Sox + Cubs = Hawks?

So last week I got into a bit of a Sox Fan-Cubs Fan pissing match... over the Blackhawks. Somehow it made sense.

My contention - Cubs fans have brought their full stock of intractable pessimism to their Blackhawks fandom, resulting in a completely undeserved level of heightened anxiety and naysaying from Hawk Nation this season.

Look, I'm not trying to take shots at Cubs fans here. You absolutely SHOULD be pessimistic about everything to do with that team. They are the single least successful team in all of North American pro sports. No other franchise is even close. And they have no excuse - they spend like crazy ($140M payroll the past two seasons), they feature absurdly accomplished Hall of Famers (Maddux and Sosa), they bring in the top free agents (Soriano for $138M), and they develop electrifying can't miss prospects (Wood and Prior). Yet all of those things only end in disaster.

Those $140M payrolls? A second straight playoff sweep followed by a fade into Bolivian. Maddux and Sosa? One will be remembered as a Brave, the other as the face of the worst era in the game's history. Soriano? Gone from a star to a decent player to a giant hole... all while his salary is going up and up. Wood and Prior? An overpaid middling reliever and a grocery store clerk somewhere.

I know this is all a bit off-topic in a Hawks blog, but I want to make clear that I dig why Cubs fans are so negative. Why they are so quick to believe that the wheels are coming off at every turn, why they are so apt to see legit problems where only minor hiccups exist. I don't blame you - being a Cubs fan is the worst mix of engendering an incredible level of love and dedication while being heart-broken and let down at every turn.

But newsflash - the CUBS AND THE HAWKS ARE TWO TOTALLY DIFFERENT ENTITIES.

I know, shocking revelation, but to Cubs fans, it is. How else can you explain the dispair that's accompanied this Hawks team, despite what they've actually done? There's no question a bunch of Cubs fans (not all, and certainly not only) have brought and undeserved negativity to their rooting interest this season.

Let's look at the actual facts of what this Hawks team is about right now:

In 2007-2008, the Hawks surprised everyone by competing for a playoff spot until the final days, following a half decade of being unwatchable crap.

In 2008-2009, the Hawks surprised everyone by making it all the way to the Conference Finals before losing to a highly accomplished powerhouse team.

In 2009-2010, the Hawks have done nearly everything they could have to this point - controlling their own destiny for the #1 seed in the West.

The front office is helmed by one of the greatest hockey minds in the game (Stan Bowman). They've been successful in putting together a team that features four different players who are as good as almost anyone in the league - Hossa, Toews, Kane, and Keith - and a collection of talent so rich that if every player were to get their full market worth, the Hawks would be laughably over the salary cap (a situation we'll experience this off-season).

Ownership has not only spent every penny the cap allows, but even manipulated the system with Hossa's contract and by sending players up and down on a daily basis to go above and beyond what is expected. In the past two years they've signed the top goalie, defenseman, and forward on the free agent market while also locking up their top three young stars for the next half decade. And in each of the past two seasons they've traded for a solid veteran piece to solidify the team for a deep playoff run.


Plain and simply, the Hawks organization resembles the Cubs organization in only two areas - calling Chicago their home and doing a great job marketing themselves.

In all other respects, at this point the Hawks have done every single thing you would have expected from the very best organizations in pro sports. They've spent money, they've accumulated talent, and they've won over and over again. Yes, they need a Cup to seal the deal, but they only now are entering their window of opportunity.

There should be NO inherent pessimism with this club - they've earned nothing but your faith and support. Sure, bitch about the poor decision to sign Huet and the lack of foresight to give Campbell an 8-year deal instead of a more cap friendly 12-year one. Sure, express concern about having an unproven goaltender in the playoffs. Sure, wonder what's changed between the domination of November and December to the just-good-enough play of January and February to the disaster that was March.

But there's a way to criticize and wonder about the club (it's pretty much half the point of this blog) without whining doom and gloom every time something doesn't go exactly perfect for the Hawks.

Back in December I was at the game against the Sharks where we dominated the play (out-shooting them 47-14) and yet lost 3-2. This was at the peak of our dominance, and yet all game long the crowd around me couldn't have been more whiny. We were toying with the best team in hockey at the time, a slew of bad bounces all that kept it from being a laugher, and yet every little thing brought complaints from the crowd. Shoot more. Hustle more. Goal-keeping sucks. Defense can't stop anyone.

We out-shot them 47-14. We completely outplayed them. In the playoffs, if you do that every night, you will hoist the Cup w/o much drama along the way. Yet the crowd could not have been quicker to be negative. The whole tone was awful - I enjoyed the game less than had I been surrounded by a bunch of Shark fans.

Obviously, this negativity all only got worse as the Hawks "struggled." I use quotes because the Hawks won 10 of their 15 games in January and pointed in 12. They won 4 of their 6 games in February and pointed in 5. That is an impressive clip. It might not have looked pretty, but there's no column for beauty in the standings.

Yes, from March 7th (a loss to the Wings) to March 30th (a loss to the Blues), the Hawks did suck, winning only 4 times in 12 outings. But guess how many teams have gone through an entire regular and post season in hockey without one bad stretch? I'll give you a hint - it's the same amount of World Series titles the Cubs have in the last century.


The point to all of this? There was no reason to ever be on the ledge with this team. Even during their struggles in March, they had some injuries to point to and plenty of time to get their game back. Hell, even if they had struggled straight through the end of the regular season, that still wouldn't have meant panic time.

What happens come the playoffs is only sort of related to the regular season. Does it help to be hot going in? Sure, but it's no guarantee. Does it hurt to be cold going in? Sure, but it's not gonna automatically sink you.

When you're a team like the Hawks, who've played hockey about as good as anyone since the start of last season, you can have faith that when the puck drops in Game 1, you'll be ready. You have the talent, the system, and the experience to win any game, any series, at any time. So yes I'd rather be hot than cold, but it isn't making a major difference in my belief in this team. They've done too much for too long for me to allow a very standard and expected stretch of bad play to dissuade me of their chances.

The good news? This long rant is falling on some very receptive ears right now, thanks to the great play of the Hawks of late. The biggest source of whining and pessimism has suddenly turned into the most exciting aspect of the team - the play of Uncle Niemi. The defense, missing two top players (Campbell and Johnsson) and with another having struggled mightily this year (Seabrook), somehow is finding a way to get it done. And the offense, despite the never-ending line dancing, continues to get contributions from top to bottom (Kopecky, really? Who knew?).

I was hoping to write all of this last week, when everyone was on the ledge and felt justified in their lack of faith, so that I could look like a genius when the team did finally get it going. Whatever - I firmly believed it then (it's what inspired my Sox Fan-Cub Fan pissing match) and I'm writing it now.

Moving forward, nothing will change from my perspective. The Hawks could struggle this week, blow their shot at the #1 seed, enter the playoffs looking iffy, and worst of all, Niemi could go back to being a giant question mark.

Me - I'm still having faith that we're taking that first series.

Say we lose Game 1, even Game 2? Me? Still thinking we're the better team, fully capable of winning on the road against a lesser opponent, most especially when the stakes have been raised.

I'm an optimist, which helps. But more importantly, I'm a fan of one of the most-talented, best-run, most-accomplished teams in the NHL right now, so the odds of success are almost always gonna be in my favor. And that's something I'm not gonna let a few expected stumbles or the presence of a moribund baseball franchise allow me to forget.