NHL league sources are reporting that Blackhawks defenseman Brian Campbell has broken a collarbone and rib and will likely miss the rest of the season, including playoffs, after a cheap shot from Alexander Ovechkin in Sunday’s 4-3 loss to the Capitals.

The story was initially reported by Hendricks Hockey.

The Blackhawks are now forced to scramble to put together a defensive group behind the already-tired Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook. Niklas Hjalmarsson and Brent Sopel have both missed time because of injuries this year and, because they block a lot of shots, are banged up a lot. Jordan Hendry hasn’t dressed for most of the team’s games this year.

The most likely scenario is that the Hawks will place Nick Boynton, acquired before the trade deadline, on waivers Monday in hopes that he clears and can join the team on the road trip before Wednesday’s game against Anaheim.

Adding Boynton from Rockford doesn’t help the Hawks’ defensive issues, though. Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook are both playing too many minutes, and it’s starting to show in the quality of their play. Niklas Hjalmarsson hasn’t been a 23-minute-per-night guy yet in his career, but might be in the wake of this devastating news. Campbell was playing well for the Hawks this year, playing only two seconds per game less than Seabrook.

Need something to worry about?

The Blackhawks hosted the league-leading Washington Capitals on Sunday just 20 hours after a devastating  loss in Philadelphia. How the team responded to the loss on the ice in such a short turnaround could have been a strong indication of how the final three weeks of the season could turn out.

Then the Hawks threw everyone a curveball: both Kim Johnsson and Marian Hossa were scratches on Sunday with upper body injuries. Johnsson didn’t play in the last 13 minutes on Saturday, but Hossa was on the ice in the final four seconds when the game was lost. Their status moving forward has been labeled day-to-day, but both will make the trip with the team this week.

Then Alexander Ovechkin threw Brian Campbell into the boards, a “tough hit… a dangerous hit” as coach Joel Quenneville. Ovechkin received a five minute boarding penalty and a game misconduct for the play, which drew the fire out of Mike Milbury on NBC between periods. Milbury, of course, needs to publicly defend Ovechkin after calling the Russians “Euro trash” during the Olympics. How he’s still on the air is beyond me. Ovechkin was taken out of the equation, but that doesn’t mean the Capitals had no offense left on the ice.

However, losing Campbell was a worst-case scenario for the Hawks. With Johnsson already out after suffering an injury in the third period of Saturday’s game and Brent Sopel still working his way back from injury, the Hawks defense was already thin. Forcing Jordan Hendry and Sopel to play more minutes (Hendry played over 16, Sopel over 18 on Sunday), coupled with Brent Seabrook’s two-month funk, against the highest-scoring team in the league was a recipe for disaster.

Disaster came in the third period.

Hendry took a double-minor for high-sticking Alexander Semin, and near the mid-point of that penalty Colin Fraser drew a penalty for high-sticking Brooks Laich. With the Fraser penalty delayed, Laich scored the first tally for Washington on the afternoon. Because there were 22 second left on the first minor penalty to Hendry, the Blackhawks were then forced to kill a full two minutes of five-on-three against the Capitals in the mid-third.

The Hawks did indeed kill the penalty, but consider how they accomplished that feat. With Hendry in the box and Campbell out, the Hawks had four defensemen to skate for two minutes against an active, powerful offense. They killed the five-on-three, but allowed the second goal of the game to Nicklas Backstrom just three seconds after the penalties were over.

Momentum was gone, and confidence was questionable. The lead was only one.

That lead lasted only 13 seconds.

With dead legs and frustrated brains, the Blackhawks had watched a big lead disappear in the third period again, this time in front of the home crowd. The Hawks have not only lost three of their last four games, but they’ve been shell-shocked by a five-goal period from Detroit, Philadelphia’s winner in the final two seconds and now Washington’s comeback.

Stat of the game: the Chicago Blackhawks were credited with ONE shot on goal in the third period. One.

What’s worse, the Hawks’ dressing room has been described as silent, dead and questioning after Sunday’s loss.

Duncan Keith said, “I don’t know how we will regroup.”

