Blackhawks reach All-Star break

Judging the Blackhawks' first half of the season in the span of a few words isn't easy. It was, at worst, pretty good, but it was certainly less than satisfying.

Fifty games into the season, the Blackhawks have compiled 64 points. Though the total's good only for a share of third place in the loaded Central Division, the Hawks are on pace to finish with 105 points. That would have been enough to win the Central last season (when Detroit won it with 104). It's also more than the 103 Boston racked up before winning the Stanley Cup last year. At the very least, 105 points should get the Hawks comfortably into the playoffs, sparing the nail-biting last year's 97-point outfit invoked in its fans.

Record-wise, the 29-15-6 Hawks haven't quite been dominant thus far, but they've been close. But it really doesn't feel like they're that good, and not just because they were outscored 8-3 by the Predators in losing their last two games. When the Blackhawks rolled to 112 points and ultimately to the Cup in 2009-10, there was a different feel to them. I guess it stemmed from their ability to dominate puck possession and their defense, which allowed the fifth-lowest goal total in the league.

I think 50 games is enough of a sample size to prove that the Blackhawks have a significantly different team this season. Their goals against average of 2.77 ranks a pedestrian 17th in the NHL. Much of that is due to a defense which has allowed opponents to pepper 1,456 shots on goal this season ... though 16 teams have allowed more shots. I think too little of the blame is being assigned to Corey Crawford, whose .902 save percentage ranks 37th in the league among goalies who have made 15 or more starts. Crawford and the defense are responsible for a penalty-killing unit that has killed an awful 77.9 percent of opponents' penalties, ranking as the third worst in the NHL.

Of course, there are positives on the other end of the ice that have partially masked the Hawks' defensive deficiencies. Their 158 goals are the third-highest total of any team in the league and rank first in the Western Conference. And the Hawks have scored at that rate despite getting a total of 14 goals from their defensemen and very little from their third and fourth lines (at least until Andrew Shaw and Jimmy Hayes came up and got hot recently). If Patrick Kane snaps out of his funk and the likes of Michael Frolik and Andrew Brunette actually start contributing, look out.