Halfway Home

In an effort to remain consistent, I do have to point out that the Hawks still have really only won the two games I expect every NHL team to win in any series. The Sharks are still very much in this, fully capable of taking the next two and erasing all that the Hawks have accomplished at this point. On top of that, the Sharks would have grabbed the home ice, momentum, and confidence edge that now all sit in the Hawks' corner.

However, there's no denying that in addition to the home ice, momentum, and confidence edge they earned, the Hawks also have two very impressive advantages:

1) If the Hawks win tonight, it's all but over. Rarely in a hockey series do you get a kill shot before you've won three games.

2) If the Hawks take one of the next two, it's kinda almost all but over. Rarely in a hockey series can you afford to give a game away and still be in a prime position.

My hope - that the Hawks are completely and totally focused on #1 and don't even consider #2. I want them out for blood tonight - playing with a tenacity, a desperation, of a team who knows this game could decide the whole series.

The Hawks made the mistake of bringing a #2 mindset into a couple of games against both the Preds and Canucks, making both of those series closer than they should have. Instead, I want the Hawks remembering how hard they had to fight, how incredible they had to play in so many facets of the game, and even how lucky they had to be with some bounces, to win either of those games against San Jose. I want them to realize that they're gonna have to do at least that much, if not more, if they hope to win again.


That covers the mental approach - what about the strategic approach? Honestly - I want to see the same thing we've seen the first two games. And it's something we haven't seen from this team all year. In fact, I'm surprised that with all the coverage the Hawks are getting, no one is talking about it.

All season long, including in the playoffs, the Hawks have been a high-flying offensive powerhouse that has quietly had a good defense. That defense was mainly built upon puck-possession - you can't shoot what you aren't holding. The story was their shot differential - in another world from where everyone else in the league was. Even when facing the top teams, the Hawks still were coming out way ahead in shots. Even as they struggled in March, the shots still were largely in their favor. Even as the level of play shot up in the playoffs, it was still there.

Until they faced the Sharks. All of the sudden, somehow this Hawks team morphed into a defensive dynamo, built upon committing all five skaters to supporting the goalie in keeping the opponent's offense in check. Shots were to be blocked or effected. Rebounds were to be pushed to the side and then cleared. Skaters in front of the net were to be tied up, loose pucks to be pursued with a vengeance. Offense was secondary - take your chances as they came, make the most of them.

It wasn't really clear in Game 1 - the Hawks did rifle off 40 shots, not exactly a defense-first total. But think about that game for a minute. How many times did you breath a sigh of relief because you saw a puck squirt harmlessly to the boards after a barrage of activity around the Hawks net? How many times did you look up at the clock and hope the period would end so the Hawks could regroup? How many times did you want the Hawks to just dump the puck or get a whistle to end a long possession in their own end?

Now think about the other way - did you really curse the Hawks that many times for missing a prime chance? Did we have that many big offensive flurries that ended with nothing? How many great plays by Hawks skaters were really just narrowly stopped?

Simply - how often have you felt that the Sharks are bringing the pressure, making you so nervous that a puck was about to find the back of the Hawks net, versus how often you felt a bit relaxed, confident in how the Hawks had taken control of the game?

Now you look at Game 2, when the Hawks had four power plays and only 22 shots. When the Sharks had only one but got off 27. Compare that to what you generally expect from the Hawks - a 7-10 shot advantage in their favor.

The simple fact is that in this series, the Sharks have been the aggressor. They've taken the game to the Hawks offensively, put huge amounts of pressure on them in their own end. How worn out the edge of your seat is attests to that.

But, the Hawks have still been the superior team. Despite not at all playing the game they expect to, despite having the pressure tilted in their direction, the Hawks have still out-played the Sharks. In Game 1, they showed they could bounce back from an early deficit and come out ahead in a super tight game. In Game 2, they showed they could weather the Sharks storm and counter with lethal effectiveness, scoring whenever they needed to keep control of the game.

And they've done it by somehow overnight becoming a team that gets the big initial stop from their goalie, clears every rebound, works tirelessly along the boards, has a stick or body somehow effecting every shot or pass, busts ass to every loose puck.

You expect that type of play from a decent team that buys into a defensive system built upon hard work and grit in order to elevate beyond the sum of their parts. You don't expect it from an uber-talented squad with some of the top playmakers and goalscorers in the game, with offensive skill on nearly every line and pairing. A team who until now has played good defense more often by putting themselves in a position to not have to defend by dominating the puck.

I can't be more impressed or encouraged by what this team has done so far this post-season. No professional title has ever been won without a team overcoming some significant adversity. Even the 1985 Bears, the greatest pro team of all time, had to be able to bounce back from a disheartening late season loss to the Dolphins on national TV. How you respond to that adversity often tells you if a championship-contending club can actually go all the way.

The Hawks proved in the first round that they knew how to lean on their superior talent to beat a hard-charging, play above themselves team like the Preds. In the second round, the Hawks proved they could keep their heads while getting into their opponents', allowing them to control a team that wasn't too far inferior.

And now in this round, the Hawks have shown true championship character by finding something that I'm not sure we would have guessed existed, a game they hadn't been called on to play before. When the Sharks got them on their heels and kept them there, the Hawks turned into the kind of team that could dig in, not get pushed back an inch, and then muster counter-attacks which they didn't squander.

I knew the Hawks had the talent to play this way - I've long talked about how quietly impressive their defensive depth is. But I wasn't sure they had the character to do so. It's not easy to go from being the always superior club who thrives on its puck possession to being a defense-first dynamo that just won't give in. But the Hawks have done just that when facing one of the better teams in the NHL.

And you know what - if they keep it up, this series is over. If they do it again, if they continue to frustrate the Sharks offense, the wind will go out of their sails. This San Jose club is stocked with forwards who've never been able to break through in the playoffs. Forwards filled with doubt about their ability to score the needed goals. Even if the Hawks offense can't do much tonight, if they can keep the Sharks off the board, eventually the Sharks will break down.

Either they'll stop bringing the pressure, which will just open up the floodgates for one of the most potent offenses in hockey. Or they'll go the other way, start trying to do to much, and allow the Hawks lethal counterattack to pick them apart.

So my plea to the fans who will be in attendance tonight - don't fret if the Hawks aren't scoring. And don't fret if it's close, even if we're down. A close game favors the Hawks - the Sharks are the ones feeling all the pressure. Every second the Hawks keep the game in question is a second the Sharks have to play knowing that one wrong move could end their season. The longer that goes on, the more draining it will be, mentally and physically.

Just hang around - that's all the Hawks have to do. Preferably they'd come right out and end this with some early scoring, but as long as they don't let the Sharks get up more than a goal, maybe two, I like our chances. As long as they can keep frustrating the Sharks offensive efforts, I like our chances. And as long as the crowd is into it, giving something for the Hawks to feed off of for that late rush or final lockdown, I like our chances.