Merry Christmas, Blackhawks fans.

After a decade of mostly misery, you deserve this Hawks team that is fun, exciting and very good.

I don't know about you, but there are times when I find it hard to believe what I'm watching. No more dump and chase. No more maddening cycling in the corner. No more lack of effort.

These Hawks get the puck and go now. Their passing is crisp, their speed and skill at a level it hasn't been since the mid-1990s. And it's only going to get better.

There's a quiet confidence building in the dressing room. You can feel it. Winning is all that matters to these guys, and there is a belief among them that they can beat anyone.

The Hawks sit fourth in the Western Conference at Christmas, and more times than not the teams that are in playoff spots on Dec. 25 generally keep them. It's too difficult to make up ground in today's NHL with 3-point games and such.

Nevertheless, there are some concerns ahead, particularly a killer schedule that finds the Hawks playing 16 of 26 games on the road in January and February, including an eight-game road trip that starts after the Jan. 25 All-Star Game.

The Hawks have turned into a very good road team, going 7-2-2 in their last 11, but the biggest test is coming.

So here's the big question on Christmas: How good are the Hawks compared to the rest of the league?

Right now they are the third-best team in the Western Conference behind Detroit and San Jose, and the Hawks have shown on four occasions they can play with the Red Wings and the Sharks, losing twice in shootout to the Wings, once in overtime to the Sharks and another time 6-5.

Somebody has to win the Stanley Cup, so why not the Hawks?

They've already got a goaltender in Nikolai Khabibulin who has won a Cup with Tampa Bay.

These days you don't know where Stanley Cup winners are going to come from. The Carolina Hurricanes won a Stanley Cup with Cam Ward in a goal. Who would have thought it could happen halfway through that season?

Tampa Bay won a Cup when it wasn't expected. So did Anaheim, and with a bunch of kid forwards. The Edmonton Oilers went to the Finals a few years ago with a team that appeared to be nothing special on paper.

General manager Dale Tallon says the Hawks might be two or three years ahead of schedule, which is an interesting comment considering today's sports landscape where you never know what the future holds.

Take the Hawks, for example. Can Tallon keep this team together down the road with a salary cap that might be going down thanks to a shaky economic climate?

Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane will get new contracts after next season, and the thinking around the NHL is they could seek $9 million each.

Duncan Keith's contract is coming up after next season as well, and he likely will ask for at least $6 million. Brian Campbell already makes $7.1 million and will do so for seven more years. Cristobal Huet makes more than $5 million for three more years.

Patrick Shark, Brent Seabrook and others will need new contracts down the road.

The point here is to go for it now. Being up against the cap, it won't be easy for Tallon to add a missing piece to this team approaching the March 4 trade deadline. It will take some creativity.

The Hawks are good, and the Stanley Cup is there to be won by somebody. After watching these guys for three months, why not them?