Just like that, Hawks again a popular pick

Not long ago, if you listened to the screaming, you heard that the Blackhawks had little chance to make the playoffs.

And if they did, they wouldn't win a series, maybe not even a game.

GM Stan Bowman and head coach Joel Quenneville needed to be fired and Rocky Wirtz needed to sell the team because he had become too much like the old man.

Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith had to be traded, Nick Leddy sent to the minors, Corey Crawford released and Marian Hossa put out to pasture.

What a difference a month makes.

Now, there is noise of the Hawks winning it all, though there is little credit given to Quenneville for admitting he'd been too lax with defensive responsibility and then tightening up the back end with significant help from the forwards.

The penalty kill is much better and the power play even looks a tad improved at times — though it sure wasn't Wednesday night.

Quenneville asked Kane for more and Kane has delivered, growing on and off the ice.

And all of this has happened the last four weeks without Jonathan Toews, the team's best player.

Meanwhile, the fan base wondered if Bowman was at all competent and wanted the GM to mortgage the future for every player on the market, but Bowman instead spent second- and third-round picks and acquired a solid defenseman in Johnny Oduya, who has had a dramatic impact on the Hawks' blue line.

The team has gone 9-1-1 since Oduya arrived, and he's a tidy plus-5 with 5 points in 11 games. More important, he's taken a lot of pressure off Leddy, Dylan Olsen and even Keith.

Suddenly, the Hawks are moving back up the standings in the West and, even without Toews, title hopes are high again — until the next time the Hawks lose two in a row.

Duncan Keith

Duncan Keith was wrong to retaliate against Daniel Sedin and Keith will pay a price for his actions, but this is what happens when the refs let Sedin get away with a head shot and force Keith to seek retribution.

Ivan Boldirev-ing

At the recent NHL GMs meetings, player safety was again a huge topic, but Sharks GM Doug Wilson has been unable to convince his brethren for the last three years that the trapezoid is dangerous for the game.

A brilliant NHL defenseman who played 1,024 games and ought to be in the Hall of Fame, Wilson knows a little bit about the position and its dangers.

With goalies prohibited from playing the puck in the trapezoid, defensemen face countless and needless hits from onrushing forwards on soft dump-ins.

The NHL added the rule coming out of the lockout as a way to add more offense by penalizing goalies good at handling the puck. What they fail to accept is that the good ones create offense with terrific passing, and the bad ones create more offense with turnovers.

In the meantime, talk of player safety is a joke when there's one way to quickly improve the situation without hurting the game.

Joey Votto

If he didn't play first and he wasn't going to be 30 in two years, the Reds' Joey Votto would fit the Cubs' plans nicely.

He's a left-handed power hitter on a division rival, and Votto will be a free agent after the 2013 season if Cincinnati can't get him signed long term.

But the Cubs believe they'll have Anthony Rizzo at first by then and at 30 years old Votto is looking at a megadeal along the lines of Al Pujols or Prince Fielder.

Votto will collect $9.5 million this season and $17 million in 2013.

Carmelo Anthony

New York's Carmelo Anthony basically admitted that he decided to try once the Knicks fired Mike D'Antoni and replaced him with Mike Woodson.

Said Anthony, “I think in the last (few) games, my focus was to have an energy that I haven't had so far this season, especially on the defensive end.”

There's no denying the Knicks have played harder — especially defensively — since Woodson took over, but admitting publicly that he's suddenly giving an effort is a bit shocking.

The number

Tim Tebow finished 27th out of 33 in the 2011 regular-season QB ratings, ahead of only Rex Grossman, Sam Bradford, Christian Ponder, John Skelton, Curtis Painter and Blaine Gabbert.

The quote

Former Astros outfielder Lance Berkman to ESPN.com, on Houston's move to the American League in 2013: “I feel basically like the commissioner extorted (new Astros owner) Jim Crane into moving the Astros.''

Worst tweet

From @MattForte22: “There's only so many times a man that has done everything he's been asked to do can be disrespected! Guess the GOOD GUYS do finish last…”

Best tweet

From @sportspickle: “Free agent QB Jim Sorgi leaning toward signing with Broncos.”

And finally …

CBS' David Letterman, on Peyton Manning signing with Denver: “Glad to see something good finally happen to somebody in that family.''

brozner@dailyherald.com

ŸListen to Barry Rozner from 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on the Score's “Hit and Run” show at WSCR 670-AM, and follow him @BarryRozner on Twitter.