Morning Bag Skate: Welcome to the second half of the season

All-Star weekend is over but the Blackhawks still have a little more time off before hitting the ice again. For now, here's the latest news:

**The 'Hawks recalled Dennis Rasmussen from Rockford after placing Kris Versteeg on LTIR (SCH)

**Folks around the league have gotten used to the Blackhawks being the NHL's marquee franchise, but it's easy to forget how impossible that would've seemed just 10 years ago. (Chicago Sun-Times)

**The Blackhawks-Wild Stadium Series game is set for Feb. 21, 2016, at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. (SCH)

**A recap of the festivities from Columbus, including a 17-12 Team Toews win in the All-Star Game. (SCH)

**This post might deserve a bigger rebuttal, but no, the Death of Corsi isn't coming. I think the more important thing to consider here anyways is a mindset. Sabermetrics, as I was taught, wasn't a set of numbers, it's a way of approaching thinking about baseball. It's about taking this sport you love so dearly, and trying to look at it through an objective, analytical lens with the goal of better understanding how to win. When I think about hockey analytics, it's the same thing -- an intellectual quest to better understand how to win hockey games. And even if motion tracking leads to statistics that make Corsi somewhat obsolete -- it's possible a new stat conveys possession in a way more tied to wins and losses -- that doesn't dismiss the thoughts that went into its creation. The mindset that created Corsi, whatever analog to sabermetrics you'd like to create, will be stronger than ever. You can kill Corsi, but you'll never kill its spirit. (The Hockey News)

**The World Cup of Hockey is returning in 2016 with an eight-team tournament (SB Nation)

**Why did Alex Ovechkin want that car so badly? Turns out the reason is pretty awesome. (Puck Daddy)

**There could be a lot of cancelled games early this week with the huge winter storm heading towards the East Coast right now. (PHT)

**Not everyone was a fan of the cannon in Columbus (Puck Daddy)

**The NHL's All-Star Game should have more of this (Puck Daddy)

**No matter what happens to the Canadian dollar, the projected salary cap is expected to be around $71.6-$72.2 million. (PHT)