Hawks Pregame with a side of Apology

I’d like to begin today with a very sincere apology to a good friend of mine.  While in college I had the opportunity to become acquainted with a Dallas Stars fan.  We would sit back, pound a couple brews, play NHL 2006 on Playstation 2, and talk hockey.  No matter what the topic of conversation was I would always take a minute to point out the fact the Jeremy Roenick was the greatest American born player to ever take the ice.  There was nothing I enjoyed more than watching his cheeks redden with anger as he made his case for Mike Modano.  He was right and I knew it, I just loved seeing the fire in his eyes when I tried to remove Mike Modano from that little pedestal in his heart.  This is my apology Kevin, I hope you are smiling somewhere.  I am truly sorry for ever attempting to put “JR” in the same sentence as Mike Modano.

Why my sudden detachment from Roenick you ask?  How about the fact that he went on a Chicago radio show yesterday and told the whole city that he would like to see San Jose or Philadelphia beat the Hawks?  Talk about having no class.  Yea he was a Flyer, Yea he was a Shark, but which of those cities honored you with a Jeremy Roenick Heritage Night?  Neither, it was at the United Center earlier this year when 20,000 screaming Hawks fans brought tears to your eyes as they thanked you for all you did in Chicago.  How do you pay us back?  Hop on a hometown radio station and take shots at the Hawks?  Really classy JR.  Maybe if indeed you were the greatest American to ever lace them up we would have kept you and made you the centerpiece (Like Modano in Dallas).  But instead Tony Amonte needed a center so you were shipped out of town for Alexei Zhamnov.  I always felt bad for your being forced out of town but those days are over.  Denis Savard was fired two years ago and he’s already back in the organization giving every breath he takes to the Hawks.  He let it go, maybe it’s time you did the same.  We all know that deep down inside your heart you’re still a Hawk.  If you weren’t you wouldn’t jump at every opportunity to exploit the fact you were run out of town.  But if I were you JR I would put the hubris on the shelf; you can only throw low blows at Chicago so many times before she turns her back on you for good.  Don’t believe me? Ask Sammy Sosa.

With that off my chest let’s focus on the task at hand, Game 3.  The Hawks stayed in a hotel Thursday night in an attempt to bring their road focus home to Chicago.  Brilliant idea in theory, but as soon as that first note hits on the organ the Hawks are going to know exactly where they are; at the United Center in front of 20,000 roaring fans.  Their adrenaline will be pumping like it has in every home game this postseason.   

Unlike previous playoffs games, I have no keys to a Hawks victory tonight.  Go out and do your thing; San Jose will have no answers.  Pass like you know how to, shoot like your capable of, hit like you mean it. Play with passion.  Play with that intensity that no other professional sport could match even in its most heated moment.   Bring that fire that has morphed an entire city into a huge bandwagon screaming your praises every opportunity it gets.

Don’t let us down Hawks because believe me, as quickly as they come they will go.  The city is behind you because you’re our first hope since the Bulls to have a legitimate sports dynasty in Chicago.  We believe in you.  Do what you do and soon enough Patrick Sharp taking the Stanley Cup to the Zoo will be on the back page of every newspaper with the signing of LeBron James to the Bulls having to wait for page 2.