Chapter 2 of Blackhawks' Fairy Tale has Happy Ending

Hockey News - Dave Curtis -

CHICAGO -- And so the fairy tale continues. The NHL's 30-team opening field was whittled to 16 for the postseason, and by week's end four will remain with a pulse. After Monday's 7-5, series-closing victory over the Vancouver Canucks, the Chicago Blackhawks' too-young comeback kids will be one of them.
The Blackhawks' inconceivable, improbable run has landed the team in the Western Conference finals for the first time since 1995. And since this sure feels like a dream sequence, the fitting next plot turn would be a date with the hated Detroit Red Wings.

Monday showed how bad the fans want that matchup. With three minutes still on the United Center clock, pockets of the 22,000-plus here shouted a chant that began with "Detroit" and ended with a word that rhymes with pucks.

Another endorsement came from hockey's godfather, a former Red Wings coach and current Blackhawks advisor who lit up at the thought of Chicago-Detroit in May.

"It's two original teams," Blackhawks senior advisor Scotty Bowman said. "There are only six of them, so that's big."

Sometimes, the sports deities smile on their fans. This year's Cup playoffs are proof -- the energy of Columbus' maiden postseason trip, the drama of Ovechkin and Crosby going 15 rounds and Martin Brodeur looking mortal with the season on the line. But seven games of 'Hawks and Wings might top everything. 

It might also make this arena even louder than it grew during a third period that 'Hawks coach Joel Quenneville deemed "as wild a period as I've ever seen." Chicago fell behind 4-3 and 5-4 before a three-goals-in-3:17 spurt iced the series and sent the crowd into a frenzy.

Maybe the noise best showed the depth of this Blackhawks renaissance. The franchise eclipsed the 1,000,000 fan mark with Monday's gate -- through most of the third period, it felt like the team had packed that many folks into the arena for one game. The crowd coming to see Bruce Springsteen tonight will be challenged to match the din.

"I've been to some pretty crazy metal concerts at this place," Chicago's Adam Burish said. "I don't think it's ever been as loud as it was tonight."

Then came those Detroit chants, loud and popular enough that some of the truest Chicago fans will be cheering for the Wings to finish off Anaheim and set up another rivalry renewal. Everybody in town wants Blackhawks-Red Wings ... except some of the guys in the Hawks' locker room.

They know that, despite the series wins over Calgary and Vancouver, they remain the sloppiest team in the playoffs. If the defensive mistakes don't disappear, either Detroit or Anaheim might sweep them.

And if the Red Wings do appear across the bracket, they know the Red Wings beat them four of six games in the season series, with Chicago's only two wins coming in an April home-and-home after both teams were locked into playoff position.

"It might be fun for the fans," Patrick Sharp said, "but you've got to be careful what you wish for."

Then again, maybe it doesn't matter who the Blackhawks play. They played for the playoffs in the fall; now, in the spring, they're halfway to a Stanley Cup.

It's a fairy tale, and it continues this weekend in hockey's final four.

Dave Curtis is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at dcurtis@sportingnews.com.

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