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

[UMFan83]

Hawks over Sharks in 6. They split the first 4 and win 5 in SJ and 6 at home.

 

Then Hawks over Mon/Phi/Bos in 5.

 

I don't know if that's my prediction as much as reality based hope.

[kujay]

Trib reports that game one could be Sunday at 2CT.

 

That would be excellent.

 

Not for me. Supposed to be at a graduation party for a friend a couple hours away that day. I suppose I could be an [expletive] and make them put the game on. But as usual, I'm the only hockey fan among these people.

 

Or I could beg off and really piss off my wife. It's actually her friend.

[UMFan83]

A Sharks blog, Fear the Fin, has a detailed preview of the Sharks/Hawks series from a Sharks perspective. At some points he's pretty complimentary towards the Hawks, in other parts the writer does't seem to have as big of a grap on the Hawks as he pretends to. And I'm certainly not upset he picks the Sharks in 7.

My two biggest gripes is that he mentions how inconsistent the Hawks are (beginning with the post-olympics mediocre stretch) even though they've really stepped it up lately and are playing well in non-stinker games, and also he said before this season the Hawks only had 2 playoff appearances in 19 years, when its more like 2 in 12. Nitpicking? maybe but whatever.

 

http://www.fearthefin.com/2010/5/13/1469658/2010-nhl-playoff-preview-san-jose

[jersey cubs fan]

Trib reports that game one could be Sunday at 2CT.

 

That would be excellent.

 

Not for me. Supposed to be at a graduation party for a friend a couple hours away that day. I suppose I could be an [expletive] and make them put the game on. But as usual, I'm the only hockey fan among these people.

 

Or I could beg off and really piss off my wife. It's actually her friend.

 

Um, it's the western conference finals, you would be an expletive if you didn't put the game on. That shouldn't even be a debate in your head.

[kujay]

Trib reports that game one could be Sunday at 2CT.

 

That would be excellent.

 

Not for me. Supposed to be at a graduation party for a friend a couple hours away that day. I suppose I could be an [expletive] and make them put the game on. But as usual, I'm the only hockey fan among these people.

 

Or I could beg off and really piss off my wife. It's actually her friend.

 

Um, it's the western conference finals, you would be an expletive if you didn't put the game on. That shouldn't even be a debate in your head.

 

That's what my wife said. Oh, someone else there will want to watch. If not though, yes, I'll go it alone.

[Banedon]

A Sharks blog, Fear the Fin, has a detailed preview of the Sharks/Hawks series from a Sharks perspective. At some points he's pretty complimentary towards the Hawks, in other parts the writer does't seem to have as big of a grap on the Hawks as he pretends to. And I'm certainly not upset he picks the Sharks in 7.

My two biggest gripes is that he mentions how inconsistent the Hawks are (beginning with the post-olympics mediocre stretch) even though they've really stepped it up lately and are playing well in non-stinker games, and also he said before this season the Hawks only had 2 playoff appearances in 19 years, when its more like 2 in 12. Nitpicking? maybe but whatever.

 

http://www.fearthefin.com/2010/5/13/1469658/2010-nhl-playoff-preview-san-jose

 

Yeah...and I think people are really writing off Niemi when they shouldn't be. They imply that he can't make big saves...when we've seen him do just that. He's not a goalie that will win you games maybe, but I think he's being underestimated.

[kujay]

A Sharks blog, Fear the Fin, has a detailed preview of the Sharks/Hawks series from a Sharks perspective. At some points he's pretty complimentary towards the Hawks, in other parts the writer does't seem to have as big of a grap on the Hawks as he pretends to. And I'm certainly not upset he picks the Sharks in 7.

My two biggest gripes is that he mentions how inconsistent the Hawks are (beginning with the post-olympics mediocre stretch) even though they've really stepped it up lately and are playing well in non-stinker games, and also he said before this season the Hawks only had 2 playoff appearances in 19 years, when its more like 2 in 12. Nitpicking? maybe but whatever.

 

http://www.fearthefin.com/2010/5/13/1469658/2010-nhl-playoff-preview-san-jose

 

Yeah...and I think people are really writing off Niemi when they shouldn't be. They imply that he can't make big saves...when we've seen him do just that. He's not a goalie that will win you games maybe, but I think he's being underestimated.