Overall, Sunday’s loss cannot, and should not, be blamed on Antti Niemi. He stopped 26 of 29 shots during regulation, making a number of critical saves. Just as Cristobal Huet was on Saturday, Niemi was the victim of the players in front of him taking a few minutes off. The five-on-three with only four available defensemen was too much for the Hawks to handle, and the subsequent two goals in 15 seconds killed the lead. Of the 60 minutes in regulation on Sunday, the Hawks played their hearts out for almost all of them.

Bad penalties with worse timing, coupled with an unexpectedly limited bench against the top scoring team in the league cost the Blackhawks. The moral victory on from Sunday’s loss is the one point from drawing overtime, but moral victories don’t mean much at this time of year.

When there is more information on the extent of Campbell’s injury, and the status of both Hossa and Johnsson moving forward, we’ll update their situations.

On offense for the Blackhawks, Jonathan Toews scored two goals and Patrick Kane had two assists.

The Blackhawks next three games are on the road, with the first coming on Wednesday in Anaheim.

On Friday afternoon, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville made a seemingly subtle announcement that could have a significant impact on who will be between the pipes for the Hawks in the playoffs.

In light of each goalies recent struggles, culminating with Cristobal Huet’s removal against Detroit, the starting job is completely up for grabs. After Antti Niemi’s strong performance against the Kings, Quenneville’s confidence appeared to be at least teased into favoring the rookie. However, after Thursday’s practiceQuenneville indicated that both Niemi and Huet would start one of this weekend’s games. On Saturday afternoon, the Blackhawks play in Philadelphia, followed by another late-morning start on Sunday in Chicago against the Washington Capitals.

Friday’s announcement may have shown that Quenneville is ready to go all in: Huet will start the Saturday matinee against the Flyers, and Quenneville said there’s a “good chance” Niemi will start Sunday against the NHL-best Capitals.

If the Hawks wanted to see whether or not Niemi is ready to be a playoff goalie, Sunday is the best opportunity on the schedule.  Washington puts 33.1 shots on net per game, which ranks second in the NHL (the Blackhawks are first at 34.2). They are deeper than just superstar Alex Ovechkin, too; the Capitals have four players with more than 25 goals already and four with at least 66 points.

If the Hawks defense wanted a test, they’ll have their hardest on Sunday. The Capitals have the top offense in the league, scoring 3.88 goals per game; San Jose is second in the league, more than half a goal less per game (3.24) than Washington. The Caps also have the top power play unit in the league, converting 25.6 percent of their opportunities.

Sunday will be a nationally televised battle royale between the top offense in the league and the Blackhawks defense that, despite recent struggles, is still among the best in the game.

By starting Huet on Saturday, the Hawks will also get a good look at how the veteran responds to his recent failure against an Eastern Conference playoff team. Both goalies will be tested, but the decision to put Niemi on Sunday appears, at least on the surface, to indicate that the Hawks are ready to formally make him “the man” for the Cup run.

How much did we miss Adam Burish?

An assist AND a fight on his first shift.

Well that didn’t take long.

Fans barely knew he had stepped on the ice before his presence was felt in the box score. Adam Burish, playing in his first regular season game after tearing an ACL in the preseason, came flying off the bench for his first shift in over five months. He skated straight to the back of the net, got his stick on the puck, and pushed a gorgeous wrap-around pass to Patrick Sharp in front of the net for the first goal of the game.

Only 2:34 had come off the clock when the goal was scored, and Burish hadn’t yet been on the ice for ten seconds this season.

At 2:54, Burish brought the other part of his game that fans had missed. Just 20 seconds after notching his first assist of the season, Burish drew his first penalty of the season. And, of course, it was a five minute major for fighting Richard Clune.

When the term “energy player” or “impact player” is used, fans need look no further than Burish for a definition. After throwing, and receiving, a few punches, Burish skated away from Clune with a smile on his face, pumping his fists with obvious excitement. This was the player Hawks fans had fallen in love with over the past couple years, and his emotion on the ice set the tone early.

The Hawks skated through a physical first period that ended with a 1-0 lead favoring Chicago. However, as has become all too familiar for Hawks fans recently, the second period was a different story.

Just under five minutes into the second, Dustin Brown beat Antti Niemi to tie the game. Only 61 seconds after the Brown goal, Jonathan Toews was called for a goalie interference penalty that can be best described as garbage. Toews was not only pushed into Kings’ netminder Jonathan Quick, but Quick extended his right leg to ease himself into Toews. Everyone on the ice, and in the stands at the United Center, thought the penalty was going to be on Los Angeles. It was not. And, as has been the trend for the Hawks in recent second periods, their opponent made them pay. Anze Kopitar scored at the mid point of the power play to give LA the 2-1 lead.

