NHL

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Coach Mike Babcock said of his team that meandered between the 9th and 10th spots in the conference before making the NHL tourney. “We backed into the playoffs and then got lucky enough to beat a hockey club that cares even less than we do.”

"It's an odd case," said Hossa's physician Hubert Latro. "Throughout counseling he would wear a hat without issue. As soon as I threw a stack of hats onto the table he would shrivel up and shout 'bad hats, bad hats!' and nearly faint."

Less than a week after the public firing of Susannah Collins, the Blackhawks have tried to fix the PR mess they've created by inviting the former CSN host back for the "Shoot the Puck" contest during Thursday's playoff game against the Wild. There's just one caveat.

The strong show of force is intended to promote restraint and encourage Canuck fans to find other, less violent means for venting their frustration, such as heavy drinking or vigorous excercise that doesn't involve punching or kicking somebody.

"You can hear Chuck say 'it doesn't make a difference if we're naked or not,' when clearly everyone knows it's 'make it or not.' I mean the lyrics are right there in front of you. That's unacceptable."

"We are happy for him," teammate Marian Hossa said after Tuesday's thrilling OT victory. "We just had that 'little talk' with him and we think he is ready to sport some serious facial hair."

In the days leading up to the playoffs, just one question is on Blackhawks beat writers' minds: which of the Hawks' two goaltenders will Coach Quenneville opt to play in the post-season? But for goalies Corey Crawford and Ray Emery, the controversy runs much deeper than their superb GAA numbers and save percentages.