Hawks fans must not settle for less than Cup
Don't settle for less than another championship, Blackhawks fans.
The Hawks raised the 2010 championship banner to the United Center rafters Saturday night.
The ceremony was thrilling. Nobody does celebrations better than Stanley Cup winners. Nobody does tradition better than the Hawks.
But one title isn't enough, folks. Expect more. Demand more. Be eager for more.
It's never too early to be impatient, like now that the Hawks are winless after two games of the new season.
“We're not happy right now, Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said following a 3-2 loss to the Red Wings.
Complacency is invisible. Athletes either don't know when they have lost their edge or are in denial over it, and the same goes for fans.
That's how it sounded during the home opener, two nights after the Hawks' overtime loss at Colorado. The Wings stifled the UC crowd early, almost as if fans were hung over from both last season and the pregame festivities.
Most of the night the crowd of 22,161 reacted to the Hawks instead of being proactive to inspire them. Most of the night it couldn't even muster a lusty chant of “Let's go, Hawks!
This has happened before around here. After the 1985 Bears, '91 Bulls and '05 White Sox won their titles, the next season began almost in a waiting zone for the playoffs that were still months away.
Maybe this is human nature, but remember that only the Bulls were able to overcome the lethargy to win again.
None of the others had Michael Jordan to stimulate teammates and fans alike.
So here we are in 2010 with the Blackhawks attempting to accomplish the NHL's first Stanley Cup repeat of the new millennium.
Reasons for failing already are being floated teams are tired from long championship seasons, the salary cap stripped the Hawks of depth, injuries to Brian Campbell and Patrick Sharp already have struck, blah, blah and blah.
The Hawks shouldn't embrace any of it and neither should the faithful.
Nobody credits fans more than Hawks players do, not just for cheering but sometimes booing, sometimes panicking and sometimes setting unreasonably high standards.
Listen, repeating certainly will be difficult for the Hawks after the turnover from last season's roster. Many forecasts have them the fourth or even fifth favorite in the NHL Western Conference.
But the Hawks' core is good enough to make a solid run at another title, and that's where tough love has to come in.
Let new goalie Marty Turco hear it if he lets in a soft overtime goal. Let newcomer John Scott hear it if he falls down as the Wings fly by him for the eventual winning goal. Let any of the new players hear it if they aren't playing championship hockey.
Heck, let the darlings of 2009-10 like Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith and Patrick Kane hear it if they slide a bit.
This is the start of this season, not the end of last season. It's OK to boo a player who helped win the Hawks' first Stanley Cup in 49 years.
Even let Quenneville know that you're watching, scrutinizing and judging the newly minted icon called Coach Q.
Encouragement must come with conditions if fans want to help the Hawks repeat.
Don't settle for less than another Stanley Cup.
mimrem@dailyherald.com