Blackhawks' Kane strong on defense, too

Quick, name the Blackhawks player who leads the team with 13 take-aways.

It's none other than Patrick Kane.

Surprised? You're not alone.

"I didn't know that stat until I saw it on the Jumbotron," Kane admitted Monday after practice at Johnny's IceHouse. "There are so many good defenders in here sometimes I wonder if my take-away numbers have been mixed up with (Marian) Hossa's."

Even his coach seemed a little surprised.

"Every year he's been much better in his own end," Joel Quenneville said. "You could say it's a surprising stat, but I'm comfortable with Kaner in all zones."

In the past couple of seasons Kane has made a concentrated effort to concentrate more on his defense - and it's been paying off.

"I think my defense has improved pretty much every year since I came in the league," he said. "That's one if the things you try to pride yourself on, getting the puck back and create some offense off it."

Kane has witnessed two of the best in the NHL do it on a nightly basis for years now.

"Tazer's so good at getting the puck back," he said. "Hossa's probably the best in the world at getting the puck back and turning it into offense.

"You learn from them."

Good answer:

After a rough night Friday against Washington, Brent Seabrook was dropped from his usual spot alongside Duncan Keith to the third defensive pairing for Sunday's game against San Jose - and Joel Quenneville liked the response he got from No. 7.

"I thought he had a real good game," the coach said. "He played very well in all aspects."

So the demotion worked as motivation, huh?

"Sometimes you have to do things, you have to make tough decisions," Quenneville said. "Whether it's motivation, to get their attention, get more focus, get him playing with more confidence. Whether it's who's your partner, quality ice time - there are different ways.

"But at the end of the day we want everyone to be consistent and predictable, particularly our defensemen."

As for when and if Keith and Seabrook might be reunited? "We could do it (Tuesday) night," Quenneville said.

Welcome addition:

News that injured forward Daniel Carcillo could rejoin the team sometime during the circus trip has his teammates pumped.

"He's been a good player for us," Patrick Kane said. "We obviously miss him in the lineup because he brings that physical presence and can fight as well. Hopefully he gets back sooner rather than later."

Before Carcillo was injured against St. Louis, the Hawks were 4-2-1; they are 4-4 since.

Sooooo close:

Turns out Trevor van Riemsdyk still is without his first NHL goal after the ruling came down Monday that his apparent goal in the first period Sunday officially was credited to Kris Versteeg.

Honors for McNeill:

Rockford IceHogs center Mark McNeill was selected as the CCM/AHL Player of the Week. McNeill scored 6 goals and had a plus-4 rating in three games to help the IceHogs extend their winning streak to eight.

He said it:

"I know when he bought a karaoke machine he made me sit on the couch and he would sing to me a lot, so that's probably where I got a lot of my artistic abilities from."

- Kris Versteeg on former roommate Duncan Keith

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