Chicago Blackhawks start push for division title this week

It's a big week for the Chicago Blackhawks. Heck, a big month.

Taking the short view, the Hawks will face division foes St. Louis and Dallas in the span of three days with all three clubs fighting for first place in the Central Division and possibly home ice through the Western Conference finals.

“Obviously it's going to be a great test for our team. A big two games on the road,” said Marian Hossa, who hopes to return after missing eight games with a lower-body injury.

Said Jonathan Toews: “We've got a lot of big division games coming up. Those aren't going to be easy ones. They'll be good preparation for the end of the year, but I don't want to look too far ahead.”

Oh, why not? That's no fun.

What is fun is predicting how all things will sort themselves out come April 9, when the Hawks close the regular season at Columbus.

I took the liberty of predicting each game — yes, even predicting OT losses — for the top six teams in the Central Division and came to the following conclusions:

• The Hawks will win the Central with a solid 10-4-1 finish. I have them losing to the Wild, Canucks, Bruins, Blues (April 7) and in overtime to the Stars on Friday. That would give coach Joel Quenneville's squad a 51-25-6 record and 108 points.

• St. Louis will overtake Dallas for second place thanks to a 9-3-3 finish. The reason for this? I have the slightly banged-up Stars going 8-5-2 down the stretch. They have a brutal finishing schedule that includes matchups with the Lightning, Islanders, Sharks, Ducks and Avs, and they must face the Hawks, Kings and Predators twice each.

• Nashville goes 10-5-1 down the stretch and faces the Pacific Division winner — the Kings or Ducks — in the first round. The fat lady is singing already.

• Minnesota beats out Colorado for the second wild-card spot thanks to a 9-2-4 finish, meaning the Wild will face the Hawks for the fourth straight year in the playoffs. I think we can hear sports writers in both cities crying out in agony.

As for the Hawks, eight of their final 15 games come against division foes, including what would seem to be two gimmies against Winnipeg. The next three days will be interesting because come Saturday morning the Hawks could find themselves with a 3- or 4-point lead over the Blues and Stars, or they could tumble into third place.

Unlike last season, when the Hawks finished third and had little to play for during the final four games, that doesn't figure to be the case this time.

“We always say we don't want to be playing Game 82 life and death to get in,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “But if we're fighting for first place, we'd still like to get first place. It keeps our attention in the right place.

“Very meaningful road trip — important games against two important teams as far as where we're sitting. … When we get to the short number of games, maybe it's clearer there (in the standings). But we'll see.”

We sure will. Starting Wednesday night in St. Louis.

• Follow John on Twitter @johndietzdh