Patrick Sharp

So the Islanders have made it to the semi-finals. Some probably doubted the team's ability to make it this far, especially when competing with some of the biggest stars in the league. But it comes down to these next few days to see whether or not they will be competing in the final round.

That is, of course, for the cover of EA Sports' NHL 2013. John Tavares so far has eliminated Jordan Eberle in the first round and Pavel Datsyuk in the second round. Currently Tavares is facing off against Pekka Rinne, the starting goaltender for the Nashville Predators. Rinne might be tough for JT to beat, considering he received more votes than New York Rangers goaltender, Henrik Lundqvist.

The Chicago Blackhawks made a lot of mistakes in the first game of their series versus the Phoenix Coyotes, and corrected most of those in their second game on Saturday night.

It was an exciting game, starting with Bryan Bickell of the Blackhawks opening the scoring 3:05 into the first period, proving that Chicago's power play isn't entirely impotent.  Raffi Torres tied it up for Phoenix just under 6 minutes later. When Jonathan Toews of the Blackhawks closed in on Phoenix goaltender Mike Smith, the puck on his stick, Smith put his hands up and made first contact. Yet Toews was the one who ended up with a penalty for interference, and then the Coyotes took the lead...

They say everything in Texas is bigger and nothing could have been truer in last night’s Chicago Blackhawks/Dallas Stars game. There was big goals, big saves and big hits which, saw the Hawks standing their ground and coming out of big D with a big two points. More importantly the Hawks are showing they may not out muscle you but they don’t need to in order to skate away with wins.

The Hawks have played the Blues, Rangers, Kings & now the Stars who are all solid defensive teams with excellent netminders and top drawer defenses. The Hawks managed to get points in each of these games which are huge coming down the stretch to the playoffs. In what could be a glimpse of ...

As the Hawks try and make a run to stay in the playoff hunt in the Western Conference, potentially a new team has emerged. With injuries to key players and a necessity to change the course this team was headed on a new Blackhawks team has arisen like a Phoenix from the ashes.

This new team has a different look and a mixture of experience sprinkled in with raw youthful vigor, finesse seasoned with bit of grit. The one thing that remains constant is the teams speed. I’m not sure if this new team should be called the Ice Hawks or the Black Hogs with the new found energy and grit that Andrew Shaw, Jimmy Hayes and Brandon Bollig have given them. Oh yeah and that Oduya ...