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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 -- There will be more hockey this season for several Chicago Blackhawks, though it won’t be in North America. Getting knocked out in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs is allowing some of them to play in the World Championships being held in Finland and Sweden next month.

Patrick Sharp and Duncan Keith will play for Team Canada while Viktor Stalberg will suit up for Sweden.
Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane declined invitations from their respective countries.

“I think there is that element of uncertainty,” Toews said about a late season concussion. “The smart play is to rest and make sure everything is clear and it’s behind me. Obviously, I’d like to go and represent Canada every chance I get but right now it’s not the smartest thing to do.”

Kane sighted fitness and health as well. Kane had wrist surgery late in the offseason last summer limiting his ability to get in the best condition for the regular season.

“I think I’m just going to take the summer to rest and get excited about next season,” Kane said. “I’m healthy right now, I don’t want to risk that. I saw the difference it could make…I don’t think I was fully prepared for the season due to that.”

Sharp, Keith and Stalberg will leave very soon for Europe. The Championships conclude on May 20.

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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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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Blackhawks centers Patrick Sharp and Jonathan Toews talk about the pressure the team is under and what they need to do to stay alive in their series against the Coyotes.

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. -- Coach Joel Quenneville recognizes the uniqueness of the endings to the past three postseason games his Chicago Blackhawks have been involved in, including a Game 7 overtime loss to end their season last year.

“Three straight playoff games, all the same type of fashion on the road,” Quenneville said after an improbable 4-3 win Saturday against the Phoenix Coyotes to even their Western Conference quarterfinal series at one game apiece.

The Hawks tied each of those games very late in the contest. Both times this series, the Hawks had their goalie on the bench for an extra attacker, which led to a frenzy in the offensive zone.

“Incredible,” Saturday's overtime-goal scorer, Bryan Bickell, said. “I’ve never been involved in something like that.”

In Game 1, Brent Seabrook scored with 15 seconds remaining to send the game to the extra session, only to see the Hawks lose 3-2. On Saturday, it was Seabrook again firing from the point where Patrick Sharp tipped it in, this time with just five seconds left in regulation. Then Bickell ended the night in overtime with his second goal of the game.

“Would be nice if our power play was 6-on-5; maybe we could score a few more,” Sharp joked.

Call them the cardiac kids. Make that four straight postseason games that have gone to overtime, including Games 6 and 7 last year against the Vancouver Canucks. Jonathan Toews' goal with two minutes remaining in regulation in Game 7 came short-handed, as did Patrick Kane's infamous 2010 tally in Game 5 against the Nashville Predators. The Hawks have a knack for the dramatic.

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GLENDALE, Ariz. -- A quick look at the Chicago Blackhawks' 4-3 overtime win over the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday night at Jobing.com Arena in Game 2 of their Western Conference quarterfinal series.

How it happened: Bryan Bickell's second goal was the game winner in overtime as the Hawks tied the series at 1-all. Improbably, for the second straight game, Brent Seabrook came through in the clutch in the closing seconds. With an extra attacker on the ice for the goalie, Seabrook’s point shot was tipped in by Patrick Sharp with 5.5 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game. In the first two periods, it was a special teams-filled game that was going the Coyotes’ way as they scored two power-play goals to the Hawks’ one. Chicago scored first for the second straight game when Bickell tallied out of midair on a rebound of a Dave Bolland shot during a first-period man advantage. But Phoenix scored twice before the opening 20 minutes were over. Shane Doan beat Duncan Keith behind the Hawks' net, then found Raffi Torres in front for the tally. Then Jonathan Toews was inexplicably called for goaltender interference, and Antoine Vermette tipped one in from in front of Corey Crawford on the ensuing power play. Brandon Bollig tied the game in the second period with his first career goal, but Phoenix retook the lead on another power-play score from Vermette after Andrew Shaw was called for charging on Coyotes goalie Mike Smith. The Hawks failed to record a shot on goal in the opening nine minutes of the third period, but Seabrook and Sharp performed their heroics before the final buzzer went off.