This would become a crucial point in the game, and perhaps the Blackhawks’ season. The recent stretch of poor second periods, punctuated by Sunday’s debacle against Detroit, has seen the flood gates open wide when the Hawks started struggling. When the Hawks lost the momentum, it snowballed in favor of the opponents until the game was either out of reach or the period ended.

Wednesday night saw a different result from the Hawks.

A strong shift from John Madden, Kris Versteeg and Andrew Ladd paid off with Versteeg finding the back of the net to tie the game only 95 seconds after the Kings took the lead. After Versteeg tied the game, the Hawks’ defense settled down and the flow of the action was significantly more controlled through the end of the second. Despite an early flurry and Niemi allowing two tough goals, he rebounded well.

The third period saw 17 minutes of solid checking and back-and-forth action from both teams. Both Niemi and Quick fought off tough shots in traffic to keep their respective teams in the game. After a hard hit into the boards, Dustin Brown decided he wanted to dance with Troy Brouwer. Just as Burish had done early in the first period, Brouwer landed a couple solid blows to win the fight. The hope was that the Hawks’ offense would respond.

Wayne Simmonds helped the Hawks out by taking his second dumb penalty of the game with only 1:23 remaining on a potential breakaway, but the first 83 seconds of the power play expired with the regulation game clock with the score still tied at 2-2. In regulation, Niemi stopped 27 of 29 shots while Quick had a busier night, keeping 38 of 40 regulation shots out of the net. Considering the Kings only allowed 11 shots on net in their previous game, the offensive play from the Hawks was solid; the effort from Quick was exceptional.

In the overtime, on a terrible Los Angeles turnover, Sharp got a one-on-one chance with Quick in open ice and was victorious. His second goal of the game clinched a 3-2 win for the Hawks in a game that should carry a lot of significance for the Hawks.

First, the Hawks had their regular lapse in effort in the second period, but didn’t let the game get away from them.

Secondly, they FINALLY had a netminder battle with another quality goaltender in a playoff matchup and play well. Quick was great for Los Angeles, but Niemi’s effort must be noted. He was strong for all 60 minutes against a very good Kings team, and Hawks fans should hope this propels him into a stretch of solid play that extends into the postseason.

Third, the Hawks saw contributions from all over the ice. Patrick Kane had the second assist on Sharp’s first period goal, extending his point streak to nine game. But Troy Brouwer was credited with six hits, Duncan Keith blocked three shots, Brent Sopel returned to the lineup and skated effectively and the Versteeg-Madden-Ladd line again made an impact.  Niklas Hjalmarsson was also a physical force on the ice.

The Hawks are now off until a Saturday matinee in Philadelphia against the Flyers. That game, which will be broadcast on WGN in Chicago, begins at noon Central.

Elliott Friedman of CBC has an intriguing couple bullet points in his latest blog. He says:

“… Strongly believe there was one, possibly two teams who were willing to take Cristobal Huet from Chicago. (Should clarify: I’m more certain about one than the other.) But the Blackhawks decided to stand pat, much to the surprise of other GMs. Unloading Huet’s contract (two years remaining, $5.625 million cap hit) would have cost at least a first-rounder and an established player. (I know you’re going to ask, but I’d be guessing on whom. The source wouldn’t tell me.)…

Why did Chicago decline? Scotty Bowman believes strongly in the Detroit model: If you don’t have a top-three goalie, you protect him with great team defence and puck possession. The Blackhawks – disciplined and talented – have a shot. But, to duplicate the Red Wings’ success, they will have to show two things: their forwards are as committed to back pressure as Detroit’s and their defensive corps is as good. As great as the Blackhawks look, we’re talking Lidstrom/Rafalski/Kronwall/Stuart here. What a tough, tough call to make.”

This will raise red flags all over Chicago. “You mean to tell me the Hawks could have dumped that piece of garbage at the deadline and didn’t?” Let’s hold that emotional response for a moment…

Note that Friedman says the Hawks would have to part ways with “at least a first-rounder and an established player” to make the deal happen. The gamble of GM Stan Bowman is not only dealing with Huet’s contract moving forward, but those two other crucial pieces to the deal.

