As the Chicago Blackhawks’ national anthem singer strutted his way out to the center of James Naismith Court — 2010 Stanley Cup championship ring and all —noise began to build.

Conflicted by continuing the tradition formed by one of the most storied sports franchises or respecting the silence in one of college basketball’s cathedrals a handful chose to cheer.

It didn’t drown out Cornelison’s voice, but it was noticeable.

563 miles from West Madison Street Blackhawk fans applauded their soloist as they had done countless times before.

“I’ve done a number of college games, whether it’s hockey, basketball, or football, and I always love the energy of a college crowd,” Cornelison said,  “You don’t have a band at a professional venue, and that adds a lot, and you always have the traditions, and chants, things that just don’t happen in pro sports.”

Cornelison got to see one of those traditions first hand.

Where the Blackhawks look to intimidate their opponents by screaming their heads off minutes before puck drop, Jayhawkers allow the soft, eerie, hum of the Rock Chalk Chant creep into their enemies’ minds just before tip-off.

That was the final moment of silence for the night in Allen Fieldhouse — Cornelison took the floor directly after and the crowd picked up from there.

“I’ve done it enough at different places where people are quiet, but I prefer the noise,” Cornelison said of fans cheering, “It adds so much, it’s so exciting, it’s a great thing to be a part of. The crowd really gets into it, and it’s a great tradition that the Blackhawks have.”

“I’m out there with a soldiers, and vets, and the crowd just goes nuts, it’s become something really about the appreciation for our military.”

As in typical Chicago fashion the noise peaked at the “rockets red glare”, and in typical Cornelison fashion he nailed the ending forcefully changing his voice so the song ends on the same note it began with.

While the United Center will need him back Friday when the New York Rangers come to visit, Cornelison welcomes every opportunity to travel and perform — silent crowd or not.

“It’s fun getting to go to different places and break the routine.” Cornelison said, “I made my living as a professional opera singer for 12 years, I never thought that I could be employed by one team to sing the anthem, and to use that as a platform to do other things, it’s pretty unusual.”

After missing the last eight games for the Red Wings with a broken finger, Howard saw opportunity to reclaim his net, and re-establish his dominance.

Joey MacDonald had done well in relief of the injured Howard, but he wasn’t the reliable goalie the Wings had been used to all season.

Corey Crawford needed a win.

Crawford was on the verge of breaking out of a personal slump. In Chicago’s nine-game winless streak, he had done nothing to prove he was worthy of being the Blackhawks number one goalie, and as trade talk loomed, Crawford’s play, and confidence entered freefall.

So in the midst of the three-game winning streak — with game-deciding saves galore — Crawford couldn’t afford to allow a bad goal past him.

In Chicago’s 2-1 victory over Detroit it was Jimmy Howard who earned the third star of the game, but it was Crawford who skated away with the win.

It wasn’t as though one net minder out player — Howard recorded 27 saves, while Crawford registered 31 — both had to make big saves early and often.

Howard stymied Michael Frolik on an early breakaway, and Patrick Kane didn’t fare too much better on his two odd-man breaks.

As for Crawford, point blank shots, which were present all night, were met with kneejerk saves, as the defensive breakdowns that paved the road for the Hawks losing streaks continued to plague Chicago.

Even when it came to the game-winning goal it wasn’t as if Howard did anything wrong.

Three Hawks swarmed the net as a shot from the high slot sent Howard sprawling. As the Detroit defenders desperately tried to clear the crease the puck found its way to Marcus Kruger, who tapped it in with ease for his seventh goal of the year.

Howard will have time to return to form, but for Crawford there is almost no room for error — and he played like it.

Now a four-game win streak is building confidence and momentum for not just Crawford, but the entire team, and as the Hawks look to extend this new streak on Thursday against the Dallas Stars it will again come down to the play of Crawford.

If the sophomore goalie they call “Crow” can continue to heat up, he may very well be on his way to catching fire, and with only 21 games remaining in the regular season, now wouldn’t be such a bad time to do so.

Notes: Jimmy Hayes recorded his recorded his fifth goal this season in the second period. Valtteri Fillppula notched his seventh goal in the first period on the power play snapping Chicago’s streak of 14 straight penalty kills.

After a 6-1 victory, it seems the Hawks have done just that.

Corey Crawford, after a solid appearance in New York on Thursday, got the nod in net, and early in the first period allowed a breakaway goal from Derrick Brassard after a Sami Lepisto turnover at the Chicago blue line — Lepisto would cancel it out with a goal in the third period on his first shit since giving up the turnover.

