At season's halfway point, Toews should be Calder Trophy winner

The NHL season is half over and here's what I think.

• Jonathan Toews still should win the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year providing he returns from his knee injury shortly and doesn't get hurt again.

With all due respect to Patrick Kane, who has amazing skill, and Washington's Nicklas Backstrom, who is quickly making it a three-horse race, Toews is the best all-around player, still leads all rookies in goals with 15 and is the best leader.

Toews' value to the Hawks has only been magnified by his injury.

A rookie of the year poll conducted by the French Canadian network RDS during the broadcast of Tuesday's Blackhawks-Canadiens game had 43 percent of the viewers voting for Toews and 43 percent for Kane.

"Has there ever been a tie?" asked Hawks coach Denis Savard.

Nope, never.

My vote right now would be Toews and Kane 1-2, but that could change.

• Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby should win the Hart Trophy as MVP. The kid is beyond great. A close second is Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk.

• I like the underrated Mike Babcock to win the Adams Trophy as coach of the year. Babcock pushes all the right buttons with the Red Wings.

• Detroit defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom gets my vote for Norris Trophy, just as he does every season.

• How much fun would it be for the Hawks to slip into the playoffs as the eighth seed in the West and get Detroit in the first round? I don't know if the Red Wings would want any part of that matchup.

• To those readers who have e-mailed asking why the Hawks don't try to trade for Jeremy Roenick, forget it. I love Roenick, but that ship has sailed here. Plus, as inconsistent as Yanic Perreault has been, he's still better than Roenick as a fourth-line center.

• The NHL isn't as fun with the salary cap limiting in-season trading. So far this season, only nine players have changed teams, with the biggest deal being Anaheim's swap of Andy McDonald to St. Louis for Doug Weight.

• I believe Hawks general manager Dale Tallon would like to add another player or two before the Feb. 26 trade deadline, a winger and defenseman, but I'm not sure he will unless the Hawks are still in the middle of the playoff chase.

There's a better chance that Tallon deals away Martin Lapointe and Perreault with both veterans scheduled to be unrestricted free agents.

• Sorry, but I just can't see the Hawks making the playoffs with the goaltending they've been getting from Nikolai Khabibulin.

• Using Rene Bourque at the left point on the power play only illustrates how badly the Hawks need to find somebody for that spot.

The power play hasn't been the same since Jason Williams got hurt, and problems at the point is why.

I wish the coaching staff would remind Dustin Byfuglien that he's on the power play to rip his 99 mph slap shot and not be a setup man.