It's nice to have a Backup

It hasn't been the ideal situation in net for the Hawks this season. Don't get me wrong, things are going fine, you just don't want to be paying two goaltenders like they're starters is all. I guess it's not such a bad thing though when one of those high paid goalies gets hurt. That's what happened toward the end of the Hawks game last night against Atlanta when Nikolai Khabibulin suffered an undisclosed injury.

I was just about to write a post about how Khabibulin has turned into the every day starter, and for good reason. It's not clear yet how serious the injury is, but Khabibulin is considered day-to-day. Chicago has called up Antti Niemi from Rockford to fill in as Huet's backup for a while.

Niemi will be up tomorrow night when the Hawks conclude their eight game road trip in St. Louis. Huet will start and should be pretty rested for the extra responsibilities. Khabibulin had started four of the last five games, including the last three.

Huet and the Blackhawks still have a lot of work to do without Khabibulin even though the road trip is ending. Five of the next seven are still away from the United Center. Without the Huet signing though, this stretch would be a hell of a lot scarier. Maybe with Toews and Sharp scoring last night the stars will get back to putting the puck in the net.

Hawks Start Long Roadie with a Win

Adam Burish got things started early for the Blackhawks and Chicago managed to hold off the Ducks for a 3-2 win. The victory comes in the first game back from the all-star break and the opener of an eight game road trip.

After losing three of four going into the break, the Hawks really needed a good start going into the second half. A major difference in this one was the presence of Duncan Keith. Keith didn't play his best game; he was out of position and took some unnecessary risks on some plays that I saw, but he made a beautiful play on the game winning goal.

It was a 2-1 Hawks lead in the second when Keith took a penalty. As he came out of the box, the Hawks were just breaking out after a huge save by Khabibulin and Patrick Sharp fired a cross ice pass to Keith who looked to be in great position for a shot. The Ducks' goaltender Jonas Hiller thought the shot was coming, but Keith dropped it to Toews for the one-timer and the captain connected.

The Ducks added a shorthanded goal late in the second to make it 3-2, but Khabibulin was too much in the third period. Actually, he was fantasic the entire game, stopping 36 shots. Anaheim actually carried the play most of the time with big hits and 11 more shots than Chicago. However, Burish, Kane, and Toews buried their chances and Bulin did the rest.

I know I have said this before, but this was the goalie the Hawks thought they were getting a few years ago. Sure, there wasn't much defense in front of him back then, but last night, unlike a few years ago, Khabibulin was able to carry his team to a big win. The road trip, which will be the longest for an NHL team this year, continues tonight against the L.A. Kings.

Blackhawks Fighting a Losing Streak

The Blackhawks can't afford stretches similar to the ones they went through last season. In '07-'08 the Hawks had four losing streaks of four games or more, including a season-killing eight game skid in December and January.

Currently, the Hawks are on a three game losing streak on the tail end of the circus trip. Things won't get any easier in the next couple of games either. The Ducks will come to the United Center tonight and the Hawks travel to Detroit Saturday.

These are two teams you don't want to play when you're losing. Both will limit your shots and wait for a mistake, then go for the kill. Chicago will need to bring focus, confidence, and may need to mix it up with a couple of fights in the next couple of games.

A key factor in the three losses has been the injury to Nikolai Khabibulin. Bulin was on a three game winning streak before the recent skid started. Huet has been in net for all three losses and will be back in net tonight against Anaheim. Huet was solid against the Ducks last Friday though, in a 1-0 loss out West.

The game starts at 7:30 tonight, so if you don't feel like watching the Big Ten get demolished by the ACC tonight, head over to the United Center.

Also, last week NBC debuted its first promotional spot for the Winter Classic. This is possibly the best job NBC has done promoting the NHL since it took over covering hockey. Here is the commercial, via Puck Daddy and NHL.com. Well, apparently the NHL still has problems with things like keeping their website up and running, so I'll have the video soon. Hopefully.

Blackhawks Week in Review

Four Blackhawk games have come and gone since we last talked about them. That's too long, but I'll be better for you. I have to be better. Anyway, as usual I think we'll skip over the embarrassing loss to the Blues. They played, they lost, fill in the blanks.

Sunday night was no treat either, as the Sharks scored two third period goals to win 6-5. The penalty kill was, well, the death of the Hawks on Sunday as the Sharks were 4 for 6 with the man advantage.

