Patrick Kane Is a Winner

While the Bulls can't seem to do anything right these days. They've taken any kind of goodwill they may have garnered by landing the first pick in the draft and thrown it out the window after Jerry Reinsdorf spent too much time worrying about his feelings for Doug Collins, and then hired Vinny Del African-American instead.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the United Center where they keep the guys with the funny accidents and mullets, the Blackhawks have been doing just about everything right. They missed the playoffs this season, but they stole all the winter attention away from the Bulls with their improved play and public relations.

Now next season all of their games will be televised, and they'll even be playing the Red Wings at Wrigley Field. All of which means I'm going to be spending a lot more of my time watching the Blackhawks next season, and of course, that would mean seeing a lot more of the new Calder Trophy winner, Patrick Kane.

...when 18-year-old forward Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year.

Kane led rookies with 72 points, including 21 goals. He is the first Blackhawks player to win the trophy since goalie Ed Belfour in the 1990-91 season. Kane, who had the best first month by a rookie since 1992 when he posted 16 points in October, topped Chicago linemate Jonathan Toews and Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom for the award.

As mentioned in the quote, Chicago's other kid, Jonathan Toews finished in second place, and had he not missed a month due to injury he probably would have won the award. Not to say that Patrick didn't deserve it, but he seemed to wear down toward the end of the season a bit (he is rather small), while Toews finished pretty strong. Either way, the future of Blackhawks hockey keeps looking better everyday.

Stick a Fork in the Blackhawks

What? You thought I'd forgotten about them?

Well, you were wrong, I've been keeping an eye on them, and last night my eye saw their playoff hopes basically come to an end.

After their 3-1 loss to the Red Wings last night, the Blackhawks find themselves seven points behind the Vancouver Canucks with twelve games left to play. As if that gap wasn't enough, there are also three other teams between them and the 8th seed right now, so the odds of reaching the postseason are astronomical at this point.

''We probably need to win nine,'' Denis Savard said. ''That's probably too much to ask right now, but we'll take them one game at a time, starting tomorrow.''

It doesn't seem fair, really, that while the Blackhawks have played well this season (they're actually over .500) and have been fun to watch, the team they share a building with, the Bulls, doesn't even seem to care yet find themselves only a half-game out of the playoffs.

Still, this has been an incredibly successful season for the Blackhawks, and we've seen a lot of promise for the future. Watching youngsters like Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane along with Patrick Sharp has given me confidence that the Hawks are going to get to the postseason next year, and now they've got a young goalie who looks like he can be something special as well.

Corey Crawford got the loss last night, but it wasn't because he did anything wrong. After shutting out the defending champion Mighty Ducks last week, Crawford made 44 saves against the best team in the NHL last night.

This team officially matters again, I mean, I'm even writing about them. While this year has been a rebirth of hockey in Chicago, I get the feeling next year will do even more. Next season all games will be televised, the youngsters will all be a year older and better, and the Bulls will probably still suck.

So things are all set up for the Hawks to rule this city again next winter, and I gotta say, I'm looking forward to watching. I even plan on paying attention the entire season.

Bruce Weber Can't Hide Anymore

I have bad news for Bruce Weber and the rest of the Illinois basketball program. Now that Illinois' football season has come to an end in a most disturbing fashion, they're no longer going to distract us all from what's going on with the basketball team.

More specifically that the Illini aren't very good this season.

The Illini will open their Big Ten schedule tonight when they take on the defending conference champion Ohio State Buckeyes at Assembly Hall. Their current record of 8-5 is Illinois' worst non-conference start since 1997-98 when they also started the season 8-5.

I've been watching this team as much as possible thus far in the season, but a lot of the games aren't being shown here in Chicago either because they aren't televised or the evil Big Ten Network is carrying them. I have to be honest though, the fact that I haven't been able to watch the Illini as much as I'd like to is a blessing in disguise.

It's hard to watch this team play. While they're still pretty tough on defense, the Illini are doing everything in their power to set offensive basketball back 30-40 years. They're horrible.

