Brent Seabrook

For any pair of NHL defensemen, toughness is a mandate. These pairings do it better than any other.

Toughness is a difficult concept to quantify. For these rankings, I considered statistical measures such as fighting, shot blocking, penalty minutes, hitting and ice time in addition to more qualitative factors, like a players’ ability to play through pain or strike fear into the hearts of his opponents.

Vancouver Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault may have not given enough thought to his decision to start goaltender Roberto Luongo in Game 6 against the Chicago Blackhawks.  In his postgame interview after Game 5’s disaster, it was a given that he would be asked who would start Game 6 in Chicago on Sunday.  

On the heels of an impressive 5-0 victory over the Canucks in Vancouver, the Chicago Blackhawks return home with hope of winning a series that once saw them down 3-0 to the Western Conference's top seed.

In the last two games alone, the Blackhawks have scored 12 goals and have chased Roberto Luongo from net both times.

Finally, 10 months after winning Lord Stanley’s Cup, the Chicago Blackhawks once again resembled a championship-caliber team. With their backs against the wall and defensive stalwart Brent Seabrook scratched due to an “upper-body” injury suffered in Game 3, the defending champs rose up and pounded the Canucks. Relentlessly. For 60 minutes.

Hockey days are numbered for the Blackhawks in Chicago, and if something isn't done quickly, their right to call themselves the "Defending Champions" will be convincingly revoked.  

The NHL has taken some serious steps in addressing dangerous hits to players' heads this season.

Referees are watching hits much more closely—if anything comes near the head then it is a distinct possibility that culprits could see a five-minute major, and possibly even be ejected from the game.

The new concussion policy that the NHL has introduced is another great way to make sure that players are kept safe.

The Canucks are now up 3-0 on the Blackhawks and can attempt to sweep their playoff rivals on Tuesday.

But they might have to make that attempt without Raffi Torres.

You've probably already seen the hit, but if you haven't, here is the CBC feed from the game.

The Hawks are calling for Torres to be suspended.

The hockey gods certainly have a twisted sense of humor. There was only one scenario that would result in the Chicago Blackhawks playing the Vancouver Canucks in the first round of the playoffs.

And it was the most unlikely scenario because both Chicago and Dallas had to lose.

Yesterday, the Chicago Blackhawks locked up defenseman Brent Seabrook to a five-year, $29 million deal.

This means Seabrook will have a salary and cap hit of $5.8 million until the end of 2015-2016 season.

But what else does this mean for the Blackhawks and essentially the rest of the league?

It's probably not a coincidence the contract was extended one day before the NHL trade deadline. Reports have stated that negotiations between Stan Bowman and Brent Seabrook have really sped up over the past week or so.

TSN’s Bob McKenzie is reporting early Saturday morning that the Chicago Blackhawks and defenseman Brent Seabrook are on the verge of agreeing to an extension. McKenzie says the new deal will be five years and approximately $29M (a $5.8M cap number).