20-20 perspective

Since Tim Sassone has been covering Blackhawks hockey for 20 years, we asked him for 20 quick facts on this playoff series:

1. Calgary Flames defenseman Adrian Aucoin was signed by the Blackhawks as a free agent the same summer as goalie Nikolai Khabibulin, but Aucoin was mostly a bust, playing just 92 games in two years before being traded with a seventh-round draft pick to Calgary in June 2007 for Andrei Zyuzin and Steve Marr.

2. Three Hawks have their names on the Stanley Cup: Nikolai Khabibulin, Andrew Ladd and Sammy Pahlsson.

Joel Quenneville has his name on the Cup as an assistant coach with Colorado in 1996. Senior adviser Scotty Bowman has his name on the Cup 11 times, including nine as a coach.

3. Brian Campbell's most memorable playoff moment came in 2006 while with Buffalo when he laid out Philadelphia's R.J. Umberger with one of the most vicious hits in recent memory. You can see it on YouTube.

4. Calgary coach Mike Keenan and general manager Darryl Sutter figure prominently in Hawks playoff history. Keenan took the Hawks to their last Stanley Cup Finals in 1992. Sutter guided the team to its last Western Conference final in 1995.

5. Patrick Sharp appeared in 12 playoff games with the Philadelphia Flyers in 2003-04 and scored a goal.

6. The Hawks haven't won a playoff series since 1996, when they swept Calgary in the West quarterfinals.

7. Calgary's Jarome Iginla has appeared in 48 playoff games. His first was against the Hawks in 1996.

8. The tradition of the rowdy national anthem at Hawks games got its start during the 1985 playoffs in a series against Edmonton. What's it going to be like tonight?

"I don't know what to expect from these people here because they're crazy," Hawks winger Adam Burish said. "They loud and they're wild. I can't wait to hear that national anthem because I'm sure my ears will be bleeding."

9. Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook combined have played in 637 games for the Hawks without appearing in the playoffs.

10. Calgary center Olli Jokinen will play in his first playoff game after appearing in 799 regular-season games with Florida, Phoenix and the Flames.

11. It has been awhile, so remember there are no five-minute overtimes or shootouts in the playoffs. They'll flood the ice and play as many 20-minute overtime periods as needed until somebody wins.

The Hawks' longest playoff game occurred April 9, 1931, at Montreal. It went 13:50 into the third OT when Cy Wentworth finally scored.

12. Sergei Krivokrasov scored the Hawks' last 2 overtime goals, the second coming in 1997.

13. Hawks center Dave Bolland was a clutch playoff performer in junior hockey with 31 goals and 34 assists in 62 games for the London Knights.

14. In 2005-06, Martin Havlat led the Ottawa Senators with 7 goals and 13 points in 10 playoff games.

15. Hawks goalie Nikolai Khabibulin's first playoff game was for the Winnipeg Jets in 1996.

17. How hot are playoff tickets in Calgary? A total of 55,000 people registered for a lottery on CalgaryFlames.com for the chance to buy 1,300 tickets.

18. Only once since they won the Stanley Cup in 1989 have the Flames got out of the first round, that being in 2004 when they lost to Khabibulin and Tampa Bay in seven games in the Finals.

18. The Hawks and the Flames have met three times previously in the playoffs: 1981, 1989 and 1996. Calgary won two of those series.

19. Is anyone going to score on the power play in this series? The Flames come in 0-for-43, the Hawks 2-for-33.

20. Stan Mikita leads all Hawks in playoff games played with 155. Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane have a long way to go.

tsassone@dailyherald.com