Playoffs round 1

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!!