FanHouse Blackhawks

SAN JOSE -- As if Wednesday night's matchup against the Western Conference's two top teams didn't have enough appeal, throw Marian Hossa into the mix for one heck of a showdown between star-studded top lines.

Hossa, Chicago's top offseason acquisition, hasn't played this season because of a shoulder injury, but tonight at HP Pavilion, he'll be joining the Blackhawks' great young players Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. San Jose, the NHL's best team to date, counters with the goal-happy line of Dany Heatley, Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau.

Whew. What a way to step onto the ice for the first time with a new team.

With the issue of head shots becoming more and more talked about in NHL circles, it's time to tackle it on Puck Talk. We're joined this week by Anthony Curatolo, who is a senior writer at Crash the Crease and also has a podcast every week. Since Anthony is an Islanders fan, we also let him talk up his red-hot team and discuss the Blackhawks' impending cap woes. Listen after the jump.

Reports began to surface this week regarding some significant moves by the Chicago Blackhawks. Five-year deals are coming for forwards Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, and defenseman Duncan Keith is apparently going to sign a mammoth 13-year deal for less annual money.

Since it's been, oh, I don't know, five minutes, since we had a debate on what's a clean hit and what's a dirty hit, Chicago Blackhawks forward Andrew Ladd decided to give us something else to talk about on Friday night when he laid out Montreal's Matt D'agostini early in the second period.

Video after the jump.

The Vancouver Canucks were 3-2 winners against the Chicago Blackhawks Wednesday night thanks to Mikael Samuelsson's game-winning goal late in the third period.

Earlier in the period, Canucks defenseman Willie Mitchell came out of the penalty box and found himself in a position to catch Blackhawks forward Jonathan Toews with his head down, and used that opportunity to deliver a crushing (and what appears to be a clean) open-ice hit.

It might be the hit of the year so far. Video after the jump.

That is the question you have to be asking yourself after watching Monday's Calgary vs. Chicago game.

Twelve minutes into the first period, it appeared as if the Flames were going to embarrass the Blackhawks on their home ice, scoring five goals on their first eight shots, including a 53-second span where Calgary lit the lamp three times. Chicago goaltender Cristobal Huet was pulled in favor of Antti Niemi after giving up three goals on five shots, and the game appeared to be well in hand; you could chalk up a "W" for the Flames.

Not so fast.

With the NHL season officially getting underway on Thursday night, it seems like a good time to take a look at EA Sports NHL 10 simulation for the 2009-10 campaign. According to the simulation, Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins will repeat as Cup Champions, defeating cover boy Patrick Kane and the Chicago Blackhawks in six games. Poor Marian Hossa ... coming up just short, even in virtual reality.

While the idea of a Pittsburgh vs. Chicago Stanley Cup Final matchup is certainly reasonable, some of the other results from the simulation are surprising.

In recent years, goal horns have become all the rage at hockey arenas. Most junior, college, minor league, and professional arenas have a horn of some sort. It blares at a usually high volume whenever the home team scores. At some rinks, the horn also goes off when the home team takes the ice, or when they win a game.

Since the goal horn has become as much a part of the arena atmosphere as the organ used to be, it seems like a good time to rank the best of the best around the NHL. The top five, with obligatory YouTubes, are after the jump.

The renaissance of the Chicago Blackhawks is well-chronicled. After not making the Western Conference Finals once since 1995, Chicago got to the NHL's final four in 2008. A five-game series loss to Detroit ended their magical run, but the pieces are in place for the Blackhawks to again be a perennial contender in the NHL.

One of those key pieces is forward Patrick Kane. After posting over 140 points in his first two NHL seasons, the dynamic youngster graces the cover of EA Sports' NHL 10. Kane spoke with FanHouse about the game, the Blackhawks, and what was a tumultuous summer.