game.”

Names aren’t needed.

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Chicago Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville isn’t one to single out players when things aren’t going well. So what he said in advance of Game 2 between the Hawks and the Phoenix Coyotes Saturday morning was fairly typical.

“We have to be better than we were the first game,” he said. “We’re expecting contributions across the board from all the lines. I think individually we can get a little more in that area as well and do whatever we can and leave it on the ice tonight.

“A little bit more from everyone up front, you can mention names ---I don’t want to mention names -- collectively we can be much more tenacious.”

Even as he spread blame collectively, it’s fair to assume Qunneville is expecting certain players to rise to the occasion Saturday.

There seemed to be a clear line between who was having a good night and just an average or below average evening in a Game 1, 3-2 overtime loss on Thursday.

Jonathan Toews and Andrew Shaw were probably two of the better forwards. Patrick Kane and Dave Bolland weren’t bad either and Brent Seabrook was great on defense, but a host of others can play better. It starts with taking care of the puck.

“We know what mistakes we made last game and we’re ready to make changes for this game,” Toews said. “For the most part I think it’s just simplifying things and relaxing. We know it’s going to be a fast paced game and we want to bring that energy and fast skating game. But it doesn’t mean we have to try too much or do too much with the puck.”

In other words, while moving up and down the ice quickly, don’t forget about managing the puck. It’s been a theme since the Game 1 loss.

The lineup

Between games Quenneville hinted at lineup changes, but didn’t show his hand during Saturday morning’s game day skate. One change could have Sami Lepisto in the lineup for Sean O’Donnell.

Just as important is what Quenneville does with the line combinations. All in all the scoring chances were there for his four lines, so he might not change anything. A last minute jumbling, however, could produce a late matchup problem for Phoenix coach Dave Tippett.

It’s always possible Patrick Kane is moved back to center from left wing, which means the four star forwards the Hawks employ would be split up on two lines. If there are changes, expect Quenneville not to reveal them until game time even disguising his line combinations during warm-ups. This is the playoffs after all.

• Coyotes’ coach Dave Tippett said Saturday Radim Vrbata will play in Game 2. He left Game 1 after injuring his shoulder after a hit by Andrew Shaw early in the contest.

News and notes from Friday’s day off between Games 1 and 2. Phoenix leads the series 1-0. Both the Blackhawks and Coyotes held optional practices.

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Radim Vrbata, the 35-goal scorer for the Phoenix Coyotes, left Game 1 after just two shifts. Coyotes coach Dave Tippett called it an upper body injury and declared him day-to-day. His status for Game 2 won’t be known until Saturday.

Andrew Shaw was responsible for knocking him out of the game.

“He was coming down to pinch the puck in and I just kind of finished my check on him,” Shaw explained. “He went into the boards awkwardly.”

Shaw thought it looked like Vrbata hurt his shoulder.

Coyotes’ first goal:

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville was sure the Coyotes got away with a too-many-men-on-the-ice situation shortly before their first goal on Thursday. Three players were on the ice near the Coyotes bench as the puck headed that way. Three more were deeper in the Hawks zone. Tippett claims defenseman Michal Rozsival touched the puck with two wingers around him changing.

“The two wingers that changed for each other, neither of those wingers touched the puck,” Tippett said on Friday. “One guy standing right beside the bench. If one of those wingers had touched the puck it would have been an automatic call.”

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GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Two themes emerged from the Chicago Blackhawks dressing room as they turned the page on their Game 1, 3-2 overtime loss to the Phoenix Coyotes on Thursday night: “We’ve been here before” and “Let’s take care of that puck.”

The first theme applies because the Hawks have now lost the first game of their opening-round series three years in a row. We know what happened in each of the two previous years: The Hawks went on to win the Stanley Cup in 2010 after losing to the Nashville Predators in Game 1, but a year later they dug a bigger hole against the Vancouver Canucks, dropping two more games before a furious series comeback fell just short.

“The good thing is we’re not down 3-0, it’s only 1-0,” Patrick Kane half-joked after an optional practice session on Friday. “I think we’re in a better situation now. We can come out and get a win and even up the series.”

Maybe they’re in a better situation because they know what to expect. There is no reason to fret being down just one game.

“For a lot of us, no one really expected to sweep the series,” Kane said. “It’s one game, no need to panic.”

But in a best-of-seven situation you’re only a day or two away from really being in trouble. That’s where fixing the mistakes from Game 1 come in. They’re just some little things -- and that’s another reason there is no panic. This is a tweak, not an overhaul.

“They are the type of team we’ve seen all year,” Jonathan Toews said. “We hung in there despite not playing our best game. A few little things we can improve on that for us can make a huge difference. It’s not fun to lose Game 1 but we have a long ways to go.

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GLENDALE, Ariz. -- If the Chicago Blackhawks would have won Thursday’s playoff game against the Phoenix Coyotes it would have been tough to find a bigger star from Chicago’s side then defenseman Brent Seabrook.

Even in a 3-2 overtime loss he came up big, including scoring the tying goal with 15 seconds remaining in regulation.

“Kaner did a great job getting the puck to the net and like I said I was just in the right spot at the right time,” Seabrook said afterward.

When you’re in the right spot at the right time more often than not maybe there’s a reason behind it. Seabrook snuck in from the point. After Kane hit the post, the puck squirted to him and he finished. He’s done it several times this year in big moments.

“We had some momentum in the third period and it took all of 20 minutes to get one by him [Mike Smith],” Seabrook said. “It’s one of those things, we have to continue to work hard, put pressure on him and make it tough for him to see pucks and put lots on him.”

