Knock on wood. Cross your fingers. I’m almost never superstitious, but as a Blackhawks fan, the last thing I want to do is write this column and end up seeing my team fall into a downward spiral. Just the thought of typing makes me nervous.

But why should I be nervous? The Blackhawks are playing incredible hockey; in fact, they’re playing some of the best NHL hockey in recent memory.

Last Friday, the team made history, recording 17 straight games with at least one point to start the season, breaking the record of 16 straight games set by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2006-2007 season, and the streak continued on Monday night after an overtime win against Edmonton. The search for No. 20 continues tomorrow night.

So now the question everyone is asking is when will the Blackhawks lose in regulation?

The answer: Who knows?

It could very well happen tomorrow night in St. Louis against the Blues — a team that usually proves to be a tough out for the Blackhawks. Earlier this year, the Blues pushed the Hawks to a thrilling finish at the United Center. Flashback to last year where the Hawks were 1-2 at the Scottrade Center, being outscored a total 8-1 in both losses. A regulation loss, as painful as it would be, wouldn’t come as a surprise to me.

Then again, if you think the Hawks are paying attention to their record, think again.

Duncan Keith put it bluntly to the Chicago Sun-Times, “I don’t really care what our record is … I’ll be honest with you: Nobody in this dressing room cares about our record. We just want to get better.”
And the Hawks appear to be getting better every day. Just when you think they’ve reached their peak, they eclipse it, thanks to some solid goaltending from both Corey Crawford and Ray Emery, timely scoring from every line, a magnificent penalty kill, great coaching and a little bit of luck.

Regardless of next game’s result or the end of the season result, this team is special. Talk of the Stanley Cup and the 2009-2010 championship team continues to be brought up, and I wish it would stop. June is far away, and the season isn’t even halfway over. One meltdown and the Hawks are right back with the rest of the league.

What’s important is that the Hawks maintain a positive, confident mentality, and that, even though a regulation loss is inevitable, the focus should be on the big picture.

With 39 percent of the season completed, the Hawks are in an awfully good spot; the many Blackhawks fans I know are all ecstatic about how the season has gone so far, and everyone seems to be optimistic about the team winning it all.

But speculations at this point are irrelevant and to those chanting prematurely about a Blackhawks Stanley Cup victory, to them I say: knock on wood.