Imrem: Hawks-Ducks rightfully headed to Game 7
Let's play seven.
Game 7, that is.
Why not?
It seems that every Blackhawks playoff series has been so entertaining the past seven years that each should go the distance.
The current NHL Western Conference finals are no exception, and this time there will be one final game Saturday night in Anaheim.
The Hawks tied the series at 3-3 Wednesday night with a 5-2 victory over the Ducks in the United Center.
"It was an amazing pace again," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "It's been an amazing pace for six games."
Now, more to come.
More of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith for the Hawks. More of Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler for the Ducks.
More of Hawks goalie Corey Crawford and Ducks goalie Frederik Andersen fighting off pucks and fighting for their teams' seasons.
Most of all, more of the Hawks trying to speed past the Ducks and of the Ducks trying to knock the Hawks off their skates.
Thank goodness for the Ducks' physical style of play. The hit-them-now, take-names-later method offers an intriguing counter to the Hawks' preference for freestyle skating.
Styles make for interesting matchups in any sport.
Running vs. passing; pitching vs. slugging; punching vs. boxing; distance vs. accuracy; baseline vs. net; half-court vs. fastbreak.
In hockey, a blow vs. a blur.
The Ducks have the size to inflict pain. The Hawks have the speed to inflict burn marks.
So that's how the Hawks and Ducks reached Game 7, speed vs. power, alternating victories through the first six.
The truth is that the Hawks are a skilled team that doesn't get enough credit for its toughness and the Ducks are a tough team that doesn't get enough credit for its skill.
The hits were nearly even in Game 6 - Ducks 43, Hawks 38 - and so was the skating.
Still, the Hawks' preference is to say catch us if you can and the Ducks' is to say, oh, yeah, try to withstand another dozen collisions if you can.
If Game 6 was surprising in any way, it was that the Hawks still had any energy after taking a pounding for six weeks. Kesler famously said earlier this week that no human can take the pounding that the Ducks are dealing.
The Hawks' core-four defensemen play so many minutes and take so many hits that they were supposed to be out of breath by now.
No, though, they had enough left to still be standing. Now the question is whether they'll have enough left to still be standing after Game 7.
The schedule helps the Hawks a bit. After playing every other night for nearly two weeks, they get an extra day to rest.
Meanwhile, the Ducks get to catch their breath from this exercise in Olympic speedskating.
In any sport, the more skilled team should have to perform under the duress of bodily harm, and that's what the Ducks offer with that challenge. The Hawks have withstood sluggers like the Ducks before, namely the Blues, and now they have a chance to again.
The Hawks will have to withstand the punishment as well as they did Wednesday night, and the Ducks will try to hit the Hawks harder and more often.
"When you get to that point … Game 7 … anything can happen," Toews said.
It likely will, too. These are two outstanding teams, evenly matched though with different characteristics.
And now they're where they were supposed to be all along.
Game 7.
mimrem@dailyherald.com