Then Chicago hit the road to start their own circus trip. So far, the Blackhawks have gone a different direction than the Bulls on their road trip with two straight wins. How strange is the circus trip though? Well, the Blackhawks won a shootout in their first game on the trip. That just does not happen in the real world.

This miracle shootout win happened on Tuesday night at Phoenix. After Huet started in loss against the Sharks when the Hawks gave up six goals, Khabibulin was back in net for the win. Kris Versteeg and Patrick Sharp scored in regulation for the Blackhawks, putting them out to a 2-0 lead. The Coyotes got a goal in the second and another in the third to tie the game. In the shootout, Sharp and Toews got the goals, while Khabibulin made two saves.

From Phoenix, the Hawks went to Dallas and faced the Stars Thursday night. Chicago started slow as the Stars jumped out to a 10-1 advantage in shots. Of course then the Stars were hammered drunk and proceeded to lose the game 6-3. Khabibulin, who seems to have established himself as the #1 goalie, stopped 31 shots and moved to 6-1-4 on the season. Kane had two goals, scoring the first goal for the Hawks in the last minute of the first period and putting home an empty netter at the end. Chicago scored a goal in the last minute of each of the three periods.

Looking Ahead:

There are four games left in the road trip, but obviously it couldn't have gotten off to a better start. The Hawks go to Toronto tomorrow night and then out west for San Jose, Anaheim, and L.A. to finish it up. One win out of those three isn't too much to ask for the Blackhawks to come out of this trip even, but look for them to steal a point in there too. I'll say a win against the Kings and at least a point tomorrow against Toronto.

Blackhawks Week in Review

Two games so far this week for the Blackhawks, with another couple coming over the weekend.

Kane and Havlat got the action started Sunday night against the Flames with a goal and an assist each. Captain Jonathan Toews finally got his first goal of the season in the 6-1 win. Hopefully this will spark a scoring spree that will ease fears of a sophomore slump. Four penalty kills in the first period were gigantic for Chicago, who had Cristobal Huet in net. Calgary's lone goal late in the second cut the lead to 3-1, but Toews and Versteeg scored goals early in the third to put the game away.

After the offensive outburst against Calgary, it was the goaltending that should have gotten Chicago a win against Boston Wednesday night. The Bruins outshot and outchanced the Hawks, but Khabibulin was fantastic, making 38 saves and giving up only one goal. Toews scored his second goal of the year to tie the game midway through the third and the game went to overtime. In the extra period, Patrick Sharp was stopped by Tim Thomas on a penalty shot and it went to a shootout. Patrick Kane was the only Hawk to connect as Boston took the 2-1 win in the shootout. Tough to waste an amazing performance like the one Khabibulin put on with a loss. This was the goaltender the Hawks thought they were getting.

Looking Ahead:

Tonight the Hawks host St. Louis, then it's San Jose at the UC Sunday, followed by trips to Phoenix and Dallas.

Blackhawks Impressive in First Win

Breathe easy, Hawks fans; the Blackhawks will not go winless this year. In fact, it looks like the team could actually live up to some of the preseason hype. A few things stood out in the win:

• Khabibulin was a monster in the net. He has at least earned consideration to share time equally with newcomer Huet. Bulin made 29 saves on 30 shots, many of them were spectacular, including a sprawling save after doing a 180 and a pad save (and a beauty) on a rebound during a 5 on 3. Sometimes it takes great goaltending to get a team going and when Khabibulin made a handful of great saves while only giving up one goal, the team picked him up.
• There were also some huge hits. Dustin Byfuglien was his usual bad-ass self and rookie Aaron Johnson laid out a Coyote player in the second period. If guys like these two can continue to bring the physical play while Havlat, Toews, Kane, and Sharp provide the scoring, the Hawks will be playing more than 82 games this year. Sometimes a big hit can really get a team going. See where I'm going?
• Finally, the playmakers made plays. The Hawks got goals from Havlat, which was an amazing goal as you can see in the highlight, Sharp, and Campbell last night. Havlat's one man show for a backhand goal opened the scoring for the Hawks and as Toews mentioned, really loosened things up on the bench. Sometimes it takes great goals from your playmakers to get a team going.

A great all-around performance from the Blackhawks. The challenge will be to sustain this kind of effort throughout the season, as they struggled through a couple horrible losing streaks last year. Maybe the huge play from Havlat is a sign that he really can be the player the Hawks thought they were getting when they signed him. It was a good night for Chicago, let's see if they can keep it going. The next game is Saturday at St. Louis.