The Chicago Blackhawks Are in the Western Conference Finals

Holy crap. What a hockey game last night. In Pittsburgh...

In Chicago, holy crap, there aren't even words to describe what's happening there...

As the NHL's signature superstars Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby turn their Washington/Pittsburgh series into a fitting NHL Classic, Chicago welcomed their own superstars onto the national stage.

Former #1 Draft Pick Patrick Kane joined Ovechkin and Crosby as the only players to post a playoff hat-trick in this year's post-season, as the Blackhawks won 3 games in a row to knock the Vancouver Canucks out of the playoffs and advance the Blackhawks to their first Conference Finals since 1995.

Kane has been Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews' sidekick this season, but last night was his coming out party. Helping bring the Hawks back from one-goal deficits twice in the 3rd Period, the young Hawks star couldn't have imagined a better time to get his first career hat-trick. Toews had quite an impressive game as well, scoring two goals and adding an assist.

The young Hawks superstars have Chicago hockey crazy and on the verge of the unthinkable, especially looking back just two years ago.

The Hawks were the most awful franchise in Chicago and often found themselves at the bottom of the lists of sports teams in ALL of sports. Two years later, the Hawks have taken over the city of Chicago and brought the NHL back to the forefront of sports.

Whether or not the Hawks make the Stanley Cup Finals (they will play the winner of Anaheim/Detroit), this playoff run for the Hawks will go a long way towards determining the future of the Hawks franchise. The young players that have progressed through this season and now into the playoffs have a taste of what it takes to not only make it to the playoffs, but how to win in the playoffs.

The funny thing about sports is that you can have one great year and never make it back to the playoffs again. Hopefully, that doesn't happen to these Hawks. They have a phenomenal young core and should only get better. Playoff Hockey is alive in Chicago and this city couldn't be happier.

The Hawks destroyed Canada (f*cking Canadien pricks) and now I say, bring on Detroit! No playoff run is complete without going through the Red Wings. That'd be the only fitting ending.

Other than the Stanley Cup that is.