Can he do it again?

I'm reviving a ritual that I began two years ago, trying to coax a playoff win out of the Chicago Blackhawks. Last year of course they won the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1961. They were the odds on favorites to win that year and didn't need my help. The year before they were big underdogs and outperformed everybody's expectations. During a few pivotal games when they were trailing I wrote in this blog and as I wrote, the Blackhawks scored, took the lead, and won those games, with the exception of the last one where they lost to the vastly superior Detroit Red Wings.

This year the Hawks backed into the playoffs by virtue of the lowly Minnesota Wild beating the Dallas Stars in the last game of the season. In round one of the playoffs, against their arch-rivals the Vancouver Canucks, the Canucks won the first three games. It looked like it was all over, everyone seemed to have given up with the exception of the team. The Hawks beat the Canucks solidly in games four and five, won game six in a squeaker and forced the winner take all game seven.

Now as I write this, there are less then five minutes to play in game seven, the Hawks are down by one, and a penalty has just been called against Chicago. It looks bleak.

Wait a minute...

BLACKHAWKS SCORE!!!
BLACKHAWKS SCORE!!!
BLACKHAWKS SCORE!!!

Jonathan Toews scores a shorthanded goal. Game tied 1-1.

Overtime. Unbelievable. Let's see how this one turns out.

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Well at 5:22 in overtime, Alex Burrows of the Canucks scored to win the game and the series. The Blackhawks' season has ended.

But they played out of their minds and went way farther than they probably had any right.

Congratulations Vancouver.

A season ending loss has never been so satisfying.
I couldn't be prouder of my team.