Can Blackhawks learn from watching playoffs?

If there were an award for ugly goals, the Los Angeles Kings would win it.

Oh, wait. There is one. It's called, “A Trip to the Stanley Cup Finals.”

In classic Darryl Sutter fashion, he has taken a team that thought of itself as talented and fancy and turned it into a group of muckers and grinders — and the winning overtime goal that sent them to the Finals came on a rebound of a bad-angle shot that was difficult to control and nearly impossible to defend.

Even the skill guys have bought in, and a team going nowhere when Sutter took over as coach Dec. 22 has a chance to win it all after he gave the Kings the structure and accountability they were lacking.

“I'm proud of the players. That's the biggest thing for me,” Sutter said after the Kings eliminated the Coyotes in overtime Tuesday night. “They're the guys that sweat and bleed. I know from being a player. I'm proud of them guys.”

Of course, it doesn't happen without the superb goaltending of Jonathan Quick, but great goaltending also comes with a commitment to limiting scoring chances and playing defense first.

All of the final four teams believe in the tried-and-true philosophy that you can't lose the game if the opposition can't score. It's the one thing you can control in a hockey game.

They play it tight, finish their checks, look for turnovers off hits and throw pucks at the net. Nothing fancy, just playoff hockey.

The Blackhawks, meanwhile, play like they're the Red Wings of three years ago or the Hawks of two years ago, even though they don't have that kind of puck possession skill anymore.

They've been pounded physically — especially on defense — in two straight first-round exits while trying to escape the salary-cap nightmare created in the run up to the Cup victory, and now they have a decision to make.

Teams know exactly how to beat the Hawks, so they need to add more skill if they want to play that way, or have to add some size and play a more traditional playoff style that has won five of the seven Stanley Cups since the lockout (including this season's winner).

A middling approach simply isn't going to get it done.

Tending goal

As good as Mike Smith was for Phoenix, and this is not meant to diminish that, consider what Coyotes coach Dave Tippett has done for Smith and Ilya Bryzgalov the last three years.

When Tippett took over as coach for Wayne Gretzky, the Coyotes were a team that couldn't make the playoffs and Bryzgalov was inconsistent. In the first year under Tippett, Phoenix made the playoffs for the first time in eight years and Bryzgalov went from 26 wins to 42 wins.

After another strong year and playoff appearance, Bryzgalov signed with Philly for $51 million last summer, and Phoenix was content to find another goalie.

Bryzgalov went back to being wildly inconsistent — and often terrible — in Philadelphia, while journeyman Smith joined the Coyotes for $4 million over two years and set the league on fire. Having never won more than 14 games before in the NHL, Smith won 38 games for Phoenix.

After next season, Smith will be 30, unrestricted and looking for his own big payday.

Smith was great, as the Hawks will attest, but a great coach and system can also make for a great goaltender and defense.

Good call

The White Sox honored members of the Chicago Police Department for their service during the NATO summit at Wednesday's game. Superintendent Garry McCarthy and several officers represented the department's 12,500 members. The Sox also announced that Chicago police will be offered two complimentary tickets to one of 10 Sox games.

Arlington Park

The Party in the Park series kicks off in earnest Friday, followed by two stakes races Saturday, and the start of Sunday Family Days — which include pony rides, petting zoo, Radio Disney Road Crew and children 17 and under get free admission when accompanied by an adult. There's also Monday racing on Memorial Day.

Dump button

Bob Saget will sing the national anthem Saturday before the White Sox game. Might want to make sure that's on a seven-second delay.

Just thinking

For the first time in 5,000 years, Egyptians were given the chance to vote on their leader in an election that, reportedly, wasn't rigged. Guess that means Cubs fans have been wrong all this time in believing they had the longest losing streak going.

The punch line

Carlos Boozer got 1 vote for the NBA all-defensive team.

And finally ...

NBC's Jimmy Fallon: “President Obama tossed around a football at Soldier Field and told Joe Biden to go long. Then, he hopped into his car and drove away.”

brozner@dailyherald.com

ŸListen to Barry Rozner from 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on the Score's “Hit and Run” show at WSCR 670-AM, and follow him @BarryRozner on Twitter.