Defenseman Sopel a one-man block party

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - It's easy to spot defenseman Brent Sopel when he passes through the Blackhawks' dressing room on his way to the medical room.

He's the one with ice packs everywhere.

Sopel is one of the most banged-up Hawks due to all the shots he blocks. Sopel had to leave Thursday's win at Calgary after he took a shot up high, but he was in the lineup again Saturday against the Canucks.

There have been many times when Hawks coach Joel Quenneville didn't think Sopel would be able to play, but the veteran defenseman regularly answers the bell.

"Game in and game out he's back out there," Quenneville said. "Maybe some nights you might think he needs a night off, but he keeps battling.

"He's in that dangerous area where guys are loading up and he's blocking shots. He commits himself to getting hit on either the side of the knee or wherever. He's willing to block some key shots, and he's really helped our penalty-killing.

Sopel had 87 blocked shots going into the weekend to rank third on the team behind only Brent Seabrook (101) and Duncan Keith (94) despite playing considerably fewer minutes.

"Absolutely, it's a skill, and some guys are better at it than others," Quenneville said. "He's gets in that dangerous lane, and he has blocked several key shots that were definitely going into the empty net this year."

Home boys: There's something about playing in Western Canada that brings out the best in the Hawks, who were 9-1 against the Flames, Oilers and Canucks over the last two regular seasons before Saturday's game at GM Place.

Maybe it's because four of the Hawks are from British Columbia and two from Alberta.

"I think it's a little motivation for us whenever you have family and friends coming to the games," said Andrew Ladd, one of the B.C. boys.

"It's a little incentive for us to bear down and play well. We've got a lot of guys from Canada that take pride in not losing these games."

All in fun: In the middle of a talk about the Hawks' Olympians, a Canadian reporter asked Joel Quenneville about Canada coach Mike Babcock saying he wanting 200-foot players, meaning guys strong at both ends of the ice.

"Well, Kaner's not on the Canadian team, so I think he's OK," Quenneville joked.

The truth is, as Quenneville then pointed out, Patrick Kane has improved his defensive play (plus-15) from last year to now.

"I think Kaner has really improved since when he came in the league from where he was without the puck in his own zone to where he is today," Quenneville said. "The awareness of not having the puck has helped him as he's gone along here."

Staying with it: After four games of the road trip the line of John Madden, Kris Versteeg and Dustin Byfuglien still was looking for its first point.

"They had a nice stretch there where they were really productive, but every once in awhile you go into a stretch where pucks are not going to go in for you," Joel Quenneville said.

"They just need to work hard, check, be responsible and don't give up much. That line is skilled enough that they can make plays and will get some production at some point."