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First Round Preview: Veteran Hawks or "Dangerous" Preds?


CHICAGO, IL -- Well. The stage has been set, and the Blackhawks face the Nashville Predators in the first round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Game 1 is set for this Thursday, April 13th at 8pm EST, and I know I'm not the only one who's happy about the earlier start time.

Anyways, there's a lot of talk about this match up right now--Can the Hawks easily beat the Preds? Will they give the Hawks a run for their money? Does this sound like 2015 to anyone else?

 Seriously, though, look at the teams in this year's playoffs that are the same as they were in 2015: St. Louis vs. Minnesota, Anaheim, Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, New York (Rangers), Pittsburgh, Washington... I don't know. The Western Conference especially seems eerily similar.

Okay, enough of that superstitious stuff, though. Let's talk about the series at hand. Do I think it'll be an easy win for the Blackhawks? Nope. They don't either.

 Coach Quenneville explained that the Predators are a "very dangerous team" and that the Preds gave the Hawks "all we could handle in both [previous] series and we don't expect anything different this time."

Patrick Kane seemed to share the same sentiments.

"It's a tough team. It's a tough team to play against, no doubt. I think it's one of the tougher teams in the league."

So, that raises the question: how will the Hawks stack up?

Well, for starters, the Blackhawks took the series win 4-1, but that doesn't always translate to the playoffs. But, with the consistency in the core players over the past two years since the Blackhawks have seen the Predators in the playoffs last, I think it's pretty fair to say that the Hawks definitely have an advantage.

The Predators seem to be a new threat this year, especially with the addition of PK Subban, who is unarguably one of the best defensemen in the entire league. Granted, no team can rely on one player, but Subban seems unstoppable, and I know he'll come out full-force against the Blackhawks, who have never seen him in the playoffs.  Will he be a match for our suddenly-semi-deep defense, though? With Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook back as a D-pair and Niklas Hjalmarsson and Johnny Oduya together again, can the Predators really stop that? We'll just have to see.

I do think as far as goaltending goes, the Hawks do have the upper hand. Scott Darling saved the Predators series in 2015, and I don't expect any less from him this year. Corey Crawford has looked pretty spectacular lately as well, so as long as those two continue their uptick, the Hawks will be just fine.

And, of course, forward action is important, too. With four rookies, the Hawks do have a little growing to do. Whether or not these four kids are ready for the playoffs is a totally different question for another day, but if they continue to play the way they've been playing, I think they'll do just fine. They have to cut their teeth somehow, and what better way to do that than in a good old division rivalry playoff series?

Artem Anisimov is expected to be back in the lineup as well, which is definitely good news. He skated at practice this morning, and it seems like he's doing just fine, per Coach Q.

"He looked good, handled everything well. He said he felt good conditioning-wise and health-wise, so all good."

 Adding him back into the lineup certainly helps--that second line can be deadly, and if they start producing right off the bat, they'll be unstoppable.

So, overall, I think the Hawks are more than prepared for the playoffs, and moreover for the first round. But, everything is left to them now. They have to be ready to play, they have to be ready to face a team that wants this just as bad as they do. And, if the Hawks aren't willing to work hard for the Cup, well, then maybe it's not their year.

But, enough with the dramatics. I'm one-hundred percent in this year, no doubt. And a good part of me thinks they are, too.
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