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Updated: December 15, 2011 10:09AM

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The game was meant to be won by the Blackhawks’ or the Minnesota Wild’s best players. It was, after all, billed as an early statement game between the best teams in the Western Conference, according to the standings.

So it was fitting that Wednesday’s game at Xcel Energy Center came down to a shootout.

Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane beat Niklas Backstrom while Ray Emery turned away Matt Cullen and Dany Heatley in the Hawks’ 4-3 victory. The Hawks have 42 points in 31 games and the Wild 44 points in 32 games.

“It was a good game by both teams,” said Kane, who scored a remarkable goal in the shootout with a slow-moving approach and a ton of moves. “I just kind of slowed down and waited for the goalie to bite. I was kind of practicing to go slow and see which way the goalie bites. It was a good finish to a good game.”

Toews had a goal and an assist, and Marian Hossa and Michael Frolik also scored for the Hawks in regulation. But the Wild rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the second and a 3-2 hole in the third to stay with the Hawks.

Still, in what has become a trend for the Hawks, they managed to grab the extra point. Five of their last six games have gone to a shootout or overtime, and they’ve won four of them. The Hawks are 10-2-4 in one-goal games.

“We know if we get to OT or get to a shootout, that extra point can be ours,” Toews said. “For the most part, we’re never satisfied to get OT. We’ve been fighting hard for that second point.”

The Hawks dominated early, outshooting the Wild 11-2 in the first period. But center Kyle Brodziak gave the Wild some life, scoring its first goal at 13:10 in the second period. ­Icing should have been called before the goal, but play ­continued as Nick Johnson set up Brodziak. Just 2:21 later, Cullen tied the game at 2.

“I talked to the officials ­afterward,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “It was one of those plays where you ­appreciate the way they saw it. But it’s one of those calls where we still have to keep playing.”

“It was a good hockey game. … A lot of games have gone to overtime recently, and getting points is what it’s all about and finding ways to win.”

Goals from Hossa (power play) and Frolik (on a nice feed from Marcus Kruger) less than two minutes apart gave the Hawks a 2-0 lead halfway through the ­second.

Toews made it 3-2 with a nifty goal 6:54 into the third. But Mikko Koivu tied it with 5:04 left, ­scoring on a shot that deflected off Nick Leddy during a delayed penalty.

Backstrom (28 saves) and Emery (27 saves, third consecutive victory) were solid in net, setting the stage for Kane’s highlight-reel goal, which came after a goal by Toews.

“It was awesome. It was for the win,” Toews said. “There’s a lot of pressure, there. It’s tough to go in there thinking about what you want to do with all that riding on it. He made no mistakes. It was a big win for the boys and a little flash by P. Kane.”

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PHILADELPHIA — Though he has battled through some shaky moments recently, Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov “has put together impressive numbers where it matters most: victories.

He added another win Thursday night, without any lapses.

Bryzgalov was sharp, and winger Scott Hartnell continued his torrid scoring, as the Flyers outlasted the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-2, in front of an animated sellout crowd at the Wells Fargo Center.

With the victory, the Flyers slipped past the Penguins and into first place in the Atlantic Division.

Danny Briere, Wayne Simmonds, and Hartnell scored for the Flyers, who have four consecutive wins, all by Bryzgalov.

“We came out with the mind-set that we were playing for first,” said Briere, who opened the scoring with a crazy first-period goal.

Bryzgalov, who made a key stop on Evgeni Malkin with four seconds remaining, is 9-1-1 in his last 11 games.

The Flyers were playing their second game in as many nights — Pittsburgh was rested — and they appeared to be running out of energy in the final period, but they held on.

One night earlier, the Flyers scored a draining, 5-4 overtime win in Buffalo in which they overcame a 3-0 deficit.

Briere, who had played just 9 minutes, 22 seconds in Wednesday’s win because he was fighting the aftereffects of a virus, scored a gift goal Thursday — the ol’ double-deflection shot — to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead after 6 minutes, 38 seconds.

From a few feet above the left circle, Briere’s blast hit off Penguins defensemen Robert Bortuzzo and Brooks Orpik — and past stunned Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who did the splits but couldn’t reach the puck.

With 11:18 left in the second period, the Flyers made it 2-0 when Simmonds knocked in Jakub Voracek’s goalmouth pass while on a power play.

“It’s probably one of the easiest goals I’ve had in the NHL,” Simmonds said.

