Hawks begin quest for cup versus division foe Nashville
Amber Kuehl
Sports Editor
Hockey’s thrilling regular season run came to an end Sunday, but fans needn’t wait long for more action. Playoffs begin this week, and Chicago Blackhawks fans get more hockey action soon, as the Hawks clinched the number two seed in the Western Division and begin playing the Nashville Predators Friday in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Hawks worked hard this season to get where they are now. It’s been a wild ride for fans and players alike. The team has played hard through tough division foes, goal-tending mishaps and an exciting Olympic break.
Even before the regular season began, the Hawks were the team that people picked to go far in the playoffs, and that’s a lot of pressure for a young team to face, especially since they were the underdogs last season.
The Hawks have one of the youngest team in the NHL. The captain, Jonathan Toews, is only 21, though he hits 22 in late April. Top goal scorer Patrick Kane is also 21 and defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson is 22. Only six of 25 players on the team are over thirty.
Despite their youth, the Hawks picked up the pace of last year and charged into the 2009-2010 season with one goal, the Stanley Cup.
Now, the Hawks will face the Predators in the first round of the playoffs. In the regular season, the Hawks beat Nashville four times out of six. Both goalies, Cristobal Huet and Antti Niemi, have faced the Preds this season. Huet has seen them more over the last two seasons and has done well against them, with one shutout this season. However, Niemi may have an advantage in that Nashville has seen less of him and thus may not know his style in the net as well.
With 52 wins, the Hawks will have home ice advantage throughout the playoffs, unless they play the San Jose Sharks or, in the final round, the Washington Capitals. The Sharks are only ahead of the Hawks in points, and have 51 wins. The Caps lead the NHL in points and wins, making them a threat to any team they will face.
The Predators were founded in 1997. They have gone to the playoffs three times out of the last four seasons, and lost in the Conference Quarter Finals each time. They only time they did not qualify was last season.
The Hawks qualified for the playoffs one time in the last four seasons, last year when they lost in the Conference Finals to arch-rivals, the Detroit Red Wings. The Conference Finals are the last round before the Stanley Cup Finals, and the Hawks just couldn’t keep up with Detroit, despite good efforts in game six by the Huet and the Hawks.
However, last season the Hawks had two wins, two losses and two overtime losses to the Red Wings, which is nothing special and thus not surprising that they struggled against them in the playoffs.
This year, the Hawks have fared much better against the Wings. Huet and Niemi both dominated against them by winning three and losing three, two wins were shutouts.
This playoff season, the Hawks know they have to play better. They’ve played well in the regular season, especially against the teams in their division, the Central Division. They must be able to play hard against the Preds, and keep it up, because they may have to play Detroit at some point in the playoffs.
No matter what, the Hawks have the skills to take on any team they will face in the playoffs. It won’t be easy and they can’t give anything less than 100 percent, but it is possible. They know they can beat the Preds and the Wings because they’ve done so before. If it comes down to playing the Capitals, the Hawks will be out for revenge. Earlier this season, Caps star and Captain Alex Ovechkin hit Hawk’s defenseman Brian Campbell from behind and into the boards, breaking Campbell’s clavicle and possibly ending the season for him.
They also have great players in Toews, Kane and Marian Hossa, a former Red Wing, who has incredible puck control. In the last month of the regular season, the physical fourth line stepped up and scored several key goals while the top lines and special teams, such as the power play, struggled.
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