Hawks have their share of hitters, too

CALGARY, Alberta - Wait a second here.

Who said the Flames were the more physical team in the first-round series with the Blackhawks?

Let's see, Calgary defenseman Dion Phaneuf couldn't play in Game 6 on Monday night because of a head injury suffered on a hit by Troy Brouwer in Game 5.

Flames defenseman Adam Pardy had his nose broken in a fight with Ben Eager in Game 5.

Flames forwards Craig Conroy and Rene Bourque were battered in the series. Bourque missed Game 4 and was invisible in Games 5 and 6 after being hurt by a Brent Seabrook hit and beaten up by Adam Burish in Game 3.

"We may not have some league-recognized hitters like Phaneuf, but we have a lot of guys on this team that are willing to hit and able to hit," Brouwer said before the Hawks went out and ended the series with a 4-1 win at the Saddledome.

"We go in and finish all our checks and take pride in that. We may be overshadowed by some of their guys, but we definitely finish all our checks as well."

Phaneuf was hurt in the third period Saturday when Brouwer tried to deliver an open-ice hit after the defenseman shot the puck.

"I tried to hit him in the open ice, but our heads did collide and him not being ready for it and brace himself, that's why it stunned him, I guess," Brouwer said. "It's one of those things where our heads hit. I didn't know he was hurt. It's one of those things where you hit him and don't think anything of it. I'm surprised it didn't do anything to me, but I guess he wasn't ready for it."

The loss of Phaneuf put the Flames down their two best defensemen. Robyn Regehr missed the entire series with a knee injury. The Flames tried to stir the pot all series from the opening 10 minutes in Game 1 with hits after whistles.

The cross-checking penalty to Cory Sarich after a whistle in Game 5 might have been the play in the series. The Hawks cashed in on the power play, wound up scoring 3 goals in a span of 1:29 and won the pivotal game 5-1.

"All series we've kind of been waiting for those calls to happen," Burish said. "We were going to continue to go to the net and they were going to continue to punch us in the head, and finally they called one. It was rewarding to get a call like that finally and to just stick it to them."

An elbowing penalty on Todd Bertuzzi 1:27 into Monday's game gave the Hawks another early power play, and they capitalized on a goal from Patrick Kane.

"All season teams thought they could challenge us physically, and we've done a good job of answering that bell," Burish said.