March 9, 2020: Hello 2010

The Blackhawks entered January 2010 with a 27-10-3 record. They were fresh off a 5-1 victory over the Devils on New Year’s Eve. They were rolling, and would continue to do so. They reeled off 4 more victories to start the new year; they would end the first 6 weeks of the year with 4 wins in a row as well. The last 3 of these wins in February were shootout wins, all with Niemi in goal. He would go 7-2 in shootouts this year. In the middle of this six week stretch, they would go 6-5-2; 14-5-2 in these first 6 weeks of 2010. Any way you slice it, the Hawks continued to play well. The reason I’m drawing the line at the first 6 weeks of 2010 is because that was when the Winter Olympics started, and the NHL would get a 2 week vacation; well, the the rest of the NHL would get a break…

The Blackhawks sent 6 guys to the Olympic Games, and of course, they were mostly our top players. Marion Hossa and Tomas Kopecky would represent Slovakia. Brent Seabrook, Duncan Keith, and Jonathan Toews would play for Canada. Patrick Kane would play for the US. I worried about this. First off, these guys, our big guns, wouldn’t get rest; they would be playing, a lot. And the more you play, the more chances to get hurt. Look, I think it would be awesome to represent your country in the Olympic Games; I wouldn’t expect any of these guys to pass up that opportunity. But as a Chicago Blackhawks fan… sure, the gold medal would be great for the US, but I cannot lie; the Stanley Cup would be much sweeter.

Of course the finals would be US vs Canada; I remember that game. I remember going back and forth with some guys from Canada that I worked with; this game was EVERYTHING to them. It didn’t seem to mean as much to us; it didn’t mean as much to me. Sure, hockey was revived in Chicago with the play of the Blackhawks; we were all now “big” hockey fans. And yes, we root for the US all day every day, but like I said, as long as none of the boys got hurt, as long as they would return to the Hawks and finish what they started this season, I was good. This is what I told them after Canada beat the US in OT. I reminded them how good the Canadian teams were doing in the NHL; they reminded me where Toews, Keith, Seabrook, and others on the Blackhawks were from. It was a fun back and forth; we all won in the long run.

Toews would score the first goal in that gold medal game; Keith would assist on the 2nd goal for Canada. Kane would assist for both US goals, including the game tying goal right at the end of regulation. Crosby would win it for Canada in OT and bedlam in Vancouver ensued. It was a great game. I was happy for Toews, Keith, and Seabrook. I was happy all the Blackhawks made it through these 2 weeks unscathed. Now it was back to business.

At 41-15-5, the Blackhawks were well on their way. With 21 games to go, keep that mojo going, stay healthy, and don’t blow your wad in the regular season; we need to ensure we are playing well at the end of those 21 games. Playoff hockey is a whole different animal.