Seabrook did as much of that as he could. He sent a total of 14 shots toward the net -- seven got through, four were blocked and three missed the net. And of course, one got in. Seabrook added six hits and two blocked shots to his night as his strong play from the regular season carried over to Game 1.

Even in a losing cause.

Slappers

• The Hawks outshot Phoenix 45-33. Seabrook and Patrick Kane had seven apiece. Only Duncan Keith, Sean O’Donnell and Brandon Bollig failed to record at least one. Keith’s shot was blocked six times.

• The Coyotes’ Radim Vrbata left the game with an undisclosed injury after playing just two shifts. Coach Dave Tippett said he’s day-to-day.

• The Hawks won just 43 percent of their faceoffs. Only Dave Bolland (65 percent) won more than he lost.

• Jonathan Toews played 24:29 was plus-2, scored a goal, had two shots on net and won 45 percent of his faceoffs in first game since Feb. 19.

• The Hawks were outhit 48-22.

• The Hawks were 0-4 on the power play, making them 0 for their last 14 attempts and just 3 for their last 39 going back to the regular season.

• Joel Queneville thought there were six men on the ice for Phoenix just before they scored their first goal in the second period but no call was made.

Quotables

“We need more guys across the board. There were some guys that were good but we need everybody to be good,” -- Quenneville.

“I felt as good as I possibly could. It’s tough. It’s a fast and physical game. For the most part I just went to the net hard," -- Toews, on playing in his first game in 23.

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- A final full practice for the Chicago Blackhawks before they take on the Phoenix Coyotes on Thursday in Game 1 of their Western Conference quarterfinals matchup saw captain Jonathan Toews run all drills for a third day in a row.

Toews says he feels no affects from the concussion that sidelined him for the final 22 games of the regular season.

“I think I’m right there,” Toews said after practice at Jobing.com arena on Wednesday. “It’s another day of feeling better and better and getting back to where I want to be as far as how I want to play a game.”

All week Toews has said he’ll wait until Thursday to announce if he’s playing but everything points to him being back in the lineup.

“The kind of the goal we set for ourselves with the training staff and the doctors, we’re going to make that decision [Thursday],” Toews said.

As open as Toews has been about his concussion there is little doubt the opposing team has taken notice. And it means Toews will need eyes in the back of his head.

“I don’t doubt that that’s going to put a target on my back, especially with this team; they like to play physical,” Toews said. “For any guy that is coming back from any sort of injury you don’t want to let him feel comfortable out there. I’m expecting it’s going to be even tougher than usual. That’s the way it is. Just go out there and play a gritty and smart game and keep things simple and make things happen out there.”

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CHICAGO -- There are few traditions in sports more unique than hockey players growing playoff beards. It’s that time of year again, and with the Chicago Blackhawks sporting five rookies on their postseason roster, plus several other young second- or third-year players, they are ripe for some potentially bad playoff beards.

Youthful-looking forward Patrick Kane garnered national attention when he grew a playoff mullet two years ago as the Hawks went on to capture the Stanley Cup. He figured he couldn’t grow a beard very well so he opted for a mullet and tried it again last spring.

What about this postseason?

“I think I’m just going to try and grow the beard as well as I can,” Kane said Tuesday after practice. “I’m a little older now, and I can do a little bit better than a couple years ago. I’ll try to go with that. I don’t think I’m going to do the mullet. It didn’t really work last year, and the team has been playing well as of late so I didn’t want to change up too much.”

Superstition, more than anything, can dictate a player’s actions so with the Hawks falling in the first round last year, Kane is going in another direction. His playoff beard is bound to be scrutinized compared to his teammates. And with younger players on the Hawks roster, Kane is looking forward to having some fun at some other players’ expense for once, instead of his own.

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CHICAGO -- Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews won't decide until Thursday if he'll play in Game 1 of Chicago's Western Conference quarterfinal playoff series against the Phoenix Coyotes.

Toews missed the final 22 games of the season as he recovered from a concussion. His status for Thursday's series opener is uncertain.

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DETROIT -- A quick look at the Chicago Blackhawks' 3-2 shootout win over the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday at Joe Louis Arena.

How it happened: Corey Crawford stopped all three shooters in the shootout while Patrick Kane scored the lone goal on a highlight-reel move. The Hawks scored once in the first period and another in the second to slowly take control of the game. First Viktor Stalberg completed his breakout season with his 22nd goal on a rebound of a Patrick Sharp shot. Then, in the second period, Andrew Shaw finished a scoring play after a great feed by Sharp from behind the Wings net. Detroit finally got on the board with a Johan Franzen goal from a poor angle in the third period. The puck squeaked by Corey Crawford for his 29th goal of the year. The Wings tied it in dramatic fashion with goalie Jimmy Howard on the bench for an extra attacker when Tomas Holmstrom went between his legs in the crease and found Pavel Datsyuk for a tap-in with just 47 seconds remaining in regulation.

What it means: The Hawks clinched the No. 6 seed once the game went to overtime. The Hawks were 47 seconds away from earning the No. 5 seed and playing the Nashville Predators in the opening round of the playoffs. Now they’ll have to wait until the completion of other games out west before knowing who they will play. It can still be one of three teams, the Phoenix Coyotes, the Los Angeles Kings or the San Jose Sharks. The Hawks went an entire year without a posting a shutout for the first time since the 1988-89 season. They complete the 2011-2012 regular season with a 45-26-11 record.

What’s next: The Hawks will take Sunday off and then begin preparations for the Stanley Cup playoffs with practice days early in the week before heading out on the road for the first two games of their series to begin Wednesday or Thursday.