Before the start of the NHL playoffs, I stated there were six teams I thought had a legitimate chance of winning the Stanley Cup. Two of them will be playing head-to-head in this series as the Blackhawks take on the Vancouver Canucks starting Saturday in the Western Conference semifinals.

This is a rematch from last season. The Blackhawks beat Vancouver, 4 games to 2, in this same round a year ago. This should be interesting hockey, since these two teams absolutely hate each other with a fiery passion. Hopefully, we can get through this series without any hair-pulling incidents (pictured).

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville is putting an emphasis on discipline going into this series. While we praised the Hawks for their excellent penalty killing (25 for 26) in their series win over Nashville, 26 times short-handed is too many for a six-game series. The Hawks need to do a better job of staying out of the box, as the Canucks are far more prolific offensively than the Predators.

In fact, the Canucks are the only team in the West that scored more goals than the Hawks in the regular season. Vancouver finished with 272 goals. The Hawks had 271.

The Canucks are going to come at the Hawks physically. That means the Hawks need to walk the fine line of standing up for themselves and each other, while at the same time avoiding stupid retaliatory penalties.

Without further baloney, let's go to the series breakdown. All the stats provided are regular season totals:

Schedule
Game 1 at Chicago, Sat., 7 p.m. (Versus)
Game 2 at Chicago, Mon., 8 p.m. (CSN)
Game 3 at Vancouver, Wed., 8:30 p.m. (CSN)
Game 4 at Vancouver, May 7, 8:30 p.m. (Versus)
Game 5 at Chicago, May 9, 7 p.m.* (CSN)
Game 6 at Vancouver, May 11, 8:30 p.m.* (CSN)
Game 7 at Chicago, May 13, 7 p.m.* (CSN)
*if necessary

Goaltenders
Vancouver: Roberto Luongo, 40-22-4, 2.57 GAA, .913 save percentage
Hawks: Antti Niemi 26-7-4, 2.25 GAA, .912 save percentage

Leading scorers
Vancouver: Henrik Sedin 29 goals, 83 assists, 112 points, +35; Daniel Sedin 29 goals, 56 assists, 85 points, +36; Ryan Kesler 25 goals, 50 assists, 75 points, +1; Alex Burrows 35 goals, 32 assists, 67 points, +34; Mikael Samuelsson 30 goals, 23 assists, 53 points, +10.
Hawks: Patrick Kane 30 goals, 58 assists, 88 points, +16; Duncan Keith 14 goals, 55 assists, 69 points, +21; Jonathan Toews 25 goals, 43 assists, 68 points, +22; Patrick Sharp 25 goals, 41 assists, 66 points, +24; Marian Hossa 24 goals, 27 assists, 51 points, +24.

Top defensemen
Vancouver: Sami Salo 9 goals, 19 assists, 28 points, +14; Alexander Edler 5 goals, 37 assists, 42 points, -1; Christian Ehrhoff 14 goals, 30 assists, 44 points, +35; Kevin Bieksa 3 goals, 19 assists, 22 points, -5.
Hawks: Keith (see stats above); Brent Seabrook 4 goals, 26 assists, 30 points, +20; Brian Campbell 7 goals, 31 assists, 38 points, +18; Niklas Hjalmarsson 2 goals, 15 assists, 17 points, +9.

Special teams
Vancouver: Power play 20.9 percent (6th in league); Penalty killing 81.6 percent (18th in league).
Hawks: Power play 17.7 percent (16th in league); Penalty killing 85.3 percent (4th in league).

Season series (Tied 2-2, home team in caps):
October 21: Vancouver 3, HAWKS 2
November 22: Hawks 1, VANCOUVER 0
January 23: VANCOUVER 5, Hawks 1
March 5: HAWKS 6, Vancouver 3

And away we go....

April 29 is the anniversary of the Lee Elia rant. Obviously, we can't post that tirade in its entirety because it's rather profane. So, you'll have to settle for this.

Here's something I'll bet you didn't know about the White Sox: They lead the American League in both home runs and stolen bases.

No, really, I'm serious. They do. Following Thursday's 7-5 win over the Texas Rangers, the Sox have a league-best 29 home runs and a league-best 24 stolen bases.

Too bad that has translated into more run production. Despite the power-and-speed combo we've seen from the team so far this year, the Sox rank 11th in the American League in runs and have only a 9-13 record to show for their efforts.

The reason for these offensive woes? Well, for one thing, the Sox are hitting a league-worst .222 as a team. Secondly, Juan Pierre sucks. All the home runs Paul Konerko and Andruw Jones are hitting are solo shots because the Sox leadoff hitter is rarely on base.

