'Meat and potatoes guys' critical to team's success in postseason

For the so-called role players on an NHL team, this is their time of the year.

It happens every spring in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The teams have the most success are generally those that are getting big contributions from players who aren't considered stars - the third-line checkers, fourth-liners grinders and the fifth and sixth defensemen.

Detroit has won multiple Stanley Cups with grinders such as Kris Draper and Kirk Maltby stepping up big. When Anaheim won its Cup in 2007, third-line checkers Sammy Pahlsson, Travis Moen and Rob Niedermayer were huge factors.

Now the Blackhawks are following the same script, headed to the Western Conference finals thanks in large part to the efforts of third-line checkers Dave Bolland and Andrew Ladd, fourth-liners Adam Burish and Ben Eager, and depth defensemen Matt Walker and Niklas Hjalmarsson.

"I've watched a lot of playoffs growing up and it always seems like it's those kind of guys," Burish said. "Obviously your superstars are going to score big goals too, but the guys that get you over the hump sometimes are those meat and potatoes guys, the guys that you don't expect or the guys that the top checking lines might not play against all the time.

"That's what you hear all the time, that if you want to be a championship team your third- and fourth-line guys have to find a way to contribute. It can't just be the Kanes, Toews, Havlats and Sharps scoring."

When Brian Campbell went to the Eastern Conference finals with the Buffalo Sabres in 2006, that was another team that got contributions from every corner of the dressing room.

"Maybe they don't score the big goals, but a lot of times it's a hit or something that's a huge part of scoring a goal, or even just getting positive energy out there on the ice," Campbell said. "The credit goes everywhere in this locker room and I think that's what brings us so close."

Burish has 2 clutch goals in the playoffs, both in Game 6 clinchers against Calgary and Vancouver. Eager has helped lead the way physically. Walker and Hjalmarsson each have averaged 15 minutes of ice time over the first two rounds.

"Everyone has been a part of things and everyone plays," Eager said. "We've had big shifts from every line and hopefully we can continue that in the next round."

With every shift so meaningful in the playoffs, each one can help decide a game, which makes a fourth-liner such as Eager just as important in the big picture of a 60-minute game.

"Sometimes in the regular season you can get away with an off shift, but in the playoffs if you go out there and you're not ready you can cost your team," Eager said.

The Hawks racked up 104 points during the regular season on the strength of their depth with coach Joel Quenneville using all four of his lines and six defensemen. He hasn't stopped doing it just because it's the playoffs.

"The consistency from our team game, from game to game, has been in place," Quenneville said. "We're getting across-the-board efforts and contributions that have been helpful. I find a lot of days the difference between winning and losing is not just the guys scoring goals."

Quenneville believes the role players are noticed more in the playoffs because there's so much defensive focus on stopping the stars.

"That's always been the nature of the league," Quenneville said. "I heard an interesting stat watching the (Pittsburgh-Washington) game that three guys that haven't scored an overtime winner are Mario Lemieux, Gordie Howe and Mark Messier. That got my attention and kind of goes hand in hand with what we're talking about."