Hockey

The days are getting darker for Bulls fans, and I'm not just talking about the end of daylight saving time. Millionaires are fighting with billionaires over a few percentage points of a multibillion-dollar pot. If you're a Bulls fan, you've braced yourself for a cold, hard truth: There might not be any ball this season. Before you compose a handwritten letter to David Stern, streaked with tears of frustration, anger and whiskey (we've all been there), know that you've got a friend.

EDITOR'S NOTE: In the spirit of sports brotherhood - and trash talk - RedEye and the New England Sports Network have set up a columnist showdown. Chicago vs. Boston. Blackhawks vs. Bruins. Bag Boy vs. NESN hockey writer Mike Cole. Have at it, gentlemen. Before we begin, a word of thanks. Thank you for Theo Epstein. Thank you for the blueprint on how to build an organization. We'll muck it up, but thanks. Thanks for Tom Thibodeau (don't you need these people in Boston?

Summer's officially under way, so of course we're thinking … hockey? Well, yes, considering the Cubs and White Sox have bored us to death much of the season and the Bears don't start training camp for another month. So it's the perfect time to break down the Blackhawks' 2012-13 schedule, which was released Thursday. Here are dates that stand out.   Oct. 20 vs. Detroit The season kicks off Oct. 13, but we'll understand if you hit the snooze button until this collision with the archrival Red Wings.

In three short years, Patrick Kane has grown up. Before lifting the Stanley Cup in 2010 at age 21, he talked to RedEye about how he liked to play himself in an NHL video game and how he was still adjusting to superstardom in Chicago, where athletes are mega-celebrities. Fans saw the boyish grin he flashed when he celebrated that game-winning goal against Philadelphia in overtime to crown the Hawks champions. Fast-forward three years and he still has the same boyish grin. Chicago witnessed it again when he smacked the puck into the net in double overtime against the L.A. Kings to clinch the...

Kate Upton naked. Jay Cutler smoking. Hopefully I have your attention now. Had I started off just talking about hockey, most of you probably would have moved on to something else. The NHL is locked out and fan interest in the labor negotiations is lower than Adam Dunn's batting average. Despite this, why is it important the NHL comes back? Because fantasy football is over. You don't have to be a sports degenerate to play fantasy football. It caters to fans who can't pronounce Rob Gronkowski's name as well as chicks who wear pink jerseys.

EDITOR'S NOTE: In the spirit of sports brotherhood - and trash talk - RedEye and the New England Sports Network have set up a columnist showdown. Chicago vs. Boston. Blackhawks vs. Bruins. Bag Boy vs. NESN hockey writer Mike Cole. Have at it, gentlemen. Before we begin, a word of thanks. Thank you for Theo Epstein. Thank you for the blueprint on how to build an organization. We'll muck it up, but thanks. Thanks for Tom Thibodeau (don't you need these people in Boston?

It's appropriate WWE Superstar CM Punk watched Wednesday night's Blackhawks-Vancouver Canucks bout, er, game from the seats at the United Center. Like a heavyweight wrestling match, the Hawks and Canucks were in each other's faces all night. They nearly invented a new sport: wrestling on ice. "This is what hockey's all about," Punk said during his second-intermission appearance on Comcast SportsNet's "Shoot the Puck" segment. "This is awesome. " Patrick Kane even mixed it up, for crying out loud, getting into a scrum behind the Blackhawks goal...

The newest member of the Blackhawks family was born early Tuesday, to defenseman Duncan Keith and his wife: Colton Duncan Keith (7 pounds, 7 ounces). Good, strong name. And far be it for us to attempt to wield influence on what the Keiths should name their offspring ... actually, it's fun, so that's what we're gonna do. Maybe they'll change their minds. So presenting, RedEye's top 10 names for Duncan Keith's son--with help from our Twitter followers.   10. Anything but Raffi He knows what he did.   9. Anything to which you can seamlessly add "er" or "y" Assuming...

The only hockey to be found at The Anthem recently was in a coin-operated bubble hockey machine sitting unplayed in the middle of the bar. That might explain why on a night when the Blackhawks were originally scheduled to face the St. Louis Blues in a game broadcast on television, the Wicker Park sports bar was completely empty except for a table of five in the back. "This is the slowest night we've had here by far," said Adrianna Gutierrez, a server and manager at The Anthem.

If it seems like just about every single person you know is making a new year's resolution, that's because most of them are. More than 60 percent of people make resolutions (at least sometimes), according to a 2002 study from the University of Scranton. And of course they have to tell you about it. That's a lot of conversations to have, conversations that are often unsolicited and, even more often, uninteresting. Even your friends don't really care if you're "getting back in the gym" or "calling your mom more"--these are boring.

