Blackhawks Head and Shoulders Above Rest of NHL

After defeating the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Monday night, the Chicago Blackhawks crept closer to hoisting the elusive Lord Stanley’s Cup. Fifty years have passed since the Blackhawks last won the championship, but they are well on their way to securing the ultimate prize, after winning their seventh consecutive game this postseason. As the stakes have gotten higher, the Blackhawks have continued to get better and have shown why they are without a question the class of the NHL this season.

What makes the Blackhawks so lethal is their ability to adapt to any style of play. They can win high scoring shootouts, as witnessed by their 6-5 Game 1 victory over the Flyers in the Finals. They can win slugfests (they have won both of their overtime games these playoffs). They have two exceptional lines of defense, with a potential Norris Trophy winner in Duncan Keith. They have three of the top scoring lines in the NHL. They have a rising star in goaltender Antti Niemi. Quite frankly, the Chicago Blackhawks are the most complete team in hockey.

After a disastrous start to these 2010 NHL playoffs, the Blackhawks have continued to progress with each successive series. In the first round, the team played tight and felt the pressure of being the favorites to win the Stanley Cup Finals. The Blackhawks put way too much pressure on themselves to dominate every game and show why they were the best team in the NHL. As a result, they struggled mightily in their first three games against the Nashville Predators in the first round. The Blackhawks went against their physical style, as they had an astounding 13 fewer hits, 13 more giveaways, and three fewer shots on goal.

After the series was tied 2-2 heading into Game 5, the turning point of these playoffs occurred for the Blackhawks. Down 5-4 with under 30 seconds remaining in regulation and playing shorthanded, Patrick Kane scored the equalizer to tie the score, and Marian Hossa followed Kane’s heroics with the game-winning goal 4 minutes into overtime. The Blackhawks seemed to relax after this game and play like the 112-point team they were in the regular season. After scoring only seven goals in the first four games of the Nashville series, they scored ten goals in the final two games of that series and finally displayed the crisp, precise offense that was existent in the regular season.

Though the Blackhawks had two mental breakdowns in home losses to Vancouver in the second round, they absolutely throttled the Canucks in winning three road games and showed throughout the series that they were the better team. Chicago made Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo look overmatched, as the Blackhawks scored a remarkable 21 goals in their four wins in the series.

In the conference finals, the Blackhawks continued to progress, as they swept the top-seeded San Jose Sharks in four games. Unlike the previous two series, the Blackhawks used stout defense and goaltending to dethrone the Sharks. They held the second line of Joe Pavelski, Ryan Clowe, and Devin Setoguchi, who dominated the first two rounds, without a goal. In addition, despite being outshot by a combined 118-110 in the first three games of the Western Conference Finals, the Blackhawks only allowed five goals during that span. With outstanding defense, the Blackhawks swept one of the top teams in the NHL.

With a great mix of talent and finally playing more loose and relaxed, the Blackhawks are currently firing on all cylinders. Offensively, they have three outstanding lines of offense, with Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and Marian Hossa anchoring the first line, Dustin Byfuglien, Patrick Sharp and Kris Versteeg in the second unit, and Andrew Ladd, John Madden, and Troy Brouwer playing in the third line. The offense has a nice mix of youth, experience, size, and speed. Any one of these nine guys can take over a game at any time. In fact, each of these nine guys has scored at least one goal in these playoffs, and the Blackhawks have eight different players with at least 10 points in these playoffs. Kane, Toews, Byfuglien (with 3 in the conference finals alone), Hossa, Sharp, and Versteeg all have scored either game-winning or game-tying goals in these playoffs. It shows how lethal this offense has been this season.

Defensively, the Blackhawks are just as good, if not better. The top line of Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook is arguably the best in the NHL. Keith logs an average of nearly 28 minutes of ice time per game while Seabrook averages 24 minutes of ice time. Both players do an exceptional job of clearing the puck, getting into passing and shooting lanes, and anchoring the power play unit. They helped the team record 14 power play goals in the first three rounds of the playoffs. The second line of Brian Campbell and Brent Sopel is equally as potent, as they both do a stellar job of quarterbacking the power play unit and passing the puck to the front line. Finally, goaltender Antii Niemi has continued to improve, sans the game 1 performance in the Stanley Cup Finals. After permanently taking over the starting goalie spot from Cristobal Huet in mid-March, Niemi has recorded a 2.49 GAA in the playoffs, including an impressive 1.67 GAA against the Sharks. With the Blackhawks playing in several close games in these playoffs, Niemi has been counted on to make several clutch saves, and he has responded by posting a 14-4 record this postseason.

Overall, the Blackhawks are the most complete team in hockey, with three exceptional lines on offense, two stellar lines on defense, and a rising goaltender in Antii Niemi. As a result, they have won their past seven straight and 10 of their past 11 postseason games and they have shown the ability to win in a multitude of ways. Their early postseason struggles against the Predators seem like a distant memory, as they swept top-seeded San Jose in four games and are well on their way to defeating the Flyers for their first Stanley Cup victory in 50 years.