Will Sharp be ready?
Patrick Sharp was hemming and hawing with reporters when questioned if he'd be back in the lineup for Thursday's playoff opener against Calgary after skating with his teammates Tuesday morning at Johnny's IceHouse.
"We don't know yet. It's still up in the air," said the Blackhawks forward, who teamed with Ben Eager and Colin Fraser on Tuesday. "We'll find out, I guess, on Thursday."
His teammates and his coach were much more confident.
"He looked great today," said forward Patrick Kane. "His shot looked great. It's pretty good to have a guy like that back, for sure."
"Sharp looked good today," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "Sharpie had some good jump. We'll get him on the ice again (Wednesday). It looks he should be ready for Thursday."
Sharp is recovering from a cut above his knee suffered April 7 in a collision with Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne.
"It's been really frustrating," he said of his latest injury. "But it's that time of year when a lot of the guys aren't at 100 percent. I'm just excited to be back with the guys, and if I can play, I'd be more than happy to get out there."
Forgotten men: While most of the talk this week will no doubt center on young guns like Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, a couple of guys who survived the dark days of Hawkdom - defensemen Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith - finally have reached the promised land.
"They've been through the highs and lows here and for them it's all starting to pay off now," said Hawks forward Andrew Ladd. "They've been a huge part of the resurgence here. I think Kaner and Johnny get a lot of credit, but Duncs and Seabs really deserve a lot of credit in terms of how they've helped turn this team around.
"They've been the catalysts on the back end. I'm excited for them and I know they're both excited to get going."
A new season: A lot has been made of the fact the Hawks went 4-0 against Calgary during the regular season, but to a man, the Hawks aren't expecting things to be as easy in the postseason.
"It's been a while since we played against them; you play so many games that you forget what teams do during the regular season," said Hawks defenseman Brian Campbell. "I played against them in the playoffs last year and they forecheck, they come at you hard.
"They're going to come at us so we've got to be prepared."
He said it: Hawks coach Joel Quenneville on the play of indefatigable defenseman Duncan Keith this season: "He's had a great year. I think consistency is probably the best way to assess his play. You value that he's playing quality minutes against top lines, matchup minutes, killing penalties, helping on the power plays, his production on offense has been nice ... you like his quickness. He's done a lot of good things for us."