Hawks happy, but not ready to celebrate just yet

Jonathan Toews left no doubt about what the Blackhawks are really after in the moments following Sunday's Western Conference-clinching victory over the San Jose Sharks at the United Center.

When it came time for NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly to present Toews with the Clarence Campbell Bowl, which goes to the West playoff champ, the Hawks' captain posed for a picture, but upholding the tradition he never touched it and left the trophy sitting on a table at center ice.

"That's not the one we want to win," Toews said. "They gave us hats tonight, so we'll go home with those and be happy about that. We're after something bigger and better, but we still have to win four more games to get that."

Thanks to their come-from-behind 4-2 win over the Sharks that completed a four-game sweep of the Western Conference regular-season champs, the Hawks have the opportunity to play for the Stanley Cup, the biggest trophy in hockey.

The Hawks will take on either Philadelphia or Montreal in the Stanley Cup Finals in a series likely to start later this week at the UC.

"This is every kid's dream who plays hockey," Patrick Kane said. "You don't play hockey for anything else. You don't play hockey for the money or whatever it may be, for the chicks, for whatever.

"Those are always nice things to have on the side, but I think you always play to get to this goal and prove yourself as a player, as a team like we've done this year, and play for the ultimate prize.

"I can't tell you how excited I am from just winning games. They're the most exciting games I've been a part of."

The Hawks' flare for the dramatic was out there for everyone to see again as Dustin Byfuglien's power-play goal with 5:55 to play snapped a 2-2 tie.

Things didn't look good for the Hawks earlier, however, as they fell behind 2-0 midway through the second period and were down two key players in defenseman Duncan Keith and winger Andrew Ladd.

Ladd left in the first period with an undisclosed injury, while Keith missed about six minutes in the second period after the puck hit him in the mouth off the stick of Patrick Marleau and knocked out seven teeth.

As Keith headed to the bench, the Sharks went the other way with Marleau scoring short-handed for a 2-0 lead at 7:35 of the second.

"Today was one of those games where everything was kind of going against us there," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "We give up a short-handed goal after getting hit in the face with the puck, and we were in kind of disarray for a minute."

But the momentum changed when Brent Seabrook scored at 13:18 with the teams playing 4-on-4 - a goal that needed a long video review to count.

Keith came back moments later to provide a lift and assisted on Dave Bolland's tying goal with 1:22 left in the second period.

Byfuglien's game-winner was his third of the four-game series and eighth of the playoffs. He crashed the net to redirect a pass from Kane through goalie Evgeni Nabokov.

The goal came on the Hawks' third straight power play in the third period.

"We had a bunch of power plays and were getting close there," Toews said. "Everyone on the bench and everyone on the ice could feel that something was coming, and sure enough it's Buff again."

A deafening roar from the crowd accompanied the final five minutes, and there was bedlam when Kris Versteeg scored into an empty net with 42 seconds left to give the Hawks their first berth in the Cup Finals since 1992.

"You've got to give Chicago credit, that's a (heck) of a team," Shark coach Todd McLellan said. "They seemed very destined right now. They have a goaltender that's on fire. They're getting scoring, not necessarily from their superstars, I mean that with all due respect to the Byfugliens, the Bollands, those types of players. They're doing the things they need to do to win.

"They certainly deserved the series. I thought we played hard with them. We competed with them. You know, we battled. We were in every minute of every game, but we were the second-place team."

The celebration in the Hawks' dressing room was subdued. The pressure of getting to the Finals is over, but in a few days the pressure to win the team's first Stanley Cup in 49 years begins.

"Every night before I go to sleep, I'm trying to get the thought out of my head," Toews said. "It's a little stressful, but that's what's so fun about it. If it were easy it wouldn't be that worthwhile. This feels real good right now."

Tim Sassone's game tracker Three stars1. Dustin Byfuglien, Hawks: His goal with 5:55 to play snapped a 2-2 tie and was his third game-winner of the series.2. Duncan Keith, Hawks: Despite losing seven teeth, played 29 minutes and had an assist and 5 blocked shots.3. Brent Seabrook, Hawks: A goal, 7 blocked shots and 2 hits in more than 25 minutes.Head to headNot only did Hawks center Dave Bolland score 2 goals in the series, he held Sharks star Joe Thornton to 1 measly assist in four games.The quote"It all comes down to the Stanley Cup, and this is what we dream of as kids." - Blackhawks defenseman Duncan KeithThey said it"He told me before the third period he was going to be the guy to go get it. True to his word, he got it."Patrick Sharp about Dustin Byfuglien, who scored the game-winner"My confidence is definitely way up. Yeah, I wouldn't mind starting (the Finals) right now."Dustin Byfuglien"He's been unbelievable. He's been a rock back there."John Madden on goalie Antti Niemi "He's walking around, skating around the ice, talking to us before the power play, mumbling what we were supposed to do. I don't think anybody understood what he was talking about."Patrick Sharp about Duncan Keith after Keith lost seven teeth in the second period <div class="infoBox"><h1>More Coverage</h1><div class="infoBoxContent"><div class="infoArea"><h2>Stories</h2><ul class="links"><li><a href="/story/?id=382976">Oh, how things have changed for some Hawks <span class="date">[5/23/10]</span></a></li><li><a href="/story/?id=382957">'It's just missing teeth' Dental disaster can't keep Keith off the ice for long<span class="date">[5/23/10]</span></a></li><li><a href="/story/?id=382950">Overwhelmed? Not Niemi <span class="date">[5/23/10]</span></a></li><li><a href="/story/?id=382947">Hawks have no preference concerning Finals foe <span class="date">[5/23/10]</span></a></li><li><a href="/story/?id=382972">Toews thinking only about Cup <span class="date">[5/23/10]</span></a></li><li><a href="/story/?id=382921">Imrem: It's all bright lights now <span class="date">[5/23/10]</span></a></li><li><a href="/story/?id=382919">Hawks imposing their will <span class="date">[5/23/10]</span></a></li></ul><h2>Photo Galleries</h2><ul class="gallery"><li><a href="/story/?id=382921">Images from Hawks vs. Sharks, Game 4 </a></li></ul></div></div></div>