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Apparently, as of yesterday, some of the "experts" are still picking the Hawks as the team to beat in the playoffs.
Anyone still buying that stock after back to back home losses against possible playoff opponents, where the mighty Hawk offense generated all of two goals, one with an extra attacker?
The sad truth is, without Patrick Kane in the lineup, this is a one-line team.
And with or without Kane, this team can be stopped cold if the other team gums up the neutral zone and takes away everything between the circles and around the net. They give the Hawks two options: dump and chase and get bodies to the net, and the Hawks continue to try to make cute plays on the perimeter, drop passes and stretch passes.
That said, if the Hawks get a healthy Kane back while they still have some playoff breath in their lungs, they have as a good a chance as any team. But that's the bottom line: it's unlikely Kane is back for the first round, and without him, it doesn't look very likely the Hawks will score more than a goal or two a game.
On the other end of the ice, hopefully, last night was the last time we see David Rundblad this year, or ever in a Hawk sweater. That he still has believers in the Hawk fanbase is kind of laughable. Say what you want about Dan Carcillo's antics, he doesn't take the ice with a neatly printed sign that reads "Turnover Machine: check here early and often for free pucks and open chances."
Corey Crawford has either won or kept the Hawks in many games since Kane went down (as has Scott Darling in less outings), but neither goalie is good enough to carry the Hawks alone through 16 playoff wins, much less 4, if the Hawks continue to dance around on the perimeter or implore the refs for hooking and obstruction calls that aren't coming.
So all eyes turn to #88's phone booth. Maybe that will be a great story in the history of the Blackhawks and the NHL, where Kane emerges to re-ignite the Hawks and lead them to their third Cup in six years.
Maybe the golf course awaits, tee time TBD.
JJ