CHICAGO -- He's 38 years old now and the phone just wasn’t ringing when the season started.

So John Madden kept training three days a week and also watched a lot of hockey while he patiently waited for some team to call about him playing center for them. That team was ultimately the Florida Panthers, who signed him on Jan. 4 to man the middle of their third line -- but not before the silence of his phone got him thinking about his career.

Madden won the 2010 Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks and then signed last season as a free agent with the Minnesota Wild before heading out into the open mark again last summer.

Did he think his playing days might be over at any point?

"Oh, for sure," Madden said. "It's a new game and a lot of teams are going with young, talented kids and seeing what they've got. Reluctantly I thought it might be the end of the line, but I told myself it wasn't and tried to stay in shape the best I could -- even though I thought the writing was on the wall, so to speak. I was glad to get a phone call from (Panthers GM Dale Tallon)."

While he waited for that call, Madden worked out three days a week on the ice and several days a week off ice -- also watching a lot of hockey and wondering why certain teams hadn't called his agent.

"I think that's the part that hurt the most," Madden said. "I'm not being conceded or anything like that, but having watched a lot of the hockey games this season -- and for some reason I've watched more hockey this year than I have my entire life, at least two or three games a night and possibly seven a week -- yeah, those thoughts went through my mind. I was thinking, 'I know I could still play,' and I still wanted to play. That's the biggest part. You know you've had enough when you don't want to play anymore."

Madden hadn't reached that point yet, but he was getting close after busting his tail in workouts and not having a guarantee that it would pay off at all.

"It's hard to just go at it by yourself," said Madden, who only spent one season in Chicago and won two other Cup titles with the New Jersey Devils. "I never really thought it would be that hard, but the motivation has to be there within yourself in order to get up and do it every single day. There was no guarantees. It's not like you're going to training camp. That was a hard thing I had to fight though on most days, but I stayed with it somewhat."

Madden has yet to register a point for the Panthers in the five games he's played, but he's won 52.1 percent of his faceoffs and logged 14:33 of ice time per game.

CHICAGO -- The reunion of the 2010 Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks began in earnest Thursday in the Windy City with a dinner between some current Hawks and now Florida Panthers.

It will continue today at the United Center, when Florida's Kris Versteeg, Tomas Kopecky and Brian Campbell will return to the Madhouse on Madison for the first time as visitors since they celebrated that Cup title in 2010.

Versteeg, in fact, is one of the few from that team who never had seen the Cup banner in the rafters until this morning at the Panthers' practice; the last time he'd been inside the arena was Game 5 of the 2010 Cup Final.

Now he's back, along with a host of other former Hawks -- and their presence gives this matchup a unique feel.

"It's going to be like an inter-squad scrimmage," said Versteeg, who took a few moments before taking the this morning to remember what it was like when he was part of the most talented young teams in the League. "I didn't get to see the banner raised last year and it's the first time I got to see the banner, so it was a pretty neat experience just seeing what you accomplished with a team. I'm excited about the game tonight, though. I'm excited to really get this thing going."

Here is how the lineups might look like tonight for the Blackhawks and Panthers:

PANTHERS
Tomas Fleischmann - Stephen Weiss - Kris Versteeg
Mikael Samuelsson - Marcel Goc - Tomas Kopecky
Scottie Upshall - John Madden - Matt Bradley
Krystofer Barch - Shawn Matthias - Jack Skille

Jason Garrison - Brian Campbell
Keaton Ellerby - Erik Gudbranson
Dmitry Kulikov - Mike Weaver

Jose Theodore will start in goal, with Scott Clemmensen the backup.

BLACKHAWKS
Viktor Stalberg - Jonathan Toews - Patrick Kane
Andrew Shaw - Marcus Kruger - Marian Hossa
Andrew Brunette - Dave Bolland - Jimmy Hayes
Ben Smith - Jamal Mayers - Michael Frolik

Duncan Keith - Brent Seabrook
Nick Leddy - Niklas Hjalmarsson
Sean O'Donnell - Steve Montador

Ray Emery will start in goal, with Corey Crawford the backup.

