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Blackhawks excited like little kids to be in Stanley Cup Final

The calender read June 1, but it felt like Christmas morning to Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp and coach Joel Quenneville on Monday at O'Hare International Airport.

"I don't think it's a question of how excited we are. I think we're just trying to contain our excitement to a certain degree," Toews said of playing in the Stanley Cup Final for the third time in six years. "Last night, for me, was one of the toughest nights to get to sleep because of that excitement. I'm sure a lot of guys share that same feeling."

The Hawks flew out in the early afternoon for Florida, 4 victories away from yet another world championship.

"I love it," Quenneville said when asked if he ever allows himself to enjoy the moment. "It's what we dream about, what it's all about, as a player or coach, getting to this situation, this stage.

"You couldn't have had it any better. The best part about winning a Cup is the road to try and win it. Right in the middle of it, it doesn't get any better. You get to this stage, we put ourselves in a good spot. "Let's get excited."

Of course, the Lightning isn't about to play Santa Claus and simply hand Lord Stanley's Cup over with a big, red bow on it.

Steven Stamkos, Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov, goalie Ben Bishop and the rest of the Lightning advanced this far for a reason and have what it takes to pull what many would consider an upset. In an impressive regular season, Tampa Bay compiled a 50-24-8 record, scored the most goals in the league (262) and had the second-best goal differential at plus-51.

In the postseason, the Lightning overcame a 3-2 series deficit to the Detroit Red Wings in the first round, rolled past the Montreal Canadiens by winning the first three games, and then overcame a dreadful Game 6 vs. the New York Rangers to win the East finals in seven games.

The Lightning played the Hawks twice this season, going 1-0-1 with Bishop stopping 63 of 65 shots (.969 save percentage) in those two games. The second game - a 4-0 Tampa Bay victory - came just days after Patrick Kane broke his left collarbone.

Kane, of course, is back and playing as well as he has all season. Only Johnson (21) has more points than Kane's 20 this postseason.

The speedy Lightning is expected to bring a totally different style of play than the Hawks saw out of the Ducks in the last round. To Patrick Sharp, though, that possible speed advantage is all just talk until the puck drops in Game 1.

"We can talk about how they like to play with speed and in open ice and whether they like to check," Sharp said. "Who knows? We can talk about it all day, but until you get on the ice and face that opponent, feel each other out and see how the series is going to do, you really have no idea."

The Lightning has been using seven defensemen, and the group is led by Victor Hedman and Anton Stralman. Hedman was the second pick of the 2009 NHL draft, and he leads the team with 10 points in the playoffs.

Coach Jon Cooper's seventh defenseman is Nikita Nesterov. The Hawks will have to pay attention to him in their defensive zone as he has 7 points in the postseason.

Tampa Bay, much like Nashville in the first round, is doing everything it can to keep Hawks fans out of their building for this series. Anybody trying to buy tickets had to have a Florida mailing address or they were mailed a refund.

Of course, it will be interesting to see how well that plan works. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that plenty of Illinoisans have retired - or at least claim their legal residence - in Florida.

"It's great to see them on the streets in the visiting cities where the red jerseys and supporting the team," Sharp said. "That's the one thing about the Hawks fans that means a lot to us as an organization is to see them travel with us and have that support in the road building.

"Not sure what to expect in Tampa, but I'm sure there will be a few Hawks fans there."

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