The reality for Blackhawks fans is that there are players on the NHL roster right now that won’t be in Chicago next year. We’ve discussed it; Kris Versteeg, Patrick Sharp, Dustin Byfuglien and others might be wearing a different sweater on Opening Night next year. If the Hawks are going to be in a tight financial situation next year and in the future, the replacement for players like Versteeg, Sharp and Byfuglien are going to need to come from within the organization. But players like these don’t magically show up in August with a gym bag looking for a contract; draft picks, especially high ones, are critical to the Hawks sustaining any success.

The second piece of this gamble is the on-ice cost of dumping Huet. Friedman doesn’t speculate what the Hawks would have received in return for Huet, but what if they weren’t receiving an NHL player in return? If the Hawks’ current playoff outlook is questionable with Huet and Antti Niemi, how much more/less comfortable would you be with Niemi and Corey Crawford as the only netminders ont he roster?

Furthermore, what if the roster player had to be Sharp? Versteeg has struggled with consistency this year, and Byfuglien as hot/cold as anyone on the roster. While Byfuglien’s presence in front of the net was a big part of last year’s success, it’s clear that the player of these three that the Hawks could least afford to be without moving forward is Sharp. Whether it’s his ability to be an effective center or quality play at the point on the power play, Sharp has a big role in the Hawks’ rotation.

Moving Sharp and Huet would have actually hurt the Hawks’ depth.

The other consideration to make is that, if a team was willing to take Huet’s contract now, what are the odds that there will be an available partner to move his contract this summer? As the draft draws near, the Hawks will have to make decisions about current NHL players that will be restricted free agents (Andrew Ladd) and will also have a better grasp of the value of their first round pick. There is still potential for a move to happen that clears the cap space.

This is an interesting piece of information from Friedman, but needs to be digested with a grain of salt.

When will the carousel stop?

After Tuesday morning’s skate, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville told the media that Antti Niemi would start in net against the Los Angeles Kings.

Round and round we go…

The staggering issue the Blackhawks continue to deal with is that neither of their netminders appears ready/willing/able to grab the top of the depth chart. Niemi has had a handful of opportunities to become the undisputed number one, and has struggled with each chance. Meanwhile, Cristobal Huet has defined mediocrity all season, especially since the beginning of the calendar year.

When the trade deadline passed as quietly as a far in an elevator for the Blackhawks, the stink every fan now has to deal with is the situation between the pipes. Niemi has shown flashed of ability to become the man, but hasn’t consistently brought that effort to the ice. Indeed, Niemi’s goals against average has increased in every month since November (1.44) by just enough that while December was still exceptional (1.74), January (2.41) and February (2.84) have allowed doubt to creep into the minds of Hawks fans.

And yet by comparison, Huet has been worse. Since November (1.97), Huet’s goals per game average has increased to decent in December (2.02) and poor in January (2.98). Since the Olympics, Huet’s average has been awful (3.56) with a save percentage (.831) to match.

Sunday’s performance against Detroit became the latest spark for Huet haters to call for Niemi to be the man. Quenneville isn’t as quick to place blame.

“I’m not blaming [Huet for the] last game. I just think Antti gets a chance to grab the net,” said Quenneville after Tuesday’s practice. “We have back-to-back games over the weekend. We have a lot of tough opponents as well, and we have a condensed schedule. So they’ll both see some time here, and we’re looking for both of them to take charge.”

Clearly, the talent surrounding the netminders on the Hawks is good enough to compete for, and win, the Stanley Cup this year. But the defensive play in front of the net has also left a lot to be desired lately. The PK has allowed a goal in seven of ten games since the start of February, and one of the three they didn’t was when the Islanders didn’t have a chance.

What has compounded the problem has been the number of penalties the Hawks have been forced to kill; since the start of February, the Hawks have had to kill 39 penalties in those ten games. That represents a ten percent increase in the number of penalties the Hawks are killing per night through January.

The Blackhawks have eight shut outs this season, four by both Huet and Niemi. However, the Hawks have only held their opponent off the scoreboard in one game in 2010. Meanwhile, the Hawks have allowed more than three goals nine times in only 25 games. Allowing at least four goals in 36 percent of a team’s games is clearly not good enough to win at the end of April.

