the blackhawks were a 2 seed that got the toughest road through the conference that they possibly could have gotten. not sure what else they could have proven. would it have been better if they went through a detroit team that got wiped out in 5 games (by the team the hawks swept)? i suppose they got kind of lucky drawing the flyers in the finals, but at that point the flyers obviously were playing better than their regular season selves. also, the canucks weren't really known as the perennial chokers yet when the hawks beat them. that had kind of melted down against the hawks the previous year, but that series in the cup year was the one that kind of gave them that reputation as headcases, then they cemented in in the last 2 years. don't forget, the vancouver thrashed the hawks in game 1 (at chicago) and then were up 2-0 early in the second game.