Relieved Toews finally breaks the ice

More than anything else, Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews felt great relief when he saw his hard wrist shot slither its way through Calgary Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff in the third period of Sunday's 6-1 win at the United Center.

It was the first goal of the season for Toews, who admitted not scoring for 12 games was eating away at him.

"When you work so hard for such a long time and don't see any outcome or anything, it's really discouraging," Toews said. "I'm going to build off this and play loose and have fun and enjoy it. I think it will be a lot easier to score now."

Linemates Patrick Kane and Kris Versteeg were as relieved as Toews to see that first goal go in the net.

"It was almost like I scored, that's how excited I was," Kane said.

"He's got a lot of pressure on his shoulders," Versteeg said. "But once you get one usually the flood gates open. I wouldn't mind seeing the flood gates open for him."

That's what coach Joel Quenneville is hoping as well.

"I think he'll be better going forward," Quenneville said. "You don't want to be pressing all the time. I'm sure Johnny will be a little more comfortable in the tight areas."

I've got a secret: It's a hot topic around the NHL these days, and Sunday it touched the Hawks when defenseman Brent Sopel couldn't play and Joel Quenneville refused to say why.

The league has told its teams they no longer are required to disclose the nature of injuries, with Commissioner Gary Bettman claiming it helps protect players from being targeted by the opposition.

The move away from full disclosure for injuries was spearheaded by Red Wings general manager Ken Holland, who said he watched the Dallas Stars go after Johan Franzen's head in the playoffs last spring when Franzen returned from a concussion.

"Every game now is so meaningful and important to the playoff race so keeping things in house might benefit your team's health and an individual's health, but you can argue that one back and forth," Quenneville said.

The NFL, of course, has full disclosure for injuries because of the huge amounts of money bet on its games each week.

Isn't that special: The Hawks were 2-for-7 on the power play, while the Flames were 0-for-8.

"Special teams was the difference, plain and simple," said Calgary coach Mike Keenan. "Chicago was much more aggressive."