Pierre went 0 for 5 Thursday and never got the ball out of the infield. His batting average has dipped to .200. His on-base percentage is a robust .261. Pierre came up in the seventh inning Thursday with runners on second and third and one out, with the Sox trailing 3-2. Texas was playing the infield back, conceding the tying run. One of Pierre's patented "grind outs" to second base would have evened the score. Naturally, he picked that at-bat to hit the ball in the air and popped out to second. Fail.

Fortunately, the Rangers bailed Pierre and the Sox out, as the tying and go-ahead runs scored moments later on the same wild pitch by Texas reliever Dustin Nippert.

During Wednesday night's 6-5 loss to the Rangers, Pierre managed to make six outs in five plate appearances -- even though he reached base twice. He grounded into two double plays (four outs!), was caught stealing once and "grinded out" to kill a ninth-inning rally.

This dude has really been terrible, and the Sox have no chance of getting back to .500 if Pierre continues to kill the offense from the leadoff spot. Other Sox fans have assured me that hitting coach Greg Walker IS NOT to blame for the team's hitting woes. Since Walker isn't going to be fired, how about firing Juan Pierre?

At the very least, drop his sorry ass down in the lineup. Make him bat ninth until he either figures it out or plays his way off the roster entirely.

I was going to blog about the Bulls season ending tonight, but hey, that's no fun. I didn't watch much of that game anyway. Far more amusing to watch Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith squirt a heckler with a water bottle.

I'll be off tomorrow. Back on Thursday....

It's no secret I don't like interleague play. I realize it's here to stay because the casual baseball fans LOVE it. But I've always looked upon the annual crosstown series with the Cubs as summer nuisance.

Even though I'm a White Sox season-ticket holder, I rarely attend the Sox-Cubs games at U.S. Cellular Field. Almost always, I sell those tickets or let somebody else have them. That series brings out the absolute worst in both fan bases. I simply don't enjoy going because I want to watch baseball, not listen to a bunch of meatheads get an argument over an infield single by Jim Edmonds (yes, that actually happened at the Cell in 2008).

The crosstown series is nothing more than six games in June. Those games don't carry any more weight in the standings than any of the other 156 regular season games. Yet everyone makes a big deal out of it. When the White Sox won the World Series in 2005, the fact that they lost two out of three to a mediocre Cubs team in June was a faint memory. Sorry, folks, that series doesn't matter that much in the big picture.

Now, the crosstown series is going to be even more ridiculous because the teams will be playing for the "BP Crosstown Cup." Whichever Chicago team wins more of the six head-to-head meetings in June is going to get a goofy trophy. I'm supposed to be excited about this?

Maybe the drunken dopes in town will be excited about this crap, but I don't care. There's only one trophy that matters -- the World Series trophy. The Sox raised it in 2005. I want to see the team get back to that level someday. Why the hell should you get a trophy for beating the Cubs? Lots of people have beaten the Cubs through the years. This is just dumb, dumb, dumb. It's an embarrassment to Chicago, frankly.

Since BP is sponsoring this thing, I'm sure both the Sox and the Cubs are making a fair bit of money. That's really what this is about. I know most Sox fans aren't excited about this new trophy. I can't imagine Cubs fans are all that hyped up about it either.

It wasn't easy. Playoff hockey never is. But the Blackhawks have finally knocked out the pesky Nashville Predators, 4 games to 2, in the Western Conference quarterfinals.

The Hawks won Game 6 in Nashville 5-3 Monday night. Most of the big guns were on the scoresheet -- Duncan Keith, Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp and Jonathan Toews all had goals. John Madden added an empty-netter at the end.

However, it wasn't the offense that won this series for the Hawks. It was the penalty kill. Although Nashville finally scored on the power play in the first period Monday night, the Predators finished the series a pathetic 1 for 26 with the man advantage.

The Hawks took a 4-3 lead into the third period in Game 6. Nashville was awarded three power plays in the final 20 minutes. The Predators failed to score, and the Hawks prevailed.

The penalty kill was also significant in Game 5, as the Predators started the overtime period with four minutes of power play time. They failed to score, and the Hawks scored to win 5-4 just 10 seconds after the penalty expired.

I can't say the Hawks power play was great in this series -- they finished a pedestrian 4 for 22. But if you can kill off 25 out of 26 penalties in a six-game playoff series, that's a good recipe for advancement. The Hawks did everything right while short-handed -- they won faceoffs. They blocked shots. They cleared pucks 200 feet. They got good goaltending from Antti Niemi.

Next up for the Hawks: A rematch with the Vancouver Canucks. The two teams met in the second round last season as well, with the Hawks prevailing in six games. There is no love lost between those two teams, so it promises to be another great series.

... let's say it again...

Here's your fun Stanley Cup Playoffs fact of the day as we get ready to watch the Blackhawks and Predators play Game 6 tonight: Out of the first 44 playoff games played entering Monday night's action, the home team has won only 20.