CHICAGO -- Somewhere in his parents' basement in Buffalo are a whole bunch of Buffalo Sabres hockey sweaters that used to belong to Patrick Kane.

Some have "Mogilny" or "Lafontaine" or "Hasek" stitched on the back, while several are No. 11 and have "Kane" across the nameplate. Those particular jerseys also have a captain's "C" in the front corner.

Needless to say, the Chicago Blackhawks' star forward was quite the Sabres fan when growing up in Buffalo. He'd attend games with his family and play "mini sticks" in the hallways outside the concession area between periods.

During the game, he'd sit near the visiting team's bench and soak in the entire scene -- from all the sticks in the rack to how each player looked as they came out from the locker room ready to play.

"I was probably five or six years old when I started and went to about 20 games a year until I was like 13 or 14 and I moved away from home," said Kane, who will face his childhood favorite team on Wednesday night at the United Center for the sixth time in his NHL career. "I probably became an even bigger Sabres fan just watching from the sidelines. I've got a lot of good memories in that rink, playing mini-sticks with my buddies in the hallway and missing periods because you're out playing mini-sticks."

In the Sabres' old arena, they'd used the heaters in the hallway as "nets" and shoot makeshift pucks at them with mini hockey sticks purchased at the concession stands. They also had another intermission tradition that involved food.

"I remember always having to get the nachos between the second and the first period and the ice cream between the second and third," Kane said on Wednesday morning. "Different things like that, that were kind of silly is what makes these games kind of special to me now … to look back on them."

He still keeps track of the Sabres and how they're doing season to season, but his days as a "fan" are over -- despite his friends and family back home still passionately following the Sabres.

"You keep track (of them), for sure," said Kane, whose favorite Sabres were Dominik Hasek, Alexander Mogilny and Pat Lafontaine -- along with the best players on opposing teams. "To say I'm rooting for them, I'd probably be lying to you. Ever since I got drafted to the Hawks, that's probably when my Sabres fan days died. Other than that, though, I still keep tabs on them. I guess that's just how it happens."

Thus, he won't feel any remorse if the Blackhawks add to Buffalo's current losing streak -- which stands at just two games in a row overall, but spans nine straight road games dating back to early November. Kane is well aware of how frustrating this season has been for the Sabres, because he hears about it a lot with the angst of friends back in Buffalo.

"There's a lot of frustration, for sure," Kane said. "You hear a lot of different things they're saying about the Sabres, but I don't know … sometimes a team doesn't have the right chemistry and sometimes you go through slumps. Who knows the real reason? I'm not really sure, to be honest with you, and right now I'm worried about tonight's game -- trying to pounce on a team that's struggling and hopefully make their wound a little worse."

Kane's been in a bit of a scoring funk recently, with just 3 goals in the past 27 games and none in the past six, but he's played well against his hometown team in the previous five meetings (2 goals and 3 assists).

"I don't get to play them much," Kane said. "I think this is the sixth time in my career, so it's a little more special. It's one of the first things you look for on the schedule, whether you're going back to Buffalo or they're coming here. It's exciting. It's a game that doesn't come around a lot and I try to take advantage of it."

CHICAGO -- It hasn't become a big issue yet because the Chicago Blackhawks are averaging 3.2 goals a game, but hardly any of those markers are being credited to defensemen.

Assists aren't a problem, but when it comes to goals … they just aren't happening for Chicago's blueliners with a lot of regularity. As a whole, the Hawks' defensive core has scored a combined 13 goals heading into Wednesday night's game against the Buffalo Sabres at the United Center.

Steve Montador has 5 goals to lead the bunch, but two of those were scored when he was used as a forward on the top power-play unit. In fact, Brent Seabrook is the lone Hawks defenseman to score while playing the point on the power play -- and that's just one goal.

In an effort to boost production from the back end, Hawks coach Joel Quenneville has moved Montador to one of the points on the top power-play unit for Wednesday's game.

"He'll shoot it and we're looking for more shots," Quenneville said. "What we do after that is complementary to the type of players we have on (the PP units). Let's make sure we at least get some more pucks to the net and then go from there."

Simply firing more shots isn't the entire problem.

