[icehog3]

Joe, saw this column today in the Chicago paper and thought you might like to see it.

Hawks will look back on crucial play as defining moment

The Blackhawks' season was only minutes from being over, for all intents and purposes.

They were on the verge of going down 3-1 in the series, needing a three-game winning streak with two games left on the road.

Goaltender Roberto Luongo was shutting them out and they were frustrated by a stifling Vancouver defense, which had rarely made a mistake.

And then Canucks defensemen Willie Mitchell tried a clearing attempt up the boards when there was space up the middle.

That was a mistake.

That's also when Andrew Ladd saved the game, the series, and maybe the season.

He could have been freelancing at that point, with less than three minutes remaining and the Hawks down a goal, but Ladd was exactly where he was supposed to be.

That's what coach Joel Quenneville preaches, to stick with the plan, play the system, and trust your teammates to do the same, but if players go off on their own, try to make fancy plays or be the hero, it doesn't work.

So Andrew Ladd was in his lane, clogging up the boards and doing his job.

He threw his body against the glass and stopped the puck, and with three Canucks surrounding him, he tucked a nifty, no-look pass between skates and handed it to a wide-open Martin Havlat, who walked toward the net and calmly beat Luongo high on the glove side for a 1-1 tie.

"Ladd made a great play there along the boards,'' Quenneville said. "There's always a defining moment in a series, in a game, in the playoffs, and in a season.''

Right now, as we sit here with a series knotted and two teams playing as close as two can, Ladd's steal along the boards is the play of the year.

It's the defining moment.
"Oh, no. That's us just sticking with the system,'' Ladd said, deflecting credit. "I think everybody in the room did. It just worked out for Marty and me right there, but everybody did it.''

After 57 minutes, the Hawks once again had proof that if they stuck to Quenneville's plan, stayed the course and believed in what he told them, they would prevail.

And they did in overtime, with Ladd scoring and the Hawks winning 2-1 and tying the series at 2-2 at the UC Thursday night.

They are right back in the series, only because they were still doing their jobs when it might have seemed hopeless.

"Even when it looked grim, the enthusiasm was there and the concentration was still there,'' Quenneville said. "That commitment to the system is amazing, rather than being a little on their own program.''

It was the kind of hockey Quenneville has been waiting to see from his young team the entire playoffs, and they executed nearly to perfection in Game 4.

They provided solid puck support, they cut down on turnovers and got the puck deep all night, but what they couldn't do was beat Luongo until they got a break, one that looked eerily similar to a play late in Game 1 of the Calgary series.

In that contest, Havlat also strolled out of the corner with the puck after it hit a couple skates and scored the tying goal when it looked like the Hawks were cooked.

That play changed the entire Calgary series and the course of the playoffs for the Hawks, and perhaps the Ladd play along the boards has as well.

Instead of being down 3-1, the series is tied and the Hawks have regained the momentum after nearly two full games of defensive dominance by Vancouver.

"We believe in each other and we believe in the opportunity,'' Quenneville said. "Sticking with the program and diligent, I guess we're accustomed to being in this situation, playing from behind.

"It's not the right way and it's not healthy, and I'd like to find out what we're like playing with a lead.''

After allowing goals by the bucketful in the first three games of this series, it was up to the Hawks to prove they could play genuine playoff hockey against a genuine playoff opponent, and for the first time in two series they did precisely that.

Sure, they had to come from behind again, but they seem completely comfortable doing that, meaning no game or series feels out of reach.

That confidence, along with the ability to win a 2-1 game in true defensive playoff posture - a new feature the Hawks hadn't displayed until Thursday - can take a team a very long way.

"We have a great coach and we really believe what he tells us,'' Ladd said. "It's kind of easy to do your thing and not give up when you know he has the answer.

"Hopefully, we've got the confidence and momentum now. I do know that we're back in it.''

Thanks in no small part to Andrew Ladd.