| 2009-10 as good a year as any for Blackhawks fans |
 |
 |
 |
| Written by Rich Green, Daily Vidette Sports Columnist |
| Wednesday, 18 November 2009 05:08 |
|
This past Saturday, sometime between watching Texas destroy Baylor and cringing as Jimmy Clausen was doing his best Ron Powlus impersonation, I was having an old school video game sesh with my buddy Stokes.  Now when I say old school, I am not talking about Madden 2000. After reliving the ‘86 World Series and trying unsuccessfully to give Bill Buckner his well-deserved redemption through the majesty of RBI Baseball, a gentle glow caught the corner of my eye.Following my instincts, I shuffled through half a dozen games and found my gem. NHLPA ‘92-93. If you know your Blackhawks history, that was the year after their last Stanley Cup Finals appearance. A team that featured a young Jeremy Roenick along with Steve Larmer, Chris Chelios, Ed Belfour and a backup goalie by the name of Dominik Hasek. As I was sorting through the roster in the game and getting owned on sketchy goals by my buddy, I had a scary thought. This years’ Hawks team may be better than the 92-93 team. I am not predicting a Stanley Cup. I am a Chicago sports fan…I know better than that. But isn’t this year as good as any? Everyone from last year’s playoff team is back with the exception of Marty Havlat and Nikolai Khabibulin. There are also a couple new faces acquired this past offseason in John Madden and the crown jewel, Marian Hossa. Even with some key injuries this season to Jonathan Toews and Hossa (who has yet to play) the Blackhawks are 12-5 and leading the Central Division. They have the deepest roster in the NHL. When your checking line is out there racking up a silly amount of goals, it makes for some stress-free games and gives Joel Quenneville a chance to rest his scoring lines more. Chicago also boasts the best defensive pair in the league. Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook play both ways and create matchup problems for all teams. I never thought I would say this, but even Dustin Byfuglien is becoming a hockey player. Since his coming out party in the playoffs last year, he has finally started to throw his weight around the ice and play the way a 6-foot-3, 250-pound hockey player should play. And then there’s guys like Andrew Ladd, Cam Barker, Kris Versteeg and Patrick Sharp. The Blackhawks have been riding high with their four-game winning streak. Toews has returned after and Hossa has finally participated fully in practice. The question marks surrounding the rest of the season are: can the Hawks stay healthy? Is Cristobal Huet ready to take over full time with the departure of Khabibulin? Those questions will have to be answered if Chicago hopes to keep pace with the hated Detroit Red Wings. Who knows? Maybe in 15 years when NHL 2024 comes out for X-Box 920, those of us nostalgic sports video game nerds will look back on this season and remember the time the 2009-2010 Chicago Blackhawks hoisted the Stanley Cup. |
