Chicago&#8217;s Marian Hossa (81), Jonathan Toews (19) and Duncan Keith (2) congratulate goalie Ray Emery after the Blackhawks defeated the Los Angles
Chicago's Marian Hossa (81), Jonathan Toews (19) and Duncan Keith (2) congratulate goalie Ray Emery after the Blackhawks defeated the Los Angles Kings 3-2 on Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013, in Chicago. (AP Photo/John Smierciak)

CHICAGO -- Between the time the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in 2010 and the time each player enjoyed his day with the trophy, their roster had already been broken up because of salary-cap problems.

They kept their core but lost 10 regulars, mostly depth and grit players who were so vital to their success. Dustin Byfuglien, Kris Versteeg, Andrew Ladd and others were gone quickly, none of them easily replaced.

Not until this season has General Manager Stan Bowman been able to reassemble as much depth and character, but the wait has been worth it. The Blackhawks' 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday, Feb. 17, improved their record to 12-0-3, tying them with the 1984-85 Edmonton Oilers for the second-longest streak without a regulation loss to start the season. The record of 12-0-4 was set by the 2006-07 Anaheim Ducks. The Oilers and the Ducks won the Cup in those respective seasons.

The Blackhawks have thrived even though Patrick Sharp went 10 games without a goal and they lost much-improved goaltender Corey Crawford to an upper-body injury. Their plus-20 goal differential leads the NHL.

"It was tough to replace that depth. It took us some time," Bowman said Sunday. "We've tried to develop some guys from within and they're a little bit older now and have taken on bigger roles. And we've been able to acquire some other pieces from outside the organization. When you add it all up, I do think we've got that depth that kind of helped propel us to the Cup that year.




"The year that we won the Cup, our three best players were also our lowest-paid players," Bowman said, referring to Duncan Keith, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, who were all on entry-level contracts.

"We knew they were going to jump way up. The same thing with Duncan Keith when he won the Norris Trophy. So those three players were not making much money the year we won the Cup, and that allowed us to have guys like Byfuglien and Ladd and Versteeg on our third and fourth lines.

"But we don't have that phenomenon this year. Everybody's signed. There's a few restricted free agents, but we don't have any of our main guys getting $5 million raises."

Bowman also said he has empathy for the Kings' struggles this season as defending champions.

"People talk about it, but you don't really realize it until you live it. Every team tends to play their best against you. They want to say, 'We played the Cup champions and we beat them,' " Bowman said. "So you never get those nights when the other team has an off night or their goalie struggles or they're not quite into it. ...

"We've been fortunate. We've been in a lot of close games and we've come out on the good end. It's tough. I certainly can understand what the Kings are going through."