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Departing from my recent theme of "yeah, they're undefeated, but they could be better," let's take a look at what's going right for the Blackhawks.
First, and most obviously, they're 4-0. With three road wins against good teams. I often watch the opposing team's feed of games—as they tend to give you a more unbiased view of the Hawks—and the early reviews are this is a stacked team with huge advantages in speed, depth and skill.
They are overwhelming opponents with speed and forecheck and energy, winning races to pucks, getting past opposing defensemen and drawing lots of penalties.
There were a number of "if/then" scenarios I laid out leading up to the season that would lead to a good season. And this far, some of those have happened.
Let's examine:
1) HEALTH
Aside from the opening night injury to Dan Carcillo, the Hawks (especially Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa) are 100% healthy. Will it stay that way? Probably not, but aside from the fact that other teams will likely have to contend with the same issue, the Hawks have an insurance policy . . .
2) DEPTH
The Dave Bolland experiment at 2nd line center has paid off thus far, and this has had a domino effect throughout the lineup. The top two lines are dangerous and clicking. The bottom two lines are surprising opponents by maintaining offensive pressure. All four lines backcheck like nobody's business. All this taken together puts Joel Quenneville in the proverbial catbird seat—in effect, he has two first lines (Toews/Hossa/Saad and Sharp/Bolland/Kane) and two third lines (Bickell/Shaw/Stalberg and Bollig/Kruger/Frolik).
And the defense is deep. Where Nick Leddy struggled on last year's second pairing, he is really shining this year with less minutes on the new third pairing, playing with veteran Michal Roszival. Roszival's game and stick complement Leddy perfectly. The two have had a rugged moment here and there, but overall, this looks like a pairing that will really take pressure off the Hawks overall blueline . Quenneville has paired Niklas Hjalmarsson and Johnny Oduya—and that has really worked. Why? Hjalmarsson. A lot of Hawk fans were writing off Hammer before his 25th birthday, but now he is becoming an anchor for the entire defensive corps. Positionally, he has been virtually flawless. And while playing big minutes, he has also flashed the physicality that was often absent the last couple of years. And here's the really good news, Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook didn't play during the lockout and are still gaining their legs.
But what happened? Aside from Roszival and 7th defenseman Sheldon Brookbank, not much has changed since last year, when the Hawks were good, but not 2010 good. Here it is . . .
3) GROWTH
One of the keys I laid out for this season was the maturation of three players: Leddy, Marcus Kruger and Viktor Stalberg. All three played during the lockout. All three appear to have gone to another level—with big benefits for the Hawks and their depth.
Someone must be wiring Leddy up as in A Clockwork Orange to videotape of Brian Campbell, because that is who he is starting to look like. His confidence and decision-making have improved dramatically.
Kruger has always had a titanic heart. But now, a little added strength and girth are helping translate will into results. When there's a loose puck, Kruger is there. And he is setting up a fair amount of offense from not overly skilled linemates.
The joke was last year, Stalberg was All-World against Columbus and All-Invisible against the rest of the league. He goes into Nationwide Arena for the first time this season tonight with 2 goals in 4 games.
And last but not least . . .
4) TONE
This seems to be the big key—that everyone pretty much overlooked. Players—especially Leddy and Hjalmarsson—appear to be playing to their strengths. Playing their games. This could be because a rumored rift in the coaching staff was remedied with the removal of the admittedly popular Mike Haviland. And at this point, everyone owes a huge apology to Quenneville for the much criticized hire of Jamie Kompon. While it's early yet, the Hawks power play is ranked 7th, and looks dangerous. This year, instead of moving the puck around the perimeter to stationary players, the players are moving, too and it seems they are being allowed to be instinctive as much as scripted.
Some other telling stats. The Hawks are:
- 4th in blocked shots
- 2nd in takeaways
- 8th in faceoff percentage (Jonathan Toews is still the "machine" here, but Bolland, Andrew Shaw and Kruger have been good enough)
- 22nd in hits (this is not a ranking to write home about, except that as a puck possession style team, the Hawks rank better than other similar clubs—who are often outhit by opponents, while generating many more shots. The Hawks have been physical enough. And some of their hits have been big).
44 games remain in the regular season and then there's the playoffs. A lot can happen. But right now, the Hawks look like one the league's top 2-3 clubs, even with some lingering questions in net.
Without a full preview for Columbus tonight, let me just say this game has all the earmarks of a trap game. The Hawks could be looking forward to tomorrow's home tilt versus the Red Wings. Nationwide Arena is sold out—but granted there will be a lot of red sweaters in the stands. However, the defensively-improved Blue Jackets will try to stifle the Hawks and chip away to get a goal or two, not unlike the way Dallas nearly beat the Hawks Thursday.
All for now,
JJ
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • 
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