Visiting teams are actually winning 55 percent of the games so far in these playoffs. Given the overall balance in the league, I suppose that doesn't come as too much of a surprise. Out of eight first-round series, only one was decided in five games or less. Three teams that I consider legitimate Stanley Cup contenders (Capitals, Blackhawks, Red Wings) have yet to punch their ticket to the second round and still need one more win to advance entering Monday's play.

All that said, I still think I'd rather play a Game 7 at home than on the road. Nevertheless, it's pretty clear that home ice guarantees nothing this year.

White Sox outfielder Andruw Jones has been swinging a surprisingly hot bat basically since Day 1 of spring training this season. Unfortunately, it took until the third week of the regular season for him to crack the everyday starting lineup. No wonder Sox fans have been so pissed at manager Ozzie Guillen lately.

Jones delivered again Friday night. He hit two solo home runs in a 7-6 win over the Seattle Mariners, including the game-winner in the bottom of the ninth. When you look back at the six White Sox victories so far this season, you'll see that Jones played a key role in five of them.

April 11: Go-ahead single with two outs in the bottom of the eighth; Sox beat Twins 5-4.
April 12: 3 for 4 with two homers; Sox beat Jays 8-7.
April 14: 3 for 5 with a homer; Sox beat Jays 11-1.
April 20: 2 for 4 with a homer; Sox beat Rays 4-1.
April 23: 2 for 4 with a pair of homers; Sox beat M's 7-6.

Where was Jones when the Sox were getting swept by Cleveland? Well, he was parked on the bench for two of the three games. At least Mark Kotsay got his at-bats, right?

I wasn't a big believer in Jones coming into the year. But he is starting to silence his skeptics, including me. No question this guy belongs in the Sox lineup EVERY DAMN DAY.

Got that, Ozzie?

Man, what a busy night here at the offices of The Beacon-News. With the dry weather we've been having, all the spring high school sports teams have been in action almost every day around here.

For me, that means I spend most of my night taking calls, e-mails and faxes. All kinds of local baseball, softball, soccer, tennis, track and badminton results to type up. I was so busy Thursday, I didn't get much of a chance to follow the action involving the Blackhawks, Bulls, White Sox or Cubs. I'll have to fire up Comcast On Demand when I get home tonight and review some of the goings-on.

All four of those pro teams were in action, and Chicago went 2-2. The two teams that really needed to win both won. The two baseball teams? Ah, send 'em to hell. They suck right now.

However, the Hawks' big guns appear to have stepped up when needed most. Two goals for Patrick Sharp (pictured) and a goal for Jonathan Toews in a 3-0 win at Nashville. That ties the series at 2-2. It's a best-of-3 now, and the Hawks will have two of those games at home, starting with Game 5 Saturday at the United Center.

How about the Bulls? I honestly thought they would get swept. But they built a 21-point lead in Game 3 and held off a furious Cleveland charge to win 108-106. Derrick Rose had 31 points, and I understand there was a Kirk Hinrich sighting as well. The veteran guard had 27 points on 9-for-12 shooting, including 4-for-4 on 3s.

Cleveland still leads the series 2-1. Game 4 is Sunday at the United Center. I still think the Cavs win this thing pretty easy, but hey, at least the Bulls are playing hard and making it a little more interesting.

I wish I had more analysis for you all on tonight's games, but if you had a chance to watch, you probably know more than I know. I'll be catching up a little later on.

I just want to take a moment to point out that I don't give a damn about the NFL draft. I didn't read any of the crap in the morning papers about the draft. I'm not watching the draft. I don't want to listen to talking heads discuss "the football." I don't care.

The NHL and NBA playoffs are going on. It's baseball season. Screw the NFL. Don't even talk to me about the Bears until September, and even then I'll probably only be marginally interested.

I recently decided to add the "Sports Entertainment Package" to my cable subscription plan from Comcast on a six-month trial basis. Aside from a three-day cable "outage" I experienced last week, I feel like it's been a pretty good investment.

I'm really glad that I get the MLB Network now. Unlike ESPN, the analysts on MLB Network actually spend time on their highlight shows talking about teams other than the Yankees and Red Sox. I feel like I'm getting a broader view of what is going on around the league. Whenever I tune into Baseball Tonight, it seems like they are trying to figure out what's wrong with the Red Sox and what's wrong with "Little Papi."

(Editor's Note: "Big Papi" is no longer a fitting nickname for David Ortiz, because he's batting .146).

MLB Network is starting out the year with a promotion called "30 clubs in 30 days." At some point in April, every team in the league has had or will have a game featured on the network. Today before work, I watched a good chunk of a matinee between the Royals and the Blue Jays. It was a nice pitching matchup between KC's Zack Greinke and Toronto's Shaun Marcum. The Royals won 4-3 in 10 innings on a solo home run by Alex Gordon (pictured).