Nearly five minutes later, defenseman Andrej Meszaros made a great move past Orpik in the Penguins’ zone and crossed a pass to Hartnell, who, while falling down, tapped in his seventh goal in the last nine games. Hartnell has scored in four consecutive games.

Pittsburgh, playing without Sidney Crosby, got to within 3-1 on James Neal’s power-play goal with 5:50 left in the second period.

Never mind that when he is healthy, Crosby is generally regarded as the best player in the NHL.

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Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak said Tuesday the city is backing the Metrodome as its favored site for a new Minnesota Vikings stadium and wants to use the nearby Minneapolis Armory to create an enhanced game-day experience for fans.

"Our preferred site is the Metrodome,” Rybak told a joint Senate committee hearing at the Capitol. "We believe that’s significant. It does save, according to the numbers I just heard, about $215 million.”

Rybak said the presence of one (and eventually two) light-rail lines at the Metrodome and its lower costs compared to Arden Hills make the current home of the Vikings the best place for a new stadium. Proposals for sites at the farmers market and near the Basilica of St. Mary remain in the running, Rybak said, but will not have the city’s official support.

"The bottom line is, we are prepared with existing revenue streams to put $300 million on the table,” Rybak told senators, who heard 5 1/2 hours of testimony on stadium plans and ways to pay for them. Rybak acknowledged the revenue — from city liquor, sales and lodging taxes — is now dedicated to the Minneapolis Convention Center and may not be sufficient in the early years of the stadium project.

He said the Vikings’ desire for activities outside the stadium led Minneapolis to consider ways to use the privately owned armory as an "event center field house, the centerpoint of a new game-day experience” for the team’s fans. In addition, he said, unspecified changes along 4th and 5th Streets between the stadium and armory could improve the fan experience.

Sen. Julie Rosen, R-Fairmont, the lead Senate stadium legislation author, later pronounced herself impressed. "I think that’s getting to be a very viable option," said Rosen, noting the Metrodome would cost roughly $200 million less than the Vikings’ preferred site in Ramsey County’s Arden Hills.

Rybak’s narrowing of his city’s focus was the major development in a second day of wide-ranging testimony on the topic. The joint meeting of the Senate Taxes and State Government committees had no bill to examine or tax proposal to scrutinize. The Legislature won’t be in session until Jan. 24.

‘They will leave’

The committee chair, Sen. Julianne Ortman, R-Chanhassen, asked Ted Mondale, Gov. Mark Dayton’s point man on the stadium project, why the stadium is an urgent matter.

"If the Vikings continue to be at the lowest point of revenue and lose money or break even on their investment, as they are today … then sooner or later they will leave,” said Mondale, chairman of the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission. "When you have a business that’s either losing money or not making money, as sure as winter comes or the leaves fall, they will leave.”

Vikings spokesman Lester Bagley said the team has heard from two cities seeking an NFL team — Los Angeles and another he would not identify. "I would let that city speak for themselves,” Bagley said.

Rybak said a meeting with the Vikings Monday afternoon was "very productive.” At the hearing, Bagley said the Vikings’ commitment to spend $425 million is "site-specific" to Arden Hills.

Rybak said the tax pool that supports the Minneapolis Convention Center includes a one-half percent citywide sales tax, a 3 percent tax on restaurant and liquor sales in the downtown core and a 2.6 percent tax on lodging. Minneapolis City Council Member Lisa Goodman said she would "strongly oppose" diverting taxes that maintain the Convention Center to a Vikings stadium.

"Make no mistake, we want this in Minneapolis,” Rybak said after his committee appearances. "We believe strongly it could be most successful there. We intend to compete for that.” He added that sometimes competing communities "tend to rip each other’s eyes out. I don’t intend to do that with my good friends in Ramsey County.”

The Star Tribune owns land near the Metrodome site, and its value could be affected by the stadium decision.

Pro-Minneapolis tilt?

Ramsey County Commissioner Tony Bennett, who has advocated for the Arden Hills site, said he is frustrated with the pro-Minneapolis tilt the search appears to be taking.

"It seems like I’m back in the Legislature and everything is done in the back hallway,” said Bennett, who served in the Minnesota House in the 1970s and 1980s. "We have gone through every single hoop we have been asked for by the Legislature and everyone, and they won’t give us the time of day.”

