Chicago.com
The weekend that was supposed be all about our baseball teams got overshadowed by the Chicago Blackhawks city wide celebration. No one is happier about the fact that the Blackhawks finished their season than the Cubs and White Sox. For the first time since the opening week of the season the baseball teams hoped to get some attention, although based on the play of both teams this season it is hard to imagine if they deserved any.
Friday: Sox 10 – Cubs 5
The game on Friday was completely overshadowed by the Blackhawks parade, yet the Sox responded better by pounding the Cubs 10-5. A.J. Pierzynski had a great day at the plate, Alex Rios homered and had four hits, while Jake Peavy struggled at times but still got his fifth victory of the season. Randy Wells struggled early on and never could recover in time to prevent the Cubs’ from losing to their city rivals. The only positive note of the game for the Cubs happened in the 2nd inning when Alfonso Soriano hit a 2-run home run, his 300th of the career.
Saturday: Sox 2 – Cubs 1
This game promised to be a pitchers duel and that is exactly what ended up happening. Mark Buehrle out-pitched Cubs ace Carlos Silva to hand him the first loss of the season. Paul Konerko provided two run-scoring singles and Bobby Jenks came in to get his 11th save of the season. On a day when both pitchers were pretty good, Buehrle proved to be just a bit better. Silva didn’t have his best stuff as he pitched seven innings allowing two runs and suffering his first loss of the season. Clutch hitting and timely pitching carried the White Sox to a second victory in a row over their National League rivals and gave their fans a chance for a sweep on Sunday night.
Sunday: Cubs 1 – Sox 0
For the first time since 1980, according to STATS INC., two pitchers carried no-hitters into the seventh inning as the Cubs beat the White Sox 1-o and avoided a sweep. Ted Lilly lost the no hit bid in the ninth inning, when pinch-hitter Juan Pierre singled and Carlos Marmol came in to finish the job that the feisty lefty had started. Gavin Floyd lost a no-hitter of his own in the seventh and eventually took the loss in a game that neither pitcher deserved to lose. Some will feel dissatisfaction with the decision to pull Lilly in the ninth after he lost the no hitter, but in the end it turned out to be the right call as Marmol shut the door on the Sox and their bid for a sweep. He made it interesting in the ninth by loading up the bases but got Carlos Quentin on a fly-out to center to end the game and save some face for the Cubs.
The teams will meet on the South Side June 25-27 and the winner of the series (if there is one) will be awarded the first ever BP Crosstown Cup. It should be an intriguing match-up at the “Cell” and one that will gain more attention, locally and nationwide due to the NBA and NHL Finals being over.
Soak it up Chicago. Take every moment in. Enjoy this time with your friends and family.
2010 Stanley Cup Champions - Chicago Blackhawks
After 49 long years, Lord Stanley Cup has finally navigated its way into the city of Chicago again. The longest drought in the NHL is finally over and Chicago is ready to party like it’s 1961. Almost 50 years of failure erased with a shot that no one even saw outside of Patrick Kane and a couple of his teammates. But boy, was it ever in!
This title means a lot. Anyone who tells you anything different should be at the intersection of Wacker and Washington Friday morning, when thousands of Blackhawks fans will join their heroes for the victory parade. This title means so much because of who won it – Chicago Blackhawks. One of the “Original Six” teams and a team that the whole Chicago can agree on. A team that everyone can root for in Chicago, those from the North side and those from the South side. No division needed here.
Sure we have seen titles in this town. The Bulls spoiled everyone with their six titles in eight years in the 90’s and the White Sox ended their own curse in 2005 after 88 long years. The Bears won their title in 1985 but nothing since. The Cubs, well, we don’t have time to focus on the negatives today. There will be plenty of time to reflect on the Cubs’ struggles. So, we have seen some titles in this town, but nothing the whole city can be happy about since Michael Jordan’s epic shot over Bryon Russell in the ‘98 NBA Finals. Just like back then the whole city can celebrate this one.
The writing has been there for all of us to see, all year long and even last year. Losing to the Detroit Red Wings in the Conference Finals last year was a learning step. Sure we were all disappointed with the outcome but still happy nevertheless, that our team made it that far after so many years.
Even this year and the famous motto: One Goal. Yes, everyone knew the team was better with a couple of big acquisitions and the maturity process of our youngsters Toews and Kane but good enough to win it all? Few will tell you they had the Hawks as the Stanley Cup favorites before the season started. Everyone knew the talent was there but no one knew it would mesh into this stellar team of rising stars and a couple of key veterans.
They peaked at the right time, and they found themselves a goalie for the next X number of years in Antti Niemi. The resilience of the team on the road was extremely impressive. The Hawks finished the postseason with exactly the same record on the road and at home: 8-3. It’s hard to win any game in the playoffs but to win eight on the road is simply incredible. The NHL’s largest crowd at the United Center (average 21,356 per game in the regular season according to ESPN.com) propelled the team to some great victories at home, but the true sign of a champion is winning games on the road. And that’s exactly what the Hawks did all playoffs long, none bigger than the game last night in Philadelphia.
Last night’s game summarized this team for anyone who didn’t know much about them. Leading 3:2 with about four minutes left, the Flyers scored the equalizer to extend their life and force the game to overtime with the possibility of Game 7 looming in two days time. It could have been very demoralizing for the Hawks, knowing they were four minutes from the ultimate glory only to be tied seconds later. As they have done all year long when facing adversity, they stepped up and delivered a knockout blow. Only this time there was no getting up for Philly. The fat lady had sung her tune and the Chicago Blackhawks have etched their name into the Stanley Cup history for the first time after nearly 50 years.
