Honed Hawks hope to regain Sharp

The Blackhawks could be healthier than they've been all season when they open their first-round playoff series against the Calgary Flames.

That means having Patrick Sharp back in the lineup.

Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said following Sunday's 3-0 win over Detroit in the regular season finale at the United Center that Sharp was expected to be ready for Game 1.

"We think he should be ready to go and that's kind of where we're at right now," Quenneville said.

Kris Versteeg returned Sunday after missing Saturday's win in Detroit with an upper body injury.

That would leave defenseman Brent Sopel as the only Hawk unable to play. Sopel has been out since December following elbow surgery, although he has returned to practice.

"It's been a slow process," Sopel said. "All I can do is keep plugging away. There's no timetable set. I know a lot of people have fluffed it off, but it was a major surgery."

Quenneville rested Duncan Keith on Sunday, but he'll be ready to face the Flames. With Keith out, Aaron Johnson played a strong game in his absence, logging almost 27 minutes.

Playing with fire: Joel Quenneville called the Flames a dangerous first-round opponent.

"They've been to the end (2004 Stanley Cup Finals), and have guys that are playoff tested and know the importance of raising their game," Quenneville said. "I just think they'll be ready to compete and are a dangerous team. I think we have to be very respectful of them in all aspects and all areas, but I'm more concerned with how we're competing and how we're playing."

Season recap: The Hawks closed 46-24-12 for 104 points - Martin Havlat led the team in scoring with 77 points while Jonathan Toews was the leading goal scorer with 34 - Brent Seabrook, Andrew Ladd, Brian Campbell and Toews played in all 82 games - Duncan Keith was a team-best plus-33 - Ben Eager led his teammates with 161 penalty minutes.

Finally, how's this for symmetry? After all was said and done, Nikolai Khabibulin and Cristobal Huet each started 40 games. Antti Niemi got the other two.