Patrick Sharp summed up the feeling in the Blackhawks’ locker room best.

”It’s been a long time since our last game, and we’ve done just about everything you can do at practice. The guys here are ready. We’re looking forward to meeting up with our Olympians in New York and putting the team back together.”

The road ahead of them? Twenty-one games against some of the NHL’s best teams, including the Washington Capitals. So there’s a lot to digest before the Hawks begin the postseason. Here are some things to keep an eye on:

Everything starts with the trade deadline, which is 2 p.m. Wednesday. The Hawks need to shed salaries for next season while maintaining most of the roster for a playoff run this year.

Hawks general manager Stan Bowman has made one move that accomplished that, sending defenseman Cam Barker and his $3 million-plus cap hit to the Minnesota Wild for veteran Kim Johnsson, whose contract expires at the end of the season, and prospect Nick Leddy. It was viewed as a win-win for both teams.

Click here to read the full article – By Chicago Sun-Times

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“It only happens once every four years. It’s the highest stage you can play at so it’s pretty exciting,” Kane said Monday before the U.S. took the ice to practice at Canada Hockey Place.

“It’s kind of cool to have the whole country at your back. Not just a city, but the whole country is rooting for you.”

At 21, Kane is the youngest member of Team USA and also one of its most confident. He knows the U.S. is an underdog in a tournament that features powerhouses Canada, Russia and Sweden, among others.

“I’m sure everyone here doesn’t want us to win but that’s the way it is,” Kane said. “We’re pretty excited about the challenge. We’re not coming here just to win bronze or silver. I can honestly say everyone in there wants to win gold.”

Click here to read the full article – By Chicago Tribune

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“You don’t want to make excuses but at the same time it’s hard to adjust,” Versteeg said. “You just have to do your best with whatever you’re given.”

Versteeg notched the game-winner Tuesday night in the 4-3 shootout victory over the Stars. He also had an assist on Troy Brouwer’s goal that gave the Hawks a 3-2 third-period lead. The helper was Versteeg’s fifth in the last 14 games and he is a plus-1 in that span. He began the night on a line with center John Madden and fellow winger Dustin Byfuglien.

“Everybody goes through stretches where you aren’t scoring and you’re not productive,” Quenneville said. “You just have to keep fighting through it. I thought (Versteeg) has been better the last two games and got rewarded.”

Still searching: With an 0-for-3 effort against the Stars, the Hawks’ power play has converted just one of its last 24 opportunities spanning eight games. The unit has dropped to eighth in the NHL at 19.3 percent success rate. At home, the Hawks are 28th in the league at 15.4 percent.

Click here to read the full article – By Chicago Tribune

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“I know what I’m best at,” Hester said Thursday on “The Waddle & Silvy Show” on ESPN 1000. “The return game is my bread and butter, so if I had to cut back on my receiving and go back to returning, that’s something I would love to do.”

Hester scored 11 regular-season touchdowns on punt and kickoff returns from 2006 to 2007, and brought a kick back for a score in the Super Bowl in 2007. In an effort to get his play-making ability on the field more, Bears coaches turned Hester into a receiver before the 2008 season, and the experiment has had mixed results.

Hester has averaged 54 catches for 711 yards in his two full seasons as a receiver, but his return game has suffered. He hasn’t scored a touchdown on a return since Dec. 30, 2007 against the New Orleans Saints. After returning 31 kicks without a score in 2008, Hester returned just seven in 2009 as Danieal Manning and Johnny Knox got the bulk of the work.

Hester said the coaching staff makes the decisions, and he is willing to do whatever they ask.

Click here to read the full article – By of ESPNChicago.com

So good that the buzz around the league has Keith as a leading candidate for the Norris Trophy, awarded to the NHL’s top defenseman.

Through 55 games, Keith has already established a career high in points (49) and assists (38), both second-best on the Hawks behind winger Patrick Kane. Keith is one goal shy of his career-high 12, set during the 2007-08 season.

