Quenneville's face says it all

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville looked like he had just had a tall glass of sour milk.

But instead of his famous mustache being stained white, it was on fire.

"We have to be way better than that," Quenneville grumped of the Hawks. "I didn't like the way we played."

No wonder, considering the Red Wings beat the Hawks 5-2 in Sunday's Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.

Quenneville was in no mood for talk of moral victories, of the score being tied seven minutes into the third period or of this being a learning experience for the young Hawks on the road against the defending Stanley Cup champions.

Maybe Quenneville did take solace in the fact this was only the start of a best-of-seven series. Detroit coach Mike Babcock gave him that opening by saying, "Let's not get carried away - it's one game."

(Hey, how about the Hawks' season-long slogan of "One Goal" being amended to be "One Game"?)

Anyway, the Hawks already were in this situation during these playoffs, losing the series opener to Vancouver before prevailing in six games.

Actually, all season the Hawks demonstrated resilience - coming back late in games, coming back from losses, coming back from a late-season slump.

The Hawks have been a confident bunch energized by both youthful enthusiasm and mature character.

"We're confident," Hawks winger Kris Versteeg said. "We're going to come back and be strong. We just want to get back to the basics."

The question is whether the Hawks can do that against the Wings in Game 2 Tuesday night in Joe Louis Arena.

This isn't Calgary or Vancouver the Hawks are playing. Detroit has the heart, head and skill of a champion.

"The bigger the moment - they're pros and a veteran group," Quenneville said.

He will have to figure out by practice today exactly what area the Hawks can outplay Detroit and then drill it into them.

The Hawks' edge was supposed to be speed, but even if that's true it didn't prove to be much of a factor on this day. Only during the first half of the first period did the Hawks, who took a 1-0 lead, look fresher and faster than the Wings.

Otherwise Detroit rendered Hawks prodigies Patrick Kane, 20, and Jonathan Toews, 21, somewhere between ineffective and invisible.

Much of the credit went to Detroit defensemen Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski, ages 38 and 35 respectively.

Quenneville, referred to as the master of the matchup, will have to get Kane and Toews some open ice.

"I'd like to figure out exactly what was why," Coach Q said with smoke emerging from his Q-stache.

The most encouraging aspect to the Hawks' current circumstance is Quenneville has been as relentless in his strategizing as his players have been in their persevering.

So the Hawks as a whole don't figure to let this loss discourage them. Even if they lose Game 2, they'll draw strength from the next two being in the United Center.

"This series is going to get going," Babcock said.

The Hawks have to hope the brush fire that is their coach's mustache gets it going in their direction.