DENVER – No Dave Bolland Friday night against the Avs because of his nagging back problem that is starting to become a concern for the Blackhawks.
Winger Bryan Bickell was recalled from Rockford to join the lineup. Coach Joel Quenneville has the option of playing Tomas Kopecky, Patrick Sharp or Kris Versteeg at center in Bolland’s spot.
Jonathan Toews and Ben Eager are also out of the lineup again, but all signs point to a Monday return for both of them when Los Angeles comes to the United Center.
Antti Niemi starts in goal vs. the Avalanche for the first time since Oct. 21.

FreedomWorks, one of the main organization's behind tea parties and the backlash against President Barack Obama's health care reform push, just sent out an urgent e-mail to its very active members to call 21 House Democrats it considers "swing votes."
Suburban residents may be surprised to not find U.S. Rep. Bill Foster of Batavia or U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean of Barrington on the list.
Both have said they are open to voting for a reform package that includes a public insurance option, depending on the details. Both have also been protested against vigorously in the last two months from both sides of the debate.

In case you forgot to track the NBA D-League's draft on Thursday night, we've got you covered.

Barrington HS alum Jason Richards went in the fourth round to the Utah Flash.

Dar Tucker, who left DePaul in March after his sophomore year, was taken by the Idaho Stampede in the second round with the 18th pick overall.

In the third round, the Stampede added former DePaul forward Delonte Holland. He was the leading scorer on the Demons' most recent NCAA Tournament team (2003-04).

In the fourth round, the Stampede selected TJ Cummings...son of Terry Cummings and a Homewood-Flossmoor HS alum.

In the fifth round, former DePaul shooting guard Draelon Burns somehow escaped Idaho and was taken by the Sioux Falls Skyforce.

A key to winning a Republican statewide primary is wooing suburban voters -- both the establishment and the activists.
Several nods from the establishment have been rolling in for GOP candidates for governor and Animal Farm will keep you up to date.
Thursday night, Schaumburg Township GOP precinct captains voted to endorse Dan Proft, a conservative commentator with suburban ties from Chicago. Proft called it a "big win" for his campaign, which so far has lacked the funding and name recognition with voters that other challengers posses.
Meanwhile, former Illinois Republican Party Chairman Andy McKenna roped in a nod from Lake County GOP Chairman Dan Venturi earlier this week. McKenna said in a statement that the endorsement gives his campaign "momentum.

Bulls forward Tyrus Thomas suffered another mishap Friday afternoon. Working out in the weight room at the Berto Center, he fractured the radius in his left forearm and is expected to be sidelined 4 to 6 weeks.

X-rays confirmed the injury and he will undergo surgery Saturday at Rush University Medical Center. The surgery will be performed by team physicians Dr. Brian Cole and Dr. John Fernandez, and assisted by Dr. Mark Cohen.

In Thomas' absence, rookie Taj Gibson figures to become the full-time starter at power forward. He started the past two games while Thomas was suffering from the flu.

Thomas missed Tuesday's win over Milwaukee. On Thursday, he felt better and caught a commercial flight to Cleveland, then scored 6 points in 12 minutes during the Bulls' win over the Cavs.

Doing some Double Duty Radcliffe action today by covering the White Sox. GM Kenny Williams made it official today on a couple of fronts. He traded infielders Josh Fields and Chris Getz to the Royals for third baseman Mark Teahen and cash. The Sox also bought out the final year of right fielder Jermaine Dye’s contract for $950,000 instead of paying him $12 million for 2010.

What the trade means is that Teahen will take over at third base, and Gordon Beckham will move from third to second.

Based on the only portion of practice that the media is allowed to watch, the first 5 minutes, Devin Hester appeared to be on schedule to play in Sunday’s game.

Hester stretched with teammates and was running without a limp, as he practiced Friday for the first time this week. Hester is expected to be limited at today’s practice, but he was moving much better than he had at any time since last Sunday’s game, when he suffered a mild ankle sprain that sidelined him briefly.

Over the past three weeks, Hester’s 21 catches are second in the NFL to Arizona’s Larry Fitzgerald’s 25.

Without a doubt, Thursday’s 86-85 win at Cleveland belongs to the defense.

Such a concept is hard to believe, considering the Bulls allowed 102.5 points last season, the team’s highest total since 1990 when NBA teams simply scored more points.

They had a good plan against the Cavs. Luol Deng, with some help, did a nice job of keeping LeBron James from driving to the basket too often. Joakim Noah and Brad Miller guarded Shaquille O’Neal without giving up too many kick-out 3-pointers. O’Neal didn’t shoot a single free throw, which could be good or bad.

Another nice development was Cavs guard Mo Williams hitting just 4 of 13 shots while Derrick Rose guarded him most of the night.

GLENDALE, Ariz. - The Blackhawks need to wake up and snap out of it starting Friday night in Denver. A pretty good start to the season has turned into an ordinary 8-5-1 record.
The Red Wings had a bad month of October and yet here they are tied with the Hawks with 17 points, 1 behind first-place Columbus.
What's happened to the offense?
The Hawks have scored 11 goals in the last six games and not more than 3 in a game since Oct. 14. And it's not all because the power play is 2-for-32 after a 0-for-6 performance in Thursday's 3-1 loss to the Coyotes.
Only Patrick Sharp (6) and Dustin Byfuglien (5) have scored more than 4 goals.

While LeBron James addressed reporters before Thursday’s game against the Bulls, Shaquille O’Neal walked past and whispered, “Five million if you do it right now.”

LeBron laughed and said, “No way.”

Shaq shot back with, “Ten million, final offer.”

Whatever they were talking about, James did not accept the challenge.

On Friday, the Cavaliers will make their one and only visit to Madison Square Garden this season to play the Knicks. Naturally, much of the pregame discussion was about the chances of James jumping to New York as a free agent next summer.

I figured it was a good chance to ask, “What about the Bulls?”