The Blackhawks have taught me the joy of being a fair-weather fan. Like most sports fans, I used to view the fair-weather fan with derision: a scum-sucking bottom feeder who sits out the bad times and wanders in for the victory party. Yet watching the Blackhawks make their run this season, I've come to understand that being a fair-weather fan - who barely knows what's going on, who doesn't actually care about the outcome of any game - is awesome. Admittedly, I don't care for hockey.

At some point in Thursday's Blackhawks-Kings game, a forecheck is going to be given with juuust a bit too much vigor. A skater will spray juuust a bit too much snow in the goalie's face. Chirping will turn into shoving, and shoving will become a brawl. And a real hockey rivalry will be born. These teams haven't played often enough to engender the deep, dark hockey hatred that only comes from repeated exposure and repeated cheap shots. But the combination of uber-high expectations in Chicago and "Hey, aren't we the defending champs?"

The Bulls have been eliminated from the playoffs by their chief rival, Miami. Meanwhile, their United Center roommates, the Blackhawks, are in the midst of a postseason showdown with archrival Detroit. Because they share an arena, the Bulls and Blackhawks are generally supportive of one another, and you'll often see the basketball players come out and support the hockey players and vice versa. So RedEye asked the Bulls if playing in Chicago has raised their interest in hockey and if they'd ever ditch their sneakers for skates and go out on the ice and attempt a shot.

Here's what Blackhawks players had to say about fans attending practice:   COREY CRAWFORD 7th year on Hawks [Fans] obviously enjoy it. It's good for them to come in and see what we do on days when we're not playing. All the hard work we do, all the drills and stuff. It's fun for them just to see that part of it. My first year I thought it was pretty cool. I'd never really had that before in my career, whether it be junior or in the minors or stuff. It only really started when I came here and got to see all the fans here in the stands.

The newest member of the Blackhawks family was born early Tuesday, to defenseman Duncan Keith and his wife: Colton Duncan Keith (7 pounds, 7 ounces). Good, strong name. And far be it for us to attempt to wield influence on what the Keiths should name their offspring ... actually, it's fun, so that's what we're gonna do. Maybe they'll change their minds. So presenting, RedEye's top 10 names for Duncan Keith's son--with help from our Twitter followers.   10. Anything but Raffi He knows what he did.   9. Anything to which you can...

The Blackhawks have been hot all season. Heading into their playoff opener against Minnesota on Tuesday at the United Center, the Hawks used a 24-game points streak to start the season as a springboard to dominating the NHL in 2013. Their attraction extends beyond their win total, too. Cosmopolitan unveiled its list of the hottest hockey players in the 2013 playoffs, and the man on top is familiar: Hawks winger Patrick Sharp. His teammates - and the rest of the NHL - can be jealous of Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, too, as they're second and 12 t h ...

The Blackhawks have taught me the joy of being a fair-weather fan. Like most sports fans, I used to view the fair-weather fan with derision: a scum-sucking bottom feeder who sits out the bad times and wanders in for the victory party. Yet watching the Blackhawks make their run this season, I've come to understand that being a fair-weather fan - who barely knows what's going on, who doesn't actually care about the outcome of any game - is awesome. Admittedly, I don't care for hockey.

When I was a kid, my mom wouldn't let me play hockey. It was one of the biggest regrets of my life. I'm still convinced I could be the next Sidney Crosby but with normal lips. With Marian Hossa's brutal concussion and the deaths of so many enforcers lately, it's made me look at sports in a new light. I remember as a kid drawing a picture of Bob Probert fighting Todd Gill (no idea why I picked him). And then the news of Junior Seau's suicide struck home again. I had a poster of him from Sports Illustrated for Kids on the wall in...

In sled hockey, the sled itself serves as sort of a great equalizer regardless of whether or not you have a disability. "Once (an able-bodied person) gets into a sled and they get strapped in, it's a totally different world for them," said RIC Blackhawks player Erica Mitchell, a 25-year-old Belmont Center resident who has been disabled since birth. "The big difference is being able to move in that sled," said Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) Blackhawks assistant coach Derek Daniels.

If a player tries bringing two sticks on the ice in traditional hockey, chances are he's going to get penalized. In sled hockey, that's not only encouraged, but those are the rules. "You are supposed to be ambidextrous," Erica Mitchell said. "Most guys are. I'm getting there. I'm getting better at it. " Close your eyes and walk into the ice arena at McFetridge Sports Center in Irving Park on a night when the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) Blackhawks sled hockey team is practicing and you'll hear all the familiar sounds...