Bill Clement

One of the highlights for the Blackhawks this season will be hosting the Red Wings in the Jan. 1 Winter Classic outdoor game at historic Wrigley Field. Another highlight could very well be their returning to the postseason for the first time since 2002.

The Blackhawks have changed for the better over the last two seasons and that’s happened for several reasons. Topping the list is Rocky Wirtz taking over as chairman of the franchise following the passing of his father, William Wirtz, who served as president of the club for 41 years.

Rocky Wirtz has made some much needed positive moves starting with putting the Blackhawks’ games on local television for the first time in franchise history. He also hired John McDonough as team president and McDonough has played a key role in reinvigorating the team’s fan base as he has reconnected with Blackhawk legends Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita and Tony Esposito and made them official team ambassadors.

Rocky Wirtz is a results-driven leader. And if the results aren’t there changes will be made. There’s no better evidence of that then Chicago reacting to a 1-2-1 start this season by firing coach Denis Savard and replacing him with ex-Blues and Avalanche head coach Joel Quenneville. That was one of the quickest hooks in NHL history. General manager Dale Tallon explained the firing by saying an evaluation process of the job Savard was doing had been underway since training camp and the decision to fire him was an organizational one. From management’s view the Blackhawks lacked the kind of energy in preseason that they showed at the end of last season and that helped seal Savard’s fate.

After the slow start and the coaching change, Chicago got moving in the right direction. It headed into the Christmas break on a seven-game winning streak. In the Western Conference it’s pretty well conceded that Detroit and San Jose will fight it out for the top spot. But the Blackhawks have shown enough that they could land a seed as high as No. 4 if they play the rest of the way at the level they have over the first three months of the season.

Tallon has been the team’s general manager for three and a half years and last season Chicago missed the playoffs by just three points. In an effort to not have that happen again, Tallon went out this summer and signed the best free agent defenseman in Brian Campbell and the best free agent goalie in Cristobal Huet. Campbell got an eight-year, $56.8 million deal and Huet received a four-year, $22.5 million contract. Huet is splitting time with Nikolai Khabibulin, who is in the final year of a $27 million contract he signed in 2005. They’ve been a solid 1-2 punch between the pipes.

The strengthening of the defense and goaltending isn’t the only reason there are high hopes for this season and the future. Chicago has an impressive core of good young players, including rising stars in Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.

In the recent past the Blackhawks have not drafted well but that started to change in 2006 when Chicago selected Toews in the first round (third overall). A year later Chicago had the first overall pick and used it on Kane. Both have a ton of skill and character. Last season Toews — despite missing 18 games with a knee injury — had 24 goals while Kane had 21 goals. Kane won the Calder Trophy as he led all NHL rookies with 72 points.

Toews and Kane log the most ice time among the Blackhawks’ forwards. Patrick Sharp has meshed well with them and last season he saw his offense soar as he chalked up a team and career-high 36 goals. Sharp has always been an excellent defensive player and penalty killer but he’s turned into a scorer as well.

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But in September the Blackhawks traded Robert Lang to the Canadiens for a second-round draft pick in 2010. That’s left a void down the middle and Sharp has had to play some at center on the second line, giving him less ice time with Toews and Kane.

Even with the addition of Campbell, Duncan Keith is Chicago’s true workhorse on the blue line. He leads the Blackhawks in ice time and last season logged the third most ice time in the league — 2,096 minutes. He also had the most minutes in the NHL shorthanded (374). He’s extremely poised and has a complete game. To me he’s the most underrated defenseman in the NHL. Last season he tied for fifth in the NHL in plus-minus with a remarkable plus-30 rating.