“It doesn’t really mean a whole lot to me right now,” Keith, 26, said of the hype about his Norris chances. “It’s obviously nice to hear your name mentioned in things like that with so many great defensemen in the league, but at the same time there’s still a lot of season left to play. There’s no point in really thinking about anything like that.”

Among defensemen, Keith is second to the Capitals’ Mike Green in points, who has 52 in 52 games, third in shots with 143 and sixth with a plus-19 plus-minus rating. Keith is second among all players with an average of 26 minutes, 33 seconds of ice time per game.

Click here to read the full article – By Chicago Tribune

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Greenwood County coroner James T. Coursey told ESPN that Adams, a Greenwood native, was taken to the emergency room at Self Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 9 a.m.


Adams, who had just completed his third season in the NFL, went into cardiac arrest at his family’s home early Sunday morning, said Marcia Kelley-Clark, chief deputy coroner for Greenwood County.

The autopsy showed Adams had an enlarged heart, a condition Kelley-Clark said can often lead to a heart attack. But Adams’ relatives didn’t know about it.

“Nobody was aware of any kind of medical condition,” Kelley-Clark said.

Toxicology tests are being run by the State Law Enforcement Division, though drug use was not suspected as a factor in Adams’ death. However, those results probably will not be available for at least two months, Kelley-Clark said.

“I remember him at the 2007 Draft as a fine young man,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said of Adams on Sunday. “Our condolences to Gaines’ family, his teammates on the Bears and Buccaneers, and their organizations on their loss.”


Click here to read the full article – By of ESPN.com

The coach said he and Bulls management are on the same page, and Del Negro told reporters to ask vice president of basketball operations John Paxson or general manager Gar Forman about the situation. Forman declined to speak to reporters after practice Monday.

Phone messages left for Paxson and Forman were not returned on Sunday, but in text messages to ESPN The Magazine on Sunday night, Paxson neither confirmed nor denied the report.

“It’s just funny to me,” Del Negro said. “There’s really nothing to say. You have all these people that have rumors, and everyone has their sources. It’s just not accurate.


Click here to read the full article – By Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com

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The Hawks will have a news conference on Thursday to announce the signings of the trio of young stars, who were set to become unrestricted free agents after the season.

The Tribune first reported on Nov. 17 that Kane, Toews and Keith all would sign extensions at the same time, establishing a core group of players to solidify the franchise’s future. After two weeks of tweaking and salary-cap manipulations, Hawks general manager Stan Bowman completed identical five-year deals for forwards Kane and Toews worth a reported $31.5 million each, while defenseman Keith inked a 13-year, $72 million contract.

It was reported widely the announcement of the deals had been delayed because the Hawks didn’t have tagging room, meaning the new salaries would put the team over next season’s salary cap, a violation of the NHL’s collective bargaining agreement. Whether that was the case or if Bowman created room to maneuver under the cap could be cleared up Thursday.

Click here to read the full article – By Chicago Tribune

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Kane, who was shifted to the left side to make room for Marian Hossa on a line with center Jonathan Toews three games ago, was back on the right side during practice Monday. Kane was moved to a line with winger Dustin Byfuglien and center Kris Versteeg. Meanwhile, Patrick Sharp joined Toews and Hossa, and the Hawks will start that way when they take on the Blue Jackets on Tuesday night at the United Center.

“It was fun while it lasted,” Kane said of the switch. “I don’t know if it’s balancing out the lines or getting me back to my old position … but I’m happy with wherever they put me.”

Kane had two assists in the three games paired with Hossa and Toews, but the Hawks’ offense sputtered, scoring just one goal in the final two games of the trip, both losses.

“You can kind of sense it coming,” said Kane, who leads the Hawks in scoring with nine goals and 16 assists. “Something was going to change. It’s a pretty dynamic line now with Sharp, Toews and Hossa.”

Click here to read the full article – By Chicago Tribune

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