Come At Me Hawks Fans

By:

Chloe (@ChloeColorado)

Go ahead and crucify me, but I have to ask. Are the Blackhawks really that good? Common wisdom says that records don’t lie, and 22 straight games with at least a point—well that’s a pretty great record. I shouldn’t even question the success of a team that has yet to lose in regulation, especially as a fan of an Avs team that just stumbled to the Blue Jackets in a snoozer of an afternoon game. The Blackhawks play smart, quick, entertaining hockey. Of course they are a good team. Finding a way to win in different situations is the definition of an elite team in the NHL. No one is questioning that.

But when any team in sports chases history like the Blackhawks continue to do, perspective is important. The Blackhawks bandwagon is at cruising at top speed, and while it’s doubtful that they will make it all the way through the season without a regulation loss, it’s easy to see how fans and critics alike can get caught up in the romance of it all. I am not trying to take anything away from the best team in the NHL, nor am I trying to find a way to validate the shortcomings of the eight-win Avalanche by tearing down a team that has clearly proven themselves time and time again.

 My problem—and I don’t think I’m alone on this one—is that in the shortened season the eastern and western conference teams will not play each other. As a fan of a team that is still struggling at the bottom of the pile in the west, it is definitely easier to criticize greatness than to admit defeat, but I have to wonder whether the Blackhawks would still be writing their page in the history books if they had to play the elite teams of the east like the Habs or Bruins or Penguins.  It’s an academic question at best, one that no one will know the answer to unless they make it to the Stanley Cup finals.

While breaking down the results from the Blackhawks season so far (because honestly I’m sick of thinking about the O’Reilly saga and wanted to find some other way to waste my time,) something really jumped out at me. Of the 19 wins that the Blackhawks have, seven have been decided in overtime or a shootout. Of the remaining 12 wins, another five have been one point wins—meaning that the Blackhawks have only won seven games by more than one point. What’s more— in 12 of their games they have come back from behind. My initial thought (and those of lots of Blackhawks fans out there I’m sure,) was that it just proves that they know how to grind it out and don’t get discouraged when they fall behind. They can win in different situations which is exactly what you want from your team. Thinking about it more though, I am starting to notice an interesting nuance in the fairytale of the Blackhawks season.  For a team that is touted as being so elite, they somehow can’t manage to carry a lead or put their opponents away early on any consistent basis.

This may be a moot point, after all at the end of the season a win is a win and it doesn’t matter as long as you get those points, right? I just can’t help but wonder if the Blackhawks are really worth their first place spot in the NHL, or if they are just a very good team that has capitalized on the misfortunes of a weaker conference and squeak out wins at the end. The only other western opponent so far with a record even close to the Blackhawks has been Anaheim—who beat Chicago in overtime. What does that say?

The Blackhawks have been lucky so far with players staying healthy—unlike the lowly Blue Jackets—who were without their top defensemen and two centers the last time they met the Hawks. But even with their obvious disadvantages going into that game, they still managed to take the best team in the NHL to overtime before coming up short in the end. It has been said time and time again that in the NHL there are no easy victories, and that the worst team in the league on paper is usually not that far off from being the best. If this holds true, then it’s no surprise that the Jackets gave the Hawks a run for their money. In reality however, it is hard to think that a team with so many injuries that have less than half the points of the Blackhawks could have given them this much trouble.

I can’t say that it doesn’t brighten my mood to think of the way the Jackets played them, knowing that the Avs will meet them twice in the next few games. Could the Avs be the team to end their streak? All I can say is that I can’t wait to watch hockey this week, and will have plenty of popcorn ready.

The real test for the Blackhawks will probably not come until the playoffs, and I hope for the sake of the history books that they really prove to be the best team. I love hockey with all of my heart, and have struggled this season to decide if the lockout will compromise the results of the sport that takes up so much of my time. What I would hate to see is a team that has been touted as the best of the best fall flat in the playoffs when it counts the most. I want to believe that the 48 game compressed schedule will not affect the outcome, and that the streak by the Hawks is just as valid as any other great run in hockey history. At this point I’m just not convinced that the Blackhawks are head and shoulders above the rest of the league as their record suggests—but for the sake of the game—I hope I’m wrong.