Blackhawks captain Dirk Graham has the secret to winning the Stanley Cup. ”As long as we win our last game, we`ll be all right; we`ve just got to be sure and win that last game,” he said with a grin.
Of the previous 16 National Hockey League point leaders, nine teams have saved their best to the last. Only four of these 16 point leaders since 1974-75, when the league widened to four divisions, have failed to reach the championship round.
”It reminds me of being told once, `OK, I`ve given you several million dollars worth of talent, don`t mess it up,` ” coach Mike Keenan said when apprised of the statistic against which his team will be measured.
History is another burden the Hawks will carry into the opening round of the playoffs Thursday at the Stadium. They were in search of one point this weekend in games at Minnesota Saturday night or Sunday night in Chicago against Detroit to claim first place overall in the NHL for the third time in team history.
The other two occasions were in 1966-67 (94 points) and 1969-70 (99 points). The 12-team NHL was split into East and West divisions in 1970 and still limited to six teams in 1967. This time the Hawks have had to surpass 20 other teams to rise to the top.
Should Keenan and his players mess it up in the playoffs, they forever will be trying to bury the memory. After a satisfying reversal in fortune that saw them advance into the Stanley Cup semifinals the last two years, nothing less than the first championship round to come to Chicago since 1973 will be acceptable.
Actually, they will find it hard to explain if they don`t win their first Cup since 1961.
”We`re more confident now than at this time last year,” winger Jocelyn Lemieux said. ”Last year, it didn`t take too much to make us lose our confidence. Now, we`re mentally stronger and feel we have what it takes to do it.”
The confidence is reflected in the Hawks` consistency through the regular season. They never lost three straight games, and their worst stretch was a 2-5-1 record (six of those road games) from Feb. 1-18. Their late-season streak has been impressive, with the team going undefeated in 10 games (8-0-2) going into this final weekend.
”The consistency has a lot to do with our depth,” defenseman Trent Yawney said. ”Look at the Lakers, Pistons, A`s. They managed to win championships because of all the quality reserves they had.
”We`re the same kind of team. The playoffs are a grind and a lot of funny things can happen, but if we have to plug in a reserve we won`t miss a beat. We haven`t all year. And that will be frustrating to teams that say,
`Geez, they`re just as good with the reserves in there.` ”
Doug Wilson has played with the Hawks longer than anyone. The defenseman sees the significant difference in this team being that opponents can`t stop a handful of star players, him among them, and expect to win.
”We`re more team-oriented than we used to be,” he said. ”We play a system that relies on 20 players rather than one where we`re relying on a few people. We have players who don`t play regularly, guys like Mike Hudson and Yawney, who would be stars on other teams.”
Jeremy Roenick is at the other end of the spectrum from Wilson in one way. He is 21 to Wilson`s 33. But Roenick has witnessed the team come closer in a year`s time and understand more about itself.
”We realize how good we are,” Roenick said. ”I`m not sure we realized that last year. It was a tight situation to lose Denis Savard (to Montreal), but it was a good situation to get back Chris Chelios in return.”
Chelios certainly doesn`t deserve all the credit for the drastic reduction in goals-against, a low total that is going to win rookie Ed Belfour the NHL`s William M. Jennings Trophy, a $3,000 award that goes to the goalie with the fewest goals scored against him. But Graham emphasized Chelios`
arrival has spurred the defense to new heights.
”We didn`t have the commitment to play team defense that we have now,”
Graham said. ”The biggest changes from last season is Eddie has solidified the goaltending, and Chelios has played excellent defense.
”Remember, at the beginning of the season, when people wondered how we`d replace Savard`s goals, I said that hopefully we wouldn`t have to because we could reduce the goals-against with Chris here and make up for it that way.” Graham was a seer. The Hawks gave up 294 goals last season, and, going into the last two games of the regular season, they had allowed a league-low 208.
What about the intangibles that exist with every club? Last year, a playoff furor was raised when some Hawks anonymously suggested during the Norris Division finals against St. Louis they would have a problem winning for Keenan, that it was important they believed in their coach. The controversy continued into the Campbell Conference finals in Edmonton when Keenan benched Savard, who thinly veiled his contempt at that meddling.
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The players have controlled such open hostility more this season. Keenan still irks many, but they have learned the important lesson of not making him the focus of their attentions. They seemingly are more content to ignore his actions that annoy them and concentrate instead on team unity.
”We have to make sure to put everything personal aside,” Graham said.
”I think what can be easily overlooked in the playoffs is that a team has to keep improving. We haven`t reached a certain point now where we should stay the same. We have to get better to win the Cup in the next few weeks.
”We`re still an emotional team, but we`ve done a better job of venting those emotions. Rather than get bothered and let it affect our play, we channeled the emotions into positives. I feel the thing that has to happen now is for players who run into offensive problems in the playoffs to understand they then have to contribute in others way.
”If we get that attitude and commitment, we can go where we want to go. There`s a lot of legitimate contenders. We`re just one. A lot of teams want the Cup badly, but now it`s who wants it the most. Wanting it badly isn`t enough. You`ve got to do something about it on the ice.”