Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks Thread!!!!!!

[Banedon]

Seriously, this thread is lame. It's ridiculous to be this freaked out over a road overtime loss. Really.

[jersey cubs fan]

From what I've heard, confidence in the Philly locker room is pretty high right now. I don't know about the fans, but I'd look at the team's confidence first.

 

They feel like they should be up in this series, and that they played us very well in our building. If they can win tonight, I'm sure they feel very good about being able to take one in Chicago.

 

Does that amount to a hill of beans? I don't know. But I do believe the confidence edge has to be with Philly right now, despite being down 2-1. That said, this Hawks team has responded to losses well and shown they are resilient.

 

So I don't know. If we lose tonight, color me panicked.

 

Oh come on. Any team in the Stanley Cup finals is going to be a confident bunch.

[17 Seconds]

But I still don't think anything I said was ridiculous, or what 96% of all posts after that game said. We are right to be worried that the Hawks play in the first 3 games is a bad indicator of the rest of the series regardless of whether we won all 3 of the games or none of the 3 games.

 

A great team playing at less than their best being up 2-1 is hardly justification for being worried about that level of play. Philly mucks it up, and it's gotten them one win in three games. Congrats. But they felt lucky to get out of game 3 with a win, believe me. Their fans were not the least bit confident at the end of regulation or going into overtime.

 

 

you're basing that on what? considering the hawks got raped the entire 3rd period, i'd say rational philly fans were probably pretty confident.

 

and i don't understand how you could say that the flyers playing us evenly for 3 games isn't justification for being worried about that level of play.

 

I'm basing that on my attendance at the game. That place was rocking for the first period, but tense and not happy late. They were relieved to win. The bulk of the comments I overheard related to be relieved that they actually won a game and didn't get swept. Yesterday I heard a whole bunch of "I hope they can at least push it to Game 7 to give them a chance."

 

of course they're tense late in the game. it's overtime in a game that's a must win or their season is essentially over. and of course casual fans are just going to see that they were down 2-0 and not really factor in how they played in those 2 games. and it seems like you're cherry picking things you heard from random people at the game and assuming that's how they all feel.

 

either way, it doesn't matter. there is no reason the flyers shouldn't have been confident going into OT. they have played us evenly all series and were completely dominating in the 3rd.

[17 Seconds]

Seriously, this thread is lame. It's ridiculous to be this freaked out over a road overtime loss. Really.

 

once again, it's not the loss. it's the fact that the flyers are playing us evenly when we should be better.

[jersey cubs fan]

I expect this crap from kyle because he's cried about how horrible the Blackhawks are for 2 years now. But you guys are nuts.

[Soul]

Hehe.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Then again, we're probably parsing it way too finely.

 

Two teams of good hockey players are going to skate around tonight and throw the puck toward the net 50-60 times each. 0-5 times each, they'll get a lucky bounce or a perfect placement and it'll go in. Whoever gets the most of those wins.

 

The goals last game included:

Sopel blasting it through three players and just happening to hit the perfect spot, imo the equivalent of me stepping onto a basketball court and throwing up a halfcourt shot.

 

Keith blasting it from the point, hitting a Flyers' stick and getting a perfect deflection into the net.

 

The Flyers getting a rolling, twisting puck to squeak a fraction of an inch across the line.

 

The Flyers throwing a puck at the net, having it hit a Blackhawks defenseman's skate and redirect onto Niemi with no chance to react and control the rebound

 

A Flyers player sprawling on the ice and sliding the puck blindly behind him, only to have it dodge about six Blackhawks' skates and sticks and go straight to a teammate.

[17 Seconds]

I expect this crap from kyle because he's cried about how horrible the Blackhawks are for 2 years now. But you guys are nuts.

 

i dont understand your posts. why are we nuts? because we're being unbiased in our assessment of the series so far.

 

the flyers have played us evenly for 3 straight games and are giving us all sorts of problems. i'm not sure how that's not a concern to you.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I expect this crap from kyle because he's cried about how horrible the Blackhawks are for 2 years now. But you guys are nuts.

