'HAWKS

We wouldn't have gone as bonkers here as we did if the Bears had traded for a 25-year old Pro Bowl safety or defensive end. Wide receiver, even. The reason the day the Bears traded for Jay Cutler immediately earned BEST DAY EVAH!!1! status was only partly because the Bears have never had a good quarterback. It was also because quarterback is the most important position in sports.

Or so we thought. Maybe if the Blackhawks behaved like a real franchise when we were growing up - like they are now - we'd think a hockey goalie is just as critical.

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I have a huge school project due Tuesday afternoon, and planned on splitting my attention 50/50 between the game and my homework. Now it looks like it's going to be one of those super late nights because the Hawks had at least 95 percent of my attention the entire night.

I was kind of bummed at first that I couldn't go out to a bar with friends to watch this, but it actually worked out perfectly. I say this because when you watch sports at a bar, you can't really hear the TV. And I never would have known how great Nikolai Khabibulin was without it: I've heard people triumph 'Hawks play-by-play man Pat Foley for years as a the best in the biz, and damn does he live up to the hype. I'm sure Foley has been calling hockey longer than I've been alive, so to hear his signature voice raise (I don't even know what else to call it) so many times because of Khabibulin saves was pretty jarring.

Few things....

- Khabibulin has started the last six games for the 'Hawks now. That's his longest streak of the season. It's not like he's a young guy, either (he's 36). The fact that he's playing so well now, and really has been since the end of the season, is pretty remarkable.

- The reason Khabibulin didn't play every game most of the season was because of Cristobal Huet, one of the 'Hawks two shiny free agent additions this offseason. It's not like Huet was a huge bust either, but Khabibulin just proved to clearly be the superior goalie.

Because of Huet, the Hawks placed NK on waivers at the beginning of the season, as you may remember. If the Hawks go all the way and win the Cup - and, of course, we're still a long way from that - this has to be the Chicago version of the Red Sox/Manny thing that happened before 2004.

- 'Chicago sports team advances in playoffs' isn't a post I write very often. It's only happened one time before, nearly two years ago to the day.

When I saw that the No. 8 seeded Ducks (they'll always be Mighty to me) were going to beat the top ranked Sharks, I got super excited because I figured the Hawks would have home ice advantage in the second round against the last team in conference to make the playoffs. But alas. Hockey reseeds. Whoda thunk it?

So the Canucks are next up. And you know what that means...

I know the Bulls-Celtics series that's going on right now can only be classified as historically good, but am I wrong to think 'Hawks-Canucks can match up? Yeah, probably, but hey, it's cool to think about.

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'Hawks!