On Wednesday, Niemi will face a Kings team that comes in averaging 3.75 goals per game since the Olympics. He’ll be tested, and Hawks fans hope he performs.

Um, Cristo... that little black thing that's behind you? Yeah, about that...

Andrew Ladd had the first hat trick of the season for the Blackhawks, scoring three of the Hawks’ four goals. Unfortunately, four goals wasn’t enough on Sunday, as the Hawks lost to Detroit 5-4.

Cristobal Huet ripped the heart of the team out by folding liks a sheet of notebook paper in the second period, allowing four goals on just eight shots in the period.

Despite all of the positive thinking and forced attempts to paint the Blackhawks goaltending situation as survivable, until one of the two settles down and grabs the job for himself, the Blackhawks achilles’ heel could keep them from achieving their One Goal this year. After Sunday’s debacle, coach Joel Quenneville indicated that he won’t comment on the starting goaltender situation until after practice, which means the Hawks still have a question mark on their most important position.

Will one of these guys step up? Please?

If nothing else, we aim to please at CommittedIndians, and received an insightful question that warranted not only an answer, but some research as well.

Tom, a regular reader, asked what the Blackhawks’ record was in the new alternate third jerseys this year. So, we did some research, and came up with the following fun facts.

The Hawks will wear the third alternate jerseys 12 times this year, and still have six of those games remaining in the final 18 of the season. Nothing like driving sales through the finish, right?

So far, the third jerseys have been worn on Dec. 1 and 22, Jan. 5, Feb. 9 and 14 and March 2. In those six games, the Blackhawks are 4-2-0 with three shoot-out victories.

But looking deeper into the games is more intriguing…

Cristobal Huet has started three of the six, but relieved Antti Niemi in the Rangers game. Overall, Huet has allowed nine goals on 74 shots (.878 sv pct), while Niemi has allowed ten goals on 67 shots (.851 sv pct). The ugliest performance from Huet was the Dec. 22 loss to San Jose at the United Center, when he allowed three goals on only 14 shots. Obviously the start in New York was Niemi’s worst in the alternate jersey.

The defense in front of the netminders hasn’t been that bad. Opponents have only put an average of 23.5 shots per game on net, but have scored 3.17 goals per game. The Hawks have only allowed three goals on 22 power plays, an 86 percent kill rate.

On offense, it’s been all about Patrick Kane in the alternate jerseys this year. He has six goals in the six games in the alternates, and Marian Hossa has two multi-point games to lead the team. Patrick Sharp has also played well in the third jerseys, scoring two goals. The Hawks have only scored on six of 26 power plays in the third jerseys, though, good for only a 23 percent conversation rate. Jonathan Toews has won 72 of 127 faceoffs in the third jerseys (57%). The Hawks have supported their goalies with 3.50 goals per game of offense.

One point that was odd regarding the six games in the third jerseys that was odd was the number of players that have scored. Besides Kane, Hossa and Sharp, eight Blackhawks have scored a goal in an alternate jersey this year: Toews, Kris Versteeg, John Madden, Troy Brouwer, Bryan Bickell, Jacob Dowell, Dustin Byfuglien and Brian Campbell.

The Blackhawks will wear the alternate jerseys six more times this yeah:

• March 13 – @ Philadelphia
• March 23 – Phoenix
• March 28 – Columbus
• March 30 – @ St. Louis
• April 4 – Calgary
• April 6 – @ Dallas

Over the next three weeks, the Blackhawks will learn a lot about how they stack up against the rest of hockey’s elite teams.

Between now and March 25, the Hawks will play nine games against playoff teams, most of whom made significant moves at the trade deadline to improve their club. When the Hawks play a home-and-home against Columbus, they should have a good idea of what they’ll need to do to win the Stanley Cup.

Starting Friday, when the Vancouver Canucks come to the United Center (after hammering the Red Wings 6-3 on Wednesday), the Hawks will face one of the toughest stretches of games on their calendar. Four of the first five games are at home, against Vancouver, Detroit (now at 11:30 AM in Chicago, thanks NBC), Los Angeles, then at Philadelphia before hosting Washington on the 14th. In that stretch, the Hawks will do battle with teams currently in third, fourth and eighth in the Western Conference and first and sixth in the East.

