Between the Circles

The Sharks acquired 6-foot-3, 220-pound defenseman Niclas Wallin from Carolina on Sunday, which likely means they no longer have interest in Anaheim defenseman James Wisniewski.

As Barry Rozner reported in his column on Sunday, the Blackhawks are interested in Wisniewski as a trade deadline acquisition.

Wisniewski, who played for the Hawks until last season’s trade deadline when he was dealt to the Ducks for Sammy Pahlsson, is available because he is headed for restricted free agency and is believed to be looking for a pay bump to about $4 million a year.

According to a source, the Hawks also might have talked to Anaheim about the availability of enforcer George Parros.

ST. LOUIS – This is not meant to start another debate over the Blackhawks’ goaltending situation.

Cristobal Huet remains No. 1 in the mind of coach Joel Quenneville, but two things keep getting in the way:

All Antti Niemi does is steal games whenever he starts, like he did again on Saturday night against the Blues.

And why are there rumors out there suggesting Hawks general manager Stan Bowman is looking for goaltending insurance?

You can’t believe every rumor you read, and Bowman said as recently as three weeks ago that he liked Huet and Niemi, but many times in the NHL where's there's smoke, there's fire.

The NHL can deny it up and down, but it is clear referees have been told to ease up on calling stick-related and interference penalties.

Power plays are down, way down in the case of the Blackhawks, who have the fifth lower numbers of power plays in the league despite being one of the best skating teams.

Referees are allowing players to be whacked more with sticks on the way to the net. That was an automatic penalty as recently as last season.

And on dump-ins, interference is being let go more and more. Before on a chip in the attacking player couldn’t be touched. Now a bump the slightest hold up apparently is OK.

Let the debating begin.

Should the Blackhawks have made a play for Ilya Kovalchuk?

There are no indications the Hawks had any interest in pursuing Kovalchuk, who was traded by Atlanta to New Jersey on Thursday night for John Oduya, a solid defenseman, promising forward Niclas Bergfors, prospect Patrice Cormier and a first-round draft pick.

Could the Hawks have made a better offer? Perhaps. But keep in mind the Hawks don’t have any prospects other teams covet. Sorry, folks, teams don’t want Jack Skille.

I wouldn’t have traded either Patrick Sharp or Kris Versteeg with Cam Barker for Kovalchuk, but that’s just me. And who’s to say the Thrashers would have jumped at such a deal.

Cristobal Huet's save percentage has dropped to .902 after losses to Carolina and St. Louis where he allowed 7 goals on 43 shots.

Two of the goals the Blues scored against Huet in Wednesday’s 3-2 win were on deflections. And the 2 third period goals Carolina scored in Saturday’s 4-2 were tipped as well.

“I just think the last number of games (Carolina and St. Louis), you look at the number of shots we’ve had one way (75) and the number against us (43),” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said after practice Thursday. “Whether they’re tipped or deflected, they’re tough saves.

“We’re not blaming the goaltending at all, but we know the importance of it. We know it’s a key position for us and we’re going to rely on it as we go along here.

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville has switched plans and will start Cristobal Huet in goal tonight against St. Louis at the United Center.

Antti Niemi was supposed to start the game but became ill and couldn't participate in the morning skate.

Joe Fallon and not Corey Crawford was recalled from Rockford to serve as Huet's backup. According to the Hawks, Rockford had a game Wednesday night and they wanted Crawford to play.

Meanwhile, Colin Fraser will be a healthy scratch with Dave Bolland returning to the lineup for the first time since undergoing back surgery in November.

Quenneville said Bolland would start the game centering the fourth line for Ben Eager and Tomas Kopecky.

Lots of news from Tuesday's practice.

-- Dave Bolland will be back in the lineup Wednesday night against St. Louis for the first time since undergoing back surgery on Nov. 10.

Bolland centered a line for Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp (back at wing) at practice Tuesday, but coach Joel Quenneville wouldn't commit to Bolland starting the game there.

"I don't know if he's going to start there or if he’ll work his way up,” Quenneville said. “We'll see how that shakes out at the morning skate."

-- Andrew Ladd left practice early with what Quenneville called a lower body injury and is questionable for Wednesday’s game.

Are the Blackhawks stepping up their efforts to acquire a defenseman for the stretch run?

There were plenty of rumors Monday pointing in that direction.

There were eyebrows raised in Pittsburgh on Monday night when defenseman Jay McKee was a healthy scratch against Buffalo. Could McKee be headed to the Hawks?

The 32-year-old McKee is a 6-foot-3, 210-pound physical, stay-at-home defenseman who interested the Hawks last summer before he signed as a free agent with the Penguins for only $800,000 after being bought out by St. Louis.

A number of veteran defensemen are believed to be available, including Carolina's Aaron Ward, Toronto's Garnet Exelby and the Kings' Sean O'Donnell – all of whom have expiring contracts like McKee.

You’ve got to have great depth to be successful on the kind of road trip the Blackhawks are on, which explains in large part how they’ve gone 5-2 with one more stop to make on Saturday night at Carolina.

Every Hawk except John Madden and Brent Sopel has chipped in at least 1 point on the road trip. In Thursday’s 4-3 win at San Jose, 10 different Hawks found their names on the score sheet.

Troy Brouwer is having a great trip and a great year. His 2 goals at San Jose, including the game winner in overtime, gave him 17. He has an outside chance to bag 30 for the season.

About those pictures.

You've probably noticed by now the Daily Herald’s editors decided not to publish the photos that appeared on the Internet of shirtless Blackhawks Patrick Kane, Kris Versteeg and John Madden partying in a limousine with several fully-clothed women in Vancouver.

The reason? There were no laws broken or team rules violated. It was three athletes going out on their own personal time away from the rink. If they are guilty of anything it's using poor judgment to allow photos to be snapped, especially from Kane considering his incident with a taxi driver last August.