CHICAGO, IL -- Oh.
Oh my god.
The Blackhawks--your Chicago Blackhawks--were in a playoff spot for about 45 minutes Wednesday night.
Yes, the same team that was in dead last on January 19th, a little over a month ago, is that close to a playoff spot. If you told me a month ago that they'd be here, I would laugh in your face.
They're not a perfect team by any means, but the way they've been playing the past month has been insane. They've won ten of their last twelve, which is absurd. Both goalies and the defense look astronomically better than they did a month ago--again, not perfect, but better--and the offense has finally flipped a switch.
It also really helps that the rest of the Western Conference is meh at best. They're currently in a race with Colorado (who took the playoff spot from the Hawks a mere 45 minutes after their game ended, after the Avalanche routed the Winnipeg Jets 7-1), Arizona, Vancouver, and Minnesota. None of these teams scream 'playoff teams' to me, but again, that's just how average the Western Conference is this season.
I think out of those teams, the Hawks may have one of the best chances to do the damn thing if they can stay as hot as they've been.
That's the key, though. They're walking a razor-thin wire here, and they're really going to feel every loss and every win. I really do think this one will come down to the last handful of games, which is totally not stressful, right?
... Yeah, no, it's the worst and I hate it.
I've already kind of touched on what they need to keep doing to make it to the playoffs, but I'm just... astounded that we're actually talking about them potentially making a run at the playoffs.
Keep in mind, if they do go on a crazy run and they do make it to a wild card spot, they'll play either the first place team in either the Central or Pacific Division, depending on what wild card spot they end up in.
Currently, that'd be either the Calgary Flames or the Winnipeg Jets, which... yikes.
I mean, it's not totally impossible. But, with our defense at its best, and that being... less than great, it's hard to see them stopping either of those teams easily. The goaltending tandem is posting an average SV% of .903, which isn't terrible, but also not amazing compared to some other playoff-strength teams. Offense (and by turn, the power play) has been pretty strong as of late, but just like you can't win with just good goaltending or just good defense (ahem, Dallas), you can't win with just good offense.
With all of that being said, I'm hanging on tight to this little sliver of hope. I want the Hawks to make the playoffs. Of course I do.
But, I'm also trying to tell myself that there's a fairly good chance they'll miss--there are a lot teams in the same boat. Hell, they may miss by a single point, which will absolutely hurt. They could completely fall apart the rest of the way, and not be anywhere near the playoffs when all is said and done. Who the hell knows at this point?
You know what, though? If nothing else, the past month or so has been fun. My god, it's been fun. I barely watched any games last season because the Hawks were playing so, so bad, and they were barely winning games--plus, I wasn't in a great spot mentally, so watching them just made me even more frustrated and upset.
This year, though? Even if I'm having a bad day or just not feeling up to it, I watch games and they've been turning my days completely around. Even in frustrating games like the Ottawa game earlier this week (even though they did win), I've had fun watching, because the Hawks are giving themselves a legitimate chance. They're fighting tooth and nail for these games, coming back from early deficits which is not what they were doing earlier this season--if they'd go down a goal or two, that's it, game over. Now, they're fighting to get goals, they're driving to the net, and more often than not, they're actually pulling ahead and winning those tough games.
I don't know about you, but I'm excited to see what the Blackhawks do over the next month or so. Every game will be intense and enthralling, since they're playing games for something now.
So, win or lose, I'm in.
Are you in?
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