Ortman said the sheer breadth of testimony coming out of the two Senate hearings had convinced her "we were not, at any point, ready to have a special session on a stadium proposal." Dayton originally pushed for a special session this year.

Senate committee members learned some portion of the Vikings’ contribution to the stadium would be lent to the team by the National Football League. Vikings officials testified they had no plans to build a convention center in Arden Hills but said they may sell "personal seat licenses,” a premium charged to season ticket buyers that has helped pay for stadiums in other cities.

The committee also heard testimony on benefits and drawbacks of various gambling options and on use of public funds. Erma Vizenor of the White Earth Tribal Council pitched a proposal to build a tribal casino near the new stadium to benefit the tribe and help pay for the stadium.

Outside the Capitol, a group opposed to the Arden Hills project submitted an initial batch of 500 signatures to Ramsey County. They hope to gain approval for a full petition drive that would allow residents to vote on stopping the stadium from being built there.

Staff writers Eric Roper and Kevin Duchschere contributed to this report. Jim Ragsdale • 651-925-5042

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PEBBLE BEACH. Calif. — The discussion took only about an hour. But it ended with the NHL taking a radical route on realignment Monday, creating a four-conference format that will have the Sharks competing with seven other teams for four playoff spots.

“Sometimes the easiest thing is not always the right thing,” Sharks general manager Doug Wilson said in endorsing the major change. “Sometimes if everybody accepts a little bit of the burden, the right thing is done.”

Starting next season, the Sharks will be grouped in an as-yet-unnamed conference with the Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks, Phoenix Coyotes, Colorado Avalanche, Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames.

The NHL Board of Governors authorized the plan, but commissioner Gary Bettman said he wanted to discuss it with the NHL Players Association before implementing it. He talked, however, as if the new setup was a reality.

Under the new format, each team will have one home-and-home series with all teams outside their conference. Inside the conference, San Jose will play some teams five times and some six times with everything balancing out over seven seasons.

The system isn’t perfect. The top four teams in each conference will make the playoffs, but the conferences in the West and Midwest have eight teams each while the two in the East have seven.

But the arrangement is one that at least two-thirds of the teams—including the Sharks, who were represented on the board by owner Kevin Compton—chose as the best option.

“This is not something that everybody is going to get their first choice on,” said Bettman, who indicated the vote was not unanimous. “What you try to do is come up with something that everybody can live with.”

The Sharks had placed a priority on getting a home-and-home series with all teams even though it means more travel, saying it was best for the fans and the league overall. But Wilson also wanted a commitment that the logistics of each trip would be improved, and he got that.

“We need to be more efficient, and the schedule-maker believes he can be,” Bettman said, noting that with teams visiting every city, there is less picking and choosing when setting up trips.

The new playoff format—which will keep the first two rounds inside each conference—also means less travel in the postseason, the commissioner said.

Factoring all that in, Wilson said, “I think the schedule will net out being better for us.”

What happens after the first two rounds, when each conference has produced one team for the Stanley Cup semifinals, has not been determined. One plan has teams being reseeded based on regular-season points, but Bettman said he wanted to talk with the league’s general managers before making that move or any other.

The Sharks also wanted to keep the Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference, but with the demise of the current structure approved in 2007 at the same Northern California resort, that no longer was an option.

The relocation of the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg set the realignment wheels in motion.

The NHL approved the sale and transfer last summer, but it was too late to rework this season’s schedule. And not even the NHL could keep Winnipeg in its Southeast Division going forward.

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Updated: November 24, 2011 2:19AM

SAN JOSE, Calif. — As wonderful as it feels to score a goal and as amazing as it is to celebrate with your teammates, nothing beats coming home for Blackhawks winger Marian Hossa.

Win or lose, few things compare to being with his newborn daughter, Mia.

‘‘For me, it’s an awesome experience,’’ Hossa told the Sun-Times on Wednesday. ‘‘I’m loving it. It’s such a joy when you come home. [Whether] you have a great game or you have a tough game, you come home and look at the little baby, you forget everything. That’s what matters.’’

By no means has that mentality made Hossa less of a player. In fact, he probably has been the Hawks’ best player during the first quarter of the season.

