My Two Cents: Sharks’ Road To The Cup Will Be A Difficult One
Blackhawk Up
The defending champion Chicago Blackhawks are every bit as good as they were last year and the one thing that can be guaranteed is that they won’t give up their title without a fight to the end. Mandatory Credit: Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports
The defending champion Chicago Blackhawks are every bit as good as they were last year and the one thing that can be guaranteed is that they won’t give up their title without a fight to the end.
Chicago is a team that has been built not only to win titles, but also to keep them. The Blackhawks are a team that could certainly lose a game here and there, however it’s really tough to envision almost any one team beating them four times in a seven game series from either conference.
Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews (tayz), Patrick Sharp, Brandon Saad (sawd) and Marian Hossa between them have over 100 goals this season. Chicago is another team that is very good at controlling the puck for long periods of time in the opponents zone and has multiple players that can hit the twine from almost anywhere. Corey Crawford in goal for Chicago can have an off night here and there; however, he seems to always be able to get it into another gear when he absolutely has too. The bottom line with the Blackhawks is that they are an All-Star roster with as much big game and championship experience as anyone. They are going for their third title in five years and look solid.
The Sharks have beaten Chicago two out of three this season; however, playing this team in late spring will be an entirely different animal all-together. The Blackhawks, in just the sheer number of postseason games played, trump the Sharks. If the two teams meet in the post season, the Sharks probably would not get swept away as they easily were four years ago. The Sharks this year match up very well against he Blackhawks but honestly their chances of winning four out of seven games would be a long shot at best.
The Sharks not only would need to be a fully healthy team but would need to be firing on all cylinders. They would have to have strong goal tending from Antti Niemi throughout and would have to play near perfect hockey. It’s not to say the Sharks can’t do this, however we are talking about the Blackhawks in a playoff scenario. The Sharks would need to be especially tough at the Shark Tank, plus be able to steal one inside Illinois, which is a gargantuan task in the post season.