Top defenseman Duncan Keith is taking more slap shots of late, but the puck isn't going into the net. He hit the crossbar early in Sunday's win against the San Jose Sharks, and last week one of his blasts was partially blocked in the slot before ricocheting off teammate Jonathan Toews' head and then hitting the right post.

"Dunc's had some great looks lately," Quenneville said after Chicago's optional skate on Wednesday morning. "He's hit some posts and I like him active on the point, and he's been getting some opportunities to give us some offense on the back end."

Still, Keith hasn't scored in 28 games and no Hawks defenseman has found the back of the net in the past six. On Sunday, 20-year old Nick Leddy because just the fourth Hawks defenseman to put up 20 assists in a season before his 21st birthday -- but even he only has 2 goals thus far.

"We've just got to keep creating plays and helping the forwards by moving around in the (offensive) zone and just trying to get shots through and take a lot," said Leddy, who hasn't scored a goal since Halloween. "It's kind of read and react. Every play is different and I think it just depends on the play."

Quenneville, however, likes to see his defense joining the play on offense -- which usually leads to good scoring chances for somebody, even if it's not a defenseman who gets the shot.

"Sometimes you measure by goals or assists, but I still think our offense is helped by our defense getting involved in the play and off the point -- both Duncs and (Nick Leddy) and our whole group for that matter. Maybe they're not scoring at the rate we'd like, but at least they're giving us some offense from the back end -- which is noticed in our game."

Likewise, the lack of goals scored from the back end isn't noticed as much when the Hawks' talented group of forwards are scoring -- which they've been doing lately, even without the injured Patrick Sharp's 20 goals available for a few weeks.

"As a team, I still think we're getting some scoring and sometimes you're not really concerned … who's really producing for you," Quenneville said. "But over time you'll get stretches where it will be going in from the point and a lot of times you get those points on the power play -- and the power play hasn't been as hot as it was."

CHICAGO -- The task doesn't get any easier for the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday night in the Windy City, when they come into a game against the Chicago Blackhawks (7:30 p.m., NBCSP) with a franchise-worst nine-game road losing skid.

It will also be the second straight opponent that finds itself right in the mix among the best teams in the Western Conference. The Blackhawks will be looking to leapfrog the idle second-place St. Louis Blues and first-place Detroit Red Wings in the Central Division -- after the Wings did the same to the idle Hawks on Tuesday by winning a shootout in Dallas.

The lead changes in the Central Division and West standings are happening on a nightly basis again because there are a host of good teams battling it out. Over in the Eastern Conference, it's tight at the top but the Sabres aren't anywhere near that fight.

They're more concerned about sitting fourth in the Northeast and 11th in the East with 43 points -- seven back of the eighth playoff spot after getting blown out 5-0 Monday in Detroit.

"We're playing a dangerous team tonight," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said after the Hawks' optional morning skate. "They're going to be ready and they're a desperate team. They've got a lot of ability. We'll have to make sure we check well and take care of that part of our game."

In terms of skill level and ability, Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff could say the same thing of his Sabres' need to play the Hawks -- who are 17-5-4 at the United Center this season, including three straight wins on their home ice.

Ruff said Monday's blowout loss in Detroit might not have been entirely indicative of the effort the Sabres put into it, but rather the result of each mistake they made in an otherwise solid first period leading to three goals before the horn sounded.

"I've seen a lot worse games," Ruff told Sabres.com at Tuesday's practice in Chicago. "I've seen a lot worse games when it comes to work ethic and skating. I've got to guard against (getting emotional) when I'm standing behind that bench, to let my frustration show. It's not a time to yell and scream, to rant and rave. We've had some discussions in the room, but my frustration can't show. I've got to be the guy that leads them through this."

Buffalo also held an optional skate at the United Center and Ruff will be available to speak with the media Wednesday afternoon.

The feeling after the Sabres' workout was that backup goalie Jhonas Enroth would get the start against Chicago. Buffalo also has a number of injured players who are still unable to play, which is another issue in their struggles.

