It’s been a long and winding road so far this season or the Chicago Blackhawks. Adjusting to the new players in the  lineup has taken longer than hoped and expected, but that hasn’t brought down the players or fans.

Like I wrote earlier, I believe there is reason to be optimistic about the second half of the season.

With that in mind, let us get started with my midseason report card for the 2010-11 Chicago Blackhawks.

Photo credit: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Forwards-B

With the new young players coexisting with the veteran players, the Blackhawks, for the past three years, have not had problems scoring goals. The same has applied to this season.

The Blackhawks are ranked 4th in the Western Conference in goals scored (157) behind Vancouver, Detroit, and Colorado, and they are tied for third for goal differential with a +18.

As for the players themselves, Patrick Sharp stands out to me the most. He’s having his breakout season. There’s no doubt about that; and, like many dedicated Blackhawk fans, we knew this was going to happen sooner or later and are glad it did.

Marian Hossa continues to struggle to stay healthy while Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane continue to top the team stat chart, proving their reliability and their consistency of play.

The offensive potential has always been there. The chemistry has not. New players bring forth new lines, and this could have a substantial impact on a team, as it has with the Blackhawks.

Early on, the fans and coaches could see that something just wasn’t clicking. After some time, longer than what most were expecting, the team chemistry began to grow and has now shown itself in the month of January.

Defense-C

Going into the season, Blackhawk fans were expecting the same defensive output by their defensmen as last season, or, at least, by their Norris Trophy winner, Duncan Keith.

That didn’t happen.

What happened was the complete opposite. Keith had as terrible first quarter of the season, but has improved his playing since then.

Brought down by other defensemen, such as John Scott, and Jassen Cullimore, the Blackhawks’ defense was taken advantage of by top offensive teams.

Late, third period goals often lead to losing games, which takes away points in the standings. These late goals became a huge and dire problem. With Cullimore down in Rockford and Scott receiving less and less playing time, youngsters like Nick Leddy have been able to make their impact.

Leddy has paired with Jordan Hendry the most, and the two have really improved the defense as a whole.

With all the problems the Blackhawks faced, defense was the number one weighing them down. Things have improved, but teams with great offenses are still winning the battles.

Goaltending-B+

The pleasant surprise of the season was the emergence of Corey Crawford.

After the departure of Antti Niemi, many Blackhawk fans felt betrayed by Niemi’s agent or the Blackhawks organization. How could they give away a Stanley Cup winning goaltender in his prime, and who has won the hearts of the fans?

To much dismay by fans, it happened. It was another sad chapter in the unfortunate dismantling of a championship-winning team.

The Blackhawks signed Marty Turco and brought up Corey Crawford. What Hawk fans didn’t and couldn’t know was the impact Corey Crawford would bring to the team.

He reminds many of us of Antti Niemi from not long ago, in regards to a back-up goaltender proving more effective than the starting one.

Turco isn’t as disliked as Huet was, and he shouldn’t be; but there’s no denying the better playing Crawford has shown his ability and is lifting up the players on the ice with him.

Overall-Incomplete

Goaltending is the reason why the Blackhawks haven’t gone into total panic mode this season. They’re flirting with disaster at the 8th seed, but two long breaks should have the Blackhawks rested and ready to play the remaining 38 games.

As January winds down and the All Star break begins, the Blackhawks have much to consider in the month of February. It’s a game-heavy month with many of the games being played on the road.

The Blackhawks have only ten home games the next two months, meaning if the winning doesn’t happen on the road, there may no playoffs for the defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks.

It’s going to be a test for the Hawks, and we are about to see this team is really made of.

 

Hope has been gone since mid-April for the Cleveland Indians, and clearly, it’s only getting worse as the Tribe is looking at a 100 loss season if they don’t play decently the rest of the way. This from a team considered by many to be the favorite in the AL Central and by some to be a pennant contender. Thanks, Eric Wedge. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out — in October.

 

The Cincinnati Reds limp into the break after a disastrous 2-5 east coast trip this week, which sent them fading into 5th place at 42-45. Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo need to continue pitching as well as they have recently, while Johnny Cueto needs to forget July for the Reds to compete the rest of the way.  

 

Though the loss of Jay Bruce – and the continued absence of Edinson Volquez — for an indeterminate amount of time with a wrist injury won’t help matters, Cincinnati is still just a few games behind first place St. Louis. So despite needing to leapfrog many clubs, there’s still hope in the Queen City for the first playoff games in Great American Ballpark’s history.

 

* – Indians fans photo credit: Clemson Girl Baseball