It was the type of adversity the Hawks had faced throughout their nine-game road trip, and this time they battled back through it.

Jonathan Toews sparked the Blackhawks with a grind to the net from center ice that he finished off by dumping the puck into Columbus goalie Steve Mason’s five-hole at 12:27 of the first, and from there Chicago’s offense fell in line.

Viktor Stalberg tallied his eighth goal of the season against the Blue Jackets to close out the first frame, while Patrick Kane added a goal and an assist in the second as he took a big step toward breaking out of his recent slump.

With the score 4-1 Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards yanked Mason in favor of backup Allen York — who wouldn’t fare much better.

Marcus Krugar, and Patrick Sharp each had goals, while Toews added two assists to finish his day with three points.

Corey Crawford made 33 saves in the win.

The Blackhawks will finally get to head back to the United Center for a matchup tomorrow afternoon against St. Louis at 11:30 a.m.

Only 65 seconds into Chicago’s 4-2 victory over the league leading New York Rangers the captain was called upon to give his team an early lead on the road.

Ranger defenseman Dan Girardi was whistled for covering a loose puck in the crease resulting in a Toews penalty shot.

With the weight of a nine-game winless streak on his shoulders, Toews picked up the puck at center ice and skated in goaltender Martin Biron.

Coming through the slot Toews faked to his forehand, curled the puck to his backhand, and slide it again to his forehand.

Nearing the middle of the circles he lets it rip, a low, heavy shot with one point of interest — Biron’s five-hole.

It’s a shot Toews has become famous for, a move numerous goalies know is coming, yet can’t figure out a way to stop, and tonight Martin Biron added his name to that list.

1-0 Blackhawks at 1:05 of the first period, a sign of life.

After Toews notched his 28^th goal of the season the rest of the Hawks fell in line.

Only a minute after the Toews score, Marian Hossa lugged the puck from the right half boards all the way around the New York zone before dishing off a pass to an open Nick Leddy, who fired it past screened Biron.

2-0 Blackhawks at 2:07 of the first period, and the Hawks weren’t done.

Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa each converted on breakaway opportunities before the ten-minute mark of the opening frame to cushion Chicago to a 4-0 lead.

From there it was special teams and defense — the Hawks downfall over the last nine games — that shut down the hottest team in the NHL.

The Blackhawks stymied the Rangers power play on seven occasions — including a John Scott four-minute penalty in the first period that could have made it a 3-2 game — and only allowed five shots in doing so.

It seemed all of the broken pieces that had led Chicago down this tumultuous path had — at least for 60 minutes — been glued back together.

Even the shaky play of Corey Crawford seemed distant as the sophomore net-minder faced 24 shots, and allowed only two to get past him, good enough for a 91.6% save percentage.

But the real question now becomes can the Hawks sustain the momentum they picked up in New York for the long haul.

After a Saturday matchup in Columbus to close out their nine-game road trip Chicago will face two more red-hot teams — St. Louis and Detroit — looking to capitalize on their division foe’s recent downfall.

If the Blackhawks are going to bust out of their slump, it won’t be on the heels of slouching opponents, the Blues and Red Wings will make sure of it.

According to that law, Blackhawks defenseman Niklas Hjarlmasson, Brent Seabrook, and Nick Leddy should all be thrown in jail.

The trio were a combined -7 in Friday night’s 8-4 thrashing courtesy of the Edmonton Oilers — or more specifically Sam Gagner.

The former London Knight line-mate of Patrick Kane factored into every one of Edmonton’s goals, scoring four of them and assisting on the rest.

In fact only two Oilers before him, Paul Coffey and Wayne Gretzky, had done what Gagner accomplished against the Hawks.

And the aforementioned defensemen for Chicago made it look like they were as mesmerized by Gagner’s antics as the rest of Rexall Place — idly standing by while the Oiler’s swarmed the crease and took advantage of both Corey Crawford and Ray Emery, who relieved Crawford after he let in five goals.

For a team that has been desperately needing, and advocating, the acquisition of another stay at home defenseman tonight was the equivalent of screaming bloody murder for one.

If only it would get easier for the Blackhawks — who have garnered one point in their last four games — yet tomorrow they will meet a Calgary team as frantic for a win as Chicago, and if the Blackhawks exert the defensive effort they gave against the Oilers, the Flames will come out with a win.

