Between the Circles

In announcing his goalie rotation for the weekend on Friday, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville provided more proof that the No. 1 job is Antti Niemi's to lose with 16 games left before the playoffs.

While Cristobal Huet starts on Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia against the Flyers, Niemi gets the marquee start of the weekend on Sunday when Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals - the NHL's top player and top team - come to the United Center for a nationally televised game.

Quenneville likely won't commit to a playoff starter until the regular season ends on April 11, but actions speak louder than words. Niemi has started six of the last nine games since before the Olympic break, going 5-0 in those starts with a no-decision.

For the first time all season the Blackhawks will be completely healthy Wednesday night when they take on the Kings at the United Center.

Adam Burish returns after missing the first 65 games following knee surgery while Brent Sopel (lower body) plays for the first time in four games.

While coach Joel Quenneville wouldn’t say for sure who was out of the lineup other than Colin Fraser, it was Tomas Kopecky and Jordan Hendry staying on the ice with Fraser following the morning skate for extra work.

“We’ve got a lot of guys who can play in a lot of situations, moving up or moving down, however you want to handicap the line combinations,” Quenneville said. “We have 14 guys (at forward) and every one of them deserves to be playing.”

The audition continues.

Joel Quenneville’s quest for either Cristobal Huet or Antti Niemi to take over the No. 1 goalie job moves to Wednesday night when Niemi gets the net back against the Kings at the United Center.

Read into this what you wish. Huet started the last three games and went 2-1, but he was pulled in Sunday’s loss to Detroit.

The Hawks have a heavy schedule coming up, including sets of back-to-back games this weekend against Philadelphia and Washington and next week against Anaheim and Los Angeles, with Quenneville saying both goalies likely would get some starts.

“Antti gets a chance to get back in the net and we’ll see how he responds,”
Quenneville said following Tuesday’s practice.

When Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville pulled goalie Cristobal Huet on Sunday, he said he did it to change the momentum of the game.

It's the same thing Quenneville has said all five times after pulling his starting goalie this year.

Believe him?

Or is this Quenneville's way of saying he was trying to change the momentum of the game by taking out a goalie who was not playing well?

When Quenneville removed Huet in the second period after Detroit took a 4-2 lead on 17 shots, it was the second time in four games since the Olympic break that the Hawks' starting goalie was pulled.

When the Blackhawks stepped it up Friday night, the Canucks backed down, starting with Ryan Kesler’s unwillingness to fight Andrew Ladd 37 seconds into the game.

“Some of my teammates told me to leave him alone,” Kesler said after the Hawks’ 6-3 rout of the Canucks at the United Center. “I don’t think it’s a good tradeoff for our team. Me sitting in the box with him isn’t something I want to do.”

Kesler might be a 19-goal scorer, but Ladd has 12 after scoring in Friday’s win so it’s not that big a tradeoff. Kesler, who called Ladd a coward after they fought on Jan. 23 at GM Place, had a chance to back up his words and chose to take a pass.

Patrick Kane thinks Ryan Kesler is a good guy.

What in the name of Dino Ciccarelli is going on?

So much for old-time hockey, eh? You wouldn't have heard Denis Savard call Ciccarelli a good guy 25 years ago when the Hawks-North Stars rivalry was at its peak on the hatred scale.

But things change and today there just isn't the same level of dislike among teams in the NHL. The players all make a lot of money, they share agents and are union brothers.

Kane got to know the Canucks' Kesler over the last few weeks as teammates on the U.S. Olympic hockey team, seeing the other side of the guy who called Andrew Ladd a coward after they fought in the last Hawks-Vancouver game on Jan. 23.

Patrick Kane thinks Ryan Kesler is a good guy.

What in the name of Dino Ciccarelli is going on?

So much for old-time hockey, eh? You wouldn’t have heard Denis Savard call Ciccarelli a good guy 25 years ago when the Hawks-North Stars rivalry was at its peak on the hatred scale.

But things change and today there just isn’t the same level of dislike among teams in the NHL. The players all make a lot of money, they share agents and are union brothers.

Kane got to know the Canucks’ Kesler over the last few weeks as teammates on the U.S. Olympic hockey team, seeing the other side of the guy who called Andrew Ladd a coward after they fought in the last Hawks-Vancouver game on Jan. 23.

Stan Bowman has not wavered in his belief goaltenders Cristobal Huet and Antti Niemi can lead the team to the Stanley Cup.

But actions spoke louder than words on Wednesday as the Blackhawks general manager let the trade deadline pass without acquiring the goaltender some believed the Hawks needed to go all the way.

Now it's up to Huet and Niemi to prove Bowman's faith in them is well placed.

“I think our goaltending has been strong all year long,” Bowman said. “I think on balance you’ve got to look at the whole season and it hasn’t been a problem for us.

“We have confidence in our goaltenders. We’re a team and we win as a team and lose at a team. I don’t think it’s fair to put it on one position.”

The NHL's trade deadline passed Wednesday with Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman staying with what has got him to this point.

Bowman obviously remains confident goalies Antti Niemi and Cristobal Huet can help win the Stanley Cup and that previous acquisitions Kim Johnsson and Nick Boynton provide the necessary depth on defense.

Mostly a quiet day throughout the Western Conference. San Jose and Vancouver didn't do anything either.

More to follow.

UNIONDALE, N.Y. – Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman collected another veteran defenseman Tuesday night, sending future considerations to the Anaheim Ducks for Nick Boynton.

In the last two weeks now, Bowman has signed Jassen Cullimore and traded for Boynton and Danny Richmond.

Boynton was assigned to Rockford, where Richmond and Cullimore are as well.

Is Bowman simply stockpiling defense depth for the playoffs, or is there something else he is working on involving a defenseman prior to Wednesday’s 2 p.m. trade deadline?

There continued to be rumors involving Hawks goaltender Cristobal Huet possibly being on the move.