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10 Thoughts from 2010 Blackhawks, Round 1 |
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My apologies for the delay in getting this blog published this morning.
I opted to not write yesterday, as I normally do, instead indulged in some serious family time as we celebrated Mother's Day.
I hope you all remembered to call your special Moms in your life yesterday.
I did have some time Saturday though to finish up watching the 2010 Blackhawks vs. Predators – Round 1.
Before I dive into my thoughts from that round, there was some news out of the AHL this morning that needs to be shared.
So, the AHL is canceled.
What does this mean for the NHL? We don't know but it does seem that the NHL is determined to get players on the ice sooner than later.
Now, with no other hockey news, let alone Blackhawks news to talk about, let's revisit the 2010 Blackhawks.
As much as I'm missing live hockey, re-watching the first round of the Blackhawks 2010 run on YouTube has been a nice fix for me.
Mostly because this is the first time I've been able to re-watch these games. I know the outcomes so there's a lot less sweat and cursing this time around.
I know NBC Chicago was replaying a lot of these games as well so maybe you've caught some 2010 action as well.
I have just completed the first 6 games of the Hawks run and they have just defeated Nashville in a tough series, 4 games to 2.
I will not be breaking down specific games or goals or plays, but rather players and overall thoughts.
Below are the first 10 things that came to my head immediately after watching these games:
1) Dave Bolland - I knew I loved this guy – I mean I still own (and wear) a #36 t-shirt jersey - but wow he was so important to that team.
At a glance, he was often viewed as a bottom 6 guy but he was so much more. He was playing the point on PP1, was huge on the penalty kill, and centered a very vital line (usually Ladd and Hossa).
2) Dustin Byfuglien – "A freak" is how his teammates remember him. What a unique skill set of size and skills.
Quenneville knew he was going to without Brian Campbell to begin the playoffs (#51 returned for Game 5) but had the luxury of using Big Buff on the blueline.
Not sure what Byfuglien's going through now, but I'm really hoping he's not done with hockey forever. I would love to see him play again… for any team.
3) John Madden – What a signing this guy was for CHI. With so many younger players on the Hawks, you could just see the leadership and veteran presence Madden brought to balance that out.
He was a hell of a penalty killer and a very important role player for Coach Q to lean on.
4) Brent Seabrook – I love Seabrook and love seeing him playing at an elite (yes, elite) level. A great reminder how important he was to the history of this Blackhawks team during this era.
5) Niklas Hjalmarsson and Brent Sopel – Damn I miss Hammer, but I also forgot how valuable Brent Sopel was for the Blackhawks.
The reason I thought of these two together was because of their fearlessness. The way these guys would jump in front of pucks was remarkable.
I wish the Hawks had more guys that would sell out like this on their team now.
6) Marian Hossa – I miss Hossa… so much. That's all.
7) Antti Niemi – I always remembered this guy had ice in his veins and that was reconfirmed after watching his first 6 playoff games ever.
He was unorthodox at times and yes, he was prone to the odd bad goal but he battled and persevered at the highest stage possible.
8) Fast, Skilled, Physical, Deep, Relentless – These are the words I found myself muttering under my breath as I watched this 2010 Hawks.
We were so lucky to have cheered for such a complete team that may never be that fast, skilled, physical, deep, and relentless again.
That's not a slight to the future but a compliment to that team.
9) Joel Quenneville – Even though I knew the outcome of this series, I still just "felt good" with Coach Q back there.
He gave me confidence that if the players weren't getting it done, he could make adjustments and get them going again.
It was almost like a secret weapon back there.
For the record, I don't have that feeling with Colliton. Maybe one day.
10) Swagger – That leads me in that cocky confidence that the 2010 team had; starting with Coach Q behind the bench, all the way down to Ben Eager and Adam Burish on the 4th line.
It's a confidence you can see all over the ice; the way defencemen would jump up on a play and all 5 players on the ice worked together as they could plow through any obstacles in front of them and if they couldn't, they knew they were good enough to fix their mistakes in real-time or later on in the game.
I miss that swagger.
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Ok, that's all I got for now.
I will be watching round 2 in the next week or so and will continue to build off of this list.
Anything specific you remember from that series? Any player that stands out?
Stay safe and see ya out there!
TC
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • 
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