Hope for the Hawks

The Blackhawks are still in last place in their division- but still, for a change, in the hunt for a playoff spot. With presumptive Rookie of the Year Patrick Kane, fellow phenoms Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp, nascent star Jack Skille, and the other components General Manager Dale Tallon has managed to put together (with the support of new Hawks owner Rocky Wirtz), it won't be long at all before they'll compete for a Stanley Cup again.

Now comes word that the Hawks will try to bring the best hockey announcer I've ever heard, Pat Foley, back to the team next season. That would be a sure sign that the dark days of the Bill Wirtz era are over. Now all they have to do is somehow bring Chris Chelios back to finish out his career in Chicago, where he belongs... and maybe sign, say, Jeremy Roenick to a contract as a role player as well.

Decades of sins against Chicago's hockey fans are being atoned for by the current Hawks leadership. It's an exciting time to be a Blackhawks fan- and there haven't been all that many of those since the Bobby Hull/Stan Mikita/Tony Espositio era back in the '70's.