At this time of the year, it is usually not a good time to be a Chicago sports fan. So what makes this year different?

Oh yeah, the Chicago Bears finished with a 13-3 record, giving them the NFC Central title and a first round bye in the playoffs.

But who will Chicago fans turn to after the Bears beat the New England Patriots in a repeat of Super Bowl XX – a last-minute interception by the Bears’ 320-pound Keith Traylor?

Definitely not the Bulls, who will struggle to equal the amount of wins the Bears had this season. That leaves us with the forgotten Chicago team – the Blackhawks.

This is a team that has done a complete turnaround from last season when they finished with a 29-40-8-5 record. They are now ranked second in the NHL with 62 points after compiling a 27-14-8 start. With the 33 games remaining, they are only two wins away from last season’s total.

This leaves one question. What is so different about this team compared to last year’s?

Other than a few off-season acquisitions such as Igor Korolev, Jon Klemm and Steve Thomas, this team is not a whole lot different than the team we saw last year.

Their biggest difference is that they have gotten production from their veterans and have been able to score a lot of goals.

A key part to their offensive success has been the play of left wing Eric “Razzle Dazzle” Daze who is having a career season by leading the team in goals (26) and is tied for first on the team in points with center Alexei Zhamnov (46). He will easily pass his last season total of 57 points, as long as he can stay healthy.

They also have seen some production from third year player Kyle Calder, who has contributed with 37 points. Team captain Tony Amonte is having another good season with 41.

The Blackhawks do have their weaknesses though. Even with the addition of Klemm, they still continue to struggle defensively. Goalies Jocelyn Thibault and Steve Passmore have combined for 131 goals against.

Thibault ranks among the worst in the league in both save percentage (.897) and goals against average (2.59) by a full-time starting goalie.

If the Blackhawks continue to play this poorly on defense, they better not expect to make it very far in the playoffs – that is, if they make the playoffs.

My prediction is that the Chicago faithful will cheer their team on to the playoffs only to see them lose in six games to the St. Louis Blues in the first round. Oh well. By this time the Cubs will be back on the field to see if they can get yet another Chicago team back into postseason play.