Sweet Home Chicago: B's Fans Should Root For 'Hawks

With the Boston Bruins out of picture, Bruins fans are finding themselves in search of a new team to root for. With just four teams left in the chase to hoist Lord Stanley's Cup, the options are simple. Two in the East, two in the West. Simple, right? Oh, quite different.

In the Eastern Conference, the favorite to advance to the Stanley Cup has to be the Pittsburgh Penguins. They're led by the "face" of the NHL in Sidney Crosby and their talent stretches roster deep. This is the Penguins 2nd consecutive trip to the Conference Finals. Despite losing key pieces of their 2007-08 Cup run in Ryan Malone and Marian Hossa the Penguins fought their way back near the top of the East under at-the-time interim head coach Dan Byslma. If Crosby can continue to lead the way with his incredible playoff play, the Penguins odds to advance are quite high.

Just because they're the favorites, doesn't mean Bruins fans should root for them. Most Bruins/fans-of-teams-outside-of-Pittsburgh fans can't stand Sidney Crosby, myself included and still don't want to see him raise a Stanley Cup at the age of 21. Perhaps the one thing the Penguins had going for them with Bruins fans was the fact that former Bruin and Massachusetts native Billy Guerin was on their roster..then you look and see so is Hal Gill. Not only that, but they're not too far removed from a Stanley Cup Championship (1990-91 and 1991-92). I'm still not ready to cheer for a city who was a contract signing away from losing their hockey team to the city of Kansas City.

Opposing them are the Carolina Hurricanes, the team that broke, crushed, put back together and then re-broke the hearts of the Boston Bruins to get there. Like Pittsburgh, their push to the Conference Finals was led by the introduction of a new coach. However, for Carolina, this "new" coach was a familiar face in Paul Maurice. Maurice was the coach of the Hartford Whalers when they became the Carolina Hurricanes, and stayed with the 'Canes all the way until he was fired 30 games into the 2003-04 season. Under Maurice, the Hurricanes went on a torrid tear through the NHL, finishing with the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference.

Although the wound is still fresh, the Hurricanes aren't necessarily a hate-worthy team. They simply outworked the top seeded team in the Eastern Conference with team-work, hard-work and never giving up. Even when their team was on the brink of elimination against the New Jersey Devils, the heartbeat of the Carolina Hurricanes simply wouldn't die. A sentimental note for those interested in the 'Canes is the fact that Boston villain Scott Walker's wife was diagnosed with Cervical Cancer, adding an emotional touch into the 'Canes drive to their 2nd cup in 4 years. Despite the emotions, the arrogance of Eric Staal, Paul Maurice and Jussi Jokinen along with 18,000 cowbells (a criminal offence if you ask me) deem the 'Canes unworthy of your root. Plus, they just won it, nobody likes seeing a hard-to-market hockey market raise the Cup twice in a decade.

Out in the Western Conference, it's down to two Original Six rivals: the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings. The Detroit Red Wings come into the series as the favorite to win not only the West, but also the Cup. The Red Wings have won 4 of their 11 Stanley Cups within the past 14 years. They only got better over the off-season by adding top-prize free agent Marian Hossa and Pittsburgh back-up Ty Conklin.

Their dominance over the NHL has grown tiresome. The octopus has been played, and their playoff slogan of "The Beard is Back" is just ridiculous. The ridiculous-ness lies within the idea that you can argue that "the Beard" never left considering the Detroit Red Wings haven't missed the NHL Playoffs since the 1989-90 NHL season. Even if the Motor City's economy is collapsing due to Ford's continuing downfall, you won't see me rooting for the Wings to add another Stanley Cup banner to their rafters. They have enough.

Going up against the Red Wings are the Chicago Blackhawks. Chicago, much like Boston, is going through a revitalization of hockey within their city. Night in and night out this season the United Center (and even Wrigley Field) was packed with red, black and white. There was no arena in the NHL outside of Montreal that had better attendance than the Chicago Blackhawks and the future keeps growing brighter and brighter.

Before the Rocky Wirtz era began, the team was ran (very poorly) by Rocky's father, Bill. Bill, was a notoriously cheap owner who made controversial moves such as blacking out all Blackhawk home games unless they were national televised, something that never happened and created his own Pay-Per-View network where Hawks fans would have to subscribe for 30 dollars a month in order to watch their favorite team. There was no doubt that the elder Wirtz thrifty ways surely left scorn on to 'Hawks fans everywhere. When Bill Wirtz lost his battle to cancer, the new era of the Blackhawks officially took over.

The Blackhawks are the epitome of a up and coming team. Their off-season was headlined by the additions of Cristobal Huet and puck-moving defensemen Brian Campbell, adding a mix of youth and experience into their line-up. Since then, the Hawks have taken off, registering their 1st 100+ point season for the first time since 1992-93. Like the Penguins and Hurricanes, the Blackhawks went through a coaching change just 9 games into the NHL season, firing Denis Savard and replacing him with Joel Quenneville, a coach who's only missed the playoffs once in 13 seasons of coaching at the NHL level.

The Blackhawks are led by captain Jonathan Toews, who provides phenomenal leadership ability at a young age. Along side Toews, is the first American born player to be taken with the number 1 overall pick, Patrick Kane. Kane has had a phenomenal playoffs thus far, making Roberto Luongo look absolutely foolish in the Blackhawks 6-game series win over the Vancouver Canucks. Undoubtedly the biggest reason for Bruins fans to root for the Blackhawks is the empathy and similarities they share with Chicago fans. Bruins fans know what it's like to have a fan proclaimed "selfish" owner and be stuck in neutral as an organization for several years. Both cities hockey scenes are now alive and out of the bottom of the Conference standings, but still without a Cup. Chicago is currently on their 48th year without a Stanley Cup, the 1960-61 season being the last in which the Blackhawks raised a banner.

The Blackhawks as stated before, are a young team mixed with a group of veterans in a city regaining their love for hockey who are trying to end the significant drought of a Stanley Cup Championship, sound familiar? It's time to pack away that Tim Thomas shirt in favor for a a Nikolai Khabibulin t-shirt as for Bruins fans, the Chicago Blackhawks are the clear choice as to who to root for in this years Stanley Cup chase.