Blackhawks welcome this five-day break

On a roll after having won three games in a row and five of seven, the Blackhawks don't get to play again until Sunday when Calgary visits the United Center.

Good or bad thing? Discuss.

"I think it's a good time (for a break)," center Patrick Sharp said. "Either way you look at it, it would be nice to keep playing some games with the way we're rolling right now, but we've got some bumps and bruises in here, so guys can rest up.

"We can feel good about ourselves here this week, but we have to continue to get better because we have a ton of games coming up."

Captain Jonathan Toews likes the timing of the break as well. The Hawks also have five days off at Christmas and then won't play for six days in late January for the all-star break.

"Ten or 12 games into the season you kind of get out of your comfort zone from training camp," Toews said. "I wouldn't say you hit a wall, but there is some sort of mental fatigue because you work so hard in training camp and everyone's trying to sprint out of the gate.

"So I think this is good for us to sit back and not relax by any means, but just take this time in practice to really sharpen up on a few things and get in the gym and really take care of our bodies and be ready for the next game.

"You can debate all day long that it might be better to have that break later on in the season, but we're going to make the best of it."

Hawks coach Joel Quenneville will switch up how the team practices this week to keep things interesting. There was an off-ice workout Tuesday, and today there will be a full practice at the United Center.

Quenneville will give the team Thursday off before returning for practices Friday and Saturday.

"It's a tricky time when you have five days off," Quenneville said. "We don't want to come out of this feeling too good about ourselves because we know the way the league is, but we want to make sure we are confident and we are enthusiastic in our next game the same way we ended it."

How the Hawks ended it Monday was with a 4-goal blitz in the third period of their 6-2 victory over Colorado. It opened a five-game homestand that won't get any easier with games to play against Calgary, Boston, St. Louis and San Jose.

"We're all aware of what the schedule is, but at the same time you don't want to look to far ahead," Toews said.

These next few days leading up to Sunday are sure to find Quenneville working on one thing in particular.

"I think the one area we'll constantly be stressing is our play in our own end," Quenneville said. "I think that wins and loses a lot of hockey games.

"I think we've changed that one area of our game a little bit, so that's going to be a constant reassuring the guys of where to go and how to play certain situations."

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