Here come the Hawks

The Bears are atop the NFC North, but come on, even Vikings fans must admit that's a weak, weak division.

It's officially hockey season in the Windy City.

That sentence demands repeating: It's officially hockey season in the Windy City -- a statement that's no longer an oxymoron.

During the past decade, the Chicago Blackhawks had become irrelevant in their own market.

Bad teams, few playoff appearances, front-office instability and archaic philosophies -- like no home television -- caused dwindling attendance inside the cavernous United Center. The local newspapers buried the Hawks in the back pages and even stopped sending beat writers on the road.

But thanks to the young enthusiasm and stardom of Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, there's suddenly a buzz in the gusty Chicago air. There's an excitement about the Blackhawks that hasn't been seen since the mid-1990s when guys such as Roenick, Amonte, Chelios and Belfour wore red and black.

You could feel it last month when the Wild traveled to Chicago. On a night the Cubs and White Sox were both playing vital games, the Blackhawks' crowd was announced at 18,034.

And, it was legit. Remember, this was an exhibition game.

"You look at our team, there's a lot of expectations from the city, from the team, from the organization," said Kane, 19, the No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft and last season's Calder Trophy winner after scoring 72 points in 82 games.

"Everything really seems to be going our way -- with free-agent signings, we've got games on TV now, the [New Year's Day] Winter Classic [against rival Detroit] at Wrigley, the way our season tickets are being sold. It's really exciting to be a Blackhawk now."

During an interview before his first NHL game last Oct. 4 against the Wild, Kane recalled how Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen led the Bulls to six NBA titles and said, "maybe [Toews] and I could re-energize Blackhawk fans the way [Denis] Savard and [Steve] Larmer did in the 1980s and Jeremy Roenick did later."

Kane's wish appears to have come true.

One big reason why interest waned in Chicago was because the Blackhawks, who haven't won a Stanley Cup since 1961, have missed the playoffs in nine of the past 10 years and haven't won a playoff round since 1996.

But feeding off the hype created by finishing three points from a playoff spot last season and the eight-year, $57 million July 1 signing of defenseman Brian Campbell, the Blackhawks have sold more than 14,000 season tickets. That breaks the record of 13,425 established in 1994 when the old Chicago Stadium closed for the United Center.

"It's exciting," said Toews, who at 20 is the NHL's youngest captain after scoring a rookie-leading 24 goals last season despite missing a month because of a knee injury. "The fans see what we're doing -- signing guys, making acquisitions, being aggressive in the offseason to make our team better.

"We've got fans coming back, but now it's time to act and actually do something about it and win some games. Bottom line: The No. 1 marketing tool for us is our performance and how many games we win this year."

The Blackhawks should be better because, as veteran defenseman Keith Carney says, "They have all the ingredients."

Besides Kane and Toews up front, there's Patrick Sharp, who scored a career-high 36 goals last season, and star Martin Havlat, who's looking to have a healthy season after missing most of last year because of shoulder and groin problems. On the blue line, besides Campbell, who's a dynamic high-risk/reward player, there's Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith.

While the Blackhawks continue to try to dump Nikolai Khabibulin after making the surprise signing of Cristobal Huet between the pipes, some love up-and-comer Antti Niemi, 25.

"A lot of people that saw [Niklas] Backstrom play in Finland before he came to the Wild say [Niemi's] at that level," said Hall of Famer Scotty Bowman, the Blackhawks' senior adviser of hockey operations. "He hasn't developed like Backstrom yet, but Detroit wanted to sign [Niemi], I know that."

The resurrection of this Original Six franchise has made the Blackhawks a prognosticators' favorite to enter the top eight this season in the West.

And that would be good for the NHL.

"You want to have Original Six teams be successful," said Savard, a Hall of Famer who is also the Blackhawks coach. "Look at Montreal now. They're going to be really good this year and we're right with them.

"It's been great what's going on here. Last year, we came up short and that's not where we want to be. We still have a lot of work ahead of us. But we want to graduate and get to the playoffs."

Coming Saturday: The Wild has a core group it's banking on this season -- and beyond.

Wild opener: 7:30 p.m. Saturday vs. Boston

Xcel Energy Center • TV: FSN (830-AM)