Scouting the Enemy: Chicago Blackhawks

Record:34-17-8

Leading scorers:Patrick Kane (20G, 34A), Martin Havlat (20G, 32A)

Blogs: Second City Hockey

Look at that cocky smirk on the logo's face.  You'd think 48 years without a Cup would draw a different reaction. 

What's the closest they've come since that 1961 win over the Canadiens?  A Conference Championship in 1992.  Who beat them?  The Pittsburgh Penguins.

It would seem 2009 is a different story though.  Chicago is doing infinitely well compared to Pittsburgh, sitting comfortably at the number four seed in the West.  Up front they have guys like Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane to snipe the net.  On the blue line there's Duncan Keith, who leads all defenseman (third in the league) with a +31 rating.  When he's on the ice, good things happen.

In net it's a bit of a quandry.  Nikolai Khabibulin handled a lot of the work between the pipes earlier in the year, but more recently Christobal Huet is picking up some of the slack (and two straight losses).  [EDIT] SecondCityHockey confirms Khabibulin is still on IR.  Huet will start.

Pensburgh will also have a set of eyes inside the enemy compound tonight, as our own Lavender is set to attend his first Penguins game in the Windy City (and taking pictures for the fanshots section?!  Why, you shouldn't have!).  With any luck he'll have a chance at catching Sid in action.  At the least, hopefully a win.