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♦ First things first – Brad Richards is apparently dating Olivia Munn. And here you thought he should have stayed in Dallas…

♦ A big congratulations to Eddie Belfour. The Eagle was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame yesterday along with Joe Nieuwendyk, Mark Howe and Doug Gilmore. Belfour amassed 484 carrer wins (201 in Chicago) with the Blackhawks, Sharks, Stars, Maple Leafs and Panthers and ranks #10 all time in career shutouts with 76. He won a Stanley Cup with the Dallas Stars in 1999 and a NCAA Championship in 1987 with North Dakota. Belfour was last Blackhawk to win the Calder Trophy (1991) before Patrick Kane (2007). He remains the most recent Blackhawk to win a Vezina, which he took home in both 1991 and 1993. Losing Eddie was tough, but at least the Blackhawks got Ulf Dahlen in return.

♦ The Blackhawks return to Vancouver Wednesday night for the first time since losing Game 7 in the 1st round last season. As of now, there has been no update on the availability  Brent Seabrook and Dave Bolland. We are going to assume Seabrook is out, but still have some hope for Bolland’s return (unlike the Sedin’s Im sure). Both players missing tomorrow night would hurt, but being short several key guys did not stop the Canucks from coming into the United Center and kicking our ass earlier this month. Still, going through Vancouver, San Jose, Los Angles and Anaheim without those two guys would be extremely tough.  It’ll be interesting to see how the Hawks handle a long stretch of games against surefire playoff teams.

♦ The Anaheim Ducks have claimed Niklas Hagman off waivers from the Calgary Flames. Calgary now has none of the players it got in return for Dion Phaneuf. Jamal Mayers is now a Blackhawk and Ian White patrols the blue line in Detroit. The Flames are on the hook for half of Hagman’s 3 million dollar salary. Ouch.

♦ If you’re anything like me, you forget the Phoenix Coyotes exist most of the time. When you do think about them, it’s usually about which city you would move them to if it were up to you (hint: Quebec City). But, the Yotes are actually putting together a decent season (8-4-3) and are 6-2-2 in their last 10 games. This is bad news for Hawks fans who are hoping to acquire Shane Doan at the deadline. Can they possibly keep winning with Mike Smith and Jason LaBarbera?

♦ Central Division trade: The Blues sent Nikita Nikitin to the Blue Jackets in exchange for Kris Russell. Nobody really knows or cares why. The Blue Jackets have played 16 games so far and have just 7 points. Embarrassing.

♦ Milan Lucic was not suspended for running over Ryan Miller in a game with Buffalo on Saturday. Miller will miss time with a concussion. It’s a good thing for Lucic he didn’t get suspended – he might have come down with Post Suspension Syndrome like Niklas Hjalmarsson.

♦Sad news: A 16 year old Canadian hockey player has died after going down to block a slap shot.

The Hawks being their 6 game Circus trip tomorrow night in Vancouver. We will have a roundtable discussion on the state of the Blackhawks for you and Tim will be around with a preview. See all y’all later.