Hjalmarsson falls short in bid for Olympics

Niklas Hjalmarsson might not have made the Swedish Olympic team, but that doesn't diminish the great first half of the season the defenseman has had for the Blackhawks.

Sweden kept eight defensemen, including one not in the NHL in Magnus Johansson, who plays in the Swedish Elite League.

The other seven picked were Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom and Niklas Kronwall, Tampa Bay's Mattias Ohlund, Atlanta's Tobias Enstrom, San Jose's Douglas Murray, New Jersey's John Oduya and Buffalo's Henrik Tallinder.

"I really don't know their criteria, but I was rooting for him," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said of Hjalmarsson's omission. "Certainly in our eyes he does a lot of things right and the upside is huge. We know the importance of what he brings to our team and how effective he is.

"We have a strong appreciation for his predictability on the back end and how quietly he goes about his business."

Passed over with Hjalmarsson was Tampa Bay rookie defenseman Victor Hedman.

Kronwall is sidelined with a knee injury but should be ready for the Olympics in February.

Center Peter Forsberg, who is playing for Modo in Sweden, was named to the team. Sweden won the gold medal in Turin four years ago and is considered the biggest threat to beat Canada in Vancouver.

Canada announces its 23-man roster Wednesday and the U.S. on Friday.

Sick bay: Niklas Hjalmarsson and Kris Versteeg sat out their second straight games Sunday apparently with the flu.

"It's kind of along those lines. We'll call it something like that," Joel Quenneville said. "Hopefully they get to play (Tuesday) in Dallas."

Jordan Hendry was in the lineup again on defense. Hendry played a strong 17 minutes in Saturday's win at Nashville.

"Each and every game he seems to be a little more responsible," Quenneville said. "Jordan's quickness really helps him get out of trouble and kill plays as well."

Hat trick: Patrick Kane scored the game-winning goal Sunday for the third consecutive game.

"Great hockey players score big goals, and that's what he did," teammate John Madden said.

The last Hawks player to do that was Murray Craven in December 1995. The last player in the NHL to do it was New Jersey's Jamie Langenbrunner last January.

Kane has at least 1 goal in four straight games and 16 points in his last 11 games.

"I'm just trying to take more shots," Kane said.

"Kane's a talented player who always seems to find the puck," Nashville goalie Dan Ellis said.