Seven moments to cherish from this Hawks season

Remember the moments.

The Blackhawks' 2008-09 season was filled with great ones.

It all ended Wednesday night in Detroit with a 2-1 overtime loss to the Red Wings in the fifth game of the Western Conference finals, but not before the Hawks put themselves squarely back on the A List among sports teams in Chicago.

Move over Brian Urlacher and Aramis Ramirez. The city knows who Duncan Keith, Patrick Sharp and Kris Versteeg are now.

Nobody could have imagined the Hawks reaching the NHL's final four when the season started in October, although by December it was evident that something very good was building.

"Our goal was to make the playoffs, but halfway through the season we could sense that something special was going on and that we could play with anyone," Sharp said.

Here are some of the greatest moments from a season Hawks fans won't soon forget. It was difficult narrowing it to seven.

1. Game 6

Simply call it Game 6 and everyone will know what you mean.

The Hawks eliminated the Vancouver Canucks from the second round on May 11 in one of the greatest hockey games played in recent memory.

There were 6 goals scored in a back-and-forth third period, 4 by the Hawks, who rallied from a 5-4 deficit in the final seven minutes to win 7-5.

Patrick Kane tied it with seven minutes left, then Jonathan Toews put the Hawks ahead 49 seconds later. When Kane scored again with 3:43 to play to complete his first pro hat trick, it was so loud you would have thought the United Center roof would lift off.

2. Winter Classic

The New Year's Day game outdoors at Wrigley Field was a once-in-a-lifetime event for Chicago hockey fans. The Hawks lost to the Red Wings 6-4, but did anyone really care?

Who knew these teams would play even bigger games later on.

3. Drive for nine

When the Hawks beat Phoenix on Dec. 7, it was the first of what would become a franchise-record nine-game winning streak. Maybe the best game of the streak took place on Dec, 26 at the United Center when the Hawks manhandled a very good Philadelphia Flyers team 5-1 before 22,712.

The Flyers game might have answered the question: Are the Hawks for real?

4. A big victory at San Jose

The Hawks were struggling coming out of the all-star break, but their 4-2 win at San Jose on Jan. 31 showed they could be one of the NHL's elite teams on the road. Jonathan Toews scored twice and Nikolai Khabibulin made 32 saves.

5. Extinguishing the Flames

After a convincing 5-1 win at the United Center on April 25 to take 3-2 lead in the first-round series, the Hawks went to Calgary and eliminated the Flames with a memorable effort.

The Hawks won 4-1 and got 43 saves from Khabibulin in his best game of the playoffs.

6. The OT goals

The Hawks won three playoff games in overtime on home ice, each one more dramatic than the last. Sharp's OT goal in Game 3 against Detroit into an open net off a feed from Sammy Pahlsson and the celebration that followed is something we all can take with us into the summer.

7. The comeback

Game 5 of the Vancouver series was truly nasty with big hitting. Trailing 2-1 late in the second period, the Hawks tied it on Dustin Byfuglien's power-play goal. Dave Bolland's power-play goal with 5:05 to play in regulation won it, sending the Hawks home to wrap up the series.

• Share your favorite memories from the Blackhawks' season at dailyherald.com.