CHICAGO, IL (by way of LONDON, UK) -- Can you believe it?
In February 2004, ESPN named the Chicago Blackhawks as the worst franchise in all of professional sports. Dead-last. Not just in hockey, but in all of sports.
To be honest, it isn't that surprising. Home games weren't on TV. This was in 2004, not 1984, and seriously, home games weren't on TV. We sold out three games per season... the three against the rival Detroit Red Wings, and the only reason those games were sold out was because there were more Detroit fans than Hawks fans.
Yet year after year, February shit-storm sleet after January blizzard, only a few thousand fans showed up. We, however, were among that incredibly small group, as anybody who we have ever taken to a game can attest. Empty train rides to empty parking lots. An Eric Daze, Alex Zhamnov, Steve Sullivan, and even a Michael Hanzus jersey. A Boris Mirinov goal from his own blue line. The famous T-BO sign (that's Jocelyn Thibaut for those of you who aren't in-the-know), which made it to a road game in Phoenix, but never returned. Two measly playoff games. The first one, on my birthday, we got absolutely smoked by the St. Louis Blues. It was so bad, that we didn't even sell out the second home playoff game, and sure enough we were run out of our own building. When nobody else would even take a free ticket, we were always at the games. When nobody from my generation had ever even seen a Blackhawks jersey, we were wearing ours to school.
In October 2007 it all started to turn around. On the 19th, it was only the third or fourth home game of the season for the Blackhawks. The building was a little over half full. Two new players, in the first couple of weeks of their professional careers, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, were on the ice. Kane took a pass and held up in his own zone, right in front of our seats. He deked towards his own slot and fed a no-look pass to a streaking Toews, in front of the Blackhawks bench, just to our right. Toews beat the Colorado Avalanche's third-man back by the time he crossed the Colorado blue line, and used his body position to shield him off the puck. Toews deked the Colorado left defenseman out of his skates at the top of the left circle. Then, in one motion, he pulled the puck from behind him, through his legs forward, around the third and final defenseman, pulled the puck to his left around the Colorado goalie, and shoved it into the goal.
That was, for the past eight years, the loudest I had ever heard the United Center get, even if it was only slightly more than half full. The Hawks ended up winning the game, and just weeks later, after the death of longtime Hawks owner Bill Wirtz, home games began airing on local TV. The following April, in 2008, the Blackhawks missed out on the playoffs by 1 game with the youngest team in the NHL. In their final home game, they absolutely dominated Nashville in a 3-1 game that they knew was meaningless, but it was abundantly clear that this was a team not to be messed with.
Last year, in the 2008-2009 season, the Hawks began to break through. They finished second in the division, and in the playoffs knocked out Calgary in the first round in 6 games. In the second round against Vancouver, the Hawks won the famous "
Game 6" by a ridiculous score of 7-5 at the United Center to advance to the Western Conference Finals. The Hawks were down 5-4 with just minutes remaining in the game, but they scored 3 goals in just a few minutes, including the last of a Patrick Kane hat trick, and the UC simply exploded. In the press conference after the game, Roberto Lunongo, considered by most to be the best goaltender in the world, was reduced to tears, lacking an ability to explain what the Blackhawks and the Chicago fans just did to him. The Hawks lost the conference finals to the hated Red Wings in a hard-fought 5 game series.
This year, the expectation has been from the outset for the Blackhawks to make the Stanley Cup Finals. Last year, the goal was to make the playoffs, and when they reached the Conference Finals, it was an unexpected triumph. This year, nothing short of absolute victory would be considered successful. Throughout the season, for the most part, the Hawks lived up to the billing. They shattered record after record, and finished the regular season by winning the division for the first time in decades, and came in 2nd in the Western Conference by all of 1 measly point. In the playoffs, they struggled against a mentally tough and system-oriented Nashville Predators, but they managed to pull off an improbable Game 5 victory at the United Center. Down 4-3 with a mere 60 seconds left, Marian Hossa took a ridiculous 5 minute major penalty. The Hawks pulled their goalie regardless, to even up the skaters at 5 on 5. With 13 seconds left in regulation, Patrick Kane scored a shorthanded goal to tie the game at 4-4 and force overtime. In OT, after killing off the final 4 minutes of the Hossa penalty, he came out of the box, skated straight to the Nashville crease, and deflected in a Brent Sopel pass from the half-boards to win the game. Just seconds from being down 3-2 in the series going to Nashville, instead they were up 3-2, and they took Nashville out on the road to advance to the next round.