Just look at some of these numbers. They're dead last in the Big Ten from behind the three-point line, shooting a lovely 28.8%. As if that wasn't bad enough, they're also the worst team in the conference from the free throw line where they're shooting 59.1%.

So to recap, they can't shoot. At all.

It's something Bruce Weber is trying to deal with.

"We're not an offensive juggernaut," Weber said. "We all know that. You have to accept what you are, play within your limits and maximize your strengths—the intensity of your defense and your rebounding.

"We didn't play with the emotion, the intensity [against Tennessee State]. We let our lack of offense [against 2-3, 3-2 and match-up zones] affect our defense. They came out and scored six of the first seven times they had the ball in the second half. We tried to kick it in and play hard down the stretch—we had our chances and didn't take advantage of them."

That Tennessee State game? If you don't know what coach Weber is talking about he's referring to the Illini's last game. The one they lost to Tennessee State at home. Yes, that's right, I said the Illini lost to Tennessee State. At home.

It wasn't the first time the Illini lost at home this season either, something that for years seemed impossible, especially against a non-conference opponent. A few weeks ago they lost to Miami of Ohio in Champaign as well, and they also lost to Arizona earlier this season at the United Center.

It's not very often that the Big Ten conference schedule is just starting and the Illini have already knocked themselves out of the NCAA tournament. Hell, at the rate they're going, they may not even get an NIT berth. The way I figure, with the two losses to Tennessee State and Miami, the Illini are going to have to win at least 19 or 20 games to get any consideration from the tournament selection committee.

That would mean they would have to go at least 11-9 in the conference this season, and I just don't see that happening. The way I figure, the games against Michigan State, Indiana, Ohio State, and Wisconsin are all going to be losses. So there's 0-8 right there. That would mean they'd have to go 11-1 against everybody else in the conference, and it's just not going to happen.

So what is going to happen?

I see the Illini going about 8-12 in conference play to finish the season with a 16-15 record, which to me is just not acceptable. I don't think it's acceptable for the Illinois athletic department either, because after all, Illinois is a basketball school. When the football team performs like it did this season it's a wonderful bonus to fall semester, but life in Champaign revolves around the spring semester and it's men's basketball team.

Though his time as the head coach as been overwhelmingly successful, including a trip to the Final Four and championship game against North Carolina a few years ago, Bruce Weber still hasn't established a name for himself in Champaign. When Weber led the Illini to the Final Four, he did so with a team consisting mostly of players brought to the program by Bill Self.

In the last few years which the roster has been made up of players Weber brought in, this team has taken a step backwards. It's not fun to see players like Eric Gordon, Derrick Rose, and Jon Scheyer routinely snub the Illini. I mean, Scheyer's high school coach is Bruce Weber's brother and the Illini still couldn't get him.

If the Illini season finishes the way I see it happening, and there isn't a dramatic improvement next season, it's going to be time for Bruce Weber to move on. I look around the rest of the conference and see Tom Izzo at Michigan State and Bo Ryan at Wisconsin maintaining the same strong program they always have. Then I see Thad Matta and Kelvin Sampson bringing Ohio State and Indiana back to the forefront of the conference as well. Meanwhile the Illini continue to regress, and the blame can't be placed anywhere other than the feet of Bruce Weber.

Foul Balls

Another Injury For The Blackhawks - I said last week that I wanted to start covering the Blackhawks more around here, but this isn't the type of thing I wanted to write about.

It looks like the Hawks are probably going to have to play without their young stud Jonathan Toews for a little while.

Toews, the Hawks' third-leading scorer with 15 goals and 17 assists, was to return Wednesday to Chicago to have an MRI on his left knee after the center injured his MCL during the first period Tuesday.

"I was chasing the puck around in a couple of different directions … and I just tried to change directions too quickly. My leg gave in a little bit," Toews said. "I just have to be optimistic about my situation and do what I can to get back as soon as I can."

Preliminary reports from doctors in Los Angeles say Toews will probably miss 2-4 weeks, but depending on the results of yesterday's MRI, and he may be out even longer. The Hawks have already placed him on the injured list, where he'll have plenty of company, as he joins seven of his teammates.

