from Rick Telander of the Chicago Sun-Times,

We know the Hawks are capable of coming back, but right now you have to wonder how they would do it. Maybe it will take Crawford to do the old stand-on-his-head routine.

‘‘It wasn’t easy last year,’’ said winger Patrick Kane, who hasn’t scored a goal in the series. ‘‘This one’s not going to be easy.’’

The Kings are fast, tough and skilled. So are the Hawks.

A lot of folks think they’re the two best teams in hockey. Between them, they have won three of the last four Stanley Cups. If the survivor of this series wins the Cup this season, you could say that team is a budding dynasty.

It was thought no franchise could remain dominant in the salary-cap era. The good players would ask for too much money and leave. Some teams would overspend on a star or two and be hamstrung for years.

But it hasn’t happened with the Hawks and Kings. General managers Stan Bowman and Dean Lombardi have plans, and they’ve stuck to them without bankrupting themselves.

The only thing to wonder about, after the blueprint, is desire. Injuries can derail anything, of course. But what we’ve got now are two healthy teams, so what’s up with the Hawks?

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