Blackhawks Win

The Chicago Blackhawks just defeated the Vancouver Canucks by a score of 7-5 to win their series and advance to the Western Conference championship.

Read that again.

Some people might have forgotten how truly awful the Blackhawks were in recent years. In 2005-06, the first year after the lockout, the Blackhawks had just 65 points. The next year, they improved to 71 points. Last year, they made a significant leap to 88 points with the addition of Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, missing the playoffs by just three points. They finally hit the big-time this year, appearing in the Winter Classic, breaking the 100-point mark, and now they're four wins away from the Stanley Cup Final.

It was just two years ago, during that 71-point season, that the Blackhawks averaged 12,727 fans per home game. That's barely half of the United Center's capacity. This year? The Blackhawks led the league with 22,247 fans per game, including the Winter Classic. That's right - they nearly doubled their attendance in two years. With the playoffs, they've sold a million tickets this year. Every game at the United Center was sellout.

What's my point? It's simple. As bad as things are for the Islanders, they were probably just as bad for the Blackhawks just a few years ago. They weren't drawing. Their games weren't on TV. Even the patience of the diehards was being tested. Now, the Blackhawks are a model franchise in the NHL. Sure, some of that had to do with owner Rocky Wirtz making a lot of things right with the Chicago fanbase. But here, we have proof that it is possible to turn things around - and rather quickly at that.

In talking to people down the stretch, I'd expressed hope that the 2009-10 Islanders could resemble the 2007-08 Blackhawks. A team that is bursting with young talent and is starting to hang with the big boys. A team that might not be playoff-ready, but shows you they're worth watching. Most importantly, a team that gets the fans excited enough to come to games and lend their support. Only time will tell if the Islanders can reach these levels. As we can see, though, stranger things have happened.