The Blackhawks celebrate their first Conference Finals appearance since 1995
By Adam Bernard
(First off, my apologies for slacking on the coverage of this series. My work schedule changed for the week last week and it made it impossible to write)
If you watch the Chicago Blackhawks for just one game, it becomes very easy to root for them. They are a fast-paced, hard hitting, fun team to watch, and they're getting better with each game. It wasn't long ago that the Blackhawks were a doormat in both the Central Division and the Western Conference. Now, they're going to take on the winner of the Detroit/Anaheim series for the right to play for the Stanley Cup. It's amazing what can happen in two years.
I predicted the Canucks to win this series in seven games. I thought Vancouver was playing their best hockey of the season and Roberto Luongo was putting the goal judge to sleep in whatever end of the rink he was in. While Chicago's first round win against Calgary was impressive, it was expected. The Blackhawks had no trouble with Calgary in the regular season and any time a team is coached by Mike Keenan, it's likely to make a premature exit from the playoffs. Both teams came in rolling, but I gave the goaltending edge to Vancouver. It's amazing what can happen in two games...
The Canucks dodged a HUGE bullet in Game 1. It's not often you blow a three goal lead in the 3rd period and still get out of Dodge with a victory. More important than the win in that game was the confidence boost the Blackhawks took from it. Yeah, they lost the game, but they were able to rally back with three goals against arguably the best goalie in the world. It almost makes it seem like any deficit could be made up. In Game 2, the Blackhawks once again found themselves behind. This time it was 2-0 after the 1st period. After a three goal 2nd period, Chicago crusied to a 6-3 win. The Canucks cracked down in Game 4 for a 3-1 win to even the series heading back to GM Place. In Game 5, the hard working Dustin Byfuglien scored twice to lead the way and steal another game in the Pacific Northwest by a score of 4-2. The teams were heading back to O'Hare International Airport.
The teams did their best see-saw impression in Game 6, trading the lead multiple times. Midway through the 3rd period, Daniel Sedin put the Canucks ahead 5-4 on the power play. But once again, we go back to that theme of the Blackhawks never feeling they were out of the game. Patrick Kane would tie the game and then Jonathan Towes would give the Blackhawks the lead, and the series. The last three goals were scored in a 1:34 span. It's amazing what can happen in the span of 2 minutes...
When you look up and down the Blackhawks roster, all you see is young talent that is really coming along. Patrick Kane, Jonathan Towes, Patrick Sharp, Dustin Byfuglien, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Cam Barker - all of these guys are young with limited playoff experience. Maybe that is the recipe for success for these guys. They don't know any better. They're going out and playing fun hockey at the most important time of the year to be having fun and playing your game. When they do need experienced leadership, they can lean on a guy like Brian Campbell who has made many deep playoff runs. They can look at the Stanley Cup rings on the ring fingers of Sami Pahlsson and goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin. Speaking of the Bulin Wall, how about the Blackhawks claiming him OFF OF WAIVERS this season. Never doubt a goalie who has carried his team to the promised land in the past (also look up Chris Osgood in that scenario). Chicago is playing THEIR brand of hockey and are taking it to their opponents.
As for the Canucks, goalie Roberto Luongo got cold at the worst time. Some of the goals were saves Lui should have made with ease. It wasn't all his fault though. While Vancouver played solid hockey throughout the series, you can't blow leads in the playoffs like they did. You can't say the Blackhawks were too fast for the Canucks because Vancouver has some good speed on their end. At the end of the day, they were outplayed. Mats Sundin - take a lesson from the likes of Roger Clemens and Brett Favre: you can't hand pick the team you want to win the championship for (scratch that previous statement if Marian Hossa gets his name on the Cup with Detroit this season).
Up next for the Blackhawks is either Anaheim or Detroit. In Anaheim, they'd get the champs from two seasons ago. If they get Detroit, they get to play their most hated rival for at least four more times this season. Either way, Chicago is in a good zone right now and their youthful exuberance should put a little bit of a scare in to any playoff team.
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