The Blackhawks are coming back this season as the defending Stanley Cup champions. But so far, they have not looked the same as they did last year. Although they lost a lot of players due to salary cap issues, they had their main guys back. They barely made it to the playoffs and were down 3-1 to the Canucks in this first round of playoffs series going into Tuesday’s game. All looked hopeless for Hawks fans and seemed as if it would be the last of the season, but it wasn’t.
The Hawks came out strong, scoring the first goal and controlling the game early. It was tied 1-1 at the end of the first period but they had momentum heading into the second period, having 13 shots to Vancouver in the first. In the second the Hawks shot as many as in the first and put 4 in the back of the net, which put them up 5-1 and kept the lead, beating the Canucks 7-2.
If you didn’t know, Vancouver has one of the best goalies in the NHL, Roberto Luongo, who on average allows less than 3 goals per game. Yet the Hawks managed to score 6 on him before he was pulled from the game. Although all the goals they scored was a shock, the big surprise was how big of an impact Bolland was returning to the ice after being out with a concussion for the 6 weeks prior to the game. He ended up with a goal and 3 assists, which is quite a bit for his first game back.
This last game has given me and many other Hawks fans a glimpse of hope and if Bolland keep sit up or other players keep stepping up we could see and underdog comeback for Chicago.
By: Ian Dutcher
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