Winning a title not as easy as A-B-C

Blackhawks fans can take the lampshades off their heads, collect the party horns and sweep up the confetti.

The Hawks finished their season Sunday with a loss at Detroit. They already had missed the playoffs. The future isn't now but sometime later.

As much fun as the past few months were, never forget that in sports a party without a parade is like graduating without a degree.

This season the Hawks' management team dug the franchise out of Point A, as in abyss. But can it advance it from Point B to Point C?

Give Jerry Reinsdorf the credit, or blame, for injecting the alphabet into the equation.

His point, so to speak, was that some people are good enough to take a team from Point A to Point B but not Point B to Point C.

The first step is like a bike ride from here to there. The second is like a rocket ride from there to the moon.

So, again, are owner Rocky Wirtz, president John McDonough, general manager Dale Tallon and head coach Denis Savard capable of navigating onto the next level?

The clear answer is, who knows?

Their track records are pretty unrevealing either way. That's typical of Chicago sports considering Kenny Williams, Jerry Angelo, Jim Hendry and John Paxson never were GMs until getting their positions here.

The same goes for Tallon. Savard is a first-time head coach and Wirtz a first-year managing owner. Only McDonough had experience in his job, but that was as president of the Cubs instead of hockey.

Anyway, it's a lot easier in sports to go from bad to mediocre and mediocre to good than from good to great and great to a championship.

Myriad teams here reached goodness. Even the Cubs have, though not for more than a season at a time.

The Hawks were a playoff team for most of four decades -- in fact Point B began standing for Blackhawks -- without winning a Stanley Cup that was Point C.

So here Wirtz, McDonough, Tallon and Savard are, trying to prove to everyone, including themselves and each other, that they can win a championship.

Let's start at the bottom of the chain of command and move up.

Savard did a terrific job this season coaching, coaxing, coercing, developing and overall leading the Hawks' young core.

Now, as the Kanes and Toewses and Keiths mature, Savard has to demonstrate he can keep their attention when they have equity in the league.

Tallon did well using high draft picks to acquire kids who appear to not only have talent but character and charisma.

Now Tallon has to demonstrate he can use the trade and free-agent markets to fill in around them with quality veterans.

McDonough, of course, magnificently created and marketed an entertaining show on and off the United Center ice.

But if Tallon and/or Savard turn out to be only Point B guys, McDonough will have to demonstrate that he's NHL-networked enough to replace them with Point C guys.

Finally, Wirtz polished the Hawks' image by dumping Bob Pulford, hiring McDonough and allowing home games to be televised.

But at some point -- ah, that word again -- Wirtz will have to demonstrate the ability to make hockey decisions that culminate at Point C.

As in, you know, championship rather than ceremony.