‘‘He’s been excellent this year,’’ coach Joel Quenneville said.
‘‘Offensively, he’s a threat. He has the puck a lot. Defensively, he seems to kill a lot of plays. He’s
positionally strong. He’s strong in the puck area. He complements our special teams, as well. That line — whether it’s with [Patrick Kane] or [Jonathan Toews] — on a lot of nights, that’s tough to contend with. A lot of times, he’s a direct force.’’

Off the ice, it’s Mia who drives Hossa. On Sept. 7, Hossa lost close friend Pavol Demitra in the plane crash involving the Russian pro team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. Two days later, Hossa and his wife, Jana, celebrated Mia’s birth.

It has been tough for Hossa to be on the road, especially with the
annual circus trip this month. But video chats with Jana have helped him stay connected to Mia.

‘‘I haven’t spent much time with her because we’ve been on the road for a quite a bit,’’ Hossa said. ‘‘But when we have a day off, I lay with her on her side on the couch or on the bed. That’s my favorite thing.

‘‘She’s starting to pick up on things. She is looking around and seeing what’s going on. Things are just going to be more fun when she gets a little older.’’

When he’s healthy, there is little that can slow Hossa. He is off to another scorching start with nine goals and 23 points in his first 20 games. That is even better than his start last season, when he had eight goals and 18 points in his first 20 games. It doesn’t matter which line he’s on; he just produces.

‘‘He does all the little things right,’’ linemate Viktor Stalberg said. ‘‘It’s something I’ve learned from playing with him. He’s making me a better player, that’s for sure.

‘‘He is a great guy. He’s not the loudest guy in the locker room, but for being as recognized as he is and experienced as he is, he’s a real humble guy. He’s nice to everyone. It doesn’t matter if you’re a first-year player or a fifth- or 10th-year player. He’s one of the first guys you can talk to. He’s genuinely a nice guy.’’

Hossa said he doesn’t feel like a different player now that he’s a
father, but there has been a change in his perspective.

‘‘I think hockey was always
No. 1,’’ Hossa said ‘‘[But] the priorities change. Now [that] the baby is there, you think about life a little bit different.’’

Sports editor’s note: The Blackhawks-San Jose Sharks game ended too late for this edition. For late
results, go to www.suntimes.com/sports.

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Tim Tebow.

Tim Tebow. Tim Tebow. Tim Tebow.

There.

That ought to be enough to flood the online comments section. For just the mere mention of the Broncos’ hard-working, God-fearing, awkward-throwing-but-still-winning quarterback stimulates debate like few other sports topics.

Here’s the part where the Tebow enthusiasts nod emphatically, firm believers in the unifying power of this kid’s confidence and will.

Rewind 42 days. Denver owns a 1-4 record and trails the winless Dolphins 15-0 with 5:23 to play in Miami.

Jared Kleinstein, a 24-year-old Broncos fan, sits inside SideBar, a tavern in New York, annoyed he has invested another Sunday to watch this train wreck.

"Yikes," he thinks. "Not good."

Yet somehow, 30 minutes later, after Tebow has delivered an unfathomable rally and an 18-15 overtime victory, Kleinstein finds himself down on a knee, his fist pressed against his temple in imitation of the quarterback’s prayer pose.

"It felt like the Super Bowl," Kleinstein says.

Five other Broncos fans join him for a photo, all down on a knee.

A Tim Tebow miracle?

That. Just. Happened.

And it hasn’t stopped happening.

In Week 9, Tebow pulls the Broncos out of a 10-point third-quarter hole to deliver a 38-24 victory in Oakland.

Eleven nights later, a 20-yard Tebow touchdown run in the final minute caps a ridiculous 95-yard drive and punctuates a 17-13 upset of the Jets.

The next time out, the Broncos steal a 16-13 overtime victory in San Diego.

Now, Tebow is 5-1 as a starter. Denver is somehow 6-5 and just a game back of the Raiders in the AFC West. And Kleinstein is the suddenly popular founder of Tebowing.com, one iconic pose going viral and circling the globe 10 times over.

The photo submissions multiply daily.

Six Marines form a Tebowing pyramid in Okinawa, Japan.

Here’s a Tebowing pancake and a Tebowing surfer and, yep, even a Tebowing dog.

There’s a man Tebowing at Stonehenge and another doing so on the Great Wall of China.

"We now have people Tebowing at all eight new wonders of the world," Kleinstein says. "For a while, we were stuck at seven. I wondered whether we could get anyone to Tebow at Machu Picchu. Within a day, we had three submissions."

