Between the Circles

Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin praised the Blackhawks following his former team’s 4-3 win Wednesday at the United Center.
“It was weird being on the other side,” Khabibulin said. “They actually have become a pretty good team. They put a lot of pucks at the net and look for rebounds. To beat them we have to have a good game and I have to have a better game.”
Khabibulin was pretty good with 34 saves, including a stop on Patrick Sharp’s penalty shot in the second period.
“I don’t have too much in the bag that he hasn’t seen already,” Sharp said. “I wanted to come down with a lot of speed, but he’s a good goalie and made the save.”
The Hawks haven’t converted a penalty shot on home ice since Troy Murray did it in 1987.

Are you ready for some goalie controversy?
Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville opened the door for it Wednesday by naming rookie Antti Niemi his starter for the game against the Edmonton Oilers instead of coming back with Cristobal Huet.
Quenneville protected Huet to a certain degree by explaining he wanted to get Niemi his first start at the United Center after his win in relief over Calgary on Monday.
However, Quenneville said he didn't decide to play Niemi to keep Huet away from the fans in the UC.
"It's an opportunity for Antti to get a start," Quenneville said. "He got the win last game and deserves to start here at home. That's why we said we would evaluate it after last game."
For now there is no goalie issue in Quenneville's mind.

So much for the Cristobal Huet-Nikolai Khabibulin showdown.
Rookie Antti Niemi will start in goal for the Hawks Wednesday night against the Edmonton Oilers.
More to follow from the morning skate...

It's way too early to give up on Cristobal Huet less than two weeks into the season.
But the clock is ticking.
Huet has made four starts and been shaky in all of them. His exit seven minutes into Monday's game against Calgary after he allowed 3 goals on 5 shots was the right move by Hawks coach Joel Quenneville even if the defensive play in front of the goalie was shoddy.
It's a goalie's job to come up with big saves after defensive breakdowns, especially the goalie on a team that's supposed to contend for the Stanley Cup.
Huet has been beaten up high (David Booth's tying goal in the season opener), to the short side (Kris Draper in Detroit), and through his body (Colorado's Milan Hejduk on a 5-on-3 power plat last Saturday).

Hawks coach Joel Quenneville confirmed what was reported here last week, that left winger Ben Eager has a concussion.
Eager, who has a history of concussions, remains sidelined indefinitely.
"Ben's got some symptoms that are typically related to concussions and he's not ready to go," Quenneville said Monday.
This is not good news for the Hawks, who got big-time production and energy from the fourth line last season, but now Eager is out, possibly long-term, and Adam Burish is likely out for the season.
For now it will be Colin Fraser trying to find similiar chemistry on the fourth line with Tomas Kopecky and Jack Skille, who was recalled from Rockford on Monday.

That was quick.
The Blackhawks returned winger Jack Skille to Rockford on Sunday. Skille played only 5:22 and had no shots on goal in Saturday's 4-3 win over Colorado.
Skille could be recalled today, coach Joel Quenneville said following Sunday's practice.
Without Skille the Hawks would be down a forward for Monday's game against Calgary.

The Blackhawks made yet another roster shuffle on Saturday morning, recalling right wing Jack Skille from Rockford and placing left wing Radek Smolenak on waivers.
Smolenak, who had been claimed on waivers by the Hawks from Tampa Bay two weeks ago, was re-claimed by the Lightning.
Smolenak didn’t help his chances to stick around in his one game at Detroit Thursday when he missed a great scoring try and lost a fight to Brad May.
Skille returns after being one of the last cuts of training, more so because of his $1.25 million salary cap hit than his play or the knee injury he suffered in the preseason.
The Hawks have cleared cap room for Skille in the last few days by trading Aaron Johnson to Calgary, waiving Smolenak and placing Ben Eager on injured reserve.

DETROIT - The news on Ben Eager apparently isn’t good with the Blackhawks putting the left winger on injured reserve Thursday night.
While Eager would be eligible to come off IR for Monday’s game against Calgary since he was put on retroactive to last Saturday’s game with Florida, it’s likely the veteran won’t play for a while with what are believed to be concussion-like symptoms.
Left wing Bryan Bickell was recalled from Rockford earlier Thursday and in the lineup against the Red Wings.
The Hawks now have three players on injured reserve in Eager, Marian Hossa and Adam Burish.

Kyle Greentree, the 6-foot-3, 212-pound left winger acquired by the Blackhawks on Wednesday night from Calgary for defenseman Aaron Johnson, was given a strong chance to make the Flames’ roster heading to training camp.
Instead, he was one of the first players cut.
Greentree scored 39 goals last season for Quad Cities in the AHL, but the Flames didn’t see the NHL in his immediate future.
Why did the Hawks feel the need to make this trade? For starters, Johnson’s $540,000 one-way contract is off the books, giving them a bit of salary cap relief. The Hawks believed Brent Sopel and Jordan Hendry had better camps than Johnson to win the sixth and seventh jobs on defense.

The Blackhawks will be short-handed Thursday night when they take on the Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena.
No Dave Bolland and no Ben Eager.
They might also be without Troy Brouwer, who will be a game-time decision, according to coach Joel Quenneville.
Bolland still is bothered by a sore back, which kept him out nearly the entire preseason. Quenneville is hoping to have Bolland back in the lineup for Saturday's home opener against Colorado.
Eager has what the Hawks are calling an upper body injury. Eager has a history of concussions with Quenneville saying only the left winger was undergoing further testing and evaluations.
Brouwer has a lower body injury.