The offensive effort however was a different story.

Patrick Sharp scored twice — his first points since returning from Injured Reserve earlier this week — the Hawks peppered the Oilers with 47 shots, and Jonathan Toews won 57% of his faceoffs.

Yet it may have been the offensive drive that caused the defensive breakdown.

Seabrook was regularly jumping into the play up front leaving a gaping hole on the back end, and while he did help generate offense — taking eight shots and hitting the net on three of them — the overall result of his near 27 minutes of ice time was a -2.

Simply put, if the Blackhawks are going to start picking up points they are going to need to play with the same level of intensity on both sides of the ice.

Perhaps having heard the chant “We want ten!” in two trips to western Canada will allow the Hawks to get the memo.

And while the Oiler’s record has them sitting in 14^th place in the Western Conference, against the Hawks this season they’ve been stellar — outscoring Chicago 16-9 and winning two out of three games.

“We got our teeth kicked in here last time,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said this morning, “Let’s make sure to remember that. Tonight we need a win in a bad way.” Chicago has earned only one point in its last three games.

Yet coming into tonight’s final match-up of the season with the Blackhawks, the Oilers have only won three games in their last 10.  This may bode well for the Hawks, who after playing the Canucks in their first contest since the All-Star break, have shown they could use a tune-up game.

In his first game since breaking a bone in his wrist on January 8^th, Patrick Sharp noticeably had trouble shooting. Sharp took six shots, two were blocked, one missed the net, and three were saved by Canucks goalie Corey Schneider.

“Conditioning-wise, and strength-wise I felt fine,” Sharp said, “It’s just a matter of getting that timing back, and that stuff comes from practice in games.”

And it’s not just Sharp who needs to perform at a higher level, but Jonathan Toews — who also recently returned from injury — as well. Against the Canucks on Tuesday, Toews won only 35% of his faceoffs, a long way off from his 60.6% season average.

But while Quenneville’s top line works out their kinks, the coach can take solace in the play of his starting goalie.

Corey Crawford finally found his old form in Vancouver, where he made 30 saves on 33 shots, many of which required acrobatics, and intense focus from the 27-year old.

And with one last chance to beat Edmonton this regular season, the Hawks haven’t forgotten where the series stands, and the amount goals they’ve allowed.

“It’s up to us to remember that feeling,” Toews said, “And hopefully go do something about it tonight.”

That season Shaw only scored 17 points (8 goals, 9 assists), was a -4, and was along way away from the thought of the NHL.

The Andrew Shaw who took the ice Tuesday night in Chicago’s 3-2 overtime loss in Vancouver might not recognize that player from 2009.

Shaw entered tonight with seven points in his first 11 games in the NHL since being called up to replace an injured Patrick Sharp.

But Shaw was meant to be just that: A replacement.

Not even the best scouts could have predicted Shaw’s burst onto the scene — proven by his name being called 139^th overall in the 2011 Entry Draft — making it hard to send him down when Sharp got healthy.

The Hawks only had one answer: Don’t.

Chicago instead sent down fellow rookie Jimmy Hayes who had also been playing above expectations.

But while Shaw got to stay on the roster, he wasn’t going to be able to stay on the second line. Instead he was sent to Dave Bolland’s checking line — replacing Jimmy Hayes — responsible for shutting down the past two scoring champions in the NHL, Daniel and Henrik Sedin,

And in the process of learning a new role Chicago learned a new #ShawFact.

The 20-year old thrust himself into the rivalry by being arguably the best fore-checker on either team Tuesday night. Shaw took only three shots on net, wasn’t on the ice for any goals by either team, and yet 65 was a reoccurring number on ice for the Hawks all game.

In fact, Quenneville had Shaw play near 22 minutes, two of which were on the power play.

The Canucks even began taking notice to him too. Shaw was on the receiving end of monstrous hits all night most notably two from Keith Ballard, and once from Alex Edler.

The second line Andrew Shaw may not produce as much on the checking line Andrew Shaw, but just as he’s done since joining the club, the kid has been adapting to what his team needs.

The Blackhawks posted the above summary from an NHL 12 video game simulation of tonight’s matchup — 9:00 p.m. at Vancouver — on their official Facebook page. The real game will be a lot more complicated, if only for the simplest reason: The professional hockey clubs of Chicago and Vancouver can’t seem to get along.

