Can anybody beat the Hawks?
Add another Cup and this team will stand up against 1980s dynasties
The great New York Islanders teams of the 1980s did something that will never be matched: Not only did they win four consecutive Stanley Cups — no team has done that since — but they won 19 playoff series in a row.
The superb, freewheeling Edmonton Oilers of that decade knocked out the Islanders in 1984. With Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier, they won four Cups in five seasons — and after Gretzky was traded they won another to make it five in seven seasons.
All that came before salary caps, before advanced free agency, before analytics, before there was a 30-team NHL. Impressive and amazing, yes — but as the Chicago Blackhawks aim for a fourth Stanley Cup in eight years, you’re left to wonder: If they win this year, are they more accomplished than the five-time champion Oilers and fourtime champion Islanders?
Is this the greatest team of the past 35 years? And, as the playoffs begin: Can anyone beat them?
The Western Conference isn’t as structured or deep this year. The Los Angeles Kings didn’t make the playoffs. The Anaheim Ducks don’t scare people the way they used to. Last year’s finalists, the San Jose Sharks, have looked done most of the past 20 games.
The Edmonton Oilers are playoff newbies, even with sure-thing Hart Trophy and Art Ross winner Connor McDavid in charge. The St. Louis Blues have a thinned out roster. The Minnesota Wild, deep as they might be, struggled in the second half. And really, can anyone see Nashville or Calgary beating the Hawks?
The Hawks are that strong, that deep, that well-coached, that organized and that well-run.
Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa have been there for all three Cups up front. On the back end, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Niklas Hjalmarsson have combined to play 365 playoff games and been there for all the Cups. Corey Crawford, with two Cups, may be hockey’s most under-appreciated big-game goaltender.
And that’s just the start of this Hawks roster. This could be the deepest and strongest contender yet from Chicago.
Head coach Joel Quenneville has the three stalwarts on defence — and he won at least one Cup basically playing four defencemen — but he also has other familiar parts this year, with general manager Stan Bowman bringing back veterans Brian Campbell and Johnny Oduya, veterans boasting a combined 205 games of playoff experience.
Imagine a Western Conference final between the Blackhawks and the Oilers. Chicago has well over 1,200 games of playoff experience on their roster, most of it coming from their best players. The best Oilers? McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and goalie Cam Talbot are basically playoff neophytes. Milan Lucic, who sometimes looks important, has played more than 100 post-season games. The rest of the team: barely 200 games combined, and mostly in places where they were afterthought players.
The Blackhawks seem to have everything: terrific leadership from Toews and Seabrook, explosive offence from Kane and Artemi Panarin, the great minutes-muncher Keith on defence and something they haven’t had in their three previous Stanley Cup seasons: quality kids to complete the roster.
With the last pick in the first round of the 2013 draft, the Blackhawks chose Ryan Hartman, who scored 22 goals in his first NHL season. With their first pick in 2014, they took speedy Nick Schmaltz, who had 28 points in 61 games. The Blackhawks belie history by succeeding with late choices — and not necessarily waiting years for those players to develop.
In the past year they also added Richard Panik — who turned into a 22-goal scorer in Chicago.
They didn’t have this combination of power, strength, experience and depth up front during their Stanley Cup runs in 2010, 2013 and 2015. And what about the East? This should be the year for the Washington Capitals, after so many this-should-be-the-year seasons. The defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins, with too many injuries, are playing on fumes. Montreal, the New York Rangers and Columbus have goaltenders, Ottawa has a superb defenceman, Toronto has the rookies of the year, and Boston is slow.
Could the Capitals beat the Blackhawks? Maybe — but I’d bet it the other way.
This is a team that understands winning and has a chance to make more history. Win the Cup and you put this team alongside the Oilers and the Islanders — the greatest teams of our lives.