Hawks believing sky's the limit

Nobody seems to be calling the Blackhawks too young anymore.

It's eight games and 5 victories into the Stanley Cup playoffs, and the more people see the Hawks play, the more are coming away thinking this just might be a team that with a chance to do something truly special.

"I know in Buffalo we went in after the lockout, and not many guys had played in the playoffs, and everybody was saying we didn't have any experience," defenseman Brian Campbell said. "We didn't really care about what anybody else said and we went to the conference finals and forced a Game 7.

"A lot of it is the ignorance of this team that just doesn't accept what people say. We believe in what we do out there and don't know any better."

The Hawks' speed and depth is impressive. The Calgary Flames couldn't handle either in the first round and the Vancouver Canucks have found the Hawks to be relentless in the first two games of the Western Conference semifinals.

"It comes from everywhere, our speed," Campbell said. "It's not a select line or pairing on defense. Everybody can skate and move the puck. We're kind of like a pack of dogs just hounding out there and going after it and battling.

"We're able to roll four lines and guys are fresh and we're able to keep their speed and get ready to go for the next shift."

Hawks coach Joel Quenneville explain on Monday it's a team that enjoys being together and gets excited about playing the games.

"We have a lot of consistency in our lineup right now with contributions from across the board," Quenneville said. "We've liked our team all year long. The balance we get in our lines from start to finish has been there all year for us and is the depth of our team that we appreciate.

"Every day with this group they're willing to learn and at the same time they're excited about playing. The enthusiasm is real, but at the same time we have to continue to get better."

With the series with the Canucks tied 1-1 and the next two games at the United Center, the Hawks must guard against getting too far ahead of themselves and thinking they're in the driver's seat.

"So far we've done a good job of focusing every day on what we have to do," captain Jonathan Toews said. "We've done good job of just playing hockey and keeping it simple."