If the last two games against the Islanders and Oilers seemed rough at times, wait until this stretch. The little mistakes in the corners will turn into goals, and the probability that the Hawks can hold one of these teams to three shots in a third period like they did on Wednesday is zero.

March 14: Ovechkin in Chicago

While the Hawks have faced the Canucks, Red Wings and Kings already this year, the game against the Washington Capitals on the 14th will be the only time during the regular season that they will face the team with the best record in the NHL.

Despite their potent offense and 92 points, the Caps were very busy at the deadline. Washington added defensemen Joe Corvo and Milan Jurcina, and forwards Eric Belanger and Scott Walker in four deals that give them more depth all over their roster. This game will be a nationally-televised gauge for how the Blackhawks match up against the Eastern Conference’s best.

After the first five games, the Hawks hit the road for an intriguing three game trip filled with familiar faces in new places.

The trip starts in Anaheim, where the Ducks added defensemen Aaron Ward and Lubomir Visnovsky at the expense of Ryan Whitney. The Ducks are presently sitting in 11th in the West, but are just three points behind Detroit for the final playoff spot. Adding the trade of Jean-Sebastian Giguere to Toronto for Jason Blake and Tesa Voskala (who was subsequently traded to Calgary for Curtis McElhinney), the Ducks made a number of impact moves to make a run for the postseason.

The Hawks play the following night at the Kings, who made a few strong moves of their own. Gone is Teddy Purcell, but the Kings added Jeff Halpern and Fredrik Modin. LA is the hottest team in hockey right now, running off an 8-1-1 record in their last ten games.

After a Friday night off, the Hawks spend the night of Sat. March 20 visiting the busiest team at the trade deadline, the Phoenix Coyotes. Peter Mueller is gone, but the Coyotes added Derek Morris, Wojtek Wolski and Lee Stempniak to a team that’s been playing very well of late. The Coyotes are just one point behind LA for the fourth seed in the West, and the added scoring of Wolski and Stempniak should only improve their 25th-ranked offense.

The Hawks will then come home and play the Coyotes again on Tues. March 23, concluding the nine-game gauntlet. 

Following the home-and-home against Columbus, the Hawks will play each of their final eight games of the regular season against teams that are either currently in the playoffs or within four points of the eighth spot. Perhaps the best playoff barometer will come on Friday, April 2 when the Blackhawks play in New Jersey against the Atlantic Division-leading Devils.  

In all, the Hawks’ final 19 games will prove to be a hard testing ground against teams battling for playoff position. Any questions the Hawks have in net will either be answered or magnified, and any scoring droughts will cost them games. When the regular season ends, Hawks fans should have a very good idea of how far this team can go in the playoffs.

Will the Hawks play for this?

Most Chicago fans felt that the Blackhawks would make at least one major move, if not more, before Wednesday’s trade deadline. After all, there are a few areas (goaltending, goaltending and… goaltending) that most fans and analysts thought could use improving if the Hawks are going to make a run at the Stanley Cup.

But then the deadline came and passed… and the Blackhawks did nothing.

The knee jerk reaction to the lack of action from the United Center is a lot of four-letter words and sweaty palms. How are the Blackhawks supposed to win the Stanley Cup with the guys they have? What are we going to do? Help!

Pause.

Deep breath.

OK. Let’s take a step back and look at the Blackhawks from a sane, big-picture perspective. It’s going to be alright.

First of all, let’s be realistic about playoff position. The Blackhawks are going to win the Central Division; they have a 14-point lead on second-place Nashville. Despite a few moves by the Predators, it’s unrealistic to think that the Preds will catch the Hawks with 20 games left in the season. By winning the division, the Hawks are assured of one of the top three seeds in the Western Conference in the playoffs.

Secondly, at the top of the Western Conference there are as many issues with the other teams as there are with the Blackhawks. The Sharks are only two points in front of the Hawks for the top seed, and have questions surrounding their own situation between the pipes. While Hawks fans might have reasons to question Antti Niemi’s lack of experience and Cristobal Huet’s questionable, albeit limited, results in the postseason, the Sharks have a netminder in Evgeni Nabokov that not only has a resume filled with recent playoff failure, but he just crapped his pants in the Olympics for Russia.

