You gotta love the NHL Playoffs...the endless overtimes, playoff beards, and guys damn near killing themselves in an attempt to hoist Lord Stanley's Cup. Without question though one of my favorite things about the playoffs are the number of bandwagon jumpers that emerge from the ruins each year.
I can count on one hand the number of Blackhawks' fans that I knew before the playoffs started, but now that they are on the verge of advancing to the Conference Finals everyone I know is a Hawks' supporter. From what I'm told Dustin Byfuglien is the second coming of Cam Neely, even though he had one lousy goal in the playoffs up until Game 5. Never mind the fact that nobody can pronounce his name.
I've watched every second of the series to date I'll admit that the young Hawks are exciting to watch and will be a force down the road, but let's not plan the parade just yet. Despite the huge shot discrepency in the series one could make the argument that the Canucks have outplayed the Blackhawks to date.
Yes, Vancouver were steamrolled in the 3rd period of Game 1 and all of Game 2, but they got back to their defensive style on the road, played two near-perfect games in Chicago and were 2:40 seconds away from a 3-1 lead in the series.
Now that their backs are against the wall I expect the team to come out desperate tonight and get the series back to Vancouver. Luongo is 6-2 on the road in his last 8 starts with a GAA of under 2. When you throw in the fact that the Sedins/Sundin are playing for contracts and the team is one loss away from blowing things up, expect a big win from the boys in blue.
It would also help if the referees could award them more then one power play tonight. I'm not saying that the penalties to Vancouver at the end of Game 5 weren't deserved, but it's starting to get a bit ridiculous.
"If it don't make dollars, it don't make sense"
The Mayor