Chicago Blackhawks: It's Safe To Say the Boys Are Back

There is no doubt that the start of the 2010-11 NHL season has not been a pleasant one for fans of the Chicago Blackhawks: inconsistencies of key players, injuries, unexpected issues in net and the loss of some key depth players due to the dreaded salary cap have all left many faithful to the Indian wondering what will happen next. 

After Wednesday night's solid 4-1 win over the Nashville Predators, it is safe to say, the boys are back in town. With the win against the Predators (their third win in a row), the Blackhawks also moved up a spot in the standings, now comfortably in second place in the Central Division, five points behind the Detroit Red Wings.

The important point here is that the Hawks are now 6-3-1 in their last 10 games, while Detroit is 4-4-1; not to mention the fact that the Hawks have played three games more than the Red Wings, so there is certainly some play in the standings. 

The most remarkable aspect of the Hawks finally finding their groove is that it was done without the on -ice presence of Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa. Both Kane and Hossa have been out since Dec. 7 and Nov. 30, respectively. Needless to say that once they are both back and healthy, things can only get better. 

For months many have been attempting to figure out why the Hawks had such a rough start to the season and I think that we can now credit said rough start to a lack of depth. What made the Hawks so undeniably difficult to stop last year was their incredible depth. Yet, due to salary cap issues and possibly a bit too much confidence on the part of General Manager Stan Bowman, the Hawks gave away their silver bullet, their depth, over the summer. 

While the injuries to Kane and Hossa occurring at the same time were seen by some as horrible timing, hindsight may well show that these injuries gave potential depth players time to get some extra ice time and to find their place in Coach Joel Quenneville's system. The results have been somewhat remarkable. 

We have seen the likes of Fernando Pisani, Viktor Stalberg and Brian Bickell begin to shine in the absence of Kane and Hossa ,while Patrick Sharp and Jonathan Toews continued their reign as franchise players finding the net like clockwork as the team's top scorers with 18 and 15 goals, respectively.

Even Jack Skille has become somewhat of a household name, particularly against the Predators. Committed Indians said it best via a comical, yet poignant Facebook status after Skille scored his second goal of the night, "Okay, I quit at life. Jack Skille has two goals in a game?" 

The final piece of the puzzle can be no one else but goaltender Corey Crawford. With more ice time and more experience against players across the National Hockey League, Crawford has been nothing short of impressive. Few expected him to see as much ice time as he has had thus far this season and considering the somewhat unexpected play of Marty Turco, there is no doubt that Crawford's patience has been a timely blessing to the Blackhawks faithful. As the saying goes, "Cometh the hour, cometh the man."

Although there has been no official statement by the Blackhawks organization that Crawford is now the No. 1 goalie, the fact that Crawford was listed ahead of Turco on the team roster when I started writing this article may well be a sign of things to come. (It was interestingly switched back before I posted this piece). Maybe the statistician was notified of the change before an official statement is made by the front office. Who knows? We will see. 

In the meantime, the Hawks have given fans an early Christmas gift—the boys are back!