The Chicago Blackhawks have positively remarked throughout the season about the team’s camaraderie and the joy of playing with such a close-knit group of veterans and youngsters. For the first time, though, some cracks have appeared in the armor.

In the Hawks’ 3-2 loss to San Jose last Tuesday, the team came out flying with a strong start in the first ten minutes of the game and enjoyed a 1-0 lead. By the second-half of the first period, the Sharks had the momentum and evened the score on the power play. The turning point of the game then came in the middle of the second period. With the Hawks on the power play, a bad pass by Dustin Byfuglien eluded Patrick Kane at the point. Kane and Brent Seabrook both didn't get back after being on the ice for an extended period of time, and San Jose’s Joe Pavelski was able to enter the zone on a breakaway to score a shorthanded goal. A good effort in the third period was not enough from the Hawks, and so the 3-2 loss ended the team’s four-game winning streak.

Chicago had the opportunity to rebound with a home game against Columbus on Thursday night to close out the first half of the season. Instead of taking two points from a Central division foe, the Blackhawks’ half-hearted effort arguably was their worst performance of the season. A 1-0 loss to the Blue Jackets should have been disappointing enough, but coach Denis Savard – usually positive and optimistic – fired on his team in the post-game press conference. Without specifically naming names, he made not-so-thinly veiled comments at the team’s higher-priced players for a collective lack of effort and energy.

The primary objects of Savard’s criticism were first-line forwards Martin Havlat and Robert Lang. The talented but oft-injured Havlat most recently returned from the IR in early January. In the ten games since then, he has scored a whopping one goal with five assists along with a –2 rating. His consistency also has been lacking, as Havlat has contributed four games with four or more shots and four games with one or zero shots in that time.

Havlat at least has the excuse of rounding into shape after returning from a groin injury. Lang, on the other hand, has mostly been missing since the start of 2008. The 37-year-old center has twin five-game scoreless streaks sandwiched around a three-goal in four-game outburst to make up his last 14 games. In that time, Lang has totaled five points and a –5 rating. Savard actually put Lang on the fourth line for part of Thursday night’s game against Columbus in an effort to send a message.

In the last ten games that Havlat and Lang have played together, they have combined for a total of four goals and seven assists. Eleven points in ten games isn’t the “bang for the buck” the Blackhawks had in mind when signing these players to their respective contracts totaling $10 million per season. Perhaps the biggest problem with the lack of production is that these two players are the Blackhawks’ top veteran players who should be carrying the team while the youngsters work through their inconsistencies. The young players certainly have been inconsistent, but the veterans hardly have done their part.

The Blackhawks are at .500 with a record of 23-23-4 and occupy the cellar in the Central Division. Chicago remains only six points out of a playoff spot, but with the second-fewest points in the Western Conference, the Blackhawks have five teams to climb over to reach the eighth seed.

The Week Ahead

Chicago visits Colorado on Wednesday night to begin a seven-game, 17-day road trip before continuing on to San Jose for a Saturday afternoon rematch with the Sharks. Indications are that rookie center Jonathan Toews will remain out of the lineup while rehabbing his sprained knee for the duration of the trip, meaning that veterans like Havlat and Lang finally will need to heed Savard’s advice and step up to lead the team back into the playoff race. If not, the Hawks will find themselves in a familiar place in four weeks: as sellers at the trading deadline before yet again hitting the golf course in early April.