Around the UC: HAWKS ARE BACK!

-Finally! The Hawks are back together tomorrow night against the Islanders!

Niemi will be in the net and there is a good chance Madden will be ready to play.

Coach Q after Monday Practice:

-ESPNChicago: Back from break, Hawks eye cup

"With the Olympics over, we can get back to the business of a little something called the Stanley Cup. Four Chicago Blackhawks have their Olympic medals. Hawk fans want their championship. Twenty one games remain in the regular season and at 41-15-5, the Blackhawks are sitting pretty. Here are some things to focus on as we re-start the season:"

-The Hockey News: Rumor Roundup: Deadline Looms

"Versteeg would likely attract interest in the trade market, but his salary – a little more than $3 million per – might be difficult for the Blackhawks to move at this point in the season."

-ESPNChicago: Hawks acquire goalie, defenseman

"The Chicago Blackhawks have acquired goaltender Hannu Toivonen and defenseman Danny Richmond from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for goaltender Joe Fallon and have assigned both players to the American Hockey League's Rockford IceHogs."

-Puck Daddy: Winter Olympic Hockey Awards: Best, worst, and Vikingstad!

"2. Jonathan Toews(ot Chicago Blackhawks

Coach Mike Babcock said there isn't much Toews did in this tournament for Canada that he doesn't do for the Blackhawks, but that doesn't change the fact that Toews proved to be Canada's most versatile and effective forward. He could play up with Sidney Crosby. He could play down on a checking line. When Babcock put together the unit of Rick Nash(not, ,Mike Richards(notes) and Toews, it became Canada's best line against the Russians and played well throughout the tournament. Star-making performance for Toews, especially in contrast with Patrick Kane's(notes) struggles on the U.S. team."

-Burish talked a lot of trash before the game and the USA loss didn't stop him from talking even more trash: ESPNChicago:

Chicago Blackhawks winger Adam Burish joked that Team USA was just toying with Team Canada in the Olympics

Burish on Seabs/Duncs: "I wish Kaner would have had the gold medal, not those two clowns."

Burish: "I told [Sharp] I look at Canada as kind of like America's little sister. And so the Americans kind of messed with them a little bit, like, 'Hey Canada, we're going to take your hockey, this little toy away from you."

Burish: "We took them to overtime, we scared our little sister enough, just so she knows now if we want to come and take hockey from you, we'll come and take it from you, if you're not careful. So we took them to overtime, scared them and gave them their toy back."

Burish: "Because at the end of the day, what does Canada have to be excited about? Hockey and beer, that's probably it. At the end of the day, it's the generous Americans again that take care of their little sister and say, 'You've got good beer, you got good hockey, we'll just leave you alone and let you have it."

-Blackhawks Down low: Reader Beware: A hockey fan's guide to trade rumors

"Of course it’s always fun to speculate, but before you light the hockey world on fire by telling everyone that Marty Turco has been traded to the Blackhawks for Barker, Versteeg, and Skille, do remember that 90% of the rumors you hear are likely never going to materialize, and the big rumors that actually happen (see Phaneuf, Dion) are the ones you might never have seen coming.

So how do you know which is fact and which is fiction? Here’s a simple three-question checklist for you to keep in mind."

-NHL: Olympic final most-watched hockey game in 30 years

"The game drew an average viewership of 27.6 million, making it the most-watched hockey broadcast since the U.S. team beat Finland to win gold at 1980 Olympics. That game drew 32.8 million fans and came on the heels of the historic U.S. win against the U.S.S.R. in the "Miracle on Ice" game."

"It was also the most-watched television broadcast ever in Canadian history, with an average audience of 16.6 million viewers. Nearly half of the Canadian population watched the entire game on average, while 80 percent of Canadians watched some part of the game (26.5 million). The game aired live on nine television networks in eight languages via Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium."

-ESPNChicago: Byfuglien on what lies ahead for Hawks

-No Spain, No Gain: Andrew Ladd, A Coconut Bra & A Hole in The Beach

I thought the polar plunge was swimming in the Lake not in a muddy puddle...

-Another video: Blackhawks' Ladd takes polar plunge for charity

I gained a little respect for Sarah Kustok, just a little.

-BaltimoreSun: Crosby's scream for puck set off all the rest

Toews: "A game for the ages."

Kane: "It stinks, I mean, it really stinks."

Kane: "We had all the momentum. Everything was going for us, everyone was really pumped, sometimes you think you have all it, and then. ..."

Keith: "He told us, 'This is a chance of a lifetime. One period, one shot, who's going to be the hero?"

Seabs: "You can't really put it into words." 

-Two new wallpapers: 

March Schedule

Blackhawks gold medalists