Blackhawks prove they can take game to another level

CALGARY, Alberta - Blackhawks general manager Dale Tallon was out of breath as he reached the elevator to head for the dressing room following Monday's series-clinching 4-1 win over the Flames at the Saddledome.

"You out of shape?" someone teased Tallon.

"No, that's my heart pounding," Tallon said.

These Hawks will do that to you.

It's on to the Western Conference semifinals for the Hawks, who will open their best-of-seven series with the Vancouver Canucks later this week at GM Place.

The Hawks are full of confidence, and why not? They beat a strong Flames team in six games, winning an elimination game on the road in a hostile building and answering questions about their ability to be physical and getting contributions up and down the lineup.

The Hawks will be the underdogs against the Canucks, but that's fine with them. They believe they can beat anyone and get where they want to go.

"It's exciting to look ahead at the opportunity we have," captain Jonathan Toews said. "As a team, we've got a lot to be happy about considering how far we've come, but only for a little while."

With the first-round win, the Hawks proved to themselves, and also to those outside the dressing room, that they aren't just a group of young guys happy to make the playoffs.

"We try not to think about what's being said," Toews said. "If you think about that stuff a lot, about people telling you that you don't have experience or you don't have this or that, then maybe you start to believe it a little bit.

"We did a good job of sticking to what makes us successful, and staying confident and positive in the locker room. This was a series we knew we could win if we took it step by step. Not once were we satisfied with what we accomplished the previous night. We kept moving forward. We kept looking at the next step and the next opportunity and played a solid six games."

Toews thought the turning point in the series was how the Hawks were able to put aside losses in Games 3 and 4 in Calgary and return to the United Center to win Game 5 on Saturday, which they did convincingly, 5-1.

"Having lost two games after winning the first two, a lot of teams might be discouraged," Toews said. "At that point it could have been easy to give up the momentum and say that's a good team over there, but at no point did we roll over and say it's over. We stuck with it, and Game 5 was huge for us getting back and playing the right way."

"It was a good test for us losing Games 3 and 4," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "It got our attention back."

The power play made a big difference in the final two games, and for the series. The Hawks had 7 power-play goals in the six games to Calgary's 2.

"There were a lot of things that helped us in the series," Brent Seabrook said. "Maybe the biggest thing was we got our power play rolling and capitalized on that."

Said Flames captain Jarome Iginla: "Power-play wise, we didn't get it done, and they did. Give the Hawks credit. That's a very good young team."

In the end, the Hawks' speed and skill was too much for the Flames to handle, particularly the Calgary defensemen.

"I felt when we skated well they couldn't hang with us," Brian Campbell said.

"If you give up the puck, they transition better than any team in the league," said Flames winger Eric Nystrom.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=289735">Hawks playoff tickets go on sale Monday <span class="date">[4/28/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=289814">How the Hawks fared against the Canucks <span class="date">[4/28/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=289808">A look back at the heroes for the Hawks in playoffs <span class="date">[4/28/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>