Yep, all this has mushroomed in the past six weeks.

Pick a side

Sunday, the Tim Tebow circus sets up at Mall of America Field.

Two lines will quickly form — one for Tim Tebow admirers, another for the cynics and critics.

Choose carefully. Because in this debate, switching sides seems to be prohibited.

Says Woody Paige, a columnist for the Denver Post: "Tim Tebow is like gun control and abortion. Everybody has an opinion. And you can’t convince anyone to change the opinion they already have."

Paige takes a pro-Tebow stance, a believer that the 24-year-old quarterback deserves all this success and is "100 percent the real deal" when it comes to both his religious devotion and his natural leadership skills.

Yet Paige also knows the detractors will continue rolling their eyes.

Seriously, what’s with all this Tim Tebow hype?

We’re honestly talking about the possibility of sending him to Honolulu for the Pro Bowl? Has anyone watched this kid wind up and throw? Two out of every three of his passes, it seems as if he’s heaving a toaster oven instead of a football.

And isn’t Tebow’s incessant Christian sermonizing a bit much?

Vikings cornerback Asher Allen considers the phenomenon. He saw Tebowmania in college form, his Georgia Bulldogs battling Tebow and the Florida Gators three times in Jacksonville, Fla.

Allen acknowledges Tebow has many qualities worth admiring.

Plays hard. Respects the game. Encourages teammates. And man, he’s a load to tackle.

"So much more of a load than you think," Allen says.

All that said, Allen shrugs knowing full well that no matter how long Tebow continues winning, no matter how long he continues prioritizing his faith, no matter how long he stays grounded and driven and polite and devoted to helping others less fortunate, the legion of haters will inevitably grow.

"It’s strange," Allen says. "I think sometimes when a person devotes himself to doing good, other people don’t like it. I don’t know why that is. Tim’s a guy who obviously tries to do good both on and off the field. I applaud him for that. But for whatever reason, there’s a lot of people who don’t like that."

Questions from within

Perhaps the hate continues spreading because so much outside doubt bounces off Tebow, like BB’s pelting the Terminator.

All those who question whether Tebow is truly as cheery and benevolent as portrayed? The legions of football experts who say he’s a below-average quarterback incapable of succeeding long-term?

With skin as thick as a rhino, Tebow shrugs it off and says he feels blessed to have this opportunity.

Count John Elway, Denver’s executive vice president of football operations, as one of the apparent naysayers. Elway played quarterback with breathtaking grace. His combination of arm strength, accuracy and athleticism deserved an exhibit at the Louvre.

Tebow’s clunky mechanics and Pamplona running style? It’s like a mangled collection of silverware, rusty hubcaps and Pepsi cans fused together and marketed as artistic brilliance.

No wonder Elway has been so hesitant to buy in, refusing to cast a long-term vote of confidence in his quarterback.

And Broncos coach John Fox? He will readily laud Tebow’s toughness and positivity. Hey, it’s been a pretty intoxicating six weeks.

But asked about sustaining this buzz with a college-style option offense and a quarterback who completes less than 46 percent of his passes, Fox delivers a perfect four-word slogan for Tebowmania.

"Long term? Not sure."

You gotta have faith

Shouldn’t all this be enough for Tebow to have at least a brief meltdown, a frustrated moment to lash out at all these people who see so much of what he isn’t and don’t value what he is?

"This has been a lot of fun to live out my dream every day," Tebow says. "I consider myself blessed to come into this office and play quarterback for this great organization and with some great teammates. It’s been a lot of fun."

Asked to identify his favorite element of the Tebowing craze, Tebow immediately references Joey Norris, a young boy stricken with cancer who tweeted a photo of himself "Tebowing while chemoing."

"It was really cool to see that you could create some hope in somebody to help them have a brighter day," Tebow said.

Naturally, Tebow took the next step. He says he has invited the boy to be his guest at Denver’s regular-season finale against Kansas City.

Yep, Tebow has become football’s version of Ned Flanders, somehow succeeding in a gladiator’s world with an "okely-dokely" spirit and a belief that football is a platform for him to serve a higher purpose.

Which is another thing that rankles his critics. It’s not so much that Tebow is deeply religious but that he’s constantly reminding everyone.

Last week, former Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer suggested Tebow tone it down.

"When he accepts the fact that we know he loves Jesus Christ, then I think I’ll like him a little better," Plummer said.

