Hawks motivated by home crowd

The way the Blackhawks have taken care of business on home ice this season has impressed Brian Campbell.

"Any time you have a sold-out building with 21,000 people, you don't want to let them down," Campbell said. "But I have to give credit to our guys. They haven't tried to do too much at home and sometime that can happen. You can try to do too much and impress your fans.

"We've stuck to our game plan, and for a young team you've got to applaud some of the guys in the room for doing that."

San Jose has yet to lose in regulation on home ice. The Hawks are right behind the Sharks with just 1 regulation loss at the United Center.

Wednesday's crowd of 21,684 was the Hawks' 20th sellout in 20 home dates. They beat the Sabres to improve to 14-1-4 at home.

"It's a great advantage playing in front of these fans," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "The excitement in the building is real. It's a motivator, from the national anthem the crowd's behind you, but you still have to do the right things."

It was a rested Hawks team that took on the Sabres.

"I felt we were sluggish in all games last week," Campbell said. "We had to battle for any points or any goals."

Convention tickets: Passes for the second Blackhawks convention go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. The passes are $55 and good for all three days of the convention, July 17-19 at the Hilton Chicago.

Fans can purchase the passes at chicagoblackhawks.com, the Blackhawks store on Michigan Avenue, through Ticketmaster.com or by phone through Ticketmaster at (312) 559-1212. Hotel packages are available by calling the Hilton Chicago at (877) 865-5320. Packages include two convention passes per night booked.

Change of pace: The Hawks were glad to step out of the Western Conference and play Buffalo on Wednesday. They also face the New York Rangers on Friday at the United Center. "It's nice to face teams you don't know much about," Patrick Sharp said. "It's tough playing the same three or four teams all the time."

After Friday, the Hawks play their next nine games in the West before meeting Atlanta on Feb. 11.

Tip-ins: Troy Brouwer and Aaron Johnson were the healthy scratches for the Hawks. ... Patrick Sharp's goal was his first in five games.