Hawks think experience has only helped

Despite their run to the Western Conference finals last spring that included eliminating Vancouver in the second round, the Blackhawks believe they are a better, more experienced team now.

"With experience it makes you better to handle situations as you go along," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "It's a tough grind, there's a lot of highs and lows through the process, and being there can help you get through it in a positive way.

"Last year's experience can help a lot of our guys, but at the same time some of these guys played in the Olympics this year, which is as good experience a you're ever going to get."

The Hawks added veterans Marian Hossa, John Madden and Tomas Kopecky in the off-season and have a healthy Brent Sopel.

No hard feelings: Hawks captain Jonathan Toews takes no pleasure in knowing Canucks defenseman Willie Mitchell will miss the series with a concussion.

It was Mitchell who gave Toews a concussion on Oct 21 with a blindside hit at the United Center.

"There's definitely no hard feelings," Toews said. "I got a call from Willie Mitchell (after the hit), and he explained that he's had some trouble with concussions. I definitely appreciate when a player does something like that and shows the respect he has. He was just playing his game."

Mitchell hasn't played since Jan. 16, when he had his head rammed into the glass by Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin.

Hendry gets call: With Dustin Byfuglien's moving back to forward, Jordan Hendry was in the Game 1 lineup on defense for the Hawks.

Adam Burish was a healthy scratch for the fourth time in seven playoff games, and his energy was missed early on Saturday as the Hawks fell behind 3-0 in the second period.

Check, please: As expected, the Canucks used center Ryan Kesler's line against Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.

Kane probably knows Kesler better than anyone on the Hawks after being teammates and linemates for the U.S. during the Olympics.

"He's a great player and great two-way center," Kane said. "As a winger what I remember about him was he was real easy to play with, but playing against him you want to keep the puck away from him as much as possible and move it around a lot."