Here's a look at how the Blackhawks and Sabres might line up on Wednesday night:

SABRES
Thomas Vanek - Jochen Hecht - Jason Pominville
Drew Stafford - Derek Roy - Nathan Gerbe
Luke Adam - Brad Boyes - Ville Leino
Matt Ellis - Paul Gaustad - Patrick Kaleta

Brayden McNabb - Tyler Myers
Andrej Sekera/TJ Brennan - Jordan Leopold
Mike Weber - Marc-Andre Gragnani

Jhonas Enroth
Ryan Miller

BLACKHAWKS
Viktor Stalberg - Jonathan Toews - Patrick Kane
Andrew Shaw - Marcus Kruger - Marian Hossa
Ben Smith - Dave Bolland - Michael Frolik
Jimmy Hayes - Jamal Mayers - Andrew Brunette

Duncan Keith - Brent Seabrook
Nick Leddy - Niklas Hjalmarsson
Sean O'Donnell - Steve Montador

Corey Crawford
Ray Emery

DETROIT -- As the captain of the Detroit Red Wings, Nicklas Lidstrom is almost always there to speak with reporters before and after games.

Away from the rink, however, he's not exactly a guy who seeks out the spotlight. The 41-year old Lidstrom, despite being one of the best defensemen who's ever played the game, prefers to keep a low profile in his life outside of hockey.

That's what made Monday's news that he would be the latest subject of NBC Sports Network's documentary series "NHL36" kind of surprising. Fans, media and maybe even some teammates will learn a little more about Lidstrom through the camera lens -- as the show follows players for 36 straight hours and documents the experience.

Lidstrom said he was "encouraged" to do the documentary by both the Red Wings and the National Hockey League Player’s Association, and signed off on it after thinking it through.

"I had to think about it for a little bit and kind of get the details of what to expect and what they were looking for and what they wanted," he said after Monday's morning skate at Joe Louis Arena, which he spent off the ice in a meeting about the team's penalty-killing strategy and then riding a bike -- all while being filmed. "I think it's good for hockey, so I was willing to do it."

Monday was the first day of filming, so it was a little strange for both Lidstrom and his teammates to get used to the roaming video cameras and large boom microphone.

"It's different having someone follow you (around) the whole time, (filming) whatever you do whether you're in (the locker room) or … today I rode the bike instead of going on the ice and did some stretching," Lidstrom said. "It's just a matter of getting used to it."

Lidstrom was asked if the cameraman who was recording him on the stationary bike also hopped on for a spin.

"No, he wouldn't," Lidstrom said. "There were a lot of bikes free … a lot of bikes available, but he wouldn't jump on there."

Lidstrom has spent countless hours on the bike in his career, which allows his teammates to see the kind of intense work ethic it takes to not only be a top player, but have the longevity to do it for such a long career.

Detroit center Justin Abdelkader said that's likely what fans will get most out of the documentary.

"(They'll see) his calm demeanor, how he goes about his business," Abdelkader said. "He's a professional in so many ways. He has such a calming presence. You learn from him not to get too high or too low, just stay on an even keel. He's a great presence to have in the locker room."

Yet, away from the rink even his teammates might learn something from the show, which will run at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 25 and lead into NBC Sports Network's 7:30 p.m. broadcast of the Red Wings playing on the road against the Montreal Canadiens.

"It's a tribute to his game and his skill, but also how he goes about his business on and off the ice," Abdelkader said. "I'm not really sure what he does with his down time. I guess we'll find out."

DETROIT -- It looks like one of those "sure wins" for the Detroit Red Wings when you look at Monday night's matchup against the Buffalo Sabres on paper.

Detroit has won 14 straight games at Joe Louis Arena -- which tied a club record set in 1965 -- and holds a 17-2-1 mark on home ice for the season. The Wings have also outscored their visitors this season by a 62-21 aggregate, with nine wins out of those 14 straight coming by three goals or more.

Buffalo, meanwhile, is just 1-7-2 in its last 10 trips to the Motor City and has lost eight straight games in regulation on the road for the first time in franchise history. The Sabres have also scored the least amount of goals on the road (36) in the entire League -- a paltry average of 1.9 goals a game.

"It's scary isn't it?" Babcock said on Monday morning, when the stark differences in each team's trends home and away were pointed out. "We have a game today. You can look at what you did over the last 15 or what they did … to me that doesn’t make any difference. They're getting prepared. We're getting prepared, and the team that plays the hardest is going to win. The onus on us is to play a real good game here tonight. You've got to find a way to win."