Tomorrow afternoon, MLB Network will be featuring a game between the Twins and the Indians. I'll probably watch some of that before I come to work. ESPN may find this hard to believe, but as a White Sox fan, I would rather watch the Twins and Indians than their beloved Yankees and Red Sox. In fact, I enjoyed watching the Royals and Blue Jays today.

Would ESPN even think to televise such games? I figure not. This summer, I think I'll be watching MLB Network instead of ESPN for my national baseball coverage.

Interesting line combinations from Blackhawks practice Wednesday. You never know if this is actually what they are going to do in the game. The coaching staff might be trying to double-cross Nashville. But FWIW, it looks like both Bryan Bickell and Adam Burish will be in the lineup. Colin Fraser and Ben Eager are candidates to be scratched.

Here are the line combos from today's practice:

Line 1: Bickell-Toews-Kane
Line 2: Kopecky-Sharp-Hossa
Line 3: Ladd-Bolland-Versteeg
Line 4: Brouwer-Madden-Burish

Game 4 is Thursday night in Nashville. While coach Joel Quenneville is at it, maybe he should give the team a "Commit to the Indian" speech after Tuesday's lackluster performance. These words from Denis Savard could just have easily been uttered today:

Blackhawks radio analyst Troy Murray just said on the postgame show, "The Blackhawks have no fight in them whatsoever." Mr. Murray will get no argument from me.

There were no positives in Tuesday's 4-1 Game 3 loss to Nashville. This was a stinker from start to finish. The Hawks took three penalties in the first period and put themselves behind the eight ball right away. Their passing was abysmal throughout. Their top players generated few scoring chances. They were outworked along the wall consistently. There was no urgency whatsoever. Just a terrible effort.

Last night, we pointed out that the Bulls are in serious trouble in their series with the Cavaliers because they played well and still lost. The Blackhawks are in an entirely different position. They lost because they played like hot garbage, and they have no one to blame but themselves. Nashville does not have superior talent to the Blackhawks. Far from it. They are simply outhustling the Hawks. If the Hawks continue to allow that to happen, they are going to regret it.

Goaltender Antti Niemi is not to blame for this loss. He had defenseman standing around doing nothing in front of him tonight. Dustin Byfuglien was absolutely brutal in this game. It might be time to move Byfuglien back to forward for Game 4. The Hawks have had very little net presence in front of Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne. If Byfuglien is just going to stand around, he can stand in front of Rinne. He'll serve a better purpose there than standing around in front of Niemi.

Another thing I would do for Game 4 if I was Joel Quenneville: Put Adam Burish back in the lineup. The edge and intensity are strangely missing from this Blackhawks team right now. I know Burish will play hard. He was one of the best two-way forwards the Hawks had in the playoffs last year. I know Burish had an injury-plagued season this year, but I say let's put him out there and see if he can give the Hawks a spark.

Nashville now leads the series 2-1. Game 4 is scheduled for Thursday night.

The NFL released its 2010 schedule Tuesday night. Not that we're excited about the mediocre-at-best Bears around here, but they are starting at home for the first time since 2004. They'll host the Detroit Lions on Sept. 12. Hey, maybe they'll begin 1-0 for a change. From there, I won't get my hopes up. Here's the complete schedule:

Sunday, Sept. 12 vs. Detroit
Sunday, Sept. 19 at Dallas
Monday, Sept. 27 vs. Green Bay
Sunday, Oct. 3 at N.Y. Giants
Sunday, Oct. 10 at Carolina
Sunday, Oct. 17 vs. Seattle
Sunday, Oct. 24 vs. Washington
Sunday, Oct. 31 Bye week (Hey, the Bears can't lose on Halloween!)
Sunday, Nov. 7 vs. Buffalo (at Toronto)
Sunday, Nov. 14 vs. Minnesota
Thursday, Nov. 18 at Miami
Sunday, Nov. 28 vs. Philadelphia
Sunday, Dec. 5 at Detroit
Sunday, Dec. 12 vs. New England
Monday, Dec. 20 at Minnesota
Sunday, Dec. 26 vs. N.Y. Jets
Sunday, Jan. 2 at Green Bay

Somewhere, the Super Fans are checking off each game as a win tonight.

When you play well and still lose, that's when you are really in trouble.

That's always been my theory when it comes to the playoffs, and that goes for baseball, basketball and hockey. I think that's the situation the Bulls are looking at right now. They played some of their best basketball Monday night in Cleveland. They still lost, 112-102.

LeBron James scored 40 points and added eight rebounds and eight assists. The game was tied 77-77 after three quarters. The Bulls had no answer for James in the fourth quarter. That's the bottom line.