EA Sports did get one prediction correct; Jonathan Toews will be back in the line-up tonight after missing last game against Nashville and sitting out All-Star Weekend.

“I’m excited to be back,” Toews said after practice yesterday, “I took the time I think I needed this past week, and I feel I’m definitely ready.”

Toews won’t be the only Blackhawk to come back from an injury against the Canucks.

Patrick Sharp, who has been on Injured Reserve since breaking his wrist on January 8^th against Detroit, will make his long awaited return to the Chicago roster — although he still has a broken bone in his wrist that may require surgery after the season.

“I’m ready to go,” Sharp said this morning, “I’m excited to play in this building.”

And he should be.

Before his wrist woes Sharp rattled off 17 points in 17 games, no other team would he prefer to continue that streak than against Vancouver.

But where the Blackhawks are dressing their best, the Canucks have decided to throw a wrench into the rivalry by starting backup Cory Schneider in net rather than Roberto Luongo.

In their first meeting of the year, in Chicago, Luongo made 38 saves in route to a 6-2 Canucks victory, but when they last played, in Vancouver, it was Schneider who got the start, and uncharacteristically gave up five goals — Schneider has seen 573 shots this season, only 39 have gotten past him giving him a .927 save percentage.

Yet, just as Chicago is, the Canucks will be playing their first tilt in seven days, and where Chicago entered the All-Star break riding a two-game losing streak, Vancouver exited the first half of the season earning points in five of their last six games.

“Were on the home stretch now,” Sharp said, “And it starts with a big one against our rival, it’s a good way to get started.”

The second round draft pick — 39^th overall — of the New Jersey Devils in 2002, Morrison has tallied over 600 points in 16 seasons — scoring at least 40 in each of his last two.

“We like what [Morrison] can bring to the table,” Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman said, “Now we have another established legitimate center.”

A gritty forward, Morrison has been plagued with injury this season. Knee surgery in the offseason left him unable to play in Calgary’s first four games, and he has been on the Injured Reserve twice since— once again for his knee, and once with an upper body injury.

“I know it’s fine,” Morrison told the media about his knee troubles, “ It’s solid, it’s strong.” Morrison admitted he came back from his surgery a little early, but that his skating is getting back to where it needs to be.

Although Morrison doesn’t quite fit the profile of the type of second line center the Hawks were looking for — speed and foresight to keep up with the core players — he does add depth to a roster that lacks it.

Morrison also takes up little cap space, according to CapGeek.com the trade still gives the Blackhawks upwards of five million dollars to work with, a treat since Chicago’s front office will be no doubt looking to add another defenseman before the trade deadline.

In Brian Connelly the Hawks lose a defenseman almost three years in the making. Since signing Connelly to the Rockford IceHogs in June, 2009 the former Colorado College star became Rockford’s all-time assists leader (105), ranks first in IceHog points by a defenseman (126), and has appeared in two AHL All-Star games.

While Rockford loses a tenured player, they can expect to seeing another familiar face soon as this trade will most likely have the Hawks sending down one of their five rookies on the current roster to make room for Morrison.

The Blackhawks play next in Vancouver on January 31st.

They certainly weren’t in Nashville, where a 5-2 thrashing bumped the Central Division leaders from their throne.

And they certainly aren’t in Chicago where their second consecutive loss — 3-1 to the Predators — have many questioning what happened to the team that conjured up points in their last eight games before losing two straight to Nashville.

With the loss tonight Chicago drops to fourth place in the Central Division with Nashville moving up to third.

It’s almost too easy to point fingers at the injury problem. Patrick Sharp is a necessary weapon up front, Daniel Carcillo provides energy, and Jonathan Toews is the oil that keeps the machine running.

But Patrick Kane has scored only two goals and added four assists in the month of January. In a season where Kane has yet to score under 10 points in a single month, it looks like he is about to do just that — barring a four-point game on January 31^st.

Nick Leddy’s inconsistent play has also been troublesome. Leddy started off January as a -8 through five games, before going +5 in the next five games, only to go -3 these past two games against Nashville, not encouraging numbers from a 22 minute a night defenseman.

The scary part of this injury-ridden stretch isn’t the players who have gone down, it’s the players who have stopped producing as a result of it.

While the spotlight is indeed on Crawford, it might just be too hard for him to carry the team alone.

Now with one week until their next tilt the Blackhawks will have time to retrace their steps and see if they can find themselves — a trip to Vancouver might also help do the trick.