Can Wisconsin Sports Fans Like The Chicago Blackhawks?

A lot of people on my Twitter and Facebook feed last night were disappointed that the Blackhawks could not come back from the 3-0 series deficit as they lost  last night in overtime to the Vancouver Canucks.  I am not a huge Blackhawks fan personally, but I also mourn with some friends they couldn't get it done.  Some people had serious problems with me cheering on a Chicago-based team.

I see nothing wrong about it for various reasons... 

1.) Milwaukee doesn't have a professional hockey team. Don't even go there with the Milwaukee Adrimals (still a great franchise much love), but that's not an excuse to hate the Blackhawks. They are the closest NHL team to city of Milwaukee. 

2.) I deal with more Minnesota Wild fans than Blackhawk fans therefore I do not have the same sort of vitriol others who live in Milwaukee. Rumor has it, many people like myself jumped on the bandwagon, but instead of being casual about it, they act like they have been for 20 years.  

3.) I don't consider them a FIB team (in case you are wondering: Cubs/Bears/Bulls in that order) because like the Chicago White Sox, no Milwaukee team plays them on a regular basis.

4.) I love their sweaters (Black/Red) and their theme song.  Both very enjoyable

5.) Finally, can we all agree the Blackhawks are fun to watch?  Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, Patrick Sharp to name a few. They have a ton of great talent, and as a bandwagon hockey fan, that's all I need really. Take notice, I enjoy watching the Washington Capitals even more than the Blackhawks.

I like the consider myself one of many voices of common sense here in the great state of Wisconsin and I vote it's okay to like the Blackhawks. But since this is a sportsocracy, not a sportstorship, I will put a one-day poll for you to decide plus feel free to discuss on the comments page, or any other social media outlets.

-Charlie.

Closing Time: Blame Canada!

This might have been the easiest closing time of its short-lived history. While I worked on a paper, I enjoyed the Blackhawks-Canucks and said one of my reasons for cheering for the Blackhawks was USA > Canada. It's just a natural thing, but people got pretty mad at me for cheering for a flatlander team, which I will discuss in detail tomorrow morning with a new poll. As always, thanks for reading.

-Charlie.

Stanley Cup Playoffs: Western Conference

As we enter into an exciting time in American sports with the start of baseball season and the stretch run of the NBA season, we cannot forget about the NHL post-season. While the regular season doesn't get nearly the publicity it deserves in America, ESPN actually pays a pretty decent amount of attention to professional hockey during the post-season.

I figured I would step up and take the challenge of predicting the Western Conference's piece of the pie. The Canucks had a great year, but can they handle the pressure of being the #1 seed? Can they handle the pressure of Canada not winning a Cup since the Montreal Canadians in 1993?


Truth be told, I haven't really followed the NHL this season any closer than the Thursday night "shot-a-goal" games of EA Sports' NHL 11 over on Cramer but, contrary to popular belief, I am not a dumbass when it comes to who could win it all so here goes:

#1 Vancouver Canucks vs. #8 Chicago Blackhawks

The two squads have faced each other the last two post-seasons with Blackhawks taking the series each time. Not so fast though 'Hawks fans, I think that spells - advantage Canucks. The Sedin brothers are the hottest set of twins since Mary Kate and Ashley, and those two will have something to say. The Canucks are also impossible to beat when they get up early. You can attribute that to netminder Roberto Luongo. I think the 'Hawks have enough offense to make it a series though. Canucks 4-3. If the Blackhawks win I'll puke.

#2 San Jose Sharks vs. #7 Los Angeles Kings

I am fan of both of these division rivals but with Anze Kopitar on the shelf, it might get ugly. The Sharks have a ton of depth at center and feature a guy at that position from Plover, WI named Joe Pavelski who had a HUGE 2010 post-season leading the team to the conference finals. The inexperienced Kings could be in for a long series, or short one depending on how you look at it. Sharks 4-1 


#3 Detroit Red Wings vs. #6 Phoenix Coyotes


Red Wings star Henrik Zetterberg has come out this morning and said that he will miss at least the first game of their series with the Phoenix Coyotes. I wonder how big of a factor that could be considering he had 80 points this year. The Coyotes' strength is their goalie Ilya Bryzgalov. The franchise's winningest goaltender is playing very well and we all know what a hot goaltender can do for a team. I like the Coyotes in this one. Coyotes 4-3


#4 Anaheim Ducks vs. #5 Nashville Predators


The Predators also have a lights-out netminder with Pekka Rinne but I don't know if a brick wall could stop Anaheim top line of Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaff and Bobby Ryan. Corey Perry is the league's only 50+ goal scorer this year and is worthy of the MVP. Teemu Selanne is like a fine wine with 80 points as well in 2010-2011. If the Predators can play the shut-down D they showed against the 'Hawks last season, the series could be great. Ducks 4-2


Later rounds to come boys.