Can the Hawks repeat? Will they repeat? Who will leave and who will stay? These are all questions to be answered in the forthcoming weeks. These are serious issues that need to be revisited…but not right now. This is a happy time in the history of Chicago sports.
Live it up Chicago. Enjoy the parade and the rally tomorrow morning. This has been a long time in the making. Forty nine years to be exact. Oh, how sweet it is.
Congrats Blackhawks!!!
One Goal.
That has been the motto of the 2010 Blackhawks.
One goal: To bring the Stanley Cup to Chicago after 49 long years of futility. Not an easy task for a franchise, so down in the drain a couple years ago, its own games were not televised locally. An absolute disgrace for a city as proud as Chicago and for a franchise that is one of the “Original Six.”
Well, that motto has taken a slightly different route since Sunday night. One win. That’s what the new motto should be and is within the organization and all the Blackhawks fans included. The Hawks are up 3:2 in the Stanley Cup Finals and on the brink of hoisting the cup that’s eluded the franchise and the city for nearly half a century.
It is hard not to get carried away when one is so close to something so precious. It’s almost like being given the go-ahead sign by a beautiful girl at a bar to approach her and talk to her. It’s almost like being a kid in the candy store, an arms reach away from a cake that’s been on your mind all day and is now sitting in front of you, but you are not supposed to eat it. It’s hard to say no to such an opportunity. Extremely hard. Yet that’s what the Blackhawks need to do now. Resist temptation.
With the way the Hawks played Game 5, it makes it even more difficult to be even keeled and not think about finishing the job on Wednesday, or even be extremely optimistic. But, one needs to look no further than Games 3 & 4 and realize that this Flyers team will not back down from any challenge or any deficit. They have proven this earlier in the playoffs and once again in the Finals against the Blackhawks.
The Hawks are saying all the right things before the epic Game 6: They are not taking the Flyers lightly and they are expecting an extremely tough game. That, however, is to be expected. After someone beats you twice on their home arena, you probably should not take them lightly. And the Hawks won’t!
The most probable scenario is that there will be a Game 7 on Friday at the United Center. The home team has dominated in this series and it’s hard to imagine that the tide will change now all of a sudden. The Hawks have the momentum now but that’s meant nothing in this series thus far. They had the momentum going into Game 3 at the Wachovia Center, yet Philly found a way to make its home ice neutralize that Hawks’ momentum.
For the sake of every Blackhawks fan out there, everyone hopes that tomorrow night is the last game and “our” boys can lift the Cup and end this long drought. It would help everyone’s blood pressure in Chicago if the series ended tomorrow night. If only things were this simple, but we live in Chicago and we have seen our teams fail in the past in crucial situations. Everyone remembers the Cubs in 2003, so excuse those who are pessimistic.
People are going to be cautiously optimistic going into tomorrow’s game. They will hope for the best but deep down expect a Game 7. If the Hawks win, the whole city will celebrate for several days, while the city bosses will be figuring out when and where the victory parade is going to take place. If they lose, a very nervous and stressful two day period will follow.
Let’s all hope the latter never actually happens.
People were calling for a sweep. People were planning where to watch the clinching game on Friday night. People were wondering when the victory parade would be. People, people, people. Turns out all the people here were wrong. The Flyers defeated the Blackhawks 4:3 in overtime Wednesday night and officially announced the Stanley Cup Finals far from over. Much to the dismay of all the Blackhawks fans and Philly haters.
It definitely looked good last night, especially when Patrick Kane scored a breakaway goal early in the third period. One could feel the Flyers’ resistance beginning to break as the Hawks players were celebrating on the ice. Even despite playing below the standard they set in the last round against San Jose, the Hawks were up 2:0 in the series and 3:2 in Game 3 with less than a full period to go. But, then, like a big slap across the face when you least expect it, Ville Leino scored 20 seconds later to tie the game and send the Philly crowd into a frenzy.
That’s all it took: 20 seconds. Twenty seconds of lost focus cost the Hawks the momentum, which could have carried them to a 3:0 series lead and a potential clinching game on Friday. Sure the Flyers came back from 3:0 down in the last round, but no one in their right mind would possibly even think that they could do it again. Not against this Chicago team. No way.
So, was this a small bump in the road or something larger looming on the horizon? That question is going to be answered on Friday night when the two teams face off in the pivotal Game 4.
If the Flyers win, even the biggest of Blackhawks fans will be worried and begin to wonder where the momentum went. The Philly fans will get their swagger back and start mouthing off as only they can.
If the Hawks win, Game 3 will be forgotten and a whole legion of Chicago fans will begin to dream of the final horn blasting through the United Center speakers on Sunday, announcing the Blackhawks as the Stanley Cup Champions. Fans will stop questioning Joel Quenneville’s speedy line changes and focus on the heroics of Game 4. The negativity will completely wash away, at least for a couple days, waiting to rear its ugly head and remind Hawks fans of 48 years and counting of frustration.
The Flyers sent a warning, reminding all the doubters that they are for real and willing to take this series the distance. Hopefully, the Blackhawks were paying attention and are willing to send one of their own come Friday night. Only one question remains:
Is it Friday yet?