Hawks Game Day: Seeking home-ice momentum in home finale - Chicago Tribune

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Hawks Game Day: Seeking home-ice momentum in home finale - Chicago Tribune Apr 1st 2012, 21:50 The Chicago Blackhawks entered their regular-season home finale a relatively relaxed, satisfied bunch, just hours removed from clinching a fourth straight postseason berth the night before. This was stark contrast to leaving last year's home finale with stomachs churned over the prospect of missing the playoffs before being saved by the team they'd face Sunday, the Wild. Now the focus turns to maximizing the remaining three games and, possibly, seizing home-ice advantage in the first round. "This year, when you look at the numbers of the top four teams (in the Central Division), as far as point accumulation, it's pretty remarkable," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "It's been that kind of year. We were in a great spot, then we were in a terrible spot probably 15-20 games ago, and then we helped ourselves in a big way over this stretch. But we still have some sorting out to do between now and the end." To help with the sorting, Ray Emery gets the start in goal for the Hawks on Sunday. With a busy stretch of five games in eight days, Quenneville decided to give the revitalized Corey Crawford a breather. In off-ice news, Jonathan Toews skated Sunday but would miss a 20th straight game against the Wild. The Hawks captain insinuated he was targeting a return later this week in Minnesota, but Quenneville wouldn't put a fine point on it. "We're hopeful, but there's no target," Quenneville said. "If he can play, if he's ready, he'll be going. If not, we'll be patient." Duncan Keith, serving the final game of his suspension for a March 21 elbow to the Canucks' Daniel Sedin, skated Sunday after Quenneville said he gave the minutes-gobbling defenseman "some days off this week." bchamilton@tribune.com Twitter @ChiTribHamilton This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.

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