The Bulls top players all showed well in this game: Derrick Rose had 23 points and eight assists. Joakim Noah had 25 points and 13 rebounds, despite being booed relentlessly by Cleveland fans. Luol Deng added 20 points, six rebounds and five assists.

It still wasn't enough because Cleveland has James. It wasn't enough because the Cavaliers are just a better team, period.

Cleveland now owns a 2-0 lead in this first-round series, which shifts back to Chicago on Thursday night. I stated at the start of the series that I don't think the Bulls have much chance at all. I've yet to see any reason to believe otherwise.

I applaud the Bulls for their effort tonight. They just aren't good enough to beat this Cleveland team.

OK, so I couldn't find any flattering photos of Blackhawks defenseman Brent Sopel. Too bad, because I thought Sopel played his role effectively Sunday in the Hawks' 2-0 victory over Nashville in Game 2 of the Western Conference quarterfinals.

With the win, the Hawks tie the best-of-seven series at 1-1. Game 3 is Tuesday night in Nashville.

After dropping the series opener, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville did a little bit of juggling, both with the forward lines and with the defensive pairings. The changes along the blue line proved particularly effective. Goalie Antti Niemi is getting his fair share of credit for the 23-save shutout, but other than one flurry early in the second period, he was rarely tested. The defense played well in front of him.

Quenneville reunited Duncan Keith with Brent Seabrook for this game, and as usual, the pair were effective. Sopel played with Niklas Hjalmarsson. Both players were +1, and both played exceptionally well on the penalty kill. In fact, Sopel played 5:34 while short-handed. He blocked several shots and helped the Hawks kill off all five Nashville power-play chances. Dustin Byfuglien played on the third defense pairing with Jordan Hendry, and also saw extensive action at the point on the power play.

Since the Hawks had success, I wouldn't expect any major changes for Game 3. Unlike Game 1, the Hawks played a full 60 minutes in Game 2. The Hawks still need to tidy up their sloppy passing and do a better job of exiting their zone, but the effort was much better Sunday than what we saw on Friday night.

Every now and then, you see something in sports that you've never seen before. Last night, this one left me stunned. I had to watch the replay again to believe it. I actually feel bad for the San Jose Sharks. I wouldn't wish this kind of loss on anyone except the Detroit Red Wings.

San Jose outshot the Colorado Avalanche 51-17. The Sharks just could not get a puck past Colorado goalie Craig Anderson. There were no goals scored in regulation. The game went to overtime. Then, in the very first minute, this happened:

Colorado now owns a 2-1 series lead. Unbelievable.

Game 1 of the Western Conference quarterfinals took a turn for the worse in a hurry for the Blackhawks Friday night.

The Hawks held a 1-0 lead going into the third period on a goal by Patrick Kane, but Nashville netted four goals in the final 20 minutes (including two empty-netters) to skate away with a 4-1 victory.

We've talked a lot this year about goaltending, and Antti Niemi did let in one soft goal in his playoff debut. Nashville's J.P. Dumont flipped a weak backhander from out near the blue line that took a weird bounce and somehow got past Niemi at 1:31 of the third period. Tie game. A little bit of a fluky goal, but that puck has got to be stopped.

Nashville's game-winning goal was none of Niemi's fault, however. Troy Brouwer made an inexcusable turnover that gave the Predators an odd-man rush. Niemi made the initial stop, but Dumont put the rebound in at 10:37 to make it 2-1. The empty-netters closed the deal.

I thought Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne had a strong game. He was especially good in the first two periods, when he stopped 21 of 22 shots. I do feel, though, that the Hawks spent way too much time on the perimeter. They didn't get enough pucks and bodies to the net tonight. They didn't work hard enough on the boards. They tried to make fancy plays with the puck. Too much east-west, and not enough north-south.

The one Blackhawk goal was scored because Kane went hard to the net and tapped in a rebound. Those are the types of goals you need in the playoffs. Those are the types of goals that got the Blackhawks to the Western finals last year. As we stated in our series preview earlier this week, Nashville is going to try to make this ugly and win low-scoring games. The Predators accomplished their mission tonight. The Hawks are going to have to step up their work ethic in Game 2. This opening performance was not acceptable in any way.

Another key for the Hawks: Ignore the cries of doom from their skittish fan base. It's a long series, and one loss isn't the end of the world. The Hawks need to get back to what has made them successful all year in Game 2. Game 1 wasn't anywhere near their best hockey.

Former Beacon-News sports editor Bill Kindt was legendary for his chronic inability to be surprised by anything. Every night I worked with Bill, it was a given something would happen that would cause him to say, "Ehh ... I'm not surprised." He was never surprised. Ever.

If I were to call Bill up tonight and ask him for his thoughts on the upcoming Bulls-Cavaliers playoff series, he would probably say, "Ehh ... I won't be surprised if the Bulls get swept." Indeed, if the Bulls get swept, none of us here at The Beacon-News will be surprised.

