NHL Playoff Hunt: The Chicago Blackhawks Look for Their True Place in the West

After the busy first month of the season and all the talk about games in hand, the Chicago Blackhawks finally can take a long look at their position in the Western Conference playoff hunt.

It's not the rosiest view, but the course is crystal clear. 

With most of the conference in action last night, the top 10 teams in the West all have played at least 47 games.  For the first time this season, the Hawks have a true sense of where they stand in the crunch for a playoff spot.

As of January 20, the Hawks have 54 points along with Colorado.  Anaheim's 56 points is attainable because we have three games in hand on the Ducks.  Phoenix is just above in the five spot with 57 points, while Nashville currently sits in the fourth playoff spot with 58 points.

The good news is that the Hawks can put together a win streak and can quickly improve their position in the standings.  The bad news is that there are five clubs within five points of that final playoff spot behind Chicago.

It's all there in black and white.  The Blackhawks are the seventh seed.  The time to speculate about how many points we're really down is over.  Time to start trying to separate from the pack.  The fourth seed and the home ice it brings to the first playoff round is there for the taking.

Step one is getting to the all-star break on a positive note.  It won't be easy, as two of the NHL's top squads fill the Blackhawks dance card this weekend.

Thanks to the NFC Championship being played in Chicago Sunday, the Hawks have a rare matinee weekend, starting Saturday when they have a 1:00 p.m, start in Detroit.  The Central Division-leading Red Wings are 10 points ahead of Chicago.  If the Hawks have any designs on making a late run at a top-three seed, they need to take advantage of a banged up Detroit club.

The Hawks then come back to United Center for an 11:30 a.m. date with Philadelphia.  Hopefully the first game with the Flyers since the Stanley Cup Finals is enough motivation to get to bed a little early Saturday.

Chicago hosts Minnesota Tuesday night before getting some more time off for the all-star break.  If the team can come out of these three games without a major injury, they will find themselves in the middle of a 15-day run with just three games played.  With front line guys like Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa all shaking off some health issues, this has been a welcome stretch.

Right now, things are trending in a positive fashion.  We're as healthy as we're going to get, all four lines are contributing, and the defense is showing up with more consistency.  We seem to be pretty solid in goal.  Team leaders are beginning to assert themselves vocally in the locker room.

Still on our collective mind is the frustrating inability to kill penalties and a maddening lack of success in closing out games.  Can Nick Leddy handle the pressure as each game takes on bigger playoff implications?  Can Corey Crawford stay at the top of his game, and can the defense pick up the slack when the rookie finds the going a bit rough?

Can Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook flip the switch to playoff-mode?  Is Toews hurting worse than he's letting on?  Is a trade in the cards?  Can GM Stan Bowman afford to bring in help if he finds it?

Will the Blackhawks be hosting a first-round playoff match-up, or will they have to prevail without home ice?  Or will the Hawks find themselves at home come spring?

I think that Chicago has too much talent and pride for them to be spectators at playoff time. Catching Detroit might be a little ambitious even with the Wings at less than full strength, but there's no reason to think that the four seed is out of reach.

We'll soon begin to see how the Blackhawks will answer the above questions.  At least the games played have evened out and we are on equal footing with the rest of the Western Conference.

We have a pretty solid idea of where we stand with 35 games to play.  Now it is time to improve that position.