Bowman sees defense as key to Hawks' success

CALGARY, Alberta - As an 11-time Stanley Cup champion, Scotty Bowman knows how to win.

So when Bowman is asked why the Blackhawks have had such a special season, he doesn't hesitate to answer.

For Bowman, it all starts with team defense.

"I think the biggest difference, last year the team was 20th out of 30 in goals-against," said Bowman, now the Hawks' senior advisor of hockey operations. "And there was only one team from 21 to 30 that made the playoffs. It's not an exact formula, but it's 90 percent.

"You can have a high-scoring team, but if you don't keep the puck out of your net with some regularity it's tough to win."

It often gets overlooked, though not by Bowman, that the Hawks were fifth in the NHL in defense this season with a 2.51 team goals-against average.

"To go from 20th to fifth, their ability to play some stingy defense was the one area where they were able to win a lot of tight games," Bowman said.

A lot of credit goes to coach Joel Quenneville for the improvement defensively, said Bowman.

"You have to mold your team," Bowman said. "When you have a lot of young players, especially if they were low draft picks, the tendency would be that they are point producers, that they have been offensive players growing up. They learn the game as they go along."

Bowman told the story of how in 1993, his first season coaching the Detroit Red Wings, he went to Steve Yzerman and told the captain he needed to change his game if the team was ever going to win.

And Yzerman had just come off seasons of 50, 65, 62, 51, 45 and 58 goals.

"The year before they were second or third in offense, but when it comes to the playoffs you better keep the puck out of your net," Bowman said. "I had a meeting with Steve, and I didn't know him, but I said this is the only way this team wins.

"He had 65 goals one year, but I said, 'Steve, your own point production is going to go down, but if you start playing good defense, we're going to win.' I did it because I knew he was a competitor and wanted to win."

The Red Wings won their first of three Stanley Cups under Bowman in 1997.

The Hawks have what they believe is an Yzerman-type leader to build a championship team around in Jonathan Toews, who already realizes the importance of playing defense in order to win.

"Toews is a player that, for whatever reason, is probably ahead of the curve for a younger player to play a complete game," Bowman said. "(Dave) Bolland is another one. He was a high-scoring junior, but he had minor league seasoning, too, and that's where you learn the nuances of the game."

Bowman gives high marks to the Hawks' group of defensemen for the puck-possession game they play.

"What impresses me about the defense is their point totals as a group are just behind Detroit and San Jose," Bowman said. "The game is so tight now, the way teams play in their own end, so a good defense can really make your team.

"There's not a game goes by where Detroit's defense is not involved in the scoring. And San Jose became a much better team when they got (Dan) Boyle and (Rob) Blake."

Bowman believes the defense pairing of Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook is a special one.

"Seabrook and Keith have played together so long now," Bowman said. "You watch a lot of the little plays they make with each other, and that's familiarity and confidence."