 

i dont understand your posts. why are we nuts? because we're being unbiased in our assessment of the series so far.

 

the flyers have played us evenly for 3 straight games and are giving us all sorts of problems. i'm not sure how that's not a concern to you.

 

I'm being a huge whining crybaby about it. Even if the two teams are dead even, then being up 2-1 gives us a significantly higher chance of winning the series just because we only have to win 2 coinflips out of 4.

 

Sure, I'm absolutely horrified at the third period of the last game, when it was played almost entirely in the Chicago end of the ice, but really I'd be crying like this no matter what.

 

Doing the math, I've gone through 62 major sports seasons with my favorite teams, and all 62 ended with someone else's fans celebrating. I'm convinced this one will too because I'm a lame emo sports fan.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

The first step's admitting it...

[jersey cubs fan]

I expect this crap from kyle because he's cried about how horrible the Blackhawks are for 2 years now. But you guys are nuts.

 

i dont understand your posts. why are we nuts? because we're being unbiased in our assessment of the series so far.

 

the flyers have played us evenly for 3 straight games and are giving us all sorts of problems. i'm not sure how that's not a concern to you.

 

Because you all sound like a bunch of panicky eric's in a game thread lamenting an already lost series. While the Blackhawks are up 2-1.

[Banedon]

I expect this crap from kyle because he's cried about how horrible the Blackhawks are for 2 years now. But you guys are nuts.

 

i dont understand your posts. why are we nuts? because we're being unbiased in our assessment of the series so far.

 

the flyers have played us evenly for 3 straight games and are giving us all sorts of problems. i'm not sure how that's not a concern to you.

 

Because those problems have lead to us winning 2 out of 3 games. I'll take a repeat of that.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

The first step's admitting it...

 

I intend on being stuck on this step for a long, long time.

[Banedon]

Everyone should be required to have a note under their username that says whether they are an optimistic or pessimistic fan, and to what degree. It's crucial information to have.

[17 Seconds]

it's stupid that i finally have a team in a championship series, and all i want is for it to be over. i should be enjoying this. if i'm not, what's the point of even watching sports.

 

watching game 3 was probably the most tense i've ever been watching a sporting event. even more than the 03 NLCS (mostly because that was before sports broke me). i was literally ill the entire game.

 

yea, i care too much about sports.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

It's the loss-averse side of human nature. Humans feel the pain of utility lost much more heavily than the joy of utility gained, and we act accordingly.

 

Being up 2-0 in the Stanley Cup Finals as a heavy favorite and then losing it would suck sweaty goat balls, so many of us fans are reacting accordingly.

[17 Seconds]

I expect this crap from kyle because he's cried about how horrible the Blackhawks are for 2 years now. But you guys are nuts.

 

i dont understand your posts. why are we nuts? because we're being unbiased in our assessment of the series so far.

 

the flyers have played us evenly for 3 straight games and are giving us all sorts of problems. i'm not sure how that's not a concern to you.

 

Because those problems have lead to us winning 2 out of 3 games. I'll take a repeat of that.

 

yeah, i guess it just seems worse since we were probably all expecting us to outplay them way more. now that it appears both teams are going to be even, it's a harsh kick back to reality.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Everyone should be required to have a note under their username that says whether they are an optimistic or pessimistic fan, and to what degree. It's crucial information to have.

 

I'm an optimistic fan until it gets to championship-time. I was one of the only ones here who insisted that the March slump meant nothing about our playoff chances.

[Banedon]

Everyone should be required to have a note under their username that says whether they are an optimistic or pessimistic fan, and to what degree. It's crucial information to have.

 

I'm an optimistic fan until it gets to championship-time. I was one of the only ones here who insisted that the March slump meant nothing about our playoff chances.

 

Cuz we were sure to lose in the playoffs no matter what!!!

[17 Seconds]

i keep thinking about hossa too. it would be atrocious for him to have to lose 3 straight, and i can't even imagine how bad the "curse of hossa" garbage would get after that.

[Banedon]

i keep thinking about hossa too. it would be atrocious for him to have to lose 3 straight, and i can't even imagine how bad the "curse of hossa" garbage would get after that.

