While I'm never sad to see Chicago bite the dust, and they did just that in a 2-1 overtime loss, here's a legitimate tip of the hat to the Blackhawks, who played one of the toughest elimination games I've seen in nearly 15 years before succumbing to the Detroit Red Wings tonight in Joe Louis Arena.
Gotta hand it to Chicago, the 'Hawks will be an emerging force so long as their management overcomes the potential pratfalls of the salary cap. Chicago hasn't had a viable hockey team since 1995, and tonight's loss might well be the foreshadowing of the new-look Hawks, who look like an emerging force in the new age of the salary capped-NHL.
For the Wings, it's center stage for the sixth time in 14 seasons, an opportunity to capture an amazing fifth Cup in 12 seasons and a final chance to avenge Bill Guerin, who was just 24 when he played on the '95 New Jersey Devils. Those Devils broomed the Wings in four games to capture the Cup. Guerin is now 38 and a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and more than a few Wings on that '95 team remember the humiliating defeat Guerin and the Devils handed them.
The NHL got another great Finals pairing -- let's hope the games live up to the hype.
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