By Jim Coffman
The Blackhawks could easily cut themselves some slack at this point in what has already been a wonderfully exciting post-season. Of course they wouldn’t do it consciously. Consciously they’ll just keep pushing forward, maintaining the routines that have put them in this position, three wins from the Western Conference finals of the Stanley Cup playoffs or making adjustments when necessary. But this team has already enjoyed so much relative (to recent seasons) success. And it is much more than just comfortably qualifying for the playoffs and winning a series. These Blackhawks have done nothing less than completely shake free of the yoke of losing that dragged on their organization for a decade.
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Somewhere in the Blackhawks’ subconscious, a little voice is singing these praises. That voice can’t help but be smugly satisfied with this season already. Back home and as comfortable as they can be with an extra day between Games 2 and 3 in their conference semifinal (they are back in action Tuesday evening), the Hawks will have to guard vigilantly against a letdown.
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Injuries are everything at this point. The Blackhawks played some amazing hockey during their comeback against Vancouver on Saturday, but it probably doesn’t happen if top Canuck defenseman Sami Salo doesn’t bow out of the game with an injury early on (after he had scored one of Vancouver’s two early goals). Despite the Hawks having done as much as anyone would have reasonably hoped already this season, there is still a great deal more there for them if they can take it. A hockey team is always an injury or two away from losing its edge. When a squad is at least reasonably healthy at this point in a playoff run, it has an opportunity that may not come around again for a long while.
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Dale Tallon has made some nice moves (trading for forward Patrick Sharp is high on the list) for the Hawks. But the main reason the team has had the success it has had of late is the cumulative effects of a long series of high draft picks. Just like the Tampa Bay Rays last baseball season, the Blackhawks were bad enough long enough that they couldn’t help but stockpile some serious talent. And that talent, led by Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, is making the difference so far this post-season.
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It isn’t the number of saves so much as the timing. Of course the Hawks need Nikolai Khabibulin to pile up the stops in between the pipes. But even more importantly, if he can give them a few outlandish saves at the right times, such as, say, early in the Hawks’ comeback on Saturday, he can really make the difference.
On the other side of the ice, Roberto Luongo was expected to be a difference-maker for the Canucks. So far it hasn’t happened. Luongo shut the Hawks out in the teams’ regular season finale and again in the first two periods of Game 1 but then Kane knocked in a pair of goals to kick off an awesome comeback in the third period to remind his teammates that while the Canucks’ netminder is one of the best, he is also as beatable as anyone else if the his foes can generate consistent pressure.
Big Z
Carlos Zambrano is obviously physically gifted. He has perfect size for a pitcher, a golden right arm and enviable overall athleticism. But what makes him special is his competitive fire (he reminds me of a certain basketball player who won a few championships in Chicago last decade). Sometimes the fire rages a bit out of control but it is still an extraordinary thing.
So to suggest that he should ease up (as many were doing during post-game chatter on WGN yesterday), that he shouldn’t go so hard to beat out an infield hit, like he was yesterday when he pulled his hamstring, is to fail to appreciate that which makes him special.In everything he does on the diamond, Zambrano goes hard. He swings hard, runs hard and pitches hard. That’s who he is and it’s why he’s so good. It is also why he is so fun to watch. He can’t ease up and he absolutely shouldn’t, ever. If it means he suffers an injury that he wouldn’t have suffered if he’d been taking it easy, so be it.
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Jim Coffman brings you the city’s best sports roundup every Monday. And he does it because he loves you. He welcomes your comments.
Posted on May 4, 2009