The Blackhawks Have Clinched A Playoff Spot For The 9th Straight Year, Time To DANCE
After their wild 3rd period comeback against the Avalanche on Sunday, the Blackhawks officially clinched their 9th straight playoff appearance when the Kings also lost. Nine years! Almost a decade of sustained success despite having the salary cap chip away at the roster every offseason since 2010. As a guy who essentially grew up as a Hawks fan in the late 90s and early 2000s you can’t take this for granted. In those years we could walk through the concourse and see less people than Moses did while walking through the desert. But now, we are in the promise land. There’s no better franchise in the NHL. Even though making the playoffs is now a minimum expectation for this team, it’s still worth celebrating.
This has been one of the most interesting seasons in Blackhawks recent history. There were so many questions coming into the year with all of the roster turnover and rookies on the team. All of those questions have now been answered. It’s been incredible to watch this team grow and develop from October until now. With a playoff spot officially locked up, it’s time to take a look at this team heading into April.
What Stan Bowman did with this roster is nothing short of a god damn magic trick. Somehow he took last year’s squad, which was essentially a one-line team that lost Teravainen, Shaw, and Andrew Ladd, and has turned it into the one of deepest groups in the NHL. When the playoffs start and the rosters expand the Blackhawks will have 9 NHL defensemen, like 16 NHL caliber forwards, and two goalies in the top 10 in save%.
Schmaltz-Toews-Panik
Panarin-Anisimov-Kane
Hartman-Kero-Hossa
Hayden-Kruger-Rasmussen
Extra forwards: Hinostroza, Desjardins, Tootoo, and Jurco.
Seabrook-Keith
Oduya-Hjalmarsson
TVR-Campbell
Extra D: Forsling, Rozsival, Kempny
That is sensational playoff depth. Coach Q can realistically trust any of the 6 wings available to him on the 4th line. You need some physicality with offensive punch…rookie John Hayden. If Hayden can’t hack it in the playoffs, then you can roll speed and quickness out there with Hinostroza or Jurco. Need an extra PK body, maybe Desi is your guy. Knuckles…Tootoo. Coach Q is armed with a machine gun top 9 to come at opponents in waves, and a swiss army knife as a 4th line. In the playoffs last year Erik Gustafsson played 5 games, David Rundblad played 3 games, and Viktor Svedberg played 3 games. Pause and think about that Rundblad, who they banished to fucking Switzerland mid-year because he wasn’t better than Rob Scuderi, was suddenly their best option in the 3rd pair. Looking back at that roster, its ASTONISHING that any of us thought the Blackhawks could repeat last year. Sure, it took the Blues 7 games and both posts to beat the Hawks, but that team with Fleischmann on the 3rd line and Rundblad-Svedberg in the 3rd pair realistically wasn’t going to win the Cup. This team is a different story. This team has depth and a ton of options. Coach Q could even go with a Hartman-Toews-Panik line, then leave Schmaltz with Kane and Panarin, and then your 3rd line has Anisimov and Hossa. In the words of Marco from Tropoja..”good luck”. The emergence of Schmaltz and Hartman has given this team the depth and flexibility they needed. The question coming in was if Hartman could adequately replace Shaw and if Schmaltz could fill a Teravainen role. Well the truth is that those rookies are actually better than the guys they were replacing. Then Panik turning into a winning lottery ticket and difference maker and this team once again looks like a legitimate contender. Last year the Blackhawks had 4 guys score 20+ goals and 3 of them were on the same line. This year the Blackhawks have five 20 goal scorers already, with the possibility of Panik and Hartman hitting that mark by the end of the year.
I’m not going to guarantee a Cup or anything like that. Minnesota is a good team that will bounce back, the Sharks are dangerous, the Preds scare me a little, and obviously out East there are a few titans lingering. Even when you’re a great team you need bounces, health, and breaks to win the Cup. We have two months of heart attacks and pukes ahead of us, but that’s how you know you’re alive. The Blackhawks are as dangerous as ever in year that most were calling a “transition year”. No time for rebuilds or transition in a dynasty and this thing is reigning.