Nevertheless, this is the playoffs, and we have to cover it. With that in mind here is some of the series information as the No. 8 seed Bulls try to "shock the world" against the top-seeded Cavs.

Schedule
Game 1 at Cleveland, Sat., 2 p.m. (ABC, WMVP radio)
Game 2 at Cleveland, Mon., 7 p.m. (CSN, WMVP radio)
Game 3 at Chicago, Thurs., 6 p.m. (CSN, WMVP radio)
Game 4 at Chicago, April 25, 2:30 p.m. (ABC, WMVP radio)
Game 5 at Cleveland, April 27, TBD* (CSN, WMVP radio)
Game 6 at Chicago, April 29, TBD* (CSN, WMVP radio)
Game 7 at Cleveland, May 1, TBD* (CSN, WMVP radio)
*if necessary

Bulls starters
F -- Luol Deng 17.6 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 2.0 apg
F -- Taj Gibson 9.0 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 0.9 apg
C -- Joakim Noah 10.7 ppg, 11 rpg, 2.1 apg
G -- Derrick Rose 20.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 6.0 apg
G -- Kirk Hinrich 10.9 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 4.5 apg

Cavaliers starters
F -- LeBron James 29.7 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 8.6 apg
F -- Antawn Jamison 15.8 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 1.3 apg
C -- Shaquille O'Neal 12.0 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 1.5 apg
G -- Mo Williams 15.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 5.3 apg
G -- Anthony Parker 7.3 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.9 apg

Key Bulls reserves
G -- Flip Murray 10.1 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.8 apg
F -- Hakim Warrick 9.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 0.7 apg
C -- Brad Miller 8.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.9 apg

Key Cavaliers reserves
F -- J.J. Hickson, 8.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 0.5 apg
C -- Anderson Varejao 8.6 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 1.1 apg
G -- Jamario Moon 4.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 0.8 apg

Season series (Split 2-2, home team in CAPS)
Nov. 5: Bulls 86, CAVALIERS 85
Dec. 4: CAVALIERS 101, Bulls 87
March 19: Cavaliers 92, BULLS 85
April 8: BULLS 109, Cavaliers 108

And, away we go. It's playoff time in Chicago.

Keeping one eye on the White Sox and one eye on the NHL playoffs tonight, I noticed the Sox scored all of their runs in Thursday's 7-3 loss to Toronto via the home run.

We've heard a lot of talk all spring and this early season about how the Sox are "changing their philosophy," forgoing the home run for more speed and small ball. As a matter of fact, Sox manager Ozzie Guillen has been talking about more bunts, more steals and more hit-and-runs for three years. Alas, much to the chagrin of a lot of Sox fans, this "Ozzie Ball" style has never materialized.

The Sox are a home run hitting team. They have been this entire decade. That's their identity. Through the first 10 games of this season, they have been a home run hitting team.

Yes, I'm serious.

It's obviously very early, but would you believe it if I told you the Sox are on pace to set a new club record for home runs? They've hit 15 in the first 10 games of the season. At this rate, they would hit 243 over the course of the year. The team record is 242, set in 2004.

Paul Konerko (pictured) has three homers. So does Andruw Jones. Carlos Quentin and Alex Rios have two each. Heck, even backup catcher Donny Lucy got into the long-ball act Thursday night.

The Sox have scored 45 runs in their first 10 games. Twenty-five of the 45 have come on homers. That's 56 percent of the total offensive output.

Ozzie Ball? I haven't seen it so far. Until proven otherwise, this talk of speed and small ball is just a bunch of gibberish. This team is still relying on its power.

NHL playoffs

Through the first six games of the NHL playoffs, five underdog teams have won. On Wednesday night, Ottawa beat defending champion Pittsburgh. Philadelphia won at New Jersey. Phoenix knocked off defending Western Conference champ Detroit. Colorado upset the top-seeded team in the West, San Jose.

On Thursday night, the top-seeded team in the East -- the Washington Capitals -- lost in overtime to Montreal.

Does any of that necessarily mean anything? No. These are seven-game series, and winning Game 1 guarantees nothing. But all these early surprises should be instructive for the Blackhawks, who are favored in their first-round series with Nashville. The lesson here is don't sleep on anybody.

That's especially true in the Western Conference, where seven teams reached the 100-point plateau this year. The NHL playoffs are wide open, and no favorite is safe.

From the Department of Incompetence and Rampant Stupidity, Bulls executive vice president John Paxson shoved coach Vinny Del Negro in a confrontation late last month over Joakim Noah's playing minutes, according to a report by Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski.