 

I think it can be said that from start to finish this postseason, he has not "won" a game. Even the shutouts against Nashville, those were mostly because of the entire roster clamping down in the defensive zone. I still think he's due to steal one soon here, and I think his Game 6 performance was a precursor to that. But pointing to the goaltending as a weakness at this point is lazy.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Niemi's had several games that would have been considered "steals" if the Blackhawks hadn't scored too many goals. If they stop at 2 on Tuesday night, Niemi would be credited with stealing that game.

[kujay]

Niemi's had several games that would have been considered "steals" if the Blackhawks hadn't scored too many goals. If they stop at 2 on Tuesday night, Niemi would be credited with stealing that game.

 

That's my point though, even when he's played well they didn't need him to make the big saves throughout the game.

[jersey cubs fan]

I'm still amused by Pittsburgh's loss last night. People obsessed with playoff goaltending over and above all else have insisted guys like Fleury can be counted on to get the job done while for some reason Niemi can't. Fleury had some sort of really good record after a playoff loss, which my friend kept repeating to me when explaining how important he is. But when your team goes to back to back finals and wins one, they aren't going to have too many back to back losses anyway.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Goaltending is overrated. Everyone says you need an elite goalie to win the Cup, but it only seems that way because their primary qualification for being an elite goalie is that you prove it by winning a Cup.

[Butterscup1679666578]

I'll be traveling on Sunday, so I'll be resorted to following on my phone (again). Fun times.

[UMFan83]

If you really think about it. Thinking of some great goalies of the 80's and beyond, how many have won a ton of Cups?

 

Ron Hextall never won one, Belfour only won 1, Hasek only won after his best days were behind him with a great Detroit defense, Roy won 2 cups but none after 1993. I'm not saying you don't need good goaltending, but I think goaltending and the defense have to work in tandem to make a dominant unit. Dominant goaltending can mask a weaker defense, can win you regular season games when the intensity level isn't 100%, can keep your team alive in long playoff OTs when your defense is drained. But I think it's been proven quite a bit over the last decade that you can win with average goaltending if other areas are strong. But even if you are a dominant goaltender, if your defense sucks, you are going to give up some goals and look mortal. For example look at Brodeur this season. A more local example is Khabibulin. Coming off an amazing Stanley Cup, Khabi signs with the Hawks after the lockout and strugles behind a weak inexperienced defense (although I gotta say his first year was more than just a weak D. He was beyond awful). The move is widely panned as a bust. The Hawks defense improves from bad to pretty good in his last year hear and he has a "resurgence" and helps lead a really young team to the WCF and gets a pretty good contract in the offseason.

 

Edit: I just looked up Brodeurs numbers this year and I guess I was wrong he didn't have a bad season statistically, I guess I just remember his Olympic and playoff performances.

Edited May 13, 2010 by UMFan83

[Schwarber Fan]

Goaltending is overrated. Everyone says you need an elite goalie to win the Cup, but it only seems that way because their primary qualification for being an elite goalie is that you prove it by winning a Cup.

 

This is only true depending on the type of team you have. The Hawks, who can score 5-6 goals a game could be ok without an elite goalie but the Canadiens for example, would have been gone in round one.

[Banedon]

Goaltending is overrated. Everyone says you need an elite goalie to win the Cup, but it only seems that way because their primary qualification for being an elite goalie is that you prove it by winning a Cup.

 

This is only true depending on the type of team you have. The Hawks, who can score 5-6 goals a game could be ok without an elite goalie but the Canadiens for example, would have been gone in round one.

 

It's not just offense though. The Hawks have strong defense, other than the goalie. So Niemi doesn't have to stand on his head.

[jersey cubs fan]

Goaltending is overrated. Everyone says you need an elite goalie to win the Cup, but it only seems that way because their primary qualification for being an elite goalie is that you prove it by winning a Cup.

 

This is only true depending on the type of team you have. The Hawks, who can score 5-6 goals a game could be ok without an elite goalie but the Canadiens for example, would have been gone in round one.

 

Sure, a great goalie can push an otherwise mediocre-to-bad team deep into the playoffs. Without him there's no way the 8 seed gets that far. But that's different from saying you need an elite goalie to win. A goalie who wins a Stanley Cup is going to make lots of money, but the team that signs a goalie who has won a Stanley Cup is probably going to be overpaying for that accomplishment.

