Three Blackhawks all-star starters: Kane, Toews, Campbell
As a franchise, the Blackhawks continue to ride the wave of momentum.
As expected, the NHL announced Saturday that Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Brian Campbell would start for the Western Conference in the Jan. 25 All-Star Game in Montreal based on voting by the fans.
Kane led all West forwards with more than 917,000 votes, with Toews second at more than 809,000 votes. Campbell led all West defensemen with more than 784,000 votes.
"Who knows how many times this will ever happen, so this is exciting," Toews said. "Obviously, I want to thank the fans because they're the No. 1 reason why I'm there. If it wasn't for them and everyone here in Chicago, I wouldn't have this chance."
Anaheim's Ryan Getzlaf will be the third starter at forward with Kane and Toews. Campbell will start on defense with Anaheim's Scott Niedermayer. This will be Campbell's third straight All-Star Game.
"It's nice to get recognized like that," Campbell said. "Obviously, our fans did a good job voting and it will be nice to go with a couple teammates who are going for the first time."
Hawks coach Joel Quenneville called it an achievement for his three stars.
"They should be proud and it speaks volumes of the upside in their careers," Quenneville said. "The future of the Blackhawks is in good shape knowing these young guys have a bright future ahead of them."
The West reserves will be announced later, but it's unlikely the Hawks would get a fourth all-star, which probably is unfair to Duncan Keith (plus-17) and Patrick Sharp (19 goals).
"If it wasn't me it could have easily been a guy like Duncan Keith or Patrick Sharp," Toews said. "I think we have a lot of guys on this team that have made a few waves this year."
Family affair? Patrick Kane claimed he didn't cast one vote for himself, but he's not so sure about his mom and sisters.
"I told my mom and my sisters if they're voting to stop because it got a little out of hand there after I went from seventh to first in one day," Kane joked. "I said, 'Mom, stop voting, please.'
"She hates when I say that, too. She said, 'Stop telling the reporters that. I didn't vote once.' "
Kane was the leading vote-getter in the Western Conference with 917,551. Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby led everyone with more than 1.7 million votes.
"Whoever voted you've got to thank them, obviously," Kane said. "It's just an honor being voted in by the fans with so many great players in the league."
Back to normal: The Hawks were happy to be back to their normal routine at practice Saturday after the two games against Detroit that culminated in the mega-hyped Winter Classic.
"That was the time of our lives," Joel Quenneville said. "It was a spectacular event, but now we have to get back to business. We have very tough team (in Calgary) that's playing well coming in, so that will get our attention."
The Hawks had won nine games in a row before dropping two to Detroit.
"There's no reason why we can't start over this month and have the same type of success," Jonathan Toews said. "We appreciated playing in that game. It's a game a lot of players in this league would kill to be part of, but it's time to move on."