Never Take Things For Granted

In the past eight seasons the Chicago Blackhawks have won three Stanley Cups and have been considered one of the best NHL teams in this decade. Blackhawks Captain Jonathan Toews already has won three Stanley Cups at the age of 29 and Assistant Captain Patrick Kane already has won three Stanley Cups at the age of 28.

In the past two seasons however they have been eliminated in the first round in the Stanley Cup playoffs. They were eliminated by the Blues 4 games to 3 games in the 2016 playoffs and they were eliminated by the Predators 4 games to 0 games in the 2017 playoffs. No one was surprised that the Blackhawks lost to the Blues in the 2016 playoffs but the fact they lost to the Predators in the 2017 playoffs was actually embarrassing. The Blackhawks finished number one in the Western Conference in the regular last season and everyone thought they would advance to the Cup Finals last year.

It seemed like the Blackhawks took the Predators for granted last year and didn't actually think they needed to play hard since the Predators finished eighth in the regular season last season barely making the playoffs last year. But little did the Blackhawks knew that the Predators were playoff ready and that Predators goalie Pekka Rinne would have two shutouts against them during the series.

Right now the whole NHL is trying to figure out who has the better duo between the Blackhawks Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane and the Penguins duo Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Both of those duos have won three Stanley Cups and right now both duos are entering their prime. For the next decade the Chicago Blackhawks and the Pittsburgh Penguins are going to lead the NHL and we expect them to meet each other in the Stanley Cup Finals before all four of those players retire.

Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews were both able to win three stanley cups before Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin did and when Kane and Toews won their third Stanley Cup both Crosby and Malkin only had one. But what Toews and Kane never did that Crosby and Malkin did was win back to back Stanley Cups.

The Chicago Blackhawks have all the talent they need to become a dynasty. Corey Crawford just didn't seem to be himself this postseason and Blackhawks Head Coach Joel Quenneville realized that Crawford and all of the Blackhawks need to play even better. The missing piece that the Blackhawks added back this offseason was when they traded for Brandon Saad. The past two years Brandon Saad was playing for the Columbus Blue Jackets and was able to get the Blue Jackets from one of the worst teams in the NHL to a playoff team. The Blackhawks didn't cherish the talent that Brandon Saad when they traded him to the Blue Jackets in 2015 and saw the results when he wasn't on the team. Besides Brandon helped the Blackhawks win two Stanley Cups in the 2012-13 and 2014-15 NHL season.

The Blackhawks also added Patrick Sharp back to the team as he helped the Blackhawks win three Stanley Cups. The Blackhawks saw that without Sharp and Saad they couldn't win and realize that they shouldn't take their players for granted because it is actually not that easy to find good NHL players.

The Blackhawks realize that they now want to be a dynasty and win more Stanley Cups and Toews and Kane realize they want to be the best duo in the NHL. The Blackhawks have also learned that they should cherish the players that make their team good and not let them go. The Blackhawks are capable of making it to the Stanley Cup Finals this year and they'll start taking every game important this year no matter if it's during the regular season or in the post season.