It's  more than probable that anyone reading this has experienced, at the very least, one major disappointment from a Chicago sports team. And I think that's true even if you don't follow sports. In that case you probably picked up on a city malaise of the "zeitgest" -a trendy word, following the shattering of more hopes and expectations from our failed hometown heroes. Maybe someone you know spent a day bemoaning the latest setback. The point is, Chicago sports failure is something everyone feels.

Yet every once in awhile, a great hope emerges. One team that seems destined to buck the tradition and put the lie to the opponent's signs that contend "Chicago has more dog teams than the Yukon."  Though we as a sports people have had our spirits crushed time and time again for as long as we can remember save for the chocolate chip that was the Sox in 2005 or the Bears in 1985 (yikes), we are anxious to put aside the heartbreak caused by squad after squad who hung up their unis while their sport continued on without them. Give us a team that can be described as having potential and we're ready to serve up our battered hearts again.

Which of course leads us to The Blackhawks owners of our most recent championship in 2010.

You may recall (or maybe you don't) that hockey didn't start on time because of yet another annoying labor dispute among rich athletes and richer owners. Hockey was a punchline there for awhile as very few would admit to missing this "lower tier" sport and doing just fine watching a battling Bulls squad try to take the place of the other United Center tenant as the sport of hockey was put on ice, but never actually on ice.

Perhaps sensing the onset of an apathy that might be tough to extinguish, everyone suddenly got smart and half way through the winter, the NHL made its return and climbed on the back of the Chicago Blackhawks and a historic point streak that netted them many goals and the cover of Sports Illustrated. No less a sports icon than LeBron James
took note of the Hawks gallop out of the gate into hockey history.

Through a blessedly truncated regular season the Hawks goalies put on a show turning away pucks like they were Justin Bieber CD's on their way to winning an award as the finest goalie tandem. Crawford & Emery...it sounded like a law firm and they were every bit as tenacious.  Patrick Kane, fresh off an embarrassing summer frolic in Wisconsin  matured into a candidate for hockey's salute to sportsmanship, The Lady Byng ,while displaying some elite moves that reminded long time Hawk fans of Dennis Savard. Kane's other hockey half  Jonathan Toews, the quiet captain let his stick do the talking and a smothering defense frustrated opponents and helped the Hawks win another award in a trophy mad sport, The Presidents Trophy  given to the top team in the NHL for the year is ours.

Here we had it,Chicago. A team you could watch with very little fear that at games end, you would be left sad and unfulfilled. You knew when you settled in to watch the power and precision of the Hawks, you'd be one happy human when the horn sounded after period 3. Or 4. Or after the shootout.  "We hope you enjoyed the broadcast, we KNOW you enjoyed the outcome," Hawks legendary broadcaster Pat Foley would get to say after almost every game.

Chicago was in the sports discussion across the country again because of these determined and skilled Chicago Blackhawks. And here locally we started remembering what it was like in 2010 when Kane potted the shot that won a championship and touched of celebrating that was compared favorably to the mayhem that ensued when the Sox won everything the baseball post season offered between the lines.

Into the playoffs we went as Hawk paraphernalia began to sprout like the flowers that were finding the high ground in a belated Chicago spring. I had strangers noting my Hawks cap greeting me with "Go Hawks" on a walk down the street.

The Minnesota Wild were a road apple,unworthy of sharing privileged playoff ice and but for a small speed bump the heavily favored Hawks vanquished them, stoking the pride and fervor of Hawk nation and catching the attention of the casual fan. Local newscasters who didn't know a puck from a pillow suddenly engaged in hockey talk with the sports anchor as if they'd been raised in Saskatoon.

Talk turned to the next opponent, a team that plays in a city they proudly call "Hockeytown" whether it is or not.....an etrstwhile rival of the Blackhawks , The Detroit Red Wings. That rivalry, now a little more cooled than the ice, had to be slapped onto a media marquee to hype interest in a series that featured a 7th seed that barely squeezed into the Cup competition against this NHL powerhouse Chicago squad.

The first game of round two did nothing to change what the experts predicted and the fans had hoped. It appeared to be men against boys as The Blackhawks imposed their will on this sorry bunch of Michiganders. Predictions of a sweep were more common than Jim Rose sports report errors and some folks started to wonder if maybe they would skip work that day in June when the victory parade advances down the avenue.  This was like the Cubs about to dispatch the Padres and move on to the baseball promised land with one more win. The Cubs are still waiting for that win, just like the win they are still awaiting against the Marlins when the World Series appearance was there for the taking.

Detroit decided that a good rest and refusal to look like a team just happy to be in the second round might be of some benefit. So they came out in game two with a renewed sense of purpose against a Hawks team that was lethargic. Chicago had unbuckled their belts after the feast they enjoyed with Minnesota and the dessert Detroit brought to game one. They put up their skates and became spectators as the Red Wings showed the work ethic our side built a season upon.

Ah but we remember the one game in which the Minnesota Wild got a little testy ,preventing a Chicago sweep. They fell as they deserved to fall, and after this speed bump, the Red Wings too would go away.

Then came game 3 when even without the lethargy, playing with a renewed sense of purpose,scoring the first goal to serve notice that Detroit was going to be "no Hockeytown" very soon, the Hawks couldn't match the Red Wings for physicality or skill. Gone,the smothering defense, the scoring silence of the captain now matching his demeanor, Marion Hossa neutered by his former team and Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard now looking like regular season Corey Crawford. And the Hawks looked like the sore losers with the loss of composure reminicent
of the Bulls as they sensed the inevitable end versus the Heat. If you can't beat 'em, beat 'em.

So here we stand,knowing adversity for the first time in a charmed season. The Chicago Blackhawks season is on the line . Does anyone believe that should Detroit win Game 4, the Hawks will then be able to gain victory 3 straight times against an opponent of burgeoning  confidence  getting stronger by the minute? No, this next game is it. Win and change the complexion of this series,heading back to home ice with a new series....best 2 out of 3 with two of those games we will need in our own madhouse. Win and step in off the ledge feeling like you stared the off season in the face and it blinked.

Lose and join the long list of sports disaapointments and fallen heroes littering the lakefront landscape. Born of such promise and raised on the hope of another championship for a city starved for that kind of excellence, finally found unworthy of advancing past a 7th seed and into the icy promised land.

This is it. Go Hawks.