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Chicago Blackhawks SIP
The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. In each issue, you'll find news, features and opinions about the NHL and leagues across North America and the world.


ROUND THREE
AFTER vanquishing Vancouver in Round 2, the Hawks moved on to the Western Conference final against the top-seeded San Jose Sharks. San Jose boasted eight 2010 Olympians, including four Canadian gold medallists and rising U.S. scoring star Joe Pavelski. The veteran Sharks held home ice advantage and were looking to redeem playoff letdowns past by making pulp of the young Hawks. Game 1 was a back-and-forth affair with the netminders proving the difference. San Jose outshot Chicago 45-40, but Dustin Byfuglien’s fifth goal of the playoffs put the Hawks ahead for good 2-1 with fewer than seven minutes to play. A Sharks power play in the final minute made it interesting, but Antti Niemi stood tall in goal. Byfuglien and Niemi, in fact, became the stories of the series. Byfuglien recorded three game-winners…


GOOD TIMES
NOW that the Chicago Blackhawks have ended the NHL’s longest Stanley Cup dry spell, they’ve shed themselves of the festering albatross that had been hanging around their necks ever since the Detroit Red Wings won in 1997, halting a 42-year drought. What’s interesting about Chicago’s previous Cup victory in 1961 was that it was the first and only NHL triumph for two of the game’s very best. I knew Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita were on that winning team, but what I didn’t realize (or remember) until recently was that Hull was just 22 and Mikita was a month shy of his 21st birthday. They were just kids, really. But still go-to players, much like Chicago’s current go-to players, 22-year-old Jonathan Toews and 21-year-old Patrick Kane. Hull and Mikita were wunderkinds in…


SUMMER 2009
IN the summer of 2009, the Blackhawks were coming off an appearance in the Western Conference final – their deepest playoff run in 14 years – but no member of the franchise was satisfied with that result. For that reason, nobody was assured of a spot in Chicago during the 2009-10 campaign – including the Hawks’ GM, leading scorer and longtime No. 1 goalie. That much was made clear when right winger Martin Havlat, who had a team-best 48 assists and 77 points in 2008-09, was essentially abandoned when he became an unrestricted free agent at the start of July. Instead, Blackhawks GM Dale Tallon signed star sniper Marian Hossa away from Detroit with a 12-year, $62.8-million contract. Meanwhile, veteran netminder Nikolai Khabibulin, also a UFA, was deemed expendable; the 36-year-old departed for…


FEBRUARY
THE Blackhawks ended January with a 37-14-4 record and a firm focus on solidifying a top spot in the Western Conference. Because of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, the Hawks only had six games to play in February. But by the end of the month, their star players had greatly increased their impact on the hockey world – and goalie Antti Niemi had improved his case to become the team’s clear-cut starter. Cristobal Huet tended net for Chicago’s first two February games, but lost both and was on a three-game winless streak when coach Joel Quenneville went with Niemi for their Feb. 6 matchup against St. Louis. Niemi capitalized on the opportunity, stopping 34 of 35 shots in a 2-1 win – and followed that up with three more victories (all in the shootout)…