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This group just continues to impress the hell out of me. The resiliency they constantly have shown is unreal. A dominating performance on the road against the best team in hockey to get the series even. Mike Babcock is the Jack Adams winner -- nobody has done a better coaching job between the injuries, offseason losses and incorporating a ton of youth all at once. I don't know the Red Wings will win this series, but I have no doubts they will compete and give the Blackhawks everything they can handle. The Joe is going to be nuts on Monday!

sad panda fans... aw.

Not exactly Blackhawks-related, but since we're stuck with them for the rest of the playoffs:

this thread has now killed any legitimate attempt for rational fans to be displeased with smiths poor play. roughly everyone that has been on smiths case lately does NOT want him traded. most people just want him sat so he can learn a lesson and stop hurting the team with boneheaded plays. however, now everyone on the smith bandwagon will instantly turn to this thread and make the generalization that anyone that critiques smith is a moron. let me say this though, he made at least half a dozen mistakes in these first 2 games that are worthy of a weeks worth of bag skates. scoring a goal from 10 feet away into a wide open net thanks to the strong play of linemates does NOT redeem someone from all those mistakes. additionally, smith has been bad in his own end all year . many of you keep saying how absurd it is to rag on smith because hes a rookie. however you are all just as guilty of lumping anyone that is down on smith as the irrational reactionary type of fan when many of us have legitimate gripes about his play.

Good to see expectations are back to normal around here. 3 weeks ago we were hoping to make playoffs, now perfection from a rook or bust.

Updated for today's win: Made this one for the Sharks series a couple years ago, applicable to this series as well:

Not specifically pertaining to the Blackhawks, but I snatched this from here a while ago...don't know who made it but I <3 you!

Notice that after his goal he seemed to exude a bit more confidence out there. He just looked like he had a bit of a monkey lifted off his shoulders today...A game like today where he was really down on himself and then felt the euphoria of netting the game winner can do wonders for his mental state and help mold him into the player everyone was touting him to be over last summer... You MUST lose to learn to win. You learn by mistakes and only get better. If people weren't meant to make mistakes, God would not have created erasers. You may go through your first couple of pencils quickly, but with every mistake erased and life's lessons learned, eventually the eraser last longer and longer and longer...until finally you have the experience and the confidence to use a pen!

Wonder what his next article will be about? Q's mustache is better than Bab's hair?

Someone can feel free to tweet this if they like...

First off, you're being a tad impatient with a guy who is in his rookie season. Second, the Wings have nothing to gain by trading him for peanuts, and much to gain if he gets better---as rookies often do. Third, you haven't a clue if he's a dime-a-dozen player. If he's the same way in three years, then I'll concede the point to you. As things stand, he's a rookie.

Can we re-name that Kronwall's Law? Newton has so many... Or Kronwall's Law can be a re-write of Newton's first: An object in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon by a Kronwalling force.

If he was smart, he would have shut his mouth. I have to really thank him for the win, seems to have lit a fire under the Wings' asses.

You nailed it!!

I hope you didn't hurt yourself when you jerked your knee like that

Really? Wow.....the kid is in his first FULL year. FIRST EVER NHL Playoff's. On a team where he is #3 defenseman as a rookie....PLUS HE JUST SCORED! He will grow into a great player, have patience...

I agree that Smith hasn't been very good. But I'm guessing a lot of teams would love for the Wings to dump him for nothing. Smith is playing over 19 minutes a night, third among Dmen behind Kronwall and Ericsson. And now doing it against the best team in the league. He's getting exposed for the rookie he is. Imagine if the Wings had played Kindl or Ericsson like that. They had the benefit of a better blueline so they could play lower pressure bottom pairing minutes. Smith is getting thrown in the deep end. It's painful to watch, but this is the team we have right now. It's trial by fire.

You're incorrect on the first point. Bruce Boudreau's 2008 Capitals made the playoffs at the very end of the season, too. As for your second point, also untrue. All voting for awards is done before the playoffs begin. Babcock will be forever jipped out of this award. It is something commonly remarked upon by hockey commentators. Blowing away every other team in 2007-2008 didn't get it for him, and making the playoff this season despite a substantial transition and a ton of injuries didn't even get him into the top three. It's a joke.

I don't think anyone belongs on the Hawks rink. That place is way too dim. It's supposed to be a sports arena, not a sports bar.

That baby has been a Hawks fan for longer than most Hawks fans