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Quenneville First Star Game 6 |
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If you missed Game 6 of the Chicago Blackhawks vs. St. Louis Blues series on Saturday night, you missed perhaps one of the best coaching performances ever in a Stanley Cup playoffs game.
Blackhawls head coach Joel Quenneville's coaching strategies and tactics often gets taken for granted because he has a galaxy of future Hall Of Famers and stars on his roster. The old adage is: "Show me great players and I'll show you a great coach", right?
In many cases, this is true because the players are the one affecting the outcomes with their on ice play.
On Saturday night, Coach Q was the "player" who dangled and toe dragged Ken Hitchcock and the Blues, who gave themselves a three-goal bulge early in the first period of the knockout game.
Andrew Ladd scored 3:47 into the game for the Hawks, then, the tide tipped in the favor of the Blues when they scored three goals in a 4:48 minute span of the first period that gave St. Louis a 3-1 advantage.
Quenneville calmed down his team and went to work on the dry erase board during the first intermission. By now, Coach Q must just have to throw a stern stink eye at Kane, Toews, Keith, Seabrook, and Hossa to get his point across that things aren't kosher. For the newcomers like Ladd, Weise and some of the kids, it may take some verbal cues by Q and his assistants to get their point across.
Whatever looks were thrown, and words were spoken in the room after a dismal first period on Saturday night proved to be successful.
The Hawks stormed out of their room and scored three terrific goals of their own igniting the embers and the volume inside the Madhouse On Madison.
Never. Ever. Count out the Chicago Blackhawks. They will not tap out not quit.
The Hawks pasted Brian Elliott and the Blues with a blitzkrieg of shots. In fact, Chicago won the second period shot clock 19-6. Artem Anisimov, Trevor van Riemsdyk and Dale Weise scored key goals for the Hawks in the second period.
"We didn't get too down," said Weise, the trade deadline acquisition from Montreal who had been invisible in this series up until the point when he scored the eventual game winner.
"We just had to defend a little better. We gave them too many odd-man rushes. They have too many good players over there. They're going to score on those. [We continued] to defend and fed off the crowd there."
Then, in the third period, Andrew Shaw scored his PPG at 16:53 to make it 5-3. Shaw was forced to sit out Game 5 due to his suspension handed down from the NHL offices for his insensitive remarks to officials in Game 4.
Marian Hossa scored into an empty net with 2:20 left.
After getting lit up for three first period goals, Corey Crawford slammed the door and stopped all 17 shots he faced in the final forty minutes of play. Crawford finished with 25 saves in Game 6.
Try as they might, the Blues just could not get the Hawks to roll over and play dead in the first six games of this thrilling series.
Chicago won Game 5 in double OT Thursday in St. Louis before the Game 6 comeback on Saturday.
The Hawks are no strangers to taking the hard way.
Chicago lost three of its first four games to the Detroit Red Wings before rallying to win and going on to capture the 2013 Stanley Cup.
Since 2008-09, Quenneville coached Blackhawks teams are 13-4 when facing elimination. They are 15-1 in Game 6s, and 5-1 when trailing 3-2 in a series.
Now they go to Chicago in search of their third vwin in five Game 7s.
Cue the Chelsea Dagger. I love the Hawks to win Game 7.
How about you?
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