Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
In a season that has been chock-full of greatness, the Chicago Blackhawks have the opportunity to add one more notch to their belt before the playoffs begin.
Tonight in Western Canada, the Edmonton Oilers stand in the way of a chance to clinch the President’s Trophy for the first time in 22 years. The award is given to the team who has the most points at the end of the regular season and earns them home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs.
Wouldn’t that be nice eh?
In order to grab the trophy, the Hawks need to nail down a W. Doesn’t matter how they do it; they’ll take goals from the fourth line or a defensive gem from whichever of their lock-down goalies is in net. Just get the win. They haven’t lost three in a row since the middle of February last year so I like their chances. However, I’ve been very, very wrong before.
The win will give them 75 points with two games to play which is one more point then the Pittsburgh Penguins — the only team remaining who could mathematically finish with more points — could tally in their final two games (they currently have 70 points).
But first things first eh?
The Hawks are facing an Edmonton team who’s dropped eight of their last ten and has lost five straight at home. In seven of their last nine, they’ve scored either one or zero goals and they sit only four points out of dead last in the Western Conference.
Unfortunately, the Oilers have played Chicago tough both times they’ve faced each other this season. In their first meeting at the United Center the Hawks needed “Super” Marian Hossa to step in and close the door 1:44 into overtime; in the re-match Edmonton scored a season high six goals on the Hawks as they dealt them their first regulation home loss.
Take the season series into account, and then consider that everybody in Canada loves to harass the Hawks, and you’ve got to figure Edmonton love their chances at playing spoiler.
The Hawks meanwhile are dealing with the standard drama that goes along with being under the national microscope all season long. The victories all seem to blend together while each loss is magnified to the utmost degree. The team’s currently in the midst of just it’s third two game skid all season and trying to stay focused after the national media inexplicably decided to make something out of Duncan Keith’s comments to reporter Karen Thomson.
Keith made reference to the fact that Thomson would have been the first female to officiate a game in the NHL and that perhaps she’d be better off sticking to her current profession of antagonizing athletes — er, excuse me — journalism.
Without losing my temper here, I’ll sum it up like this: a reporter poked at an angry bear after a tough loss and she got bit. One million reporters before her can each tell you a story about getting snapped at by an athlete after a game but because he identified her sex — female — in his comments someone went looking for a soapbox.
By the way, did I mention even Thomson considered it a non-issue??
ANYWAYS, forward Patrick Sharp should be back in the line-up tonight after re-aggravating his shoulder and backup goalie Ray Emery could very well get the nod tonight so that starter Corey Crawford can grab some rest before the playoffs. The team had its 11 game points streak snapped on Monday by the Vancouver Canucks however before that — their third game in four days — they had begun to see signs of life in the power play and Hart Trophy candidate Patrick Kane came back online with five points in his last four games.
On paper, this one shouts angry, rebound effort from the Hawks after Monday’s season-worst effort. However, all bets are out the window when teams go at it north of the border.
I say grab the two points and bring the President’s Trophy back stateside. Then they can sit around and plan the playoff party that goes through Chicago.
Parker Dodson is a Chicago Blackhawks writer for www.rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter, “like” him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google+.
