DENVER -- With typical hockey-injury vagueness, Andrew Brunette categorized his recent affliction as part of the "bumps and bruises" all players endure during a season.

On the first day of free agency, Stan Bowman pulled off a series of free agent signings that sent Blackhawks nation into a frenzy. After a very disappointing followup to their Stanley Cup campaign in 2009-2010, it was pretty evident what the Blackhawks needed to add. And they did it. They locked up new franchise goaltender Corey Crawford and the breakout forward of the postseason...

Mired in a five-game losing streak, the Chicago Blackhawks seemingly need all the help they can get from all corners. And Andrew Brunette could provide some sooner than expected.

There's a little more ground to cover, as I figured it was best that all the games were in the books before the All-Star Break. Anyway, let's do it: Mark It 8, Dude Marian Hossa - Or maybe it should be mark it 81. After a brief stint of either being unnoticeable or turnover happy, although all the while putting up points, Hossa came out this past week with three goals...

Blackhawks fans got an excellent demonstration Tuesday night as to why the instigator rule for fighting is complete bull-roar. First, the rule: It used to be that if you instigated a fight -- and you really had to go out of your way to get one of those calls in the day -- it was just two minutes tacked on to your fighting major. Now, you get those two minutes plus a 10-minute misconduct...

Fantasy sports, a new-age instrument designed to give the responsibilities of managing a professional sports team to any man, woman, or child with internet access. The very interesting thing I have always thought about fantasy sports is the question, “what if we could somehow draft players from different era’s to see how they could play together?”. Well lucky for the more hockey...

Andrew Brunette and Patrick Sharp scored 21 seconds apart midway through the second period, and Corey Crawford made 20 saves in his first start in more than two weeks as the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Montreal Canadiens, 5-1, on Wednesday night.

CHICAGO (AP) Andrew Brunette and Patrick Sharp scored 21 seconds apart midway through the second period, and Corey Crawford made 20 saves in his first start in more than two weeks as the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-1 on Wednesday night.

Andrew Brunette and Patrick Sharp scored 21 seconds apart midway through the second period, and Corey Crawford made 20 saves in his first start in more than two weeks as the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-1 on Wednesday night. Viktor Stalberg scored midway through the third period and Jonathan Toews and Bryan Bickell added late empty-net goals for NHL-leading Chicago...

Andrew Brunette and Patrick Sharp scored 21 seconds apart midway through the second period, and Corey Crawford made 20 saves in his first start in more than two weeks as the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-1 on Wednesday night. Viktor Stalberg scored midway through the third period and Jonathan Toews and Bryan Bickell added late empty-net goals for NHL-leading Chicago...

Andrew Brunette and Patrick Sharp scored 21 seconds apart midway through the second period, and Corey Crawford made 20 saves in his first start in more than two weeks as the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-1 on Wednesday night. Viktor Stalberg scored midway through the third period and Jonathan Toews and Bryan Bickell added late goals for NHL-leading Chicago.

Andrew Brunette and Patrick Sharp scored 21 seconds apart midway through the second period, and Corey Crawford made 20 saves in his first start in more than two weeks as the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-1 on Wednesday night.

Andrew Brunette and Patrick Sharp scored 21 seconds apart midway through the second period, and Corey Crawford made 20 saves in his first start in more than two weeks as the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-1 on Wednesday night.

Andrew Brunette and Patrick Sharp scored 21 seconds apart midway through the second period, and Corey Crawford made 20 saves in his first start in more than two weeks as the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-1 on Wednesday night.

Andrew Brunette and Patrick Sharp scored 21 seconds apart midway through the second period, and Corey Crawford made 20 saves in his first start in more than two weeks as the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-1 on Wednesday.

Andrew Brunette and Patrick Sharp scored 21 seconds apart midway through the second period, and Corey Crawford made 20 saves in his first start in more than two weeks as the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-1 on Wednesday night.

Andrew Brunette and Patrick Sharp tallied 21 seconds apart in the second period, lifting the Chicago Blackhawks to a 5-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens.

For about 33 minutes, Wednesday night's game looked like it was going to be one of the more satisfying wins of the Hawks season. They were playing the hottest team in the league -- the one that's had a horshoe somewhere uncomfortable all season -- and they had them tied to the chair with the ball gag attached for half an hour. But one mistake and the momentum swayed the...

By JEFF BARTL STATS Writer The Chicago Blackhawks have lived up to expectations so far, sitting atop the Central Division and surging of late. The Minnesota Wild have greatly exceeded theirs. Minnesota hosts Chicago on Wednesday night in a matchup of the Western Conference's top teams. The Blackhawks (18-8-4) improved to 6-1-1 over their last eight games with a 3-2 overtime...

The Chicago Blackhawks have lived up to expectations so far, sitting atop the Central Division and surging of late. The Minnesota Wild have greatly exceeded theirs. Minnesota hosts Chicago on Wednesday night in a matchup of the Western Conference's top teams. The Blackhawks (18-8-4) improved to 6-1-1 over their last eight games with a 3-2 overtime win over San Jose on Sunday...

  A LOOK BACK: =============================== Patrick Sharp sent them home happy after Andrew Brunette tied it for Chicago in a 3-2 OT win over the San Jose Sharks. Ray Emery made 35 saves but only four after the second intermission as the Sharks tired out from a tough 1-0 loss in St. Louis Saturday Night. The first two lines for San Jose did generate quite a few scoring chances...

Patrick Sharp steered in a loose puck off a rebound at 4:26 of overtime to give the Chicago Blackhawks a 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Sunday night. Antti Niemi stopped Marian Hossa's shot from the top of the right circle, but kicked the puck toward the goal line. Sharp swooped in to bury the rebound for his sixth goal in his last six games, helping Chicago improve to...

So the realignment of the NHL is (somewhat) old news. Four conferences - 16 teams in the West, 14 in the East...giving new meaning to the term "Leastern Conference". Everyone has their reservations about this (except for most East Coast teams)...but according to ESPN, our Little Brother in Chicago is none too happy.Which makes me feel better about it.Want to hear them...

The Hawks, on their 6 game western road trip, ended up with 6 points. On Saturday night, they beat the L.A. Kings 2-1. I guess you’ll take .500 play on the road. Especially after losing 3 in a row to drop to 1-3, coming up with the split in the end was welcome. The game itself had it’s moments, but if I wanted to show someone who had never seen an NHL game, hockey for...

Some might consider the Blackhawks lucky for getting out of their annual Circus Trip with a .500 record, especially after the disaster that took place in their two games in Alberta. But overall, the Blackhawks’ play on the trip was solid, and it was again on Saturday as they closed out the trip with a win over the Los Angeles Kings. The biggest surprise in this one was the fact...