High on the Hawks

The “Roar” is loud… but so is the whining. The first three games of the Western Conference quarterfinal have put fans of both the Blackhawks and the Flames on an emotional roller coaster. The Flames score first in both games on the road only to see the Hawks come roaring back to win. The Hawks score first in the Saddledome and the Flames rattle off four unanswered goals, in a “welcome to Canada” slap in the face fashioned victory. Aside from the statistical similarities in the series so far we have seen plenty of extra-curricular activity after whistles, especially near either goal crease. While the battle hardened Flames fans are more than used to seeing this type of in your face playoff hockey, Blackhawks fans may need a refresher course.
Let’s think back, way back to 1988… A young Mike Keenan walks through the doors of the Chicago Stadium having literally dominated the Patrick Division for three of the four years he spent behind the bench of the Philadelphia Flyers. In his first season with the Hawks he takes a team who finished the regular season in fourth place in the Norris Division (27-41-12 66pts.) all the way to the Campbell Conference Finals. How? By playing the same brand of smash-mouth, blood and guts hockey that took the Flyers to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1984-‘85 and 1986-’87. The Mid 1980’s and 1990’s saw some great hockey teams: Brian Propp and the Flyers, Jeremy Roenick and the Blackhawks, Mark Messier and the Rangers, Brett Hull and the Blues, all of which have one thing in common… “Iron Mike” Keenan.
Fast forward to 2009…. The Flames are taking liberties with the smaller, younger, faster Chicago Blackhawks’ players. Hmmm, I for one am not surprised, although ask around you will loudly hear that the Hawks fans don’t appreciate that big meany Dion Phaneuf rubbing his bear paw in little Patrick Kane’s beardless face after every whistle. I may not whine and cry about it like many others, and as a Hawks fan I don’t like seeing them be bullied, but this is what they wanted. Playoff hockey…“One Goal.” This is classic Mike Keenan, he has done it everywhere he has coached and he has had success in his career. He is definitely playing by his “they can’t call everything” type philosophy. The NHL has said that they are going to crack down on the extra-curricular activity after whistles by penalizing players who start altercations. Apparently the officials in the Chicago-Calgary series have not gotten the memo. So we can all whine and cry about it or we can throw out our pacifiers, grab a hard hat and go to work… I don’t know about you but I am not ready for baseball yet.