Matt Millen Is Still An Idiot - In case you didn't hear, the Detroit Lions fired Mike Martz as their offensive coordinator yesterday. Why? Because Matt Millen is an idiot, that's why.

Martz is basically just the fall guy for the Lions collapse down the stretch. After starting the season 6-2, the Lions finished the season up with a 7-9 record. In Millen's eyes, it's all Martz's fault.

Nevermind the fact this is the same Lions team that's been lucky to win 3 games a year the last few seasons. Don't worry about the fact that they only reason they even won 7 games this year was because of their offense. Pay no attention to the fact that the Lions were ranked 31st in the NFL in total defense this season. No, it's all Mike Martz's fault.

Not that I'm really upset, mind you. I have no problem with the Lions doing this because they're a division rival. I'm just continually perplexed by how Millen keeps his job.

Owen Schmitt Is A Beer Truck - I have to say, I was shocked that West Virginia beat Oklahoma last night in the Fiesta Bowl. I figured that with Rich Rodriguez leaving the program to go to Michigan that the Mountaineers would have no shot against a team I considered to be one of the best in the country.

My favorite play of the game, and also my favorite call of the game, came courtesy of this play.



Couches are burning in Morgantown this morning!

Are The Blackhawks About To Matter Again?

I have to make a bit of a confession. I've been keeping a secret from all of you, and I just can't do it anymore.

I've been watching the Blackhawks this season and, this is hard to admit, I'm enjoying it. Whether it's the fact I've only just recently entered the world of hi-def television, or whether it's because they're actually playing well, I'm watching hockey again.

I'm not back in full blown hockey fan mode like I used to be or anything, but I'm at least paying attention.

I wasn't going to say anything about it this early though. I talked to Panger about writing about the Blackhawks over the weekend, but I decided to hold off on it originally. Yes, they're playing well but it's still way too early in the season to get excited.

Though the two rookies, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, are two very good reasons to be excited about the Blackhawks future. Kane is leading the team in points, and Toews has scored a point in every game he's played, including insane goals like this one.

See what I mean? There's actually talent on the team now.

Still, I'm not ready to write the "Blackhawks are for real" post just yet. The only reason I even bring them up today is because it looks like the team has finally decided to join us in the 1980's, and televise home games.

In his first major move with the Blackhawks, Rocky Wirtz is trying to do what fans long have asked for: televise the team's home games.

In a Monday memo, Wirtz told employees that Blackhawks representatives met with Comcast SportsNet executives last week about getting some home games on the air during the current season.

"It's important to understand that CSN's current schedule was developed well over a year ago, so fitting the Hawks into that schedule can't be done overnight," wrote Wirtz, who succeeded his late father, William Wirtz, as head of the family's $1.3 billion business empire earlier this month. "But it can be done and ... we are convinced it is the appropriate next step to re-energizing Chicago hockey fans and creating new fans."

A source within Wirtz Corp. says up to a half-dozen home games may be broadcast this season, the majority of them coming by the end of this year. The first game most likely will be Nov. 11 against the Detroit Red Wings.

It's happening! Dear God, it's actually happening!

This is the best thing to happen to the Hawks since Bill Wirtz died! And it's only happening because he died! Bill Wirtz is a hero.

Obviously the most important thing about all of this is that right now is the perfect time for the Blackhawks to finally grab this city's attention again. Putting the home games on television will help the team pick up more support, but it wouldn't work on it's own.

Whether they're on television or not, if the Blackhawks suck, nobody's going to watch. Believe me though when I tell you that this Blackhawks team doesn't suck.

I can't remember the last time I saw a Blackhawks team with so much talent. Keep in mind, they've gotten off to their current start without their leading scorer from last season, Martin Havlat.

I'm not asking all of you to get on the Blackhawks bandwagon just yet, or to start embracing hockey and filling the United Center, I'm just giving you a fair warning. You may want to start paying attention to this team again, I don't think you'll be sorry if you do.