Questionable calls: At least one of two Coyotes power-play goals came after controversial penalty calls that went against the Hawks. First, Toews was called for goaltender interference despite Smith initiating all the contact. Vermette’s first goal came on that ensuing power play. Then Shaw’s hit on Smith could have been called a two-minute minor penalty, but the referees deemed it a major penalty and kicked Shaw out of the game. The game misconduct means he could be further punished by the league.

What it means: Bickell’s two goals were huge, and the Hawks stayed in the game despite playing poorly on the penalty kill. Both power-play goals were a result of men open in front of Crawford without a Hawks defender near them. It’s been a season-long problem, and it continued in Game 2. On offense, Joel Quenneville changed up the lines, and it produced some chances with Toews, Sharp and Viktor Stalberg skating together, as did Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa and Andrew Brunette for a while. Seabrook has proved to be clutch and has the best shot from the point, but it was the unlikely star, Bickell, who will garner the headlines. It’s a huge win when a loss seemed likely.

What’s next: The series shifts to Chicago with Game 3 on Tuesday after an off day Sunday and a practice session Monday.

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 Blackhawks center Patrick Sharp talks about how the team prepares for the first round of the playoffs, and how Jonathan Toews' return to the lineup affects the line combinations.



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The Blackhawks took the day off on Sunday and soon enough our attention will be on the Phoenix Coyotes for Round 1 of the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs. But let’s take a moment to hand out some regular-season awards. Will there be enough success for a postseason award blog? We’ll find out soon enough.

Team MVP

Patrick Sharp: Jonathan Toews is excluded from the voting due to missing more than a quarter of the season with his concussion and Patrick Kane doesn’t win due to a very quiet stretch of games mid-season, though his play early and late was more than admirable. No, this award comes down to two people, Marian Hossa and Sharp. Sharp gets the nod for several reasons. His point-per-game average was about the same as Hossa’s, and he was slightly more consistent.

Hossa had some well documented long point streaks, but Sharp failed to earn at least a point in just one stretch that lasted more than three games. It’s Sharp who led the team in goals (33), despite missing eight contests. And it was Sharp who not only broke a bone in his hand, and didn’t miss a beat when he came back, but he also missed all of training camp due to an emergency appendectomy. Could you even tell by watching him he had been injured twice? On top of all that, he led all forwards in the NHL -- that aren’t on the Boston Bruins -- with a plus-28 rating, a career high. Criticizing Hossa is like finding fault with a perfect rainbow -- though he did take a few games off and seem to go through the motions killing penalties. Sharp also stepped up his playmaking. According to the Elias Sports Bureau 19 of his 36 helpers were primary assists. That's the second most of his career. He earned helpers off shots on net -- he was 12th in the league -- and off some nifty passing, which wasn’t necessarily part of his game in the past. Think of Game 82 in which he earned assists both ways. But at the end of the day Sharp is a sniper -- and one of the best at that. On the play that he broke a bone in his wrist, he still managed a pretty shot and goal. That’s quintessential Sharp. Score the goal then go get a cast put on. He turned 30, had a baby daughter mid-season and came back strong from those injuries. In some ways he’s the heart and soul of the Hawks, one of the rare holdovers from the previous regime, and he’s also the Hawks' 2011-2012 Most Valuable Player.

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DETROIT -- If there was any doubt the Chicago Blackhawks did indeed want to earn the No. 5 seed and a date with the Nashville Predators in the opening round of the playoffs, Joel Quenneville erased it by pulling Corey Crawford in the closing seconds of regulation in the Hawks eventual 3-2 shootout victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.

The game was tied 2-2 at the time, after the Hawks blew a 2-0 third-period lead by allowing Pavel Datsyuk to score with 47 seconds remaining and tie the game.

“Like we said going into the game, there are no bargains out there,” Joel Quenneville said afterwards. “All four teams we were eligible to play we had losing records against them this year but at the same time wherever the chips fell, wherever we end up, is always a chance. We said going into the game if we have to pull the goalie, we’ll pull the goalie.”

It sounds like more than anything the Hawks wanted to respect the game -- and the hockey gods -- in figuring out their playoff fate.

“It shows you that we want to win the game,” Patrick Sharp said of pulling the goalie. “You get into trouble if you start picking who you want to play in the playoffs. I’ve said it all along, you look at the eight teams in the West, it’s not going to be an easy series for anyone.”

