from Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Sun-Times,

I don’t mean to brush aside the NHL regular season but, OK, maybe I’m about to do just that. The Chicago Blackhawks are not a hockey team. They’re a playoff hockey team. Big difference.

Whatever we’ve been watching in October, November, December, etc. – and I’m thinking of something with the import of infomercials or Styrofoam packing peanuts – it doesn’t compare with what’s on the line in the postseason. The Hawks are not adrenaline junkies. They’re Stanley Cup junkies. After winning two of the last five titles, they don’t have to apologize for that or anything else.

They came within an overtime goal of winning the Stanley Cup last season. A factual error? Fine, they lost in overtime in Game 7 of the Western Conference final and would have beaten the inferior Rangers in the Cup final. We hold that truth to be self-evident.

Of late, there has been some local handwringing about the Hawks’ play, as there seems to be every season. But as Sun-Times’ Hawks beat writer Mark Lazerus pointed out last week, there’s very little to worry about. For some of you, worrying is part of the fun, just as being unhappy is the definition of happiness for some people.

more