This incident will probably burn up the phone lines on talk shows, but I can't say that I give a damn. Everyone has known for quite some time that Del Negro is at odds with the Bulls front office. Everyone has also known since before New Year's that Del Negro will be fired the day after the season ends.

That means the firing could come as soon as Thursday. The Bulls remained in the hunt for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with a 101-93 win over the Boston Celtics Tuesday at the United Center. With one game left in the regular season, the Bulls hold a one-game lead over the Toronto Raptors in the postseason race.

However, the Raptors hold the tiebreaker, so the Bulls must win at Charlotte Wednesday to secure the final spot. If they lose, the Raptors could slip into the playoffs with a homecourt victory over the New York Knicks.

It doesn't matter one way or the other, because whichever team gets into the playoffs will likely be hammered in the first round by the Eastern Conference's best team, the Cleveland Cavaliers.

It also doesn't matter that Paxson shoved Del Negro. Who cares? It's just a shove. If they actually had fought, it would have been more interesting. Who would win that fight? TNT studio analyst Charles Barkley, a friend and backer of Del Negro's, thinks Del Negro would prevail. I don't know. My money's on Pax.

In any case, a fight between Paxson and Del Negro would probably be more entertaining than a Bulls game these days anyhow.

The White Sox long Canadian nightmare is over.

For the first time since June 1, 2007, the South Siders won a game in Toronto Monday night, defeating the Blue Jays 8-7 in 11 innings. The victory snapped a 10-game losing streak north of the border. During those 10 losses, the Sox were outscored 56-20 and rarely came close to winning a game.

Sox newcomers Andruw Jones (left) and Mark Teahen were the two players most responsible for the outcome. Jones went 3-for-4 with a pair of homers and four RBIs. Teahen went 3-for-5 and knocked in three runs, including a game-tying solo home run in the ninth and a game-winning RBI triple in the 11th.

When Jones was asked about the Sox long losing streak in Toronto, he said the following: "I heard something like that last night on the bus, but I told them we're going to change it."

I found it interesting that Sox players were talking on the bus about how they always lose in Toronto. Over the last 10 years, the Sox have had phobias about playing in Oakland, Minneapolis and Toronto. They act as though they expect to be beaten when they travel to those cities. I've often wondered after losses to the A's, Twins and Blue Jays if the Sox were whipped before they ever stepped foot on the field. The losing seemed to become self-fulfilling prophecy after awhile.

Maybe it's not a coincidence that Jones and Teahen were the guys who put an end to that ridiculous and embarrassing losing streak. They haven't been on the team for very long, and they've yet to be indoctrinated into the Greg Walker Hitting School for Mental Midgets.

Unencumbered by the offensive failures of the past in Toronto, Jones and Teahen went out and won the game for the Sox. I'm not sold that either of those two players will make a major impact over the long haul this season, but kudos to them for getting the job done Monday night.

The Blackhawks finished the regular season with a club-record 52 wins and 112 points. That was good enough to earn them the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. The first opponent: the seventh-seeded Nashville Predators, who finished 47-29-6 and had 100 points.

The Predators have no superstar players, but they got to this point by being well-coached and disciplined. They are one of the better defensive teams in the league, and it will be important for the Hawks to play with the lead in this series. Nashville is one of those teams that isn't afraid to try to win a game 1-0. Without question, the Predators game plan will be to clog the neutral zone and try to contain the Hawks substantial speed advantage. If they get a lead, they'll try to sit on it.

Conversely, the Hawks will be looking to get their skating game going. The Hawks want this series to be offensive-minded, because the Predators are not as deep and simply don't have as much firepower as the Hawks. As you'll see below, the offensive totals for the Hawks players are more gaudy than those for Nashville. In fact, the Hawks have five players with more points than the Predators' leading scorer. Here's a breakdown for the upcoming series:

Schedule
Game 1 at Chicago, Fri., 7:30 p.m. (CSN, WGN radio)
Game 2 at Chicago, Sun., 7:30 p.m. (CSN, WGN radio)
Game 3 at Nashville, April 20, 8 p.m. (CSN, WIND radio)
Game 4 at Nashville, April 22, 7:30 p.m. (CSN, WIND radio)
Game 5 at Chicago, April 24, 2 p.m.* (NBC, WGN radio)
Game 6 at Nashville, April 26, TBD* (CSN, WIND radio)
Game 7 at Chicago, April 28, TBD* (CSN, WGN radio)
*if necessary

Goaltenders
Nashville: Pekka Rinne, 32-16-5, 2.53 GAA, .910 save percentage
Hawks: Antti Niemi 26-7-4, 2.25 GAA, .910 save percentage

Leading scorers
Nashville: Patric Hornqvist 30 goals, 21 assists, 51 points, +18; Steve Sullivan 17 goals, 34 assists, 51 points, +2; Martin Erat 21 goals, 28 assists, 49 points, -7; Jason Arnott 19 goals, 27 assists, 46 points, Even; J.P. Dumont 17 goals, 28 assists, 45 points, +8.
Hawks: Patrick Kane 30 goals, 58 assists, 88 points, +16; Duncan Keith 14 goals, 55 assists, 69 points, +21; Jonathan Toews 25 goals, 43 assists, 68 points, +22; Patrick Sharp 25 goals, 41 assists, 66 points, +24; Marian Hossa 24 goals, 27 assists, 51 points, +24.

