Following the 'Hawks' Way' will keep team on right path

A Hawks' Way is developing, if it isn't already fully developed.

That became clear during the Western Conference semifinals last month when Duncan Keith was hit in the mouth by a zooming puck, lost seven teeth and returned to the game after temporary repairs.

Yes, indeed, the Hawks' Way.

"We want to win," Brent Seabrook said. "Duncan shows how much pride and passion he has for the game."

That mind-set should define the Blackhawks during the next few years as they attempt to translate this year's Stanley Cup into this decade's dynasty.

Challenges loom, for sure: The NHL salary cap will force painful roster cuts to be made, injuries will strike, opponents will aim at the champs.

The Hawks' Way can overcome those dangers, and other obstacles like complacency, if the club's core remains intact, ambitious, humble, focused and committed.

Some mix of Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, Patrick Kane, Brian Campbell, Patrick Sharp, Dustin Byfuglien, Antti Niemi, Keith and Seabrook figures to comprise the core.

Their character and head coach Joel Quenneville's leadership should entrench the Hawks' Way.

"I like to think so," Keith said. "That's the plan."

Every sports dynasty had A Way, whether it was called that or something else.

There always have been Celtics' and Yankees' Ways. At one time there were Orioles', Raiders' and Braves' Ways. Currently there are Patriots', Colts' and Red Sox' Ways.

It may not have been referred to as a Bulls' Way back then but, thanks to the way Michael Jordan practiced and played, there definitely was A Way the Bulls conducted business throughout the 1990s.

Now the time has come for a Hawks' Way.

"I think that any good team that grows up together has that foundation," Seabrook said.

He mentioned hockey's Red Wings with captain Steve Yzerman as an example of players who won Cups by staying together on and off the ice.

At 22 years of age Toews already is the Hawks' captain, their conscience, their Yzerman.

"He's a young guy but still has things to say in the room," Keith said of Toews. "Plus the way he leads on the ice is by example."

Then there is Keith and his dental sacrifice, to say nothing of Andrew Ladd playing the last three games of the Stanley Cup Finals with a fractured shoulder and torn ligaments.

How could any player now on the team not play hurt and hard after that? How could any player acquired in the future not play the Hawks' Way after that?

Until now the Hawks had to import players - John Madden and Tomas Kopecky this season - who had won Stanley Cups and could show younger players how it's done.

"For sure," Madden said when asked whether there now is a Hawks' Way. "You do things a certain way. No one bucks the system."

Any team could use a player like Madden, but the Hawks have their own now in Toews, Keith, Hossa, Seabrook, Kane and a few others.

"We're a close-knit group that likes playing together," Keith said. "It's up to us to hold ourselves accountable and play the right way."

The right way figures to be the Hawks' Way the next years, which gives them a chance to become a dynasty.

mimrem@dailyherald.com