Wings? Ducks? Both present challenges

Detroit or Anaheim?

Nicklas Lidstrom or Chris Pronger?

Opening on the road or having home-ice advantage?

The Blackhawks will know all the answers to these questions Thursday night when the Red Wings and the Ducks play the seventh and deciding game in their Western Conference semifinal series at Joe Louis Arena.

The winner moves on to play the Hawks in the West finals, likely to begin Sunday afternoon in either Detroit or at the United Center.

To a man, the Hawks insist they don't care whom they play, although the short 50-minute flight to Detroit instead of four-plus hours to California makes it tempting for some of them to pull for the Red Wings.

Then again, should the eighth-seeded Ducks pull off the upset of the second-seeded Red Wings, the Hawks would have home ice, and they're 5-1 at the UC in the playoffs.

"Obviously, there's some advantages to both series," Patrick Kane said. "Either team is going to be a fun series, but we believe we can beat any team we play.

"I'm sure for our fans' sake they definitely want to see a Detroit-Blackhawks series, but we'll take whoever comes our way. They're both great teams."

Hawks coach Joel Quenneville knows either the Red Wings or the Ducks will present his team its biggest challenge of the postseason.

"Anaheim was probably the hottest team in the league coming into the playoffs," Quenneville said. "Beating San Jose was a huge step and beating Detroit is even a bigger step."

The Ducks are only two years removed from their Stanley Cup and still have the core of the team intact led by defensemen Pronger and Scott Niedermayer and a dangerous collection of forwards that includes Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Teemu Selanne and rookie Bobby Ryan.

"They're playoff tested and have good experience and have key defensemen that know how to play and know what it takes," Quenneville said. "And they have a top line (Getzlaf, Perry and Ryan) that is probably as good as any line in the league. They have all the right kind of weapons."

The Hawks are well aware of all the weapons the Red Wings possess, having played the defending champs six times during the regular season and going 2-2-2.

"They've got six or seven top forwards, more star power than any team in the league and probably are the most dangerous team in the league offensively," Quenneville said. "They're hard to stop and a dangerous team every second of the game."

Quenneville disagrees that the Ducks would be a more physical opponent for the Hawks.

"I think Detroit physically is a lot more underrated than people think," Quenneville said. "One of the reasons why they have success of winning in the playoffs is how competitive they are. They're physical in the puck areas, good counter hitters, and they have some strength.

"Both teams have guys that can dish out some big hits. I think going in to both series (against Calgary and Vancouver), we might have been underdogs as far as the physicality that was going to be going on on the ice, but I think in both series we responded to that challenge and we'll have to be ready for the next one."

The Hawks took a second day off the ice Wednesday to rest those bumps and bruises.

"It seems like we haven't had any days off to relax other than between games, so it's nice to have these days to just relax," Brent Seabrook said. "Now it's time to get ready for the next series.

"We know it's going to be tough and we have to get right back up real soon."