Why yes, they ARE for real

With a 6-0 drubbing of Wayne Gretzky's Phoenix Coyotes, the Blackhawks confirmed that they are, in fact, for real...unless they are playing the Detroit Red Wings. Against the Wings, the Hawks are 0-2-2, and against the rest of the league they are 22-6-5. Oy.

But there are plenty of things to be positive about. Forwards Patrick "Citizen" Kane and Jonathan "Don't" Toews "Me, Bro!" and defenseman Brian Campbell"'s Soup" (that's my lame attempt at a Chris Berman impersonation) made the starting lineup for the Western Conference All-Stars, with the possible addition of Duncan Keith and Patrick Sharp as well. But it's not just the starting line. Marty Havlat seems to always have the puck when he's on the ice and good things always seem to happen. Keith and winger Andrew Ladd rank among the league leaders in plus/minus.

It's just the sheer domination that the Hawks seem to have when they play any opponent (except Detroit). Becoming a tradition, here's some nuggets I dug up:

• 1st in Goals per game (3.68), 4th in Goals against per game (2.46)
• 5th in Power Play Pct (23.1), 8th in Penalty Killing Pct (84.3)
• The Khabibulin-Huet platoon combines for the 4th best Save Pct (.919)
• 2nd in Goal Differential (+31)
• And finally, Hawks leading goal scorer Patrick Sharp (20 G) is on pace to have the first 40-goal season since Tony Amonte accomplished the feat with 43 goals in the 1999-2000 season.