How about those Hawks?! They have officially advanced to the
second round of the playoffs. In the first round, they played the Minnesota
Wild and beat them in five games. The Wild’s number one goalie, Niklas
Backstrom was injured during warm-ups before game 1 started. This means the
back up goaltender, Josh Harding, who hadn’t played a game since late January,
received the okay from the coach to start in the playoff game. The Blackhawks won the first and second games
of the series at home, but lost the third game in Minnesota. At the end of game
four, the series was 3-1 hawks. Game five was back in Chicago and the positive
attitude of the home atmosphere boosted their confidence. The Minnesota Wild
dominated the first period up until the Hawks scored the first goal of the
game. This seemed to deflate the Wild’s drive to make a comeback in the series. The Hawks ended up winning the game 5-1. They
now wait for their opponent to be official for round two. If the Detroit Red
wings comeback against the Anaheim Ducks in their series, we will be facing
them. I am currently watching the Detroit-Anaheim game and I caught myself
cheering for the Red Wings, due to the hope for battling our biggest rival for
the last time prior to next years’ NHL realignment. Detroit- Chicago? What an
awesome series! These two teams have gone back to the early years of the NHL in
1926. Otherwise, we will play the San Jose Sharks due to their 4-0 sweep over
the Vancouver Canucks. (UHMM HOW AWESOME IS THAT?!) The Wild put in over 10
million dollars in precious salary cap money to the two “stars” of the team,
Ryan Suter and Zach Parise. Looks like
those stars weren’t so bright this time
around. The Hawks have won the Presidents’ Trophy, which goes to the best team
in the NHL and by fans are expected to win the Stanley Cup. One of the rookies
on our team, Brandon Saad has been nominated for the Calder Memorial Trophy,
which is the Rookie of the Year award. There are such high expectations for the
Hawks this year, due to the NHL record setting streak in the beginning of the
year. The last three times an NHL team had such a streak, they have been
Stanley Cup Champions. We should all hope for the Stanley Cup to return to
Chicago within 49 years. Stay positive and let’s go Hawks!!
