Here come the Hawks.  After what seems years of wandering through the NHL desert, the Chicago Blackhawks are now four games away from their first Stanley Cup finals in 17 years and eight wins away from their first Stanley Cup in 48 years. 

If you are a true believer and have stuck with hockey through thick, thin, Dollar Bill and Bob Pulford, then this is making you smile.  If you are new to the bandwagon, welcome, we're happy you are here.

Not to crush your hopes and dreams, this will be a tough series for the Hawks.  The Red Wings are old hands at this playoff stuff and hoisting the Stanley Cup seems to be a yearly event with them.  The Blackhawks TNG are new to this playoff deal and probably are a little nervous about what is to come.  That and the Q-stash has only made it to round three once and that didn't work out so well.

So, what do the Hawks need to do to beat the Wings?

First, they need to take advantage of Chris Osgood.  I have said on many occasions, and others have agreed, that Osgood is an average to below average goalie who is the direct beneficiary of the outstanding defensemen that Detroit trots out in front of him.  You put Nicholas Lindstrom, Chris Chelios, Brad Stuart et. al in front of Murray Bannerman and suddenly "Murray the sieve" morphs into Tony Esposito.  In order to beat Osgood, you have to shoot at him, early and often.  Ozzie gives up soft goals like Barack Obama gives up stimulus dollars.

The other problem the Hawks may have in this series is setting screens in front of the Detroit net.  The Wings are very physical and very good at collapsing to the net when under fire.  Dustin Byfuglien is not going to be allowed to set up his tent and sleeping bag and camp in front in front of the Detroit new like he did against Vancouver.  He'll be a spot on the ice if he tries it too often.  The Hawks are going to have to rely on rebounds, sniper shots from the point and rebounds, rebounds, rebounds.  Second shot goals are critical for them in this series.  Conversely, they'll have to prevent Detroit wide bodies like former Hawk Daniel Cleary from hanging out in front of the Hawk net.

They also will have to compete with the Red Wings speed coming back at them after a flurry in the offensive end.  Tine for Nicholi Khabibulin to earn his paycheck.

The Hawks will have to approach this series with the patience of Ghandi.   Detroit is going to try and make it physical and is going to try and get the Hawks to retaliate.  In last night's clincher, Detroit's Brad Stuart lowered the boom on the Ducks' Teemu Seanne, knocking the veteran to the ice for several minutes and drawing a penalty.  If your name is Kane, Toews or Sharp, be prepared for this kind of foolishness, don't be surprised when it happens and don't try to fight back.  Win the games, not the fights.  Stupid penalties are, um, stupid and with the Wings having the second most effective power play during the playoffs, bad penalties can easily be converted in to Detroit goals. On the flip side, the Hawks have the most effective power play unit in the playoffs and making Detroit take the stupid penalties may go a long way into helping them pull off a series win.

The best thing that the Hawks have going for them in this series is their youth.  Certainly their legs will be a bit fresher than the older Red Wings.  It would have been nice to get right into this series on a Saturday, but NBC determined more people would be interested in this series than Carolina vs. Pittsburgh (they're right), so the Wings get an extra day of rest.

The Hawks went 2-2-0-2 against the Wings this year, winning the last two meetings in April when the fate of the two teams were pretty much determined and the Wings were just playing out the string in anticipation of the playoffs. 

My best guess?  Sadly, Wings in six.