Antti Niemi makes a stop against Calgary on Monday, something Cristobal Huet couldn't do.

After the Blackhawks’ first two games against the Florida Panthers, I made the argument that Antti Niemi should be the goaltender moving forward for Chicago.

After Monday night’s comeback win, I think the case for Niemi is stronger, and has more backing from the fans, than ever.

I have attended each of the first two home games this year, and the reaction to Cristobal Huet during player introductions has been mixed at best. He’s earning less than a mixed reaction.

Huet’s top shelf is so wide open it’s painful. He would have the worst glove in Chicago if the Cubs could trade Alfonso Soriano, and he drops to his knees faster than an intern in Bill Clinton’s White House. There are so many holes in Huet’s game, you’d think he was Swiss, not French.

But then again, with Huet being French, it’s too easy to refer to his five hole as the “Arc de Failure.”

Niemi might not be the long-term answer, but he’s certainly better than what Huet’s doing for the team right now. He shut out a Florida team that got pretty much whatever it wanted just the day before against Huet in Helsinki and then was more than adequate after a rough first few moments in the Blackhawks stunning 6-5 victory on Monday.

Huet allowed three goals on five shots Monday. After the first two, less than five minutes into a crucial early season game against a playoff competitor, coach Joel Quenneville even burned the team’s only timeout to slow Calgary’s momentum. Less than a minute later, the puck was in the net behind Huet and Quenneville was making the switch.

After the game, Quenneville was (obviously) asked about the goalie situation moving forward. His answers to the questions was as telling as the final score was; there was zero commitment to Huet moving forward.

Indeed, there have been whispers from the Blackhawks organization that the early season boo’s are taking a toll on an apparently fragile Huet’s self esteem.

Good. I hope his inner child is looking for a second box of Kleenex. It’s time for Niemi to be the Hawks primary goalie until Huet can cowboy-up and play like his $5.6 million salary would indicate he’s able. This team is too good to wait any longer for decent goaltending.

Brent Seabrook reacts to scoring the game-winning goal against Calgary on Monday night.

History.

On Opening Night, the Blackhawks brought out some of their greatest players and then gave fans a thrilling victory after the longest shoot out in the history of the organization. The entire evening was filled with both the great history of the franchise and the immense pressure of the present.

Fast forward 48 hours to Monday night. Most history from the young Blackhawks at the expense of their fans’ blood pressure.

It took five shots on goal and less than five minutes for starting goalie Cristobal Huet to find himself a warm seat in the locker room. Huet allowed three of those first five shots to reach the net, despite coach Joel Quenneville using his timeout after two.

Quenneville saw enough, and made a change that a capacity crowd, of which I was a part, appreciated.

In both home games this year, Huet has received a noticeably mixed reaction in player introductions. After Monday night, the portion of that reaction that was once positive might be disappearing. In his post game press conference, Quenneville was open about there being continued dialogue around the situation in goal for the Blackhawks.

Huet has not been good enough this year.

But when Antti Niemi came in, he gave up two quick goals and suddenly an electric crowd was stunned by a five-goal deficit less than ten minutes into a big game against a conference opponent. From my seats, the reactions from the Flames players with each successive goal appeared to be as surprised as the fans; the fact that shots that didn’t even appear to be sincere were going in was making the visiting Flames laugh out loud.

At least the Flames were able to LOL for 20 minutes, because the Blackhawks officially put the Western Conference on notice Monday night with their play in the second and third periods.

No team is safe, no lead is safe, and no score is big enough against these Blackhawks.

John Madden, perhaps my favorite off season addition in the last decade for this team, scored a goal to draw the Hawks within a 5-1 score just before the end of the first period. Then an effort worthy of 20,000 paying fans began at the expense of Miikka Kiprusoff.

The Hawks began hitting, led by Andrew Ladd and Troy Brouwer. The team that started the game as soft as a marshmallow was now hitting hard enough that, at one point, a Flames player was hit through the glass, delaying the game.

The Hawks began skating. Patrick Kane has matured more than the threat of jail time would have inspired over the summer, and with him next to Dave Bolland the Hawks began sprinting circles around Calgary, with their snipers taking aim at the net as often as possible.

The Hawks began playing shut-down defense. The Flames finished the first period with five goals on 10 shots. They had six shots in the second period, and just four in the third. The physical play, coupled with an intense, attacking approach kept the Flames from even getting the puck to Niemi.

As the Blackhawks faught and clawed slowly back to a 5-4 score after two periods, the crowd was starting to appear as surprised as the Flames were to get five easy goals in the first period. There was a very real sense that a five goal hole wasn’t too big. And it wasn’t.

Once the third period began, the expectation from the stands and on the ice appeared to be that the Hawks were going to win the game. When Patrick Sharp tied the game on a fantastic re-direct, the roof nearly came down on the erupting crowd.

In a game against a playoff-caliber opponent, a playoff-caliber crowd backed the biggest comeback in the history of the Blackhawks Monday night. As Brent Seabrook picked up a wandering puck in front of the net, centered his legs, and unloaded the game-winning shot in overtime, I doubt there was a butt still attached to a seat. I know mine wasn’t.

The Blackhawks out-shot the Flames 40–20 in the game. Kane had three points (1 goal, 2 assists), Bolland, Brian Campbell and Ladd all had two, and Dustin Byfuglien, Duncan Keith, Madden and Cam Barker each had one. The goals were scored by Madden, Kane, Byfuglien, Bolland, Sharp and Seabrook.

Niemi got the win… now the discussion will become whether or not he should get the next start. That discussion is coming soon.

FUN FACT: Only one other team in the history of the NHL has come back from a five goal deficit, the St. Louis Blues, who were coached in that game by Joel Quenneville.