The Blackhawks...are they for real?

This is probably my most ill-informed post up until this point, but I'm really liking what I'm seeing out of the 2008-09 Chicago Blackhawks. They just finished up a 3-game road trip in western Canada at Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver undefeated, including a 9-2 domination of the Oilers last Tuesday night. This also brings their winning streak overall to 7 games, and a scant 5 points behind the division leading Detroit Red Wings in the Central.

To which I say, is this for real? If the playoffs started today, the Hawks would play host to the Canucks in the first round. Patrick Kane, who by the way is barely 20 and , is 9th in the NHL in assists, 4th in points, and is the LEADING vote-getter not just for forwards, but the entire Western Conference. While ESPN (aka: the Eastern Seaboard Programming Network) touts Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby and Washington's Alex Ovechkin, Kane has quietly become one of the NHL's elite. Chicago captain Jonathan Toews, also, by the way is just 20 years old, is 3rd behind Kane in all-star voting for Western Conference forwards, and leads the team in goals with 18.

With my lack of full information, the only issue I see is the goalie carosel between Nikolai Khabibulin and Cristobal Huet, pretty much playing half and half all year so far. I also would have kept Hawks legend Dennis Savard a bit longer, but now I stand by that decision given the teams blast off since then.

I will definitely make sure to find some time between the 5 college football bowl games on January 1st to watch the Hawks take on the Red Wings at Wrigley Field in the annual NHL Winter Classic.