April 8, 2010 :: 1:38pm ET Hawks battling for greatness By Tab Bamford, TheFourthPeriod.com

[CHICAGO, IL] -- For the Chicago Blackhawks, the view from 10,000 feet is pretty much what the organization, and its fans, were hoping for and expecting entering the 2009-10 season. The Blackhawks are at the top of the Western Conference, and are rolling into the playoffs.

But closer inspection indicates that the road that has brought the Blackhawks to where they now sit has been anything but a stroll in the park.

Injuries have been a major factor for the post-Olympics Blackhawks, and may have forced coach Joel Quenneville to make one move that could make the team stronger long-term.

On March 13, not many fans noticed that recently-acquired Kim Johnsson’s minutes were limited against the Philadelphia Flyers. Frankly, a third line defenseman playing only 10:02 wasn’t grabbing headlines after Cristobal Huet allowed two goals in the final three minutes, including Chris Pronger’s game-winner with less than three seconds remaining, in a 3-2 heartbreaking loss.

Johnsson has not been on the ice since that day, though. The reason has never been clearly defined, but his concussion history has been a question.

The following day, March 14, saw a seismic change to the Blackhawks roster take place. When Alex Ovechkin plowed Brian Campbell into the boards on a Sunday afternoon in Chicago, it did not look good for the Blackhawks. The news came a few days later that Campbell’s season was likely over with a broken collarbone and rib.

Quenneville told the media last night after the Hawks 6-5 win against St. Louis that Campbell has been skating recently. This encouraging sound bite could be seen as just a little slice of hope.

However, a source close to the situation said the Blackhawks aren’t hoping to get him back, but rather expect to have Campbell on the ice to start the second round of the playoffs.

This would alter the viability of the Blackhawks as a Cup contender substantially. Campbell was having a solid season for the Hawks before going down, scoring 38 points (7 G, 31 A) and playing to plus-18 in 68 games.

The day after Campbell went down, in Anaheim, James Wisniewski knocked Seabrook out with a vicious cheap shot (that cost Wisniewski five games). This culminated a three-game stretch that saw what had been the Blackhawks’ strength, their blue line, get suddenly stripped of its depth in four calendar days.

Ultimately, the three injuries would prove to be a catalyst for the Hawks surging into the playoffs.

Because of depth issues, Quenneville moved Dustin Byfuglien back to the blue line. Byfuglien started his career as a defenseman, but was moved to forward by Denis Savard a couple years ago. Initially, it appeared the move would be temporary, with Byfuglien only grabbing minutes to fill the roster until Seabrook returned.

Byfuglien’s solid play, coupled with Johnsson’s mysterious disappearance, has led to Quenneville leaving him on the blue line.

Indeed, Byfuglien and youngster Niklas Hjalmarsson have played well enough that, in a move to spark the roster out of the only three-game losing streak of the season, Quenneville split Keith and Seabrook. Byfuglien has skated with Keith, and Hjalmarsson with Seabrook, and the Hawks have won five straight.

In that streak, the Hawks have outscored their opponents 21-9, and haven’t allowed a power play goal.

The emergence of Byfuglien as a legitimate defenseman gives Quenneville options, but the development of Hjalmarsson into a top-tier force on the blue line is what helps his coach sleep at night. Scotty Bowman has used the name Niklas Lindstrom when talking about Hjalmarsson this year, high praise for the 22-year-old Swede. Hjalmarsson spent most the season skating next to Campbell, but has spent time with Byfuglien, Keith, Seabrook and Brent Sopel as well. He ranks third on the team with 130 blocked shots, and has developed into the Hawks most dependable penalty killer.

The biggest factor in the Blackhawks resurgent confidence entering the playoffs is between the pipes. Huet forfeited his perch atop the Blackhawks depth chart with a string of miserable performances after the Olympics, the worst of which was perhaps his last appearance on the ice for the Hawks. On March 25, against the struggling Blue Jackets, Huet allowed seven goals on 27 shots and was removed from the game twice in an ugly 8-3 loss.

At that point, most fans and observers thought the Titanic was sinking on Chicago’s west side.

However, rookie Antti Niemi has been phenomenal since. In the seven games after the disaster in Columbus, Niemi has allowed only 17 goals, outdueled Martin Brodeur to a shootout win in New Jersey, and has a .910 save percentage (.924 before allowing five goals to St. Louis).

Niemi, 26, has strong numbers the board in limited action this season. “The Finnish Fortress” is 25-7-3 with a .913 save percentage, 2.23 goals against average and seven shutouts on the season. His recent stretch of strong play has cemented him atop the Blackhawks depth chart heading into the playoffs.

Lost in the injuries on the blue line and headaches in net has been one of the most productive groups of forwards the Chicago franchise has ever seen.

Patrick Kane’s 86 points entering the final weekend of the season are the most by a Blackhawks player since Jeremy Roenick’s epic 107-point 1993-94 season. In fact, Kane is only the tenth player in the history of this Original Six franchise to record 30 goals and 50 assists in the same season.

What’s more, if Jonathan Toews hadn’t missed six games early in the season because of a concussion, he might be the 11th. Toews is tied for second on the team with 24 goals and is tied for third on the team with 41 assists, all while winning over 57 percent of his faceoffs this year. The soon-to-be 22-year-old captain of the Blackhawks is emerging, with Kane, as an elite talent in the NHL.

An argument could be made, however, that neither Kane nor Toews is the best scorer on the Hawks’ roster, though.

Marian Hossa, signed as a free agent over the summer, had shoulder surgery just a few days after signing with Chicago. This caused him to miss almost all of the first two months of the season. Despite playing 25 fewer games than Kane, Hossa has scored 24 goals, has 26 assists and leads the team with an astounding plus-25 rating for the season.

A relative unknown entering the season, Troy Brouwer has benefitted from being paired with Kane and Toews, as well as Dave Bolland and Hossa at times, to establish career highs in nearly every statistical category. Brouwer ranks third on the team with 189 hits and is just behind Toews, Hossa and Patrick Sharp with 22 goals on the season. Brouwer is also among the NHL leaders, scoring on an astronomical 19 percent of his shots.

The league’s third-ranked offense and fifth-ranked defense are all playing well again, and the team has finally settled on a number one goalie. All four lines are scoring for the Blackhawks, and they have scorers on the blue line as well. They’re deep, young and fast, and could present headaches for anyone in the NHL in the postseason.

The coming summer holds a great deal of intrigue in Chicago, with the Hawks needing to cut a good deal of salary before next season. As they approach the second season, however, there is reason for hope in Chicago.

The Blackhawks hoisted Lord Stanley's Cup in 1961. Could 2010 be the year a Chicago drought ends?

Tab Bamford is covers the Chicago Blackhawks for The Fourth Period Magazine and is a Columnist for TheFourthPeriod.com.