To which Tebow promptly responded during an ESPN interview: "If you’re married, and you have a wife, and you really love your wife, is it good enough to only say to your wife ‘I love you’ the day you get married? Or should you tell her every single day when you wake up and at every opportunity? That’s how I feel about my relationship with Jesus Christ."

Another nationwide shouting match erupted: "Good for him" vs. "Give it a rest."

That’s entertainment

Now it’s gameday in Minneapolis. And the lines are forming. Paige knows where the conversation will head at sundown.

"Every game Tim Tebow proves everybody right," he says. "The people that hate him are convinced he can’t throw it. And the people who believe in him say, ‘Look, he wins games.’ They’re both right. … Every week it’s ‘Alice in Wonderland.’ It just gets curiouser and curiouser."

So here’s where NFL Network analyst Joe Theismann comes in, willing to offer his advice to the audience of this fable.

Theismann has no problems criticizing Tebow’s faulty mechanics and woeful accuracy.

Yet he has found a way, as Tebow would request, to stay firmly planted in the now. Forget where Tim Tebow will be in 2015, Theismann recommends. Just enjoy his visit Sunday.

Watch him play. Judge for yourself.

But notice that no matter how horrible Tebow seems to play, his teammates never lose confidence in his ability to deliver the end result.

Says Theismann: "His teammates see the success building and they have no choice but to say, ‘Hey, he may be the ugly duckling. But the ugly duckling is ours.’"

Theismann says this has little chance to last. As electric as it seems right now, Tebowmania eventually will fizzle out.

After all, in Tebow’s six starts, the Broncos actually have battled to a 116-116 scoring stalemate. Plus with Tebow’s rugged running style, the physical toll will add up fast.

With that said, Theismann won’t take his eyes off the spectacle.

"I say enjoy it while it’s here."

Tebowmania? Maybe, just maybe, Theismann suggests, this is a spectacle fit for the Vegas strip.

"We’ve all been invited to Cirque du Soleil," he says. "Enjoy it. And take your mind out of it. Don’t analyze it. Don’t try to figure out how the guy attaches himself to a pole 60 feet in the air. Don’t try to figure out how people can balance their bodies on top of another person’s big toe. Don’t try to figure out how they can throw things around. Just live for the moment and enjoy the show."

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Updated: November 29, 2011 2:16AM

The Blackhawks will spend a lot more time at their practice facility now that they will share the United Center with Derrick Rose and the Bulls, but Jonathan Toews doesn’t mind.

“I’m sure the fans around Chicago are eager to see the MVP return home,” Toews said Monday at Johnny’s Ice House West about the end to the NBA’s labor strife.

Toews was glad fans will have the Bulls back in action after the NBA and its players agreed in principle to end their lockout. The Hawks’ captain said that it was interesting to watch how the labor relations in the NBA and NFL unfolded this year.

“There’s been a lot going on in pro sports lately, and it’s a reality in every sport, including hockey coming up,” Toews said, referring to the NHL’s collective-bargaining agreement that ends Sept. 15, 2012. “You think about it and you talk about it with players and you kind of learn the differences between your game and other sports. It’s all interesting how it contrasts.”

Patrick Sharp said neither the NHL’s players nor owners are interested in a repeat of the lockout that wiped out the 2004-05 season.

“It’s never fun to look at [what the NFL and NBA] went through and, of course, we’ve been through that in our league,” said Sharp, who was in the minors during the labor stoppage. “The union and the league have a good relationship and will take the right steps to get that done.”

Notes

Hawks 2011 first-round draft picks Phillip Danault and Mark McNeill were invited to Canada’s 2012 world junior championship selection camp.

Dave Bolland and Brent Seabrook did not practice Monday. Both are expected to be in the lineup Tuesday against the Phoenix Coyotes.

Corey Crawford is expected to get the start in goal.

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Once upon a time, not long ago, the Vikings were coming off an NFC Championship Game with but three holes to fill.

They needed a backup running back, a cornerback and no limit to the groveling it would take to lure Brett Favre back for one more rodeo.

The Vikings plugged all three holes and solidified themselves as the most airtight of ships in the NFL’s 32-team fleet. Then again, that was the perception. And sometimes perception gets blindsided with a force of reality that’s equal to an unblocked Jared Allen.

