Different loyalties now for Toews, Thornton

SAN JOSE, Calif. - They are the centers of attention in the Western Conference finals.

Jonathan Toews vs. Joe Thornton.

A few months ago they were teammates on the Canadian Olympic team, winning a gold medal together. Now they both want an even bigger prize: the Stanley Cup.

"I'll be hacking Johnny as much as I can," Thornton joked on Saturday. "I loved him for two weeks in February, but it's different now. I was hoping they'd be done by now."

Toews chuckled when told what Thornton said.

"I'm looking forward to giving him a few whacks, too, I guess," Toews said.

There are 14 Olympians between the Hawks and Sharks. Toews, Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook were Canadian teammates with Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Dany Heatley and Dan Boyle in Vancouver while Patrick Kane and Joe Pavelski skated on the same line at times for the U.S.

"It's business now," Marleau said.

"It's nice to spend a couple weeks with guys at the Olympics, but this is something you worked for all year, to win a Stanley Cup," Toews said. "I think with this team you go through so much more together and when you win it means a lot more."

"I think everybody's heart is with their organization," Pavelski said.

Slow starters: The Hawks hope to break the trend today against the Sharks of playing poorly in the first game of a series. In the first round the Hawks lost 4-1 to Nashville then lost 5-1 to Vancouver in their second-round opener.

"We've tried some different things this series as far a preparation and hopefully that works," Patrick Kane said.

Coach Joel Quenneville gave his team Wednesday and Friday off, keeping them away from the ice in California after Tuesday's Game 6 series clincher at Vancouver. The Hawks went into San Francisco as a team on Friday for dinner after a tour of Alcatraz.

"A couple days off here and there, and hopefully they can replenish their tanks," Quenneville said. "We can look at the two prior series and maybe it's the way we prepared for both games. We had about five days of practice and maybe we got stale. I think changing our schedule the last coupled days kept us fresh."

East vs. West: The Hawks and Sharks are the top two seeds in the Western Conference, while over in the East it's No. 7 Philadelphia vs. No. 8 Montreal for the right to go to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Think the Hawks and Sharks are licking their chops?

"It's essential we keep our minds from wandering over there," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. "As soon as you get into somebody else's business you're not taking care of your own, and it can be fatal.

"The fact that it's seven and eight over there doesn't mean a lot to us right now."

So happy together: When Brian Campbell made the decision to leave San Jose as a free agent and sign with the Hawks two summers ago, Sharks general manager Doug Wilson went to Plan B and traded for puck-moving Tampa Bay defenseman Dan Boyle.

The Sharks are more than happy with how things turned out.

"I think Dan's more poised with the puck," Sharks defenseman Douglas Murray told the San Jose Mercury News. "I'm not saying Soupy's one-dimensional, but Dan Boyle definitely has more dimensions than he does."