The Case for Boarding the Hawks Bandwagon

by Alec Brownscombe on May 16, 2010 in Uncategorized - 191 Comments

Pension Plan Puppets’ Chemmy has the details on why turn-coating for the Habs for the sake of returning the Cup to Canada is staggeringly ludicrous. Here’s why, if you must cheer for someone (a better alternative: perusing Down Goes Brown‘s youtube Wendel collection for your spring-time fix), the Hawks are your safest bandwagon to board while maintaining some sense of pride and loyalty:

Firstly, as THN’s Ryan Dixon points out, the majority of “bring the Cup home to Canada” promoters is comprised of casual fans; to stereotype, your moms and girlfriends. A minority of a similar sentiment consider the Cup coming to Canada as a way of sticking it to the hopelessly insistent, southern-market boosting Gary Bettman. But Chicago lifting the Cup as a original six franchise also serves as a win for traditional markets in a time when Carolina, Anaheim and Pittsburgh (different from the other two, but their resurgence was still very much a Bettman project) have taken home post-lockout SC rings.

If it’s canuck content you’re looking for, the Blackhawks outnumber the Canadiens 14 to 12 for quantity of Canada-born players that have featured this playoff:

Blackhawks: Duncan Keith, Jonathan Towes, Patrick Sharp, Kris Versteeg, Troy Brouwer, Brian Campbell, Andrew Ladd, Brent Seabrook, John Madden, Colin Fraser, Ben Eager, Dave Bolland, Brent Sopel, Adam Burish

Canadiens: Mike Cammalleri, MA Bergeron, Glen Metropolit, Dominic Moore , Benoit Pouliot, Travis Moen, Maxim Lapierre, Josh Georges, Tom Pyatt, Ryan O’Byrne, PK Subban, Mathieu Darche

There’s only one minor downside – if the Blackhawks win the Cup, the Leafs become the bearer of the dubious title “longest standing drought holders.” Really, though, has Chicago’s 49-year famine ever stopped any Habs whore or Sens skid mark from screaming “1967″ at the first sign they’re losing an argument?

It’s been repeated time and again, but it’s undeniably true that if the shoe were on the other foot, Habs fans would not return the favour of cheering for the Leafs exclusively to bring the Cup “home.” Meanwhile, something tells me there are at least a few Hawks fans out there that might just sympathize with our situation.

Tags: Adam Burish, Anaheim, Andrew Ladd, Ben Eager, Benoit Pouliot, Brent Seabrook, Brent Sopel, Brian Campbell, Canada, Carolina, Chicago, Chicago Blackhawks, Colin Fraser, Dave Bolland, Dominic Moore, Duncan Keith, Gary Bettman, Glen Metropolit, John Madden, Jonathan Towes, Kris Versteeg, Mathieu Darche, Mike Cammalleri, National Hockey League, Natural Disaster, Patrick Sharp, Pittsburgh, Ryan Dixon, Ryan O'Byrne, Tom Pyatt, Travis Moen, Troy Brouwer Print article