Rene Bourque

They did exactly what they had to do. The Blackhawks needed to win both home games over the weekend against St. Louis and Columbus, and getting a point at New Jersey was just gravy. No style points are awarded for aesthetically pleasing performances. The...

When the public address announcer gave the starting lineups Friday night, a smattering of boos filled the arena. The reason: In a game billed as Nikolai Khabibulin's return to the city where he helped win a Stanley Cup in 2004, Craig Anderson was...

Tuomo Ruutu skated to the front of the Nashville net Sunday night and couldn't take it any longer, the pain in his right ankle too great to continue. As Ruutu crumpled to the ice with 3 minutes 57 seconds left in the second period, with him went one of...

The Blackhawks rallied for three goals in the final period Saturday night, but let one slip away in overtime in a 4-3 loss to the Florida Panthers at the BankAtlantic Center. Olli Jokinen scored on Gary Roberts' assist with 1:03 left in overtime to...

While Corey Crawford didn't pass his crash course in NHL 101 Thursday night with flying colors, he didn't flunk it either. Crawford, making his first NHL start, allowed five goals on 34 St. Louis shots, but managed to get the Hawks into a shootout, where...

What goes around usually comes around pretty quickly in sports. Monday night in Denver, the Blackhawks lost a game on what would be considered a bad goal in the final seconds against the Avalanche. Wednesday night they were the beneficiaries of three...

It's not a good idea to give any team eight power plays in one period, let alone a team riding an eight-game winning streak and playing the best hockey in the NHL. Yet there were the Blackhawks on Friday night, one after another, trudging off to the...

If there is such a thing as a must-win game in the first month of the season, Sunday night was it for the Blackhawks. With their captain and three of their top forwards sidelined with injuries and a stern upcoming schedule, the Hawks could ill afford...

Panic would be too strong a word, but certainly concern would work when applied to the recent play of Martin Havlat. The Blackhawks winger, so vital to their fortunes, went into Tuesday night's game against the Blues without a goal in five games, his...

David Vyborny scored twice and had an assist in the third period to power Columbus to a 5-2 victory over the Blackhawks on Saturday night, giving the Blue Jackets a franchise record for points in a season. The victory gave Columbus 72 points, erasing the...

The next week could be the longest seven days in the short NHL coaching career of Trent Yawney. With the Blackhawks' losing streak at seven after Thursday night's 2-1 loss to the visiting Detroit Red Wings, the Hawks have seven days before they face...

For large parts of the three-game series between the Blackhawks and Detroit, the Hawks outplayed or played even with the Red Wings. Yet Detroit won all three convincingly, including Tuesday night's 4-1 victory at Joe Louis Arena. The loss dropped the...