This is just icing on the cake for the Blackhawks.
The Hawks proved they could play earlier this year when they dismantled San Jose and beat Pittsburgh in OT, but nobody could have predicted such a dominant performance against their most hated rival, a rival that plays the Hawks so well that it often looks like they are sometimes bullying them.
But this game the Hawks were the bully. Not only did the Hawks beat the Red Wings, they shut them out. Never have the Hawks been do dominant against Detroit.
Last year you could tell that Detroit was the better team, but this year it looks like it’s the opposite. The Hawks outplayed Detroit in every category. Detroit never looked like they got started, and they paid a dear price for it.
Defensively the Hawks were brilliant letting up only 20 shots on goal, but not only did the defensemen contribute defensively but also offensively.
Two out the three goals were scored by Hawks defensemen, Campbell and Keith. Detroit was out 8 regular players, but they still had Nikolas Lidstrom, Brain Rafalski, and Pavel Datsyuk. Three great players that can cause a lot of trouble for the opposing goaltender.
The Hawks highly respect the Red Wings, but I could tell that they came into this game thinking they were the better team. You could see in the faces of the Hawks players that they knew how big of a win, morally, this would be. Beating Detroit,who has won eight straight Central Division titles, is huge for this Hawks team. It  only cements the idea that they can handle highly skilled and respected teams.
The Hawks have re-claimed the control of both the Central Division and the Western Conference. Yes the Hawks are sitting high, but will this lead to bigger wins in February and March where it all boils down to who wants it more?
Hawk fans saw the potential this team had last year, and they were proud their team made it to the Conference finals, but this year the fans want this team to capitalize on their talent and bring back the Stanley Cup. It’s a big task for such a young team, but they have showed us that they are capable of completing such a task.
About Tyler Juranovich
