One more title and Hawks can be called a dynasty
What defines a dynasty in hockey? Two Stanley Cups in four years is a good place to start.
The Blackhawks are allowed to talk dynasty after claiming their second championship in four years on Monday.
Hawks winger Patrick Sharp admitted that was a topic for discussion on the plane ride home from Boston.
“It's kind of crazy,” Sharp said. “We grew up watching teams like the New Jersey Devils, who always seemed to be in the finals, the Colorado Avalanche, Detroit; now you can say the Hawks have won twice, too.”
Sharp is part of a special core of players who have played key roles in both Stanley Cup wins along with Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Marian Hossa, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Dave Bolland.
One more Cup and the Hawks can be talked about in the same breath as the New York Islanders of the 1980s, who won four Cups in a row, and the Edmonton Oilers of the mid-1980s, who won four times in five years.
Detroit has won four Stanley Cups, New Jersey three and Colorado two.
“The fact you get the chance to win one championship like this once in your career, I think there's always that feeling that you can somehow do it again,” Toews said. “There's something special about the core group that we have, the guys that have been here ever since I've been a Blackhawk. There's something about that group where all they want to do is win.
“You look at Patrick Sharp and Brent Seabrook, the Duncan Keiths — those guys could be out there getting all the personal achievements or notoriety in the world, but they're doing what it takes for our team to win every single year.”
There was talk of a dynasty the last time the Hawks won in 2010, but that team was quickly ripped apart because of salary cap issues. There are no such problems this time, or at least they're not as serious.
“Looking back at 2010 it was kind of like we had to win it that year because the next year everyone was going to be gone, 10 or 11 guys,” Kane said. “You look at this year there shouldn't be too many changes.
“I said this after the game the other night, I think the core is special here. They did a great job of keeping it together. Stan (Bowman) has put a very good hockey team together and I don't see why we can't do it (again). Hopefully we can win a few more because you've got something special here and I think everyone wants to stick around and be part of it.”
Toews remembers 2010 as a team that didn't know how good it was.
“That team in 2010 seemed to not realize how special we were and how special it is to go win a Cup the way we did,” Toews said “We were 16-6 or something (in the postseason) and never seemed to have any real adversity except first series against Nashville. We were naïve in that way. We didn't know what we were accomplishing. We did it without thinking.
“The core guys definitely understand now how tough it is to get back and give yourself a chance to win a Cup. This group from Day One understood that.”
Toews said there is a better appreciation for what it takes to win now.
“When you go all the way to the top of the mountain, you have that feeling that there's no reason you can't do it again,” Toews said. “To get that far and to win a Cup, you have to have that faith that you have that ability. It's a whole other thing to realize that goal and to win. It gives you a whole new level of confidence to find ways to do it again.
“If we find ourselves in a tough spot in a playoff series next year, that experience will come in handy, no matter what.”
Hawks coach Joel Quenneville says history will decide how this Hawks team is judged among the all-time greats.
“Who knows when you come up with those type of discussions with the team and where it's at,” Quenneville said. “Look at the young players here, (they) have some pretty impressive resumes at a young age. They want to win. That's a good thing.”
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