 

That dude has been the most consistent player on the ice in the final for the Hawks, with the possible exception of Niemi.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Everyone should be required to have a note under their username that says whether they are an optimistic or pessimistic fan, and to what degree. It's crucial information to have.

 

I'm an optimistic fan until it gets to championship-time. I was one of the only ones here who insisted that the March slump meant nothing about our playoff chances.

 

Cuz we were sure to lose in the playoffs no matter what!!!

 

It's worse than that. We were sure to lose in the most painful way possible.

 

What was the worst way for the 2003 Cubs to lose, with no real expectations going into the playoffs and a fan base that would be happy to get to the World Series for the first time in most of our lifetimes, even if we lost it? Check.

 

What was the way for the 2007 Cubs to lose? Face a team the statheads tell us we should be heavy favorites against (as heavy as baseball favorites can be) and get swept.

 

What was the worst way for the 2008 Cubs to lose? Tell ourselves that as long as we don't get swept again, at least we're better off than last year. Oops.

 

2-0 lead in the SCF and a 3-2 lead in the third period of the third game. That's a pretty lofty cliff to fall off of, and just because the freefall is just beginning doesn't mean I don't know how much the splat at the bottom will suck. Plus, the two key players that we fell in love with (and I named my kid after) are being no-shows and get to have the "choker" label applied to them.

[Banedon]

Stop using the Cubs for comparison. Your problem isn't that you're a pessimistic fan. It's that you're psychologically scarred by the Cubs. The Cubs are their own beast. They make losing painfully an art.

 

Think of it this way. NO team will ever hurt you the way the Cubs do. Ever.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Stop using the Cubs for comparison. Your problem isn't that you're a pessimistic fan. It's that you're psychologically scarred by the Cubs. The Cubs are their own beast. They make losing painfully an art.

 

Think of it this way. NO team will ever hurt you the way the Cubs do. Ever.

 

The Blackhawks have the longest championship drought in their league, have lost five straight Final appearances, and are one of only two teams to blow the series after going up 2-0 at home. They also had a long period of being terrible during the middle part of the century due to ridiculous ownership.

 

The Blackhawks *are* the Cubs of the NHL.

 

Another good one: ESPN did a big statistical spread before the Bears-Colts SB, outlining the odds of each team winning in different scenarios based on advanced statistical analysis. One of the only scenarios that had a Bears likely victory was if Devin Hester returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown.

[UMFan83]

But I still don't think anything I said was ridiculous, or what 96% of all posts after that game said. We are right to be worried that the Hawks play in the first 3 games is a bad indicator of the rest of the series regardless of whether we won all 3 of the games or none of the 3 games.

 

A great team playing at less than their best being up 2-1 is hardly justification for being worried about that level of play. Philly mucks it up, and it's gotten them one win in three games. Congrats. But they felt lucky to get out of game 3 with a win, believe me. Their fans were not the least bit confident at the end of regulation or going into overtime.

 

I wouldn't expect Philly to feel all that confident in the heat of the moment going into OT tied at 3 with a Blackhawks goal basically ending their season. But I think once they got the win and the intensity of the game died down, most fans on both sides could clearly see what has happened this series. The Blackhawks and Flyers have played 3 games that could have gone either way, with 2 in Chicago, and the Hawks won 2 of them. Maybe the Flyers are playing at the top of their game and the Hawks are playing so-so, maybe the Flyers are doing a good job of shutting down certain areas of the Hawks game, or maybe its a little of both. But based on what we've seen, the Hawks and Flyers have played 4 games this year, and they've all been decided by a goal, and the home team has won every game. Despite the rather small sample size (although how much bigger can you get when these teams play each other so infrequently), it seems you can conclude that the Hawks and Flyers have matched up very evenly.

 

Like I've said, the Hawks could come out tomorrow, just completely dominate the Flyers, win like 6-1 and prove that they are much better. Or they could come out, play evenly (some periods where they control play, some where the Flyers do) and play another 1 goal game. Neither would surprise me.