Blackhawks on verge of dynasty
By locking up a solid core of players, Chicago doing the unthinkable
They wear skates and helmets, not cowboy boots and 10-gallon hats
ey unleash bullets with sticks, not six shooters.
Yet, here they are, on the cusp of galloping into greatness, having once again conquered the wild, wild west and harbouring visions of ruling the world for a third time in recent memory. The hockey world, anyway.
Introducing the NHL’s version of The Magnificent Seven, courtesy of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Jonathan Toews. Patrick Kane. Duncan Keith. Brent Seabrook. Marian Hossa. Patrick Sharp. Niklas Hjalmarsson. All helped Chicago win Stanley Cups in 2010 and 2013. All are now gunning for No. 3.
In the process, they’ve shown any and all opponents that, whenever it’s time to stare adversity in the eye and spit in its face, you won’t find a core group of tougher hombres. Or, for that matter, a more successful one.
When the puck drops for the opening faceoff on Wednesday evening at Tampa’s Amalie Arena, the Blackhawks will find themselves just four victories away from becoming the most successful franchise in this young century. Standing in their way will be the feisty Tampa Bay Lightning, the Steven Stamkos-led team of Young Guns that carries with it a rich cache of swagger, talent and confidence as it prepares to meet the mighty Hawks in the 2015 Stanley Cup final.
These brash Lightning players have no fear of the likes of superstars such as Kane and Toews. It is an inner belief that they can beat anyone, a mindset symbolized by Stamkos prior to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final when he was asked about the previous success enjoyed in such deciding games by Henrik Lundqvist and the New York Rangers.
That’s all well and good, but they haven’t played the Tampa Bay Lightning under those circumstances, Stamkos said. The captain and his teammates then walked the walk after talking the talk, blanking the Rangers 2-0 and punching their ticket to the Cup final for just the second time in franchise history while giving a celebrity-sprinkled Madison Square Garden crowd featuring the likes of John McEnroe, Donald Trump, Liam Neeson and Boomer Esiason almost nothing to cheer for on Friday night.
But these Blackhawks provide a much more difficult challenge. While the Rangers are now history, Chicago is attempting to make some.
If Joel Quenneville’s team is able to suppress the Lightning uprising, it will mark the third time in six seasons that the Blackhawks will hoist hockey’s Holy Grail. Since 2000, no NHL team has won the Cup three times.
And, should it come to pass that the likes of Toews and Kane smear their fingerprints all over the glistening trophy once again, the debate over whether they are a bonafide dynasty will be muted once and for all. Because they will be. What the Hawks are on the verge of accomplishing is truly remarkable, considering that the introduction of the salary cap in 2005 was supposed to make the concept of the dynasty disap- pear as quickly and ruthlessly as obstruction and the centre ice red line.
The salary cap was implemented to ideologically create an even playing field for all. Dynasties were not considered to be conducive in this environment.
But someone forgot to tell that to Hawks general manager Stan Bowman, the mastermind of a franchise that is on the cusp of bucking the odds by becoming a modern-day one.
And to understand why, you need only look at The Magnificent Seven.
Toews, Kane, Keith, Seabrook, Hossa, Sharp and Hjalmarsson are the only remaining Blackhawks who were with the Cup-winning Hawks teams of 2010 and 2013. Of that core group, only Sharp is not under contract until at least 2019.
Showing the same shrewdness that made his dad, the legendary Scotty Bowman, the most successful coach in NHL history, Stan Bowman understands that the key in the cap era is to lock up your core players long-term, especially when they have the special mix of talent and character of these guys.
It doesn’t come without a price. After the 2010 Cup, prominent names such as Dustin Byfuglien, Andrew Ladd, Troy Brouwer and Antti Niemi left for cap reasons. It’s the same logic that led to Dave Bolland and Nick Leddy, members of the 2013 Cup champs, to leave as well. That’s the tradeoff.
As part of that formula, Sharp is a legitimate candidate to be moved this off-season. Such is the business of staying in contention, harsh as it might be.
Therein lies the recipe for success. If you are going to dedicate a large chunk of your payroll to just a handful of players, the commitment of financial resources must be based on reasons that cut far deeper than just raw skill.
Consider that the combined cap hits for Kane and Toews next season will total $21 million US, which works out to 30% of the expected $71-million US cap. For that type of money, your foundation players must know how to win. They must know how to do it while putting the team first. And they have to do it while exhibiting leadership to the supporting cast.
Which is exactly what they did in the final two games against the Ducks in the Western Conference final.
In those two victories, Sharp was the only member of the Magnificent Seven not to register a point. That’s the same Patrick Sharp, by the way, who chalked up a pair of assists in Game 5, a heartbreaking 5-4 overtime loss.
Kane, in particular, proved to be an inspiration in both the dressing room and on the ice.
After he fractured his clavicle in late February, the initial prognosis was that he would be sidelined 12 weeks. Kane wasn’t buying it. Instead of returning midway through the third round as originally projected, he was back for the start of the Stanley Cup tournament. And now, entering the final, he is second in scoring in these playoffs with 20 points.
With determination like that, it’s little wonder it has rubbed off on some of his lesser-known teammates.
“I’m not a saviour,” Kane declared after the Hawks seriesclinching 5-3 victory Saturday, adding that his comeback from the injury was motivated by his burning desire to help “my team.”
A “team” that now stands on the doorstep of earning dynasty status.