There’s no reason to think that the Hawks can’t catch the Sharks for the top spot, and should have at least even confidence with the Sharks, if not better, in the goalie situation in Chicago. With Vancouver nine points behind the Hawks in in third, and with a tough division chasing them, to assume that the Blackhawks will end the year in one of the top two seeds in the West isn’t far fetched.

So the Central Division and seeding in the playoffs shouldn’t be a concern.

The Blackhawks, despite their offensive droughts and struggles in net, still rank near the top of the NHL in most statistical categories. This team is not bad. It’s easy to scream about soft goals and a bad night when the team’s playing for a championship; remember, two years ago the Blackhawks were trying to remember how to spell the word “playoffs.”

Also consider the reality of what’s left this season.

Because of the Olympics, every team in the NHL will have to slam 20 games into the next five weeks. Simple math indicates that teams will average four games per week, with travel, before the playoffs begin. Whenever a trade, no matter the profile of the player, takes place, there is always an adjustment period that will take place. Before the Olympic break, the Hawks added Kim Johnsson from Minnesota and are still working through who will play how many minutes on the blue line.

Practice is where players get to know each other, and where coaches are best able to gauge how players work with each other. It’s hard, in any sport, to establish flow to a game plan when you’re mixing up players that don’t know each other. But with teams having only two, sometimes three days off per week to not only travel but also practice, working new players into the rotation is going to be hard to during the rest of this year’s regular season.

Another factor the Blackhawks had to consider at the deadline is that Dave Bolland has only played a couple games after returning from injury, and Adam Burish is coming back on Sunday. Adding two smart players to the mix, along with Johnsson, gives coach Joel Quenneville too many pieces to have in uniform every night already. The Blackhawks will have enough trouble picking someone to watch from the suite every night.

Let’s not ignore the reality that every team that will compete for the Stanley Cup this spring had players in the Olympics. This presents a few situations for teams to deal with when considering a trade.

First, the immediate impact of a trade on contending teams is players missing from the ice. On Wednesday night, the Blackhawks host the Edmonton Oilers, who will be without Denis Grebeshkov and Lubomir Visnovsky on their blue line; both players were dealt before the deadline. The Oilers received only a draft pick for Grebeshkov, and won’t have Ryan Whitney (acquired for Visnovsky) in uniform yet for the game. So the Blackhawks will face a depleted defensive unit a night after getting their tails whipped in New York.

The Oilers are just one of many teams that will be without players in key positions tonight. If points are at a premium at this time of year, can a team trying to gain the best position possible in April afford a night with two or three AHL guys playing a major role on the ice? No.

Second, the medium-term impact is trying to work new players into the rotation and still get Olympians the rest they’ll need to be fresh in the postseason. Look at Anaheim, for example. Ryan Getzlaf and Cory Perry played seven games in Vancouver for Canada, and now they’re not only losing Whitney but they’re looking at a roster that is adding Aaron Ward and Visnovsky on the blue line.

The on-ice chemistry will either remain a work-in-progress that will have to be figured out during games (again, potentially costing the team valuable points), or will be achieved through practices on the limited off days the team has in the coming weeks.

The long-term impact on a roster is dead legs. Both Ward and Visnovsky should be key contributors for the Ducks down the stretch, but at what expense to the odometer of their Olympians’ legs? With limited time for rest between now and the end of the season, finding time to be off the ice will be crucial for teams hoping to make a deep run.

Look around the Western Conference. Phoenix improved the most, moving underwhelming Peter Mueller out and adding Wojtek Wolski and Lee Stempniak up front and Matthieu Schneider and Derek Morris on the blue line. The Los Angeles Kings also made a couple solid moves, adding Jeff Halpern and Fredrik Modin. But outside of Phoenix, LA and Anaheim, nobody in the West did much to make a dramatic improvement.

In the East, the Washington Capitals certainly made some strong moves, as did the Pittsburgh Penguins. But only one of those teams can play the Blackhawks for the Stanley Cup, and anything can happen in a seven game series.

If the Blackhawks were good enough to be at the top of the conference with what they had, if they stay together and avoid the potential headaches that other teams will have to deal with moving forward, they’ll have a great chance to run deep into the playoffs and possibly compete for a Stanley Cup.