[UMFan83]

Goaltending is overrated. Everyone says you need an elite goalie to win the Cup, but it only seems that way because their primary qualification for being an elite goalie is that you prove it by winning a Cup.

 

This is only true depending on the type of team you have. The Hawks, who can score 5-6 goals a game could be ok without an elite goalie but the Canadiens for example, would have been gone in round one.

 

It's more than that though. The Hawks have won games 2-0 and 3-2 (the score was actually 4-2 but the 4th goal was an EN) in the playoffs. In their wins over Vancouver they gave up 2,2,4,1 goals. Yes they've won a 7-4 game and a 5-3 game and a 5-4 game but they've won by shutting down the other team's scorers as well. No they aren't going to etch out a lot of 2-1 games but they've proven they can win when they aren't scoring 5 goals a night.

[chuckywang]

Lots of chicken or the egg theories in this thread.

[gflore34]

Goaltending is overrated. Everyone says you need an elite goalie to win the Cup, but it only seems that way because their primary qualification for being an elite goalie is that you prove it by winning a Cup.

 

This is only true depending on the type of team you have. The Hawks, who can score 5-6 goals a game could be ok without an elite goalie but the Canadiens for example, would have been gone in round one.

 

It's not just offense though. The Hawks have strong defense, other than the goalie. So Niemi doesn't have to stand on his head.

 

Same point I was trying to make to my Red Wings fan Mother-In-Law, she keeps telling me Niemi too weak, unproven, etc. - doesn't get the point, because of team in front of him, he only has to be solid.

[bukie]

Things that make me feel good about the upcoming Hawks-Sharks series:

 

- During the regular season, the Hawks went 3-1 against the Sharks. In the lone loss, the Hawks outshot the Sharks 47-14 with Huet in net.

- San Jose lost 6 times in regulation during the regular season. One was to the Hawks. They also lost the other home game to them in OT in the only of the 4 games it can't be said the Hawks dominated play.

- In one of the games, San Jose had 6 power plays, and were a combined -3 in them in a game the Hawks won 7-2.

[UMFan83]

Things that make me feel good about the upcoming Hawks-Sharks series:

 

- During the regular season, the Hawks went 3-1 against the Sharks. In the lone loss, the Hawks outshot the Sharks 47-14 with Huet in net.

- San Jose lost 6 times in regulation during the regular season. One was to the Hawks. They also lost the other home game to them in OT in the only of the 4 games it can't be said the Hawks dominated play.

- In one of the games, San Jose had 6 power plays, and were a combined -3 in them in a game the Hawks won 7-2.

 

I think the Hawks also went 1-0-1 in San Jose last season, when the Sharks were equally as dominant at home.

[Schwarber Fan]

-San Jose are perennial playoff chokers that ran into an old and tired Detroit team.

[UMFan83]

-San Jose are perennial playoff chokers that ran into an old and tired Detroit team and were outscored in the series despite winning in 5 games.

fixed

 

I'm not saying it's not impressive to beat Detroit in 5 games, even if all 4 wins were by 1 goal. It just doesn't prove conclusively to me that they are playing great right now. Also, they definitely started to choke that series against Colorado. They didn't look particularly great in that series, falling behind 2-1 before winning their final 3 much like the Hawks, but I'd say Nashville was a stronger opponent than Colorado.

[Schwarber Fan]

I just wanna say that I'm a Sabres fan and I'm pulling for the Hawks out of everyone left.

 

Although if the Flyers beats Boston tomorrow, I'd be fine with any of the remaining teams winning. It's so awesome that Pittsburgh, Washington, Detroit, and (for me) Ottawa are out.

[bukie]

-San Jose are perennial playoff chokers that ran into an old and tired Detroit team and were outscored in the series despite winning in 5 games.

fixed

 

I'm not saying it's not impressive to beat Detroit in 5 games, even if all 4 wins were by 1 goal. It just doesn't prove conclusively to me that they are playing great right now. Also, they definitely started to choke that series against Colorado. They didn't look particularly great in that series, falling behind 2-1 before winning their final 3 much like the Hawks, but I'd say Nashville was a stronger opponent than Colorado.

Technically, didn't every first round Western Conference winner fall behind 2-1?