Ever since the intense spectacle that was the second round of the 2009 playoffs, the Vancouver Canucks have been preaching their desire for revenge against the Hawks. They wanted us. They demanded it. And they would prove that they were the better team. Expect, well, they proved that the Hawks were the better team. Aside from a couple of careless losses by the Hawks, they simply out-skated, out-smarted, and out-played Vancouver. They won all three games in Vancouver, and this time eliminated them in British Columbia to send them to the golf course. Good riddance, Canuck-dom. The Blackhawks, who simply knew they would win that Game 6, packed for over a week, and flew straight down to San Jose, where they were up against the highest ranked team in the Western Conference, the #1 seed. Behind a 44-save performance by Hawks goalie Antti Niemi, the Finnish Fortress, the Hawks won Game 1 by a 2-1 final score. In Game 2, the Hawks thoroughly dominated the game in a 4-2 win, which tied the NHL all-time record for consecutive road victories at 7. That had happened three previous times, and twice that team won the Cup. By the time Game 3 ended, the series was effectively over. The game went to overtime, but the Hawks won 3-2, and went on in Game 4 to sweep the San Jose Sharks back to California for the summer, behind another solid performance by Captain Jonathan Toews, who set the Blackhawks franchise-record for 13 games in a row with at least 1 point.
Which brings us to... now. The Stanley Cup Finals. The greatest trophy in the world, Lord Stanley's Cup, is up for grabs, and the Chicago Blackhawks are up against the Philadelphia Flyers. Within the next one to two weeks, one of these teams will lift the trophy and have their names etched into it for eternal glory. The first team to win four games wins it all.
Game 1 was last night at the United Center in Chicago. For the first time since 1992, the Hawks skated in a Cup Finals game. However, for the first time since May 8, 1973, the Hawks WON a Stanley Cup Finals game, and on home ice no less. With
decibel readings raging from "sandblasting" to "power saw at 3 feet" to the equivalent to standing in front of 120 speakers in the front row of a rock concert, the Hawks and Flyers essentially beat the crap out of each other on the ice. All kinds of blood drawn, and a ridiculous amount of scoring later, and the Hawks emerged victorious. The final score was 6-5, and the Hawks take a 1-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Flyers goalie, ex-Hawk Michael Leighton, was pulled just midway through the 2nd period after giving up 5 goals on 20 shots. This game was definitely NOT what either team designed up, but it proves once again that no matter the style, the Hawks can win. All week before the series started, the Flyers talked about how they did not want to get into a shootout with the Blackhawks. Well, they did, and they lost it, just like San Jose and Vancouver before them. It will be interesting to see what happens in Game 2 - who does Philadelphia start in goal? Do they try a low-scoring, trap-style of hockey? A more physical game (hard to imagine but I'm sure it could happen)? Or do they stare this in the face and try the same up-tempo fast-paced style, and try to goad the Hawks into taking more penalties?
There is good news for the Hawks. First, the Hawks top line of Toews, Kane, and Dustin "Big Buff" Byfuglien, combined for all of zero points and a brutal minus-9 ranking. Yet the Hawks still won. I can guarantee you that this line will not perform that poorly again, which makes it considerably more difficult for Philadelphia to win. Likewise, Niemi has responded to every game in which he has given up 5 goals by allowing all of no more than 2. Finally, the Hawks were just killed by the officials, who blew a number of incredibly obvious calls and gave the Hawks zero power plays. The NHL will look into this, and you can expect the Hawks to get a few make-up calls in the next game. Thus, the Hawks will get to display their lethal powerplay. For all of these reasons, the Hawks look to be in good shape. If you win a game when you have 0 PP's, your top line produces nothing and is -9, and your goalie gives up 5 goals... yeah, things are looking up.
Game 2 is set for tomorrow, Monday, night. 7PM CT, 8PM ET, 1AM BST. The Hawks look to take a strong 2-0 series lead. It's the first team to four. One down, three to go.
