Hawks' defensive posture sight to behold

The Blackhawks are saying the right things.

"We won a game," said Duncan Keith. "It's one hockey game."

They didn't clinch a series Thursday night at the UC, or advance to the conference finals.

"There's a lot of hockey to go before anything's decided," said Andrew Ladd. "We were almost out of it, and now we're back in it."

That's all that happened.

Except - the Hawks displayed a style of hockey that would allow them to beat any team, anywhere, any time.

It's called "defense," and the Hawks showed a commitment to playing it that they hadn't yet in this series with Vancouver.

It's a style they didn't need to play to defeat Calgary.

It's a style they didn't much commit to all season.

And it's something even coach Joel Quenneville couldn't have seen coming.

Not even he could have imagined a week ago that it was possible with this team in its current form.

It's a young team with skilled offensive players who, up until Thursday, enjoyed playing offense more than they did winning, and it has taken Quenneville a full season plus a couple weeks of playoffs to talk them out of selfish habits and into winning hockey.

The series against Calgary showed little. They beat an aging team, which could barely put up a fight while missing some very good players.

And in this series, the Hawks played the first three games like they believed they could outscore anyone, though there haven't been many teams in history who could rely on their offense to win a Stanley Cup.

So Thursday night marked a turning point in the development of the Hawks.

"Hopefully, this is something we can hang our hat on," Quenneville said. "But at the same time, we shouldn't be satisfied with anything that took place tonight."

No, the Hawks were less than 3 minutes away from being done in this series.

That, they should not forget.

Still, the fact that the Hawks played that style Thursday, and came away with a win, is just one more victory for Quenneville as he continues to win over his players.

Without overstating it, and properly qualified to be sure, if the Hawks are willing to play 60 minutes like that in every game the rest of the way, they could go a dangerously long way - even to the biggest dance of all.

Now, again, let's remember this is a young team prone to all sorts of lapses, sometimes lacking discipline and focus, and without one crucial Vancouver gaffe late Thursday night, this series would be done.

Furthermore, a good Vancouver club isn't going anywhere, and winning two of the last three, including one on the road, won't be easy.

"The challenge going forward is higher, tougher and more challenging," Quenneville said. "There's some confidence we took out of this game, but we're going to a tough building to play a tough team that checks well."

Plus, it takes extraordinary intellectual dedication and mental toughness to play that responsible style for long stretches.

If nothing else, it's a fortunate glimpse into what you can expect in the years to come, and this experience for the players is like getting a double doctorate in postseason pressure.

"I just think we have to channel it the proper ways," Quenneville said of the Game 4 victory. "But certainly there are some good things we're exiting this game with."

What Quenneville knows is that his team is sometimes at its worst right after a huge win.

Young teams tend to become overconfident when they do something well, and are capable of the exact opposite the next time out, especially if they're not used to putting in those tremendous efforts consecutively.

So let's keep it all in perspective.

Quenneville often talks of an even keel, of not getting too high or too low, but young players almost have to suffer through the emotional postseason roller coaster before they truly understand why great teams hardly celebrate victories, and hardly notice the defeats.

In order to win the Stanley Cup, only the mentally tough endure a two-month grind, and those that have the big peaks and valleys never survive.

The Hawks are learning that, too.

In the meantime, they showed that their education is progressing rapidly.

In the first three games against Vancouver they allowed 11 goals.

In Game 4, they gave up just one.

And we remember as Game 5 approaches, that defense - for all eternity - wins championships.

brozner@dailyherald.com