"Experience Is The Teacher Of All Things"

Julius Caesar - a fellow great Italian - said the above about experience, and it's as true in sports as anywhere.

As the youngest team in the league and one coming of a 5th straight playoff-less year, the Blackhawks are hurting for experience. Of their active 20-man roster, only four players have any lengthy post-season resumes:

Khabi - 57 games, split between four straight first round exits with the Coyotes (including one when they were still the Winnipeg Jets) and a pair of runs with the Lightning (including to the title in 2004).

Campbell - 47 games during three long trips (two with Buffalo, then last year with the Sharks).

Havlit - 51 games, all with Ottawa over five seasons from 01 to 05.

Pahlsson - 64 games, including winning a cup with Anaheim in 07.

(It should also be noted that the Sopel's corpse has played 42 postseason contests, all with the Canucks. But I haven't heard anything to suggest he'll be back, nor that he'll play when he does return. Can't say I disagree, unless his horrible play to start the year was a product of this mysterious injury.)

Other than that, Ladd (17 Ga), Huet (13 Ga), Sharp (12 Ga), Walker (4 Ga), Eager (2 Ga), and all have seen the post-season, but none could be considered true playoff vets (tho Ladd's ring and Huet's pair of post-season visits are definitely worth something).

So the Chicago Blackhawks will enter the playoffs in two weeks with only four guys with significant post-season experience and eleven different guys with absolutely no post-season experience. Scary.


That's why I'm actually somewhat pleased that the Hawks have blown their comfortable lead for the 4th seed and are now being forced to battle for their lives against other similarly desperate teams.

The Blackhawks, above all else, need experience if they expect to win a Cup. Making the playoffs was an important goal for this year - because the team needed to see what the playoffs were all about before they could expect to have great success there.

Now that a playoff birth is all but in the bag, it's about maximizing the experience we can get out of this playoff run. And thanks to their second half struggles, the Hawks are now getting playoff-like experience before they even get there. The pressure is on, the other teams are leaving it all out there, and every win gets you closer to a major goal, while every loss digs deep at you.


Ideally, the Hawks would respond to this challenge, finish the year strong, and earn the #4 seed, hosting Calgary. You can NEVER predict the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but it's hard to argue with the logic that you'd rather face Calgary, whom we've owned in four match-ups this year, then a red-hot Vancouver team who's backstopped by one of the best goalies in the game.

The hope is that last night's win was the Hawks answering the bell and showing they've renewed their focus and upped their game. They looked incredible out there - it was really men among boys. The Blues, who've owned the Hawks this season, couldn't even get a shot off in a three and a half minute power play. That's the kind of game it was - where the puck was constantly in the Hawks offensive zone, and the pressure never stopped.

But as long as the Hawks don't lay down the rest of the way and in the playoffs, I think this year will have been a real success. The ultimate goal remains a Stanley Cup championship, and with what I've seen talent and execution-wise out of the Hawks, to me the main ingredient they are missing is experience.

Fighting, for the second straight year, down the stretch in a string of must-win games will definitely up their experience. And hopefully the Hawks can put together a series victory and a strong showing in the second. Twelve competitive playoff games - that's what I'd like to see. Do that, and I think the Hawks could be Cup contenders next season. Probably won't win it, but I think they'll be legitimately included in the conversation as the 09-10 season progresses.