Clinching the division nice, but Blackhawks want more

When the Blackhawks look back on how the Central Division was won, they can point to another strong start to their season.

That and the number of injuries the Detroit Red Wings suffered along the way.

While there's a good chance the Hawks would have won the division anyway, Detroit missing eight and nine regulars with injuries at one point in the middle of the season certainly improved their chances.

The Red Wings' string of eight straight Central Division crowns came to an end Sunday with the Hawks earning their first division title in 17 years.

Even before the Hawks took the ice at the United Center for their 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames they were division champs thanks to Detroit's 4-3 loss at Philadelphia.

"It's a good, a major, accomplishment for us," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "Detroit's been at the top for several years now, and I think that was a big barrier and for us organizationally to get over and achieve.

"Detroit's been there for so many years and it's tough to chip away. They've had some issues this year health-wise, but I still think we had to take care of our own business.

"That was one of our goals from the outset that we've met, and I still think we've got one more where we'd like to try to finish first (in the Western Conference)," Quenneville said.

Winning the division only guarantees the Hawks of having home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. There was no wild celebration in the dressing room Sunday because the players know there still is so much more work to be done.

"It's definitely nice, but to me I don't think it really matters at the end of the day," Duncan Keith said. "It's nice to get home-ice advantage in playoffs and it shows we worked hard all year, but we know in playoffs anything can happen.

"I'm not trying to take anything away from it, but it's not going to make it any easier on us on in playoffs, and we know that."

The Hawks traditionally have hung banners for division titles, but the only ones that truly matter are those with the Stanley Cups on them.

"I'd by lying to you if I said that wasn't our goal at the start of the year," Patrick Kane said of winning the division. "It's fun to be part of history, it really is. I was 4 years old the last time they won the division, so it's been a long time coming for Blackhawks fans.

"It's fun to beat out a team like the Red Wings, but it's not really the accomplishment you want. The big goal is obviously the big award at the end of the year."

So how did the Hawks get to what happened Sunday?

They were off to a so-so 8-5-2 start when they caught fire in November, reeling off 8 straight wins culminating in a resounding 7-2 victory at San Jose on Nov. 25 that also marked Marian Hossa's return from off-season shoulder surgery.

From Nov. 9 through Jan. 7, the Hawks went 23-5-1, capturing 47 out of a possible 58 points.

The Hawks lost no momentum during their eight-game road trip in late January, when they went 5-3 and padded the division lead over Nashville instead of losing ground as some had feared they might during such a long stretch away from home.

Along the way this season the Hawks overcame not having Hossa for the first 22 games, Adam Burish for the first 65 games and losing Dave Bolland in November for 41 games because of back surgery.

The offense has been as balanced as any team in the NHL with five 20-goal scorers in Kane (29), Patrick Sharp (24), Jonathan Toews (23), Hossa (23) and Troy Brouwer (22). Three other Hawks (Kris Versteeg, Dustin Byfuglien and Andrew Ladd) have 16 goals or more.

Keith is second in the league in scoring among defensemen with 66 points.

"Their first two lines are as good as anybody, and their third and fourth lines are solid," Calgary's Craig Conroy said after Sunday's loss.

Recently the Hawks have been able to right the ship - Sunday's win was their third straight - after a 2-5-2 stretch that saw them lose defensemen Brian Campbell and Kim Johnsson to injuries.

The goaltending issue appears to have been settled with Antti Niemi seizing the No. 1 job by the throat and leaving no doubt that he will be the guy Quenneville rides into the playoffs.

"Antti has really responded here this week," Quenneville said.

<p class="factboxheadblack">Tim Sassone's game tracker</p>

<p class="breakhead">Three stars</p>

<p class="News"><b>1. Antti Niemi, Hawks:</b> Another strong performance from the No. 1 goalie.</p>

<p class="News"><b>2. Duncan Keith, Hawks:</b> Plus-3 with 6 blocked shots and looking on top of his game again.</p>

<p class="News"><b>3. Patrick Kane, Hawks:</b> A goal and assist and lots of jump.</p>

<p class="breakhead">On the down side</p>

<p class="News">The Hawks' power play was 0-for-3 and now is 0-for-10 in the last five games and 4-for-44 in the last 14.</p>