Top defensemen
Nashville: Shea Weber 16 goals, 27 assists, 43 points, Even; Ryan Suter 4 goals, 33 assists, 37 points, +4; Dan Hamhuis 5 goals, 19 assists, 24 points, +4.
Hawks: Keith (see stats above); Brent Seabrook 4 goals, 26 assists, 30 points, +20; Dustin Byfuglien 17 goals, 17 assists, 34 points, -7; Niklas Hjalmarsson 2 goals, 15 assists, 17 points, +9.

Special teams
Nashville: Power Play 16.4 percent (24th in league); Penalty killing 77.1 percent (28th in league).
Hawks: Power play 17.7 percent (16th in league); Penalty killing 85.3 percent (4th in league).

Season series (Blackhawks won 4-2, home team in caps):
October 15: Hawks 3, NASHVILLE 1
October 24: HAWKS 2, Nashville 0
October 29: NASHVILLE 2, Hawks 0
December 4: Nashville 4, HAWKS 1
December 26: Hawks 4, NASHVILLE 1
December 27: HAWKS 5, Nashville 4

As you can see, there have been some low-scoring games between these two teams this year. In the final two matchups, the Hawks finally solved the Predators defense and put some goals up. Nashville isn't likely to win many 6-5 games, so I anticipate this to be a grinding type of series. The Hawks have played the Predators enough that they should know what to expect.

I'm on vacation. Blogging will resume when I return to work on April 12.

The Blackhawks trailed the New Jersey Devils 1-0 for most of the night Friday, until winger Kris Versteeg scored with 26 seconds remaining to force overtime.

Jonathan Toews provided a good screen in front of New Jersey goaltender Martin Brodeur on the play, and officials reviewed the tape to make sure Toews had not intentionally kicked the puck into the net. In fact, Toews did not even touch the puck.

I knew it was a goal without question, so when I saw the referee go to the headset, I said aloud in the newsroom, "They aren't really going to %$#& us out of this goal, are they?" Just as those words left my mouth, news editor Tom Johnson turned up the volume on the television set. The first words we heard come out of Pat Foley's mouth were, "They certainly are!"

Oh, smack.

JB says: "They aren't really going to %$#& us out of this goal, are they?"
Pat Foley says: "They certainly are!"

Uproarious laughter ensued. Fortunately, Foley was not directly responding to me. It only seemed that way. The goal stood, and the Blackhawks went on to win 2-1 in a shootout.

With the victory, the Blackhawks move closer to the Central Division title. Nashville is now eliminated from the race. The Hawks have 103 points. Detroit has 95. The Red Wings have five games remaining, which makes their maximum point total 105. Three more points in the final five games would clinch the division for the Hawks, regardless of what Detroit does.

All right, I actually did think it was an April Fools joke when my colleague Jim Owczarski called me tonight to tell me that former White Sox first-round bust Brian Anderson is going to try his hand at pitching.

But it's not a joke. It's apparently quite true.

Anderson failed to make the lowly Kansas City Royals out of spring training. Instead of accepting a minor-league assignment as an outfielder, he's decided to try his hand at pitching. His quest will start in the low minors.

Royals manager Trey Hillman says he's not sure how the transition will work "but it's going to start at the very bottom."

This has to be another difficult blow for Anderson's true believers, who seem to think the fair-haired bust could have hit 25 home runs in a season if "racist" White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen had just given him the chance.

Instead, Anderson is giving up hitting with a grand total of 22 career MLB home runs over parts of five seasons. On the bright side, this gives us yet another opportunity to play "The Greatest American Hero" theme song on this blog.

Really, it never gets old watching Brian Anderson's fan club get proven wrong time and time again.

Continuing with our theme of baseball predictions this week, Ken Rosenthal, senior baseball writer for FOXSports.com, has picked the White Sox to win the 2010 World Series.

It is April 1, but this does not appear to be an April Fools joke, believe it or not.

While I hope Rosenthal is right, I'll be stunned if he is. Heck, I'd be pleasantly surprised if the White Sox make the playoffs. OK, actually, I just hope the Sox are still competitive late in the season. I don't have high expectations this year.

But give Rosenthal full marks for picking somebody other than the Yankees, Red Sox or Phiilies. At least he dares to be different.