Yes, the Blackhawks have lost some ugly games in the last few weeks. But when you place those losses into context, they suddenly don’t look nearly as bad. Consider the following:

Jan. 19: 4-1 at Ottawa – This game was the Senators’ fourth win in a row; they would win 11 straight before finally losing on Saturday to the Leafs. In that stretch, the Sens would outscore their opponents 37-13 and would also beat New Jersey and Vancouver at home and Pittsburgh and Buffalo on the road.

Jan. 23: 5-1 at Vancouver- This game was also the Canucks’ fourth consecutive win at the time in the midst of a stretch of an 8-1-1 stretch. During that run, the Canucks would only lose to Ottawa and Phoenix while beating Pittsburgh and Buffalo. Vancouver would outscore opponents 35-23.

Jan. 30: 4-2 at Carolina – Again, the fourth win in a row for an opponent riding a hot streak. Yes, the Hurricanes’ record isn’t impressive, but they’re 7-3-0 in their last ten, with the victory over the Hawks in the middle of it all. In those ten games, the Canes outscored their opponents 35-23 (sound familiar?).

Feb. 5: 2-1 vs. Phoenix (SO) - This time at home, the Hawks were the Coyotes sixth consecutive victim in an 11-game stretch in which they went 9-2-0 and outscored opponents like Detroit, Calgary and Nashville 36-31. Maybe not the overwhelming numbers of the previous three opponents, but still a team that was scoring well over three goals per night. In fact, one of the two Coyotes losses was to a Washington team that hasn’t lost in 14 games.

Remembering that sprinkled among these losses were wins at Detroit, Calgary and San Jose, the Blackhawks have reasons to remain confident.

The grain of salt this laundry list of excuses comes with is that the Blackhawks could have, and should have, won all four of these games. The shootout loss to Phoenix was one of the worst efforts of the season, as the Hawks were outplayed in almost every aspect of the game. The loss in Carolina was at the end of a two-week road trip, but the Hawks had plenty of opportunities to win that game and didn’t finish. The games in Vancouver and Ottawa weren’t very good efforts from the Hawks’ goaltenders.

As we get into March, and the Hawks continue to press for the President’s Trophy, they will get their opponents’ best effort every night. Bringing a mediocre effort, like they did in the losses to Phoenix and St. Louis at home last week, will not only cost the team valuable points, but open players up to potential injury. Hopefully the win in St. Louis will help the team re-focus for a couple victories before the Olympics.

The Blackhawks have upcoming salary cap issues, which have put them into a lot of trade rumors since this past summer. One of the teams that has consistently been linked with the Hawks is the Carolina Hurricanes, who are struggling to be competitive.

On Monday, TSN reported that the Hurricanes placed defenseman Aaron Ward on waivers. Bob McKenzie wrote that he expects Ward to clear waivers and that a team might have interest in him once he enters re-entry waivers; a team picking up a player on re-entry waivers aplits the player’s salary with his former team for the remainder of the season.

Ward, 36, has a $2.5 million cap number and a contract that expires after this season, which would make him a great rental and salary dump for the Hawks. So far this season, ward has only six points and a minus-15 rating, neither of which are very good for a player averaging nearly 18 minutes per game. However, when you put Ward’s -15 into the context that the best rating on the Canes is even, his plus-minus is as much a sympton of being on a miserable team as it is an idictment of Ward’s play.

ESPN is reporting that the Columbus Blue Jackets and Philadelphia Flyers are also interested in Ward.

Are the Hawks interested in Canes' center Matt Cullen?

This past summer, especially after Marian Hossa signed with the Blackhawks, the team became a favorite in everyother trade rumor. A young team with lots of good players, both in Chicago and not yet in the NHL, that also happens to be suffocating on the salary cap is prime for speculation, and the Hawks have certainly had their share.

As the issues in goal and injuries started to hit the Hawks in October, the whispers again began. On November 3, we reported that there were a number of trade rumors swirling around with the Blackhawks involved. The next day, a response from a Blackhawks’ beat writer, ironically one that had printed rumor mill material back in August, brought further speculation to whether or not Stan Bowman would make a move before Christmas.

Over the last couple weeks, the Hawks have settled their goalie situation and the full return of Jonathan Toews, Brent Seabrook and Ben Eager have brought the mojo back to the Blackhawks.

Their mounting concern over the power play has subsided, their PK has stayed among the best in the league, and the Hawks rank third in the league in their ability to win faceoffs. So why would the Hawks start popping up in trade rumors again?

When Dave Bolland had surgery on a herniated disc in his back, it presented the very real possibility that he won’t be back at 100 percent this season. The doctors have estimated a three to four month recovery, which (counting on my fingers) puts him back on the ice in the middle of March.

Looking back at the summer, and the early parts of this season, Bowman did a nice job of presenting coach Joel Quenneville with options to fill in for faceoffs. Toews currently ranks third in the NHL in faceoff win percentage, and John Madden is also in the top ten. After that, the Hawks have added Tomas Kopecky (as a free agent with Hossa) and Andrew Ebbett (off waivers from Anaheim early in the regular season).

Kopecky, Ebbett, Kris Versteeg and Colin Fraser have all spent time in the circle in the past couple weeks, each with varied levels of success.

Versteeg has not only the best ability on the ice, but the biggest price tag among the group. He figures to best serve the team from his natural wing position.

Fraser has had some stretches recently where he’s been incredible in the circle. On November 6 in Denver, Fraser won nine of his 10 faceoffs.

The problem with Kopecky, Fraser and Ebbett is that none of the three has established a firm niche with the offense yet this year. Fraser, for all of his success in the circle and quality work on the PK, has taken some stupid penalties and is seen sprinting for the bench after many even-strength faceoffs. Kopecky has started to find a role in front of the net, but hasn’t been effective yet anywhere else on the ice.

Which makes the great question mark Ebbett. On a number of occassions in the last couple weeks, Ebbett has centered between Patrick Kane and Versteeg. That line is as fast on their skates as many of the fastest lines in hockey, but none of them is taller than 5′10; the obvious concern is that they can be pushed around the ice because of their size.

Ebbett’s ice time has drawn some speculation that the Hawks might make a move to bolster the center position via trade. And, circling back to the rumors from early November, the Carolina Huricanes are coming up again.

The ironic thing, again, is that the columnist that called out the rumors as being pure fancy on November 4 is now the one claiming there’s some validity, and potential, to a Hawks deal with the Canes.

In Sunday’s edition of the Daily Herald, Tim Sassone writes that the Hawks might have interest in Canes center Matt Cullen. A couple weeks ago, Hockey Buzzreported that the Hawks and Canes had spoken about trade options; Sassone quickly called these rumors false and dismissed the reports within hours of their publication. Yet now, just ten days later, it’s Sassone apparently confirming such a conversation between Chicago and Carolina.

Whether or not the Hawks make a move likely won’t happen until after Hossa returns to the ice, and Quenneville is able to feel comfortable with his bounty of forwards. Hossa, for what it’s worth, has spent some time at center in practice since he started skating with the team last week, but seems to be a distant option to play the position at length in games.

If Cullen were considered, there would need to be some salary concessions made to fit his $2.875 million salary onto the roster. Rumors out of Carolina have been that the Canes are looking for a defenseman to quarterback their power play. A logical fit with a similar salary would be Cam Barker, who has a cap number of $3 million; Barker’s name has been mentioned in previous rumors with Carolina.