Luckily for Detroit, that hasn't been a big problem once they take the ice at home. It's been a much bigger issue in other rinks, where the Red Wings have a road record of just 11-13-0 so far -- a night-and-day difference that even strikes Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff as odd.

"Anytime you can win 14 in a row in your own building is an amazing feat, because you can get beat by a hot goaltender some nights," Ruff said. "The amazing part is to have that record and then to look at the road record and think, 'How come the road record isn't near as close as the home record?' But a lot of that has to do with getting your matchups and getting your personnel on a consistent basis. When they get their matchups with the personnel they have, they can take advantage of some tough situations."

A year ago, the Wings were better away from Joe Louis Arena than they were inside it. It's completely flip-flopped this season and Babcock just hunches his shoulders when asked for theories on why. Are the Wings actually playing their simpler "road game" on home ice and trying to be too fancy on the road?

"It's a good question and that's what we said about our team last year, when we were great on the road," Babcock said. "This year we're good at home and we don't know why we're not good on the road. I'd like to tell you I have all the answers. I don't. The bottom line … if you play well without the puck, I don't care if that's at home or on the road, you're going to win a lot of games. We've been way better without the puck in our own building than we have been on the road, and to me that's why we’re winning."

Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom took it a step further. He said the Wings get after opponents more and take the action to them more on home ice this season than they do in other rinks. Part of that, he said, has to do with the current home winning streak boosting their confidence when playing in front of the home crowd.

"You always want to have that edge when you're playing at home," Lidstrom said. "Our fans have really been supporting us and been behind us and we've been real aggressive at home. We're going after teams a little bit more than we have on the road."

They ought to be just as hungry to get after the Sabres on Monday night, with the chance to set a record with a 15th straight home win that no other Red Wings team has done before in the 86-year history of the franchise.

"Looking at the teams we've had here in the last couple of decades, we've had some great teams back in the 1990s and early 2000s and we're still able to win 14 straight with the team we have today," Lidstrom said. "It proves we have a good team this time around, too."

DETROIT -- The League's best team on home ice will take on one of the worst away from its home rink on Monday night when the Detroit Red Wings host the Buffalo Sabres at Joe Louis Arena.

The Red Wings, who tied the franchise record of 14 straight home wins this past weekend, will be looking to set a new franchise record against the Sabres -- who haven't won a road game since Dec. 3 in Nashville.

The Miller brothers -- Buffalo goalie Ryan and Detroit forward Drew -- will also square off as one of the game's other storylines. Ryan Miller is still finding his way back to top form in goal after a concussion knocked him out of action for about three weeks, while the Wings' Drew Miller has worked his way into an every-game role playing left wing on the third line and plenty of penalty-kill minutes.

Detroit is largely healthy, while Buffalo is riddled with injuries -- especially along the blue line. Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said after Monday's skate that defenseman Robyn Regehr (upper body) will not play on Monday night and might not play this week, but Andrej Sekera (upper body) is ready to return after missing eight games on the injured reserve.

Buffalo also recalled defenseman TJ Brennan from Rochester of the American Hockey League on Monday and he could draw into the lineup against the Red Wings, as well. No matter who plays, Ruff expects them to be more careful with the puck than they were on Saturday night against the New York Islanders in a 4-2 road loss.

"Our defense is going to have to play better," Ruff said. "We're going to have to make smarter decisions and we have to be better with the puck in the offensive zone, so we get to play there more. I think that will be the key. It all starts with what we do up ice. If we allow them to control play in our end and give them that period of time, by the time we're done defending we're giving them back the puck usually … and that won't work."

Here's a look at how the Sabres and Red Wings might line up on Monday night.