Since losing that title game, the Vikings are 8-19 and have sprung more leaks than the world has Dutch boys. They’ll head into the offseason needing cornerbacks, safeties, receivers, offensive linemen, defensive tackles, linebackers and, well, just about every other position that Adrian Peterson doesn’t play, including a veteran backup quarterback for Christian Ponder.

But despite the team’s 2-9 record and what appears to be more holes to fill than any one offseason could possibly satisfy, the Vikings have been reluctant to play many of their young players, either at all or enough to judge them in live game action to see if they have a finger that can plug a leak in 2012.

"Well, you still want to give yourself a chance to win, without jeopardizing," coach Leslie Frazier said. "You want to be smart about when you put a guy out there."

The Vikings constantly evaluate practices that no one but those in the organization see. According to Frazier, coaches are constantly asking, "Is he ready to play?"

"And we have to determine that not only by his stats in a game, but based on what he’s done in practice," Frazier said. "How is he practicing? How well is he picking up what we’re doing? Does he look like he’s ready to get in a game? If you don’t feel like he’s quite ready and you put him out there just for the sake of saying, ‘I want to look at him in a game,’ and now the kid fails or he jeopardizes someone else’s health because he wasn’t ready.

"That’s not the wisest thing to do for the sake of saying ‘I want to see him in a game,’ when you knew based on the way he practiced and the way he was in meetings, he wasn’t ready."

That’s why 30-year-old Benny Sapp was signed off the street and jumped ahead of fifth-round draft pick Brandon Burton at a depleted cornerback position. That’s why Brandon Fusco, a backup interior offensive lineman, played in one game while 29-year-old journeyman Joe Berger got four consecutive starts at right guard. That’s why a potential future left tackle such as DeMarcus Love and a promising pass rusher such as D’Aundre Reed still haven’t suited up on game day.

"You can’t let it get you down," said Burton, who has played in five games but has yet to see a defensive snap. "You have to bide your time. I just think they have a plan for me. We’re all definitely on the sideline champing at the bit to get in there, but I know one day my day will come."

Injuries are beginning to open doors to a youth movement. Rookie sixth-round draft pick Mistral Raymond, a free safety, will make his NFL starting debut Sunday after two safeties — Husain Abdullah (concussion) and Tyrell Johnson (hamstring) — were placed on injured reserve Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the receiver position is even more depleted now that Michael Jenkins (knee) also is on injured reserve. That led the Vikings to re-sign rookie seventh-round draft pick Stephen Burton. Burton spent the first seven weeks on the practice squad and three more on the active roster before he was released last week.

He had a disappointing preseason and no catches during the regular season, but he’ll also see some time on Sunday because, well, the Vikings are desperate with only Devin Aromashodu (nine catches) and Greg Camarillo (four) behind Percy Harvin.

"If you’re Stephen Burton, here you are, you find yourself with Michael Jenkins down, all of a sudden you’re in the mix," Frazier said. "You’re going to get more reps than you probably anticipated prior to this past Sunday when you weren’t even on our roster.

"Some of what has happened to our team injury-wise will increase guys’ reps naturally and at the same time, there are some guys we’d like to be able to take a look at. But we don’t want to go into a game saying, ‘Okay, we’re not trying to win this game, it’s more important that we take a look at the X, Y, Z player.’ There are a lot of guys in that locker room that are fighting to get wins."

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Updated: December 8, 2011 11:53PM

UNIONDALE, N.Y. — It was a defensive victory with a couple of star performances.

For a team that has been critical of its defensive efforts, Ray Emery’s strong play in goal, a recently defiant penalty kill and the ability to hold off the surging New York Islanders after they seized momentum were all good signs for the Blackhawks.

Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa provided the offense with two special games as the Hawks pulled out a 3-2 victory in overtime Thursday at the Nassau Coliseum.

Sharp scored twice, including the game-winner 1:34 into overtime, and had an assist. Hossa scored his 400th career goal and assisted on both of Sharp’s goals.

The Islanders, who’ve been playing well lately, made Emery (31 saves) work for his fifth victory by rallying from a 2-0 hole. The Islanders’ only loss in their previous five games was their shootout loss to the Hawks last week.

“We played hard,” defenseman Duncan Keith said. “We were trying to be smart with the puck. You’re never going to be perfect out there. When they had their chances, Ray made some big saves.”

