First off, the Blackhawks, like any other team, don't HAVE to reach ANY amount of points to guarantee a playoff spot, they just need to have more points than 7 teams in the West, no more no less.
Second, with or without Buff, the Hawks would have beaten the Canucks last season. Why? Because the Canucks beat themselves when they let the Hawks off the ropes. They let them get in their heads again and frustrate them into taking bad penalties. They also didn't get much production from their secondary scoring thanks to Kesler's bum shoulder. That being said, I'm not SO naive as to think the Hawks would have won the Cup without Buff, or Ladd or Versteeg. They were all integral parts of the Championship team and no one should ever try and take that away from them. Their losses sting, no doubt about it, but to say that they were "irreplaceable" on the team is a stretch, especially when you consider who the Hawks would have lost had they kept them (Sharp, Bolland, Kane, Seabrook...). It might not be this season, but our cupboard is not bare and suitable "role player" replacements are in the system (Beach, Morin, Leddy...).
Third, you are completely right moy, last night was a big one. You just can't lose to teams like that. I can't even say that I didn't like the effort though. They played a decent enough game, but the Wild just cashed in on their chances and we didn't.
Fourth, what's worse? Being a defending Stanley Cup Champion that makes the payoffs as the 8 seed or being the #1 seed losing to the defending Stanley Cup Champions for the 3rd straight playoff? Careful what you wish for juskay. Now I'm not saying that's gonna happen because I think the Canucks are primed for a long run, but I bet if you gave Vigneault & Co. a choice, the Hawks is the last team they'd want to face in round 1.
That being said though, when the Penguins won the Cup in 2008, they were only 24-21-5 after 50 games and looking VERY ordinary before going 21-7-4 the rest of the way, so it's not TOTALLY crazy to think the Hawks can still turn their season into a successful one.
I mean when you think about it, the only players who have over-achieved this season are Patrick Sharp and Corey Crawford. If any or all of Jonathan Toews, Pat Kane, Marian Hossa, Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook can play the remaining 32 games at the level everyone knows they're capable of, I don't think anyone really believes this is a non-playoff team.