SABRES
Thomas Vanek - Jochen Hecht - Jason Pominville
Nathan Gerbe - Derek Roy - Drew Stafford
Luke Adam - Ville Leino - Brad Boyes
Cody McCormick - Paul Gaustad - Patrick Kaleta

Brayden McNabb - Tyler Myers
Andrej Sekera/TJ Brennan - Jordan Leopold
Mike Weber - Marc-Andre Gragnani

Ryan Miller
Jhonas Enroth

RED WINGS
Johan Franzen - Pavel Datsyuk - Todd Bertuzzi
Valtteri Filppula - Henrik Zetterberg - Jiri Hudler
Drew Miller - Darren Helm - Danny Cleary
Cory Emmerton - Justin Abdelkader - Tomas Holmstrom

Nicklas Lidstrom - Ian White
Niklas Kronwall - Brad Stuart
Jakub Kindl - Jonathan Ericsson

Jimmy Howard
Ty Conklin

CHICAGO – San Jose Sharks rookie center Andrew Desjardins was scratched
Sunday night at the United Center against the Chicago
Blackhawks after taking an illegal hit to the head on Saturday night
in Columbus.

Sharks coach Todd McLellan said before the game that Desjardins still
needs to undergo further testing, and that his long-term status might not be
fully determined until the team returns to San Jose on Monday.

“He’s in that stage -- that next-day stage -- where he’s got to come in
and we’ve got to re-evaluate him and get him to take his baseline
test,” McLellan said. “That’s where he is right now.”

Desjardins spoke with San Jose Mercury News reporter David Pollak
after Saturday nights’ game and said he felt fine, but McLellan warned
that, often, the symptoms of a concussion don’t fully start until the
following days after an injury occurs.

Desjardins, whom McLellan was happy with centering the Sharks’ fourth
line, was hit with a headshot by Columbus Blue Jackets rookie Dane
Byers early in the second period and didn’t return. McLellan expressed
his strong objection to the kind of hit that knocked Desjardins out of
the game and said it will be reviewed by the League for a possible
punishment -- on top of Byers’ major penalty and ejection from the game.

“I know it’s going to be reviewed,” McLellan said. “What will come out
of it? I don’t know. They have their guidelines and their protocol for
dealing with it. It’s completely out of our hands right now. Our
concern goes to our player and to making sure that we do everything we
can to make him comfortable and get him healthy.”

As for replacing Desjarding, Tommy Wingels is the answer short-term –
as he replaced Desjardins in the lineup against the Blackhawks –
getting the nod over forward Frazer McLaren. If Desjardins needs to
miss more games, McLellan will mix and match until his young center is
ready to return.

“Desi will still be a very important player for our team,” McLellan
said. “He’s really felt comfortable over the last month in his
environment here. We’ve used him on the penalty kill a lot. He’s
anchored that fourth line for us and they’ve given us good minutes on
a daily basis, so I really feel for him right now because he was just
starting to feel good about being a National Hockey League player.”

Joel Quenneville didn't reveal who would start Sunday night's game against the San Jose Sharks at the United Center (7 p.m. ET), but it wouldn't be a surprise to see Corey Crawford in net after Saturday's strong performance.

Chicago did not hold a morning skate on Sunday, but the answer to starting goalie should be relayed by Quenneville on Sunday afternoon when he meets with the media prior to the game.

Here is a look at how the lineups for the Sharks and Blackhawks might look like:

SHARKS
Patrick Marleau - Joe Thornton - Joe Pavelski
Ryane Clowe - Logan Couture - Benn Ferriero
Jamie McGinn - Michal Handzus - Torrey Mitchell
Brad Winchester - Andrew Desjardins - Andrew Murray

Jason Demers - Brent Burns
Dan Boyle - Marc-Edouard Vlasic
Douglas Murray - Justin Braun

Antti Niemi
Thomas Greiss

Desjardins took a hit to the head in Saturday night's game against Columbus and might be held out depending on how he feels upon another examination Saturday in Chicago. If he cannot play, look for Tommy Wingels or Frazer McLaren to draw into the starting lineup.


BLACKHAWKS
Viktor Stalberg - Jonathan Toews - Patrick Kane
Andrew Shaw - Marcus Kruger - Marian Hossa
Bryan Bickell - Dave Bolland - MichaelFrolik
Jimmy Hayes - Jamal Mayers - Andrew Brunette

Duncan Keith - Brent Seabrook
Nick Leddy - Niklas Hjalmarsson
John Scott - Steve Montador

Corey Crawford
Ray Emery