It has been 363 days since the Blackhawks lost a Game 7 in the Western Conference Final on home ice, blowing two separate two goal leads and a lead going into the third period. Tonight they will finally get a chance to take another step in righting the wrong that was last season, and all that stands in their way is the West’s number 1 seed on their home ice in the form of the Anaheim Ducks.
As drummer for Creedence Clearwater Revival and later Creedence Clearwater Revisited after the group’s acrimonious split with frontman John Fogerty, Doug Clifford has maintained a full and imposing beard for nearly 50 years.
Clifford, bassist Stu Cook, and the Fogerty brothers, John and Tom, all met in junior high school, and began playing covers (as most junior high bands do) under the name The Blue Velvets. Clifford was drafted into the Amry Reserves in 1966 during along with John Fogerty, where it can only be assumed that Clifford’s trademark beard was in no way regulation. Upon their discharge the the group changed their name to Creeedence Clearwater Revival, and the the politically charged, southern flavored hits began to come. But like most great and influential groups, tensions within burned hotly, particularly as Fogerty took more and more creative control of the group, and the group had officially called it quits by 1972, with seven full length records already under their belt.
Clifford’s straightforward style has provided the backbeat for the group’s output, but it’s simplicity shouldn’t be mistaken for a lack of skill. And that’s to say nothing of the endurance needed to stay on time for 9-minute album cuts, which would veer to nearly double that time during live performances. And he’s been sticking with what works now, both aurally and aesthetically, for going on six decades.
…for those of you at home who get that, I’ll go ahead and let you finish that line out.
McClure and I were talking yesterday, and we’ve had to raise a bemused eyebrow at how Duncan Keith, that’s two-time Norris winner, two-time Gold Medalist, should-have-’10-Conn-Smythe Duncan Keith, is having something of a coming out party this playoff run. It’s amazing what amounting counting stats for the national hockey press can do.
But it takes a point-per-game to get people to notice a d-man we guess, even though this isn’t absurdly higher production than Keith has put up in deep Hawks runs before. In 2010 it was 17 points in 22 games (when he was taking on the toughest assignments as well and simply kicking a hole in the world). He had 13 in 22 games in ’13, and last year was 11 points in 19 games.
How about a man with some good local roots, huh? Jon Glaser was born in Chicago, though he grew up in Michigan.. no one is perfect. After being a member of several sketch groups in college, Glaser would move back to Chicago and become a member of the mainstage cast at Second City, performing alongside other famous members like Adam McKay, Rachel Dratch and Scott Adsit. He also is a five-time Emmy nominee thanks to his work as a writer for Late Night with Conan O’Brien. If you’re an Adult Swim fan, you’ll likely know his work on creating Delocated though you might not recognize his face… since he wore a skimask all the time and distorted his voice. If you haven’t seen the show.. well in typical Adult Swim fashion it’s fucking weird. More recently, Glaser served as the arch nemesis of Leslie Knope on the wonderful Parks And Recreation in its final few seasons.
He’s also done plenty of work with former BotD H. Jon Benjamin which is always awkward and delightful.
In what was probably the most even game of the series, the Hawks were simply just a little better in every area that saw them to a win that will force a Game 7. While we all hoped for a dominant Hawks 1st period, the Ducks came out with their hellacious forecheck and didn’t give the Hawks a lot of time to create much. But the Hawks were able to navigate just enough, Crow make just enough saves, and just enough rushes up the ice to make the Ducks and Andersen work in their zone to keep things even. The dam broke in the 2nd, when the Hawks were able to get to their creative best. That’s something the Ducks simply couldn’t match tonight, and it’s why we’re headed back to Cali, back to Cali.
Because seemingly nothing can ever be simple or straightforward with this iteration of the Hawks, they now find themselves in an unfamiliar situation under Joel Quenneville: being forced to win a Game 6 at home in order to force a Game 7 after tying the series at 2-2 on Saturday. And in their way remain the Anaheim Ducks, who are looking to punch their ticket to the Cup final while keeping themselves undefeated in regulation this post season.
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