Opportunity knocking with the Cup in the house

The Blackhawks have waited 49 years for a Stanley Cup so what's an extra day, right?

Thanks to the NHL for putting an extra off day between Games 5 and 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals, the Hawks must wait until Wednesday night for the chance to win their first championship since 1961.

Hawks defenseman Duncan Keith actually welcomed the extra day of rest and dismissed the notion that it's not such a good thing to have all that time to sit around and think about the magnitude of what can happen on Wednesday.

"The series has been going back and fourth and if anything a couple days of rest should give us some more energy and more compete level because we know we're going to need that going into Philadelphia," Keith said.

For the first time in this series the Stanley Cup will be in the building with only 60 minutes now separating these Hawks from taking their place as the greatest team in the history of the franchise.

"I think it's pretty easy not to think about that, to be honest with you," Keith said. "We haven't won anything, so you've got to keep battling.

"Obviously, we're playing for the Cup. We have a chance to win it, but the focus should be on your job and what you have to do out there rather than the end result that the Cup is there."

The Hawks know the Flyers aren't going to go away easily, not a team with leaders such as Mike Richards and Chris Pronger. The Hawks will brace themselves for the same kind of first period onslaught from Philadelphia that the Hawks produced in Game 5 on their home ice.

"I think we've got two days off here to kind of get ourselves ready for the challenge," Patrick Kane said. "It's pretty exciting. We have one more win and you have the grand prize."

The Hawks can't afford to start slowly like in losses in Games 3 and 4 in Philadelphia, when they were sloppy in their own end and took penalties that got them behind the eight ball.

"We know it's going to be the toughest game to close it," Marian Hossa said.

Hossa speaks from experience. He was with the Red Wings last season when they beat Pittsburgh in Game 5 at Joe Louis Arena, then went on the road and lost Game 6 before dropping Game 7 back at home.

"Having been in that situation, especially last year, the momentum in the first shift next game, the first goal is going to be so important to get the momentum. That's going to be important for us to start really well."

Hawks coach Joel Quenneville thinks Hossa's experience from last season can go a long way in helping his teammates prepare for Game 6.

"Same exact spot he was in last year in Detroit, so I think that experience can certainly help him," Quenneville said. "He can channel the energy and the focus. He can help our team as well, knowing how to prepare over the next few days as we gear up for Wednesday's game.

"Obviously, he's got to be chomping at the bit, excited like we all are. I would say he might be one of the better guys as far as managing his emotions going into the game, having been there and done that."

Quenneville loved the response he got form his team in what was a must-win situation in Game 5 with the series deadlocked 2-2, and he expects to see the same thing on Wednesday.

"We like the response to our biggest game (Sunday) night, commended the guys how business-like and their concentration, their focus," Quenneville said. "It was exactly how you would expect it or want it.

"I don't think we want to change off of those levels. We're going on the road and we don't want to change our approach. Play the same way; same emotion; one shift at a time. Fine tune it and don't look at the big picture. Look at the small picture."

Of course, that is easier said than done with the Stanley Cup right there for the taking.

"It's something that fans and everybody can be proud of, but we've just got to stay with it and stay in the moment," defenseman Brian Campbell said. "We've got a tough team ahead of us. If we go into Philly playing like we think we've got it wrapped up like we did a little bit in Games 3 and 4 - we have got to have the same effort as we did in Game 5. That's what it's going to take to win it.

"It's a huge opportunity for all of us."

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<li><a href="/story/?id=386412"><b>ROZNER:</b> Hawks spreading wings vs. Flyers<span class="date"> [6/8/10]</span></a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=386388">A monumental question: How to honor today's Hawks?<span class="date"> [6/8/10]</span></a></li>

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<li><a href="/story/?id=386426">Will it be Leighton or Boucher? Laviolette not saying<span class="date"> [6/8/10]</span></a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=386450">Coaches question a few Game 5 plays<span class="date"> [6/8/10]</span></a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=386311">Hawks learn how to live with changing ice surface <span class="date"> [6/7/10]</span></a></li>

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