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Quenneville comfortable with Rundblad's role for Blackhawks

ST. LOUIS - Before the Chicago Blackhawks took off from O'Hare International Airport on Sunday, Joel Quenneville was asked if he trusted David Rundblad in Monday's Game 7 against St. Louis.

The coach's answer?

"Absolutely. … He's gotten better and I think he got more comfortable as well."

It was a surreal season for Rundblad, whom general manager Stan Bowman signed to a two-year deal just before free agency opened last summer.

The former first-round pick of the Blues (in 2009) began the year with the Hawks but played in just nine of the first 31 games. Rundblad was loaned on Jan. 3 to the ZSC Lions in Switzerland, where he played until the Hawks assigned him to Rockford on March 18.

Rundblad said he played a lot of minutes overseas and was able to find his game.

Then, on April 11, he was called back up by the Hawks, and less than two weeks later found himself playing in Game 5 at Scottrade Center.

"It's just a huge bonus for me right now to be on the ice," Rundblad said. "I just take every shift I get, every minute I get and try and have fun and try to do as good as I can."

Rundblad's ice time increased from 6:51 in the Hawks' Game 5 double-OT win, to 10:34 in Game 6 to 10:35 in Game 7.

Here come the Hawks:

Blues coach Ken Hitchcock almost couldn't believe his eyes at times during his team's seven-game series with the Hawks.

"It was really eye-opening what a championship team can do ... when they dial it up," Hitchcock said after his team's 3-2 Game 7 victory Monday. "You find yourself on the bench just in awe of some of the things they do."

Meltdown:

One item of controversy that was brewing in St. Louis had to do with Vladimir Tarasenko's lack of playing time in Game 6. The Blues' superstar was on the ice for just 16:56 in his team's 6-3 loss and played just eight seconds during St. Louis' only power play.

Coach Ken Hitchcock told reporters Sunday that because Tarasenko plays such a phycial, demanding game, he tries to limit the length of his star's shifts.

"He's a big body that plays a lot, he gets leaned on, he leans on a lot of people," Hitchcock said. "It's very wearing. … He's a guy that has to play in short bursts, and that's what he does."

Tarasenko played just 14:31 on Monday in St. Louis' 3-2 series-clinching victory.

Slap shots:

Duncan Keith played a game-high 33:34 in Game 7. Andrew Ladd took 6 shots on goal and had 4 hits. ... Before Monday, the last time the Blues won a Game 7 was in 1999 with Joel Quenneville as their coach. … Monday's game was the second time the Blues and Blackhawks faced off in a Game 7. The other was in 1990 when the Hawks won 8-2 at Chicago Stadium in the Norris Division final. … In NHL history, the team that scores first is now 120-42 in Game 7s.

He said it:

"My reaction is call 1-800-video-coach right away. That's what we did. He said we're safe and we kept playing."

- Ken Hitchcock on his reaction to Brent Seabrook's shot that hit both posts late in the third period of Game 7

Old friend Troy Brouwer seals Blackhawks' 3-2 loss

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