Chicago Blackhawks: Ready for a Playoff Run?

There was a time, in December, when many Chicago Blackhawks' fans were starting to get ahead of themselves. After dominating a tough road schedule, there was talk of a run for the Stanley Cup. There were even three starting All Stars on the roster.

Then Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp, Nikolai Khabibulin, and others got hurt. The wins were harder to come by, and the team fell from being considered one of the top teams in the league to being a young, good team fighting for position.

Until a couple weeks ago, there was even strong reason to consider the Hawks being on the road to begin their first playoff series in seven year.

But in the last eight days, the Blackhawks have overcome a few of their Achilles' heels with strong performances in playoff-level intensity to show that this young team might be ready to make that run fans were excited about at Christmas.

The first knock on Chicago was that they folded against a dominant goalie. Against the likes of Roberto Luongo, Martin Brodeur and Mikka Kipprusoff, the Hawks looked weak and couldn't seem to get a good shot on net. There were legitimate concerns that a stud goalie held a psychological advantage on the young team.

Until a week ago, when the Hawks were able to beat Columbus and Steve Mason in an overtime game that saw Mason, this year's Rookie of the Year, play as well as any goaltender. Defeating one of the best goalies in the league, when he has a good night, should have a huge effect on the mindset of the team.

The next knock on the Blackhawks was that they had lost their swagger on the road. After their incredible run through December, the Hawks had struggled to win both at home and on the road.

But since the calendar turned over to April, the Hawks are 5-1 with wins at Nashville, Columbus and now Detroit, all teams that will be playing after Easter. The Hawks have gone on the road, in tough, playoff environments, and come away with big victories.

The final knock, and perhaps the biggest, on the Blackhawks this year had been that they could not beat Detroit. At the end of the stellar December run, the Hawks got blitzed out of Detroit on Dec. 30 and then blew a 3-1 lead in the Winter Classic.

The Hawks have led Detroit in almost every match up this season, and hadn't been able to close the deal.

Until Saturday, when the Hawks trailed late and showed the backbone to come back at Joe Louis Arena and win with a clutch goal from Dustin Byfuglien and an empty net tally from Andrew Ladd in the final 30 seconds to win 4-2.

So the three big questions about the Blackhawks roster have seen signs of potentially positive answers in the last couple weeks. The final remaining question about this young roster is, once it's the playoffs, will they be able to handle the pressure.

If goalie Khabibulin can play as well as he has recently, his experience, along with the young naivety of the 20-something stars, could lead the Hawks deep into this year's playoffs.