So whether it was Nashville or now Los Angeles, Phoenix or San Jose, the Hawks weren’t thinking about their future foe as much as they were thinking about themselves.

“I thought we had an excellent finish to our season and have some momentum going into the playoffs,” Quenneville said. “No matter who we play it’ll be a challenge.”

The Hawks might lament giving up the lead, but they took the season series over the Wings four games to two, earning points in all six contests. That’s impressive. And all six games were one-goal affairs.

“It’s nothing special,” Duncan Keith said. “They’re a good team but right now we’re focused on the playoffs.”

And who they might play. That comes later on Saturday. At least the Hawks can say they played the game the right way right to the end.

“Last game of the season there was a lot on the line for seeding but I thought for the most part we played a good game and we were able to come out with a win anyway,” Sharp said. “So that’s good.”

Kane’s shootout move

After Pavel Datsyuk failed to score with a between the legs move, Patrick Kane tried the same, but finished on it.

“I just thought of the move real quick, put it through my legs and bring it back,” Kane said. “Luckily it worked out ... I know they were fighting for home ice but it didn’t really mean anything to our team so I figured why not try to do something.”

Unlike Thursday in Minnesota Kane didn’t need to lift the puck. He went through the legs of goaltender Jimmy Howard and scored the lone goal in the shootout.

“I just thought of it real quick to get the fans out of their seats and score too,” Kane said. “Glad it worked.”

Slappers

• Jimmy Hayes lost two teeth after getting high-sticked in the first period by Riley Sheahan.

“Then I got an elbow in the game later that split my lip open,” Hayes said.

• Marian Hossa won the team scoring title with 77 points, leading the Hawks with 48 assists. Patrick Sharp led the Hawks in goals with 33 and also had the best plus/minus on the team with a plus-28 rating.

• Sharp had two prime assists for the Hawks including a nifty pass out front to Andrew Shaw for the Hawks second goal.

• Viktor Stalberg added to his career high with his 22nd goal on a rebound of a Sharp shot. All 43 of his points this season came even strength, the most in the league.

• During the first period the Hawks announced goalie Ray Emery had signed a one year contract extension. He’ll make $1.15 million next year, according to a league source.

Quotable

“I guess we were going on the road anyway so it probably doesn’t matter much to us,” -- Kane, on not winning the game in regulation and earning a higher seed.

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 -- A quick look at the Chicago Blackhawks' 5-4 shootout loss to the Minnesota Wild on Sunday at the United Center.

How it happened: Devin Setoguchi scored the game winner in the shootout after the Hawks fought back from a 4-2 deficit. Though it was a back-and-forth game, the home team never led. The Hawks got down 2-1 after one period and 4-3 after two but tied it on Patrick Kane's power-play goal late in the contest. Defensive breakdowns and shaky goaltending helped incur the damage as Setoguchi, Dany Heatley, Clayton Stoner and Kyle Brodziak all scored for Minnesota. Stoner’s goal was his first this season. For the Blackhawks, Patrick Sharp scored in the first period and Viktor Stalberg briefly tied the game in the second, but Stoner and Brodziak’s goals came 20 and 61 seconds after Stalberg’s. Those were the back-breakers. Kane’s goal midway through the second period pulled the Hawks within one before he scored again in the third.

What it means: For the second straight night the Hawks played sloppy on defense. A little bit of everything contributed to their woes and this time it was against the worst offense in the NHL. Minnesota hadn’t scored four (non shootout) goals in exactly a month. They got to four before the game was halfway over. Ray Emery was just a little less than sharp, but, once again, men were open in front of him and pucks weren’t cleared in time. That’s eight goals (before the shootout) given up in two nights. But the Hawks’ own resiliency on offense is reminiscent of their play midseason when they outscored teams to earn big wins -- though their defensive issues at the time came back to haunt them when that offense dried up. Duncan Keith returns from his suspension on Thursday and it might be at about the right time for the Hawks to shore things up before the playoffs.

What’s next: The Hawks are off until taking on the Wild again on Thursday, this time in St. Paul.