Emery, who got the start in place of struggling starter Corey Crawford, might have played well enough to warrant another start Sunday against the San Jose Sharks. He was beaten on two long shots by defensemen Travis Hamonic and Steve Staios to give up the Hawks’ two-goal lead, but coach Joel Quenneville thought he “was real good.”

“Early in the game, he had a very solid first period, very consistent,” Quenneville said. “[He] looked square, looked big, challenged well and continues to get points for us. It was a big win for him and for us.”

The Hawks came in as one of the least penalized teams in the NHL, but looked nothing like it against the Islanders. They sat in the penalty box six times, hurting their momentum.

But it’s a good thing the Hawks’ penalty kill, which was at the bottom of the league not too long ago, continues to show significant progress. The Islanders had a 5-on-3 power play for nearly two full minutes late in the second and early in the third, but they killed it off. They took care of all of their penalties without yielding a goal, including Daniel Carcillo’s roughing penalty in the final minutes.

“I thought we played a diligent game defensively for the most part and made some big kills, [especially the] 5-on-3,” said Emery, who also made key stops on Islanders star John Tavares in the first period.

The Islanders, though, had few answers for Sharp and Hossa.

Hossa gave the Hawks a 1-0 lead and made some history when his pass from behind the net deflected off Chicago-area native Al Montoya (25 saves) and in at 11:42 during a first-period power play. In the second, he set up Sharp’s first goal with a cross-ice pass.

In overtime, Sharp notched the game-winner after Hossa stole the puck from Staios, started a 2-on-1 breakout and fired on Montoya, leaving a rebound.

“Congratulations to Hossa for scoring his 400th goal; it’s a really impressive stat if you punch the numbers,” said Sharp, who has 15 goals this season. “[And] he made a nice play on the final goal there. He didn’t have the pass, so he shot it off the pad, and it was a nice bounce. … It was one I wanted to put in, for sure.”

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Updated: December 1, 2011 3:21PM

A letdown after a long road trip?

Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp and Duncan Keith weren’t buying it when they met the media after getting handled by the Phoenix Coyotes.

Sure, it’s tough to feel ready after being gone for so long. But the Hawks are 6-1 in their first game back at the United Center after the circus trip since the lockout. The Hawks also are a solid 4-1-1 in the first home game after the ice-show trip in February.

It’s about focus and effort — or a lack thereof Tuesday in the 4-1 loss against the Coyotes. The fast and star-studded Hawks are one of the best teams in the league when they bring it. Even when they’re not playing their best, as Jonathan Toews often says, when they work hard, good bounces come their way.

The Hawks talked the other day about still being a team in search of an identity. What’s wrong with being a hard-working team every night? Wasn’t that their mantra the season they won the Stanley Cup? It seems to work for starless teams such as the Coyotes.

Instead, the Hawks have retained some bad habits from last season, where inconsistency reigned. They’re an uninspiring 6-6 in their last 12 games.

Tuesday’s loss was another bad regulation defeat for the Hawks in what continues to be a disheartening trend.

In their eight regulation defeats, the Hawks have been outscored 33-8. Their season-opening 2-1 defeat against the Dallas Stars and their 1-0 loss to the San Jose Sharks during the circus trip are the “bright spots.”

“We were playing well there at the end of the California trip, and obviously didn’t carry it over to home ice,” Sharp said. “We’ve got to be way more consistent and put a better effort on home ice than that. I think [the first game back after a long road trip is] an excuse, an easy way out.”

The Hawks didn’t get a power-play opportunity until the final minutes of the third period against the Coyotes.

“You generate power-play opportunities based on offensive-zone time, puck possession, speed, quickness, advantages,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “There were few [examples].”

Fans calling for some sort of bag skate to spur the Hawks will have to wait. They were given the day off Wednesday as Quenneville continues to stick to the team’s schedule. He also prefers to put the Hawks through various battle drills after such losses.

The Hawks do have some positives to lean on. Their power play has converted in seven of the last 10 games. Their penalty-kill ranking is awful, but they’re also one of the least penalized teams. They’re among the top five in shots per game, averaging more than 33.

But there also are such negatives as their pedestrian plus-2 goal differential. Their high position in the Western Conference also is based more on the fact that they’ve played more than any team in the West going into Wednesday.

In a day or two, the Hawks could be lumped among the pack.

“You say we’re at the top, but there are so many teams all within one, two or three points,” Quenneville said. “It’s already looking like it’s going to be a tight race.”

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