If the Chicago Blackhawks manage to win the Stanley Cup this season, it will be one of the most remarkable turnarounds in NHL history.
If the Chicago Blackhawks manage to win the Stanley Cup this season, it will be one of the most remarkable turnarounds in NHL history.
This once floundering Original Six team (which hasn't won the Stanley Cup since 1960-61 when Bobby Hull's hair was real) is now one of the league's model franchises with a collection of exciting young players playing before record crowds. In fact, when fan No. 8,547 passes through the turnstile when Chicago hosts the Columbus Blue Jackets the Blackhawks will establish a new single-season record for attendance, beating the mark of 835,971 set in the 1995-96 season. And that does not include the 40,818 who attended the New Year's Day game at Wrigley Field.
That, plus the fact the Blackhawks rank sixth overall in the standings after finishing 20th last season and 26th the year before, is a clear indication the franchise is alive and well.
The trick now, as I see it, is managing expectations. Are the Blackhawks bona fide Stanley Cup contenders?
Nope.
That is not to say they won't win it; at this stage of the game I don't feel confident pointing to any team as a sure bet. Who would have guessed the Carolina Hurricanes would win the Cup in 2006?
Win or lose, the Blackhawks are no flash in the pan. They have been built to be good not only now, but for a long time to come. Chicago's young one-two punch of Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane is as exciting a young duo as you will find in the league -- and that includes Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry of the Anaheim Ducks.
Kane, 20, was the NHL's rookie of the year last season and has already bettered his goal total of 21 by four. He needs five more points to surpass his rookie total of 72. Although he looks like he might snap in half in a strong windstorm, Kane has proven to be decidedly durable through his first two seasons and he drives to the net with the reckless abandon of a power forward.
Toews, meanwhile, got off to a horrible start prompting some to suggest making him team captain at the tender age of 20 might have been too much and too soon for the Winnipeg, MB, native. Although he had no goals through his first 12 games, Toews now has 33 - nine more than he scored last season - and has also bettered his rookie points total of 54 by 13.
Proving last season was no fluke when the 'Hawks had the top two rookies in the league, Kris Versteeg will likely get lots of consideration for the Calder Trophy this year. The 22-year-old, who was Boston's fifth pick in the 2004 and was traded to Chicago with future consideration for Brandon Bochenski, ranks second among freshman scorers this season with 22 goals and 51 points in 76 games.
Beyond the kids, perhaps the best news for the 'Hawks this year is the re-emergence of Martin Havlat as a star. The 'Hawks finally have the player it thought it was getting two years ago when they signed Havlat to a three-year, $18 million contract. Injuries threw him way off course, but a healthy Havlat is also a very productive Havlat. He leads the team in scoring with 28 goals and 73 points in 78 games. One of the game's most creative players, Havlat makes moves at full speed that would cause others to stumble at half speed.
And what would a good team be without a competent defence? (The Tampa Bay Lightning.) The Blackhawks have three rising stars on the blueline in Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Cam Barker and added to its depth by signing free agent Brian Campbell last summer. Debate the merits of paying Campbell $56 million over eight years amongst yourselves; there is no denying he has worked out for this season in terms of helping his team get to the next level.
The only area of concern surrounds how far Nikolai Khabibulin and Cristobal Huet can carry the Blackhawks in the playoffs. We already know Khabibulin is capable of winning four rounds as he did so with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004. His play since then has been sporadic, although he seems t o have found a groove as the regular season winds down. Huet is a decent Plan B.
Although it seemed cruel at the time but replacing Denis Savard early in the year with Joel Quenneville was a good move. Savard knew how to dismantle a defence; he just didn't know how to coach one.
All in all there is a lot to like about the Blackhawks. But when I look at them, I wonder if they aren't similar to the young Edmonton Oilers who finished with 106 points in the 1982-83 season, only to be defeated in the Stanley Cup final in four games by the New York Islanders, an older, more experienced team that finished 10 points behind them in the regular season.
Wayne Gretzky often points to that series loss as the inspiration for his team to regroup and win the Cup in four of the next five seasons. That doesn't necessarily mean the 'Hawks have to lose to learn how to win, but expecting too much too soon could be a recipe for disappointment.
