The Blackhawks' Second Quarter: Outside looking in

It's hard to hate on the many in Chicago who've seemingly hopped off the bandwagon as quickly as they jumped aboard last June. After all, the biggest act in town still is (and always will be) the Bears, and despite the pessimism there, that team's in the playoffs. And the Blackhawks' traditional winter sports roommate at the United Center, the Bulls, are off to a far better start to their own season. At least there's playoff talk there.

So much like the first quarter to this season, the Blackhawks' second quarter of their Stanley Cup title defense has felt pretty lackluster. I'm trying to keep in mind how much roster turnover was involved heading into this season since I was generally a fan of most every move general manager Stan Bowman made to put the team under the salary cap. Additionally, it just seems like too convenient of an excuse to pin all the blame on new faces for the team as to why the champs are underperforming this year. Surely, fingers should also be pointed at some of the returning veterans that have underwhelmed as well.

But the bottom line remains that the 'Hawks are no longer the scrappy little bunch that's fighting for respect. Now that they came out on top of the league last season, every opponent has seemingly brought their best game when facing the champions. That's something that's not likely to change any going into the second half of this season either.

RECORD FOR THE QUARTER: 11-8-1 (21-17-3 OVERALL) — The record this past quarter was admittedly better than what it was through the first 21 games. But with the massive clusterfuck that's emerging in the Western Conference playoff picture, the Blackhawks have played more games than most every other team and still find themselves on the fringes of the playoff picture. You can't hope for everybody else to just drop out.

BEST WIN: December 17 (Blackhawks 4, Red Wings 1) — There were some mixed feelings from the die-hards about the team honoring Chris Chelios with a heritage night before this game against the team that he was traded to and subsequently won Stanley Cups with, but it was hard to stay bitter after the 'Hawks knocked off the Western Conference's top team without Patrick Kane or Marian Hossa in the lineup. Tomas Kopecky scored twice while Corey Crawford made 29 saves and the team played better in all areas than it had in most any other game this season. The game also ended a three-game losing streak and was a springboard to three more wins. It was hard not to be a little frightened about how this particular contest was going to end up heading into it, but no game this quarter was a more encouraging surprise. And overall, about the only other contest that would have come close to being as satisfying as this win would have been the November 20 7-2 shellacking of the Canucks in Vancouver, had that victory not been tainted by the still sour aftertaste a night after ...

WORST LOSS: November 19 (Flames 7, Blackhawks 2) — The story for this game can be summed up in one statistic: three hits. Three measly hits was all that the 'Hawks could muster in this contest, a number that should exemplify just how little effort or interest there seemed to be in this contest. After starting their annual "circus trip" with a decisive shutout of the Oilers in Edmonton, the Blackhawks brought the expectations crashing back down with a disastrously poor performance in which the Flames looked nothing like a team that had lost six of their last seven coming into the game. If there was a race to a loose puck that the 'Hawks won, I don't remember it. Jack Skille scored the game's first goal, but it was all Calgary from then on out, scoring the next seven as Jerome Iginla finally showed up for the Flames and subsequently grabbed top star honors with a hat trick. I kept hoping for a possible replay of last season's miracle comeback, but ultimately this game deflated hopes unlike any other Blackhawks game thus far this season.

MVP: Patrick Sharp — I denied him this spot last quarter because of his minus-10, so while that's still where he was at when this quarter ended, he's also leading the team in goals with 23. That's third-best in the league and puts him on pace to be the team's first 40-goal scorer since Tony Amonte (remember him?) more than a decade back in the 1999-2000. The guy's been moved back and forth between wing and center, but has played more consistently than anybody else on the squad and the 18 assists he has are also setting him up for an 80-point campaign. His play at the point on the power play has also been key to the team's success there as he leads the Blackhawks with nine goals when they've got an advantage. With 13 multiple point games, Sharp's easily the best choice for not just the quarter, but the half as well. Honorable mention should be made to Corey Crawford, however, for the job he's done (11-2-1 over last 14 games) in net ever since taking over the No. 1 job from ...

LVP: Marty Turco — If Crawford is playing the part of this year's version of Antii Niemi, then Turco has to be the 2010-11 version of Cristobal Huet. In all fairness to the guy, he hasn't been given the same stellar defense in front of him that last year's goaltenders were treated to, but there's been a lack of critical saves when necessary and at the moment there's not much of a "debate" about who the team should be starting in between the pipes if the playoffs were to start today (or if the 'Hawks were even in them, but ...). In this second quarter of the season, Turco's won only one of the seven games he started. The old adage is "you get what you pay for," and since the 'Hawks had to do things on the cheap this off-season, maybe Turco hasn't been a high-priced disaster. But like I said, if there is another playoff run in this team's future, and there's going to be a debate about who to start in goal for the postseason, then Turco needs to give any defenders he might have some reason to formulate an argument. Right now, I'm afraid, he'd be universally deemed as being your No. 2.

THREE THINGS I'VE LIKED SO FAR:

1. A WINNING CIRCUS TRIP — We go through it every year and place perhaps a little more importance on it than we should, but since this season began with the Stanley Cup Champions playing so many games at home so fast, it was critical to come away from this six-game trek with something to salvage. Aforementioned Calgary debacle aside, the 4-2 finish is nothing to complain about.
2. EVERYONE'S HEALTHY AGAIN — Only three players (Troy Brouwer, Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook) played in all 41 games thus far. With Hossa, Kane, and Toews all back now, perhaps those late arrivals can stop pinning so much blame on the new guys.
3. THE POWER PLAY — At a 25.5 percent success rate, the 'Hawks are the league's best.

THINGS I HAVEN'T:

1. THE PENALTY KILL — Whereas the Blackhawks led the league in shorthanded goals last season, other teams have been thriving when they're a man down this year. At 79.0 percent, their penalty kill is 25th in the NHL.
2. THE DEFENSE IN GENERAL — Duncan Keith appears to have let his Norris Trophy go to his head at times, some of Brent Seabrook's decisions might lead you to believe that the pending contract is still on his mind, Niklas Hjalmarsson has far more turnovers than he does goals (READ: none), and both Nick Boynton and Jordan Hendry can drive you nuts with their decision-making. Aside from Brian Campell, most everyone needs to pick up their game.
3. THE ROAD AHEAD — A majority of the remaining 41 games are going to be on the road, and between February and March that will include 17 of 26 games away from the United Center. The opponents aren't going to get any easier either, especially with four games still to go against the hated Red Wings.

25 WORDS OR LESS:

The Stanley Cup gloss having worn off, playoff hopes are seriously in question.