Imrem: With Blackhawks, it's never over until it's over

This is so unlike the customary Chicago sports emotion.

The world isn't ending for the Blackhawks.

At some point it'll be time for Hawks fans to start worrying but not yet.

So far the faithful are advised to be like the Hawks themselves: pretty much unflappable.

Nonchalance didn't settle over the United Center in the first period Monday night when the Lightning took a 1-0 lead in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.

But it wasn't panic either.

Only gasps, not screams, could be heard when the Lightning scored 13 seconds after the Hawks took a 2-1 lead in the third period.

Finally there were mumbles and grumbles when the Lightning scored with 3:11 in regulation for a 3-2 victory.

"A tough loss," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville mumbled and grumbled.

Still, does anyone around here believe the Hawks are dead because of this defeat?

Maybe it really is over before it's over this time, but the Hawks have withstood so many dire predicaments that it's easy to expect them to overcome the 2-1 deficit in the best-of-seven series.

For most Chicago teams, the time to panic is now, or yesterday, or long before anything negative happens.

Don't look back. Danger is catching up to you. Disappointment is around every corner.

Losing a season opener means wait until next year. Losing a postseason opener means the dream is over.

My goodness, the Cubs haven't won a World Series since 1908. Can they be trusted to win one now or anytime soon?

Same goes for the Bears, Bulls and White Sox, all of whom have won titles in a lot of our lifetimes.

There have been many more disappointments than championships, so many of them heartbreaking.

But a calm filters down from the Hawks to their fans. What, worry? If they don't win this period they'll win the next; if they don't win this game they'll win the next.

This is a bit disconcerting, don't you think? What's Chicago sports without angst?

The Hawks are different from even when the Bulls and Michael Jordan were on their title runs. The way I remember it widespread worry struck on the streets if the Bulls fell behind in a playoff series.

Oh, no, that's it, Jordan can't carry the Bulls past these guys. They look tired. Everything that goes up must come down.

Then the Bulls would win that series and everything was OK until they lost a game in the next series. Then they'd win another NBA title and everything was OK until they fell behind sometime during the next postseason.

If that isn't the way it was, sorry, I'm a Chicagoan conditioned to think it was.

But I don't sense that with the Blackhawks. It feels natural to perspire but not sweat over them.

Before the first of two recent championships in 2010, there was stress over whether the Hawks would make the playoffs.

Then the stress started during the opening playoff rounds. Then, after winning another title in 2013, stress didn't strike until the Stanley Cup Final.

This year confidence in this franchise seems so high that nothing will feel lost until the Lightning ousts the Hawks.

Well, it can happen. It did last year when the Kings beat the Hawks in overtime of Game 7 in the Western Conference finals.

So, yes, it can happen.

"We didn't put enough pucks at the net," Quenneville said of Monday night's loss.

But be honest: You expect that to change in Game 4 on Wednesday night, don't you?

mimrem@dailyherald.com