Hawks seek power-play answers

The struggles of the power play and Jason Williams' uncertain health apparently have the Blackhawks re-thinking their interest in Anaheim Ducks defenseman Mathieu Schneider, according to an NHL source.

Schneider would be the power-play quarterback from the left point the Hawks have been lacking since Williams went down with a groin problem.

Williams, who still leads the Hawks with 5 power-play goals, has missed 12 of the last 13 games and isn't expected back in the lineup anytime soon.

The dilemma for Hawks general manager Dale Tallon is Schneider's age and contract. The 38-year-old Schneider is signed through next season, when he would earn $5.75 million.

Tallon may not want to commit so much money to Schneider for 2008-09 when next summer looks to be a good one for offensive defensemen as unrestricted free agents. The Hawks are expected to pursue the likes of Buffalo's Brian Campbell and Tampa Bay's Dan Boyle with big-money offers should they go unsigned.

The Hawks might be willing to take on Schneider's contract if the Ducks would agree to accept at least two of the Hawks' veterans set to be unrestricted free agents after the season such as Yanic Perreault, Sergei Samsonov, Martin Lapointe or Andrei Zyuzin.

It's believed the Hawks also have talked to the Ducks about defenseman Francois Beauchemin.

The NHL holiday trade freeze begins tonight and runs through Dec. 27, and the Hawks did beat it late Tuesday by sending defenseman Jim Vandermeer to the Philadelphia Flyers for left wing Ben Eager.

Vandermeer's departure could signal Tallon is ready to trade for another veteran defenseman.

The Ducks are eager to shed payroll, but more so for next season when they will need to sign restricted free agent Corey Perry for upwards of $5 million a year.

The Hawks' power play is 6-for-58 over the past 12 games, which is almost the exact time span Williams has been out. Dustin Byfuglien and James Wisniewski have been used primarily as the point men with coach Denis Savard saying not enough shots are being attempted.

"It's poise and experience, that's all it is," Savard said. "It's just a lack of experience. Byfuglien is going to be a heck of a power-play guy back there, but it's just repetition and doing it."

The Hawks' power play has dropped to 15th in league rankings after being in the top 10 through November.

"The power play hasn't been helping us and in a lot of these close games it could have been the difference," said winger Patrick Sharp, who thinks both units need to show more determination to outwork the penalty-killers.

"When you're on the power play your initial feeling is, you're up a man, OK, let's relax, slow things down and move the puck around," Sharp said. "But the penalty-killers are thinking they have to work that much harder because they're short a man.

"We've got a good power play. We've had success and I think we can do it again. We've got very good skill players on both units and there's no reason why we shouldn't make a difference every night."

Winger Patrick Kane agrees that fixing the power play starts with working harder.

"It seems like when we get in the zone we say, 'OK, we're set up now, let's take it easy,' " Kane said. "We need to start shooting right away and maybe we can get some goals that aren't very pretty."

Savard remains hopeful that the power play is going to come around.

"I know it's dropped off a bit, but we're no different than what a lot of other teams go through," he said.