"It was obvious that something was up when the Blackhawks had no goaltender in the net at one end of the ice during Wednesday's morning skate, just a canvas target with a goalie's likeness painted on it.

Rookie Antti Niemi, who was to make his first start since getting bombed for three first-period goals in a 5-1 loss at Vancouver on Jan. 23, was not feeling well, coach Joel Quenneville said. That meant Cristobal Huet would start his fourth straight game and Joe Fallon was called up from Rockford to be his backup. It was Fallon's first NHL call-up.

Corey Crawford, Rockford's top goalie who lost out to Niemi in a training camp battle for the Hawks' backup job, remained with the minor leaguers because he would have had to clear waivers before he could return to the NHL. Fallon, 25, has a 13-9-1 record, 2.64 goals-against average and .911 save percentage for the IceHogs.

Odd man out

Last season Colin Fraser was the Hawks' fourth-line center for 81 of 82 regular-season games, but he was a healthy scratch for 15 of the 17 postseason games.

Fraser, who played in the first 55 games, found himself a scratch again Wednesday when Dave Bolland returned to the lineup. Quenneville wanted to get Bolland on the ice, but keep his playing time low. That meant putting him into Fraser's center spot on the fourth line. How long Fraser is out depends on how well Bolland plays."