You didn't think the Blackhawks would lose with Michael Jordan in the house he built did you? I didn't either.

Now, that’s the Blackhawks team I grew to love during the course of this magical season. What a performance. That was a giant F-YOU to the Flyers as if to say….”We are better than you”, “you’ll take this ass kicking and like it”, and “nothing is standing in our way to win the Stanley Cup.” I don’t think I’ve seen the Hawks play a more complete game all year. The first games that came to mind were the 7-2 beat down of the Sharks in Marion Hossa’s first game or the comeback of the season—when they came back from down 5-0 vs the Calgary Flames before rallying to win 6-5 in overtime. The Hawks won this must win game 7-4 and are, now, just 1 win away from winning their first Stanley Cup since 1961. One Goal is 1 win away.

Perhaps the best part of the night for Blackhawks fans was the sight of Dustin Byfuglien laying out Mr. puck stealing douche, Christina Pronger, to add to his stellar night. Silent for the first 4 games of the finals, Big Buff found his game with 2 goals, 2 assists, and a plus 3 rating. Welcome to finals Big Buff. Pronger couldn’t have had a worse game if he smoked weed with Snoop Dogg before the first drop of the puck. The refs finally stopped treating him like Bobby Orr and whistled him for a penalty. That led to one of Byfuglien’s goals. Christina’s -5 rating on the night was the perfect ending to all the talk that the Hawks couldn’t solve him.The Hawks punked him all night long. They made him look older than his act of stealing pucks after games. Good for you Ben Eager.

Quick question: Who is more of a turd? Christina Pronger or Dan Carcillo? It’s a really tough call. I’m going to have to go with Carcillo. I hate hockey players who aren’t talented, but somehow are looked at as an asset to a team. Carcillo’s achievements include…leading the league with 324 penalty  minutes in ’07-’08, scoring a robust 22 points this season, and engaging in a war of words with another guy who doesn’t play (Adam Burish). You know what they say…Birds of a feather flock together. That must include bad hockey players too. Only in Chicago and Philly could untalented scrubs like Carcillo and Burish talk shit and get noticed. They are the equivalent of The Brooklyn Brawler beating up The Red Rooster at WrestleMania 5. Nobody cares, they are a side show to the actual event, they aren’t good at what they do, and in the grand scheme of things, they don’t matter.

FYI– These two guys are right up Bob from Warrenville’s alley. Bob loves the try hard-grindy guys. “You gotta want it more” and “You gotta bear down” Coach Bob likes say. No, Bob, you gotta score more goals. There’s a reason that neither of these two clowns aren’t participating in these finals anymore. You do have to have the will to succeed, but you need talent first and foremost. Carcillo and Burish are lacking in this department. Maybe a future in WWE is in store for these two 5th line nobodys.

I do have to give Coach Bob some love, though. He has been right on about how much better the Hawks are when Patrick Sharp is flying around playing like an all-star. Sharpy was “running on his ice skates”, as Coach Bob would say. His video game goal wasn’t bad either.

I need to give props to Blackhawks coaching legend in the making, Joel Quennville. Coach Q switched up the lines for game 5, and it worked to perfection. I credit Q not just for making the change, but being willing enough to change in the midst of a championship series. How many coaches have you seen (Lovie Smith) who aren’t too stubborn to even give change a thought at this stage of a season? Not many. Splitting up Toews, Kane, and Byfuglien put pressure on the Flyers to figure out who to match Pronger with. Point Quennville and the Hawks. Besides Byfuglien’s power play goal, Kane also used the power of his mullet to light the lamp.

The first period was a thing of beauty. The Hawks looked like they each drank 3 Red Bull’s before the game, and the Flyers looked like a Johnny’s Ice House Men’s League team. When the Hawks move the puck like that and skate like supermen, they can’t be beat. Definitely not by this Flyers team. I wasn’t nervous going into this series because I felt the Hawks were simply better than Philly in every aspect. Game 5 proved mine and a lot of people’s prior thoughts about the matchup. The Hawks played like the 80′s showtime Lakers team. A fast break team in every sense of the word.

The Flyers may sit Michael Leighton for game 6 and go with Brian Boucher. Or, maybe they won’t. If the Hawks play the way they did in game 5, the Flyers would be better off with Bobby Boucher between the pipes. Leighton looks like  Larry Holmes did when he fought Mike Tyson in ’88. Staggered and ready to go down. Jump on this team early Wednesday Hawks….It will pay off.

I hope game 5 was the last time we see the best team in Chicago play at the United Center this season. 1 more win Hawks fans...

Now, it’s onto game 6 with a chance to clinch the NHL’s longest cup drought. 49 years the Hawks and their suffering fan base have been waiting for this moment. At first, I was hoping for a split in games 3 & 4 so they could clinch in Chicago. (Imagine that scene!!) Now, after reading and hearing some stories of just how obnoxious Flyers fans were last week, I hope it ends Wednesday. I’d be like a kid at Toys-R-US if Jonathan Toews hoists the cup in front of those loud mouth losers. They ripped hats off Hawks fans, poured drinks on Hawks fans’ jerseys, yelled obscenities at women and men with children and, basically, lived up to the reputation that they have always had. I’ll take “degenerate losers” for $300, Alex….I want to celebrate right in front of them. That’s why I think it’s imperative that the Hawks jump on the Flyers early and take the loud mouth crowd out of the game. You’ll see them turn on that team faster than Lakers fans jumped on the Bulls nuts in game 5 of the ’91 NBA finals. 1 more win Hawks fans. 1 more win and Chicago gets to celebrate a championship 49 years in the making. The champagne is on ice….I just hope it’s popped Wednesday night in the town that’s only good for being the hometown of Rocky Balboa. 1 more…