Skip to main content

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year--Playoff Season



CHICAGO, IL -- Well, they're finally here, boys and girls.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs.

It feels like the season flew by, and I can't wait for the games to start on Wednesday! And, just like our Blackhawks, this isn't my first rodeo. Before this season, I really only watched hockey between the months of April and June, simply because no one (or, next to no one) in the South cares about hockey until then.

But, this season has been good to me. So good. I came in just as Kane's point streak tapered off (I think I saw maybe the last five or seven games of his streak), the awesome 12-game win streak, all of the injuries, the hat tricks, the travesty that was March, and the relatively good finish the boys had. I got to see Kane reach the Art Ross trophy for the first time ever, and the first time for an American player. That's pretty cool.

Needless to say, it's always good to be a Hawks fan. No matter what happens from here on out, we know our boys are one of the best teams in the league. They deserve the "hype" they receive--they aren't just a for-show kind of team. This is a well-oiled machine that operates on all cylinders (especially during the post-season), and if they don't make it all the way, they've got the next season to look forward to and fight harder for. I think they'll be a force to be reckoned with for a long time coming.

With all of that being said, I'm proud to be a Hawks fan. I'm so proud of this team that has done what seemed like the impossible and brought the Cup back to Chicago after 49 years--and three times at that. And, though they may or may not win it this year, I don't think they're stopping at three. Why would they? With the core group of guys they have signed for a while (Toews, Kane, Seabrook, Keith, Crawford), why not aim for the highest goal? Why not do it again?

They will. There's something just special about this team that I can't ever seem to place. It's something in the way they play, the way they never stop. Sure, they've got off-games, or injuries, or stupid penalties (*cough* too many men on the ice), but so does every other team in this league. These boys, though... They've got it. What 'it' is, I don't know, but they are remarkable. They've really proven a lot of people wrong this season. I think a lot of people--fans and sportswriters alike--thought they'd tank because they lost so many important players over the offseason (Sharp, Oduya, Saad, Raanta, etc.), but they definitely didn't do that.

It's funny that I'm writing all of this, because I originally made this post so I could be angry about the 9:30pm EST starts for two of the games. But, my pride in this team, this band of misfits, obviously took over.

And, you know what? I'm okay with that.

If you're curious/haven't seen the schedule for the Blackhawks yet, here's the first round schedule:



(And, I know it doesn't specify on this schedule, but Games 1, 2 + 4 are on NBCSN as well as CSN Chicago.)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Checking In - Breaking Down the Blackhawks' Play Over a Month

CHICAGO, IL — I’m going to be absolutely real with you—I had no idea what to write about for the blog this week. I’ve written about the Blackhawks being good, bad, and everything in between, I’ve written about Patrick Kane a couple times now (#Kane4Hart), and I’ve even written about the best goal celebrations from the Hawks this season. The idea tank is running dry, my friends. So, I thought we could throw it back to a post I made a while back about what the Hawks really needed to do to make the playoffs, and grade them on how well they're meeting all three of those items a couple of weeks later. Let's just get right on into it, shall we? 1) With 27 games left, you have to go 18-9 to get to the 88-90-point range that would potentially get them into the playoffs. So, the Hawks currently sit at 71 points through 70 games, and since the date of this article (February 8th), the Hawks have gone 9-6, which is not terrible, but also only gives them a b...

Another Hat Trick for Patrick Kane Sends Hawks Into Fifth Straight Win

CHICAGO, IL -- The Hawks are certainly on a hot streak. In the past week and a half, they've beaten some of the top teams in the league--and have made it look way too easy. Tonight was no different. I was a bit worried about this game, only because the Pittsburgh Penguins are a team to reckon with. But, with guys like Kris Letang, Bryan Rust and Conor Sheary out due to injury, and the fact that they're coming off a loss to the Dallas Stars last night... The Hawks did have the upper hand to begin with, I think. But, the Penguins came out strong and tough, as usual, and the Hawks certainly rose to the challenge. The first period was basically a bust. I thought the Hawks had some great shots on goal, but Marc-Andre Fleury played incredibly well that first period and prevented anything from going through--even back-to-back Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook wristers. I was a little frustrated with the refs blatantly ignoring calls on both sides. The Hawks did manage to draw...

Break-Up Day - Blackhawks End of Season Locker Room Clean Out

CHICAGO, IL — After a nice finish on the season with wins over the St. Louis Blues and Dallas Stars (and a loss to the Nashville Predators that we're going to ignore), the Blackhawks are officially in the off-season. The team held their annual locker room clean out, and I thought there were a lot of great takeaways from the clean out day. Obviously, the Hawks didn’t finish where they wanted to, but I think that was made up for when they moved from the 12th overall pick to the 3rd pick in the 2019 NHL Draft Lottery that took place on Tuesday. I’ll probably do a quick piece on who the Hawks should be looking at and what their options are for the draft in the coming weeks, so keep an eye out for that. But, in the meantime, lets go over some of the topics that came up in the clean out presser. IIHF World Championship The past couple of years, a handful of Blackhawks players have participated in the IIHF World Championship, which takes place in early May. A coup...