Toothsome Sacrifice

The thinking among the Blackhawks as they prepared for Calgary went like this: The Vancouver Canucks took the Flames to seven games in the first round, so why shouldn't we? Chevrier has been hot, and Savard could explode. When it was suggested that the Flames stood to knock the smaller Hawks around, Keenan pointed out that the Blues were a bigger team too. "This time of year the size of the heart is as important as the size of the player," he said.

As for the whopping point differential between the two clubs—Calgary finished with 117, Chicago with 66—the Blackhawks are unconcerned. "We are not the same team we were a month ago," said Chevrier. Indeed, they are as different as heaven and hell.