CHICAGO — The Chicago Blackhawks have been here before. Staring at one last chance for success, before the bars slam shut in Cap Jail.
It was the spring of 2010 when the Blackhawks snapped a 49-year Stanley Cup drought, then had to divest themselves of such names as Dustin Byfuglien, Andrew Ladd, Kris Versteeg, John Madden and Ben Eager just to get under the cap for next fall. They finished eighth in the Western Conference the next season, sixth the year after that, and didn’t win a single playoff round either year.
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS: | Broadcast Schedule
Rogers NHL GameCentre LIVE | Stanley Cup Playoffs Fantasy Hockey
New Sportsnet app: iTunes | Google Play
Chicago won another Cup in 2013, and in doing so, the inevitable occurred: Corey Crawford had put himself in line to be a $6 million goalie; Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane were celebrated with matching eight-year, $84 million deals; Patrick Sharp struck gold in 2012, with an AAV of $5.9 million through 2016-17.
The Kane and Toews deals kick in next season, and they’re going to really put the squeeze on GM Stan Bowman’s cap situation. It might not be as dire as Dale Tallon’s was in the summer of 2010, but this team will lose some very important parts over the next month.
Johnny Oduya. Brad Richards. Marcus Kruger. Michal Rozsival. Antoine Vermette. Any or all could be gone next season, casualties of the cap. Depth is already becoming an issue against Anaheim, and the Blackhawks depth is going to take a hit this summer — guaranteed.
Meanwhile, through three games of this series the Ducks have had all the answers. In goal, Frederik Andersen (AAV $1.15 million) is every bit as good or better than Crawford at less than a quarter the price. On the blueline, Anaheim’s Top 3 may not have the star power of Chicago’s, but the Duck defence is far deeper one-through-six, at about two-thirds the price.
Up front, as fantastic as the Blackhawks core group is, Anaheim’s size is becoming a problem for Chicago. They’ve got to find a way to turn the tide in a series that has been largely played on the Ducks’ terms.
“We can’t play a run-and-gun game. We’re not a team that’s built to skate up and down the rink all night long and trade chances. We’re just not built that way,” said Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf.
Quenneville’s group has been here before and turned series’ like this one around. That will entail opening the game up and scoring off the rush, two things that will tell you on Saturday if Chicago has managed to seize control of the style of hockey being played.
“You don’t have to reinvent the wheel with this group,” said Quenneville. “The leadership, preparation-wise, focus, is always in the right place, led by our guys who have been around. That’s the message that’s most important. When you’re playing the game, that takes over.”
When you are the champs, as this fine Chicago team has been, there is always that next team ready to take your place at the top. For the Blackhawks and L.A. Kings, Anaheim appears now to be that club.
Getzlaf and Corey Perry only this month turned 30. Andersen has emerged as consistent, cool, and fabulously unflappable in these playoffs. The depth on defence is tops in the entire NHL, with the likes of James Wisniewski, Josh Manson and Mark Fistric unable even to get into a game day lineup.
Remember, while the Blackhawks were fattening up on two Cups since 2010 — creating the very cap issues that will force some difficult decisions this summer — Anaheim was Team Close But No Cigar, losing two Game 7s at home the past two springs.
“I’ve always believed that you learn a lot from losing, almost more from losing than you do winning,” Getzlaf said. “If you win all the time, you don’t really understand what exactly you’re doing, you just do it. When you have those times when you go to a Game 7, you see the difference between what they did last year and what we did in that game. You learn a lot about yourselves, what you need to do, how minor the changes are that make the big difference.”
Is this Anaheim’s time? Are we witnessing the end of an era in Chicago, at least until they can retool the bottom end of their lineup once again?
Those questions will go a long way to getting answered Saturday at the United Center, where it may only be Game 4 in this series. But it could be Game “Fore!” for the Blackhawks.