Quenneville pleased, but there's long way to go

SAN JOSE, Calif. - The Blackhawks played their 20th game of the season Wednesday night, and coach Joel Quenneville likes most of what he has seen over the first quarter.

"I think it's going well," Quenneville said. "We've been looking for some consistency in our game and I think we're starting to find it. I like a lot of things about our team. I like the quickness, the work ethic and how we're together as a group."

The team goal for the next three quarters of the season is a simple one: make the playoffs.

"We're not thinking of the playoffs right now," Patrick Sharp said. "We're looking at continuing to get better and better until those playoffs arrive."

It's a long way until April, and Quenneville knows the Hawks much improve to get into the postseason for the first time since 2002.

"We want to keep improving as we go along here," Quenneville said. "That's our motivation throughout the season. Everybody should be thinking about getting better. I know the upside is there. There's a lot to prove over the course of the season."

The Hawks had lost only four times in regulation going into Wednesday's game against the Sharks.

"We just have to keep playing the way we have," Patrick Kane said. "We're scoring a lot of goals and playing good defense. We just have to worry about keeping the puck out of the net first and go from there."

Yawney rebounds: Trent Yawney has no complaints about where he is these days, which is standing behind the bench of one of the best teams in the NHL as an assistant coach with the Sharks.

Yawney has no bitter feelings toward the Hawks, who fired him as head coach 21 games into the 2006-07 season after less than two full years on the job.

"All I know is there are 15 guys off the team that I had that aren't there now," said Yawney, who certainly didn't have Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. "But I'm happy for the organization. They got it back on track and it's great to see the building filled again. They have a young, exciting team and that's awesome.

"I learned a lot in Chicago, but I like where I'm at. To be given an opportunity to coach an NHL team is a honor because there are only 30 of those jobs. But at the same time, as a coach you evolve and coming here and working with this staff has been great for me. The organization here is top notch."

Looking good: Dustin Byfuglien had a hard skate with assistant coach Mike Haviland Wednesday morning and likely will return Friday at Anaheim after missing his third straight game with an upper body injury.