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.

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.

Your Bi-Annual Blackhawks Update

Hey, did you know the NHL had its draft in Columbus, Ohio last night?

Did you know that the Blackhawks had the first pick in the draft?

Neither did I.

Well, it seems like all that losing and sucking finally paid off because the Hawks did have the number one pick and they used it to draft some high school kid I never heard of.

His name is Patrick Kane.

Kane, a 5-foot-9, 160-pound right winger, is a native of Buffalo, N.Y., who scored 62 goals and had 83 assists in 58 games last season with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League.

Kane, rated the No. 2 skater in North America by the NHL Central Scouting Service, is expected to give the Blackhawks, who were 31-42-9 a year ago, a creative scorer and deft puck-handler.

That's according to ESPN, but what the hell do they know about hockey? They don't even show highlights on SportsCenter anymore. And since I'm not exactly as informed as I used to be, I know when I need help.

That's why I turned to Eric McErlain.

Eric not only writes for the NHL Fanhouse, but is also an NHL columnist for NBC Sports, and finds the time to keep his own hockey blog Off Wing Opinion.

In other words, if you ever need to know anything about hockey, Eric is the man you want to ask. So I did. Here's what Eric had to say about your newest Chicago Blackhawk.

Kane is a heck of an offensive talent, and clearly the best in this draft.

Played great at the latest World Juniors Tournament, but comes with some caveats: Needs to work on his play in the defensive zone, and some are worried that he's not willing to pay the price to be able to score at the NHL level as he's had some problems with bigger and physical wingers.

That being said, he's got an incredible shot. He's a pure goal scorer,and it won't be long before you see him in Chicago.

Well, it wouldn't be a long time until we saw him in Chicago if Bill Wirtz actually let us watch him play in Chicago.

Still, I hope that Kane turns out to be a great player for the Hawks. I know I don't really follow hockey anymore, but there's a part of me that wants to. Maybe Kane will be the player that finally helps me fall back in love with the sport. If not, I'll always have the Ice Girls!