Blackhawks trying to keep energy flowing
Beating Ducks left Western Conference champs tired
CHICAGO — After the Chicago Blackhawks won Game 7 of the Western Conference finals Saturday night to advance to the Stanley Cup Final, the Anaheim Ducks’ physical play and center Ryan Kesler were no longer at the top of their list of problems. For at least the weekend, sleep was. Sunday “night, for me, was one of the toughest nights to get to sleep because of the excitement,” captain Jonathan Toews said Monday. “I’m sure a lot of the guys share that same feeling.”
Said Patrick Sharp: “It was tough to relax on the plane and get to sleep when I got home. I remember the first time in 2010, we were close to winning, and there weren’t a whole lot of pregame naps going on.”
The last time the Blackhawks looked asleep on the ice was in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals, when the Ducks stormed out to a 3-0 lead and seemed to have an iron grip on the series. Then Chicago turned it on — that intangible fifth gear they seem to possess when the stakes are highest — and tied the game before losing in overtime.
Their wave was just starting to crest. They swept the Ducks off the ice in Games 6 and 7, once again playing their best when they had to.
Entering the opener of the Stanley Cup finals, the Blackhawks are trying to keep that same frenetic energy and laser-like focus against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“There’s no doubt that the intensity of each game ramps up,” Toews said. “Sometimes it’s not so easy to do that on your own. But as we were talking about the excitement that we have, the opportunity that we have is right there in front of us.
“This is the last series. That’s something that we can definitely focus on — having that desperation that we’ve had late in the series and applying that right off the start.”
One of Chicago’s best traits is its ability to adjust to an opponent as a series
Game 1
TV: progresses. Coach Joel Quenneville said that has been no accident. The Blackhawks have tweaked their game in subtle ways while not betraying the core principles that have made them so successful in his tenure.
Perhaps that’s why it might seem as if Chicago isn’t at its best early in a series: The team hasn’t quite figured out its opponent.
“Whether you’re more familiar with the opponent or the bigger the moment, you have to get better as the series progresses,” Quenneville said. “Games 6 and 7 are a great illustration of our team rising up. We needed to be great in those two games, and we really played well.”
Now the challenge will be to play really well at Amalie Arena, which hasn’t seen a Stanley Cup Final since 2004, against a fast and explosive Lightning team that resembles the Blackhawks at the beginning of their stretch of success.
“We all know that they’re going to be pumped to play in their own building, and it’s going to be a tough atmosphere to play in,” Toews said. “So [there’s] an energy we can focus on trying to bring early in the series.”
Then, perhaps, a long-running series won’t be necessary.