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Hawks to counter Ducks' brawn with speed

Well, that didn't take long. Nineteen games, to be exact.

That's all the Blackhawks (8-2) and Anaheim Ducks (8-1) needed to race through the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Now, the two teams are on a collision course with the Western Conference finals starting in Anaheim at a still-to-be-determined date.

"I think we're excited to play a team like this because Minnesota was kind of out of our comfort zone," Bryan Bickell said after practice at Johnny's IceHouse West on Tuesday. "I think (the Ducks' style) falls more in our hand, the up-and-down speed, that kind of thing."

Anaheim boasts a big, physical roster with players like Ryan Getzlaf (6-foot-4, 218 pounds), Corey Perry (6-3, 213), Ryan Kesler (6-2, 208) and defensemen Clayton Stoner (6-3, 212) and Simon Despres (6-4, 214).

"The bigger they are the harder they fall, I guess," Andrew Shaw said.

The Hawks won two of their three meetings with the Ducks, outscoring them 8-3. But the last meeting came way back on Jan. 30.

Anaheim is in the conference finals for the first time since winning the Stanley Cup in 2007. Last year, the Ducks were eliminated in the conference semifinals in seven games by the eventual-champion Kings.

Anaheim got past Winnipeg in four games and Calgary in five (outscoring them 32-18) to secure a date with the Hawks.

"They've got a lot of things going for them," coach Joel Quenneville said. "You look at their first two rounds, they've played extremely well. So we've got to raise it (our game)."

Said Shaw: "They're a big, physical team. They're a great all-around hockey team - great defensively, great offensively. It's going to be a good series. I think it's going to be high-paced and the compete level is going to be through the roof."

Not looking back:

Corey Crawford said the sting of losing to the Kings in the Western Conference finals last season has faded away for most of the Hawks. The Kings won 5-4 in overtime in Game 7 when a shot bounced off Nick Leddy and found its way past Crawford.

"I'm sure guys were pretty upset about that for a while, yeah," Crawford said. "Most guys in summer - and I think even toward the beginning of the year - were (still upset). It was kind of a bitter taste being so close to the Final again and losing like that.

"But it gives us that hunger to get back there."

Waiting game:

Bryan Bickell said beating Minnesota so quickly gave the Hawks time to wrap their heads around the fact that they are in a third straight Western Conference finals.

"It has been exciting," Bickell said. "Coming into that last series we didn't think it would be - I don't want to say easy - but it was a hard series where we swept them. … One more series and we (are) in the Finals to win (the Cup) again.

"When we get on that plane flying to L.A., I think it's going to set in and (we'll) turn on our game face to do what we need to do."

Tip-ins:

Andrew Desjardins (sick) missed a second straight day of practice. Coach Joel Quenneville said Desjardins is improving and should be back when the Hawks practice Wednesday. … Ducks goalie Frederik Andersen has a .925 save percentage and is allowing 1.96 goals per game in the postseason. … Anaheim's power play is No. 1 in the playoffs, converting on 31 percent of its chances. The Hawks killed just 72.7 percent of Nashville and Minnesota's power plays. That ranks 12th among the 16 playoff teams.

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