Supertack

http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/Stories/2015/SEP22/Kane.html

Absolutely agree. From this Hawk fans perspective it would far and away be the best Cup of any Eastern team. That series would be epic, and it has a legit chance of happening this year....

Rolling Stones play the UC on Friday night.

Columbus won't make it in. Not enough games vs too tough of competition. Dallas is your only worry, but both teams have 2 games that wash (vs Van, vs LA) in terms of schedule. From this vantage point, it looks like game 48 determines who goes.

They've got an excuse for being bad for so long.

Most teams with periods of sustained success will go through periods of down years. The key is to limit those years. Detroit has done that remarkably well the last 20 years, but definately had some lean times in the 70s and 80s. I dunno that those bad years were a spring board for the success they've had since, as the draft is much more important now than it was then, but your team has also been privy (because of their success) to being a destination spot for high profile free agents as a result. This is the thing, you can piss on the Hawks all you want because the had a downtrodden decade and stocked up with good players as a result, but keep in mind when Chicago was going deep into the playoffs every year in the 80s, the Wings were completely off the map. It goes in cycles, and most seasoned hockey fans know that.

If you look at the remaining schedules for the Wings, Preds, & Avalance, there is no reason why your boys don't move up to 6th, with Nashville and Colorado finishing 7th & 8th respectively. I wouldn't even worry about Calgary, they still have Boston, Washington, Phoenix, Colorado, Chicago, San Jose, & Vancouver left on their schedule, are 4 pts back and have played 1 more game. That team is done.

Toews, Kane, & Keith will all get deals similar to Hossa. Really long terms with similar cap hits. Rational would suggest that although young & talented, Toews and Kane are not proven like to the extent of Hossa, & therefore would accept similar yearly amounts. Say the Hawks offer Toews & Kane 15-18 year deals at 4-5 mil a season. The total contract would be between 60-90 million for players who would still only be in their late 30's when it expires. Hossa just signed a 62 million dollar contract & has had 100pt season, & 2 SC appearences. However, with cap hits of 4-5 mil per year for Toews, Kane, Hossa, & Keith it leaves the team with enough room to fill the rest of the roster.

Speculation is that Khabibulin may have re-injured a groin (injury from earlier in the season) on Detroits OT game winner in game 2. It may have been masked a little in game 3 before your team decided to turn up the heat in the 2nd period.

Sorry, not road attendance, the Hawks led the league in TOTAL attendance.

Q's a good coach, & a stablizing presence for a young team. He's gotten a lot more outta them than the "rah, rah" Denis Savard, or Trent Yawney was able to. The Wings just have more talent on their roster. Put Q on Detroit & Babcock on the Hawks, & I don't think it changes much.

Intelligent. Why don't you go photo copy your ass cheeks, or have a spit wad fight in the frat house while your at it. Why is big ratings for this series even a surprise? First off, the Hawks led the league in road attendance this season, & set a record for home attendance, so their obviously a draw. Then you got them matched with the defending Cup champion, a fierce rival, & division opponent in a Conference Final. I wouldn't expect anything different.

"Defeated" no, dejected yes. Look, he knows damn well what the Wings are all about. As it's been illustrated over, & over again, he has always had a problem with your team in the playoffs. He also got enough Wings up his ass in the 6 meetings of the regular season to know what you can & can't do against them. Being ready to play & compete, & being able to win are two different things. The thing about your team is, they don't make mistakes, & they always seem to capitalize on their opponets mistakes. The Hawks had them on the run the first 10 minutes of the 1st period, & if not for a couple breaks (cross bar, re-direct open net) it coulda been 3-0. However, Cleary jumps on a turnover, & scores a goal that shoulda NEVER gone in, & it's 1-1. Vintage Red Wings. That's what they do, & the Hawks have been privy to it for a while. I don't wanna change gears, but this goes all the way back to the '95 Western Conference Finals. The Hawks didn't trail the Wings more than 20 minutes of that entire series; however they lost in 5 games thanks to (3) OT losses, two being double OT. Your team certainly makes the most of it's opportunities, & it really gets annoying gettin' beat by the same team every year.

Nope, just saying that the Hawks can play the physical game, & have done it better than their competition in the playoffs. As for the goaltending, Khabibulin has been up to the task when it counted. If you were to rank Osgood, Hiller, Khabibulin, & Louongo in order of being able to stand out in a playoff game, I'd put Khabibulin right with Hiller (behind Osgood), with perhaps a slight edge going to Bulin concidering he has won a Cup. Louongo is dog s*** in the playoffs.

I kept hearing this mantra of 'style of play'. I'm assuming the reference is in regard to lacking the physical presence that the Ducks almost took your boys out with. Well folks, the Flames play a physical game. They were supose to out muscle & hit the Hawks back to Chicago. Obviously didn't happen, as the Hawks adapted to that style. Vancouver (who was more physical than Calgary) was REALLY supose to run over the Hawks. They wound up taking more of the beating, which in turned opened up neutral zone ice. I think your gonna be surprised how physical the Hawks have become. This isn't the same team you saw in the Winter Classic.